Fraser Island Camping Trip Diary – Part 2

Part 2 of our camping trip at Fraser Island, if you haven’t read Part 1 click here. In this post Amanda and Rick arrive, we explore Eli Creek, Lake Allom, Champagne Pools, have a beer in pub, find Fraser’s hidden west coast gem and have a fun recovery.

Day 4

Eli Creek

On Day 4 we made our way back across the island to try out Eli Creek. We usually avoid it as it’s usually jam packed. Fortunately this Wednesday morning there were only a few vehicles and one tour bus. The creek itself was relatively free of tourists. We floated down the icy, crystal clear water on our cheap tubes three times and it was delightful!

I did notice a woman with a lovely sparkly tube and pointed out to Peter before realising that her lovely tanned, perky bottom just above said tube was likely of more interest to him! However he was distracted trying to avoid being swept by the current into the backside of a very large and pale German lady who was luckily oblivious!

SS Maheno Wreck & Lake Allom

On our way back from Eli after a quick stop off at the SS Maheno wreck, we then stopped in at Lake Allom.

We’d been here before but had been scared away by a tribe of noisy children. This time it was very serene and we enjoyed a fresh water dip. We may even have seen a little terrapin pop his head up although it may have been a reed!

As we headed back to camp Peter stopped to adjust his GoPro attachment at the side of his car. This took some time so I started reading. He got my attention however when I heard him mutter to himself, “Why can’t I get the angle right? Rick’s must be a bit longer than mine!” Naturally I burst out laughing and got a sheepish look once he realised what he’d said!

”Why can’t I get the angle right? Rick’s must be a bit longer than mine!”

Spaghetti Bolognese

That evening I was on dinner duty. Previously when camping we had mostly done meals that were done on the barbecue, so Peter had been responsible. However with our nice new Drifta trailer kitchen setup I had no excuse! Having a Thermomix at home did also mean that my cooking skills were a little rusty. Nevertheless I managed to cobble together a reasonable Bolognese and pasta which I thought was pretty good!

After dinner we watched the lightening flickering around us as a storm brewed. That night, when we were snug in bed the storm arrived. It was a fierce one with lightning turning the whole sky white and thunder vibrating through the earth! Luckily everything remained intact the next morning, us included, although our little moat had been flooded in and had to be redug!

Day 5

Birthday Pancakes

It was Peter’s happy happy birthday! When he got out to go to the toilet I put his scotch and cigar as well as his dog themed birthday card (to remind him of Sadza) on his pillow. He was only getting small presents as we’d joked that his main presents had been all the gear for his car and camping!

Emboldened by my success the night before I decided to make pancakes for the birthday breakfast. I made them from scratch, carefully measuring and mixing. They came out a bit thicker than I would have liked, but went down well with syrup, ice cream and strawberries.

New Arrivals

Weighed down by pancakes we decided on a lazy day. We were in and out of the sea and otherwise read or in Peter’s case played with the drone and the trailer.

In the mid-afternoon Rick and Amanda arrived. They had to be given the guided tour of Dotty of course, before they could set up. They also had to douse themselves in Bushman’s as the bugs were excited by new blood and attacked ferociously.

All hot and sweaty from set up we trooped down to the creek. Amanda and Rick were initially reluctant to get in given the depth and reediness but we persuaded them. Amanda and I drifted in the tubes. Peter swam while Rick leapt about shrieking when things touched his foot, at least until Amanda enlisted him to push her back upstream.

Amanda and I were quite goose bumped by then so the boys took the tubes and we whisked away. As Amanda and I reached the camp again the heavens opened complete with strong wind, thunder and lightning. As their set up wasn’t arranged to deal with rain just yet Amanda ran to save the essentials. She managed to rescue the gin as well as one dry (hers) and one wet (Rick’s) chair. We then settled under our trailer awning to drink gin and await the boys in the rain. We did become concerned after a while that the deluge may have swept them out to sea but the gin fortunately soothes our worries. Sure enough they both appeared eventually, having gone so far downstream that they had to walk back through the bush.

Dinner that night was a charcoal grilled buffalo tomahawk steak from our friendly local butcher in Forest Glen. It was delicious but did look as if it had come from a prehistoric bison!

Day 6

Champagne Pools

We woke up rather earlier on Day 6, keen to beat the crowds to Champagne Pools. Once again this sounded amazing but we’d avoided it due to crowds. It is a bit of a drive from Woralie Creek back across on the inland track and then up past Indian Head.

Our luck was in that Friday morning though although it was still quite busy. The view from the boardwalk to the pools was stunning.

The pools themselves are well named with cool, clear seawater cascading in and out, fizzing and splashing. Large fish swam by and we saw a cormorant catch one and then disappear to devour it. We could have stayed there all day but eventually dud find the water too chilly.

The Pub At Orchid Beach

We dried off quickly walking back to the Cruisers given the heat – no towels needed. Our next stop was the pub at Orchid Beach (Orchid Beach Trading Post). We were disappointed at first as a sign said that the Shed was closed that day. As it turned out though the actual pub attached to the shop there was open. We treated ourselves to beers and Beefy’s pies. Along with the beautiful view it really hit the spot!

Frasers Best Kept Secret

Next we headed along an inland track to a stunning bay with hardly anyone else about. The sand was a powdery white and the water crystal blue. Amanda and I lazed in a warm lagoon on the beach and made friends with some chubby cartoonish little fish who were very curious about our presence.

Lots of Dingoes

Eventually it was time to head back to camp. The boys had some fun crossing Woralie Creek on the drive back.

Before setting out that morning we had seen a pack of three young male dingoes trot past our camp. We had carefully made sure all our food was securely put away. At first glance our site was undisturbed however on the mat just outside our tent entrance was one perfect tell-tale sandy paw print!

Before getting dinner prepared we were treated to an amazing sunset over the water… without even having to go to Western Australia! We had looked forward to this each day but had had clouds obscuring the view before this. It was very beautiful with every colour from gold to purple in the sky and reflected in the water.

Nearby, lightning was flickering in dark clouds. That evening we enjoyed some boerewors sizzled to perfection and some veggie skewers. The veggie skewers were a first attempt for us and ended up being a little charcoally but still edible! With tea and chocolate we got a glimpse of a red crescent moon over the sea.

Day 7

The Final Day

Our last day dawned a little on the cloudy side. The boys had cooked up a plan to find a lake which was apparently a little off the beaten track. As it turned out this was an understatement. First however we had to pack up. This actually went pretty quickly. We needed to get off our private beach before the tide came up too high for us to tow the trailer through. Luckily we managed this and stopped at Woralie Creek to cool down.

We then commenced our inland drive. This involved us driving down some very narrow and overgrown tracks. We came to a fork in the road, at which Peter and Rick confidently picked opposing paths. After some debate during which we were eaten alive by mossies we followed Rick’s lead…

Getting Bogged

This lead to another 2 hours of bumping down ever narrower and more overhung tracks. We stopped more and more often to move vegetation off the road. One such track was quite steep and had a step up which had obviously been churned up quite badly at some stage. Rick just managed it with his lift and without a trailer! He kindly dug the step out a bit and laid some tracks pre-emptively for us however we inevitably stopped and sunk into the soft sand.

It was time for more digging and laying of recovery tracks and eventually Rick managed to snap us out! Then we plunged on for a further hour or so of what could be described in Zimbabwean terminology as bundu bashing (bundu = bush). At this stage we were starting to doubt the existence of the fabled lake at all, or to speculate about how amazing it must be to be worth all the driving. Personally I was envisaging clear water, beach loungers and free cocktails given the challenges involved in getting there…

A Lake & Then Home

Eventually the lake came into view. It was a very nice lake certainly but sadly not accessible for a swim due to reeds and lacking in any shady lunch spots! We opted to continue back to the beach for a spot of lunch. On our way back we realised that taking the other fork all that time ago would have led us to the lake in about half an hour! Anyhoo in the end we had a very pleasant beach lunch before it was sadly time to head to the ferry for the trek home – and start planning our next Fraser escape!

The thoughts of Shayne.

We hope you enjoyed this final post on our camping trip out at Fraser Island. If you have any questions then please comment below or send us a message on Instagram.

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For more adventure posts click here.

If you have been inspired to have your own camping trip to Fraser Island then read this short post on how to get there and where to get permits as well as the island map and list of camp sites.

Thanks for reading legends 👍.