This trip was necessarily constrained by that bloody COVID-19 virus, so we were only able to tour around Queensland.
Still, that wasn't such a bad thing - Queensland is a big state (you can fit seven or eight Texases in there) with a lot of diversity.
So we stuck to our home state and this is what we did . . . . . . .
9th July
We were planning a couple of months of travel but it had been a hectic first half to the year, especially for Karen, so we decided to have a week of pure relaxation so we chose to go to Mooloolaba.
Normally this would be impossible as the bloody Victorians and New South Welsh-people book the place out every year, but this year they are held back from crossing our borders so we Queenslanders have the place to ourselves. :)
This first week or so we parked up in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast.
Normally this caravan park (yeah, we were having a relaxed start to the trip) would be booked out solidly from year to year by those annoying Victorians and NSWelshmen. This year they have all had to cancel their trips to our glorious state and that meant we could actually get into a decent spot without having to book it 12 months in advance.
Pictures of this part of the trip are below and they start with one of me looking happy and wearing my NT terry towelling bucket hat and sitting outside out van :)
18th July
We left today to head north to catch up with Alan and Maureen but only got as far as Gin Gin for overnight free camp.
It's always an interesting place to be with all the comings and goings of travelling people, but all we did was rest up and head north the next day.
19th July
Emu Park was an easy drive from Gin Gin and we checked in and parked up next to Al's rig and caught up with him and Maureen. It's nice to catch up with friends :)
The nexy day, after a nice walk around, we visited the RSL which is our favourite RSL in Australia (although the Denham one runs it close) and we spent some time walking the ANZAC and later conflicts memorials. The way that they have created the engraved glass images that use the backdrop of the bay and headland to mimic ANZAC Cove is spectacular.
We decided to return for ANZAC Day 2021 and we've booked in for a four night stay. Al and Maureen have also booked in for then. It's going to be a fun place to be although the occasion is a sobering one.
The next day was a Sunday and they had a local market on the park grounds next to the van park. We wandered the market, grabbing a little something tasty for breakfast, and decided that Emu Park is just a splendid place to be.
21 July
The next morning we hooked up and headed north. Maureen had a desire to stop over at a van park called BarraCrab for the overnight stay, so that's where we stayed.
The park is an older one, but it is right on the beach and we were able to grab a grassy spot where we could set up and have a fire.
The tide was out but we were still able to go for a walk along the beach and check things out.
We met a young couple who were on their way to a gold lease that they had purchased outside of Kalgoorlie and had a chat with them about prospecting (they were wandering along with a metal detector) and hw they hoped to make their fortune. We hope they do.
As luck would have it this occurred right outside the bar/restaurant so we popped in for a beer and a glass of wine. No great surprise I suppose!
22 July
The next morning we toddled off towards Finch Hatton where we pulled into the Showgrounds as they offer cheap camping with power and water. We weren't terribly short of either , but it's always nice to keep topped up.
We spent the afternoon wandering around the town of FH and just chilling out. a beer in the pub helped :) The town isn't very biig although the prices in the local general store were! All we needed was some bread, but we nearly had to take out a mortgage!
The next day we headed off to Finch Hatton Gorge as it's supposed to be a stunning place. Well it certainly was stunning although the rainy weather made it less inviting than it might otherwise have been..
We took the walk through the gorge itself before heading off to the small pond near the visitors centre for a coffee. The gorge is magical, even in the rain, and when we got to the pond we were lucky enough to see platypus swimming around. They are always cool to see. Karen found herself sharing a step with a small snake which worried her when I pointed it out, but the snake just wandered off so all was well.
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Maureen entranced by the platypus
When we left the gorge we headed off to Eungella NP to see if we could picnic somewhere around the Dam. The drive there was all clouds, slippery grates, and a cold wind blowing off the water.
Al and Maureen fired up the gas cooker and fried up some steak, but Karen and I had decided that we were going to take sandwiches as we thought it would be too miserable to try for a BBQ.
It was nice to get back to the shelter of the vans and stay warm and dry.
24 July
Our next night's camp was slated to be Bowen and we had booked sites on the van park on the front and near town.
It's not a place I'd recommend really, but it was nice to be able to drive around to the bays to the north and do the walk over the headlands and around the small bays there. Really nice in fact.
Unsurprisingly, after we had done the return walk, we ended up in the bar there and shared an hour or so just chatting and sipping and admiring the beauty of the place.
We had decided that we'd have dinner at the Grand View Hotel in town (famously featured in that awful Baz Luhrman movie "Australia") so I called ahead and booked a table
Well, it seems that I actually booked a table at a Grand View Hotel in Nelson Bay in NSW by mistake, but we bluffed our way in and enjoyed a pretty decent meal anyway.
26 July
We parted company with Al and Maureen at Bowen as they needed to be up in Townsville earlier than we did so we had stayed the second night in Bowen before driving up to the Bluewater Park freecamp
where we parked up for a couple of nights while we caught up with Steve & Elaine who were living a couple of klms up the road.
It's always nice to catch up with old friends, but this freecamp has a limit of 2 nights so after that we headed 15klms north to another free camp at Rollingstone.
28 July
Rollingstone free camp is conveniently situated just a couple of hundred metres behind the Rollingstone pub. Quite a nice pub it is too.
They offer water connections which is great and we availed ourselves of the water to top up the tanks and have some nice guilt free showers.
We also caught up with Al and Maureen briefly as they were staying there too.
The next day we jumped in the car and went to see the Paluma NP. Big and Little Crystal Creeks and were suitably impressed with the beauty of the place.
Magnetic Island was on the schedule for the next day and we drove into Townsville and jumped on the ferry. to spend the day there. Elaine wanted to see it too (Steve had to work) so she joined us on the trip across and the tour around the island on the bus.
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It was time for us to continue north and head up to eventually meet our daughter Laura in Cairns, but we stopped off half way there at a free camp called the Bilyana freecamp just north of Cardwell.
We got there and set up camp with some trepidation - the main road ran on one side of the free camp and the railway ran along the other side. Were we going to be able to sleep?
As it turned out, neither was any sort of issue for us and we slept soundly after an afternoon of traveller watching as we chilled out.
31 July
Arrived at Palm Cove van park where, due to the lack of people from south of the Tweed River (Yay for COVID-19) we were able to book in for a few nights.
Bruce and Laura came along to visit us and it was just so nice to see her again.
We walked the esplanade and ended up having a Pizza dinner there.
It is SO good to catch up with her :) We've missed her.
1 August
Laura joined us for a drive to Ellis Beach for Bruce walking as the beach there is dog friendly and simply stunning. It is so easy to skip places like this as you drive to Port Douglas, but it would be a shame.
There is a great pub there too which we just had to stop and check out. The manager is a big Geelong Cats fan so that was a definite positive for us :)
2 August
Laura came over again for a daddy breakfast before we crossed the road to walk the market that they had set up along the Esplanade there. Quite a nice market actually and we even bought a couple of things which is unusual for us.
Chips and beer at Chill Café were the order of the day and we all just babbled on together. The whole Esplanade at Palm Cove is a really nice place to be and the whole day was a great memory.
This would be our last day here and we were sad to say goodbye to Laura for so many reasons, not the least of which was also saying goodbye to Bruce.
3 August
We left Palm Cove this morning with some sadness, but Laura has to go to work and we have other places to explore, but we'll be back!
We headed south and normally we would have called in for a day or two with our old friend Neil in Innisfail, but he was out of town and we were a bit emotional and just didn't want to hang around so we headed on up the range and pointed the bonnet south west.
Driving over that range is always interesting - the change from the eastern slopes dense rainforest or green paddocks and crops to the dry sclerophyll woodlands of the western side is dramatically short.
It's nice to be driving on fairly level roads though!
We stopped overnight at Archer Creek freecamp which was next to the main road, but still fairly quiet. There is a creek that runs at the back of the camping area that was really pretty, but I saw flood wrack up in the trees that show it gets wild if the rain falls heavily.
Wandering roosters were an interesting diversion around the camp - presumably dumped there they were healthy looking birds.
We were able to gather enough wood for a nice little fire to sit around and chat about the day etc.
All in all, a good and interesting day.
4 August
We trundled on after a leisurely breakfast and called in at Pinnarendi Station as it was a highly recommended station stay.
A nice place with a very highly rated cafe, they offer power and water, but we decided to go for a self contained camp and picked a spot away from the comparative crowds.
There are a couple of walks around the place and we decided to do the 3 dams walk. Unsurprisingly, this takes you past three different dams on the property (which is an active cattle property) and the water areas were green and pretty.
As we were walking past the second dam I noticed something swimming and stopped to get a better look. I was a nice and healthy looking brown snake so I walked to the edge of the water to meet it coming ashore. Karen was not too happy about this, but the snake just stopped in the water when he noticed me and looked at me for a minute or two before deciding I was not a threat and swam off at an angle to come ashore a couple of metres away from me.
5 August
This morning we planned a short trip and visited the Cumberland Chimney free camp. The camping area is a bit dry and dusty but we found a shady spot and went for a walk around.
The place was an old gold mine but the only remaining evidence is the chimney itself and the lagoon that provided the water to run the mine.
The lagoon provides a cool spot and birds of all descriptions are to be found here. Together with bird spotters who walk softly around everywhere, checking sightings against their ID books and chatting excitedly when they see something unusual. Nice people though and all willing to educate us about their hobby.
Hot here though and we were glad when the sun went down.
6 August
We were aiming to go to Cobbold Gorge, but their camp site was fully booked so we ended up finding a spot at the Forsayth Tourist Park which was about an hour's drive away from Cobbold Gorge itself.
What a great place! Only $25 a night but we had a shady spot and they provide full facilities so we could fill our water tanks and empty our toilet tank and get to meet some interesting people. Gold prospectors abound and there was much discussion about different types of detectors, but nobody was going to tell us where a good spot might be.
Went to the pub (just 100 metres) and it’s a beauty.
Returned “home” and were invited to join people at a camp fire. Great time.
7 August
We went to Cobbold Gorge for the tour and thoroughly enjoyed it all. The pictures below will tell the story of the tour, but for us it was the changes since our first visit (some 15 years ago) that really surprised us. It has become a very much more organised and professional tourist attraction now and we sort of missed the homespun attitude of days gone by.
Dinner was at the pub as we couldn't be bothered cooking after a long day out - fish and chips was the order of the day. Not that you got a choice! A nice pub and it feels like an honest experience.
8 August
Took a drive to Einasleigh
Nothing there but the pub and Copperfield Gorge, so we had a beer in the pub which only has a can bar now due to the lack of people to keep a draught beer tap going.
Nice people though.
9 August
Time to leave Forsayth so we packed up and returned to Einasleigh and camped at Silk’s Rest near the pub.
This is a bit of private land where the owner has set up a free camp and provides water as well as the patch of grass and only asks for a donation as you leave. Nice!
Roast beef dinner at the pub for $10 a head was excellent and superb value too. We met two charming Israelis there who were looking for somewhere to set up their campervan for the night so we pointed them at the grassy area behind the pub.
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| The pub! |
10 August
Drove the dirt road to The Lynd and then on past the busy Fletchers Creek free camp to the Dalrymple NP for the next three nights.
We had to drive through the Fletchers Creek free camp to get into the NP and there were dozens of vans parked up on both sides of the creek.
We got into the NP some 2 or 3 klms down the track and found our spot and set up camp.
Is it worth paying the $13 or so a night for the NMP when the free camp is so close and in a very pretty area? Well pros and cons there:
Cons -
- the free camp is the $13 odd cheaper
- you have a toilet block at your disposal
Pros -
- You get the NP at your doorstep.
- You get a campsite all to yourself. It doesn't stop people driving in for a sticky beak, but it is more private than the free camp
11 august
A lazy day at the Dalrymple NP all in all.
We took a drive around the park and checked out the other campsites (I reckon we bagged the best one, but just by pure luck), then a walk up along the creek bank and looped round through the bush to get back. So many butterflies! Some trees seemed to have clouds around them. Probably laying eggs.
Then some maintenance on the van (a wiring loom needed zip-tying up again) before preparing the night’s camp fire.
A nice little fire got us sitting around it and yapping for hours before heading indoors.
A good day.
12 August
A drive into Charters Towers to do some shopping and refuel.
It's a lovely old town but coffee we got at one of the cafes was simply awful.
After checking things out at the tourist information place (what nice people!) we found the public facility to refill the van water tanks and dump the poo. Essential stuff!
Driving back we came across a monument to the 1844 expedition by Ludwig Leichhardt at one of their camp spots marked by a blazed tree.
The "story" half of the monument mentioned the presence of two aborigines, but the formal list of people on the expedition on the other side conspicuously ignored them.
Sad isn't it?
13 August
Left the NP and drove through Charters Towers to refill with water and a gas bottle that ran out last night. Nice and easy and we were able to help out a fellow traveller who had broken his only tap fitting and couldn't fill with water without it.
Took the road towards Clermont and stopped at Belyando Crossing for a free camp.
This was the right price and we had free access to the toilets and showers there which was good.
Unfortunately it is also a truck stop and we had two trucks for company, they turned up late at night, that ran their diesel powered refrigeration units all night long.
14 August
We drove through Clermont to get to Theresa Creek Dam where we scored a waterside camp spot in a beautiful place. $15 a night was not too bad as it included power and water although the water wasn't at the site and we had to fill up the tanks as we left.
Seems to be a grand spot.
15 August
Stayed at the dam for another night, but it was not the best choice, the feral locals turned up here for the long weekend and it got crowded and noisy.
Dinner was fish and chips provided by the kiosk there and it was pretty good actually.
16 August
Off to Nebo today, and what a nice little place! Cheap as at $10 a night with power and water and really friendly.
Washing to be done and then a walk to the pub.
17 August
A day trip to Mt Britton - old gold town. I had originally intended on dragging the van in here for a couple of nights, but it was so close to Nebo and Nebo's facilities that we thought it easier to day trip it.
It was the right choice although we met a few nice people there, but the call of the pub was too great!
Dinner was at the pub - bloody delicious and great prices.
18 August
We had booked into the van park at Cape Palmerston after getting a good report on it from Maureen and Al. We only realised when we got here that we’d been here 4 years ago.
It was still a great park to relax in with great facilities.
When we parked up we took a walk to the beach and relaxed generally.
19 August
We went day tripping to the NP and for a drive on the beach although we couldn't go too far as the tide had turned and was coming in.
On the way back we went for a drive out to Notch Point and some 4WDing. It was a revisit for us and it still amazes me how some people get these big vans into spots like that.
Pretty place though.
20 August
We were going to stop at the Marlborough pub, but it seemed a bit too close to the freeway and the reviews weren't wonderful so we carried on to Glendale north of Rockhampton where we stayed at Fardooleys Bush Camp.
Great place with interesting happy hour. All the travellers were invited up to the house to join them for happy hour. They provided nibbles (very nice too) and we got to chat to other travellers and swap stories.
Great place indeed!
21 August
Still camped at Fardooleys as it is so damned nice!
We spent the day visiting the Botanical gardens then took a drive up to the top of Mt Archer which is the highest spot around here.
22 August
We decided to head towards home via the inland route so off we went and ended up stopping at Goovigen. This is a dying town since the railway closed down and with the COVID-19 lockdowns they had even closed the pub so there was literally nowhere in town to spend a dollar.
We went for a walk around the place, past the closed down railway station and ended up chatting with some people on their porch.
The camp spot was free (donation requested and was given) and provided power and water which was nice, but there's not a lot to do around here.
23 August
Munduberra was our next port of call.
We stayed at the Showgrounds which were cheap but uninspiring.
We headed out to get something to eat but the only place open was the pub where they served a crap Chinese dinner.
Not sure we'll bother going back there!
24 August
Kilkivan free camp on the other hand was excellent. Right on the edge of the main street it was clean and tidy and easy to use.
We went for a walk along the main street and bought some very nice meat from the butcher. The bacon was fantastic!
We'll come back here.
25 August
Gunalda - Al’s place
What more can I say - we were welcomed and much chatting ensued.
26 August
Al took us for a tour of Gympie, including the Mary Valley Rattler, and we had lunch out near Gympie where the food was simply magic.
Evening drinks with Al's neighbours made it even nicer.
27 August
Still at Al’s but heading home tomorrow
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