After Tropical Cyclone Oma lashed the east coast of Australia last week, damage to the beach has left Ngkala Rocks impassable, and Diray and Carree camping areas closed off, on K’gari – Fraser Island.
Parts of the Great Sandy National Park have had to be closed off by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service from 26 February until 31 March 2019. The closures have occurred due to erosion of the beaches, as well as damage to the access roads to the camping areas (Zone 9 – Diray and Carree). The closures will allow the local rangers to assess and repair the damage done to the in-roads to the camping areas, and ensure they can be safely travelled by all visitors to the park.
Ngkala Rocks remain impassable, with a warning to motorists to ensure they are travelling around low tide, due to the erosion of the eastern beaches of Fraser Island. QPWS have urged all visitors to the park to ensure they adhere to all signage, barriers and directions from rangers, and not to enter the closed areas. They have also reiterated that on-the-spot fines will be issued to anyone observed driving over vegetated dunes.
If you are heading over to Fraser Island in the next month or so, make sure you are careful as to where you go, and vigilant to the changing beach conditions on the eastern side of the island. As always, make sure you watch for any signage closing areas off due to damage, and visit https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/ to check on conditions, closures and park alerts before travelling over.
2 comments
Fraser Island is a beautiful place and I have travelled there four times over the past 20 years. Ngkala Rocks have always been an issue although it did not stop our vehicles getting through. It would be nice if the Queensland Parks Service built a safe and sound track in and around the Ngkala Rocks using either steel ramps which allow the sand through and self cleaning. Tourists who pay a fortune for the privilege of going onto the island deserve a decent passage around the Ngkala Rocks. Rather than next to the ocean an environmentally approved track with boards and fencing two lanes built properly will prevent the erosion and perceived damage at the Ngkala Rocks that Queensland Parks inevitably throws back at the public. If there were no cars and only the aborigines there 200 years ago doing nothing is justified but in a modern world we need to see management of the island incorporate safe passage around the rocks. If you don’t build a non-damaging track around the rocks you will see ratbags ignoring signs and damaging the dunes which spoils it for everyone. Perhaps Mr 4×4 you could coordinate a petition to Queensland Parks to build such a track.
And put bitumen all the way to Cape York. The challenge is the attraction. The difficulty in getting through this section keeps a good number of people away from the tip. Let Nature manage the beach. If you search you’ll find photos of Ngkala (and the rest of the island) with various sections washed away. Over time (or even over a weekend) the sand gets pushed back up and its as it was again.