Camping on Fraser Island

[Hutch]

Cathedral is a great to camp, great facilities and fairly central, places to see, central station, lake mackenzie, eli creek, champagne pools and if the tide is right cape is always worth it. I would go off and on at rainbow obviously low tide is easiest but if tides arent right u can head up the inland track. Permits can be obtained at rainbow beach.

Hutch- Jeep GC blackhawk 2014.

[SeaComms]

You can also get the permits online. We usually camp around Central Station or Eurong in the formal camp grounds, closer to the middle for easier access to the lakes etc.

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[Hanna]

Hey adamt,

We towed our camper trailer up to Fraser Island from Geelong in November 2012 - fantastic trip, you will love it!!

We got up there in 2 days, camped at Rainbow Beach caravan park the night before heading to the island. Rainbow Beach is a pretty small town, but you can get your basics and top up with fuel there before catching the ferry at Inskip Point. You can also get your permits at the servo if can't be bothered doing it online. Make sure you grab a tide chart too so you don't get stuck trying to drive on a high tide.

The most important tip I will give you is to make sure you drop your tyre pressures before heading on to the beach an Inskip Point, especially since you're towing a camper trailer. The sand can be very soft and you can get stuck easily if you're not ready. Not sure what tyres you are running on the WK2, but I only dropped my 31" 16's (on both the car and camper) down to 18-20 psi and that was plenty. I actually raised the pressure to around 25 psi for the rest of the trip, but you need to know what works for your tyres.

We spent 6 nights on the island - the first 2 at Central Station. Central Station is great for visiting the lakes and doing some of the walks, but as it's in the middle of the rainforest it is quite shady in there, so it's cooler and there wasn't much sun for our solar panels. If you want to go anywhere else on the island it's a 25-30min drive just to get to the beach, depending on how chopped up the tracks are. Then you have to allow travel time to wherever you are going. Heading over to Kingfisher Bay Resort on the western side of the island took us about 35-40min as the tracks were pretty rough and rutted at the time.

For the remaining 4 nights we headed north to Dundubara camp ground (just north of Cathedral Beach) and we absolutely loved it there!! Good facilities, plenty of room and so close to everything you want to see - Eli Creek and the Maheno Shipwreck to the south - which you will drive past on the way, and then you only have to drive 25-30min to the north before you get to Indian Head, Champagne Pools and then onto Waddy Point. Waddy Point was one of our favourite spots to swim, fish, have lunch or just relax in general.

Orchard Beach is just north of there, where there is a servo with a shop and a bar. After that you have the ~40km trip up to Sandy Cape. This should only really be attempted on low tide, but if you time your trip right it is no dramas. Sandy Cape is well worth the effort - it is an amazing place! Almost surreal at times. Check out my signature photo, it was taken at Sandy Cape. My avatar photo was at Waddy Point.

Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention about Dundubara is the large sand blow just out the back of the camp ground. It is a pretty cool spot to check out if you're there.

When you get your permit for the island, you will need to decide between a camp ground permit or a beach camping permit. I would go with the camp ground if you want showers and not worry about wandering dingoes. Secure your food in either location anyway or you'll come back to a heap of Goannas, Lace Monitors and other wildlife picking over it!

The last thing I will mention is if you're heading south after you leave the island, make sure you do the drive along Rainbow Beach all the way to Noosa Heads. It's about 60km and you need to buy a separate permit (about $15 per/day from memory), but well worth it. You also need to catch a barge across the Noosa River, but that is also reasonable.

Anyway, I hope my advice has helped. If you have any other questions, give me a yell. Have a great trip mate, I am jealous!!

Cheers,
Hanna

[adamt]

Thanks for the great write up Hanna we cant wait, building the camper from scratch so it will be the maiden voyage.
Being a Jet edition the GC usually rolls on 20's but for trips I have a set of 18's with all terrains so they should air down OK.

Cheers

[drover]

Best to buy your permits online, cheaper that way and you can get a combined Fraser Cooloola beach permit also which allows your beach access from Teewah to Fraser. If you download the Beach report you get tide chart with it. http://nprsr.qld.gov.au/recreation-a...rmit_fees.html

[jono1967]

We just got back from Fraser 2 weeks ago it was blowing a gale when we arrived.
After scouting around for a sheltered camp spot the local police officer suggested we head north to Orchard Beach and it should be out of the wind.
As soon as we rounded the tip the wind quietened down immediately.
We camped on the dunes looking out to the sea just 4 km from Orchard general store it was awesome.
Plenty of fish were being caught on the beach in front of us very private area never got hassled over the 7 days we were there

[kj69]

We just got back from Fraser 2 weeks ago it was blowing a gale when we arrived.
After scouting around for a sheltered camp spot the local police officer suggested we head north to Orchard Beach and it should be out of the wind.
As soon as we rounded the tip the wind quietened down immediately.
We camped on the dunes looking out to the sea just 4 km from Orchard general store it was awesome.
Plenty of fish were being caught on the beach in front of us very private area never got hassled over the 7 days we were there

Nice long haul up to Orchard beach 100 km of beach driving from the barge .

[jono1967]

Nice long haul up to Orchard beach 100 km of beach driving from the barge .

Yeah it was but was worth it no people no crowds awesome view never got hindered by the tides
Just a big drive when we wanted to go south but easy drive to the lighthouse which really had the nicest beaches on the whole island