Aussie camper's $50,000 disaster: How a simple mistake left a group of friends stranded on K'gari with a hefty bill

A group of Aussie campers were left with a staggering bill after their 4WD became swamped on a popular holiday island.

The holidaymakers were camping at K'gari, a tourist hotspot in Queensland that was formerly known as Fraser Island, when disaster suddenly struck.

They were heading to Coongal Creek on the western side of the island and had difficulty navigating the terrain when they became bogged down.

The tide quickly rose and completely submerged the Jeep and trailer - which is estimated to be worth an eye-watering $54,000.

Social media users were divided with some claiming the campers made the mistake of trying to traverse the difficult terrain during high tide. 

Incredible photographs from the costly misadventure showed the roof of the Jeep barely sticking out of the water. 

The Jeep and camper trailer were being successfully winched out of the water and onto the beach.

The salvaged Jeep was loaded on the back of a tilt-tray tow truck and the camper trailer on a second truck, before being driven off the beach.

Fraser Island Towing was called to the scene and revealed on Facebook the vehicle was retrieved from the water.  

'4WD and trailer recovered by Fraser Island Towing and Rainbow Beach Towing, with extra caution due to the unforgiving terrain on that side of the island,' the post read.

The towing company urged campers to be wary of the 'unforgiving terrain' and travel with caution.

Social media users shared their sympathies with the group of campers.

'Oh how sad would that be, hope they are all okay,' one wrote. 

Another succinctly added: 'Oh poor buggers.'

Other comments criticised the campers for not taking adequate precautions for their 4WD adventure with some saying they had 'all the gear' but 'no idea'.

'If that's the angle they tried doing a u turn at in soft sand no wonder they got bogged,' one said.   

'Too late now to offer all this experienced advice…of unhooking the trailer and recovering the vehicle separately,' another said.

'But hopefully someone else reading this can get some insight and knowledge before they attempt beach driving on the incoming tide!'

'Seriously, how does it get that far into the water – I'm no expert, but even I know there are things to avoid or wait to do because of the tide,' a third person wrote.