Episode 4
Sunday 11th June 2023
This morning Raewyn and I went into the town and got a few groceries and then we went to a shop called “Colour Me Crazy”. It was full of colourful stuff (as the name implies). There were wind chimes, kitchenware, garden ornaments of all sizes, clothes and jewellery. Everything was colour coded, so all the pinks were together, reds etc. It was quite a cool place to wander around. I bought a magnetic turtle to put on the fridge door. I was very restrained as I could have spent a lot there.
After lunch, we went to a lovely beach called Gloucester Beach. We went with Raewyn and Marty. Kelly and Shane came too and they took Xavier with them.
Raewyn and I went for a walk along the beach and found the remains of a sail sticking out of the sand. We decided to take it out, which turned into more of a mission than we thought it would. We ended up with a hole about a metre round and about half a metre deep. We got most of it out, but it was too much and too heavy to carry back to the car. We ended up putting it as far above the high tide line as we could. It must have taken us about 20 minutes to get it out. By the time we got back, the others were beginning to wonder where we were.
The water was very warm and I wished I had taken my togs with me.
Shane caught a keeper fish, but Marty and Eddie only caught throw back ones. We headed home as it was getting dark. Eddie and I dozed in the car coming home as we were feeling quite tired.
Monday 12th June 2023
We are really enjoying the sunshine here. I think there has been a bit of rain at home, so we have to make the most of the sun here.
Tarsh and Zane had the day off today, and got stuck into the renovation of the bathroom. It had been demolished by Tarsh a few weeks ago. The wall lining was all asbestos, so that made the job doubly hard. What with going to league games with the boys and other weekend ties it has been a mission to get it done.
In the middle was a concrete slab with tiles on it, that the bath and vanity had been around. It took all morning for Zane to remove it. He took it out in 3 pieces so it was easier to move.The rest of us took it all down stairs with a lot of huffing and puffing. To get them to the trailer, it was
rolled along on pieces of pipe that were moved from the back to the front as we went. Eddie got a few wounds off the chicken wire reinforcing, otherwise no injuries.
Raewyn and I went to the shops and bought the ingredients for a chicken soup dinner. Eddie requested sticky date pudding, so we found that in the freezer department. The boys all thought it was pretty good too. It’s Eddie’s favourite pudding apart from golden dumplings.
Tuesday 13th June 2023
We went on a bit of a crocodile hunt today. The Proserpine River has the biggest number of crocodiles in north Queensland. We didn’t see any, so that was a bit disappointing. Shane said he had seen one by the bridge that crosses the river at the entrance to Proserpine, but it wasn’t there today. We went out to another spot further down the river, but no one was home there either. Never mind, we looked. They probably saw us!
After saying goodbye and lots of photos of everyone, we set off to Nebo. It wasn't a long drive today. Nebo is up on the hinterland, so there was a steep climb up to it.
We stopped at a rest area for lunch and got here at about 3pm. It is only $10 a night with all facilities, so very good value indeed. There are coal mines around here. Once upon a time, there was a bit of a gold rush too.
There are a lot of noisy galahs settling down for the night in a nearby tree. They are very pretty with their pink and grey feathers.
Wednesday 14th June 2023
We had a walk around the block this morning at Nebo in the fog. That was something we haven’t seen before here. It wasn’t very thick but was beginning to lift when we left.
After emptying the toilet cassette, we set off for Bedford Weir near Blackwater. It seemed to take us a while to get here. Twice the GPS tried to send us off the main road, but we decided not to do that as we weren’t sure what the roads were like and we aren’t allowed to take the van on to unsealed roads. We stopped and checked the map, just to make sure we knew where we were going. There was a lady in a mobile coffee van at the rest area we stopped at. She was doing a roaring trade with the truck drivers. We bought a sausage roll to share and a hot drink each.
We have seen lots of road trains in this area.
We went past acres of crops that we thought were sorghum. At first we thought it was acres of plowed paddocks as the plant heads were red like the soil. When we went past paddocks closer to the road we realized what they were. Later we saw more large paddocks with a green crop in, which may or may not have been onions. It turned out to be lucerne
We went past an open caste coal mine at a little town called Bluff. There was a large quarry just out of Blackwater too.
This little camping ground at Bedford Weir is on a river with a weir and a dam on it. It has hot showers and toilets, but no power. I don’t have any reception at all on my phone. Eddie has a little bit. Vodafone isn’t very good in Australia. TV isn’t going either, so we are reading tonight.
We chatted to another couple from NSW this evening. They are called Neville and June. They spent a month in NZ a few years ago and had a lovely time in a camper van.
It is very dry here with lots of prickles in the dry grass. You can’t go outside without something on your feet. We went for a walk down to the river and we had so many prickles stuck on to the soles of our jandals. We will have to clean our shoes very well before we fly home.
Weirdly there is a flock of peafowl here. It is quite a large flock, so they must do well enough in spite of the dryness and the prickles. We saw a camper feeding them this evening, so that helps I’m sure. They do big poos, so I wouldn’t like to encourage them around my campsite.
There is also a large flock of galahs here. They sit in the trees until something disturbs them and then they fly about with lots of squawking until they settle again.
Thursday 15th June 2023
We went along a track that follows the river, but it didn’t go as far as we thought it would. By the time we got back to the camp we had only done 1.5 ks. Later we went for a walk along the road to a track we thought might take us to the dam, but it petered out. We went to the dam along the road. We were able to walk a little way along the top of the dam until we came to a gate. The dam is quite full. We don’t think it is for power generation, but perhaps to control the water in times of flood. Instead of coming back along the road, Eddie found a way from the dam across a grassy area. He could see the gazebo in the area where the boat club is just below the camping ground, so he aimed for that. I was a bit nervous going through the grass. You never know what might be lurking there in this country. Of course we got back ok.
Neville and June went into town and got us some bread and eggs. I was going to get them yesterday, but I didn’t think there was enough room in the fridge and I decided we had enough to get us through until we were near a shop again. They have to be in the fridge here, as it gets so hot. Even at this time of the year, we are having days in the mid 20’s, which is very nice. We had eaten out of the fridge last night, so there is room today.
Friday 16th June 2023
We left Bedford Weir at 8: 30 this morning. We had a good journey to Biloela. On the way we saw a coal train with 2 engines at the back, 50 coal wagons; 2 more engines; 50 more coal wagons and 2 more engines to pull it all. Quite amazing how much coal they move.
We are here for 2 nights as that is all we are allowed to stay for. The grounds we are staying in belong to the Queensland Heritage Park. We have power, water, free wifi and free access to the museum. We had a look at all the old machinery out on the grounds this afternoon. There is some pretty old stuff.
We chatted to our neighbours this evening; Del and Pete. They have 2 schnauzers called Nio and Oscar. Very cute with lovely mustaches and beards.
I am able to use my phone here. I had nothing at Bedford Weir.
We saw about 8 emus in a paddock this morning. Still no kangaroos or koalas though.
The grass here is so dry that it crunches when you walk on it. The roads between the camp sites are very dusty too. My feet always look dusty from walking to the loo and back.
Well I think that is enough for this episode. I will get it finished next time. (I hope)
Episode 3
Monday 5th June 2023
We had rain overnight. It seemed very heavy on our roof, but that might have just been because it is a van.
Today we came to Fisherman's Camping ground at Emu Park. So far no emus. It is much nicer than 1770.
There aren’t any emus, but there are flying foxes living in the trees between the camp and the beach. They eat pollen, nectar and fruit. They are important to seed dispersal and can spread 60,000 seeds in a night. I wonder how they found that out? They fly about 50 ks to feed. In the morning they came back to roost for the day. They look like pegs hanging up on the trees.
On our way here, we were stopped just outside of Rockhampton, by a bus accident. It happened earlier in the morning.Two camels had come out of a nearby property and ran into the bus. The camels were dead or had been euthanized and the bus didn’t look much better. The whole of the front had been destroyed. Even the steering wheel was gone. We got to the accident site just before lunch time. The police officer said we could wait, but it would be at least an hour. The other option was to go back and take a coast road. Eddie put it into the GPS and it was going to be 79 km, where we only had 29 to go from where we were. We decided to stay and have lunch while we waited. One of the advantages of being in a camper van. It took just over an hour to finish the job.
We were lucky to get in here as it is very busy. June, July and August are the peak times as so many come up from the south to miss the cold. The costs are a bit more as a result.
Tuesday 6th June 2023
The day started off fine, but it was cooler and rainy this afternoon. I put the washing into the dryer after they had been on the line for about 3 hours.
We walked into Emu Park this morning and got some groceries. We wanted to get out some cash, but the ATM at the bank was broken. We went to the supermarket where there was one outside, so that was good.
After getting the groceries and Eddie’s cider we went and looked at the museum. It was quite good and we got a bit of a guided tour from one of the volunteers. Eddie wasn’t too sure that he wanted her hovering over his shoulder, but she was very knowledgeable about things and the area. It’s called Emu Park because the original native name meant the place of emus, so the name seemed appropriate. It started off when Queensland seceded from NSW. The anniversary of that is today. Apparently there was a lot of toing and froing between the government and the people. The government wanted to start a town at Yeppoon and the people wanted one at Emu Park. There was even talk of seceding from Queensland and becoming the state of North Queensland. It was all about having a beachside resort like in Brisbane where they had Red Beach. The railway came to Emu Park first, so of course it grew first. Yeppoon didn’t get a railway until the sugarcane farmers needed to get their produce out; about 20 years later.
Wednesday 7th June 2023
Today we came to Armstrong Beach near Sarina. It was a long drive, so Eddie was pretty tired when we got here. After a quick walk to the beach, he had a nap.
The tide goes a long way out here.
On the way to Armstrong Beach, we stopped at a place called Clairview. There is a nice campground there with a restaurant, where we bought our lunch.The camp is called Barracrab Camp. I had a nice burger and Eddie had fish and chips. We will try and remember it and stay at it another time. There is no swimming between October and May because of stingers in the water. It gets like that up here. There are also crocodiles to be aware of.
We have been past different signs saying look out for kangaroos or koalas or emus. Where the signs were we never saw anything, but later we saw 2 emus. That is the only wild life we have seen all the way from Brisbane.
I have noticed that any roads going off the A1 are not paved. They go off into the hinterland, all dust and gravel.
We have also noticed there is not a lot of fencing in the paddocks on either side of the road.
Today we saw some quite long trains carrying coal.
Thursday 8th June 2023
We had rain in the night again, but today was sunny. The wind was a bit cool too.
We went for a short walk around the village today. We found a nice walkway down to the beach.
The crabs on the beach make patterns in the sand where they have taken the sand out of their holes. They make a star pattern, which looks neat on the beach.
We saw 4 red tailed black cockatoos on the beach today. They are rare with only about 15,000 left in the wild. Eddie was able to get a photo of one, but I didn’t.
We are amazed how many different types of caravans there are here. I was told later that there are about 280 caravan manufacturers in Australia.
Eddie went fishing this afternoon. He caught a baby hammerhead shark and some sort of catfish. He put them both back. Rather random and not something he has ever caught before.
Friday 9th June 2023
We left Armstrong Beach and set off for Proserpine to visit Tarsh and Zane. Tarsh was our old neighbour when we lived at Matangi, many years ago. Now she is a senior constable at Airlie Beach. Zane is a maintenance man at a camping ground on the way to Airlie Beach. They have 3 boys; Xaiv er, Andrew and Bastion. Tarsh’s mum, Raewyn is also camping at Tarsh’s place with her partner, Marty.
When she was a teenager, Tarsh came and swam in our swimming pool. She has long curly hair that always got into the filter and drove Eddie mad. He still teases her about it.
There is quite a large railway yard where the road to Armstrong beach comes out onto the main road. It seems to be in the middle of nowhere really.
We stopped at Sarina and bought some groceries and got more cash out.
We had lunch at a cafe on the side of the road. While we were eating we saw a couple of trucks with a load of sugar cane on board. The harvesting season is from June until December.
We decided not to take the ring road around MacKay, so we could see something of the town. It seems to be a nice place.
We got to Proserpine about 1pm. Raewyn was here to meet us. Tarsh was at work, and got home about 4: 30. Tarsh’s friend from school, Kelly and her husband Shane are staying with them at the moment. They have just moved up from Brisbane a while ago and are looking to settle in the area.
Saturday 10th June 2023
Eddie and I went to Airlie Beach this morning. It is very commercial with lots of people about because it is the weekend. There is a nice man made lagoon for people to swim in. I suppose in the summer with stinger jellyfish about, it would be the safest place. There were quite a few in swimming or sunbathing. We had a bit of trouble finding somewhere to park ith our large vehicle and nearly left. Eddie was hungry, so we found a Hog’s Breath Cafe and had some lunch.
We were heading back to Proserpine and saw a sign to Conway Beach, so we went to look at that. The tide was out a long way and the sea was very choppy. There was a little village of holiday homes. The facilities on the beach front were very nice. We made a hot drink and watched the water. A micro lite aircraft was flying overhead, so that was noisy and spoiled the ambiance of the place.
When we got back to Proserpine, Kelly took us to the Proserpine dam. It was very pretty with a camping ground at the lake edge. It was very busy. We guessed it was the weekend and people were camping while the weather was nice. We saw a man fishing for barramundi, but had had no luck. They keep the lake stocked with barramundi, like they put trout into the lakes at home.
That’s that for this episode.
Lots of love from us xxx
Hello Family,
Episode two
After we left Mudjimba we went to look at Coolum Beach. Oh my goodness it was just as lovely as Mudjimba.
We stopped on the side of the road to have our lunch on our way to Tin Can Bay. We were parked on a fence line of a property that had a lovely duck pond near the fence. We sat and ate our sandwiches and watched the ducks glide about doing their ducky thing. All very serene.
We had planned to go and feed the dolphins at Tin Can Bay, but we were both feeling under the weather with our colds and didn’t feel like getting up early to go. I slept most of the time we were there, so not a lot was seen. Before we left we did a bit of a tiki tour around the town. The bay was lovely with lots of boats that will need a lot of TLC. There were quite a few houseboats there too.
After leaving Tin Can Bay, we stopped at Maryborough for morning tea. This is the town where the author of Mary Poppins was born. It’s a very old town with lots of old buildings with dates like 1875 on them.
We were going to go straight to Bundaberg instead of going to Woodgate as per our itinerary, but when we stopped for lunch at a roadside rest area, we met a couple who were on their way. After leaving Tin Can Bay, we stopped at Maryborough for morning tea. This is the town where the author of Mary Poppins was born. It’s a very old town with lots of old buildings with dates like 1875 on them.
We were going to go straight to Bundaberg instead of going to Woodgate as per our itinerary, but when we stopped for lunch at a roadside rest area, we met a couple who were on their way
There is a lot of sugar cane, avocados and macadamia nuts grown around here. MIles and miles of them.
Next we went to the town of 1770. That’s it’s name. I think it was when it was first settled.
We stopped off at Bundaberg for a looksee. We were going to go to the Distillery, but changed our minds.
Instead we went to the botanical gardens and had a train ride around the park. It was an old sugar cane train engine painted up, with open carriages behind it for the passengers to ride in.
There were sugar cane train crossings across the road in places as we came north. The gauge is very narrow and made us chuckle as we went over them.
We didn’t like the camping ground at 1770 very much. We could cope with no wife, (my data wouldn’t go either. I was very jealous of Eddie). tv and radio, but when we went to have our showers they were very disappointing. Barely lukewarm and not a lot of pressure either. When we went to do the dishes in the camp kitchen, we discovered there was no plug for the sink. We weren’t amused. We decided not to stay another night after all. So far that has been our worst camping experience, so we aren’t doing too bad.
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