Dundubara Campsite, Fraser Island

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Posted 2012-09-24 by Jane Street ⇒ follow

If you're camping with children on Fraser Island, you have five 'dingo-safe' (fenced) campgrounds to choose from. On a recent trip, we picked Dundubara campground and can highly recommend it.

Situated on the central east coast of the Island, north of Eli Creek and Maheno Wrecks but south of Champagne Pools, Dundubara campground makes a great central base for exploring some of the key attractions. If you cross from River Heads, you'll have an adventurous drive aross the inland tracks then about an hour's drive up 75 Mile Beach. Beach driving is constrained by the tide times so you must check the times and plan your trip carefully before you set off.

Dundubara is a shady forest campground but is only 500 metres from the eastern beach. There are some fantastic short and long walks starting from the campground. The Wungul Sandblow circuit (2-3 hours) was really incredible. The first part of the walk winds through Scribbly Gums and Grass Trees before emerging suddenly onto the sandblow with sand flats as far as you can see. My nearly 3-year old daughter loved running across the sandy expanse and it was a lovely safe place to play, away from the 4WDs on the main beach. As it's not one of the main attractions on the regular tours, it feels particularly secluded and magical. If you're feeling very energetic there is a full day walk to Lake Bowarrady starting from the campground.

The campground is very well equipped and maintained, with two smart flushing toilet and shower blocks (hot showers: $1 for 3 minutes), a dish washing area with lovely hot water and several clean gas BBQs which worked well. There are some fire rings for communal campfires. There is an information booth and payphone nearby and even a post box which gets emptied twice a week. I loved the notice which explained that collection times vary depending on the tide times.

There is plenty of wildlife around the campground. Look out for cockatoos and kookaburras. We had to chase a 1 metre long goanna out of our tent which came to explore as we were packing up. As the campsite is fenced, it is a safe zone from dingoes, however we spotted dingo tracks on the main beach outside the campground so you do need to be very dingo-aware when you are out and about, particularly during dingo whelping season (September and October).