I was planning on going on an adventure ride that a local bike shop was organising, but with all the crazy weather we have been having here, they called it off. So with that, it left me with a weekend booked for riding, so I thought I should take advantage of it anyway.
With the bike packed and ready to go, I headed for my morning work shift in Maroochydore with no plan what so ever as to where I would be going or what I would be doing. Thought I should check the bike over while I had a few spare moments.
Looks like plastic cable ties and hot exhausts don't mix too well. My temporary mounting position for the number plate had to change!
So after peering over the maps all morning at work, the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect, I decided to head up to a beach spot called Inskip Point which is near Fraser Island.
I dropped back in at home on the way passed to pack my togs and fishing gear.
Out through Kin Kin:
Onto the first bit of dirt:
Life was pretty great at this point! Tracks were nice. Turned off onto the Cooloola way, which is a back way through to Rainbow Beach:
After all the rains we had been getting, this sign seemed pertinent:
The tack down to Harry's Hut was closed.
Coolooa way was......open.......if you ignored this sign:
The tack was fine and there were plenty of fresh 4WD tracks, so I thought it should be fine.
Down into the National Park section:
The tracks where good, some bits were very rocky as the top had been really washed away.
I then came to the first obstacle:
I spent some time walking around the area, finding the best course of action. Got a little bogged in one section but was quick enough to jump off the bike and keep it on the gas while pushing. And THROUGH!
Came to the next section, it was smaller, but getting around it was a little more difficult.
Some massive washouts from all the flooding.
The bridge over the Noosa River, the river was very high and running very strong.
The rest of the track was good, just some slippery red clay bits.
I guess it really was supposed to be closed.
I was flying along the bitumen on the last stretch to Rainbow Beach, came up this hill at a good speed:
And was met with this right at the top of the rise and not visible till the last seconds. So I did my good citizen duty and came back to the top of the rise to slow people down till they pulled it off the road.
Into Rainbow:
into the parks and wildlife office to get my camping permit:
On the application form, it didn't have the facitility to suit my vehicle, so I made my own 1WD section. The dude behind the counter thought it was quite funny.
Checking out Rainbow. The sandblow
The swimming beach:
While I was in getting my camping permit, I asked if there was any beach access that I didn't have to pay a permit for and found out that all around the Inskip Point area, you can ride on the beach! I was super stoked and was quite nervous because I have never ridden beach sand before. On the entrance to the beach was the soft sand, so I just deployed the outriggers (my legs) and took it easy. Onto the beach for some fun!!
The riding was actually quite easy and from then on, even on the soft stuff I was able to just stand up and power through.
A rather sleepy turtle.
looking back down the beach from where I had come.
The Wide Bay Bar, looking across to Fraser Island
Fraser in the distance.
The Sandy Straits
The barge that takes the cars/bikes over the Fraser Island.
Rode all around the area and found a nice spot to camp:
Set up camp and totally unloaded the bike.
Then took advantage of the low tide and an unloaded bike and went for another strap along the beach and had some fun. I see some 1WD tracks happening there:
It was then nice to get back to camp and get the boots off and enjoy the sand and water.
What a beautiful afternoon!!!
Sunset:
I had a bit of dinner and bummed around for a while. Some clouds were rolling in and I thought we may bet a bit of rain, but boy, did I cop it! The wind was first, I thought the tent was going to fall down for sure! I was glad I quickly grabbed the sand pegs when I stopped in at home. Then the rain, boy did it come down. Turns out my old tent is not as water proof as it used to be! So a very sleepless night.
Woke up early, to a not so nice day:
The rain was coming, so I packed up and was riding away by 6:30am.
Went into Rainbow and grabbed some breakfast and coffee. Not a normal thing for me, I normally do it all myself at the camp, but with the rain, I thought it best to hang out under cover and see how the weather plays out.
I then started to head for home on a bit of bitumen and find some nice back roads I had never done. Along the way I saw another adventure rider looking guy so I waved. Stopped in at this shelter.
Turns out the guy I waved to was my mate who had seen on Facebook that I was up there and he doesn't live too far away so he was off to find me. He left early and thought that I would still be at my camp spot at Inskip Point.
We chatted for ages, it was great to catch up. I then headed down some unknown roads to try to get me home.
Cool! A bit of dirt, nice road too.
Ended up coming past the Cooloola Way turn off that I went down the day before.
Checking out some more new roads, heading toward Lake Cootharabah to check it out.
Again, back through some other back roads I had never done before.
The hills are green after all that rain!
Then the last little stretch. I live right under that mountain you can see in the background.
Got home, unpacked the bike and cleaned everything. Spent a long time with the hose on the bike cause I don't want salt water getting in anywhere. Awesome ride and so close to home.
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