Fraser Island - Jan '07

Fraser Island Trip December 2006 - Jan 2007

Trip Leader: Huby Vink White Triton Ute

Participants: Minna, Tim, Michael Ludlow

Allan, Zac & Ben Jefford Green Pajero

Judy Vink and John Marshall White Troopy

Naomi and Tony Ritchie and James Silver Nissan Patrol

Mike Shaw Silver Pajero

John Veling Grey Pajero

Graeme Clarke Green Triton

Jeff Sparkes Silver Pajero

Mark and Andrew Lyall Toyota 40 series ute

Sebastian and Leena

Brian McKenzie and Faye Delica Spacegear

Allan Hughston and Max White NM Pajero

Fantastic. Fantastic. Fantastic. That’s the best way to describe the trip. Every day just got better than the previous day.

We meet at Rainbow Beach before 10am. Two vehicles were to follow as Mark Lyall’s 40 series ute had blown two tyres on the way to Gympie. So they stayed behind looking for tyres. After everybody was introduced, all vehicles full of fuel and making sure everyone had their vehicle access passes, we headed up the beach to the barge at Inskip Point.

The Barge was the next stop, followed by the drive to Dilli Village along a badly corrugated road. This gave the load we were carrying a chance to settle down and any loose parts to fall off. The weather was not kind to us with fairly frequent showers. However we drove on in anticipation of a great adventure. Then we continued on to Lake Boomanjin for Lunch. After lunch we travelled west to Ungowa and then south to Gary's Anchorage for the night where we met up with the two vehicles that we had left behind in Gympie. We had the whole site to ourselves. Not to let us down the sand flies were out but we where prepared. Happy hour was at half past as usual.

Judith Vink and John Marshall brought along some friends, who we affectionately called the young ones, and setup the two large tarps for our communal area and a portable toilet which Huby had brought along.

Thursday 28^th: Travelled back to Lake Boomanjin via a different track and on to Central Station. It took us 5 hours to travel 13.5 km in the drizzle, with a lot of track clearing being necessary. Judith proved very capable with her bare hands. Some of us ignored the chill and went for a refreshing swim in crystal clear Lake Boomanjin. It was a long day and everyone was glad to get to Central Station for the night and have a hot shower.

Friday 29^th: A beautiful sunny day at last. We headed for Lake McKenzie but it was so crowded we continued on to, McKenzie's Jetty, "Z" Force Training Camp. Along the way we discovered that Huby has a different interpretation of left and right to everybody else. We got sent down the garden path when told to turn left when it should have been right. And later on, while driving down the beach, Huby’s description of cliffs on the left were clearly on the right. He lead, we followed. Kingfisher Bay Resort was a good place for an ice cream or a coffee before heading into the wilderness and finally making camp on the beach near Woralie Creek. This was a beautiful spot with a fresh water creek running through the white sand to a calm beach. There were two other family groups there but you would not have known. We all decided that we would like to stay here for a day or week and that we would all like to be Huby Groupies.

Saturday 30^th: A fine day. Reluctantly we packed up and headed up the beach to Bowarrady Creek, Awinya Creek, crossing Yeerull Creek into Wathumba at low tide. Here we found three bogged vehicles and decided to back track a bit to avoid the same fate. Huby had some fun snatching one of the bogged vehicles out. We then travelled through some soft sand on to Orchid Beach and Ocean Lake for the night. Orchid Beach was a good place to get supplies like fuel, water, and ice. Fuel was $1.68/l. Being New Year’s Eve we had drinks in Ocean Lake with our various versions of floating Kon-Tiki Bars. We introduced the etiquette of the three shakes of your hand before dipping into the nibblies. This stopped the nibblies from becoming too soggy. It was on this night that the inaugural B***ard Awards where announced for the trip for various reasons. The following people got the following awards:

Silly B***ard – Mike Shaw Mad B***ard – Huby

Lucky B***ard – Sebastian Sleezy B***ard – John V

Funny B***ard - Graeme Clarke Helpful B***ard - Judy

Smart B***ard – Brian McKenzie Corrupted B***ard - Zac

Sneaky B***ard – Allan J Quiet B***ard – Faye

Georgous B***ard – Minna Ludlow Techno B***ard – Geoff

Desirable B***ard – Naomi Just a B***ard - Max

Well Behaved Young B***ards - Kids Old B***ard – Tony

Crawling B***ard – Tony

Enlightened B***ard – Allan H (He got rid of his Prado)

That will be a New Year’s Eve many of us will remember for a long time.

Sunday 1^st: Departed at 9.00 am for the lighthouse. The tide was high at Ngala Rocks so we had to take the inland bypass track where a couple of vehicles got bogged and had to be snatched out amongst the chaos of heavy traffic. We stopped on the way for some sand tobogganing on Flinders Sand Blow. Lunch was on the beach after an hour’s walk up to the lighthouse and back. We then had a quick trip back to Ocean Lake to pack up and have a swim before a dash down the beach to get as much distance under our belts before half past. We set up camp in the sand dunes with alfresco dining under the stars the order of the day.

Monday 2^nd: Our last day. We travelled south down the beach via The Pinnacles, Maheno wreck, Eli Creek, Happy Valley, Rainbow George, Eurong, Dilli Village to get to Hook point at about 3pm.

We said our goodbyes at Rainbow beach as everyone got their vehicles washed and tyres pumped. It was sad to part but we were all looking forward to getting home to a warm shower and a soft bed.

Overall, the trip showed us the whole of Fraser Island, highlighting the diverse scenery that it has to offer.

Thanks to the young ones.. Judy Vink, John Marshall, Mark and Andrew Lyall, Sebastian and Leena … for all their energetic help during the trip.

I am sure that all of us would like to thank Huby very much for leading this great, memorable trip, and his tireless efforts.

Allan Jefford