Bushwalk Australia

Hi all,
1st post looking for info/ track conditions for walking from wanggoolba Rd to ungowa camp on 4x4 track Fraser island, pulling a cart. I have no problems on beach but unsure if inland tracks are loose sand. Any info?

It's unpleasant without a pack, I can imagine pulling a cart on a 4x4 track on soft sand carved by vehicles. But it's less than 10Km, if you do it on a cool day, you should make it alive. Unless you are pulling 30+ Kg then who knows.

Yeah I'm thinking it's gonna be a struggle but doable. Hoping for the best but planning for the worst.

I think that you would want very large diameter wheels on your cart so that it doesn't hang up on the mound between the 2 wheel ruts.

Hoping pic of cart comes through. Goes well on beach sand.

Of course, I am tempted to ask why as Ungowa Camp is down in the mangrove area, but you know your own mind - I presume.

We did part of the Great Walk on Fraser and the section along those major roads you are planning on walking are quite OK and not too sandy, so you will be fine.

The past 18 months I've been loving how accessible southwestern coast of Fraser is by kayak and on foot (+ inaccessible to 4x4). Done a few multiday trips. Having figured out how il reach Gary's anchorage yet but ungowa is next on my list to explore. Thanks for the tips, hard to find info. Even trying to scan YouTube vids you can't tell what conditions tracks might be once you leave the coast.

To a degree the 4x4 tracks change in condition pretty frequently, I don't think that will be an enjoyable time. Certainly use the high-vis, as the utes won't get a chance to see you, and in some places, some of the SUVs will have trouble slowing and stopping without getting bogged if conditions are bad. I've been on the island on days where many tracks were almost impassible to non-mod plate vehicles, and that road, in particular, can be both extremely rough, and busy. It's not uncommon during busy times for the inland crossing from the kingfisher ferry to Eurong to take over four hours. That track gets lots of carved out holes, so you'd walk a meter up and down for every two forward. If I'm reading where you are thinking of going, I've not seen that section, so I don't know if it's twinned or matted or just a cut-line. In some cases, the road can be an easy meter below the surroundings, so as a walker there is no easy exit from a P-plater with horse-power-mania. If I was going to share the track at all with vehicles, I'd want to drive it first and be off-peak season. I've been on the island about 6-7 times, up as far as the light house once, but mostly up to Orchid. Not saying you shouldn't, but without knowing how busy a road that is, I can't say it's a good plan. There are several facebook 4x4 clubs that do trail reports of the various roads, so it might be worth looking at seeing what the best-worst case range is. I've had some bad times out on some of the "roads" when conditions were bad, and I'm not just saying that as someone with a pretend 4x4, I've been out there when the highly modded patrol drivers are wondering if they are going to be walking. I've also been out there on days where a determined prius would have made it.

If you don't mind the soft sand, you may have some luck "handrailing" the road but I don't know how dense the brush is in that corner. I've always done Inskip up the east side on the beach, apart from one run up the inland track which was almost crippling. I've found any offtrack wandering to be very soft sand, but as you know that is very dependant on the conditions.

Ta gadget geek, some good points bout traffic il keep in mind.

I personally would tackle the beach at low tide instead. There will be a couple of creek wading hopefully not too deep for your cart. But you'll be at destination in no time, bare foot.

Don't like the look of that mud on Google earth but definatley a possibility

The mud and mangroves on the "beach" route will suck you and your wee cart down. Do you have a properly outfitted sea kayak? If so crossing from Hervey Bay to Woody Island, Moon Point and then head north. Two days paddling and you will be on the western side on lovely white sand past where the vehicles are allowed to drive.

Usual disclaimers, strong current, strong winds, the SE usually blows up the coast and can make it a bit of a bother to get back.

jonow wrote:Don't like the look of that mud on Google earth but definatley a possibility

Don't assume it's all mud just from looking at Google earth. For example, if you like to use aerial imagery to plan your hikes, give QImagery a go, much more resolution and details. The west coast of Fraser will appear in a different way.

sandym wrote:The mud and mangroves on the "beach" route will suck you and your wee cart down.

Maybe, maybe not. I walked some parts of Fraser west coast (and some Moreton west coast) and is perfectly walkable on low tide and most of the areas even on high tide. My concern would be wading some deep creeks with that cart. But anyway, we are talking 5 Km on the beach, not a huge distance if you need to turn back and tackle the road. My 2c.

Thanks sandythe mud looks like trouble. I've been north,ungowas the goal.

Cbee had a quick look at qlimagery, thats awesome detail! Will investigate further...