Fraser Island

When the wife and I did cape york back in 93, the intention was to do Fraser Island on the way back. However the car broke down and we lost a week getting repairs and then the Wife got sick with a bad flu so we skipped Fraser and came straight home. So Fraser was unfinished business.

Well My family and I Just got back from the Island and what a place. Totally unique! Where else can you go from a beach, drive 30 something k's in low 2nd or 3rd, swim in a pristine fresh water lake with pure white sand (Lake McKenzie) travel another 15K's or so have a great meal while the kids swim in the free pool, (The SAND BAR at Kingfisher Bay) then travel another 30 something K's in low range again and check out yet another lake, then head back to the resort and jump in the spa. AWESOME DAY!!

Absolutely loved it there. Spent 5 nights in the resort at Eurong. Didn't do any fishing as we spent all our time exploring the Island.
Highlights ffor me was, The Prado behind me at Inskip point getting bogged 20 feet onto the beach BEFORE the barge
Central Station, Lake Mckenzie, Eli Creek, Champagne Pools and all the different tracks we explored.

In a way I'm glad we didn't do Fraser in 93 as looking back I wasn't really prepared for it and the old 84 Jackaroo I had at the time really would have struggled in the deep sand. Not the Nav though. What a weapon it proved to be off road. Which is a good thing because after driving it 25 hours nonstop from Adelaide to Gilston Qld(behind surfers) all of us were just about ready to burn it as the ride just sucked. I had Pedders put their track rider shocks in it but I couldn't afford to change the springs or torsion bars. It was a lot better but it's still too soft at the front and too stiff in the rear. I'm gonna have to do something about that now if I wanna keep it that's for sure. The NAV ran like a train the whole trip and never missed a beat.
After Fraser we spent a week in Elanora and took in some of the tourist stuff around there. Went to Tambourine Mountain and talk about steep roads! Picture this, the sign said 18% incline and it's drizzling. The next sign says "All bus passeger be seated now". My mate in his pathfinder is up front and holding me up to the point where I fell off boost so I had to change back to 2nd. By the time I put the clutch in and changed down we were doing about 20kp/h and at the steepest part of the hill. As I put my foot down the motor revs up freely. Too freely. I thought the clutch was slipping but then the back end stepped out. I had both tyres lit up on bitumenYAHOO!!

We got home last friday after spending the night in Dubbo. On the way I think I collected half the locust swarm between West Wyalong and Balranald. Damn they make a mess I had locust guts every where. Not just the radiator, EVERYWHERE. The bullbar was covered, as well as the bonnet, the caopy roof,the mirrors,the side windows the engine bash plate, the control arms, tie rods, CV's, shocks and inside the wheel arches. I even got a handfull out of the inside of each front wheel. THE STINK!!!!!


Anyway, Faser? Job Done!!

thats awesome going there for new years hope the standard height will be ok in the d40

should be fine mate, I go up there every year, blokes tow 20 foot luxury fishing boats, caravans etc up there with standard vehicles. Just keep up momentum and make sure you're always in torque band, oh and have your tires at about 16PSI or thereabouts.

Yeah you'll be fine. My D22 isnt lifted and had no probs. My mates pathfinder has even less clearance and he had no problems. Just let your tyres down BEFORE you leave the bitumen at inskip point or you wont even make it to the barge.

DVR said:

Yeah you'll be fine. My D22 isnt lifted and had no probs. My mates pathfinder has even less clearance and he had no problems. Just let your tyres down BEFORE you leave the bitumen at inskip point or you wont even make it to the barge.

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That's actually one of the toughest spots on the whole trip depending on how powdery the sand is at inskip. That's why I took my D22 there the first weekend I owned it, to test it out. Left the tyres at 35PSI (pretty much trying to bog it) and it got through peice of piss...

The D40's are around 2 inches lower than D22's, I had my 22 side-by-side with my old man's 40 (fitted with HD Old Man Emu suspension kit) and mine was still higher, stock standard. But I wouldn't worry, you see Outlanders, subaru's, RAV4's etc at Fraser all the time and their ground clearance is non-existent, you've just gotta give them a bit of stick to get through the soft stuff (plough though it...)

Tyres down makes such a huge difference, and you don't need muddys or anything special. Actually the less chunkier the tread, the better. One year when my old man had his 06 hilux SR, his mate had exactly the same vehicle, both had stock skinny wheels and tyres, but dad's tyres were LT's and his mates weren't. The LT's had really stiff sidewalls and the bloody thing got bogged at the sight of any deep soft sand, the one with the softer sidewalls got through easy. They were the exact same sized tyres, even the same manufacturer & model.