Another beautiful day in paradise, today we head for Sandy Cape, the most northern tip of the island. Just past Orchid Beach we saw a sign for Ocean Lake, there was a nice picnic area with toilets there that did not look like it was used very often. Jacky felt that the sign describing then numerous spider species including trapdoor spiders found in the area may have had something to do with it. I think that majority of people that made the effort to get to the northern end of the island are just interested in fishing not picnic. The majority of groups camping up this end of the island consisted of males, there were only a few couples like ourselves.

From Ocean Lake we headed off again along the beach to where we arrived at the infamous Ngkala Rocks. These rocks are usually passable at low tide and we were there about 2 hrs before low tide and there was no way they could be driven around or over. Everyone was using the bypass track, this track is a little gnarly and pretty soft, we were only 100 mtrs in when we had to stop and wait while some one used their Maxx tracs to get themselves through the soft sand. I wisely used to the spare time to drop a few more psi from the tyres and we got through without any issues. It was back on to the beach and a nice smooth 20 km cruise up the beach to the cape.

Sandy Cape, Fraser Island

The lighthouse is about 8 kms around from the cape and there is a couple of camping areas there for the real hardy fisher types. The road up to the lighthouse was locked, so it was a 1.3 km walk up a very steep hill to reach it.

The climb to Sandy Cape Lighthouse

The sign at the start of the road suggested there were self-guided tours available and Jacky thought the lighthouse would be open and you could climb up to the walkway but this was not to be. The lighthouse and the 2 lighthouse keeper’s cottages were all locked and the view from the grounds was mostly obstructed by trees and shrubs.

Sandy Cape Lighthouse

Jacky was not impressed after the effort required getting there from the beach. The effort required to build the structure in 1870 was quite impressive. It was built using prefabricated sections of cast iron that were off loaded onto the beach and dragged up the hill using horses. After more than our daily requirement of exercise it was time to head back to camp to relax.