Inskip Recreation Reserve

[Tybo]

Took this last week off work and decided to take the wife, dog and the boat away camping. As far as I researched the only place in SEQ you could do this was Inskip Recreation Reserve. But it ticked a lot of boxes, so we were keen to give it a try. All up the week was just above average with the weather playing a significant role in us packing up early and heading home. But we learnt a lot, so thought I'd put something here as a little insight into the area for anyone else.

In theory Inskip Recreation Reserve has everything. Beach camping on a surf beach, with access to everything at Rainbow Beach less than 10km away, boat ramps, access to barges across to Fraser Island, calm Sandy Straits within walking distance, dogs allowed, fires allowed, clean toilet facilities, 4 areas with no specific camping spots (camp wherever you like), 4wd and 2wd camp access.

Of the camping areas at Inskip I chose the Dorrigo campsite to setup, although I looked at all of them. The first camp area on the Inskip recreation reserve, The Oaks, is the only spot without toilets. It is pretty much dune camping and very exposed to the east and surf beach. Being in a two wheel drive ute, loaded with camping gear and towing a 1 tonne boat meant that I was dictated by the solidest of tracks. The road all the way to the end of Inskip is sealed bitumen, however as soon as you enter any of the camp grounds the bitumen ends. Most of the camp areas are 4x4 only, and really they are that. The Oaks is very 4x4, with super soft sand. The third site Beagle appears hard, but once you get into it all of sudden it becomes soft. Natone I didn't even attempt, with a softsand hill climb just to get in. Sarawak is clearly the most popular with great cover and easy access with 2x4 vehicles. There is some soft sand but comparitive to the other sites, it's all rather hard. We arrived on a Tuesday out of peak season and the waterfront area at Sarawak was already full of caravans. This is the only area to setup, or even turn around when you're towing something large, which made it quite hard to get out under trees with a boat and trailer hitched on the back. Dorrigo area has just as much area, but far less trees. It is two wheel drive accessible due to QPWS spreading bark down on the main track, but off the track and the sand is soft as hell. I got bogged twice just inches off the track and was lucky my Dad was there also with his Cruiser and winch to pull me out.

At the time we stayed, fire bans were in place. This wasn't too much of an issue, except that maybe with a fire buring all day it may have kept the fierce entourage of sandflies at bay. Citronella and mozzie coils did nothing, our only option was to lather ourselves in RID. Dorrigo is a massive area, though a little exposed. There are some nice gully spots, however getting down there was clearly 4x4 only and turning around not an option. There are plenty of toilet blocks and facilities were A+, possibly some of the best long drop toilets I've encountered. There is no water anywhere on the Inskip peninsula, however the is great free water station on the road in, at Rainbow Beach. Although dogs are allowed, they must be leaded and kept under control at all times, whilst also noted not to chase or harass the birds or other wildlife. With half a dozen scrub turkeys sniffing around you campsite on an hourly basis, this isn't the easiest rule to keep in check. But alas nothing was harmed, no one complained and no QPWS officer ever came knocking. Animals will do what animals do.

According to my research, there were two ramps to chose from whilst staying at Inskip. One at Bullock Point and the other at Carlo Point. The one at Bullock Point was very close to our campsite, however had that many negatives I honestly believe it shouldn't be highlighted as at boat ramp on any guide. About a kilometre of corrugated road leads down to a heavily pot-holed turning area just opposite Bullock point boat ramp, that appears a basing area for the Fraser barges and various commercial fishos working the area. The ramp is single lane with no sides or guides, and probably at a 20-30% incline. A enormous crack spanning around 2 foot long, by 8 inches wide by 6 inches deep stretches the centre of the ramp, but can be avoided if you just hug inches from one side of the ramp. At the end of the ramp, the concrete simply drops away at low tide and the two foot drop down to the water wasn't something I wanted to attempt in a 1000kg, 4.7 metre fibreglass boat. The ramp was maybe usable two hours either side of high tide, by tin boats under 4m. The area also had that strange 'come back to find your trailer gone and your car on chocks feel about it'. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and were happy to drive the 10km down to Carlo Point. Carlo Point is beautiful and the ramp is, apart from having a public pontoon, flawless. Was happy to launch there every time, even though it was 10km each way from camp to the boat ramp. A morning fish and an afternoon check of the crab pots meant that you're racking up 40km a day just backwards and forwards, something to seriously consider.

To anyone new, even the Tin Can section of the Sandy Straits is a vast area of creeks, sandflats and channels. Tin Can Bay, Snapper creek and its surrounds honestly look like a scene out of Hong Kong, with hundreds of boats spread throughout the area. Still it doesn't take much exploring to find an area all to yourself, as long as you check your tides and know what sort of water you're in. All I can say about the Sandy Straits is anything is possible in waters ranging for 0.1m to 17m deep and beyond, but patience and research would be a vital component. Many inlets appear to be creeks, and even some large creeks are nothing more that shallow flat sandbanks with no main channel. But this is all part of the know. The weather didn't do us any favours for fishing and the main channel stood up a two foot chop everyday, which made me feel lucky I was in the boat I was. Still we easily got a decent feed of crabs, both mud and sand.

In point, if you want to drag a boat up to Rainbow Beach and fish the Sandy straits, stay at Carlo Point holiday park. Dogs are not allowed there, but I guess unlike me you just have to make a call on what sort of holiday you want to have and not drag everything. Inskip is a nice area, and would suit a camping holiday, but I wouldn't recommend it for a boat in a 2x4 vehicle. If you are going to stay there, pick your spot well depending on the weather. A strong SE wind or similar anywhere exposed can make for some very uncomfortable camping, and was pretty much our trip in a nutshell.

Thanks for reading.

[Luvit]

Thanks for putting in the effort to write an informative report.

I'll refer back to that information for future places to go camping.

How long did it take you to tow your boat from Brisbane to your camp spot?

regards,

Wayne

[Tybo]

Took me about 3.5 hours. My car tows easily up to over 100km/h, however struggles on hills and I drop back to around 70km/h. I wasn't in any rush though, so I didn't mind.

[Luvit]

Thanks Tybo