The Restless Sand Of Double Island Point
Where nothing is ever settled
The Restless Sand Of Double Island Point
“Perhaps the most unique of Queensland’s surf spots is Double Island Point….we stoked our minds on the tiny, mile-long rides that move diagonally along the sandbars that flank the bay.”
- Bob Evans, 'High On A Cool Wave', 1965
Like almost every other Queensland pointbreak, Double Island Point is a sand-bottom break and so relies on the movement and deposition of sand. Viewed this way, there’s nothing unique about DI. It’s subject to the same sand flow as every other sand-bottom pointbreak.
Perhaps what Evo was referring to in his narration was DI’s isolation and untouched nature. Further south, humans have encroached on the beaches and the nearshore zone, be it building river breakwalls, planting invasive species in the dune system, or pumping sand that interrupts the natural flow.
If so, Dr Javier Leon agrees. “Because Double Island lacks development,” says the surfer and geographer from the University of the Sunshine Coast, “we get a clear window into the natural behaviour of sand, especially how it moves around headlands and settles into lee shore bays.”
"That alone makes Double Island Point a very special place."
There are many natural sand transport systems traversing the coastlines of the world, however none have created a fertile wave zone such as the East Coast Sand Transport System has done. The system runs the central span of Australia’s East Coast, starting at the Hunter Valley and terminating 1,000 kilometres away at the northern end of K’gari (Fraser Island).
Between the two are many of the world’s greatest waves: Lennox Head, The Pass, The Superbank, Kirra, Currumbin, Burleigh, South Stradbroke, Cylinders, and each outcrop within Noosa Heads. The shape of the wave above the waterline is dictated by the shape of the sand below it, and all of that sand is fed by the East Coast Sand Transport System.
On average, 500,000 cubic metres of sand passes the NSW/QLD border per year. That number may not mean much, the volume of sand is better appreciated by observing the coastline north of the border where the great sand islands begin: South and North Stradbroke, Moreton, Bribie, and K’gari, all fed by sand from the south. Between the last two lies arguably the most telling gauge of sand volume: The sand expanse that lies between Noosa’s North Shore and Rainbow Beach, known as the Great Sandy National Park, where dunes that stand over 200 metres high stretch west to the Noosa River and at their eastern extremity link the basalt outcrop of Double Island with the mainland.
Now heavily vegetated, the dunes of the Great Sandy National Park are stationary, however the dynamics of sand transport are evident when looking down upon Wide Bay, particularly the pointbreak and its ever-changing sandbanks.
Though lacking the ruler edge of The Superbank, DI's bank is twice as long. Shot just two months ago, this photo was one of the first taken after the sand spit reconnected with the beach, cutting off the lagoon (Rob Gough / The Ice Man)
“I first surfed it in 1972, when the takeoff was out beyond the rocks,” says Simon, who despite two hundred 4WDs parking on the tideline whenever it breaks, is reluctant to give his surname, “and except for a decade spent down south I’ve visited DI a few times every year since. It somehow still feels like frontier to me.”
“If the surf was large, like a cyclone swell, or if the wind was south-west, then we’d be forced further into the bay,” explains Simon, “sometimes there was a bank there, sometimes there wasn’t and a good swell would be wasted, though I’d say most of my surfing was off the rocks.”
Steve Shearer, also a long-time visitor of DI agrees: “If I think back on most of my trips, we would sit out near the rocks. It was the kind of place where you'd appreciate the surroundings,“ says Steve, “but the wave quality was rarely there.”
Phil Jarratt agrees with both assessments. “There are better waves out there but something about DI kept me coming back, at least until the crowds did me in,” says Phil before continuing with several anecdotes that skewer the notion of DI as a surfing Arcadia.
Like Simon, Phil says he occasionally surfed deep within the bay, however most visits saw him taking off at the tip of the point, surfing the very outside section, the length of ride determined by size and quality of sandbanks.
Though the eighties was a time of reduced cyclonic activity, the bank at DI wasn't a scratch of its current state. At left, aerial shot by Dick Hoole taken in 1988, while at right is another aerial shot, taken earlier the same decade, by Caroline Parker.
“George Greenough is generally credited as introducing Australians to Double Island Point, and on the very first time they made it up they found ten foot waves rolling a mile and a half - undoubtedly one of the best days of surfing ever on the coast of Queensland.”
“However, all the times that we’ve been back to check it out again we’ve found small waves. But if you’re riding for a mile, who can care about the size?”
-Bob Evans, 'High On A Cool Wave'
During February 2023, Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle, tracking at Cat 2 strength, passed midway between Fraser Island and New Caledonia delivering two days of waves. Note the 4WDs on the sand as the tide rises. It's also worth noting that, due to further sand volume, this section of the bank no longer produces waves (Josh Whiting Photography)
Like any sand-bottom break, Double Island's waves are dependent on sand - the volume of it and where it gets deposited. Sometimes the banks would hug the beach, while at other times they’d form shallow banks offshore making a glider or longboard mandatory. A search through historical photos reveals many different faces of Double Island Point.
However, starting in 2016 a sand spit began to form off the rocks which has changed the alignment of the break at Double Island, and it has the potential to realign the coastline too. It's not the first time a sand spit extended from the tip. Historical images show it has happened before, yet the difference this time is its persistence and reach. Where past sand spits might last a year or two and reach a moderate distance into the bay, the latest version is marked by time and length.
“The years from 2017 to 2020 were very active for swell,” explains Javier Leon, “we had East Coast Lows and Tropical Cyclones, and they move a lot of sand. Even a standard year of south-east swell will move sand, push it towards the north, creating a reservoir, or a sink, of sand off those headlands.”
“Then when we have big events,” continues Javier, “we see what’s called headland bypassing: sand will move from the sand reserves around headland obstructions.”
“The thing is, if the sand is there we can also have headland bypassing during times of easterly swell,” says Javier, “and that’s what we’ve had the last three years of La Niña.”
“It [sand flow] isn’t necessarily due to El Niño or La Niña,” says Javier, “but more so a sequencing of events.”
In short, four years of south-east swell topped up the sand reserves offshore from Double Island Point, with occasional headland bypassing into Wide Bay during storms, which was followed by three years of east swell that kept the tap running. In terms of sand flow, the sequencing has been sublime. For seven years the sand has barely stopped.
The result is a sand spit that grew outwards from the headland and at first offered an extension to the ride, even if it was sometimes patchy and undulating. Yet the sand kept coming and the spit kept growing south-west into the bay, till it now stretches over three kilometres long - twice the distance of Snapper to Kirra.
“For a while yachts could moor inside the lagoon created by the sandbank,” says Simon, though as of this September that option was closed, literally, as the sand spit reconnected with the beach well north of Leisha Track.
At its midway point, the sand spit sits 750 metres offshore from the old beach. "We have lots of photos and records," says Javier of the restless sand at Double Island, "but that's the most sand that's been there since the sixties."
“More than any place I know, DI is affected by swell direction,” says Simon. “There can be no change [in conditions] on the Teewah side but the point will for no reason turn to caca. Under classic conditions, the first day of a cyclone swell may be good but as it tracks south-east the swell just gets smaller and smaller.”
“More recently, the better section has been right down the end of the bank, off the tip of it. The upper sections were too fast, but it slowed near the end. I’m not sure what it means now the sand bank goes the whole way. It could get too fast again.”
More lines from Cyclone Gabrielle (Josh Whiting Photography)
Though it’s not visible to them at ground level, if a surfer spends enough time scouting for waves on Google Earth they’ll see evidence of how the coast has undergone natural changes. On our East Coast, particularly the less-developed areas, it often presents as differing strips of vegetation, each one marking where the coastline used to be.
The Belongil to Tyagarah stretch north of Byron is a classic example. Thin ribbons of vegetation are evidence of how Byron Bay is slowly infilling with sand. Set to a geological time frame, the coastline has been realigning and it has nothing to do with humans.
“It is possible the coast may realign at Double Island,” answers Javier when asked, “but that depends on the time between big swell events. It also depends upon whether the vegetation is able to establish itself there, and that takes time. All of that overground biomass takes time.”
“But yes, it is definitely a possibility.”
Though only a screenshot taken from Google Earth, this image of the Byron Bay coastline shows the strips of discoloured vegetation that indicate how the coastline has advanced over the years (Google)
The southern corner of Wide Bay isn't the only place that's constantly changing. As the sand shifts and water depth changes, so too does wave energy sometime reach further into the bay.
During larger swells the coloured sand cliffs of Rainbow Beach get undercut by waves. Sometimes this wil erode the beach down to the coffee rock, at other times it'll cause the sand cliffs to give way, vegetation and all. In both cases it cuts off 4WD traffic from Rainbow Beach until the sand either builds up or the beach becomes passable.
Javier believes that the beach north of Double Island Point will, during the coming year, become wider. "The last few months," says Javier, "the windows for passing through have been getting longer." It is still only possible for an hour or two either side of low tide. "But," continues Javier, "it's definitely becoming wider."
As the wave energy eats into the cliffs, the returning water, coloured ochre by the iron-rich minerals, describes a Fibonacci sequence (Josh Whiting Photography)
Despite its location in the southern reaches of Queensland’s Cyclone Alley, DI has never taken a direct hit. In 1972, Daisy came close, tracking immediately offshore as a Cat 2 cyclone, uprooting trees on nearby Fraser Island, where it made landfall, and causing major flooding to towns nearby.
Since then, eight more cyclones have tracked within 200 kilometres of Double Island Point, yet none of them occurred this century - Tropical Cyclone Gertie was the last one in 1995-1996. Six of those occurred in the seventies, none in the eighties, two in the nineties, and none since, meaning if cyclones are any measure of surf then perhaps talk about the good old days has some merit. I'll let the older crew answer that...
Of course, proximity isn’t everything with cyclones, something Javier reminds me when he mentions Tropical Cyclone Oma. In 2019, Oma only got within 500 kilometres of land yet because of the pressure gradient it created with the easterly tradewind belt it produced large and sustained surf.
“I stood on the beach at Noosa during Oma and watched the movement of sand,” says Javier of Oma’s rampant excavation, the problems of which continue to this day. “I was actually surveying the beach while Oma was happening and I saw the sand being removed. 10,000 cubic metres gone in half an hour!”
Largely, what spares Double Island from a similar fate is its position further north, which puts it on the periphery of the tradewind belt. When Noosa down to Byron are copping a front-loaded serve, DI only gets a sideways glance. Also, the sharp redirection of the coast at DI means the lines of swell have to refract that bit much further, robbing them of their strength.
Yet the randomness of cyclone clusters means no-one quite knows what the future has in store. “These events can remove so much sand,“ says Javier. “We could have three back to back cyclones, all moving in from the north and suddenly we’d be back to square one.”
// STU NETTLE
Videos courtesy of The Surf Film Archive and Dr Robbi Bishop-Taylor
Comments
Hmmmmm :(
Secret spot?
Such a zoo now isn't it ... got it on the 2nd Jan 2022 on the inside. The tide was so high with so much surge that vehicles couldn't get up from Noosa until about 11am. It mimicked Kirra on the inside with only about 20 guys out, luckily had a ski take drop us from the cutting to the sandbank instead of the 45 min paddle
Brilliant Stu... great read!
Nice Stu, such an interesting topic. As mentioned, I wonder if the vegetation will have a chance to establish itself on the new sand, or post 3 La Nina's it all changes again. God's country, Wed pocket would have been on. Hopefully those "eco" cabins don't get built.
At 1:50 in the video, wonder why they are even heading to the Northern side
Great read but sad to see it molested the way it is now.
We used to camp at Rainbow in the 80's and have to do the dash around the rocks to get to the point. Doesn't look like a problem now.
We scored really good DI cyclone Bola and pumping Noosa that arvo. Next day had my appendix out. That's why I remember it so well.
Went there mid 90’s and hitched along the beach with a board a bag of fruit no expectations. Ended up getting a lift off 2 guys who let me camp with them. Surfed it small, towed surf around the lagoon behind their 4x4 had a ball. Got a lift back to my car and travelled on. Awesome memories.
That orange see-through board is under my house! Or one very similar. How do I attach a photo? If George wants it, I'll be a resident of Uralba by march.
Geez stu this article is a head scratcher. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
Yeah it gets crowded on it’s day but 90% of the crew that surf it come from a 2 hr radius away. Ppl from vic , sa, wa have barely heard of it or it’s not on their radar at all. Even clueing peeps in where the best section is.. fk off mate. Nothings sacred anymore. Next thing road kill will be showing up.
"I can’t believe what I’m seeing."
I once thought the same thing. Like a few years ago when I saw a double page spread in a surf mag that named it, then more recently when I saw photos showing the number of 4WDs parked on the tideline, hundreds of them, so many they can even be seen on Google Earth tracking all the way up the bay. Same when I checked the number of YouTube videos posted and the number of Instagram videos uploaded, except they're not in the hundreds but the thousands and the views are an order of magnitude larger again.
I think DI is a special place, though you have the wrong end of the stick if you think this article will have any noticeable effect on the tide of human traffic.
Yeah I know the article you’re referring to and author of it. Talking it up, how special it is, photos inc then taking his pay check and rarely sighted there again. Damage done.
If you think that his article didn’t effect the joint then you have the wrong end of the stick.
Now you’re handing it out on a platter. Facts.
+ 1 should know better!!
Is it ok to drop litter in Bali?
2 wrongs dont make a right...your judgement was way off on this one. There are a lot of topics you could write about rather than this one or you could of written about it and kept it cryptic like most good surf journo's do. Way uncool.
Oh we've heard of it. It was my grandfather's favourite fishing get away up from his cane farm on the Maroochy. Before surfing.. When Nat and the crew are going through those old jalopies left north of the Noosa river in the video, yeah that hit me in the feels cos they would have been his mates' cars: old rusty wrecks but they got up there... They were permanently left there for the fishing trips.
(Have never wanted an AP6 Regal wagon more after watching that vid...)
Destroyed.
Amazing wave and great article.... but do you have to call Fraser island K’Gari...and put the name Fraser Island in brackets???
Next you'll be putting Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in brackets and have a name that means nothing to 97% of the Commonwealth of Australia's inhabitants...
How about as a compromise you put the Aboriginal name in brackets after the name.... if you must.
No doubt I'll be lambasted for not lining up with the rest of our Woke brother, sister and other identifier hoods.
So easily upset.
There is plenty of campsites in Oz called Babakiueria
Im sure the surviving locals were upset .... for 250yrs.
If the local cultures had 400 languages, 10000yrs of droughts, bushfires, desertification, floods & an ice age; there may be some skills, including humour, we can learn.... besides a name.
Galangoor djali! Galangoor.
Good day. Welcome!
Butchulla bilam, midiru K’gari galangoor nyin djaa.
Butchulla people, Traditional Custodians of K’gari, welcome you to country.
Ngalmu galangoor Biral and Biralgan bula nyin djali!
May all our good spirits be around you throughout the day.
Wanya nyin yangu, wanai djinang djaa.
Wherever you go, leave only footprints.
https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/kgari-fraser/about/butchulla
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/630/
triple b:
I didn't really mind welcome to country until it was thrust down our throats at every turn and event... and then it became a welcome to country lecture about who's land it was and how lucky we are to be on it....
Honestly as an Australian citizen (note: indigenous people were never one nation of citizens), IAM SICK OF BEING WELCOMED TO MY COUNTRY AND BEING TOLD I AM TRESSPASSING AND LUCKY TO BE ON "YOUR" LAND... YOUR LAND, NOT MINE!!!
Well you can STICK YOUR WELCOME TO COUNTRY UP YOUR JUMPER MATE!...
In anthropology/ sociology a nation is a group of people with similarly common culture, religious and ideological beliefs. So Dreamtime, belonging to country not owning it, circular understanding of time etc common across all indigenous Australian mobs does represent a nation.
Just wondering Chipper, which part of your shit life improved after you voted no? Flog
Can Stu change his username to notsochipper?
Hey Surfalot67... I'm now a flog and i am a no voter apparently? Interesting. And if a person did vote no in the recent referendum, they are flogs... firstly you don't know a thing about me nor how i voted, and secondly you and your comment are examples of why the recent referendum sadly failed...
Cheers Chipped. As I thought
Went in a direction I wasn't expecting
HE DOESN’T LIKE IT
?si=GRrkyib8OIo9tMoLIt’s not a great article, it’s a sell out article.
No one can deny that the best sessions we have are solo or with just a few out. To find a bank / spot to yourself is the best feeling in the world. To have a spot published like this again is the worst feeling in the world.
It’s a fickle wave, average at best but that’s besides the point. There’s peeps who regularly surf it that would be throwing up in their mouth reading this. Me included.
I’m asking on behalf of the ppl who won’t comment to take it down pls.
Meh. Bit late.
The people before you probably feel the same about you.
Fuck mate, I live in Thirroul - valley of the cabbage palms in Dharawal - which was originally called Robbinsville.
I think anyone will agree that, when it comes to good names, Thirroul > Robbinsville.
BTW Thirroul is in Wollongong which is in the Illawarra.
They're not all Aboriginal names down here. The next suburb north is Austinmer, named after 'Austinmere', which was some rich blokes farm back in the Old Dart.
When it came time to hang a sign at the new train station the sign was delivered as 'Austinmer'. Yet rather than kick up a fuss, or start some kind of culture war, the good folk of Austinmere just said "fuck it, it'll do". And Austinmer it was, and has ever since been.
Just names mate. Some stick and some don't.
... applaud that response. Nice article, Stu.
I know this is a thing nationwide now, but I look at it this way. By and large, we Europeans showed up and just called stuff what we wanted to call it - didn't generally register that there were people here who already had names for the various places, rivers, hills, etc. So why not start calling it what the people who were already here called it, cos that was its name. I know the analogy isn't exact, but if I just decided your name was Bruce (rather than, say, Jimbo), and I was influential enough that everyone started to call you Bruce, you might be a bit miffed that we weren't calling you Jimbo. And then, at some point later on, I realised that it was a bit selfish and ignorant of me, and decided that I should actually call you Bruce rather than just what I decided your name would be, I'm not sure that would classify me as 'woke'.
Fraser was a monster. Do some research.
Where do you reckon the name "Canberra" came from??
Hint: It ain't a British Lord.
Salty,
Good pick up, but Canberra is not an indigenous name, it's a made up word / name that is derived from the indigenous peoples language (whom lived in the Canberra area for 21,000 years).
It was made up by our founding fathers... the name Canberra is meant to mean a sort of meeting place... which makes sense given its purpose as a place to bring our elected leaders from across our single and united country (called Australia) so they can make decisions on behalf or us...
The indigenous people living around this area certainly didn't meet on the hill where our houses of government now sit... nor was the whole areas considered a general meeting place...Nor did the indigenous propels from all round this great land consider this continent a united single country or nation of people.
What's next change the name of Australia (because that is derived from latin)???
In Medieval times & earlier, Australia was known as the Antipodes.
The Portuguese explorers mapped the unknown southern lands as Terra Australis Incognita, Brasiliae Australis... even Magellanica (1531)
The Dutch called the place "New Holland"
Joe Banks called it Australia in 1770's
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Australis
Some Strines call the place Oztrailya
Actually Canberra it is an indigenous word.
"One of the first Europeans to arrive on the plains was a hard-drinking adventurer with a clouded background, James Ainslie. He was guided to the plains in 1825 by an indigenous woman, Ija Ngambri.
Within a year, Ainslie's neighbour J.J. Moore was writing to the authorities referring to the land on which he had settled as ''Canberry''. Right through the early 1800s there were written references to the area as Canburry, Canbery and Kamberri."
"He quotes the author of Canberra's First Hundred Years, Frederick Robinson, explaining in 1924 that the Australian Aboriginal ''spat out his words like chewing tobacco'' and also ''burred his Rs more frequently than a Scotchman''. In short, Ngambri, spat out, sounded as Cambri, or even Camberra."
"NGAMBRI. Now there's a name for Australia's capital city. It has a bit of music in it and means, apparently, ''a woman's cleavage''.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cleavage-gives-canberra-allure-2...
I reckon you could Anglicise it and instead of K'Gari you could call it Ok Gary, or if you wanted to really go full ocker you could shorten it to just Gazza.
No Gary, no.
Or we could just continue to call it "Fraser", like normal Australian people who exist outside of whacko comment sections on obscure surfing websites do.
How to say I’m a butt hurt conservative stuck in the ‘50’s, without actually saying….
Ayers Rock was renamed Uluru in 1993 and I'd say it took at least a decade for that name to roll off the tongue easily.
Same with K'Gari.
It's been Fraser to me for well over 30 years and it'll take some time to be able to say the new name naturally.
A bit of patience will be required.
Like Uluru it'll become accepted and life will carry on for everyone except angry part-time visitors to comment sections on obscure surfing websites.
Time you and the rest of the sleeping monarch belligerents woke up.
It’s officially called K’gari. As for Double Island Point, where’s that?
I’d say 95% of the huge amounts of traffic up there, even through the week, are not surfers at all.
I reckon you'd be right though your heart still sinks when three Landys loaded with five longboards apiece bust out onto the beach. Not that they even put a dent in the crowd some days.
There's too many players with too much skin in the game but I'd like to see NPWS stop 4WD traffic outright or halt it at Cooloola and Rainbow. Park there or Freshwater and hike in. Same as people have to do between Mungo Brush and Seal Rocks. Traffic has increased exponen tially in the last 20 years and its scary to think what it'll be like in another 20 unless some sort of action is taken.
Anyway good article. Love those aerial photos.
In my travels it's had the most four wheel drives bar none. It was fucked. Never going back that way again.
Went there mid 90’s and hitched along the beach with a board a bag of fruit no expectations. Ended up getting a lift off 2 guys who let me camp with them. Surfed it small, towed surf around the lagoon behind their 4x4 had a ball. Got a lift back to my car and travelled on. Awesome memories.
So fun when it all lines up but it is super fickle. I’ve scored but been skunked to. Great article and it’s been interesting seeing how much the lagoon has changed over time.
Lot of the 4wd up there are more the opening tins at 8am displaying CFMEU/eureka flags challenge you to a fight when you ask them to slow down as kids on the beach.
But really like noosa, it’s hipsters who dream of living in the 60’s with iPhone's stuffing the surf
Camped solo at D.I. in the early '90s for 6 months straight. Had bonza 6-8ft waves on the point below the lighthouse with only grey suits for company. Fresh fish everyday with rice & beans.
Envy alert Fooman!
6 months straight. Bonza 6-8 ft waves
Fresh fish every day with rice and beans
Omg, that sounds amazing esp if it was through mid Autumn, winter to mid spring!
Knew a guy who did something similar on the most remote part of the Peninsular. That would have been around 1993. He just decided he would do it, and did! Pulled it off, got to surf at first light every morning. not so crazy after all!
Shitty attitude Chipper.
Well put Milney.
probably a close out for the average punter
Psy and everyone else.
Not happy., cancel culture. Go for it. You probably think we will be carbon nueteal by 2030 and we need to bank riot our country to ensure we get there. Hwlave you heard of Europe and chine and what they’re doing? Even so you probably complain about petrol and power prices and the increasing cost of living …. anyway, You’re entitled to your opinion. I just disagree. .. I support indigenous people enormously. I know the people in Darwin. I protest at the kids incarcerated. I actually stood out the front of the jail. . The deaths in prison disgust me. I cry for those young men and women and the system. It’s wrong. And I am trying to change it.
But it’s not a bad life we have for all Australians. Ask the Palestinians. Ask the minorities in Pakistan. As the Ukrainians, I can go on.
However, as much as it conflicts you because you just think I’m a rich right wing $4{^#£ ( btw I have to work to live. And I’m not that rich like most of the teal and woke voters). !…. your views are so simplistic….
To think our indigenous brothers would remain on this land untouched for eternity… there’s a thought. And anyone who inhabited this land cannot rename places for their meaning. To think that the indigenous peoples would end up with a government/ people who build health care systems, rule of law that allows you to take your case to a considered decision ( think Mabo) would provide cash for people who don’t work. Etc etc. billions would dream for what we have.
We are Australia. We are no longer and never again will be what was consider this land prior to 1770. I note the many groups of indigenous inhabitants did not ever have a name for this continent. Only the region they lived and fought over with other regional inhabitants.
Im done. Enjoy renaming all our places. Those names mean nothing to me our children and the rest of the world. Sorry but that’s fact.
Enjoy your surf.
Lol. I love when people get riled up over words and start throwing out 'woke' like a blunt, plastic dagger intended to wound their non existent enemies.
Ah Chips, most of the European names imported and stuck on by the invaders will be history by the time you get old, and your kids will all be using the indigenous terminology for place names without a second thought.
And Australia will be a largely non-Anglo country, dominated by people from Asia.
It’s happening. Get used to it.
Written from Gadigal lands, but will be heading up to Darkinjung country next week some time. ;-)
The Minjungbal mob up here in Bundjalung country will welcome you, even though you're a knob
Thank goodness there was no mention of reds under beds or a Marxist left agenda. You’re alright with me Chipper.
Quite the meltdown, chip.
Or is it hutchy?
Why does the sand flow start at hunter valley? Is it because of the rivers to the north or the geography of how it juts out from birubi to seal rocks?
Other than the Dixon Park stretch, generally speaking the beachies to the north are better than South. Is that because of the sand flow, the rivers, both or neither? The sand density? It's much finer and prettier North than the course sand of the hunter/central coast.
Sand trains starts at the sand dunes just south of rub.
The hunter has huge flows of water.
From an article we did back in 2016:
"We all know that on the East Coast from Crescent Head to the Sunshine Coast is point break heaven, but what is it about this coastline that creates epic points? Why, for instance, are there no sand-bottom point breaks south of the Hunter River? The wave climate is not that different but the coastal landforms certainly are.
"The simple answer is summed up in this equation: Sediment Supply + Wave Climate = Sand-bottom Points.
"If you compare the coast south of the Hunter River with northern NSW and south-east QLD, there are significant differences in the coastal landforms. To the south there are steep valleys, deep harbours, and multiple lagoons and coastal lakes. All are a function of the same process. The coast of Sydney and the south coast is what is called a 'Flooded Ria' of estuaries filling steep sided valleys, almost like a fjord.
"In these locations most sediment coming down the rivers goes toward infilling the valleys that create the lakes and estuaries. Fresh sediment does not make it as far as the ocean. However, northern NSW and south-east QLD is dominated by large rivers with extensive floodplains. The deep valleys in the bedrock are separated from the ocean by extensive coastal plains, therefore these rivers deliver most of their sediment load directly into the ocean. This sand is then transported by longshore drift to accumulate in perfect triangular banks in the lee of rocky headlands."
https://www.swellnet.com/news/coastal-creationism/2016/02/09/coastal-cre...
Since that was written, there's been development in our understanding of sand transport, specifically where the sand comes from. Sure, some of it comes down the rivers, as explained above, but some sand also comes from the abyssal plain.
When sea levels were lower - which was the vast majority of the last million years - the same rivers emptied their sediment load on what's now called the abyssal plain. Those sand reservoirs are slowly making their way back towards the mainland, where they either join the sand transport system and move north, or infill the embayments and flooded river valleys.
The former if north of Sydney, the latter if south.
So effectively the same thing happens as the sediment coming down the rivers.
Bit disappointing from swellnet. More hype = more crowds, whether it’s a secret or not
Especially with the models forecasting a cyclone swell. It’s such a great place to visit without swell - like going back in time (if you can ignore the traffic). And it’s not just DI that’s cooked now! Loved to death.
Mate used to do it in the late 90s in his kingswood. May have needed help to get home thru the cuttings once or twice.
Social media well and truly fukd this joint.
I’d heard about it but don’t think I actually saw a photo or video of it until Instagram.
Sure articles like this wouldn’t help but it’s not the reason for todays crowds
Is it as sharky as it’s made out to be?
Plenty of sharks but feel pretty safe along the shallow point.
If you happen across a good bank halfway up teewah it’s a bit more freaky.
I’m up that way in Feb might have to do a bit of snooping around
Plenty of other great waves with easier access goof.
# unicorn......
Even just for a look around ld, looks like a beautiful spot
It's worth a look around, God's country.
So says Optimist。
Never knew about this place until this article! Cheers. Definitely spreading the word and heading up that way soon
At first glance I actually thought it was the north end of Moreton island. Stumbled across a similar looking set up there by accident. Any knowledge of that, Stu? Had such a fun surf there and wondered if it ever fired
Playing with fire now Blakey.
Why is that?
great read for sure
I’m assuming most people think that the waves start at the rocks.Early 2000 I had great waves around the corner.A fibreglass cruiser was wrecked on the rocks at that time.The sand was coming around the tip of the point creating a really good ,maybe 150metre righthander , Both times I had it there was just 2 of us out .Manta rays and dolphins were keeping us company.Special memories and lucky to have experienced it .
Winter 2005 there was a swell where it broke from behind the further point rocks all the way down, when the boat was washed up
Sshhh Backhander
Been up that way several times but never seen it above 2ft. It's like everywhere else, no secret spots anymore with social media, forecasting technology & plenty of frothers with 4WD access.
I used to surf it a lot in the very early eighties to about 1990. Mostly I was usually alone weekdays and always looking for a surf buddy to go with me and share the waves and have a shark backup pal to watch out for each other. Lots of sharks there…big suckers too. Lots of fishermen up there though along that beach and even an ice cream man in the holidays named yummy.
I had one swim under me several times and the size of a car it felt like.
Not great whites I think but other types like tigers and Bronzies.
I had an old friend who owned a farm there so I could leave my old unregistered 4wd on the north shore property. It had no brakes ( lines rusted off) and I painted the whole car with motor oil every now and then as it never got washed.
Fun times before crowds and I rode the long right many times alone.
The left is as fun but shorter and if you take off deep inside it would tube
in front of you so you had to back door it. Loved that and it seemed like a regular thing.
Fond memories of a great place but these were the days when I could surf tea tree with a few mates at 6 feet if the whole coast was firing and kept everyone at their local. You would get days where everyone stayed home if the conditions and winds were ripe.
In the mid seventies there was a sick food place called harvest in Noosas Main Street with lentil burgers the go to and the old wooden back packers was $3 a night for a private room and $1.50 for brekky. Loved staying there.
Its dearer now.
Evenings were spent at the pub talking about the day and what was to come tomorrow….lots of friendly hippy chicks to hang out with in the 70’s with some living in a camp at A bay…..just naked men there now last time I surfed the bay how times have changed. I didn’t respond well to naked dudes sitting right next to my towel on an empty beach.
Surfing the cyclones and other east swells with just a few people was a wonderful time of my life as I worked there as a tradesman and in the surf industry later on.
Even in the late 80’s and early 90’s , If you got the swells that ran for more than a week the crowd would back right off.
Not sure how busy it is these days as I gave it away years ago when I couldn’t get more than a couple of waves with all the serious drop ins etc. especially at the pot.
I feel sorry for the younger crew these days but remember there are still many places to hide away from the look at me crowd but you have to be comfortable with sharks….isolation means sharks and they are on the increase.
I think if you flow with a place you feel comfortable being vulnerable especially if your like me and many others being confident that God has your back as long as your not pushing it and being breaking a bunch of no no water quality rules or surfing in bait etc….anyway just waffling and sharing a few historic thoughts about a great place.
Some great stories here. My grandad lost two mates gaffing off the rocks over the years. They went into the water and panicked or were drowned, they knew of the sharks out there. He would do the gaffing as well and it could be risky.
It was also the place he died, offshore in a boat, it was just his time and his heart gave out. It was just before I was born, and I was named after him. RIP Jack.
The grom and I have decided that our next foray north, we will visit this place as we have yet to do so. It isn't to get in the face of people who currently treasure the spot, but for reasons above and to see what he saw and appreciate it.
Wow. Thanks for sharing VJ (J). Some pretty full on stories...especially your granddad.
Sounds like a good reason to go visit it for sure.
Bloodlines have a powerful draw on our spirits.
Also great stories and recollections in the post above @optimist.
Cheers, mum is over and has added a bit more, she remembers going over on that ferry in the footage in grandad's Land Rover, driving some way off the beach. She reckons there was a 'quicksand' bog in the sand on the way up, and told me more about his mates and who died. She recalls him saying about a 'whirlpool' where the tiger sharks were and one mate got caught in it with the sharks and had a heart attack and died and Jack had to go out and bring him in.
She was thinking the Maheno wreck was at DI but that one's a bit further up.
Hey VJ let your mum know it was the Cherry Venture ship wreck. Beached in 1973 not far from the top end of Teewah Beach
Thanks seeds she was OS by this time having met dad, but they did visit in '72. I can only think it was a family trip up past DI and seeing the Maheno.
Ah ok my bad. Was thinking she’d seen it/both and got name wrong. Must have been magic back in those days at both places. We visited K’gari couple of days after lockdown and there was hardly anyone there. It was amazing. Best trip ever and I’ve been there 20+ times over the years.
Hey VJ, this article by Phil J may interest you:
https://noosatoday.com.au/news/28-01-2022/can-the-dream-be-rekindled/
Thanks Stu I'll have a read
edit: “interventions to defend the Noosa North Shore experience”
"The greatest challenge is the beach. The use of the beach is currently in fundamental opposition to the central ethos of what Noosa is. The Queensland Government has allowed it to become a blemish on the Noosa brand by not controlling and managing the impact of visitation."
That one is a bit more esoteric than protecting the actual land - by capping numbers/disallowing certain things battle lines will be created between those proposing it and the BCF crowd.
read the article with Mum and she recalls Noel and reckons nice to know he's got old too! She remembers the intermittent ferry, 'It was a bit rickety!'
Too far and too crowded for me but looks incredible!
For those willing to answer, a Question: do many vehicles become stuck and consumed by nature?
Google I got bogged at Inksip point.
Or check out the iceman on FB
Never been to DI but was lucky to have the late John Devereaux tell me yarns about surfing it in the 60s with big old yank cars and wooden planks tied to the roof. So glad you never mentioned my local (place of many dogs) that needs the long shore every winter and interestingly it never worked this winter 8(
Probably should put up the old snarky as fuck disclaimer.
No joke I've been bumped ,
Chased out , followed and had a twelve foot tiger shark breach and land on its back 2 meters from me.
# sketchy .
Phark me, how the phuck did they make it to DI without a $150K 4WD kitted out with $75K of ARB accessories?
haha, best comment yet.
the most satisfying thing is seeing those guys bogged up to the arches while a 90’s spec dihatsu terios putts past.
Learned to drive in my old mans hilux up there in the 80's.
Rarely took it out of 2wd. Used less fuel.
Lol, you can put so much gear on a 2500kg 4x4 that you get it over 3 tons
there's some good footage of Nat & friends exploring the WA south coast and fanging an EK wagon over the beach...
Funny how they all get induction cooktops, coffee machines & then cook Woolies snags to have on white bread.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I reckon think less 4WD 24/7 and more Malcolm Douglas or Les Hiddens.
Lol, some of the comments about Swellnet blowing up spots is cognitive dissonance at its finest.
A site dedicated to, and financed by, providing info about surf forecasts and surf cams is copping complaints about an article that talks about a well known surf spot.
Only surfed it once when lived at Fraser Island, but i lucked out and had empty knee to waist high little runners (long wait between sets though)
All the sand islands of SEQLD have strong indigenous histories - they were well populated.
Why?
Because they are paradise on Earth. Incredibly rich biodiversity of marine and terrestrial life, plenty of fresh water etc etc.
Stradbroke is already well known as Minjerribah- you'd expect that name change to be ratified like K'gari.
Mulgumpin (Moreton Is) and Yarun (Bribie Is) are less well known for their indigenous names.
Too true FR. There’s an underlying myth that indigenous peoples lived hardscrabble hand to mouth existences, in much the same way that there is a myth that ancient Homo sapiens had to work constantly to keep food in their bellies. In ‘Sapiens’, Yuval Noah Harari points out that anthropology suggests that for most of man’s existence, a 15 hour work week was standard.
East Coast indigenous would have been living the life of plenty, knew every fresh water source, fish jumping out of the water begging to be caught, fish traps built around places to make it even easier, the fruits of the land abundant. Kangaroo, wallaby, snake, turtles. Medicines in every second plant, comprehensive knowledge of what eat and what not to,
They were living like kings and queens. Had the place wired.
Great article Stu and your article brought back great memories of a long forgotten surf adventure. Can’t believe some people are getting upset about you naming the place in the article that’s previously been covered by other journalists and social media. Once the cat is out of the bag there’s no going back as the internet, social media, and entrepreneurial pursuits expose once secret spots.
This sand flow stuff is interesting too.
With the System that may form to the Nth any Predictions what may happen to the Lagoon ?
Mum asks how long has the East coast sand system been operating to create all the points and islands? Are we looking at 500,000 years?
VJ, an A2 horizon depth of 9 metres equates to an age of about 400,000 years.
When I was involved in mapping A2 depths around Kingfisher Bay resort so as to understand dune-building sequences, I seem to remember depths of 12m or so, which is about 450,000 years old.
This was via thermoluminescence dating.
Corals buried beneath dune systems have been dated at 730,000 years +- 70k.
Keep in mind though VJ that current sea levels have been present for approximately 6000 years. About 20,000 years ago sea levels were roughly 100m lower so there would have been big aeolian dune systems but it would have looked quite different.
Fascinating isn't it.
It's accepted that these dunes formed primarily due to increased wind strength during glacial periods
So during those times we have sea levels much lower than today and huge deposits of sand being worked and reworked by stronger winds.
Stronger winds must have been hectic. So there would have been ancient dunes at current positions, plus migrating dune fields that followed the coastline up and down the continental shelf with sea level change?
I’m no expert but yes, ancient dunes in present locations and the usual migrating parabolic sand blows (but more of them and higher due to stronger winds) covering vegetation as they advanced with the more active southeasterly winds.
All the waves we know would have been hills or plateaus....
Fascinating.
As far as I know, Byron locals passed down stories of hanging out in caves out at Julian Rocks.
Wow.
Someone recently mentioned" that someone road a horse to Julian rocks" , must have been way back when.....
Unless there were horses in Australia 15,000 - 20,000 years ago, I might put that one in the bullshit department.
Haha
Probably Pete Evans
The whole subthread above by everyone was epic. Imagine those ice age winds and the dunes! Be like Southgates at Geraldton only much bigger.
I would like that.
I’m conflicted as I remember the old days (not that old) and curse it these days. Can still sneak up sometimes and get it uncrowded
Probably a dumb question but what happens to the sand from Frazier island north....?
https://ibb.co/QjyFfd1
From memory simba alot of the cliffs were almost forming sandstone......
I remember the sand in the cliff/ wall being hardened on the east side .
I seen a dingo on a sand road.
All sand, a brick layers dream
LOL.
It just keeps moving north, Simba.
See this time lapse:
Eventually it moves beyond Breaksea Spit - the name of the semi-submerged sand spit north of Sandy Cape - and then falls off the side of the continental shelf. The green you can see in the following image is the northern tip of K'gari with the shallow sand spit extending beyond it.
What happens to it after that is a mystery.
Beyond K'gari, the coastline changes from one that runs roughly north/south to a coast running SE to NW, and there's also a change from the sub-tropics to the tropics with all the associated changes to wind regime that come with that - fewer hard southerlies for instance.
Point being, the conditions are no longer ideal for the sand transport system to continue.
This also has prevented the Barrier Reef from expanding south, sand suffocating the sea bed and suspension inhibiting growth from what I've read.
Great info.
Just on the name, K'gari/Fraser was at one time also called the Great Sandy Island, which... it is! All three can co-exist depending on where you come from. As a kid my family called it Fraser Island but I also was taught the creation story of Coolum/Ninderry/Mudjimba and it was all a wonder. I thought the cross on the top of Mt Coolum was where Jesus was crucified. Ha.
best comment ever, you love a place, you revel in learning its nameS and history.
(My teen kids still call McDonalds 'the toilet shop' cos on various road trips 12 years ago, I told them that is where we would stop for poos and wees. They always found it gross that people were eating where we went for poos and wees. We always cried 'there's the bum' when we saw the golden arches, and went and did a shit.)
Haha my kids for years called churches that had prominent crosses vampire houses. From some kids movie they’d seen where they associated the two. I’d say that place is full of suckers while doing my best Christopher Lee impression. Always had a laugh at that.
Ok Lukeo2 , thanks for clarifying the year .I knew it was 2000’s. I was living at Noosa 99 to 2008 .Last surf I had was Tea Tree at 3 to 5 feet with good sand and not many people ! Beautiful wave when it’s on .Good memories.
Articles like this remind me why I'm stoked to be old. I have much appreciation to have lived in the pre internet / social media world.
Perfect timing for the long range forecast of a cyclone forming coming to the coast. Time to load and and roll
I have a hazy recollection that there was a DI surf reporter way back in the early days of either swellnet or another report/forecast site?
Am I tripping?
For those who were there, how did you rate the swell of Feb 23 at DI? All-time, or standard fare for a significant E swell?
This article wont change anything in terms of crowds there, its all over Youtube and Insta, let alone Google Maps.
The main issue is that all of the young guys who previously 20 years ago would have driven commodores or falcons or some other sedan are now all drive dual cab 4wds. Then add in the current popularity of Land Cruisers. The amount of 4wds on the road now is insane compared to 20 years ago.
More 4wds = more people at places like this. Where else are they going to show off the $20k worth of kit they've added to them!
Gorgeous coastline but if you think its a secret spot you may as well censor the Superbank.
?si=vU_pnKZQMEXaQ-UL&t=54not safe for young kids when the numbers are up. plenty of near misses. you gotta be on your guard. low tide twitch if you own ankle biters. not only the cars. its turd city and you gotta do the turd hunt before you roll out the swag. as sad as it is they need to regulate the vehicle numbers. I don't how you do that in a fair way. but I dont think it's fair that over 600K new comers this year alone will call Australia home. Maybe a blanket ban at certain periods of year. maybe just a shuttle service back and forth.. i grew up hitching up as a kid and plenty of instances we'd end up walking almost the whole way. surprised i still have a sack left for my nuts. .
Ban the disrespectful fuckers altogether.
Agree with all your comments mate, right up to the reference to 600K new arrivals. How may new Australians will be packing up the Hilux for a trip to DI? Sorry, but the dickheads ruining the place are all long-term Aussie bogans, not migrants
There's a clear connection though.
What, to migrants? That's garbage
Nah it's pretty self-evident, though not saying it's the primary reason for increasing cars on the beach.
Most immigrants go to the large cities.
Cities become busier, with more strain on infrastructure which never keeps up.
People cash in their chips and move to somewhere quieter and more liveable.
So more people, more 4wds, more people on the beach in regional areas.
It's not immigrants on the sands on DI but there's a flow-on effect.
Though I expect the affordability and the current fashion of 4wds has a much greater effect.
It's such a shame that we still can't mention immigration without the knee-jerk reaction.
Teewah camping permits now require you carry a portable toilet
Yeah, the whole 4wd scene has just gone berserk over recent years. Plenty of coastline that has 4wd access becomes a parking lot on summer weekends and holidays.
It's getting harder to get away from everyone, and often when you do, a bunch of 'big rigs' will still turn up and park right next to you anyway.
The relevant authorities must be making a killing $$$$ with the permit fees, which have also skyrocketed in most places over recent years as well.
That’s why you have to be prepared to walk or paddle or whatever these days to really get away from everyone.
Or surf spots hiding in plain sight
Or get a decent 4/3 hooded steamer and head south.
The new ferry operator may slow the day trippers down when they get going. $20 each way has been published.
I paid $10 each way last weekend. Old mate must have thought I was cute.
There’s a new operator soon. Mid next year I believe. New bigger barges. New bigger fares to match.
just thought i should express umbrage at this underground spot being exposed (if someone on this thread hasn't done so already)
Given there are no waves of note south of the tweed, no wonder this place is being loved to death
Those 4WD's are great at pushing up the big, succulent pippies! grab some beach spinach behind the dunes, steam the pips, wilt the spinach, boil some spag, garlic, bit of cream deeeeeelish! The waters are very plentiful too!
Are there any pipis left after hundreds of 4WD’s have compacted the sand and leaked oil everywhere?
was just up in God's country today. No waves but still beautiful to be there.
wonder what it will be like this time next wk..
And not a rattlesnake in sight...
PS all motor vehicles including 4wds on Australia's beaches must be prohibited.
Notwithstanding that we escape the motoring urban madness to be confronted by more motor vehicle madness exacerbated by abominable jet skis... wake up you morons.
Can't disagree.
I wouldn't shed a tear if 4wds were prohibited on these beaches.
If you really want to get there you can walk or ride a bike.
I suspect that banning cars at somewhere like DI would lead to a nasty increase in jet skis though at any hint of swell.
Can't imagine cars being banned on Fraser for a long, long time, too much money involved.
Banning 4wds on Flinders Beach on NSI would be awesome, though similarly, I just can't picture it happening for a long time.
On a somewhat related note I was wondering if the sand gets finer as it travels up the coast. I mean are the larger, heaviest particles are more likely to get left behind as they are transported? Does anyone know anything about this? It would be interesting to compare the Particle size at Lennox as opposed to K'gari for example.
Yeah they do, finer, whiter quartz sands are transported all the way. Whereas down here, especially take the Northern Beaches and Central Coast it's much more golden and brown from the Hawkesbury sandstone.
"Most of the sand in Cooloola and Fraser Island originally came from New South Wales. Scientists have discovered that a vast amount of it once filled what are now deep vallys of the Blue Mountains. The heavy rains falling on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range has eroded away the sedimentary rocks and granites which chiefly comprise the mountains to the west of the coastal plains. The resulting sand is carried down to the sea to meet the next agent of transport, the sea, at the river mouth. The beaches have for millions of years been nourished by the continual flow of sand down our rivers.
The sand of The Great Sandy Region is of the Quaternary Period. It has accumulated and been deposited during the last 2 million years. The sand has had a long, interesting history of movement. It was initially released from solid rock which has been broken down by erosion and weathering to grains which are so small and so light they can be blown about by the wind. The size of the grains of sand vary considerably from 0.02mm to 1.00mm. The most common grain size found in the region is 0.18mm to 0.27mm.
Principal sources of nearshore sediment for coastal areas are streams and rivers which transport sand directly to the ocean. A small amount of sand is derived along the coastline by the gradual wearing away and weathering of rocky headlands along the shore. The sand is moved along the coast by wave action, wind and currents and this movement of sand along the coast is called longshore transport."
Interesting Craig. I was at Wilson's Prom last weekend with the grom (it was dead flat) and the differences in sand from one bay to the next was amazing. Darby River Beach was golden and mid grain, Whiskey/Picnic Bays around the corner fine bright white
Could be the change in local geology?
I'm sure there is someone out there with more knowledge on the Prom region.
Incredible place!
My 2 cents. Calcareous sand (dark green above) grains probably binding together somewhat when put under a microscope. Siliceous sand can too but not as easy, so probably retaining its shape from drier, windier (aeolian) times.
Just on that Craig, northern beaches sand is very different from eastern beaches (whiter and finer) which are more like the Cronulla stretch. The vast sand dunes of Kurnell would have been the same as eastern beaches. Old photos of Maroubra show what a vast sand dune it was reaching back from the beach.
But the Cennie Coast beaches are less like northern beaches of Sydney, and closer to eastern suburbs sand. No doubt Sydney harbour, the drowned river valley, played a huge part in northern beaches sand, but it tends to be larger granules and grittier, and probably less likely to transport. Eastern beaches finer sands could have skipped over to central coast, by-passing the heavier sands. Just a thought, but those are my observations.
It depends though, the southern beaches like Killcare, Avoca, Macs are golden sandy, even Terrgial/Wamby but then from The Entrance north it changes and is more gritty and whiter. Interesting eh
Thanks Craig, explains the linen white sand up there I guess. Is there no better combo in surfing than white sand, clear water and sunshine?
Crikey these comments did not surprise and then some.
Interesting article Stu. The sediment deposit heat map showing zone off northern tip very interesting.
As for those "oMfG uR a nUmPTy sTu, nOw tHE woRD iS oUt!!!" settle down, the word has been out for ages. I live not far from DI and can tell you word has been well and truly out for the last 15 years. There was a day the old boy and I lost count at 260 cars, because our eyes could discern them any longer in the distance (could've easily been another 50 or so). That day there were three distinct zones, first up around the rocks, second at top of point and then the best section down the end. I can tell you there wasn't even 200 people in the water that day, but there was easily >200 on the beach, with kids and insta-hussies with their flabby arses taking photos n shit for their 180 "followers".
A lot of the crowd filling up the beach at DI these days are young flogs with their souped up two door Patrol/Tritons, with one person per car in a group of 6, maybe with a missus or two in tow. A lot of them are from the hinterland areas, Gympie, and down in bogan city (aka Caloundra-Maroochy stretch). Yeah it's an eyesore but go midweek and it's pretty much just you and the Mog truck of learn-to-surf backpackers from Noosa.
More concerning is the damage being done to Teewah beach, much of which is turtle habitat. Not to mention the fucken deathtrap it can be with yobbos flogging it at 80kph while drunk on a crowded long weekend (or any weekend for that matter).
Mowgli - So spot on with your comment and its what I was trying to get at with my earlier comment.
All of the bogans who 20 years ago would have been doing burnouts in commodores at some deserted industrial estate on the weekend are now in diesel powered 4wd and spend their weekends on Bribie or Teewah showing off their 'rigs', spewing black smoke and doing donuts in the sand.
Basically the word is out on any 4wd accessible beach within 2 hours of Brisbane (except for Moreton and Straddie because they don't want to pay for the barge) and all of those places are an absolute f&cking zoo on the weekend.
Anyone who says that this article is going to blow up DI obviously hasn't been there in the last 5 years because the place is stupidly packed as is Bribie.
Thanks Mowgli, and Smorto too.
Publishing this article didn't happen without first giving it some serious thought. This was even after some longer time visitors scoffed at keeping a lid on what's been blown out of the water for a decade. Still I demurred, however I was finally swayed by seeing the sheer number of YouTube vids of DI, some with few views, yet others with orders of magnitude more than what this article will ever reach. Instagram too, plus Facebook. A number of those videos show people in the water that'd give Snapper, Kirra, Burleigh a run for their money.
Anyone who's been reading Swellnet a while will know we have a bent towards the scientific, not just surf forecasting but also the geology/geography that underpins great waves.
In the final reckoning I wondered why we had to censor ourselves over explaining the world around us while the same place was videoed from up, down, and around, more in depth, longer, and less discerning too.
At the very end I just hope people learnt something from this article and its comments - which were great.
And if people still think my judgement is out then I hope they can at least understand the reasoning.
Mowgli - thankfully, the cracking down on that sort of behaviour has well begun. Cops patrol the area frequently now. Good for the above reasons, but a sort of detracts from the whole experience in going there for some isolation in my opinion. But of course, that behaviour continues at times - some suggestion the recent rollover and death of driver and injuries to the passengers was a result of that (although was a load of french backpackers, so maybe also inexperience a factor).
watch this space, but I've no doubt there'll be future major crackdowns on numbers and even possibly any driving up there from the Noosa end
Yep, this is why we can't have nice things.
Swellnet's educational article being published has nothing on the other mob's froth piece - and no doubt what is coming from Dylan Graves' video production team! Another mined and cooked resource
What do you mean Andrew P, "South from Agnes" & "North of Noosa", where could that possibly be?
It wasn't even worth the article, mates went, said it was nothing special.
I wonder where that could be! So you’ve got Dylan graves going there and surfline covering it and it wasn’t even that good. Hmmmmm
It's retarded, in one paragraph Nick Carroll is talking about the logistics of a strike mission from Sydney and in the next one he's mentioning astronomical real estate prices
Just got off a 4wd beach, suffice it to say the 'silly season' has begun.
Had a go at some crew for trying to dump/submerge a broken gazebo in the shorey. I mean, WTF. ( I chose my words carefully, there was a few of them.).
P plating Dual cabs trying to get air , set new sand beach speed records, not to mention the obligatory 'donuts' around people who just want to chill with the kiddies.
Clowns driving over the foredunes etc etc etc etc etc etc.
Didn't see a ranger all day. An unmarked cop in a Land Cruiser would have made a killing,
These idiots are going to get us all locked out soon. Muppets.
As much as I hate to say it, some serious crackdowns are needed.
Where were you if you don't mind me asking?
I'm in Port Stephens visiting family atm. Stockton Beach.
It's a horrible scene isn't it.
My ex got physically assaulted on North Stradbroke years ago by two fellas who didn't like her calling them out about them driving their 4wds where they shouldn't have.
It's a shitshow for sure some days.
And yeah, I think people should be aware of the possible dangers of calling some of these fools out. I know of several incidents on various beaches where even the NPWS and DPI have been assaulted.
I mean, when your gazebo breaks what else are you going to do with it? Probably treated pine so burning it is a no go. It has "put me the shorebreak" written all over it.
Oh - historical question for anyone. Did Ma and Pa Bendall ever get up to surf it?
check out surflines contribution..some people surfing in a desert apparently
good article though Mr Nettle
I have a solution for the 4x4 congestion and behaviour
4x4s are banned on any way into DI
Only 2wds with no modifications are permitted to drive near it, like the Valiant in the video
The ultimate hipster off road surf experience
saw someone try it in a Honda Accord a few years ago....and by try it I mean well and truly fuckedbogged south of Teewah
I remember seeing a 2wd HQ sedan on Fraser in the early 90s, had massive fatties on the back and seemed to be managing fine.
The Falcon RTV ute with it's clearance and diff locker in the rear was a 2wd thing in the 2000s, people have taken the parts and put them into Falcon wagons, creative people that they are
The old kombis go all right on the sand. Used to see a few in the 90’s 2000’s on Moreton. Last one I saw maybe 15 year ago on K’gari (yes I typed Fraser first) chatting to him he’d had lower gearing added so was extra capable.
Yeah, I've seen a few old kombis charging sandy tracks, and in some soft stuff too.
I'm pretty sure 2wds are actually prohibited from beach driving on K'gari and a few other places these days though.
Edit. They are.
"No, you can't take a normal car to K'gari (Fraser Island). Only 4WD vehicles are allowed due to government regulations and safety reasons! K'gari (Fraser Island) is the largest sand island in the world, and therefore all the roads and tracks, save for a few of the paved roads at some resorts, are made of sand. This stunning island is composed of rainforests and lakes that sit on top of ancient sand dunes. K'gari is part of the world's largest and oldest sand dune system!
So the strict rules about 4WD vehicles on K'gari (Fraser Island) is not just to make life harder, it's for safety. The tracks on the island are made of soft sand and it's all too easy to get bogged. Especially towards the coasts where the sand is often wet and soggy, 4WD vehicles are 100% necessary. 2WD cars simply could not handle the sandy driving on K'gari.
Normal cars can still take the ferry from River Heads(Hervey Bay) to Kingfisher Resort and can be driven within the resort (the ferry arrives at the resort's entrance), however you are not permitted to drive beyond the perimeter of the resort property without at 4WD, as you are guaranteed to get bogged and cause an obstruction."
https://fraser-tours.com/article/can-you-take-a-normal-car-to-fraser-island
Minjerribah also
Yeah the rear engine was a big plus in those.
Yeah that’s it. No weight up front to plough in.
Just needed to have a fire extinguisher or two handy.
Haha my Kombi never ignited. Shit that’s funny and true. Or urban myth? Aussie mechanics and roadside assist hated them. Except the dedicated VW mechanics back then.
I've seen quite a few old kombis and beetles burnt out in my time. Something to do with the fuel pump or fuel lines over the exhaust manifold I believe.
Yeah I believe it’s true. And the goss says so. Geez imagine that
Dunno about catching on fire, but the old air cooled engines seemed pretty susceptible to overheating and seizing.
Heard of the blocks cracking in the WA summer heat.
lived on yarun(bribie) for 30 years, havent been up the beach in a long time because of the above comments, had some great times as a young fella with mates camping up the beach in the old war bunkers and campsites
https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2023/12/23/operation-sandstorm-targ...
"Over summer 2023-24, QPS officers will be targeting the coastal areas of the Great Sandy National Park, which incorporates popular four-wheel-driving and camping areas in Cooloola Recreation Area (from Noosa Heads to Rainbow Beach), including Noosa North Shore, Teewah Beach, Freshwater and Double Island Point."
Book em Danno.
Now we just need a 'Citizen Infringement Officer' to fine all the wankers with 'all the gear and no idea'.
Been up DI a number of times over the last few weeks. Went up today. I’d guesstimate numbers are down and things are more sane and orderly. Seems like less day trippers. Some solid setups going up today, people with easily over $200k all up in 4wd and caravan.
[Breaking News]
4th Jan 2024 ( 70m Sand Cliff Slip )
https://www.tiktok.com/@couriermail/video/7320216336099986689
https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2024/01/02/latest-news-wc-2-jan-2024/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/24671365688/
5th-12th Jan 2024 : Park Closure
https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/park-alerts/23638
https://au.news.yahoo.com/aussies-warned-after-close-call-at-packed-4wd-...
https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2024/01/20/call-to-limit-beach-acce...
Sharky! I have never seen so many sharks as I did in the 80s off DI Point and K’Gari delivering sailboats up and down the coast. Also saw sunfish regularly in this area. Obviously a hugely important ecosystem. The dynamic sand bars of Breaksea Spit off the N tip of the island were quite a challenge to navigate in the days before satellite navigation and digital charts. Cook was a very good cartographer but lame at place names. He named Double Island Point in May 1770, surely there is a local name for this beautiful place we could use.