Moreton Island

I know this is an old post I started more than a year ago but I just could not find time or the mood to finish it off. This is all I got and some parts I recalled.

Near Ben-Ewa Campground

Moreton Island, this beauty of an island is just a bit more than an hour away with the barge from Brisbane. Before the heavy rain through the entire December 2010 we had some days off and spent five days on Moreton.
We have never been there before and all we knew is that the island is similar to Fraser Island, just a bit smaller and not so busy. You can go there for a nice snorkel trip between the wrecks just off the beach and there are lots of good fishing spots along the beach. Swimming with turtles and dolphins is also possible.
... all that came true.

Luckily a friend of ours made his last stop on his Australia Work and Holiday trip in Brisbane and we all went with his 4x4 to Moreton Island. The island is only accessible with a 4x4.

We pitched our tents for the first three nights a couple of hundred meters north of the Tangalooma Wrecks at Ben-Ewa campground. Fortunately the school holidays had not started at this point so there were plenty of campspots available. Mind you usually you have to book in advance.

Tangalooma Wrecks

The last few days we went to the eastern part of the island. The ocean site is a bit rougher but we found a nice camp spot behind the dunes. We tried our fishing skills there again and cast our rods off the rocks this time where we had a bit more luck than the days before. Self caught fish for dinner is always the best.

After the last day snorkelling between the ship wrecks at Tangalooma and sun bathing we had to go back to the mainland.

One thing is sure we want to come back.

4WD Training Course

Driving a 4WD is not easy at all there are a lot of things you have to be aware of if you go 4WDing.

Hema Maps MapPatrol

We had the chance to get a 4WD Traing Course from Hema Maps.
We took one of the Map Patrols for the training which took place near Beaudesert about an hour to drive southwest of Brisbane. The MapPatrol is a little different from most other 4WDs, this is because of the data recording equipment and the complete recovery gear on board. This makes the car pretty heavy and sometimes difficult to handle. It takes a little while to get used to it.
However we drove that 'beast' through lots of obstacles and also had the chance to use the snatch strap if there is the need to get somebody out of a bog. We also were taught how to use the winch in case we need to get out of a bog ourselves.
We had a lot of fun and got more experiences in driving a 4WD and hopefully one day we will also have the chance to get out and do some fieldwork with one of the Hema Maps Map Patrols.