Fraser Island - Overlander Gathering

The trip up was nothing short of a disaster.. I woke up on the Thursday morning and found my servers were down.. They weren't back online till around midnight that night so we didn't leave Thursday.. Friday wasn't much better waking up to discover someone had been in the back yard and stolen a few things.. I rang the insurance company to check on the policy and found out that it wasn't current, and they didn't even have a record of it anywhere Got a new policy organised and in the process had to upgrade the security of the house, so I spent most of the day fitting new locks to all the windows and sliding doors.. Had it all completed by 2pm and took off figuring we'd still make the barge..

We headed up the gateway and came to a complete standstill near Boondall.. After 40-45mins of standing on the side of the road, we finally got moving again.. It turned out a Pajero and caravan had rolled blocking both sides of the gateway.. The caravan looked like a pancake but the Pajero appeared ok.. We then flew the rest of the way turning up on the beach for the barge at just after 5.30pm.. The barges had stopped running so after 20mins of waiting and hoping that the one Fraser side would actually move, we decided to head back down the beach and set-up camp.

Just as we were about to head off, a Cruiser with a boat attached decided to get itself stuck doing a u-turn in the soft sand.. Never one to miss out an opportunity to snatch out a yota, we went over to lend a hand.. It turned out they didn't have snatch strap so I had to rip mine out.. After pulling them out, we headed off and found a great little private camping spot next to the beach..

Woke up at just after 5am on Saturday morning and regretted it all day. Packed up camp and spotted Big Red 30m away completely oblivious to the fact we were there.. A quick call and we met up.. Headed off to the barge and onto the island..

As we were heading up towards the camp site, the others already on the island were heading out for the day so we met up at Elli Creek.. A quick meet and greet, then a whirlwind tour of Central Station and Lake McKenzie.. then back to the camp site to set-up.. After getting depressed at the fact Big Red was set-up before I even had the stuff off the roof rack, I finally managed to set-up our Fraser Hilton camp site.. DQ wandered passed during the set-up and called out Patrol Snobs, and this then started ongoing banter each time we were around each other with LandRover Freaks and Patrol Snobs being the predominant choice of vocabulary for the stay..

With the camp set-up, and dinner eaten, it was time to wash it down and sit around the camp fire with everyone.. This was the first time I had managed to relax in the last 3 days so it was very welcome.

Sunday morning arrived and with half of us heading to the top, the other half leaving, we said our goodbyes and took off for Sandy Cape.. Not having time to replace the Claws with A/T's before leaving, I'd been concerned of what they would do on the sand.. Without any probs on the Saturday, I was feeling at ease, and then we hit Indian Head.. DQ was in front and I gave him a bit of space before heading into the soft stuff.. He slowed down a tad and I had to back off to stop from running into him.. In the process came to a complete standstill.. I whacked the lockers on and tried to get moving.. All I managed to do was sink the wheels in at an amazing rate.. It felt like I was digging my way to China, and I was regretting not finding time to swap the Claws.. I threw it in low range, full lock away from the wheel tracks, and gave it some mumbo.. I started moving at about 1km an hour so I kept it up.. 4-5000 revs non stop found me eventually plowing my way through for the next 40m or so, although I doubt I moved faster than 10km throughout it all.. I decided it'd be best to let some more air out of the tires whilst on relatively solid ground.. In the process the valve got stuck, and one tire dropped to 15psi before I could blink.. Rather than pump it back up, I let the rest down to 15, and we were on our way..

The Sth Ngkala rocks Bypass was extremely interesting as there was no way I was going to get stopped again.. I flew in there full throttle and didn't back off.. The last corner out was a doozy as the GU slid sideways and didn't look like stopping.. Steering into it, I eventually got it back and ended up riding down the dunes a few metres out of the wheel tracks.. The rest of the trip up to the top was a nice drive..

The top was looking much nicer than my last trip up there.. The little cove was like a tropical island setting.. I took the kids wandering around the dunes and they had a blast jumping and sliding down the slopes.. The view from the top of the dunes was amazing and was worth the effort to get up there.. We then headed back down and onwards towards the lighthouse..

The trip down was a good run with Big Red trying out the Nth Ngkala Rocks bypass.. Having done this before and nearly opening up the side of my GU, it was interesting to see him do it in his Ute (hitting the tray in the process), and it made me realise how stupid I had been first time round We also stopped to take some happy snaps of the little fish on the beach, and the smell was something to behold.. damn that thing stunk.. The Sth Ngkala Rocks bypass was again lots of fun.. full throttle and flying through.. highly entertaining..

We then moved onwards to the Champagne Pools which at the time needed someone to come around and top them up.. Low Tide is a lot different to high tide at that place.. We then headed back to camp..

Big Red headed off, and DQ with Muslinger & MiniMud, OnePutt, and myself & co all got settled in for another night.. We decided to try making a roast in the camp oven, and ended up with Flambéed Lamb as I set the entire thing alight in the process It tasted great though..

Monday morning and everyone headed off except myself and family so we decided to go enjoy the island.. We stopped at Elli creek and the kids splashed around a bit there.. We then moved onto Lake McKenzie.. About 60 people were heading away from the lake as we got there, so it was nearly deserted upon hitting the shore.. We went for a swim and it was FREEZING!!!! far colder than it had been on the Saturday.. After a few hours, we packed up and headed off to do some exploring.. We drove down a number of tracks I'd never been on and the drives through some of the inland forests were extremely nice.. Back onto the beach and onto Happy Valley to let someone else make us lunch.. Had a quick chat with one of the cops on the island who'd noted me digging in with my back wheels at the parking spot at Happy Valley.. With tongue in cheek, he told me a 100 Series would never do that.. I told him that's right, because a 100 Series would never make it to the car park through the soft sand in 2WD like my Patrol had. The lunch was great at Happy valley and the coffee even better.. We then headed back to camp.. A Triton was stopped near the rangers station at the camp site and they waved us over to give them a jump start.. It didn't work, as it turned out their starter motor was dead - poor buggers.. We then relaxed for the afternoon.. Dinner was the tastiest meal I'd ever had camping, and after a few bourbons to wash it down, I felt extremely relaxed and glad to be away from the city.. The missus also enjoyed some fish with dinner that had been kindly donated, and was caught by BL I believe (many thanks).. She said it was some of the tastiest fish she's had in a while..

This morning we packed up and headed home.. We spotted our one and only Dingo on the way back which made the kids happy as they'd been wanting to see one the entire trip.. It was a great run back, but now I wish I'd stayed up there for a few more days..

Terry (A.K.A. Link)



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