A 4WD Adventure: Camping on Moreton Island

Our last few weeks whilst in Australia were based in Brisbane, spending time with Joe’s family. During our time in Brissy, we managed to squeeze in a last minute trip to Moreton Island — a large sand based island off the Queensland coast!

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip

We were shown around the third largest sand island in the world, with this awesome Toyota Land Cruiser 4×4, affectionately known as the troopie. As the island is 100% sand based, you can only get around with a 4WD vehicle, or you’ll be restricted to just the initial landing area where the ferry stops.

Luckily for us, the troopie was kitted out! Joe’s always lusted after a 4×4 of this style, so it was amazing to finally get to travel in one. Even though this particular Land Cruiser is about 14 years, it is insanely reliable. Most of it’s reliability comes down to the fact that it’s 100% mechanical with no electrical features!

A night on the island ended up being one of our most unforgettable moments, throughout our time in Australia

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip

Of course we filmed the whole experience in a vlog for the Jelly Journeys YouTube channel.

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We made sure to packed some Australian essentials!

Sunblock and XXXX.
Rock and roll.

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Sand Dunes

One of the main things to do on the island, is toboggan down the giant sand dunes. No one else seemed to be around at the time we were there, so we were lucky to have it all to ourselves!

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip
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Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip
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Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip
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Racing against the fading sun, we eventually made it back to our campsite — just in time for homemade curry and wine under the stars!

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06:21

The following morning, we made the most of the day, getting up at sunrise and setting off to explore more of the island!

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip

Pre-morning grub — I’m still not fully awake here…

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip
Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip

After a shower (built into the side of the troopie, no less!) and a quick goodbye to our night’s campsite, we were off again!

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip

There’s so much to do on the island, but given that we were booked on the ferry to go back to Brisbane mid-afternoon; all our stops were extremely brief.

However, we did manage to make it up to Cape Moreton Lighthouse, dip our feet in the Blue Lagoon and a walk to a viewpoint at North Point.

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip

With about an hour and a half spare, we casually parked up along the beach on our way to the ferry. It was a pretty good lunch spot, with again, no one else about! Although we did get a little too carried away and ended up only just making our ferry!

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip

During peak summer seasons (September-April), I would recommend booking your slot on the ferry, as there aren’t that many spaces during the day and limited boats.

Moreton Island 4x4 Australia Road Trip

This trip was definitely one of our highlights for seeing Australia. Although we didn’t get to do it, I’d highly suggest snorkelling around the shipwrecks off the coast. It’s often one of the main activities listed to do,  besides tobogganing down the sand dunes.

I’ve even heard that it’s pretty common to see dolphins at sunset!

We’d like to offer a huge shoutout and personally thank Joe’s Brisbane family for taking us around the island! If only they were an official tour operator we could recommend… 😉

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