driving on the beach

jeep or driving on the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef area of the Gold
Coast area permitted....is this possible...from Texas where we can drive
the beaches for miles....of course observing all conservation rules as I do
here...

Gold Coast City, South of the Queensland capital Brisbane, is no where near
the Great Barrier Reef which is 300 kms north.

Beach driving is permitted in certain areas of the Queensland Coast.

Most beach entry requires a permit, usually from the National Parks and
Wildlife Service or the local Council.

Nearest one I know of to Gold Coast is actually on the Sunshine Coast i.e.
the beach areas North of Brisbane.

From Tewantin you can cross the Noosa (?) river near Lake Cootharaba to
enter the Great Sandy NP.

Or you could take a barge across to North Stradbroke Island (from Cleveland)
but that is fairly expensive for just a day's driving.

http://www.seastradbroke.com/

There may be beach driving on Bribie Island.

Beach driving by the public (as far as I am aware) is not permitted anywhere
in Gold Coast City.


Ross

"DRRanchTx" wrote in message
nk.net...

jeep or driving on the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef area of the Gold
Coast area permitted....is this possible...from Texas where we can drive
the beaches for miles....of course observing all conservation rules as I
do here...

The Great Barrier Reef is over 1000km north of the Gold Coast .

There is no beach driving allowed on Gold Coast beaches (except for approved
emergency services etc).

Beach driving is allowed on some Sunshine Coast beaches, about 250km North
of the Gold Coast.

Fraser Island is all beach/sand driving - accessible by vehicular ferry from
several points on the mainland. It is a National Park, so you'd need permits
etc (readily available).

Have a read he http://dkd.net/fraser/






"DRRanchTx" wrote in message
nk.net...

jeep or driving on the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef area of the Gold
Coast area permitted....is this possible...from Texas where we can drive
the beaches for miles....of course observing all conservation rules as I
do here...

The southernmost tip of the GBR is off Bundaberg which is a 5+ hour drive
north of the Gold Coast. There aren't any suitable beaches for driving along
the Bundaberg stretch.

The options I can think of a

1. From north of Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast, to Tin Can Bay
2. Fraser Island which is close to Tin Can Bay
3. Moreton Is and North Stradbroke Is which are in Moreton Bay off Brisbane
4. Possibly northern NSW beaches - not sure whether it's still possible

Personally, I'd recommend Fraser Is beacsue of its ecological and
geographical diversity. Stunning place to spend a few days. You'd certainly
need a permit to drive on the beaches there.

Mel


"DRRanchTx" wrote in message
nk.net...

jeep or driving on the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef area of the Gold
Coast area permitted....is this possible...from Texas where we can drive
the beaches for miles....of course observing all conservation rules as I
do here...

"DRRanchTx" wrote in message
nk.net...

jeep or driving on the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef area of the Gold
Coast area permitted....is this possible...from Texas where we can drive
the beaches for miles....of course observing all conservation rules as I
do
here...


Nearest beach driving to Brisbane is Bribie Island, beach permit is
required.
Some nice lagoons, camping on the beach, etc.

The beaches along the coast of the GBR are not very good, lots of mud
and mangroves so staying out of the marine park is the best thing. To the
best of my knowledge there is no vehicle access on the beaches of any of
the GBR Islands (Whitsundays etc).

You can drive along the beach from Noosa (about 3 hours North of
Brisbane) upto the Northern tip of Fraser Island - maybe 250kms.
There are speed limits and I think that the National Parks have now
put a 50kph limit on all beaches that they control in Queensland. The
limits were introduced after some idiot ran down a child playing on
the beach - there was also a pregnant woman killed North of Noosa
a couple of years ago - she was lying on the beach and someone
drove over her.

Some local councils still control access to the beaches and permits
still have to be bought.