Ex tropical cyclone Seth continues to bring high tides across Fraser Coast, Gympie region

Footage of campers waking to waves smashing their site and beach drivers taking big risks has emerged amid monster tides on Fraser Island and near Noosa.

The weather bureau has warned “abnormally high tides”, which have flooded campsites and left risk-taking drivers bogged in sea water, will continue across Queensland.

King tides and gale-force winds have wreaked havoc across the Wide Bay this week, leaving beach roads “half-washed away” and forcing campers to end their holidays early.

At Teewah Beach, near Noosa, a camper posting under the name “Kath D Wino” was among those caught out in the high tides.

A Teewah Beach camper posting on social media under the name “Kath D Wino” was caught off guard by the high tides from ex tropical cyclone Seth, and had water come right into her campsite. Photo: Facebook

“One minute we are enjoying a coffee on the dunes, and the next minute madly starting to pack up as the water came right up into our camp in zone two,” she wrote on Facebook

On K’Gari (Fraser Island), Luke Ziebarth faced a similar situation when his family woke to waves rushing through their campsite.

In a video posted on the Fraser Island 4x4 page, a wave is seen rising over the banks and flooding the site, rushing under the family’s vehicle while onlookers are left stunned with one proclaiming “holy shit!”

At Double Island Point, four-wheel drive enthusiasts were seen playing “Russian roulette” as they drove through the king tide and over slippery rocks.

Brisbane man Carey Wallis captured 49 photos of cars “having a crack” at the risky stretch of beach on Monday, and shared the images online.

Mr Wallis told the Gympie Times he frequented the Cooloola Coast every year and had walked down to the rocks to take photos of the high tides.

He estimated 100 cars passed through the area, but only one car was bogged as a result of the dangerous conditions.

“One guy got caught there for a little bit, but later that night … the car was still there up on the rocks with water going over the bonnet,” he said.

“The local tow truck towed it off at two o’clock (Tuesday) morning.”

Further north at Cathedrals on Fraser Island, owner and manager Jack Worchester said cars were queued up their driveway while waiting to get off the island, but the business was otherwise unaffected by the weather.

Mr Worchester said Cathedrals was only 400 metres from the water, and a king tide on Monday morning cut off access to the beach.

“The waves were coming up into the driveway so you could not leave the premises or even get onto the beach,” he said.

But despite this, he said campers were not put off.

“There’s plenty to do on the rest of the island, even on the west coast which was pretty protected.”

He said the waves were crashing into the sand dunes, and it took three hours before the tide started to recede.

Apart from the high tides, the island faced strong winds and some occasional rain, but no severe damage, Mr Worchester said.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued another severe weather warning for abnormally high tides along south east Queensland on Tuesday morning, with the Fraser Coast and Gympie region among the areas affected.

According to the bureau, water levels have exceeded the highest astronomical tide (HAT) of 2022 by more than half a metre, and a hazardous surf warning remains for K’Gari (Fraser Island) as well as the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

It also warned large waves, in conjunction with abnormally high tides, could continue to cause coastal erosion at exposed beaches.

Senior Constable Vaughan Carman from Highway Patrol Gympie said driving into flood waters or high tides was “thwart with danger”.

“If you do put yourself and your passengers into harm’s way, you also put rescue crews who will attempt to rescue you, into danger,” he said.

“We do not need to lose innocent lives because of poor decisions.”

He said the penalties for disobeying road closure signs varied but disobeying a road access sign would cost drivers $165 and the loss of three demerit points.