A few photos taken in 1976 on the beach at Fraser Island when the Taylor (I think that was what the fish were called) were running off the beach. And if you were not using a rod for fishing, it made an acceptable windsock...
I much preferred landing on the beach, provided you checked for the fresh water streams that ran across the beach and could find a clear spot between all the four wheel drives.
Got a call one day from the Bundy Flight Service that one of our aircraft was in trouble. Fearing the worse ... it was very easy to end up stuck in the sand... I found out that the guys had in fact broken off the aircraft key in the baggage lock and as the same key was used for starting, they were in a spot of bother. To make it a bit more interesting, the tide was coming in, so they were somewhat concerned. After a frantic search and a "quick" trip over in another aircraft we luckily were able to fly in a spare key....
Taken in the same year is this not very clear shot of the Orchard Beach Resort. You might be able to see the sand patches that slowed you up alarmingly during takeoff. To help that, water sprinklers were placed on the strip to encourage the grass to grow but gave you something else to deal with.
I don't know when, but the resort buildings to the seaside of the strip eventually were claimed by the sea and I wonder if the strip in the photo also ended up in the water....
