Following the Thermal Pools Trail...

Travelled through Roma, then on to Mitchell for the hot springs.  We free-camped at the Neil Turner Weir, on a lovely stretch of the Maranoa River.  There were quite a few people already camped, but still plenty of room.  We got talking to our neighbours, Nick and Chris, from Ballarat, who invited us to sit with them and have a drink.  We were also joined by Lyn & Rob from Hervey Bay.  Nick & Chris had a lovely campfire going, and we all ended up cooking on it that night - it was our first campfire meal of the trip.  Roast pork and beautiful veges - yum.

That night it poured with rain, and we had a very soggy campsite the next morning.  Ah well, you can't fight the weather.  We went into town for a visit to the Mitchell Artesian Spa - very nice little operation, with two pools operating at different temperatures.  It cost us $8.50 pp for a 2-day pass, pretty good value.  

The weather cleared up, and we again cooked dinner over the campfire, and Chris provided us all with a bowl of delicious spicy lentils.  They had also been joined by their friends, Peter and Barbara from Lakes Entrance.  We all had a very pleasant evening around the campfire, and finished off with some of Nick's grappa and Chris's prunes soaked in grappa - that's a first for me!  Definitely firewater - next morning I was not too well, but I don't think I can blame it all on the grappa - it might also have had something to do with the half bottle of champagne and couple of cointreaus that I had before it!


We dropped camp, and said farewell to the others who were heading to Lightning Ridge, then we headed back into town for a last dip in the wondrous waters of the artesian bore. We had lunch there, then decided to head towards Moree as we'd heard that there were also artesian bores in that town.  

That night we stopped at a little place called the Nindigully Pub - we'd heard that the pub had free camping on site, with the use of showers and toilets.  We pulled in to find quite a few travellers already set up there in the mud (we've been following the rain for a couple of days), so set up our camper just in time for happy hour in the hotel.  Had a couple of drinks and checked out all the battered old cowboy hats and boots mounted on the walls of the hotel, and read about all the goings-on in this quite famous pub which was first established in 1864.  One of its claims to fame is the humungous 'Road Train Burger' which costs $45.00 and can easily feed four people. We decided to have dinner there, cos I didn't feel like cooking.  The meals were huge, good value, but way too big - I had to give Trev a good portion of mine.  Have a look at the website and you can see it has plenty of character.
 
Next morning, off to Moree.  We arrived around lunchtime and checked into the Gwydir Carapark & Thermal Pools.  Nice park with 4 large thermal pools, varying in temperature from 34-39 degrees and one large swimming pool set at 28 degrees.  Spent an hour or so hopping from pool to pool and chatting to lots of grey nomads.  Looking around the pools I decided that Trev & I are at least 10 years younger than 95% of the people here - I can't believe how many very senior people are still travelling all around this huge country, and many of the ones we spoke to today actually follow the 'thermal pool trail'.  


After stocking up on a few groceries, we are now back in our camper, and I am listening to the rain thumping on the roof as I type - I'm not looking forward to dropping the camper tomorrow, cos I hate packing up in the wet.  But people around here are very happy to have the rain, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  We've done pretty well weatherwise with our trip so far.  So tomorrow, we're heading south, but haven't quite sorted out our next stop.... if the rain keeps going, we'll be home very soon. 

Mitchell artesian bore

Spent a couple of hours here over the past two days. Water temp is a
lovely 34degrees - very nice.

Calliope to Carnarvon Gorge

Before I go any further, I've just added a Picasa album from our time at Fraser Island.  You might want to have a look at it.

After packing up at Calliope we stopped in at the little Calliope Historical Village for Sunday markets.  Bought a couple of bits and pieces and had a chat with one of the stallholders who actually lived on Fraser Island when he was a child for about 10 years.  His father was one of the Rangers and they lived at Central Station - he had very fond memories of the island and told us a couple of interesting stories - said he might write a book one day.

We were heading for Carnarvon Gorge via Biloela, so keyed in the appropriate info to our trusty GPS whom we call Kate.  Well, Kate was having a bad day, and it wasn't until we were nearly at Rockhampton, still looking for a turnoff to Biloela, that we realised she had led us astray!  We pulled over to the side of the road and reassessed our position, and decided that Kate needed a bit of a rest and we were going to have to do things the old-fashioned way - use maps and read the roadsigns!  I'm sure John Ward will be having a bit of a laugh now, cos he really doesn't like (or trust) these new-fangled GPS things.  Sorry to say it, John, but on this occasion you were right.

So, having taken us a very long way round, and increasing our journey by 150-200kms, we finally reached Rolleston which is a kicking-off point for Carnarvon Gorge.  Stayed in a very basic little caravan park, but it was only $20pn, and had hot showers and toilets, so we were not complaining.  Just happy to have somewhere to stay for the night before heading to the gorge the next day.


We booked into the Takarakka Bush Camping Site and arrived around lunchtime.  Paid $34 for an unpowered site, and set up.  It really is a lovely setting and the showers and toilets are excellent.  We tried to book in for the Spit Roast, but it wasn't on that evening - they said there would be one the following night.  We hadn't decided whether we were staying one night or two, so thought we would leave it till the next day to make a booking.

That afternoon we took a drive (and walks) up to Balloon Cave which had some Aboriginal rock paintings and then the Rock Pool, the only place suitable for swimming in the national park.  Spotted a turtle and lots of little fish - very pretty.  Then we headed back to camp where I cooked a lovely green chicken curry for dinner.  Oh yes, we decided to book another night, but couldn't book in for the Spit Roast the following night as they were full - bugger!


Next morning we set off to do our 15km walk through the Gorge up to the Art Gallery.  It was a much nicer day weather-wise than the previous one.  Quite sunny and clear, but not too hot for walking.  The Ranger (and accompanying brochure) suggested that we walk straight to the Art Gallery, then do the side trips to Ward's Canyon, the Amphitheatre, and the Moss Gardens on the way back.


Well, the walk was wonderful.  Really pretty, lots of water crossings, different kinds of palms, macrozamia trees, mosses and ferns, all mixed in with eucalypts, casuarinas and wattle.  The Art Gallery was really interesting - a large amount of aboriginal paintings and carvings in a huge overhang of sandstone rock, looking down into a lovely valley full of palms and mazrozamias.  Ward's Canyon was beautiful, a long, deep, very cool walk with crystal clear water running through t.  The Amphitheatre was amazing, and aptly named - if you had a concert in there, the sound would be incredible. 

Our last stop (and the hardest one, we were starting to 'hit the wall' by then) was up (and I do mean up) to the Moss Gardens - a 1.2km return trip, mostly uphill which opened up into a beautiful cavern full of different mosses, with water constantly dripping down from them.  Just lovely.

Then we had only 2.8km to go to get back to the Ranger's Headquarters.  This last 2.8km seemed much, much longer than on the way there.  Don't know how that happens???  But - we managed it even though our legs felt like jelly and our fingers were throbbing - very happy with that.  We obviously don't do enough walking, and will have to make an effort to do more when we get home.   When we got back to camp we were wrecked - had a cuppa then decided to have a shower before dinner, or we'd never get back on our feet again. 

Tomorrow we're heading toward Roma, then probably over to Mitchell where they have hot artesian bore springs - think we might need to take a dip to recover from our walk.....

Bundaberg to Calliope

First of all, we want to wish mum and dad a very happy 55th anniversary.  I rang them this afternoon especially to congratulate them, but they didn't believe me????!!  Just because we have no idea of what day it is when we're travelling doesn't mean that we'd forget their anniversary.  Hope you have a lovely dinner with Denise and Ray.

Anyway, back to our travels.  On our way to Bundaberg we thought it might be a good idea to book a couple of sites before we actually arrived - good thinking.  We tried about 10 cara parks between us before finally getting a 'yes' - apparently the whale season has started early this year.  It normally starts in August, but somebody forgot to tell the whales!  So, finding a spot all the way up the coast is getting difficult.  We booked into one in Bundaberg East which was very nice, had a good ensuite, but is right in the light manufacturing area.  It also backed onto a courier service which apparently had deliveries throught the night, so it was a little noisy.  
 
Did a bit of shopping to stock up, and bought a kilo of big fat juicy tiger prawns for only $20.  Bargain!  Pete had a telephone interview for a job that afternoon, so after he'd finished we invited Pete & Dee over for prawns and salad with Sylvia's Special Spicy Seafood Sauce (how's that for alliteration?) that evening - just delicious.

Next morning we booked in for a tour of the Bungaberg Rum Distillery (as you do, when in Bundaberg) which was quite interesting, especially as we got a seniors discount and saved $10 - gotta be happy with that!  And of course, we ended up buying a bottle or two - Bundy Royal Chocolate and Coffe Liqueur, and Bundy Reserve Premium Release (which can only be bought from the distillery.  Dee also bought a couple of bottles of the Liqueur.  (As a matter of fact, Trev and I are just having a Bundy & Coke right now - will keep me blogging a bit longer...)

We drove out to have a look at Bargara, a little coastal town about 15km from Bundaberg - we went there on one of our previous trips and really liked the area.  It's near the turtle conservation area at Mon Repos, where the turtles come to nest each year.  The beaches here have huge black basalt rocks and boulders around them and are really quite different.  We had fish and chips overlooking the beach and soaking up the scenery.  While we were lunching a heap of rally cars came into Bargara - they'd been on the Burleigh to Bargara Rally and had just arrived at their destination.  They were quite colourful, extremely dusty and dirty and quite vocal, and it looked like the participants had had a wonderful time.

Pete & Dee headed back into Bundaberg while Trev & I continued through the coastal towns - we'd brought our snorkelling gear as we'd been told that there were some good snorkelling rocks areas around Bargara and Coral Cove.  We had full intentions of doing a bit of snorkelling, but it was quite windy, cool, and the water temperature was way too low for poor old Trev so we decided to give it a miss.  But there are certainly some lovely beaches and rocks in this area - loved it.

Pete and Dee have decided to head back to Canberra, as it looks like Pete has to have a further interview on Tuesday following his phone interview last night.  So, as it's our last night together, we went to a little local club for dinner, The Easts Sports Club - the receptionist at our cara park had recommended it.  We all had a really good meal and were very impressed.  


We packed up this morning and said our farewells to Pete & Dee, as we are going towards Carnarvon Gorge while they head for home.  We dropped into Gladstone on the way through, just to see if there were any snorkelling tours running from there.  To my great disappointment, there were none, unless we wanted to d
o an overnighter to Heron Island for $659 per couple!  Afraid not, it's a little bit over our budget.  
 
So we continued on till we got to a little free-camping spot that is in the Camps Australia 5 book - Calliope.  It's a top spot on a really pretty river with heaps of camping areas either side of the banks.  The river is both fresh and saltwater and apparently is a great fishing spot.  There are flushing toilets here too - yayyy!  
 
The birdlife here is amazing - heaps of kingfishers, kites, tiny little finches, huge herons, parrots and ducks.  


Well, we're just about to have a lovely scotch fillet for dinner with Bundy & coke, so I'll sign off now.  Heading towards Carnarvon Gorge tomorrow, but then again, who knows where we'll end up.......

Fraser to Hervey Bay

Our last night on Fraser was spent sitting on our 'balcony' overlooking the ocean, sipping vodka & cranberry juice (beer for the boys).  We were treated to a spectacular display of whales playing far out on the horizon - got our binoculars out to see at least 3 whales, probably more, slapping the water repeatedly with their tails, and breaching several times.  It was wonderful, and a fitting end to our time on the island.  No photos available, they were way too far away, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I woke up at 6.30am this morning to a beautiful sunrise - grabbed my camera and started clicking away.  Had to make the most of it, cos it's not that often that I actually see the sunrise!  Took farewell photos of our camp on the beach, with a gorgeous golden glow and a rainbow to top it off.   Magic!

We're on our way to Hervey Bay today - dropped camp and left around 9.15am then stopped off at The Pinnacles for a couple of shots of the coloured sands.  This is a protected area, but some idiot has carved 'Alan 2010' into one of the formations - what a moron!

Arrived at Hervey Bay around 3.00pm to find that there are no places available at any of the caravan parks - finally managed to get a couple of spaces at the Pialba Beachfront Tourist Park.  Threw some washing in the machines, had drinks and nibbles at Pete & Dee's van, then headed back to our van.  Will be leaving for Bundaberg/Bargara tomorrow.

A few days on Fraser Island

Headed for Fraser on 15 July, and stopped at Rainbow Beach/Inskip Point to deflate our tyres to get on the barge across to Fraser.  Started well, with Trev letting too much air out then having to re-inflate.  Finally got going into deep soft sand heading towards the barge - but Trev didn't put the boot in early enough (especially carrying a much heavier Jayco Dove) and guess what?  Yes, we got bogged even before we got on the barge!!!  Pete took note of the way we went and did a big detour around us - smart move.   Trev lowered the tyre pressures a little more and we eventually made it onto the barge.  

Then Pete & Dee came around and ..... yes, you guessed it - they got bogged just at the entry to the barge!  Whew, Trev would never have lived it down if he'd been the only one to get bogged before we started!  Anyway, all aboard eventually and 10 minutes later we were heading up the main highway of Fraser island - soft, soft sand to start with then it firmed up and we were on our way.


Picked a camping spot about halfway up the island at Yurru, near the Cathedrals.  Nice spot behind the dunes with a bit of shelter from the wind and an uninterrupted view of the ocean.  Finished setting up camp around 4.30pm - and most importantly, our own private WC - see photo left!  I was just testing, people - it does now have a complete cover.


Next morning, exploring.  We visited Lake Allom and had a picnic on the viewing platform while being viewed by the turtles!  Interesting drive, amazing forests, lots of birdlife, different coloured fungi, just beautiful.  After that we drove to the Knifeblade Sandblow walked up to the viewing platform, then drove through to Happy Valley for coffee, toilets and checking phones.


Next day, we did the Southern Lakes Drive. On the way we stopped at the wreck of the Maheno and took a few photos.  Hardly anyone about (we beat the crowds) so managed to get some lovely shots.  Lake Mackenzie was closed, but we visited Lake Birrabeen where we had a picnic on the pristine white sand beach, followed by a swim (well, Trev & I had a swim) in the amazingly clear water.  Cool, but refreshing.  From there we went to Lake Boomanjin, a totally different lake - black water from the tannins in the foliage - but also quite beautiful in its own way.

I also had my first taste of sand driving - both along the highway on the hard sand, and through one of the little villages - didn't do too badly, if I do say so myself!  So, Seb, it's your turn next!


Yesterday we travelled north to Indian Head - much easier to climb up this soft sand without a trailer on our back (which is what we did last time we here - we have learned!).  From there we went to Champagne Pools where we had a lovely swim with heaps of fish surrounding us - magic.  I wish I'd taken a mask and snorkel with us, it was so pretty.  Then it was up to Orchid Beach for refuelling, and Pete & Dee decided to head back while we went on to Ngale Rocks.  


We knew we were too close to high tide, so stopped at Ocean Lake for a cooked lunch.  We set off around 2.15pm, aiming to get as close as possible to Sandy Cape lighthouse.  However, we negotiated two sets of rocks with the tide going out - had to do a 'go-around' at another section.  We stopped around the middle of the rocks, then walked through to see how difficult the next section would be - met another couple who were around the other side of these rocks, also waiting for the tide to subside!  Had a chat with them, waited about an hour then figured that we were not going to make it in time to Sandy Cape so decided to turn back and head for home.  

Trev enjoyed the drive, cos it had everything in it:  beach driving on hard sand, soft sand, inland driving on very deep soft sand, clambering over rocks covered by water, and sliding down narrow channels enclosed by scrub - just great!  I even took some videos which showed some good 'rear wheel action'!

Got back to camp around 5.30pm, but just before we got there we had a beautiful rainbow over the ocean, with big billowy clouds around, so had to take some more photos of course.  How beautiful is this?

Today it's very overcast, so we're just driving down to Happy Valley, might stop at Eli Creek and the Pinnacles on the way back if the weather improves - if not, we'll have a quiet day at camp, start packing up for an early departure tomorrow morning.


Fraser is still beautiful - definitely recommend coming over here for something a bit different.  And yes, there are plenty of dingoes about - we saw three on the way up the beach on the first day, and have had plenty of sightings since then - this photo is for Blake and Brayden. 





 

Brisbane to Noosa

We had a lovely time staying at Carli & David's place nth of Brisbane. On Monday we caught the train into Brisbane and had a look around South Bank, had lunch at a Turkish restaurant, then did a river cruise on the Citycat.  On Monday night Carli had invited Yvonne and Rob (the other couple that we met on our European tour) and their neighbours, Lyn & Ian over for dinner.  It was great to catch up with them all - we had a lovely meal, a good bottle of wine (or two) and a really great fun night with lovely people.  We can certainly recommend Carli's B&B - next morning we had eggs benedict for breakfast before setting off for Noosa to meet up with Peter & Dee.

We arrived at the Noosa Caravan Park around 10.30am and started setting up, with Pete & Dee arriving half an hour later.  Again, sites were very small, and we were parked right next to the camp kitchen.  Not too bad, except that at around 12.00 midnight a very thoughtful young man decided he had to call home (somewhere in Europe) and decided that he wouldn't disturb anyone where he was located, and instead came up to the camp kitchen to have his phone call, right next to where we were sleeping!  I was not impressed, and at around 12.15 I called out and reminded him (very nicely, honestly!) that people were trying to sleep and could he please keep the noise down.  No response, and no change in volume.  After another gentle reminder about 15 mins later, there was still no change - so at 12.45 Trev went out and spoke to him.  Apparently, he was making the phone call with earphones in, so had no idea how loud he was being, and that we had called out to him earlier.  He left immediately, and finally we were able to get to sleep.

Today Dee & I decided to go to Eumundi Markets and leave the boys back at camp to fiddle around with cars.  We had a lovely day shopping - fantastic markets, lots of different stuff, and no boys around to hurry us up - great!   Our lunch was interesting - we had 'slinkies' which were spiral potatoes deep-fried and served on sticks (delicious) and some really lovely salt & pepper calamari.  Bought a few interesting things then headed back to the caravan park.

Then we headed into Noosaville/Noosa and wandered around the Rivers store, then Hastings Street and ended up having cocktails and dinner at Jacks on Hastings.  Food was lovely, as were the cocktails.  Back to the cara park to get ready for Fraser Island tomorrow.

On the road

We left Canberra at 7.00am on Saturday, and had a pretty smooth run up to South West Rocks, arriving at about 4.30pm.  Stayed at the Big 4 Caravan Park for the night, and had a really good seafood buffet at the local Country Club for only  $19.00.

Caravan park was very good with lots of amenities, but the actual sites were very small - when we were leaving the next morning, Pete & Dee were driving out of their site and hit the power pole, breaking the outside light on their camper, and scraping their door - not happy, Jan!

Heading off up the Pacific Highway, can't believe how many speed cameras are installed around the Coffs Harbour/Ballina area - usually on the crest of the hill, so that when we are trying to keep the revs up to pull the camper up the hill, we suddenly have to drop back and crawl up instead - total madness, just a revenue raising ploy!

We split from Pete & Dee just after Ballina, as they were going to visit his parents at Helensvale, and we are dropping in to stay with Carli & David, friends we met while travelling in Europe.  Arrived at their place around 5.30pm to a very warm welcome, a lovely pumpkin soup and garlic bread and a couple of bottles of good wine.  Got to be happy with that!  We're staying here for a couple of nights then meeting up with Pete & Dee on Wednesday at Noosa, before crossing over to Fraser Island (weather permitting).


So far, so good.....

Getting Ready,,,,

We're heading off on Saturday to escape Canberra's less than warm winter.  Last time we did a trip of several weeks we had an Offroad Cub Camper with a small internal kitchen, which suited our style of camping at the time.  

We've since upgraded to an Offroad Jayco Dove with a full kitchen, lounge/dining area and slide-out beds at either end.  It's a lot more comfortable, and we can happily fit our two oldest grandsons in it - they love it.  We've done a few small trips in this and are very happy with it.  But it will face its first real test on sand when we arrive on Fraser Island in a couple of weeks.  Our old Range Rover has also been upgraded - we're now driving a 1995 P38A model, and it's certainly an improvement on our previous model.


We'll be travelling with our friends, Peter & Dee, (see left) who recently bought a Jayco Swan Outback to go with their P38A Range Rover (they have to keep up with the Turners) so it should be a fun trip.  Will keep you posted.

It's been a while....

Well, it's been a long time since I've blogged here, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. Since my last blog we've travelled to Thailand a couple of times, had a big trip to Europe & Korea in 2009, have gone outback to Bourke, Broken Hill then back through Menindee and Mungo Mungo - I'll be adding some albums from those trips shortly. 


We've also done various small trips around our region.  Check out some of the slideshows from recent trips on this page.

Next week we're heading off to Fraser Island, Bundaberg, then across to Carnarvon Gorge and possibly Innamincka (to see if there's still water around). So, I hope to be able to send a few updates of our trip. Keep checking in......