We had spent a week at Evans Head last year and felt it was worth more time to explore the area. It worked out a good place to stay as one of our party had their drivers licence suspended due to an error on the GP medical report to the licence authority. The authorities needed some time to sort out the problem and correct what had been reason for the suspension. We enjoyed the meals at the surf life savings cafe; John found the lentil burgers were his favourite. The town is in need of increased retail trade to get it ‘going’ again after a long lay-off of holiday makers. There is an RSL with a busy restaurant and also the bowls club has an asian menu most nights of the week.
Evans Head NSW
While driving north towards Evans Head, Earlene called to say they passed a Paradise Motor home in a rest area, so we pulled into the same rest area and parked beside the Paradise. Paradise owners tend to have lots in common and since I run a Facebook Page for Paradise Owners, we were on to meeting up with these guys. After an hour of chit chat, we said good byes and on to Lennox Head.
Lennox Head NSW
Lennox Head is another coastal beach town in the northern part of NSW, just south of Byron Bay, the young people’s capital of Australia. We noticed each day, schools had surfing and board riding classes for sports activities; how lucky they are. An hour before sunset, the surfing zones were very busy as the sun was setting. Pelicans gracefully pass to another location to sit out until it was time to vanish for the dark hours. ‘Dive-bombing’ marine birds were very busy gathering feed for their young on their return to the nests hidden somewhere.
Byron Bay is an expensive yuppie town. There are many good eating places run by the alternative lifestyle fraternity. Housing is expensive as is the camping facilities for visitors. We took the bus up to Byron, and first strolled through the alternative, or natural, farming markets before going across to the beach to meet up with a surprise visitor from New Zealand. You may remember our story of meeting up with another guy with a brain injury, and his wife, in Zurich. Well, after Lyn posted to Facebook that we were in Lennox Head, MerryLynn noticed the post and called to say they had come to Australia for a family meetup and holiday at Kingscliff just north of Byron Bay. We had to meet again. They drove down to meet us for a meal at Manna Restaurant. What a catchup again … and the food was excellent too. The plan is to meet up again in Tauranga in January while we are cruising New Zealand.
Next are we are visiting is the south west corner of Queensland.
The rush was on as many left the grey nomads convention we had attended for last ten days. Attendees headed in various directions, some even headed home. Why would you not tour a little to see more of the great landscapes Australia has to offer before arriving home? We headed north for two hours through Coffs Harbour to Grafton to spend a few days with our daughter. Many left the convention with varying degrees of flu or Covid. We had runny noses and Lyn had a throat cough. But now we are on the mend.
Grafton is a small town widely known for the annual Jacaranda Festival. The streets are bathed in purple during November and full of Asian day tourist catching the colourful streets as backgrounds to their selfies. While there, the son-in-law cooked a very tasty meal using his camp oven expertise.
Camp Oven cooking A tight fit at daughters place in Grafton
Brooms Head is just an hour away from Grafton on the coast from McLean NSW. Our arrival welcomed us with brilliant sunshine. The campground has both powered and unpowered sites but the unpowered sites have the best location right on the beachfront. We’ve chosen the unpowered site but didn’t realise that we have a large Norfolk Island pine tree smack in the middle of our view and, the solar power source for our house batteries to top up. Lucky our daughter was joining us from Grafton in a few days so she was able to bring a remote solar panel for us to plug into and set away from the motor home in the sunshine. Problem almost solved – but we got through.
And so Brooms head is our spot for a few days Drone view of the areaLow tide allows a good morning walkAn American friend called these storks.
Once set up, we had some beautiful days with warming sunshine. The views of the ocean and coastline were clear and colourful. Pelicans entertained us as they flew around the lagoon finding a spot to fish or get away from other menacing birds. I wanted to see a morning sunrise and got up to check it out and when I went outside, there was a family of kangaroos feeding on the grass close to the beach. Worth getting up for.
I got up to shoot the sunrise. These guys made it a great sunrise shot. Drone fun Great spot to do some droning from.
Our first day of the lap was done with sunny skies and that rare feeling of “bye home, we’ll see you in 6 months”. We have travelled this road many times up inland Victoria and into New South Wales along the Hume Highway. We are more eager to get to our first camping spot at Jugiong than to take notice of what we pass. Toilet stops are frequent in the mornings but the one at Lake Nillacootie now has a coffee trailer that provides ’not bad’ coffee and chai latte. This became our first “extended” stop off.
Jugiong is over 500km from home and a regular overnight stop. There is a large recreation ground that the community makes available at a small donation fee. Camping is available along the Murrumbidgee River or on the oval. The autumn colors are still showing before dropping to become mulch for the ground. There is a cafe that provides good old country meals which we always enjoy. Some friends happen to be here and we have a good time reminiscing old days; Fred went to the same school as me back in the 60s.
Entrance to Jugiong NSWA very leafy restaurant The Sir George PubGreat place to eat and purchase quaint souvenirs Lyn hard at work in motor home using Starlink for speed
We decided to stay a second night as the morning provided blue skies again and the weather report said lots of rain ahead towards Sydney. Lyn has run a travel agency for over 30 years and now works from the motor home while traveling. She has some of the best office locations one could want for. Today was the first time we tried our Starlink internet system while traveling. It provided excellent speed and access which made Lyn happy.
On days we travel, we find it better to wake up, pack up and get going for an hour before having breakfast. We make our way onto the Hume Highway at 7:30am in the morning chill, but the promise of a good day. The Hume Highway is a divided highway and is used continuously by trucks or lorries carting produce between Australia’s two largest cities Sydney and Melbourne. Today is very busy and at times we have 5 or 6 trucks passing us at once (we travel 10 or 15 kph slower than the trucks).
Normally, we make sure Lyn is the driver through the busy city of Sydney to save $90 in tolls while I sit in the passengers seat giving directions through suburban Sydney. Today we decide to do part of the drive through Sydney paying tolls and part on a renowned section of road that used to be a very congested part of the journey. Having 5 or 6 semi-trailers around you as you’re driving can be very daunting.
We head further north up through the distant regions to the north of Sydney, and to the Pacific Highway which runs up the eastern coastline of New South Wales and into Queensland. On last years trip north, we found a new campground that is just 400meters off the highway where we stay for the night. Due the recent high rainfall, the owner of the campground requested we set up on the road to prevent ground damage in the camping area.
The following morning, we had made a meal reservation at an Artisan Restaraunt. This restaurant was built by a guy with a ‘dream’ to provide a highway stopover providing food all grown on his property. The meal is delicious, again.
While we were at The Artisan Farm, Lyn’s sister and husband caught up to us from Melbourne, and we travelled on to a free camp near a tavern for a night of rain and cards. Our short journey took us to a convention site where we will be for 10 nights before travelling on to Grafton, NSW.
A lap of Australia in our motor home GR8L1F, has been on our bucket list for quite a few years. Covid prevented us from doing it when we wanted to but we have set this year as the year for us. Many in Australia plan to do it sometime in their lifetime either as quick as possible (I’ve heard some in 3 weeks) others, 10 years. We have decided to leave near the end of April and return around the end of October. There is a map of Australia suggesting the best months to be in various parts of the country. We are going to follow that as a basic plan.
There are various ways to do the lap, but most do it clockwise or anticlockwise. Doing it anticlockwise, some say, uses less fuel because of the following westerly winds across the Nullabor plains from Perth towards Melbourne. Doing the lap clockwise uses up noticeably more fuel. Fuel prices on the Nullarbor become very high at some roadhouses.
The list of things to do before departure becomes longer as you get closer to the day of departure. We have a pristine garden, and enjoy working it, but we still like to have it in good order for the gardener who cares for it while we are away. The hedges need a ‘final’ trim, the edges of the lawn make a good yard a better yard when trimmed right. The motor home and Suzuki 4wd, which we tow, need to be washed and polished (did you hear there is less drag when the vehicles are polished?). We try to leave with only clothes for all seasons that will be used many times before, maybe, throwing them out on our return.
We were busy getting our garden ready for absolutely no one to enjoy. Isn’t that silly?
Our itinerary is only ‘rough’ as we leave, but generally, we will firstly head north to Stuarts Point in New South Wales (NSW) for an annual Grey Nomads convention we attend each year. Our daughter lives in Grafton NSW so a few days of catchup will take us there. Then our lap really begins. We plan to head up to Toowoomba, Queensland (QLD) then to central west QLD and on to Mt Isa. From QLD we will slowly move through the Northern Territory (NT) to Darwin, then across to West Australia (WA) down to Perth. In October, we then take the Nullarbor Highway back to Melbourne.
I’ll start posting a weekly blog each week. I hope you enjoy and make a decision to do the same when time allows.
For many years I have thought of Darwin as a place “in the far flung outposts of the British Empire”; and indeed it is a long drive to experience the northern part of Australia’s civilisation. But I found a very well organised city with good roads and many new buildings and shopping centres. Cyclone Tracey did the north a favour in many respects. Sad to hear the stories of the “wind that blew the town away”.
The other major catastrophe for Darwin was the Japanese bombings during the 2nd world war. The experience of the event is depicted in movie form and virtual reality of the attack on the harbour. This is at the waterfront of the harbour and is included with the Flying Doctor museum and display.
Kaboom James and Di
We stayed out of town for 7 weeks. The little Suzuki came in handy for when we wanted to see the area around Darwin and to do shopping etc. A good buy indeed. Hitching it on the back of the motorhome eventually became a breeze.
Sited in the bush.
Darwin was sunny every day; 32 degrees was mostly comfortable. No clouds for 11 weeks straight. We saw a couple of the famous Darwin sunsets: one at Mindil Market and the other at Cullen Bay.
It’s hard to find accepted take off points for the drone in the territory and I don’t want to offend the powers that control who can or who can’t. I only used the drone twice in 7 weeks.
The swimming holes at Berry Springs are a refreshing spot to visit on a hot humid day. We took a couple of visits there; one with Diane and James. The springs at Litchfield National Park were also fine. I had a bit of a panic attack (the accident I had does that at the wrong time) there on our first visit and wasn’t able to join Lyn in the water.
Wangi Falls
There are some good restaurants in Darwin. Our favourite one became “The cool spot” in Fannie Bay. They make the best rocky road dessert you could imagine. Here’s the three that we each downed while in the town; on different days, of course. The one in the round cup was at a market one night. They poured a liquefied ice cream mix onto a freezing cold stove top and literally scraped it off into ice cream rolls. Delicious too, of course.
Who can better this Rocky Road dessert?
By staying at a campground for 2 months, you can’t help but get to know other campers who have ventured to Darwin to get away from winter too. Almost the whole guest list turned up for what followed the daily 4pm happy hour, a game of darts. Two teams of 15 to 30 members each brought “soul” to what could be a dull two months. The fortnightly “dress up to a theme share dinner” brought a few laughs too. A number of us are still in contact to be updated with the darts score.
Lyn in “neon” lightsFritz in camouflage
Our turn to head south came too quickly as the warm sunny weather became the normal, more enjoyable lifestyle than being in winter clothing, even inside, that awaited us on our return. We would have stayed longer if our trip to Croatia wasn’t just four weeks away.
We spent a day cleaning the inside of the motor home before heading for the Stuart Highway that was to take us south via Alice Springs, and Port Augusta. We decided to take a different route to home via Mildura and then south to the Yarra Valley via Bendigo and Seymour.
There are many places on the Stuart Highway where travellers can “free camp”. We took the opportunity twice before arriving at Alice Springs. Just north of Alice are the Devils Marbles. We arrived to a full camping area so we moved on 80 Km further along the highway.
The Devils marbles
In Alice Springs, we met up with Glenn and Kyung who purchased their Paradise Motorhome 6 months after us but we have met up a few times in Melbourne. They left Melbourne after eventually selling their business and getting on the road to do a lap; they are in the 16th month of exploring and came up to Alice Springs following some time on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. We camped in a campground out of Alice Springs where it is safer for tourists. We managed to time our visit with the arrival of the northbound Ghan on a Thursday.
Here’s comes the Ghan with the wrong engines today. Glenn and KyungRock Wallabies were active around our site near Alice Springs
There are a few really well cared for tourist spots near The Alice; Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm. Take a look.
Simpsons GapStandley Chasm
The highway south of Alice Springs also has some free camps and we traveled with Glenn and Kyung stopping at the SA/NT border, train spotters camp, and Lake Hart near Woomera. There were 5 trains that went past our camping spot at Lake Hart and none at Train Spotters.
SA/NT border free camp The soccer was on. At Train SpottersNear Coober Pedy
Port August became the town of farewell as we said good bye to Glenn and Kyung, and headed to Berri for the night beside the Murray River. As we were walking around the free camping area deciding where to set up for the night, a lady in a campervan drove over to us and asked if she could stay close to us for the night as security for her. This was the first time she had free camped since her husband had passed twelve months ago; she even called it her “virgin” trip. Of course we were happy to help and had a nice happy hour together going over places we both had been to. That’s the way grey nomads live most of the time – helping others who lack the experience.
Free camp at Martins Bend Reserve
When you get close to home after a long journey, you start to “hot foot” and get home sooner. After leaving the Murray, we took a short break in Mildura and thence to Wedderburn. This was to be the last night of this trip to Darwin for 2023. We found a free camp just near to the town and settled down to watch tv. The morning would see us arrive home soon after mid day to reorganize the house after the last of the renovations had been completed the week after our departure 15 weeks earlier.
Crossing the Murray River near Mildura. The last free camping spot at WedderburnOh! There’s home.
It is just a short jaunt down the Barkly Highway to the place where most people stop to take that sort after photo “I crossed into the Northern Territory”. We became part of that group too. There was no line of demarcation; just a simple sign with the NT logo and the words “Welcome to the Northern Territory”. The stickers that previous photo chasers have also included in their photos, are a bonus.
As we are away from the bouncy Queensland roads now, we can motor along without all the crockery and saucepans doing a dance while we travel. Yes, more open space with no trees above grass height still. I couldn’t work out how the demarkation between the two states were made decades ago; no sign of a river or border police until we further down the highway a bit when up popped a couple of border police at a roadhouse; we kept low because we haven’t obtained entry visas to the Northern Territory for our holiday.
At the Barkly Homestead, we topped up with fuel to get us to three-ways where highways meet heading north, south and east. This homestead has had a bad run this last summer when a fire gutted it and the floods swamped it. The rebuilding job is looking good with the best facilities and souvenirs we’ve seen this trip. Worth a visit when you get around to it.
We came across a rest stop that looked like it had grass around. After venturing in towards a large water mass, we found a spot to free camp for the night. Frewena Rest area proved to be satisfactory and, unbeknown to us, the guy next to us is an ex Army signals specialist and had a Starlink attached to his caravan. He knew “everything” about it and we’ve been convinced to purchase the hardware. Apparently, a new aerial is now being shipped designed to sit on top of caravans and motorhomes. Once fitted, Lyn should have almost perfect internet to do her travel agency work anywhere we are, even while moving. Back to the location; the drone had a workout again.
At three ways, we topped up with the dearest fuel so far on this trip. And, and we had reception for a half hour to receive emails and travel requests to be sorted at the next roadhouse that has internet reception. The pub in the roadhouse at Elliott had a wide range of hats “nailed” to the ceiling as a sound acoustics shield (perhaps). It was set up ready for the next band to rattle the walls. Rick Ferret, now there’s a great place for a gig on the road.
The experience of staying at Banka Banka Tourist Camp is worth it, just to see how these places work. Tourists only drop in for a night’s stay and then off in the morning heading either north to Darwin or south towards Tennant Creek. We met up with a couple we had met at our nieces wedding about 25 years ago. (We must look pretty young – they recognised us.) Once the caravans have vacated their sites, the owners turn on the water sprinklers to try and get the grass soft and “like home” before the next occupants arrive within a few hours. We had a hold up in the morning trying to get the Suzuki transmission set properly for free wheeling behind the motor home. Eventually set off north again.
The next night, we thought of staying at a WW2 airstrip free camp. As we turned into a red dusty driveway, we saw a heavy looking gate ahead, and decided to walk to the gate to check it out. “No, we won’t stay there.” Our decision made, but we had to reverse out the motor home with car in tow. When you reverse, the wheels of the Suzuki turn suddenly and you have to drive forward to correct the steering and then try reversing again. (Yes, we thought of the idea of having Lyn hop in the Suzuki and steer – someone had to guide me back onto the highway). Finally, we were on our way again with the sun starting to set. We made it to another free highway spot at Warlock Rest area some 40km south of Mataranka. The noise of road trains all through the night interrupted our sleep regularly.
On just another 70 km once we woke, to Bitter Springs. Originally, the plan was for two nights but our stay has been extended to four nights. Close by the caravan park are some hot springs which no one seems to know where they start and to where the water ends up. However, tourists passing through the town often use the springs for a “freshen up” mid-journey. Things can get busy with this popular spot.
Our stay was a great rest and rejuvenating time. Amazingly, after the first swim in the springs, my balance problem has been helped tremendously. The walking poles still come out at night but I feel more confident in the daytime without them. We made the one kilometre trek 8 times with three of them around 8am in the morning. You MUST stay if ever you travel through the area.
As we were setting up on our arrival, a couple were walking past our site. The woman called out “Lyn Mitchell”. After a “who’s this” look from Lyn, she realised it was Carolyn from her boarding school days – another proof moment that we haven’t aged, too much. Together with husband Peter, they were doing the lap sort of, well across to Perth, up to Darwin and down the center and home to the Lake Macquarie region. They left the day after as the 1st Sate of Origin game, had to be seen on the big screen at the campground before their departure.
Anyone else know this escaped student from Avondale?
Not long after Carolyn and Peter departed, Sue and John arrived. We hadn’t seen them for 30 years since they were in Warburton. You just can’t keep anything silent in the NT outback and we still look trim, taut and terrific.
Our site at Bitter Springs is a stopover point for a chat with those heading to the amenities block. Another good office to be in.
It’s not a long way on to Katherine; just an easy hour and a bit. The civilisation turned us off intersection lights and “watch out for other drivers coming from the left and right” rules. It seemed the woollies supermarket knows how to charge for added transportation costs with commodity prices reaching a maximum. The biggest shop we’ve had for a long time.
To further test the new lithium battery, we chose to be safe at a GDay caravan park but not use their power or water. The battery went down to 62% and has come back to 94% while heading north to Darwin.
The tourist information office in Katherine convinced us to do a 2 hour cruise in the Katherine Gorge at 9:00am in the morning. We must have some “drawing power” from the heavens as blue skies and sunshine turned up for the length of the journey. The guide and pilot of the flat bottomed boat, did a great job, without any notes, quoting millions of years at every moment he thought we needed convincing of the span of time. It seemed he was around the place back then. The rock painters had a great time too, mixing clay and stone and excretions from leaves to create interesting wall story paintings of yesteryear.
The highway north from Katherine was showing us more what civilization provides in the Territory; with small portions having divided carriage ways. We have arrived at our site which we will use as a base to visit touristy regions and souvenir shops with a strong local flavour during the next month or two. Stay tuned for more “boring” blogs from me. Oh yes, there have been a few comments that basically say that the last blog was a “great read”. I’m not sure who the translator was but thanks anyway.
Since our September 2022 return to base in the Yarra Valley of Victoria, a lot of maintenance and renovations of our home have kept us busy. We decided to update the inside of the family home of 33 years. Every room has a new coat of paint to last another 30 years. Before then, “the box” will have arrived and taken us to our “final resting place”.
The kitchen and bathrooms have been stripped back to empty space, and replaced with all new modern fittings and cabinetry. It’s like a new home. Relearning where things are and where to find them has been an education.
When we left for this trip at the end of April, furniture and clothes were left stacked in piles in their wrong rooms to allow Gary Sprinkler room to complete the wall paint. Let me tell you who Gary “Sprinkler” is. When we re-turfed the lawn in 2021, Gary’s wife offered her husband to install an automatic irrigation system to allow us to water the garden and lawns automatically if it had not rained. We had trouble remembering his name so called him Gary Sprinkler. His name comes up on our phone as “Gary Sprinkler calling”.
Our departure for 2023 came along the day after we originally planned and that was fine; it just meant that we would miss out on a couple of nights stay at Crescent Head near Kempsey NSW. After the winding road towards Benalla, the Hume is a comfort to travel along. At Jugiong is a donation camp just off the highway. We arrived in time to have soup with Chris and Marilyn who had been camped there for a few weeks – I think.
It was at Jugion that we realized that it was time to upgrade to lithium batteries. Our gel batteries were purchased last year and we thought they had failed us. We had to start the motor home motor to put some charge in the house batteries to bring the Slideout in before we could travel further. So an appointment was made with trusty James to have that done two weeks later on the Gold Coast.
Most years, we attend a Grey Nomads Convention at Stuart’s Point. This lasts ten nights and has about 450 attendees; many of them are friends from way back and from various work places over the years. Always a good time bringing back memories. Lyn had been asked to speak at one meeting about her favourite destinations around the world.
After Stuart’s Point, we headed through Coffs Harbour and to Grafton where our daughter lives. They have recently purchased a hybrid caravan and we were able to spend a weekend at a hidden camp called Secret Lake Retreat. All sites are unpowered so our batteries were really “tested”. We had to use the generator during part of the nights to keep the fridge doing it’s job with no food spoiled.
On up towards the Gold Coast where we stayed at Kirra Beach. For Mother’s Day dinner, we enjoyed a Thai meal near the beach. Meeting up with old friends is always good and a couple from Broadbeach managed to be allowed out on parole. Sorry Max and Jenelle. A little after they left for home, it rained, and rained, and rained. In 12 hours, we had 120mm. Packing up to travel further north while it’s raining is no joy at all.
First stop was to get the replacement lithium battery. It was found that the real problem was that the DC2DC charger had ‘retired’ without an approved request. The charger converts solar power into 12v to store appropriately in the battery. Now we are able to “free camp” without running out of power during the night.
From the Gold Coast, we made our way up towards and past Toowoomba and through Dalby to Chinchilla. The country camping ground was a good clean, no rush, camp ground, to do some washing and get to know a few fellow travelers.
On our way to Morven, we stopped at the Bakearoma at Roma. Their beesting is even better than the ones from Beechworth Bakery on a good day; they had drizzled toffee over the top – mmmmm. Marven accommodation was at a donation park at the sports ground; the lithium batteries doing well overnight; a sign of good things for the future.
If you want a bouncy ride, take the road north to Longreach. You’ll have the best milk shake if you had milk for breakfast. The scenery? Barren with hardly any above grass vegetation. The little towns along the way came up each 80km with Tambo the cutest. Barcaldine; fuel up and turn left to Longreach for another 100km.
Longreach caravan park is very large with extensive development of even more sites. It was quite noticeable that campers only stay here three nights to enable visits to both the Qantas Museum and the Stockman’s Hall of fame. We have rarely flown first class but we did here. The first class tickets gave us a tour of 3 early aircraft Qantas used as well as a tour through the 747-200 City of Bunbury. Our first class choice enabled us to a more detailed tour of the 747 with an opportunity to sit in the pilots seat as well as a walk out onto the wing; safety harnesses and closed footwear were a necessity.
If there’s one criticism of the stockman’s hall of fame, it would be, the show needs to become a show, that incorporates a story involving more people and intrigue; one stockman on few different horses is a bit lacking. All is good in the static museum with a “tour in your own time” headset with voice and ditties along the way.
We would return to what seemed a busy and progressive business center. Longreach is a “must stay for a few nights” kind of town.
The distances are vast out here. You pass many entrances to farms but strain to see the farm buildings in the distance; many unable to be seen. Can you imagine the request, “can you go out and get the mail”, and the kid takes a 2 hour trip to the mail box on the highway.
The rest stop turned out to be a great location to put the drone up for a scenic flight. Wow! The color was so much “Australian outback tonings”, I had trouble in my mind to switch to “breakfast is ready” mode. I’m happy that the drone gives such a different approach to landscape movies and photos.
Through Winton, the road is straight for kilometers with little towns popping up at around each 80 to 120 kilometers. We came to a country pub called The Blue Heeler at Kynuna and decided to enjoy a lemon squash while watching the road trains roar past. Behind the pub were 20 or so sites for travelers at $15 a night. We stayed the night and managed to get going by 8:30 for a bit more driving before having breakfast at a rest stop – I said rest stop, not restaurant!
Further up the highway, and the vastness of this typical outback vista, we came across another outback pub. We were too early for opening time but it brought back the vivid memories of that iconic Australian movie “Crocodile Dundee”; the old car from the movie sits outside waiting for photographers to enjoy with the pub in the background. Just a tiny town with a police station that had 7 satellite dishes on the roof – I kid you not.
Our destination for today was Mt Isa. After filling the fuel tank with more diesel at Cloncurry, and driving towards Mt Isa, we had hoped we could tour the now closed uranium mine made famous when the Australian Government was prepared to sell the uranium to overseas energy companies but refused to build clean energy power stations in its “own backyard”. What a saving that would be now in non-renewable materials being used rather than solar panels and wind turbines!
We had an offer to stay at a property in Mt Isa for the weekend but when we drove past, there wasn’t enough room to fit our vehicles, so we drove further west to Camooweal, just 12 km from the Northern Territory border, to a billabong that proved very popular with like-minded Grey Nomads.
How remiss of me to miss many weeks of posting updates to our Warmer Winter trip. Here we are with a summary of the complete 8795 km and six and half months of traveling. With over 45 stops to set up and “break down” a day or two later, we are back to more permanent rain and lots of colder weather. Enjoy the post.
We left Woori Yallock 30th of April and after Grey Nomads Camp and a week with Sharlee in Grafton, we made an easy crossing into Queen Anna’s state of sunshine and zero Covid-19. Perhaps there’s some correlation there! Sunshine and zero Covid. I’m sure Anna doesn’t want that big of an influx of southerners to her state of “Queenslanders”.
We slowly moved up the coast after a service to the motor home on the Gold Coast, stopping at Bribie Island, Harvey Bay, the Whitesunday Islands and on up to Port Douglas where we did a U-turn and came back via the Atherton Tablelands. One town we passed through was where Lyn’s Dad first attended school, Tarsali. It was so small, and it was pouring with rain such that the cameras didn’t get a look.
Lyn’s younger sister and husband are housesitting in the beautiful coastal village of Cardwell while Peter drives trucks for the sugar cane harvest. We spent 3 weeks in the area notching up a few interesting locations while there. We enjoyed the mission beach area and Wallaman Falls.
Out west of Townsville, we were invited to stay at a camel farm and thought $20 per night for pensioners was a great tariff for two weeks. It was like an oasis in the middle of the Australian bush. The camels are bred from, and used, to improve the camel herds in the Middle East.
When we stock up the pantry and fridge of the motor home, we can get through two weeks, which gets us to the next pension payment. It’s surreal to be paid a regular pay after over 30 years of self employment.
We’ve met some interesting people while in Queensland, mainly from Victoria who escaped the lockdowns and curfews like we have managed. Some have made a rapid dash through NSW. Some have gone the long way round across to the NT, down to SA and into Victoria. Others, like us, have been patient and moved south when the annual electrical and hail storms started coming through from the west each day.
We crossed into NSW last Wednesday from the Kooralbyn valley. Traffic was sparse in the area and there were no physical checks other than the obligatory “smile at the camera” number plate photo. After a few days with Sharlee and Paul, we have started the 4 or 5 days of travel to the Victorian border. On checking the Victorian border crossing rules and application for permits, I think we’ll leave that until 30 minutes from the Murray in case the rules change a further time. (Has anyone been counting?)
As I write, Lyn is driving from last night’s stop at Uralla Golf Club to Gunnedah, and I’ll drive on to Dubbo. If we arrive by mid afternoon, we may continue for another hour or two.
It’s now a day later and we have enjoyed showing off our new satellite dish – our neighbours wonder how we are going to get in the driveway, but we’ll do our best.
We’ve made it to Albury tonight (Wednesday) and have had to change our plans of going to Geelong on the way home. Three of the grandkids have had to isolate as there’s been a few positive Covid cases at their school. That means we have to wait for the all clear.
We’ve been approved to return to Victoria as it appears the state needs us for some reason or another – maybe the population has decreased in the last six months and federal funding was on the decline.
Sorry, but your thoughts of hoping we would not return have been dashed. We will be home tomorrow- Thursday.
Ready to mow and trim
Strange, I found I hadn’t posted this prepared ramble I wrote 10 or so days ago. Since arriving home we have only seen the sun for short bursts which has enabled the garden to receive some attention.
No news is good news! That describes our life since we arrived in Cardwell back a few weeks now. We have done what we have planned without any interference from Mr Covid; so far.
Our move to Mission Beach was a good move. Our campground at Wongaling was near to a supermarket and only a kilometre to the long, wide, hard sandy beach. There was a 4 km ride to the main Mission Beach. That beach is similar but has more tourists there to fill the Cafés, bars and clothes shops, if they’re not on the beach sun baking. We had a couple of nice snack meals there before returning to our motor home. We met up with Chris and Marilyn who have been on the road for nine years now; somehow, we find them on each of our trips to warmer weather.
Our itinerary still had a few chosen spots to get to before U-turning south to the southern spring. Next stop was Cairns for 4 nights. The bikes came in handy to get around a few of the nice areas of the town. The esplanade is a good place to both ride and wander. Cairns council have done a good job of developing this area and keeping it green and clean. The large pool just on the edge of the esplanade was well patronised with many doing a “double take” to watch the Tokyo Games shown on large screens while swimming.
Cane fields south of Cairns
Our journey along the coast towards Port Douglas became a highlight of our holiday so far, when we were treated to a fabulous day to view the coastline from Rex’s Lookout. The use of the drone came in handy for some great video of the coastline. It’s a “must-see” if ever you make your way north.
We experienced Port Douglas with virtually no tourists; there were no “holdups” in any shops, food or clothing. Our campground was a kilometre away from the main drag and the beach was about a kilometre away too. We found a lot of southerners were “two home” people (one down south and a unit in Port Douglas). Caravaners were the same – and why wouldn’t you? At this time of year, perfect temperature each day and mostly sunshine to match. All healthy people with so much of that miracle vitamin that comes to us all freely from the “big light in the sky”.
We had lunch with one of Lyn’s clients from the travel agency in Yarra Junction, now living mainly at Palm Cove, and on another day, a lunch at the surf club with a Port Douglas Paradise Motorhome owner who we had chatted to often, but had never met in person. Thank you Judy and Graeme.
Due to a road accident on the Bruce Highway, our journey heading south included a 5km detour. The air ambulance circled over us and landed just up the road in front of us before we were asked to u-turn to the detour. The cane farm on both sides of the highway had been recently prepared for new cane planting and the helicopter did a good job of stirring up the dust while landing. The enormous ball of dust enveloped us and we couldn’t see the vehicle in front for a short time. Interesting.
Now we’ve spent a week in the Atherton Tablelands just enjoying the no rush quietness and the walks in the local area. I have my annual eye/vision check appointment to keep my drivers licence on Tuesday so will head to Innisfail on Monday to have that happen.
Wongaling Beach is part of a “string” of beaches on the Queensland Coast south of Cairns. Just click on the movie icon and allow the 3 minute video to download and start automatically.
great life - retired got nothing on 