Buggyfest shakedown – By Katie and Dave

We’d all been looking forward to holidays. The weeks leading up to Buggyfest were less an “expectant buzz” and more of “frantic with a side of mild panic” as we prepared (* cough cough built) the vehicles that were to tackle the sandy destination – Fraser Island. Amidst growing excitement there was around the clock work building the 1975 Baja Bus (now known as The Kelvinator), fitting in the usual jobs, raising Farrely’s 73 (which unfortunately did not end up making it due to an emergent brake issue) and getting Laurie’s Moon Buggy (aka Moonboot) registered. It mirrored the frantic pace set by Andrew, Jim and Nathan in preparing the Towd’s.

This was Kelvinator’s very first trip, having been close to 10 years in the making (sometimes life gets in the way!). The bus was a casualty of the 2011 floods and narrowly missed out on being turned into the side of a house at Graham’s. Panel, paint, electrics, mechanical – it was a complete overhaul to create the Baja Kombi. As white as marshmallows in a mug, Kelvinator runs a 4 inch lift, 2.7 Type 4 engine and dual battery set up. The interior is deliberately simple with a great foam mattress supplied by Jamie at Kustom Kombi (seriously …the best night’s sleep ever).

As ready as we’d ever be, the crew left early Friday morning with some joining in the convoy at Morayfield. Everyone knows your holidays only start when you’re on the sand, so Dave, Simon and Ryan (chief drivers) joined by passenger princesses Katie, Deb and Maddy, took the more scenic route via the beach at Tewantin and Rainbow. “Overseas” we went, ferried by the Mant Ray Barge across from Inskip to the Island.

Travelling a little behind the buggy crew (we had a quick detour to find some hose to create a booster breather for Simon. Funnily enough the brakes stay on with the ingress of sand, we also needed to stop at the bakery). We soon caught up with Andrew and Mel at Poyungun rocks bypass. They had the added challenge of getting the caravan up to Cathedrals Campground. Following a thankfully uneventful run up the beach it was awning out and we were soon settled into Camp. Our simple set up was humbled by the Taj Mahal of camp kitchens that Simon and Deb built which had everything but the kitchen sink! Come to think of it, Laurie and brother Rob also outdid themselves with several fridges and even a toaster! We did have to laugh though when Michelle and Glenn said they’d brought the airfryer “along for the ride”.

There was but one man missing….. the gap in the campground lineup highlighting the yellow kombi’s absence. The crew patiently waited for Smiley and “Houdini” to arrive but were a little worried as the clock ticked closer to 8pm. How long does it take to get from Kingfisher? With no phone reception or radio contact and only a rough idea of his planned route Andrew, Dave and Simon set out on a recovery expedition in the Cruiser.

Not half an hour after the team set out, but who should roll into camp but a definitely “not lost” Smiley. An unfortunate split in the oil cooler had meant the need for some slight bush mechanics. Out here, creativity is the only tool that really matters (and maybe some spare points, condensers, starter motor, coil and trailing arm bolt??). The rising tide had meant further delay, and a possible wrong turn resulted in Smiley traversing an alternate route, leading him out further south on the beach than intended (and certainly a different route to where the search and rescue team were looking!)

We tried tirelessly to get a message to the now not needed search and rescue party with the help of Graham and Mel’s Starlink set up. As the boys made their way through windy tracks in the “land yacht” as Dave fondly described the Cruiser, it was finally Simon who had a glimmer of reception and received the message that Smiley was “home”. Having made it half way to Kingfisher, the boys trudged back to Cathedrals through the Woralie track. Smiley will at all

times ascertain he was not lost, and had indeed enjoyed a chicken burger and the daily Wordle at Happy Valley. For those playing along, the word of the day was “Haven” - quite fitting for the location really. 

We soon fell into a familiar pattern of early morning walks, daily sign-ups and driver briefings as 35 buggies / baja’s and extra “support crew” (4wd’s) split into groups. Collecting coloured ribbons for each run, it was fun to chain them together through the week with a competition to see who could make the longest tail!

Whilst everyone had their own adventure… here was ours!

Saturday 18^th: Coongul Creek, Lake Allom

Run participants: Dave and Katie, Glenn, Michelle and Julie, Mal and Cindy, Max and Rita, Ralph and Mal, Simon and Deb, Ryan and Maddy, Wally and Merrin, Michael, Smiley

Highlights: A tranquil destination on the Western side we enjoyed swimming followed by turtle appreciation at the lake.

Mishaps: a ranger was bogged on the Woralie track and stopping in the soft sand resulted in a few needing a hand to get out of trouble. Wally broke down. Twice (a shock fell off, and then poor running soon degenerated not running). With a few spares up their sleeves, the crew was able to keep Wally and the freshly built yellow baja running. PSA, if you are still running points and condensers…. please don’t.

Sunday 19^th: Awinya Creek with beach drive to Coongul

Run Participants: Dave and Katie, Grieg and Bel, Smiley, Laurie, Dean and Emily.

Highlights: Crossing Awinya creek at low tide, being able to drive south along the beach to Coongul for the first time! The Pirate Themed Party was a hoot!

Mishaps: biting things in the sea and some seaweed after the storm made for interesting swimming conditions. No one broke down!

Monday 20^th: Champagne Pools, Waddy Point and Orchid Beach

Run Participants: Dave and Katie, Andrew and Eileen, Greig and Bel, Simon and Deb, Ryan and Maddie, Smiley, Wally and Merrin, and Laurie

Mishaps: Anthony was only with us a short time unfortunately due to CV issues, twice. A huge thank you to Smiley for the spares! A bent rim and slowly leaking tyre was the only challenge for Simon and Deb, and a discombobulated front shock for Ryan and Maddy in Simon’s Baja.

Tuesday 21^st:  The Sandy Cape

Run Participants: Dave and Katie, Smiley, Paul, Vada and the kids, Andrew, Jim, Nathan (also fondly known as the Towd and Towdpoles), Laurie, Melissa and the kids stopped at Waddy for the day.

Highlights: encouragement from the “peanut gallery” as the buggies passed through Ngkala rocks heading north (no VW got bogged!). A walk up to the lighthouse with spectacular views. Driving home in the dark we stopped to take stock of our running lights – special commendation for Laurie’s “Party Lights” and Dave’s “Incinerator 5000”.

Mishaps: An eventful day! We waited for hours to get back south through Ngkala with lots of Land Cruisers (40 PSI club) stuck and a Colorado bogged after stopping to the side of the bypass FOR LUNCH (Who has lunch in the bypass!?) It took us all multiple attempts and a few

getting stuck in the soft sand and steep track as we headed south through Ngkala. The Kelvinator proudly got stuck for the first time! Max Trax soon got us out of trouble - don’t leave home without them! Another slight mishap was the gusting wind ripping and dislodging Kelvinators awning whilst simultaneously sling shotting the sand peg 40 m down the beach. Jim also lost his muffler on the way home though managed to find it the next morning.

Wednesday 22nd: Bugista run to Eli, run to Poston’s, the Logging camps, Telstra Tower, Air Hanger and Valley of the Giants

Run Participants: whilst the girls took control of the buggies, Dave and Katie, Grieg and Bel and Smiley made a side quest to review the islands history.

Highlights: a steep descent down the Telstra tower track (passenger eyes may have been closed, fear factor 0/5 – do not recommend). There was no way up that track in the bus and it looked as though someone had had a good go… making it only 1/3 of the way up. (Note to self, bring the Baja Bug next time!). Enjoyed a charcuterie board at the Airport – no air traffic that day  or in recent memory or that matter! A steep but invigorating hike to the logging camp; stumbling across a vw gearbox in the ruins; comparing the state of degrading camp remains to our trip there 6 years ago. The pitted, rusted and corroded surfaces a reminder that the salt air and water is not our friend. By this point I don’t think anyone was looking forward to cleaning the car when they got home. We also enjoyed the Hawaiian themed party.

Mishaps: None, honest!

Thursday 23rd: Eli creek, Happy Valley for a pub lunch.

Run Participants: Dave and Katie, Smiley, Andrew, Deb and Simon, Ryan and Maddy, and met up with Wally and Merrin, Glenn, Michelle and Julie at Happy Valley.

Highlights: refreshing dip in the creek; delicious lunch; run down of the # 2 Maheno Bell on display in the Pub (thanks for sharing the story Wally!)

Mishaps: A quick 3 – man push for Simon (didn’t even need Max Trax). The conditions around Eli are pretty chewed (maybe something to do with that Bugista run? Joking!).

Friday 24th: Home time

An early pack up for some, we headed home after a quick dip in Eli. Even the biggest tide of the week (1.69m) wasn’t enough to clear the soft and rutted beach, making it a hard slog to get anywhere despite the receding tide.

Mishaps: Wally broke down on the way down the beach but was thankfully rescued by Paul.

After a great week it was nice to get home to the animals and a non- sandy surface on which to walk. On the list of improvements for us is suspension upgrades and fine tuning a very new motor (now due for its second service – please note we do NOT endorse running in your engine on the beach).

A big thank you to the team for organizing such a great event, we can’t wait for the next offroad adventure!