Over the corrugations and up to The Tip

We are currently sitting by Lake Tinaroo, it’s rainy and sunny, it’s cool but humid and we are finally relaxing after a non-stop week or so around Far North Queensland, sipping on a cup of tea. I’ll go back to where we left off though in Atherton.

We found a nice free camp in a War Memorial Site and ended up staying 2 nights. We explored around the area and saw a ginormous Curtain Fig Tree, a lovely new memorial called Avenue of Honour to remember all the soldiers of the war in Afghanistan in Yungaburra, stopped at a nice waterfall/pool in Malanda and bought some special treats from Gallo Dairyland (a nice wedge of Gruyere cheese and some specialty chocolates). We were very indecisive about where to go next but over the Ranges we went and found ourselves in Cairns.

 

The Curtain Fig Tree

 

                                                  A beautiful memorial in Yungaburra
 

We checked into what sounded like a lovely caravan park from the book and relatively cheap as well, to be slightly underwhelmed and realising why it was so cheap. Mainly just run down and a permanent resident telling us it wasn’t in the best area haha. Rest assured we locked everything up and headed into the city centre and reminisced on the Esplanade about our two previous trips to Cairns, one being our schoolies trip in 2005 and another to celebrate a large portion of our friends turning or about to turn 21 at the end of 2008. Although slightly foggy in the memory from copious amounts of alcohol on both trips, walking down the main street and driving around had us saying ‘oh shit remember this place?’, ‘oh look that’s where we danced on the tables’ laughing and recalling fond memories of the place. This is where we also hunted for some facts and details about taking the 1500km return dirt/gravel track to Cape York and it is the last major city with cheaper supplies if we needed them. No one seemed to be too sure how the track was or if we’d make it and had us thinking we probably weren’t going to make it. We still wanted to see the Daintree and Cape Tribulation so north it was and hopefully to find people that knew more about the track or someone who had just done it.

                                                     Cairns Esplanade, a bit overcast and wet

 

There was a ‘Big Barramundi’ at the Daintree which Ash gave a nice kiss, to then be followed by a lovely sunset by the river looking over the meadows and hills. We made this our base for the next few days and our first visit was to Port Douglas where we drove through the town and up to the lookout which gave great views back down the coastline. We then headed to Mossman Gorge where they have recently built a new Visitors Centre. We decided to book a tour with a local guide that showed us around a hidden part of the Gorge, told us a dreamtime story and we got to have damper and tea at the end of our walk. Ash even got a rainbow serpent painted on her arm in ochre by the river bank. We went for a very refreshing dip in the rapids nearby too before heading back to camp and having a nice big feed of fish and chips from the local café. Some fellow travellers arrived at camp that night covered in red mud so we asked how the track was to the Cape and they seemed to think we could do it, just to let our tyre pressure down and don’t go too fast or we’ll overheat them. We were back on the ‘Were going to Cape York’ bandwagon. The next day was over the river by car ferry to Cape Tribulation. We guided ourselves along the coastline of this beautiful area, going on a rainforest walk along the boardwalks, beach hopping, a snake crossing our path, a picnic on a washed up log on the beach and a short gravel road drive to Cape Kimberly. This is where we met another couple who were again covered in red mud head to toe, rooftop to under carriage so we asked again and they were like ‘it’s rough and corrugated but yeah you’d do it fine’. We got in the car, looked at each other and said ‘let’s do it!’

Sunset on the Daintree River

 

                                                                      The 'Big Barramundi'

Ash getting her Rainbow Serpent painted on

Our refreshing swim in the gorge!

View out to Cape Kimberley and can just see the Lowe Isles to the left

Low tide at Cape Tribulation

 

We packed up hesitantly as we didn’t want to pack up Carmen wet because we were putting her into storage while we did the Cape York leg. We got a long enough break in the showers to dry her off and fold her away. We found a storage shed in Mossman to lock her up in and started to make our way on our big adventure to Pajinka (The Tip). We made it to the end of the bitumen road by sundown to a town called Laura and set up Rhonda there. A friendly local called Milton joined us for a chat by the table for an hour or so, sharing stories of how he lives off the land in the bush close by and how the new bridge recently built allows them access in and out of the town in the wet season. Before he disappeared into the night he welcomed us to come and visit his town again and to come to the Laura festival in 2 years. Not sleeping too well we were both wide awake at 6am and decided to eat, pack and start driving. The corrugated road was definitely something we hadn’t experienced before and it was really rough in patches. This outback area also brought out lots of wild animals too. We saw pigs, cows, horses, goannas, vultures, dingoes, snakes, kangaroos, and lots of birds and butterflies. Although slow and rough in patches there were actually smooth and fast sections on the track too. We made good ground north and found ourselves at Moreton Telegraph Station by late afternoon, a very nice campground and friendly/helpful owners. Unfortunately we were kept up by the Backpackers in the staff quarters drinking, laughing and DNM’ing all night though. Another early rise from camp, we took the Old Telegraph Road bypass to get to the Jardine River ferry crossing. The dodgy little barge, that looked like it was nailed and hammered together from used wood and timber squished a trailer, a caravan and 4 cars onto it and charging $130 return per vehicle. Not to mention the price of petrol at the river too, $2.40 per litre haha. We pushed on and found ourselves at Bamaga (the main town in the far north) around lunch and had a look at Seisia too, a town not too far on the coastline. Having the whole afternoon free we decided to do the 30 odd km’s to the tip which took us just over an hour on a very bumpy, narrow, tree root crossing, windy, winding track. The tide was low so we walked nearly all the way around to the tip with just a bit of rock climbing at the end. We had made it to the sign, ‘You are standing at the northernmost point of the Australian Continent’! We met a friendly young couple from Warrnambool at the sign, Chris and Courtney, who were travelling around Australia too. We coincidently met up again which I’ll talk about in a bit. It was back down the Tip track and to a camp spot we found at Punsand Bay, a beautiful big campground right on the beach. A sneaky full strength beer by camp (only light and mid strength are allowed in most towns up north) and then to watch the sunset where we also spotted a 15 ft. crocodile about 100m offshore, our first for the trip. Although 32◦ by day and 26◦ by night some showers set in overnight and we decided to be safe and start making our way back the next morning in case the rain got worse or rivers rose. We stopped at Fruit Bat Falls for a swim on the way back where the water was heaven, we could have stayed much longer except it would have got dark. We made it to Bramwell Station by late afternoon which is where we ran into Chris and Courtney. We put Rhonda up under a nice shelter next to a table, collected some firewood and had a few beers, dinner and good yarn with our new mates. Another big day of driving on the corrugated road saw us make it to Hann River Roadhouse, again meeting up with Chris and Courtney. We all searched for crocs by the river to no avail and got a nice home cooked meal from the roadhouse with a bevy to wash it down. Lots of animals around this place too- an emu, peacocks, roosters, turkeys, hens, cows and dogs all just roaming around our camp. We exchanged numbers with Chris and Courtney here as we were going separate ways for now but were sure to meet up again somewhere.

Bob's lookout where we tagged ourselves on the guardrail

Cooking lunch by the river just out of Coen

Approximately 3m+ ant or termite mound

Our set-up at Moreton Telegraph Station

A wild pig

Just your regular fuel prices up at The Tip

Squeezing onto the barge at Jardine River

Look at little Gina next to all the monsters up at Pajinka

We made it to the sign

A nice panorama at Cape York

Our sneaky full strength beer in the new stubby cooler

Fruit Bat Falls

The friendly emu at Hann River Roadhouse

Captain Cook Statue at Cooktown

 

It was the last 70km of corrugation today and back onto the bitumen!!! Although the trip up and back to The Tip was well worth it we were very thankful to be driving on smooth, bitumen road again. Before heading back to Mossman to pick up Carmen though we decided to drive to Cooktown passing Black Rock Mountains and then to a lovely bush camp just north of the airport, Endeavour River Escape. We again hunted for crocs unsuccessfully, gathered some firewood, made a fire, played some Frisbee and celebrated Ash’s dads (Big Pa, Big Wayne, Lucky Wayne) bday with some nibblies and a couple of Canadian and dry’s. Keen to get back to Carmen we drove into Cooktown early and had a look around. Lots of Captain Cook memorabilia and statues around of where he first made land and a drive up Grassy Hill to the lookout (extremely windy and cool today, not good visibility either). We found a prawn trawler selling prawns in the harbour and decided to get a kilo before we drove out of town to pick up Carmen.

Captain Cook Statue at Cooktown

 

All in one piece still, we hooked her onto the towball and drove towards Cairns where we camped at Palm Cove. Although we were given a tiny corner block a friendly grey nomad helped us make her fit, we devoured our prawns and had a good sleep on a proper mattress. Our battery had finally run dead too after 10 days without recharging, so off to a caravan park that could power it and any other flat electronics we had. After setting up and doing some groceries we caught up with an old friend of Ash’s from Evans Head for a beer at a local watering hole. A night alone tucked in the back corner of the caravan park was nice, trekking in our gumboots to the bush toilet and having a late dinner (8:30pm) and an even better sleep in until 8:30am (7am is usually a sleep in). We’d booked our car in for a look over after going to The Tip but couldn’t get in until late next week so we decided to come and have a few relaxing days fishing, crabbing, blogging, photo uploading and breathing in the serenity of where we are now, Lake Tinaroo. Happy reading!

Our camp spot and view for the next few days

 

Crusin the Coast of the Whitsundays...

We’ll rewind back to 7^th June where the Mackay shenanigans began!

Again we were very lucky to have Samara and Watty welcome us into their home in a town just out of Mackay called Blacks Beach. Arriving on a Friday was great as they both had the weekend off but then we realised it was a long weekend which they also had off and decided we would save ourselves for a Sunday session. A good catch up over a few cold beverages, a roast dinner, some footy and then off to bed not too late. Saturday was a little overcast but Sam drove us to Eungella National Park 80km west of town. Unfortunately at the lookout we couldn’t see the view back to the coast but did get to see turtles and one platypus playing in the creek. We also over indulged at a cute little café on the way home with lunch and some afternoon tea treats. Then Sunday arrived which saw us start drinking at midday at Eimeo Pub overlooking the Whitsundays on the hill. Some beers and food to line the stomach there and then onto ‘Sails’ where our night really set sail (no pun intended). We smashed a whole lot of beer, danced to live music and embraced this rare Sunday session in the company of Samara and Watty. Drive thru maccas and some hydrolyte topped off the night on the way home (none of us really remembered this part though). Not too dusty the next day we went for a walk along the beach with Mojo, their dog, and were shown around Mackay by car. We stopped for an amazing lunch at ‘Bridges’ overlooking the river and then had a relaxing arvo watching movies and eating fettuccine. The next couple of days saw us do a bit of sand 4WD (nothing reckless trust us, very mild), more beach walks with Mojo, getting Gina serviced, hanging at the Blue Water Lagoon, a bit of shopping and even playing a game of indoor soccer with Samara. We hung round so we could see Samara’s brother Gavin and his girlfriend Claire too. He invited us to come over to see his flatmates 3 week old puppies (which we nearly took home with us) and have a few beers in the backyard. Back to Samara and Watty’s we made some homemade pizzas, played euchre, drank some more and had a nice catch up with everyone. It was goodbye to Mackay and up to Airlie Beach next.

Turtles at Eungella National Park

Tea Cosy's at the Café

 

Blue Water Lagoon

 

                                                                               The puppy's

Not sure whether we were heading over to South Molle Island or not we set up Rhonda for a one nighter, meeting up with Jude and Astrid as well. They had also met some fellow travellers Eli and Dave and we all camped together at Nomads in and amongst all the backpackers. Some afternoon beers by the waterfront watching the sunset eventually turned into a rowdy night in town drinking $8 jugs of beer like they were going out of fashion. This led to a very slow and dusty start to our next day but we came around to enjoy a bbq and chilled day on the beach with the craziest Cold Rock combination we’d ever had (Ice-cream: Double Choc, Cookies and Cream, Choc Mint, Ferrero; Add Ins: Nutella, Cookie Dough, Smarties, Crunchie) and then a date night to Thai for dinner. All six of us made a trip just out of town to Cedar Creek Falls the next day to an amazing waterfall and surroundings. Ash said the water was that cold it made her skin sting the first time but the second time was better, I think she was just numb personally haha. A couple of farewell beers that night as we were all heading separate ways the next day. Us lucky buggers were treating ourselves to a night on Daydream Island.

                                                          Panorama of Airlie Beach

                                                                Cedar Creek Falls

                                             Dave teaching Poi on the beach at Airlie

We got a nice early ferry across to make the most of two days and one night at the island resort. As we disembarked we got a welcome mocktail and even got ‘leid’. We got our snorkels out for the first time at Lovers Cove and saw some cool fish and coral. Then we found a cosy hammock, had lunch and a dip in the pool. We also got a cocktail from the swim-up bar before trying stand up paddle boarding for the first time with turtles and stingrays. Another stunning sunset, off to a Pizza and Pasta buffet for dinner and seeing the Socceroos qualify for the 2014 world cup ended a perfect day! Buffet breaky, a bit of totem tennis, quoits and reading on the beach, Ash went for a swim and then it was back to the mainland. A short drive up the Bruce Hwy to Home Hill was our next stop just for the night.

                            Ash and the mermaid statues at Mermaid Beach on Daydream Island

                                       Got our snorkels out for the first time at Lovers Cove

                                                              Just lazin about in a hammock

We packed up nice and early to get to a national park campground called Alligator Creek just south of Townsville. With crappy phone reception and a few texts to Jude and Astrid they said they may get to the same campground by late afternoon and sure enough at 4pm after doing 100km on bike they rolled into the campsite and we all set up together for a bbq dinner, a swim in the creek/ lady spa and cuppas by candlelight. Might I add we were highly excited about assembling a very taught tarp to cover us from the drizzle forecasted (the simple things that excite us these days haha). A day trip all together into Townsville so the girls didn’t have to ride 50km return saw us have some indian, gelatos, visit a microbrewery and do some errands like post office and stocking up with food and necessities for our next leg of travels. Astrid introduced us to a Latvian tradition that night too, Jáņi (roughly pronounced: yarnyeah), and was celebrated by making a head wreath out of leaves and vines, eating lots of cheeses and drinking plenty of beer. Astrid even played some traditional music and we played them some guitar under the stars into the night. A sad farewell to the girls the next morning as they were taking their big left turn at Townsville to head towards Normanton and onto Darwin diagonally and we were heading north to Cape York.

Alligator Creek lookout

 

Townsville Microbrewery tasting paddle

 

                                                  Celebrating Jani with Astrid and Jude

                                                      Ash serenading us on guitar

 The girls off for their big awaited left turn

A free campsite in our Camps book looked nice 20km east of Charters Towers, so it was out there next. Right on the Burdekin River where a beautiful railway bridge crossed and 50 other grey nomads had pulled up. We got to Skype the Chaffey family who were all together on the coast that night which was lovely to see all their faces and then cooked up a ripper chicken risotto. We made our way into Charters Towers the next day to be a bit touristy. A nice drive up Towers Hill to see some old WWII ammunition bunkers, a visit to the local markets where we picked up some yummy homemade jams and a walk through the old Stock Exchange Building which was built in 1888 when gold was discovered out there. Resting and relaxing back at camp whilst watching the sunset, eating some nibblies and an early night, it was back to Townsville the next day.

One of the 29 bunkers from WWII on Towers Hill

A flood sign next to the Burdekin River of flood levels over the years, at the top 1946, 21.79m

 

The restored 1888 Stock Exchange Building

We found a cute caravan park just out of town and spent the afternoon strolling along the ‘Strand’ and watching the sunset on top of Castle Hill (over 180 degrees views including Magnetic Island). The next day we decided to do a day trip over to Magnetic Island and hired a little topless car we nicknamed ‘Titty Girl’. We did two snorkel trails on the reefs nearby, had a nice lunch at Horseshoe Bay and in the afternoon did a steep 3km walk to a secluded nudist beach. The swimmers would have been off only for a seedy old man walking around staring at everyone and making them feel awkward and uncomfortable haha. We reluctantly returned ‘Titty Girl’ and caught the ferry back into Townsville. We couldn’t resist a visit to Sizzlers for dinner that night and we weren’t let down!

Panorama from on top of Castle Hill, Townsville

Balding Bay, the nudist beach!

Selfie in Titty Girl

 

Our next little drive up the coast brought us to Kurrimine, near Innisfail. We got some nice Barra Burgers at Cardwell on the way up for lunch and drove through Mission Beach where we saw the Rainforest meet the Beach, literally (a world heritage site). We settled into a camp ground right on the beach in town and watched the Origin match at a little local motel which was really fun except for the fact NSW lost, that’s why there’s a 3^rd game but right?  A relaxing day on the beach pretty much doing nothing at all (except finding out we swam in crocodile water later that night haha) and a Skype session early this morning with the Cartwrights, even lil Rubz made an appearance with a smile. We've now made it to Atherton after a beautiful drive through what some call the Cairns Hinterland and set up camp to finish this blog!

Kurrimine Beach, basically the view from Carmen

The caretakers dog T.T loved us

 

North Johnston River Gorge

 

Signing off here till next time fellow readers, I hope you enjoyed!

It's just the beginning...

So I have ummd and ahhhd about doing a blog on our travels since….  since I don’t know when. Well before we left anyway and today I finally decided to fulfil this long awaited question ‘to blog or not to blog?’ not only for myself but family and friends and any other followers who wish to read about our maiden amateur adventure around our great land of Australia.

As some of you may or may not know my wife, Ashlie and I, Sophie left Terrigal, Central Coast, NSW 10 weeks and 1 day ago today (2^nd April, 2013), so I’ve got a bit to cover but will try not bore you too much and will try my best to keep a more regularly updated blog when we can.

 

As a quick reference we name a fair few of our belongings so I’ll give a brief rundown of some of the main items names, so not to be confusing when I mention them like they are a living person.

Gina: The car- 2007 4WD Nissan Xtrail

Carmen: The trailer- 2012 GIC Semi-Off Road Camper Trailer

Rhonda: The tent- 2013 2 man BCF Wanderer

Gerry: Ash’s guitar

Sandra: Ash’s bike (aka Sandra the slut)

Rebel: Soph’s guitar

Bella: Soph’s bike (aka Bella the bitch)

That should do for now!

Okey dokey so we decided our trip would take a rough anti-clockwise direction so north it was the day we left. Our first stop after leaving home sweet home was a cute little Caravan Park at Elizabeth Beach along The Lakes Way just south of Forster.  Setting up camp was in no record breaking time but the annex for the first time was a little hard. The next morning a picturesque beach across the road invited us in for a swim and then by lunch some dark stormy clouds rolled in. We thought we would get a quick shower in but not to be as the 20 minutes we were gone Carmen’s annex had pooled a large deal of water and bent one of her poles. The rain didn’t stop till we left the next morning looking like drowned rats and a bit weary after minimal sleep worried about more pooling on poor Carmen. Our fridge was also not performing so well early in the trip and was certainly not reliable enough to keep the milk, marg, meat or grog cold! We had to convert to using an esky until we could get the fridge looked at, which started to leak the next day. The forecast did not look or sound good so we said “Let’s go west today!”

 

 

We drove out through the beautiful country side west of Taree and found a free camp called Tia Falls 40km east of Walcha (pronounced wol-ka, we personally liked saying it like its spelt though).  Carmen, Gina, the raincoats and all of our towels got a good dry out here and we could finally relax again. A nice easy 5km walk along the waterfalls ridge and our first campfire which we cooked on took up most of the next day with only the sounds of a few farm animals, nature and the waterfall.

 

Next stop was with Ash’s cousin Lee and his partner Kel and their 3 kids at South West Rocks. A few afternoon drinks on the back deck turned into 2 cases of beer, Lee getting his guitar out  for the first time in ages and a 10:30pm dinner because we were having so much fun. A few sore heads made for a bit of a late start the next day and called for potato scollops on the beach. Then we car convoyed to a hidden beach called Gap Road Beach which was our first 4WD/off-road experience, and basically cured our hangovers with the swim. We also had to visit the Riverside Tavern in memory of a Uni trip we did there several years ago but kept it at just the one beverage with an awesome dinner!

While our next stop was going to be Arrawarra just north of Coffs Harbour, we were contacted by some of our best mates Bu and Brownie who were camping at Minnie Water (with friends Lulu and Mauley) and twisted our arms into coming up to them and camping a few nights (only an extra 1-1.5 hrs drive). The next 3 days we drank, we laughed, we surfed, we drank, we fished, we made camp fires, we had mini Olympic competitions, we drank and some things that happened at Minnie Water will just stay at Minnie Water.

 

Just a short drive back inland to Grafton was a stop in with Ash’s Uncle Greg and Aunty Debbie and two nights with Nana Chaff!  An unfortunate stroke has left her partially paralysed down her left side but this doesn’t deter this inspiring lady from much at all. A smile on her face every day and proud as punch to show her granddaughter off to all the locals she’s known for 30+ years in town. She took us to the local club to hopefully win some meat raffles too but we had no luck. The next day it was tea and scones with Greg, Debbie and nana, relaxing at home and her choice of McDonalds for dinner.

After Grafton bad weather drove us straight to Evans Head (Ash’s old stomping ground) where we were very appreciative of a bed with family friends who weren’t even home for the weekend, Jeannie and John. A catch up with some old friends over a few cold ones and a walk down to the RSL on our first night in town saw a rowdy night evolve amongst the local crowd. We thought a surf may be on the cards for a hangover cure the next day but the swell was about 6-8ft at main beach and halftide, just slightly out of our league. Our hosts arrived home today and cooked us an amazing dinner and taught us some new card games. It was then farewell to Evans Head but not before a quick visit to Eddie’s Chinese for lunch with Donna, and then onto Ballina.

 

Family friends David and Emma welcomed us to their home while Emma’s parents were also there, Aunty Anne and Uncle Bob, as a little baby was due that week. We were lucky enough to meet “Lexi Anne Betteridge” and spend a few nights catching up, drinking, laughing, playing pinball and electronic darts in the shed and also making a visit to Nana Bruce! She spoilt us with half of her pantry making it into our food bags and some downtown shopping in the day. We spoilt her back with a manicure, having a sleep over and a glass of wine with a yummy dinner.

Off again and this time to a regular north coast road trip stop, Byron Bay. We settled into the caravan park just out of main town, relaxed a little and then to The Pass for an amazing sunset and an early night. A surf at Wategos and then an over indulgent stop at ‘Twisted Sista’ (a must visit café in Byron) for morning tea/lunch was lovely. We then got ready and headed into town to watch the A-League Grand Final on the big screen, with a celebratory beer watching Central Coast Mariners taking down the Western Sydney Wanderers. Special guest Lisa Hunt topped off our night with a 2 hour live performance in the beer garden, epic! We spent the rest of our time in Byron watching buskers including Bree Bullock (check her out- Facebook and YouTube), getting hair wraps, more surfing, a lighthouse walk, taking Sandra and Bella for a ride and camping it up in Carmen.

 

Our next port of call was at Kingscliff, just shy of the QLD border, with Bu and Brownie. We settled in quite nicely here for just over a week and really liked the vibe of this cute little town. Close enough to the hustle and bustle of Coolangatta and the Gold Coast if you want but far enough that you wouldn’t even know you’re that close. An early bike ride to the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kingscliff Beach started the day nicely. We then converged to a park nearby for the day with some of Alex and Chris’ family and friends playing Frisbee, drinking frozen margaritas (Brownies fave), having a bbq and just kicking back not taking it for granted how fortunate and lucky we are to be able to spend a day like this in such good company! Our time here also saw us go on dinner dates, be cheerleaders at Alex and Chris’ soccer games and training, be invited to an engagement bbq,  beach days, a day trip to Currumbin Creek, a day trip to Mount Tamborine (including the brewery) and finally getting our fridge sorted (which has nearly not skipped a beat since). Although we could have stayed here a lot longer our trip was only getting started and we decided it was time to move on……west!

 

 

Out west past Brisbane and into unknown territory was very exciting. We were on our way to Chinchilla to see a good friend of Ash’s, Sam (Donna’s daughter), but thought we’d break the trip up and found a little free camp 20min off the Warrego Highway near Gatton. Heifer Creek was her name and she was beautiful, setting up camp down the back of the paddock near the creek. Although we spooked ourselves a little having our back turned to the camps entry we made it through the night to make jaffles on our fire the next morning and then headed back on the road west.

 

Over the Toowoomba Ranges and then onto some of the longest straights of the Warrego Highway, like I’m talking 15km without moving the steering wheel. We made it to Chinchilla by late afternoon, perfect timing with Sam and Joe just finishing work. A quiet night in with some awesome chicken burgers was nice. We did a girls road trip the next day to the Bunya Mountains, which was beautiful. We didn’t really come prepared for any hiking but did a small walk through one of the rainforests to see the big tree. A nice scenic drive home took us through lots of country towns where we picked up some cotton off the side of the road, nearly hit two kangaroos (Gina kissed both their tails) and a beer at the Bell Hotel (just a pot as we were driving, which is a middy for all you NSW peopleJ). More scenic driving the next day to see Joe’s work, Kogan Creek Power Station, the Chinchilla Weir and a feed at Condamine Pub. We were very grateful for our hosts to show us all around town and its surrounds! We soaked up one more day in Chinchilla to get some washing done, set up our internet, do some groceries and relax a little more. From here we intended to head back towards the coast but we were told Carnarvon Gorge was a must see, so we said why not?

 

We stopped at Roma overnight on our way out to Carnarvon Gorge and met quite a few grey nomads. An early night though and up early to make good tracks to our destination. We arrived at Takkarakka Bush Camp by early afternoon and even snuck in a short nature walk and saw an echidna and emu’s before sundown. Up bright and early the next day to hike into the gorge, 14km return. There were four main stops on our route: The Gallery, The Amphitheatre, Wards Canyon and Moss Gardens. We saw some amazing Aboriginal art, waterfalls, climbed through small openings to hollowed out amphitheatre like arenas, rock hopped across rivers and saw King Ferns (only ones in Central QLD). We then got up the next morning to do another 7km up Boolimba Bluff, 998 steps! An amazing view into the gorge and out to the east into Central Qld. Our feet finally gave in to all this walking (by ‘our’ I mainly mean mine), so we relaxed by the communal fire pit that evening and chatted with some other travellers and grey nomads over a bottle of red wine.

 

It was now time to head back to the coast via many country towns with little to nothing but bush in between. We made it to a tiny town called Theodore where we had to set up Carmen in what felt like cement. We were a bit sore, tired and cranky by then so we decided to just set up the tent without getting any of our other necessities out and just ride the girls (Bella and Sandra) to the pub for dinner and watch the footy. Good decision. An early and quick pack up allowed for a little more driving and we got to a bush camp in Kilkivan. It came to our attention that many of these small town’s shops don’t tend to be open on weekends. So yes we were running low on food and some essentials but we improvised for the next few meals until we could get to the shops. We lazed around our bush camp, visited an old 1800’s coal chimney and successfully panned for gold.

 

We did some more scenic driving for the next couple of days through Murgon, Kingaroy, Yarraman, Kilcoy, where we stayed at the showground (also met a cute dog here we wanted to take with us but unfortunately he had an owner), through Woodford, Caboolture and into Redcliff (just north of Brisbane) to stay at Aunty Jude’s (Aunty Anne’s sister).

It was lovely to see the ocean again even if it was like a lake. A must visit to Bunning’s, cause we’re such ‘capable’ girls was great and then to the club to see if Aunty Jude could win the members draw. Unfortunately unsuccessful. A lovely sleep in on a rainy day was nice and then to the movies in town. Driving around in the city was a bit surreal, highways and roads 8 and 4 lanes wide respectively, were things we hadn’t seen for nearly two weeks now. We were sharing 1 lane gravel roads with road trains, not seeing other travellers for km’s and getting quite use to it. A narrated tourist drive around the surrounding areas of Redcliffe from Aunty Jude was amazing and a visit to Reece and Kristy, one of Aunty Jude’s sons, saw a nice catch up and a good laugh around the table that night. It was then just up the road to more family friends at Buddina on the Sunshine Coast to Bryan and Lauren’s (Emma’s brother and Aunty Anne’s son), with their two little girls.

It was a week we gate crashed these guys house for too, which we were very thankful for. Homemade sushi with a work mate of Bryan’s was a lovely first night in. A coastal drive saw us find some nice boardwalks and beaches as well as pretty decent fish n chips the next day (not as good as Darron’s Seafood but). Sunday we had organised to see and catch up with my mummy while she was close by at Marcoola with friends. We did a drive up into the hinterland to see where we use to live in Maleny and a great view of the Glasshouse Mountains. Next was a hot chocolate in Montville, a stop at the Ginger Factory for lunch and special treats (1m long liquorice, honey macadamia’s and made on site ginger beer) and through Coolum Beach to a great lookout before dropping mum back to her hotel. It was then onto Lauren’s youngest, Sophie, 1^st Bday in the park. The rest of the week we did some surfing, shopping, relaxing and visited Steve Irwin’s wildlife park- Australia Zoo. On Friday we decided we would head on our way up north a bit more and good timing with Ash’s new licence arriving that morning as it expired in a weekJ

 

 

 

Just out of Noosa a town called Tewantin is where we stayed in a caravan park for two nights. Some cards, a beer and footy was a good way to end the week. With no surf around we headed to the river for a fish where we both caught a bream each. We then packed a cooler bag with drinks and snacks for a BYO sunset cruise on Noosa River which was just beautiful. We decided to head off again, with Noosa leaving us a little underwhelmed. A lovely place to visit, don’t get me wrong, but maybe just not quite our scene at the time (high expectations maybe?).

 

We got some advice from the information centre at Gympie that Inskip Point is a great spot to camp for $5.35 a night and is one of the gateways to Fraser Island. We were sold and drove straight there to set up camp with a view of the ocean and Fraser in the close distance, we were in heaven. We headed into town and booked ourselves on a day tour to Fraser Island for Tuesday and then went on a short walk to the Cooloola Sand Blow, which pictures can’t even do justice to. Up early the next morning for a 7:30am pick up from Rainbow Beach to get on the barge to Fraser Island. We took high tide tracks up in the dunes, morning tea on the beach, Ash went for a dip in Lake Mackenzie, lunch and a walk in the rainforest at Central Station, a visit to the Pinnacles and the shipwreck Maheno and a final afternoon tea stop at Eli Creek with a swim. Not the best weather but we had the best time over there and highly recommend a visit if you’re around the area. We booked an extra night so we could relax in the hammock for the first time and just take in the beauty of this wonderful place for one more day. And lucky we did as our neighbour ‘Wayne’ who was a local with plenty of stories, invited us over for nibbles and drinks, a great way to end a perfect couple of days.

 

A short stay in Hervey Bay was next which saw us have a Skype date with all the Chaffey’s which brought a smile to us both to see everyone’s face. A trip into a nearby town Maryborough and the Military and Colonial Memorial was a step back in time. We then headed to the local Sailing Club back in Hervey Bay for a drink after dinner and back into cosy Carmen for a good sleep.

Bundaberg was next on the map and we picked a caravan park nice and close to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery. We even had time to fit in the factory tour that afternoonJ We spent the next day doing a bit of a coastal tour just east of Bundy (as the locals call it) from Burnett Heads down to Elliot Heads and also visited the Bundaberg Barrel to get some more ginger beer. That afternoon we collectively decided it would be great to see a local football game before we left town and so we did, sitting in the grand stand with all the locals. We were undecided on our next stop being Agnes Water or 1770 but a popular/cheap camp spot at Agnes 100m from the beach and finding out 1770 was only 5km’s made our mind up.

 

 

 

We set up camp quite swiftly and tried a surf but ended up just swimming. Along the beach is where we met Jude and Astrid, an extraordinary couple riding touring bikes from Melbourne to Darwin and then boating to Indo and riding where they can all the way to Europe (check out their blog too- foonsonbikes.wordpress.com). We clicked right away and offered the girls to come watch the sunset at 1770 with us, which is where, by chance, we ran into an old school friend Guy. He had built a catamaran, sailed out of the Gold Coast and was on his way to the Whitsundays. There was no other way than to all head across the road for a couple of cold ones and trade some travelling stories. Astrid, Jude, Ash and I ended up having dinner together back at camp and polishing a case of beer off, as you do. A few dusty heads in the morning persuaded Jude and Astrid to stay another day and night. We basically set up camp on the beach and lazed there all day, catching up with Guy for a bit and eating burgers and chips. The girls bunked in with us for their extra night and we ended up having a bbq with another young traveller about to meet up with his girlfriend in a few days who was very grateful for some ‘younger’ company. Gerry made an appearance that night, when a local called ‘Tiny’ joined us for a jam. We dropped the girls back to the roadhouse they’d left their bikes at in the morning, as they’d hitched into town. We were on the road not much later, passing them with a smile, a wave and a ‘see you soon’, to Byfield State Forrest just north of Yeppoon.

 

That day we drove over the Tropic of Capricorn which runs through Rockhampton. We kind of underestimated how long the drive was today and we didn’t actually get to the camp until nearly 5pm. That’s when we decided we’d pull out Rhonda for her debut experience. She basically goes up as quick as lightning strikes which gave us plenty of time to drive back into Yeppoon for some dinner and to watch the State of Origin in an Irish Pub. Yewww go the Blues! Some rain overnight dampened Rhonda’s exterior but as soon as she dried out we packed up and made more ground towards Mackay, staying at a free camp we spotted in our camps book in a town called St. Lawrence.

 

We rounded the corner to what looked like a Caravan Expo on this old horse/cattle farm (just a mass of grey nomads really, all slotted in like a big Tetris game). We found a bit of a grassy patch out of the way to set up and took a drive to the river mouth where we saw croc signs for the first time. We were instantly drawn to go for a swim in this river….. just kidding maybe next time! Another beautiful sunset behind the hills of the farm and then in the morning a short drive up to Mackay to visit Samara and Watty (Jude’s daughter).

 

That basically brings us to where we are now, but I’ll leave the Mackay shenanigans till our next post. I hope I haven’t rambled too much but I promise it won’t be this long againJ We are having the most amazing time on this journey and we just hope you can get a little insight into what we’re doing and get a little inspiration to maybe one day live your dream as well. Happy reading!

Soph and Ash