This trip to Moreton Island was NOT sunshine & rainbows! 4WD swallowing creek crossings and torrential rain FLOODED our campsites – but didn’t stop us! Ticking off a few of the best things to do on Moreton Island, the boys braved every corner of Moreton to collect food for an EPIC seafood feast, and grant a few wishes for some young, deserving 4WDers! Legend has it that Shauno even caught his first fish.

ROOF DEEP water crossing causes CHAOS! Moreton Island adventure went wrong...

If us 4WDers had one dream, it'd be to escape the daily grind and drive as far away, to a place of white beaches and perfect waterfront camping, where the fishing and the beers are on tap. It is like a postcard up here, sometimes though just such a place can be hidden right under your nose, like here at the amazing Morton island we're here for the ultimate summer getaway.

Moreton Island covers approximately 37kms long and 10kms at its widest point, making Moreton Island the 3rd largest sand island in the world. Moreton Island forms part of the eastern boundary to Moreton Bay, a large shallow bay that’s rich in marine biodiversity. Moreton Island is an adventure-lovers paradise, offering everything from snorkeling at the iconic Tangalooma wrecks, taking a dip at the champagne pool, swimming in crystal clear waters at blue lagoon, exploring Moreton Islands rich war history, or take a beach drive up the east coast of Moreton Island or head inland and discover the sand tracks that the island has to offer. 

Your adventure begins on the Moreton Island ferry a 90-minute journey that takes you from the heart of Brisbane and across the bay to a different world. Make use of the ferry trip to air down to your preferred tire pressure, 18PSI works for us.

Moreton Island offers amazing camping opportunities and with a little pre-planning, you’ll easily find the right campsite to suit your needs, some areas like Ben-Ewa, Blue Lagoon, Comboyuro Point and the Wrecks all offer some facilities including drop toilets, great if you’ve got the kids or partner with you, If you’re looking for something more secluded or adventurous then Moreton Islands camping zones will be right up your alley. The southwestern camp zone of Moreton Island offers 24 campsites along the sheltered waters of Moreton Bay. Unlike Fraser Island campfires are usually permitted on Moreton Island but you'll have to bring your own firewood. 

Driving around Moreton Island is for the most part all beach driving and who doesn't love a beach drive? From the moment you drive off the barge you’re onto the beach and straight onto a beach run, the eastern side of Moreton Island is one huge beach run, something to be mindful of is beach driving is very tide dependent, you'll find yourself running out of the beach at high tide as there's not a lot of sand to drive on and if you find yourself above the high tide mark it can be super super soft.

The sand around these parts can get pretty soft once it's seen some traffic. Setting up your vehicle right is super important, and Graham's got a hot little tip here. Those of you that haven't done a whole leap of beach or sand driving, obviously tire pressure's a big one.

Graham's opted to drop his tires down to 18PSI, now the beaches along Moreton Island are at low tide, they're quite hard and there's not a problem. On some of these inland tracks, they're soft but they've also got some very distinct tire channels in them and by sticking in the ruts you're not forcing any new sand in front of your tire.

It can make it so much easier to drive, saving on fuel as there is no fuel station on the island. It's also better for the entire track, it's much more comfortable and it does mean you will not get stuck anywhere near as easily, pretty much staying in these ruts and makes it so much easier on the beaches.

Fishing and 4WDing go hand in hand if you ask us. There's no better place than Moreton Island throw in a line or crab pot. If you love a seafood feast then setting a crab pot is the way to go, set the crab pots up overnight with some bait, the aim is to drop them right out in some deep enough water, ideally where the sand meets a bit of weed. What you'll target here are blue swimmer crabs or blue manna crabs depending on what part of Australia you live in. Now, these tasty little crustaceans are pretty prolific around Moreton Bay and hopefully, you'll get a couple for a feed. If fishing isn't your thing, you can also stop by Moreton Bay Rock Oysters and pick up a tasty feed of some of the best rock oysters you'll ever taste. 

Morton Island steals the show for us, we love the place. It's amazing every time we come here, we're reminded just how cool it is, you can see Brisbane city lights. Yet over here, even in peak periods, it's not even that busy it's another world. Folks if you haven't put an island on your bucket list, you really should!

Move over Chef Whale, Graham’s got something a bit special for the boys. We're going to make oyster shooters, YES, you heard me right, oyster shooters. Oysters, you either love them or hate them but when you slather them with some vegetable juice and vodka, even the fussiest of a camper may be swayed.  

Here’s the low down on what you’ll need to recreate Graham’s Oyster shooters.

• One dozen Fresh Oysters

• V8 Spicy Vegetable Juice

• Tabasco Sauce

• Vodka of your choice

• Celery Sticks

First things first, you’ll need some glasses or cups. Next, you’ll need your oysters, Grahams used a dozen of Moreton Bay's finest oysters for a couple of oysters per glass, if you’ve got some leftovers here, well you’ve got a bonus for you oyster lovers. Drop one oyster into the bottom of the glass.

Time to get your V8 Spicy Vegetable out of your fridge, drop a shot of juice on top of the oysters. juice oh yeah that looks pretty darn good.

It wouldn’t be a shooter, without something just a little bit naughty, grab a shot of your choice of vodka and throw that into the glass.

Because we’re going to make it something a little bit special and you’ve got to put a little bit of tabasco in each, one just a couple of drops to give it some extra kick.

Then because we’ve got your gourmet hat on, you're gonna want to stir that around and mix it up. You could, of course, use your finger, you could use a stick, or you could use a spoon, but we aren’t doing that, here we go get your celery sticks out, the idea behind the celery of course is so you can stir all the ingredients before you gulp it down.

Bottoms up, give it a stir, here’s to oyster shooters, cheers!