Hi Sue,

I did the Fraser Isl. Great Walk and its lateral trail from Inskip Point in September 2007. In my opinion, the trail was not under utilized. Most of the walkers camps are very small and do not host more than two or three hiking parties.
Building bigger camps and therefore allowing bigger, and may be even tour operated groups, would mean turning all the remote places along this Great Walk into another overvisited spots (like Lake McKenzie before the buses leave).

It is a very special hike and I highly appreciated the solitude one could experience. I was always impressed, how few people among the tourists are actually going to hike in the australian bush. For example, there is a fantastic 2/3 day walk just starting at Airlie Beach, the Whitsunday Great Walk. I haven’t seen anyone during that trail and the camps seemed not to get a lot of visits.

Now to the 4WD rentals:
At other places, it is not common practise to rent a 4wd for outdoor usage to anyone under 25. We had a very hard time getting a car to drive around in the lower Cape York Peninsula.
No problem on Fraser though, where the terrain to drive on is much more difficult. I have spoken to a lot of people doing the self-drive trip, and all agreed that it seemed weird giving away such a big car, full of people and gear to drivers with no previous off road experience.

Bye

I have heard it is lovely on Fraser Island, but I can’t find out for myself. I am the now confined to a wheelchair – wheelchairs can’t access the Fraser Island catamorans to get to the island and if they could how could you get a wheelchair up the steps from the beach to the path when that vessel arrives at Fraser Island, or to both the rest of the Island and/or the Kingfisher Bay resort. Instead of worrying about walking trails, isn’t it time you and the people concerned with the Island’s tourism potential thought about access ramps for wheelchairs and other mobility aids. Wheelchairs can get on the various barges, but cannot get onto dry land when they arrive at the barge set down.

Personally, I don’t believe that it is wise or practical to dismiss the dingo safety factor so lightly as a ‘user beware’ situation. If future legal actions are to be avoided or minimised, surely those responsible for the safety of tourists in the area under their control, must demonstrate that they have adopted a reasonable level of care and responsibility in preventing any future tourist injuries or deaths from starving dingos (or even crocodiles it now seems)? I guess the same arguement would also apply to the frequent 4WD accidents? I would imagine that future claims for damages and compensation in such instances are a distinct possibility in this age of rampant litagation?

Not sure that the idea of large machinery pushing sand around our beaches is such a great solution either … it makes them appear more like an open cut mine-site in my opinion. I prefer the idea of using a barge and pump to regularly move the sand from the worsening, unwanted sandbanks just off shore to the beaches where this sand is needed! Noosa does this well!

I like the concept of interesting shorter trails with transport linkages and scattered accomodation (like they have up near the Gibb River). But, it raises big safety issues concerning the ever present dingo problem and the frequent out of control bushfires on Fraser. These and possibly other safety issues would need to be properly addressed before promoting the walking trail idea to the masses as an alternative to self drive tours I feel?

By the way, I saw you on the channel 7 news item about the beach erosion and am still wondering why absolutely nothing has been achieved by Council and numerous former councillors after all this time? I had been told years ago when buried rock walls were flavour of the day (like the VERY successful ones at the Gold Coast) that EPA and government bureaucracy were the ongoing obstacles to getting things moving? With seas reportedly on the rise due to climate change, it seems very unwise not to be aggressively pursueing such a strategy, especially in lower, high population density areas of likely concern! What can residents expect to eventuate in the shorter term please?