The Bundaberg Four Wheel Drive Club’s members attended their annual Fraser Island December Trip recently.
Fraser Island, or now known as “K’Gari”, which means Paradise in the Butchulla Aboriginal people’s language, is the largest sand island in the world.
Our group headed to the Waddy Point campground to base ourselves for two weeks of exploring, fishing and relaxing.
Our time on the island was spent checking out the tourist sights, with Wathumba Creek, Ocean Lake, Champaign Pools and Indian Head being the standouts.
The trip to the lighthouse needs to be timed with the tides as recent erosion from the weather means you must make your way, not only over the infamous Nkgala Rocks, but around the vegetation that has been washed onto the beach at the Sandy Cape.
The islands dingo population has come under some scrutiny recently with two attacks on children happening while we were on the island, one witnessed by our group.
The dingoes are wild animals, although they appear like domestic dogs, they can turn in an instant.
The rangers go out of their way to advise people on what to do and how to act around them.
Unfortunately people forget they are in the dingoes' environment and don’t follow instructions.
As tradition holds, we ventured to the top of Waddy Point for our last night on the islands sunset viewing, with drinks and nibbles to help pass the time.
The game of guessing where the lighthouse is before the light shows itself always has people predicting on its location from our vantage point.
After our sunset viewing the group ventured to the “Shed” to support the Orchid Beach Progress Association by having the obligatory Pie & Peas and a cool beverage to wash it down with.
The shed is manned by volunteers and we try and support them any chance we get.
It’s a great place to find out the local fishing hot spots, too bad it was our last night.
4WD Club follows annual tradition
The obligatory stop at the Maheno Shipwreck for a group shot, a stop at the bakery at Eurong and then onwards to the barge at Kingfisher Bay is usually event free.
This part of the trip proved a little more difficult than expected, with vehicles being bogged, trailer rims damaged and nearly missing the last barge put members to the test.
One of the benefits in being in a club and travelling together is there are many hands to jump in and sort out the issues.
There were many other happenings over the trip that will be talked about for years to come.
One major incident saw damage to a vehicle's radiator, which proved too difficult to fix.
It’s never a good thing when a vehicle gets a lift home on the back of a truck, but that’s what can happen in an off road environment.
People ask why we keep going back to the same place each year?
It is because every visit has a new crowd to show what the island has to offer, the changes from year to year show how nature bounces back from wild weather.
Catching beach worms seems to be the most frustrating pastime of all, as they are right in front of you but so hard to grab.
Many of the new trippers to the island spend hours upon hours trying to catch the illusive creatures, and it entertains us watching them try.
As a club our next visit to the island will be in May when we participate in the 4WDQLD clean-up, a time to give back to the iconic attraction.
To find out more on the Bundaberg Four Wheel Drive Club and activities we have on, contact us via email on info@bundaberg4wdclub.com, on the net at www.bundaberg4wdclub.com or catch us on Facebook or Instagram.
Brad Praed
Bundaberg 4WD Club Inc.
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