Townsville

We camped at the Ross Dam in Townsville for 5 days to attend the Dam Fine Rally.  There were about 240.  motorhomes.  We ended up camped next to Christine & Max, from Mt. Dandenong Vic. who were next to Ron & Kerry from Brisbane.   Best buddies.   Ron & Kerrie are friends we met in 2011 in WA and they have also stayed with us in Melton.   Ros & Tony on our other side.    We also had some of our Motorhome Chapter friends at the Rally.   It was a nice relaxed time.   The Ross River that leads to the dam is a beautiful precinct full of parks and playgrounds. The weather has been warm, sunny, with cool nights.  Perfect for travelling.    Townsville is massive.   Did not expect such a big City.   Took in Reef HQ.   A reasonably old aquarium but has the worlds largest collection of living corals which made it fascinating.  The variety and color of the fish were pretty amazing but the corals were the best. Took in the turtle hospital as well.   One turtle recovering for the last 12 months from a boat propeller strike and a tangle with a croc.  60 y.o.   weighs in 110kgs.   Needs to put on more weight before being released again.    The Strand is a waterfront street, 2.2km of palms, lawns, safe swimming beach and a waterpark for the kids.    Absolutely beautiful.  Hugely popular anytime of the day for families and just relaxing with a meal and a drink.  We took a drive up to Castle Hill where you can look down on Townsville virtually 360o .  This is a giant pink granite "mountain" in the middle of the Town.    This is apparently a good spot to watch the V8s that are racing the streets of Townsville this Friday.     The Townsville Show is also on, its school holidays,  plus the Offshore Power Boat Races were on.    Its all happening this week.   We also did a day trip over to Magnetic Island, just 8kms off shore.   23 beaches, apparently, within protected bays.   Ideal for swimming and snorkelling    You can participate in coconut bowling or watch the toad races.     We did a typical beachside market, ate some thai food on the beach and used the all day, cheap,  hop on hop off bus to get around.    You can take your car over on the ferry or hire a little topless car or motorscooter.    We werent overly impressed with this Island.    Maybe we might have felt a little different if we had been in a car and not the bus, to get to more places, but really, the bays we saw didnt look any different/better/nicer than any others we had seen before.   Food was expensive and whilst, we had planned to eat on the Island, we ended up back at the bus at 3 in the afternoon and ate lunch then.

Rock Wallabys at the dam wall by the dozens

Recovering turtle

The Whitsundays

Got picked up from our caravan park at 8am and returned at 6.45pm.   A big day out, but the best day we have had since we left home.    The small boat we went out was the right size, a good crew of 3, and really nice fellow passengers from all over the world.   One couple however were from Melbourne and would you beleive, knew Ricks sister Bernadette.  !!!!!!!!!!       We were lucky to have a perfect day weatherwise and the water was as smooth as.   Saw a manta ray and some turtles around the boat but the best bit was walking to the lookout over Whitehaven Beach.   No 7 on the Top 10 beaches of the world.    My photos do not do it justice.    The sand is so white and so fine, like talcum powder, and when you walk across it, it

squeaks.   Jaw dropping beautiful for us.    The water, however wasnt  as warm as I thought it would be, but so clear you could see the fish swimming all around you in the shallows.    Yes, I was in the water, up to my waist and I felt pretty good.    It was heaven on a beach. We had morning tea on the boat, the crew cooked a massive bbq feast on the beach for lunch and then cheese platters on the return trip.    Our picnic spot on the beach was invaded by goannas.    6-8 of them were all over the place, crawling across our feet under the picnic tables, sunbaking on the logs or being very territorial and slightly aggressive towards each other which freaked one of the girls out as they danced aggressively around her.   She dropped prawns and fruit from her plate and the goannas wolfed them down in one gulp.  Amazing.   The tour operator was constantly grabbing them by the tails, and hurling them into the scrub when they became too much, but they just kept coming back for more.  Got to see the sunset as we came back and all in all a special day.    Now for snorkelling.    Well I gave it a go.   Got in the water off the back of the boat, saw some brightly colored fish and coral thru my goggles, but I didnt succeed as I hoped.   Just couldnt get the breathing right.   I was fine in the water, which shocked me, but the whole coordination thing just didnt work for me.  Of course, Rick wouldnt get in the water and after I threatened I would get out of the water and give up if he didnt come in, he finally did so.     Didnt last long.    We opted then to get out and hop in the glass bottom pontoon instead and watch the fish swim by.     The crew fed the fish and we watched their frenzy.    Now I know what is actually involved, I am more than willing to try again next opportunity.    

We are now camped up in Townsville at the Ross Dam.    Here at a Motorhome Rally for the next 5 days.   Catching up with old friends and members of our motorhome chapter. Lovely to see some familiar happy faces once again. Will use this as a base to look around.  

Airlie Beach

Now Camped up at a caravan park at Airlie Beach. We have a massive big spot.   Whats that strange noise?    Oh yeah we are close to the airport.  !!!!!!!!!    Still the planes stop at 5pm so happy hour will be cool.  First time in a caravan park since we hit the road, but its only money.   Got the washing done, Ricks washing the bus, Im updating the blog, charging everything that can be charged whilst on power and just chilling out in the shade.    Its very hot here today.    Tomorrow we are off on a cruise on the Whitsundays to Whitehaven Beach and snorkelling.    Should be great for someone like me who cant swim and is scared of the water.   No doubt I will be wearing a rubber ducky life ring.    I will keep you posted.   xxxxxxxxx

Rocky/Yeppoon/Sarina/Mackay/Airlie Beach

We did a 100km coastal tour route that took us to Yeppoon and the Great Keppel Marina.   You know you are in Qld when the warning signs tell you not to get into the water at the Marina because of a Croc and not to wander thru the gardens cos of a venomous snake.     The only wildlife we are seeing is either dead or nasty little bitey things coming out in the afternoon.    The drive was nice but nothing special.   We then headed to Sarina so that Ros and Tony could see their grandkids.   We left them behind.  Did a bit of a sightsee and then headed off to Mackay. Sarina has a huge coal loading port and we counted 23 ships sitting out in the harbor waiting to be bought in for loading.  We had blown an inside bus tyre before Sarina and needed to be close to a tyre service first thing Monday morning.    Mackay was our best bet.    Got one, pretty much ripped off, but we had no choice.    Had a nice rugged campspot out by a weir.   NO free camping in Mackay but we got the inside word on this one.

A local visited us at our campspot.   He is a hot rodder, motorhomer and earthmover.   !!!!!!!!!!

The weir

The view from our campspot.   There is nothing to see for 100s of kilometres except sugar cane farms no matter where you drive.   It is pretty, rich green fields.

Sugar cane being cut, harvested and loaded

Great Keppell Marina

The singing ship, a monument to Captain Cook

Calliope River

Before we arrived at Gladstone, I should have mentioned that we stayed on the banks of the Calliope River.   Beside an historic village.  Two campsites are available here.  The very rugged and sandy river banks  on one side, lush green grass, trees and toilets on the other.   Of course, our GPS couldnt find its way to the lush green grass side, but ended up on the rugged side.  Managed to get a great spot on the riverbank, we werent unhappy. We had a great campfire happy hour with caravanners from Pakenham in Victoria.   Some motorhomers that we have been  camping up with along the way, came by as well. Probably around 50 vehicles here.   It was game 2 of State of Origin and it was funny to watch those from NSW and Qld moving their vehicles from spot to spot, antennas up,  all trying for TV reception.!!!! for the big game. Lots of sad Queenslanders here now.   All of the campspots are extremely busy now.   Chockers by late afternoon.  Every type of RV pulls up. Caravan parks are pretty much booked out as well all along the coast.   Keep bumping into the same people as we all seem to be headed in the same direction.   We havent needed a caravan park yet but we do keep an eye out for Showgrounds where you can stay cheaply with power and water if needed.

  Some aboriginal boys who were fishing from the causeway on the Calliope,  

told us it was freshwater on one side of the causeway and there were freshwater crocs there.   The other side of the causeway is saltwater and you could smell the saltiness in the air.    Big signs up warning of marine stingers and not to enter the river.   Lots of people fishing, but noone had any luck.     We have been blessed with great weather, the sun is very hot when out, but comfortable days, cooler nights.    Hard to take.

Yep, if doesnt involve hot rods, Rick gets bored.   Fell asleep waiting for me to do my shopping.

Rockhampton cont

This is a lovely town.     Parked up and visited the Botanic Gardens where, within the gardens is a free zoo.   Very lush and tropical and an enjoyable visit. Rainforest cool.   From there we headed into the City and took in the amazing old buildings along the rivers edge.   What a rich heritage this has.  So many buildings to take photos of, I was in love.    We also drove up to Mt. Archer National Park for a picnic and to take in the views over Rocky.      An enjoyable town to visit.

Rick and Mate

Memorial Garden to the Forces

Hanging for our picnic lunch on the nearby tap.

Rockhampton

This pub was our next campspot.   Large grass area behind the old pub. Great stopover, beaut park across the road, took advantage and bbqd dinner.   Max the resident Staffy took all of our love and attention.    He just hangs in the bar wanting pats.   Once you do, you are sucked in.!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gladstone

Gladstone is a very industrial city.   Quite ugly.   The road trip between our last stop and this one was very sparse.   Not a lot of vegetation, we had lost the rich lush green of the past few days.

Looking across the loading terminals.   The terminal handles 83,000,000 tonnes of cargo, to the marina

Queensland Alumina   One of the worlds largest refineries

Just dead vegetation and boring landscapes

Did a big tour around in the car to various lookouts etc. but wasnt impressed enough to linger.   Onwards we go

Hervey Bay

We stayed out at the Torbanlea Racecourse, 25kms out between Maryborough  and Hervey Bay and drove into Hervey Bay to catch up with fellow motorhomers Robin & Graeme.    We met these two lovely people when we were in Tassie in 2010 and have  stayed in touch ever since.     They live in Palm Lakes Resort, an over 55 village, which is by far, the most beautiful that Rick and I have ever visited.    Amazing amenities and Robin & Graemes home is exceptional.   Backing onto a lake, beaut outdoor areas, gardens that slope down to the waters edge where ducks, turtles and the occasional snake come to visit.    Had a great morning tea and lunch and we were shown all around Hervey Bay.      Amazingly big.   Had thought it was more of a seaside village than a major town.    Thoroughly enjoyed the company and the tour.    Thanks guys.

Taken at our Ghostly Ball in Maryborough in 2013.    Couldnt find another to post.  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gympie

 We had a great campspot outside of  Gympie beside the Matilda Roadhouse.  Quiet and out of the way,  2 lovely ponds full of ducks, heaps of vans pulled in.  Sunset was sensational, but I didnt get down to the lake to photo it.  The roadhouse has a  separate 24 hr. food court, a laundromat, toilets, showers, info centre, a newsagents,a grocery store an ice creamery and of course cheap fuel.   We saw a bit of Gympie, beautiful parks, lakes and fountains, lots of old historic buildings but we were mostly concerned with the ongoing battery issues to do the touristy thing.   Today, Monday we got up early headed into town, found a specialist and after two hours on the job, our problems are now solved.  No major drama just a charging problem.    The guy charged us $50 for his work, which was fantastic.   Pictured are an old hotel and the railway station.   We took these as we did a trial to locate the battery shop on Sunday afternoon.   Thank god we did, two doors from our destination we came across a very old low rail bridge.   We would never have gotten under it and Monday morning peak hour traffic chao swould have resulted, as we would have had to take the car off its tow, then reverse both car and bus out whilst holding up a lot of cars and trucks.      Bus fixed by 10.30,  breakfast by the lake, grocery shopping, and we headed out of town.    Next stop Torbanlea Racecourse for a couple of days. Its halfway between Maryborough and Hervey Bay where we are meeting up with good friends Robin and Graeme who live at Hervey Bay.     They visited us in Melb. earlier this yea

Fraser Island

We asked so many people about doing our own thing and driving over and onto the sands of  Fraser Island, but in the end, mostly due to lack of confidence, and fear of getting bogged or worse, we took a guided tour.    We figured that if we loved Fraser Island and saw how experienced 4WDs drove around it, we may come back and do another day on our own.   Because you have to be guided by the low tides to get beach access, it meant we had to be up at 4 am, out the door by 5 and at our pick up by 6am.   We only just made it as the roads were shrouded with fog and it made it slow going.    Our tour guide was Greg, a veteran of 20 years and he was great.    We had 16 on board our vehicle.     It was a great day but a long one.  It was 400km of touring, of which 180kms were on the beach.   We were so glad we did it as a tour.   Saw and learnt so much more by doing it this way.   Not the least bit interested in going over again nor driving on another beach.  

Sleepyhead

Cant say that Fraser Island lived up to expectation.    I was underwhelmed by it.    Nothing like I hoped.   It is heavily vegetated, the tracks are quite rugged as they weave thru the forests.  We had morning tea on the beach, visited Lake Mackenzie for a swim, but no one did, Wangoolba Creek,  a rainforest walk, Central Station,  Eli Creek, and  the Maheno shipwreck.    A walk thru a rainforest was lovely, so was lunch.    A bbq feast with beer wine and softdrink saw us stuff ourselves.     Saw the lucky few who flew in and out in planes that landed alongside of us on the beach.   Dingos are everywhere on the Island.    Especially wherever we humans are.    You must not feed the dingos even though the temptation is there.    An 8yo boy was killed some years back by two dingos and they simply dont want the dingos interacting with us.    All along the beaches, wherever there are fishermen there are dingos, sitting and waiting in hope.    I saw a couple of signs warning that a dangerous dingo was frequenting the area.

Kandanga

We have absolutely loved getting off the Highway and travelling thru rolling hills and lush green foliage.    Its beautiful.    Arrived in a tiny place called Kandanga.   Fantastic campspot, beautifully maintained by locals.    Huge firepit, lots of seating and firewood bought in daily by the locals for us to enjoy.   All they ask is a gold coin donation.    We ended up here for 4 nights.    It was a very popular spot and we had lots of people to talk to around the fire each night.   The bowls club and pub do well out of this spot.   "Elvis" was performing at the Bowls Club but we couldnt be tempted.  We are still having problems with our batteries and 12 volt which isnt making Rick a happy boy.    Went off for a couple of drives thru the State Forests that surround this campspot.    The weather has been crazy.     Overcast and drizzly, then blue skies, sunshine, muggy, and then cool nights by the fire.   But shorts, thongs and a jacket have been the wear of the day. Morning tea by  Lake Borumba, drizzling rain and damp,  and then a picnic lunch in the sun in the forest.  Once again, I took Rick on a SHORT  walk to visit a waterfall.   It took in a creek crossing and a steady climb uphill, with " are we there yet" constantly ringing out.  Every walk we do, Rick is always looking for the escalator to get him in and out.  We were the only ones in the forest and it was quite eerie.   We visited Noosa, had fish n chips on the Esplanade, the sun was hot and the skies were blue and we felt blessed.  Very busy place, full of tourists and backpackers

Barn Find !!!!!!!!!!

Love the country pubs

Bunya Tree with aboriginal toeholds

Finding a gap to get thru

Lake Borumba in the rain