Big seas on Fraser Island Christmas Eve
Submitted: Thursday, Dec 29, 2011 at 23:30
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Member - Myles F (QLD)
Plenty of camps behind the dunes were swamped with sea water in the early hours of Christmas day. We offered to help some move but they were all happy to stay put. I thought it worth warning ExplorOz friends of what can happen to camps when big tides are combined with big winds. I’ve been going to Fraser for years and experienced quite a few summer storms but I’ve never seen anything like this. Image Could Not Be FoundImage Could Not Be Found
Reply By: Member - Myles F (QLD) - Thursday, Dec 29, 2011 at 23:37
Thursday, Dec 29, 2011 at 23:37
Further…. This wasn’t the result of an afternoon storm… it was generated from a ‘low’ off the coast, so lasted for about three days. Christmas Eve was the worst of it. Days either side were beautiful as it usually is on Fraser.
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Reply By: Member - Old Girl - Friday, Dec 30, 2011 at 08:22
Friday, Dec 30, 2011 at 08:22
We spent new years 2000 on fraser. We were camped up on top of a dune that had a great wind break. Phones were turned off. Family tried calling us as fraser was being evacuated. Meanwhile we were enjoying the hard sand, didnt care about tbe rain just went for a drive. Apparently there was a low off shore. we just thought it was a local storm.
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Follow Up By: Member - Myles F (QLD) - Friday, Dec 30, 2011 at 10:13
Friday, Dec 30, 2011 at 10:13
G’day Old Girl,
We always seek the protection of a dune from the sea breezes which on long stays can become a bit tedious if you’re constantly exposed to them. We were very comfortable the whole time but I commented to my wife about the number of people that had set their camps completely exposed so as they could view
the beach and sea from their tent. They were quite close to the high water mark on a normal tide. We would rather take our chairs to the dune which we did most mornings and afternoons. We call it our veranda.
I’ve attached another photo…. After hammering the dunes, waves would return to sea hitting an incoming wave which caused this exploding effect.
Image Could Not Be Found
Image Could Not Be Found
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Follow Up By: Member - Old Girl - Sunday, Jan 01, 2012 at 00:14
Sunday, Jan 01, 2012 at 00:14
Mother nature hey.
I remember news footage from years ago, I think it was the fishing comp when a wave came in and swamped a
camp site.
Did you see the footage of Inskip caving in again couple of days ago. Cars just got on the barge then down it went. They were so lucky.
Click Here
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Follow Up By: Member - Myles F (QLD) - Sunday, Jan 01, 2012 at 09:51
Sunday, Jan 01, 2012 at 09:51
Thanks. No, hadn’t seen the footage and I didn’t witness any sign of the
cave in coming back either. Mother Nature - it’s amazing how quickly the landscape can recover.
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Reply By: rumpig - Friday, Dec 30, 2011 at 09:57
Friday, Dec 30, 2011 at 09:57
i was curious how some of the campsites faired after seeing pics of the Eastern beach on Overlander
forum, taken from a plane 90 minutes before hightide on Boxing Day. one
pic is of a guy who had gotten bogged, trying to snatch his camper trailer out of a waist deep gutter up to higher ground, and there's others showing how far the water has come up
the beach and nowhere there to drive on. pics are here for anyone intersted...
http://forums.overlander.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=73231
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Follow Up By: Member - Myles F (QLD) - Friday, Dec 30, 2011 at 10:25
Friday, Dec 30, 2011 at 10:25
Rumpig, Yep…. No one was goin’ anywhere at high tide. Only the fools tried. There were plenty that were bogged in the softer stuff at low tide as
well. As usual on Fraser (touch wood) my recovery gear was only used to recover others – none of whom had their own gear!
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