2 days on Fraser, day 2.

Day 2 - Start with the tides.

(are you looking for day one?)

A quick study of the tides and our deadline of a barge leaving at 5pm from Kingfisher Bay Resort goes a long way to dictating how we shall spend our day.

Low tide is 8:38 am, so the sooner we are on the beach, the more beach we will have. Using the app, we can see that at about 2 hours before high tide we will have a tide of 1.48m. That's only 3cm below the high tide of the night before - taking that into consideration we see that at 2 hours before high, there will likely be almost no firm beach to drive on.

Breakfast, load up and check out and onto the beach.
First stop is the famous Eli Creek.

Crossing Eli Creek is best done at Low Tide

Plenty of room for entertainment.

Eli Creek is always a popular stop, the creek is cool, clear and flowing and definitely worth more than just a passing glance. Park up and take a walk up the boardwalk and back down the creek, get out your chairs and chill.

Maheno Wreck is just up the beach from Eli Creek

The ever changing face of the Maheno.

Just up the beach is the Maheno Shipwreck, we must have stopped here hundreds of time, but we will again. Watching the slow change of the wreck over time has been fascinating and always worth a visit to explore. The wreck is very unstable, please keep your kids off it.



The tide has been coming in all this time, and it's probably time to head for an Ice Cream at the Fraser Island Retreat (Happy Valley).

Cornwell's Break Road can be a bit rougher than most roads, but it's a worthwhile drive.

Lake McKenzie

Lake McKenzie

Back down the beach a little, and right onto the Corwell's Break Road - this a one of the rougher roads on the Island with exposed roots and reasonably large holes. We'll take this road halfway across the Island to Lake McKenzie (we are expecting it to be busy).

It will be getting well into the afternoon by now and time to head to the SandBar and Jetty Hut at Kingfisher Bay Resort. If you have to wait, and air up your tyres somewhere, this is the place to do it.
While you are waiting;

• check out the resort
• go fishing from the jetty
• maybe even hire a Segway

At about 15 minutes before departure we will be asked to make our way down the Jetty (we drive forwards onto the barge, and reverse off) and onto the barge.
The trip back to River Heads takes about 45 minutes.






There's so much more of Fraser Island to see, 2 days doesn't go close to doing it justice, especially when the tides are 'awkward'.

We use Hema Maps, General Tyres, TJM Products, Goal Zero Solar, Xray Lights and have a great relationship with our friends at Kingfisher Bay Resort.

2 days on the World's Biggest Sand Island

2 days isn't much of a break, but it's still a break.

We've managed to squeeze a quick trip to Fraser Island into the gap between Christmas and New Years. Here's how we plan to spend it.

Make no mistake, it's peak time on the Island.

Day one

We'll sail from River Heads, Hervey Bay on the Fraser Venture to Wangoolba Creek.

Hervey Bay really is the stepping off point to the best bits of Fraser Island.

2 bedroom apartment

With only one night available to us we have elected to stay in a 2 bedroom apartment at the Eurong Beach Resort. We love it there, the buffet dinners and breakfasts in the restaurant are really good and very affordable. The rooms are always clean, the resort pool is a favourite with the kids and Eurong is ideally located for the beginning of a day on the beach.

Eurong Beach Resort

The kids votes were split as to what they would like to see and do (my kids know Fraser Island very well, better than most adults, even those who have been coming here for years (there's more to the island than fishing and XXXX .)

• Maheno
• Eli Creek
• Champagne Pools
• Fishing
• Lake McKenzie.
• Swimming
• Central Station

Okay, with that wish list to work on we need to establish what's practical.

At Midday it's 1.57m

What are the tides doing?

Hmm, that's going to limit our movements a bit. We are on a 1015 barge to Wangoolba Creek, that gets us over to Eurong at about 1145... Just short of High Tide...

That pretty much rules out heading to the beach until late afternoon...

We'll stop at Central Station, (always a favourite, it's really worth a visit if you have always just driven past). Take the time to explore the information centre, including the collection of relics from logging - it's big on info, not so much on presentation. While at Central Station be sure to do the Wangoolba Creek boardwalk.

Southern Lakes Drive

After Central Station we'll probably turn south and do the Southern Lakes drive. The highlight on this track is definatley Lake Birrabeen, it's like a smaller, much less crowded version of Lake McKenzie. The southern lakes drive will bring us out onto the beach near Dilli Village after passing Lake Boomanjin (there is a great little campsite at Lake Boomanjin). 

Chocolate Croissants at the Eurong Bakery are a tradition.

The Southern Lakes Drive takes you through a variety of terrains and ecosystems, its a diverse and sometimes challenging drive.

By the time we arrive at Dilli Village, the tide will have turned and will be heading out. We'll complete the short 10kms up to Eurong and check into out room.

The kids will head to the pool I'm sure.

I'm heading for a coffee and chocolate croissant at the Eurong Bakery.

The afternoon will hold some photo opportunities on the beach before dinner at the Restaurant.

That's not a bad day one... More to come on day two.

We use Hema Maps, General Tyres, TJM Products, Goal Zero Solar, Xray Lights and have a great relationship with our friends at Kingfisher Bay Resort.

Keeping your beach drive fun.

Staying safer on the beach.

Remember - The beach is a habitat and a highway.

If you drive in such a way to look after your passengers, you are looking after your car, and you are looking after the terrain/environment as well.

Big run ups, and spinning tyres may look impressive on YouTube, but they are unnecessary, unsustainable and dangerous.

Successful sand driving is 4 things.

1.       Planning – You should never be caught unawares by the tide, tide tables are published well over a year in advance, there are many weather or tide apps that are freely available for your phone or device.

a.       Plan to travel within 2 hours of low tide.

b.      Allow for strong winds to increase the effective height of the tide.

c.       Be realistic with how much you can see or do in one day.

d.      Don’t rush, the beach is a highway, aircraft landing strip, fishing mecca, playground and habitat – slow down.

2.       Clearance – you either have this on any given day, or you don’t. You can certainly improve your vehicle’s clearance – legally, but about 75mm for the body work and 25mm for the running gear through a combination of suspension and tyre size increases. Having appropriate clearance under the vehicle makes for less stressful motoring and allows you to choose the best line through the inland tracks without fear of becoming ‘grounded’.

a.       Consider if upgraded suspension or taller tyres is appropriate for your needs.

b.      Consider replacing the flimsy original ‘bash’ plates with more substantial ones.

3.       Traction – or “Getting your tyre pressure right”. Here at the Australian Offroad Academy we do not throw psi figures around, or at you. We say “Go as low as you need to go, but no further”. Getting tyre pressure right depends on;

a.       The size, type and construction of your tyre.

b.      How heavy your vehicle is.

c.       The conditions on the day.

There is no ‘best pressure’ there is only the pressure that allows you to traverse the terrain (in this case sand) with the minimum loss of traction (spinning wheels) on any given day.

4.       Torque – it’s torque that allows your 4x4 to pull through the softer bits of sand… It’s torque that makes your wheels turn when the resistance increases. You get torque right by getting your gears right.

a.       There is nothing wrong with using Low Range on the inland tracks

b.      There is nothing wrong with using Low Range on the beach when the going gets tough.

Beach driving is a special experience, it’s great fun on its own but it also allows us to access many other forms of recreation. It doesn’t need to be scary, or dangerous.

Top Ten Take-away Tips

1.   Plan your visit, get your permit and a map, be realistic, understand the tides.
2.   Inspect, (replace if necessary) and pack your recovery gear, clean rubbish and unnecessary stuff from your 4x4.
3.  Try to avoid roof loading, or at least plan to only put light, bulky things on the roof.
4. Get your tyre pressures right – ask the locals what conditions have been like
5. Enter the beach with caution – select low range for beach entries and exits – maximise torque while minimising speed in this ‘bottleneck’ area.
6. Be prepared to adjust your tyre pressures, up or down.
7.  Maintain a careful watch, there is no driving environment more dynamic, look out for animals, children, fishing gear, planes, washouts, other traffic and more.
8.  Be aware of speed limits but drive to the conditions (this often means traveling well under the posted limit.
9.   Take care of your crew – seatbelts are not optional.
10. Take heaps of photos, have a great time, and tell all your friends how lucky you are to be able to drive on our fabulous beaches.

It's not a birthright...

We 4wders come to the recreation from varied backgrounds, with varied needs and ambitions.

Some want a quiet creek to fish in, others want creeks to cross. 

Some want to climb a mountain for the views, others merely want to just get to the top.

Some want to do all these in there life, others all in one weekend- and why not??

One thing that we all want, is places to go, without onerous permits and permissions.

But is this access really a birthright?

Tread Lightly have many resources like this one. See link below.

You should understand that I support the recent  activities and efforts of Unlock Australia - It is firmly my belief that the members of that organisation will agree at least with my sentiments, if not with all of my words.

The term birthright implies that there should be an unhindered, unregulated and unsupervised access to whatever you believe that you are entitled to. I guess that that is a nice, utopian, view of open and equitable access for all. The reality is, however that many events, days out, or even 'magazine' shoots are occuring on land that is not actually gazetted as public access, or in some cases is actually privately owned - their is no 'birthright' that lets you go onto someone else's land.

Likewise, many areas of public land are tenured as resource reserves, or scientific areas. These two land uses are very, very different but each one needs to be respected - noone wants to come around a corner and find heavy machinery working an active quarry and noone should find themselves in a quarantined, protected scientific area - the significance of which is likely unapparent to the casual observer. The harm which can be done by one group of bike riders or 4wders entering and traversing a quarantined area is significant.
You must always know the tenure of the land you are on - the lack of a "Do Not Enter" sign is not an invitation.

I suggest to you, the reader, the 4wder, the enthusiast, that, rather than looking upon our natural places as some kind of entitlement or inheritance, or as you as the 'end user', we should see our roles as ones of caretaker, educator and defender.

Locking things up does not protect our natural places, nor does allowing unregulated access.

We, the offroad community need to stand up for our access (Joining Unlock Australia is one way to do this), participating in beach clean up events, or other community sponsored activities is another...

BUT we must stop the small minded in our midst, who see their access as a right rather than an equally weighted responsibility..

We must stand up to those people who act dangerously, or unsustainably on public land, we must not sit by while rubbish bins are allowed to overflow, while careless campers just throw sand or dirt over smouldering fires, while doughnuts are dug into wet ground.

These actions are deliberate and they cost us all, in real terms with limited public money bring spent on repairs rather than improved amenities but they also cost us actions and freedoms.

We have a responsibility to get our kids and grandkids outdoors, and to demonstrate best practice and behaviour to them when we do. These kids need to learn, more than any previous generation, to love but equally to respect our land, water and sky.

Actions:

Join or follow Unlock Australia
Join or follow Tread Lightly
Join or follow Tarangoa Blue

If you see a picture or post on social media, or people behaving irresponsibly, ask them to take it down. ( I remember a post a few years back when I confronted a member and asked them to remove an image of their 4wd on dune vegetation - what ensued immediately was lost of chest beating but it turned into a great discussion, with lots of involvement about why we simply must be better at portraying our recreation, and why we simply must be more thoughtful of our media - plenty of other similar events have only resulted in chest beating and name calling unfortunately, but there is always hope).
Keep your convoys small and manageable (if you are the organiser of even a casually arranged convoy you have a duty of care to the people who will follow you.)

6 reasons to build a 4x4

Vehicle manufacturers do a pretty good job of building safe, comfortable and capable 4x4s.

What they also do, is give us options. 

Right now, as I tap this out on my phone, there are 15 vehicles below me on the vehicle deck of the Kingfisher Bay Resort Barge. 

There's a Camry, and 2 delivery trucks, so we'll look at the other 12. 

2 prados

1 Pajero

1 Landcruiser ute

2 BT50s

2 Rangers
1 Hilux

1 Triton

A 100 series 

And a patrol ute with a great canopy setup. 

That's 12 different vehicles, 12 different kinds of owners and 12 different plans. 

Here's 6 ways that people build their 4x4s, there's others of course...

1. The school run. 

Range Rover, so much underestimated ability.

Bags, dogs, friends, soccer or karate practice: there's plenty of reasons to want the practicality of a 4x4 ute or wagon. Maybe you have three kids and one row of seats just doesn't cut it. Maybe you have two kids who have lots of friends. 

Your vehicle build might be limited to seat covers and DVD players, and that does what you need. 

You might have a fur baby rather than kids, that fur baby might be very furry and the practicality of a ute with a canopy could be just what you are looking for for trips to the beach.

The BT/Ranger - Tradies can now go almost anywhere.

2. The work ute

Brickie, builder, vet and mobile mechanic need a vehicle with flexibility, tow capacity and functionality. 

It's likely that 4x4 would only be engaged if the job site is wet or slippery. The build might comprise of floor mats, tow packs, drawers and maybe even a dual battery for the fridge. 

The FJ Cruiser has all the traction options.

3. The weekend escape

School run midweek, camper trailer hauler on the weekend. The owners of this car need to be mindful of keeping the around town manners that we expect of a modern 4x4 while carefully choosing their modifications to enable them to get out and about further and safer than their stock vehicle will allow. 

It's likely that you'll find a UHF radio, mats, seat covers, bullbar and driving lights, entertainment for the kids and a set of aftermarket tyres, possibly a diff lock, but probably some standard form of traction control.

4. The purpose built tourer

The Patrol ute downstairs comes to mind. The owners of this vehicle have taken the stock car as a platform to customise and improve. 

Radios, dual batteries, traction aids, bar work, quality winch, customised storage solutions, roof racks and any number of clever solutions to unique problems. 

This owner is very proud of their 'never-quite-finished' project.
And then there's this.

I can think of so many places I want to go.

The GQ and its friends are a great place to enter the game.

5. The entry level

Here we find 80 series cruisers, previous generation utes and many other genuine used car yard treasures. These owners are still working out where on the Offroad spectrum they belong and as such often have a not completely lucid view of what mods their vehicle needs. 

It is here that we find 'entry level' winches and modified eBay finds. 

These owners are learning heaps, and having a ball (and often have an inflated view of what their 'built not bought' gem is worth come trade-up time).

6. The 'comp truck'

These are the cars built to perform either high speed events or very slow speed events. Each needs it's own specialised equipment. 

This is the domain of massively modified long travel coil suspension, crawler gears, roll cages, high speed winches and body armour. 

The owners of these vehicles have built a dedicated Offroad machine, without the compromise of needing to maintain road worthiness. (Of course no one would drive such a heavily modified vehicle on road, would they. ) 

Add caption

We all have different reasons to go Offroad, some of us even have multiple 4x4s, each built for different tasks, and there would be many examples of vehicles transitioning between usage needs as their owners have begun to discover more of the attraction of going off road.

Something for Everyone

 Where are you on my list of six?
Or, are you on a different list altogether?

www.4x4training.com.au

info@4x4training.com.au

www.facebook.com/australianoffroadacademy

Top 5 reasons to go to Fraser Island on a rainy day

Some say, it rains 300 days a year on Fraser Island. I don't doubt it, it's 120 kms long, has lowland marshes, elevated forests and lakes, and a rainforest. 

All of the postcards for Fraser Island show blue skies and clear lakes but if you happen to arrive on a rainy day, don't be sad, there's more to see and enjoy. 

5. The tracks get easier to drive, kinda. 

The inland tracks can be an easy drive or, if it's been dry and hot (as it was this last summer) inland conditions can catch out even the most experienced and well prepared driver. 

One good shower of rain goes a long way to restoring the tracks, however, heavy, continuous rain brings out a whole new challenge. 

For the 4wder with some experience this 'liquified' sand is a whole new driving experience. 

4. It tends to be a bit quieter. 

If it's been really raining, people tend to put off their trip, or if they are already there they look to stay in camp reading a book. 

Imagine being set up on the beach, well setup, and watching the weather roll in or across the beach, with your feet up and a good book. 

Your visit to Fraser Island does not always need to be about seeing as much as you can. 

3. Free car wash. 

Let's face it, camping on the beach is a fairly hostile environment for your 4wd. 

A couple of good fresh water soakings does wonders to break down, or prevent that salt incursion into every panel gap. 

Clearly, this won't help with the underbody, but you've already paid for proper rust protection there, right?

2. Go for a bush walk.

Grab a quality rain jacket, your boots and day pack and go for a walk. 

The tracks get firmer, the wildlife always seems to be more visible, it's cooler and the only way to truly experience a rainforest is to immerse yourself in it, in the rain. 

I'll personally endorse the Pile Valley walk along the banks of Wangoolba Creek from Central Station as an excellent wet weather walk. 

1. Because you are on Fraser Island

Honestly, would you rather be at work, or driving in the city, or catching a train?

Probably not. 

General Redwalls.