The caravan and 4WD swallowed by the Inskip Point ‘sinkhole’ will probably stay under water forever.
The vehicles belonging to grey nomads, Jenny and Dieter Gass, were claimed by the waters as large chunks of the MV Beagle Campground simply disappeared last weekend.
Divers and towing crews have been working ever since to retrieve what was once the couple’s pride and joy, but their efforts appear to have failed.
Mike Clayton from Clayton’s Towing Service said only a small section of the caravan was visible and the four-wheel-drive was buried so deep under a sand bank they didn’t even know where it was.
“We tried to pull as hard as we could and the chassis let go and that’s it,” he told the Brisbane Times.
“It’s disappointing. We were hoping to get it out for the owner so they can get some of the property back but we can’t do miracles.”
A Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman said the area would be cleared, secured and barricaded and safety signage installed.
The Brisbane Times reports that the campground remains closed until further notice. Geotechnical reports indicate ‘limited, minor coastal erosion’ could continue for weeks.
* Comment below
The channel between Inskip point and Fraser island is a fault so it is not safe to camp anywhere near it. If we look at the area we see that sand gets placed on the beach along the coast on the island and the mainland all except the channel. The fault keeps the channel there.
There is an underlying fault right across to WA and it is about at the Nt and SA border. There were sinkholes that appear about 2 months after earthquakes. i can’t find a date for the 2005 sinkhole but there was a huge earthquake south of Tasmania in late 2004. Then there were also earthquakes and sinkholes in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015.
I am also having trouble finding the 2012 sinkhole date. It should be about 2 months after the Ernabella earthquake.