Easter is the best time to visit Fraser Island because the weather is so beautiful. Over summer it can get a little too hot sometimes, but you still want to visit Fraser Island while it’s warm enough to swim in the beautiful lakes and rockpools.

If you’re about to go 4WDing and camping on Fraser Island for the first time, you probably have a long list of questions about what camping gear to take. Between us here at 4WD Supacentre, we’ve done Fraser almost 50 times over the years, so we’ve put together this list of six pieces of camping gear to take to Fraser Island that’ll make your trip incredible.

1. SOLAR PANELS: The real beauty of Fraser Island is that the campsites are so incredible you’ll never want to leave. If the fish are biting you don’t want to have to drive somewhere to charge your battery up, which is why a solar kit for your campsite is a great idea! Solar panels like the ones we sell here at 4WD Supacentre will take the worry out of running your batteries flat. Solar kits to look for should come with their own regulator ideally, or you can purchase one separately if your panel doesn’t have one. Kings 120w, 160w and 250w solar kits come with their own regulators.

2. ROOF RACK: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to take all the camping gear for Fraser Island with you! Big, bulky items like swags, camping gear, tables and chairs are perfect for storing on your roof rack. Roof racks instantly increase your vehicle’s storage capabilities and mean you don’t have to shoe-horn everything into the back of your 4WD. You’ve got a choice of roofracks here at 4WD Supacentre – full cage racks that let you store heaps, flat racks and tradie roof racks that are great for ease of access and even roof top racks that suit a roof top tent.

3. GAZEBO: If you haven’t got a gazebo yet, make it your next thing to get! Whether it’s a 3×3 gazebo or a 3×6 gazebo, they’re brilliant because they pack up relatively small and can be setup in moments to provide huge amounts of shelter. It’d even be a great idea to carry two – one for throwing the swags under, and another to use as the communal living area. Gazebos are gaining so much popularity in the camping scene and they’re perfectly suited to Fraser Island.

4. PORTABLE GENERATOR: When the sun’s not shining you still need a way to charge your batteries, and a portable generator is the way to go! Portable generators let you keep your batteries topped up regardless of what the weather’s doing. You can’t use them every campsite on Fraser as some have restrictions on generator use, but if you’re on one of the more basic beach campsites then a generator will serve you well. Run it for a couple of hours of an afternoon to pump some charge back into your batteries and you’ll be able to camp for a fortnight without ever having to drive anywhere.

5. SWAG: When it comes to the best type of camping accommodation for Fraser Island, it’s very hard to go past the humble swag. That’s because you’ll want to do a lot of little day-trips when you’re on the island, visiting places like Champagne Pools, Lake Mackenzie and Sandy Cape. With a swag you can just leave it setup under your gazebo, and it’s easy to drive away without having to pack your entire campsite up. Plus, the bonus is if you leave your swag and gazebo at camp, there’s less chance that someone will pinch your campsite before you get back.

6. MAX TRAX: Maxtrax MKII are incredible bits of recovery gear on the sand, and if you’re heading away to Fraser then it’s highly recommended that you carry a pair or two. Max trax mean the difference between getting stuck for hours on soft sand, or a quick recovery so you’re on your way again. One pair is totally fine, but carrying two pairs is even better. We’ve seen MAXTRAX  work so well that they extracted a fully-loaded 4WD towing a camper trailer that was stuck down to its chassis rails.