You get a permit from the garage at the roundabout on corner of Lavis Lane and the main drag. Ten dollars for 3 days or thirty dollars for a year. Most weekends national parks staff are checking cars at the entrances.

Stockton Update:

First a couple of disclaimers.. 1.. Never driven on any sand that wasn't on top of snow before.. (cdn_downunder knows what I mean).. 2.. I went out with Bruce from TagAlone 4WD tours to learn.. 3. Entered from Anna Bay.. which was as easy as driving off the motorway onto a slip road.. so no dramas there.

So with that:
The freelander worked really well.. 19" tires down to around 13/14...At 17.. the sidewalls where still hard.. so Bruce recommended going even lower.. since I have nothing to compare to.. The group included a patrol and 2 Prados.. and I could go everywhere they did.. Small, Medium and the large.. Both up and down the dunes..

You 100% have to turn the DSC OFF!.. I forgot to do this a couple of times after stopping.. and you know right away that the unit is on..

My driving failed me a couple of times.. got nervous and let off a bit.. which caused me to "fail to proceed".. Nothing that turning the wheels.. and a few handfuls of removed sand couldn't fix..

I'll post a few pic later tonight..

Overall.. I'll be going back up and havin' a go again.. really soon.. Once I get the sand out of everyone and everything..

Best learning point of the day.. If in drive.. keep the windows closed.. the front wheels on the freely threw up heap of sand.. and now..most of it's in the cab..

Cheers
D

Hey that Bruce knows how to drive. I did a tour with him as well a few years back. We had a Mitsubishi Challenger in the group that lost 4wd and the owner immediately got it stuck. Bruce drove it out in 2wd, very impressive. Did he stay at the northern end or go all the way down to the wreck?

Just a few km's past Tin City.. So nothing too far south. Spent too much time sand boarding on the big dunes right close to tin city, to go any farther..

How much softer is it when you go further south? I'm assuming that as you go further south the softer it becomes.

Dazza. Great to hear a detailed account. Sounds like you had a lot of fun! Very smart to go with a group and an instructor. I'm encouraged to hear that you could get about on the 19" rims. Given you let them down to as low as 13, what is the normal driving pressure for the 19's?

The southern end is a lot softer. The beach gets very heavy going indeed. The Lavis Lane entrance is very soft and chopped up due to the traffic although it is much better now than it used to be. I'm afraid the 19's aren't proven until you negotiate the southern side. I tried to get a Subaru Outback through Lavis about 5 years ago but no go. The sand was soft, deep and fluffy that day. My favourite is running along the top of the dunes on the southern end, nice breeze and great view.
You can also try Samurai Beach a few kms north of Anna Bay. Tragically, a French tourist killed himself there by rolling his forby without a seatbelt on only last week. An unusual number of tourists do that, especially on Fraser Island, and it demonstrates how careful you should be.
I still reckon we should try and arrange an FL2 day at Stockton?

@ mikehzz.... With the right company.. I might be willing to give the southern end a go.. but I have to admit.. I'm not a big fan of doing anything with a shovel..

@Jaksbak.... the regular pressure on the 19" is 35... so there are down a long ways...

As for a FL2 day up there.. I'm all in.. Would be nice if someone could spend an hour and teach me how to fish from the beach..

D

Another worthwhile experience is doing some of the bush tracks up in the Blue Mountains near the Zig Zag railway. Great scenery and you can test the car without risk of damage.
I've been along these tracks a lot. Great fun.
(hope the link works)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq0L1ef_8Bg...ata_player

Any directions on hownto get there? New to Sydney.

It depends on where you are. From most parts of Sydney, hop on the M4 and head west. Keep going onto the Great Western Highway through the Blue Mountains and turn right at Mt Victoria. Its about 10-15 minutes from there. From the north west of Sydney its shorter to go along Windsor Rd to Windsor and Richmond then Bells Line of Rd towards Lithgow.
The zig zag railway is a good tourist attraction on its own. Its at a place called Clarence on Bells Line of Road. A lot of 4wd clubs use the car park as the rally point for the days expedition. There are many tracks in the area with all grades of difficulty. If you live right in Sydney it can be a big day's drive though. I'm lucky because I live up near there