We were on the road by 3:45 am for the trip to Dubbo. The Bassett's didn't get away until 5:45 so even though we were travelling at at 90-95 km/h they were constantly 150 kilometres behind us.
Breakfast was at our usual breaky stop at Tocumwal. The river is certainly up at the moment.
Back on the road lunch at West Wylong (as usual) and then on to Dubbo.
We stopped at a free camp just out of Dubbo, Terramungamine Reserve (933 in Camps Wide 6) which is on the river, has toilets and is free. Get there early if you want a decent spot.
The main camping area is at the bottom of the hill on the banks of the river, where the caravans are in the distance.
The Bassett's met us an hour or so later. We were able to watch the Fremantle v Swans Preliminary Final on the iPad which was convenient.
Day 2 - Sunday
We all left Dubbo at about 8:30 am and made the long slow trip to Brisbane. We arrived at my Dads place at about 7:45 pm. He cooked us all a BBQ for dinner and the kids went nuts chasing cane toads around his backyard after finally being released from the car. We stayed inside the house and The Bassett's set up in the back yard.
Day 3 - Monday
The next morning I was up early and off to Bunnings before fitting the new legs to the pantry drawer (Thanks Dad).
We set off a bit later than we would have liked, about 10:00, after deciding to head over to Fraser a day early to take advantage of the low tide that afternoon. The Bassett's had car trouble at Gympie which slowed us up by about an hour or so.
At Rainbow Beach we met up with another group of friends 'The Bursill's' and collected our Manta Ray tickets.
We arrived at Inskip and checked out the crossing to the barge. There was already one vehicle bogged and after airing down to 20 psi decided that we would send our most experienced sand driver through first via the right hand track.
The Bassett's was stopped in his tracks by someone coming the other way and when he went to take off again got very bogged. My turn - I went left but not far enough left and ended up bogged. Then The Bursill's came through and got bogged to the left and short of me.
End result was we were all snatched out by some willing watchers and we boarded one of the last ferries across for the day. We were all running 20 PSI and when the first one got bogged probably should have lowered the other pressures that bit more before trying to get across. We did lower them to 16 PSI when we did get bogged, too little to late. We weren't the only ones getting bogged, it seemed everyone trying to tow a camper trailer across the sand got bogged and had to be assisted out.
Our first time up here and there really was a need for some sort of traffic control, with people coming off the ferry, rushing to get up and nearly having head ons with people trying to get on.
Anyway we got across to the island and set off around Hook Point and went looking for a camp site. It was getting dark as we got to One Tree Rocks camping area, we found a spot that could squeeze the 3 campers together on a patch of sand. We set about getting the campers unpacked. Not without issue though as I briefly got bogged in some soft sand trying to squeeze around one of the campers we had already unhitched.
Day 4 - Tuesday
After spending 3 days in the vehicles we set this aside as a set up day and the only trip in the vehicles was to get some shower water, which is about 1 k away at the signpost for the police station.
The kids had a bit of a swim and in the afternoon we got some Pilchards and Sandworms and tried our hand a fishing a gutter just up from our campsite. My wife caught a decent flathead, my son an undersized whiting, my mate Greg got a dart and I got onto a tailor. We cooked up the tailor and the flathead and they made for good eating. Apparently the dart tasted like parrot fish.
Day 5 - Wednesday
We made the trip up to the Maheno wreck and took the obligatory photos and then went back to Eli Creek and set up on the banks. We spent a few hours drifting down the creek and getting some photos before heading back to camp. It was a very pretty spot and reminded me of some of the thermal springs up in the Northern Territory.
Not much luck fishing this afternoon, Clare caught an undersized bream.
Day 6 - Thursday
Late start this morning and we made the decision to walk up to Lake Wabby. It was a hot stroll, not setting off until around 11:00, we took the bush route. The water at the Lake was very nice and clear you could see the cat fish swimming close to shore.
We tried sliding down the sand dunes on body boards but couldn't maintain any momentum.
We returned via the sand blow testing the calves.
The fishing that afternoon was good, my mates son Mason caught a tailor on pretty light gear, my son caught an undersized dart and then I got onto something big which was stripping my line. The fight lasted a while and when I finally got it in to shore found it was a stingray of some sort, it stuck to the sand and snapped off my gear.
We continued fishing and just before dark we got onto a school of dart and all of the kids, Trent, Mason, Cassandra and Brydie managed to pull one in. They were all wrapped to catch something it was very exciting for us and them.
Day 7 - Friday
After an early lunch we made the drive up to Central Station and walked along the Wanggoolba Creek. The water in the creek is crystal clear and you can quite easily forget you are on the Island.
The drive up to the station was fairly easy going just a little bumpy. From there we headed across to Lake Birrabeen, this track was a bit harder to get through with a couple of very soft sandy sections. The Bursill's got bogged but were easily snatched out by The Bassett's.
It wasn't a particularly nice day, very overcast and windy and the Lake was very chopped up and uninviting. We took a few photos and then headed back to Central Station for some hot showers.
Day 8 - Saturday
Grand Final for us Victorians. We sat around camp for the morning on this dedicated rest day. Just after lunch we took the kids fishing again and the dart and flathead were biting again in rough conditions, sadly no more tailor. We then watched the Grand Final on the iPad, God Bless that Telstra tower at Eurong.
Some photos of us relaxing, Greg taking it to the extreme.
Day 9 - Sunday
The Bursill's needed another rest day, so The Bassett's and myself headed off for Champagne Pools. The drive up to Indian Head was very comfortable on the low tide. We spotted a few whales frolicking in the water along the way and were stunned at how busy this end of the island was. We made the walk up the hill at Indian Head and spotted turtles, sharks, blue bottle jelly fish and dolphins. It is a great view from up there.
Then we had a crack at the track around the head. Seeing a few people bogged trying to get through we engaged low range and kept up momentum, a little bit too much momentum as it turns out, we both reckon we got airborne over one particular bump that crept up on us, but we both made it through on our first attempt. The next hurdle, literally was the entrance the Champagne Pools car park which had a large chunk taken out just below the boards, causing everyone's front wheels to leave the ground as they kept enough momentum to get through the soft sand.
We enjoyed lunch and a swim at the pools.
Then we made the return trip, battling the high tide along the way. It was slow going and the crossing at Eli Creek was now deep enough to come over the bonnet of the Prado and nearly snap the rego plate off.
As we drove back a storm was brewing at the south end of island, we watched the lightning show but it broke up as it reached the island and providing a brief shower.
Day 10 - Monday
We decided to take a morning drive to Lake MacKenzie. It was slow going though as we encountered two bogged vehicles on the sandy track. The second was a Nissan Patrol that had been lowered by its occupants and come to rest at an intersection. After about N hour of digging and pushing we finally had them on their way.
We arrived at the Lake on an overcast but very crowded day. We had a paddle in The Bursill's canoe and a swim before making the trip back.
Fishing was again productive, I caught two tailor and the kids caught numerous dart.
Video of Trent reeling in another dart
Day 11 - Tuesday
For our last day on the Island we made the drive to Eli Creek before lunch to give the kids another paddle in the clear waters.
We came back for lunch and then I took the family fishing for one last time. We caught Dart and three tailor, 37, 42, 47 cm. A dingo sat off me cleaning the fish and as soon as I finished burying the waste he was down trying to dig it up and dodge waves.
Day 12 - Wednesday
So had come the end of our trip to Fraser. We packed up and drove off the Island. The track at Inskip was like bitumen after some overnight rain.
We drove to my dads and checked out his new Bushtracker.
The next two days were spent driving home with another overnight stop at Dubbo.
Fuel Stats for the trip
Cost = $1242:73
4430 k's
829.03 litres
Avg K/L = 5.34
Avg L/100 K = 18.72
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