queensland Fraser April 2012... The Trip.....

[swabio]

Well,

All I can say is that I did not want to come home at all..... neither did the family! We had an absolute ball on Fraser...... and as far as facilities go, the Kingfisher Resort was perfect for our family....and was a bit cheaper for us to get a 2BR villa versus a house @ Orchid or somewhere else on the island. We ended up spending six nights on the island...... somewhat inadvertently, as in my haste to get it all sorted out, I apparently clicked the wrong calender date..... so we arrived a day early.... :beye: :oops: But they had a vacancy that day for our villa.... so it was all good :grin: :lek: Only catch was we couldn't check in to 1600... but hey no problems, beats sleeping in the car :cool:

So after unloading the mighty Patrol, and doing a bit of hammering of the now sand filled padlock, i dumped the trailer and HMAK Maristika..... we got settled in, and decided that for that afternoon, we'd let the kids swim in the pool, and have a look around the resort.

So around the resort we went, and being the end of school holidays it was still pretty busy..... but not too busy......

Took a while to unload everything and get settled in the villa.... so we had a reasonably sedate night after the drive up.....

we weren't sure on the beach conditions etc so decided to go the inland road on the way up.... was pretty good although heavily corrugated......

The cattle grid from the beach into Eurong had a massive drop off on the non beach side......

Once we got towards Kingfisher Bay Resort (KBR) the track into that was chewed up a fair bit, there were some protests as the trailer was skull dragged through a few bumps and holes, but we got there eventually without any problems.....

Once on the island and settled we began exploring the next morning...over the next few days we went everywhere I wanted except Wathumba Creek and the Cape..... that is the only drawback to KBR, it is a damn long way to those areas for a day trip......

The kids loved Eli & Mc Kenzie....as well as Moon Point....

I went fishing on the Monday with Craig out of Hervey Bay Fraser Island Guided Fishing.... so my son and I headed out into the Bay in search of Tuna...... we had an absolute ball! My 7yo son reckons it was the best day of his life, even though the fish were way too powerful for him to try and land..... he helped me on one, but was happy just to enjoy the time on the water!

The day went exceptionally well except a stuff up on my behalf..... I went to cast a slug into the boil..... and after about three metres of line leaving the spool..... I somehow managed to trip the bail arm on the little Ci4...... and the slug rebounded and I managed to catch my first person :oops: :rf: Unfortunately that was our Guide, Craig...... I must say, he was much better than I would have been in the situation, and had an excellent attitude and sense of humour, even though two of the treble hooks were buried deep in the top of his wrist!.... after a bit of stuffing about, we cut the split rings and he even continued to get us onto some good fish before we headed back....

I can not rate Craig highly enough, he spared no effort in getting us onto the fish even though they were a little spooky and flighty, we managed some good Tuna...... I landed three decent longtails, lost one to a shark in an explosion on the surface...... nothing at all left of it.... or the leader...... one spat the hooks...... and we saw a couple of big sharks in the water..... my son was ecstatic about us seeing what appeared to be a 4-6m shark come out from under the boat..... about 4 feet below the surface and head towards the hooked tuna........

The first one boated took almost half an hour to land on the little stradic..... and we had to chase down the fish a bit as I saw the spool through the braid..... I only had 20lb flouro leader on so didn't want to put too much pressure on it.... I was just happy my knots held up..... (something I have had to work on! )

The other two boated were both on my new Terez and Saltist 4500 combo.... and that was a pleasure to use..... the additional line capacity of the 4500 was great, and the Terez was a very nice to use......

Well this is a kayak forum.... so now onto the Yak part.......

The yak pretty much stayed on the trailer..... except for one day...... We paddled around the KBR area..... managed to hook up with a trevor that threw the hooks and that was really about it..... we were only on the water for about 1.5 hrs......

The water was sensational, and I would kill to be back there with the yak and more time..... This trip was about quality family time and some fishing when the opportunity arose!

Well, time to start planning the next Fraser Trip..... I reckon 2-3 weeks at the end of the year is the go! Will have to wait and see.... but the initial plan is..... 1 week @ KBR..... 1 @ Orchid and then another at KBR... or home... depending on the time available.....

Here are some pix from the trip! (probably easier viewing here.... Fraser Island Album )

Heading Over!

Fishing!

Results!

Anyone from here?

[reel mate]

Great trip richard. Some nice shots there. Also well done on teeing up a trip with Craig. Sorry to hear about the little drama ya's had but Craig's a good sport. Good to see the young fella enjoy it too!

[swabio]

Cheers Mate it was bloody good fun up there! And can't wait to go back again!

Will definitely head out with Craig, or Bargy again..... well worth it!

[fishingnut]

Cool pics especially that eagle/osprey ?

[Funfisher]

Great report and pics i love that place, And had a chuckle about you hooking Craig the poor bugger.. he is a legend and i am not surprised he kept you fishing for a while after it happened even with hook in hand .

[waldo]

A PB guide you got ot be happy with that :woohoo: Looks like it was a great trip. Was that eagle trying to put the Pippi bird on the menu?

[dan25]

Awesome stuff, has got me more keen. Planning a trip to fraser next holidays can't wait.

[Angus]

Just moved this from General Chat to Report

And a great one at that!

Angus

[Damien2Rad]

My whole year is based around the Fraser Island trip.

I've spent 1 to 2 weeks there every year (give or take a few) since my first trip aged 3 months in 1985. So many things I see there I've never seen any where else.

Turtles, Turtles mating, Humpbacks, Turtles mating with Humpbacks in the background, dolphins chasing whiting schools in the shallows at the cape, the Birds - feathered birds, love it, watching backpackers try get up the cutting while chilling on the hill near the Champagne pools, bagging out on Tailor in the morning and whiting in the arvo.....

Gee, a few beers an all my replies turn into essays.

It's my favourite place ever.

[swabio]

A PB guide you got ot be happy with that :woohoo: Looks like it was a great trip. Was that eagle trying to put the Pippi bird on the menu?

Sure did put it on the menu.....

also here are a few more pics.....

[swabio]

Hmmm I can't wait until next trip to Fraser! neither can the kids!

[swabio]

We are heading back to Fraser next month! Wonder what will be biting this time......