Thread: FNQ Aug?

At least 2 days to Fraser on the black top............ at least I say again.

August should be fine for travel in the FNQ region.

Brisbane is 2 days from Melbourne.......Cairns is 2 days from Brisbane. Make sure you check out the daintree area.

Fraser Island is awesome and August will be the ideal time to visit.

Do you like fishing???? The tailor should be on then I think......if not something will jump on the line.

I havent been to the cape yet so I cant comment.......someone will.

G'day Mudnut,

I just posted this on a camper-trailer mailing list I am on, for a person who asked a very similar question. We travelled up to the Cape and back from middle of August to beginning of September in 2006 - 4 weeks in total but could be done a lot faster. See below:

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We travelled in convoy up to Canal Creek (just above Elliot Falls) and then separated. We took 4 weeks holiday but you could do it quicker if you wanted to, by skipping any of the stuff between Brissie and Cooktown.

Standard recovery gear applies (shackles, snatch straps, recovery points, spares kit), the only really necessary equipment I would require if I were to go as a group again would be that all vehicles are equipped with a snorkel.

Creek crossing - *always* walk them, don't be afraid of crocs (but keep your eye out) because the creeks are too shallow, too fast running, and too clear for crocs to hang out in usually. If the water is murky it's because a 4wd has been through it recently which means there is even less chance a croc will be around.

In reality, winch and convoy are not required - the trip to the Cape is very very well travelled and it wasn't unusual to pass at least 4 or 5 vehicles a day once we were on the OTL (more on the bypass). We also met many travellers who went up there by themselves with no problems.

Just beware of the corrugations, they can turn you sideways if you're going too fast and we saw a few vehicles (3 prado's, actually) where the owners hadn't been able to compensate in time and had ended up rolling.

Another point about creek crossings - if you are unsure of your vehicle or camper-trailer water tightness, make sure to disconnect your fridge before crossing. I can imagine nothing worse then thinking you'd successfully crossed a creek crossing only to find your fridge shorted out when you went to set-up camp that night (and I heard of it whilst up there too!).

Keep your ears to the ground, talk to station owners / shop owners / fellow travellers to see what the conditions ahead are like. Don't be afraid to spend an hour or two chin-wagging with fellow travellers returning from the same trip you are doing.

If you plan on going through Lakefield National Park then hit it when going north as that's the direction all the signs in the park are set-up for - just makes life easier. Also make sure you do your research and find out what and where you can drink alcohol as the restrictions (and fines) up there are pretty harsh to say the least. Here is a good starting point http://www.mcmc. qld.gov.au/ community/ search/restricted.php but google is your friend.

Regarding fuel we filled up almost every day as it was just getting more expensive the further north we go and we didn't have any problems with contamination, having said that we filled up at truck stops and stations mainly. To give you an idea we used about 940ltrs of fuel from Brisbane to Cape York and back - most expensive was at the tip (of course) and it was $1.77 a ltr.

Lastly if I had a choice again I would probably stay at Punsand Bay instead of Loyalty Beach purely because Punsand Bay caravan park had better facilities - both of the parks were lovely though. We found that at Loyalty beach they only had standard 10amp plugs (like you get in your home) for 'powered sites' so we had to borrow a power lead for the few days we were there.

Hope this helps :-)

Glenn.
btw. Bushmens Repellant is your friend - the bugs ignore everything else.

Thanks for that info. We're going up to the cape June/July so that info is good, especially the fuel usage from Brisbane.
Tony