Milligan Island Mini-Break

Thursday 10^th to Sunday 13^th February 2022

Attendees:

Richard & Naomi – Pajero (Trip Leader)

Spence, Penny & Amber – Landcruiser

Alex – Colorado

Keith – Ranger

Peter & Malou – Landcruiser

Dave & Cindy – Prado

Lin – FJ

Gary, Claire, Gabriel & Azriel – Landcruiser

Last year after the Beekeepers Reserve trip we brought some members back via Milligan Island and the general consensus was, that it would be a good spot for a lazy long weekend trip. As it can get quite busy up here during school holidays or long weekends, we decided to slot in a four-day break after the sprogs had gone back to school. My plan was to head up on a Thursday morning in order to ensure we got enough camp spots for our group as you can’t book at Milligan’s it is a first come, best dressed camp with a three-night max stay. Originally, I’d planned to just meet everyone at Milligan’s after shooting up the Brand Hwy but ended up agreeing to meet up early at Nowergup and head up Indian Ocean Drive (IOD) together. This proved to fortuities as there was a fatal on Brand Hwy that morning and we would have been unable to get north.

         After some small talk, it was the afternoon and we decided to pop around to the beach so some could swim, while others could paddle. The water was calm and not too cold, however there was the occasional Bluebottle that seem to have been washed into the bay, but these were no problem as it was easy to dodge them.

All in all, it was a glorious day with great mates and the sunset was a fitting finish to the activities.

            The next morning after a slow start, we went for a short drive to show Peter & Malou the beach. Not wanting to venture too far as Dave & Cindy were due to get there quite early. We happened to run into them on the access road as we were heading back to camp, they were quick to set up camp.

After Dave got has bonding session with Amber completed, we got ready to head back into town.

First thing we had a quick stop, Dave needed supplies (aka bottle shop). Just down past the caravan park, there is a track taking you down to the beach where you can follow the coast south back towards Milligan Island Campsite.

The sand tracks in here are mainly for the locals to access their favourite fishing spots, whilst not too challenging it was interesting to explore a new area. There is no camping allowed along the coast here other than at Milligan Island and the Ranger does patrol this area. After winding our way south, you come out at a headland at the top of Little Anchorage, rather than drop down onto a very narrow soft sand beach which I haven’t driven before, I decided to turn everyone around and head for a track that ran east back to Indian Ocean Drive. From here it was a short bitumen run back to gravel road leading to our campsite.

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Meanwhile Claire captured an awesome sunset shot as they head up IOD, which complimented the photo taken by everyone still down on the beach.

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            On the Saturday morning whilst everyone else was taking their time rising, Amber had already been down the beach and was as happy as Larry.

Given the shallowness of the bay, I suggested we head into Green Head via the beach, so Dave & Gary could dive in Dynamite Bay, whilst Naomi went paddling along with Gabriel & Azriel,

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while the rest of the gang checked out the awesome walk paths that have been put in through out Green Head.

After our busy morning we headed back to camp again doing our best to avoid bitumen, using sand tracks and the beach where possible, Alex had a couple of his staff members (who happened to be camping in one of the other loops), joined us for the afternoon drive.

After driving back from Leeman the day before, I decided to head up using a powerline track parallel to IOD. This is where we exited the day before, thus avoiding all bitumen between Green Head and Leeman. Driving up the coast the opposite way, I find it funny how the same track can be so different when done in the opposite direction.  

All was going well as we wound our way north and we could see the caravan park in Leeman that was our exit point when I came across a bogged (to the bumpers) Kia Sportage in the middle of the track, with tall bushes on both sides with no way around it. There was no one around and the car was locked so I assume they’d gone for help.

Fortunately, I knew there was a short steep sand track a little way back which exits into a huge fire break.

  After bidding farewell to Gary, Claire, Gabriel & Azriel, Lin, Naomi and myself headed back into the Green Head Gallery Café for an awesome coffee & cake out on the lawn under the trees. The general consensus was that the extra long weekend had gone well and even though there wasn’t really any hard 4WDing everyone had a good time. From my point of view, it was very sociable and there was a good mix of old & new members who all interacted with each other. A big thank you goes to everyone who came along, made it so enjoyable and hopefully we can do it again sometime.

All the best

Richard Cooper

Click on the image below if you would like to see the vid from this great trip.