Lennox Head to Cairns. 1880kms.
April 24th, it was a Monday in 2023. We dropped off “Bond”, a 1953 Land Rover Nick had restored from scratch, at Andrew’s big garage in Ballina. All the chores were completed.
By 11.00 we were waving goodbye to Sam, Noah & little Isla, our house minders for the next 12 months, as we hauled all our travelling possessions including 2 kayaks and 2 bikes off the nature strip and on our way.
Buderim on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, was the first stop, with our long time friends John and Annie. They had demolished the original house we saw in 2020 and were now the proud owners of a new house, fitting in perfectly with the neighbourhood’s other beautiful homes. AFL footy took up an afternoon and a night, you can’t take the footy out of a bunch of Melburnians.
A tour of the nearby hills, visiting Nambour, the ginger factory, and the Nuthouse occupied day 3. Dinner at a lovely street food style restaurant in Mooloolooba rounded out our time in Buderim. Many laughs, chats, car repairs, and delicious meals completed a terrific stay.
But it was time to get on the road and be the grey nomads we were aspiring to be…well, I’m not grey but I certainly feel like a nomad now, being homeless except for Swifty, our tiny pop-up camper, who serves us so well through the all weathers and terrains we have to face.
Firstly a few nights at Burrum Coast National Park, situated on Hervey Bay about an hour south of Bundaberg. On a fairly short, very sandy approach road to the campsites we got horribly bogged up to the axles. We should have deflated the tyres earlier as we knew sand was expected. Tyres down, off we set only to become even more bogged just 100 meters further down the sandy track. So deflated the tyres even more…12psi on Swifty, 15psi on the car all round, plus much digging and the trusty orange max trax under the back wheels and made another attempt. Gained 10 meters this time. More digging, more revs and finally we hit solid ground and got out…but where were the maxs’? Buried deep. That delay took more than an hour, but was rewarded with a stunning campsite right on the water’s edge. Little did we realise the loud crashing sound waves make on the shore so close to us. During the night the 2.3m tide sounded like it was under the van. Fortunately the gale winds had gone, but I was adamant I couldn’t do a second and third night with such a noise.
The next morning was glorious, sea calm, tide out…perfect, but we decided to move on, get a good night’s sleep. The car and Swifty performed exceptionally coming out of the sandy campsite, much to the surprise of both of us.
Next was Elliott Heads, a small seaside town 15kms from Bundaberg. Surrounded by campers in the park, we enjoyed the showers to get our dark grey sandy feet clean again. And there is just the faint murmur of the sea in the distance. I could live with that.
We stayed in Elliott Heads for 5 days and thoroughly enjoyed it. Cycled around the streets looking for the centre of town, which didn’t exist. There’s a bowlo and a general store. Near the campground was Driftwood Cafe which served fish & chips and coffee, and had multiple empty shelves which could have supplied campers with basic needs. They had one bottle of milk and 3 boxes of Shapes along with the newspapers. A big opportunity wasted there.
Had a beautiful morning in the kayaks on Elliott river. The massive tides just about grounded my boat. I struck a couple of sandbanks with my peddles, which weren’t there when we set off, as I ventured back to the launching ramp.
On day 4 our friends Marilyn and Andrew arrived. We visited the Bundy Rum factory with them and did an excellent tour. The boys know the recipe to make Dark & Stormy now, and have enough bottles of rum to last quite a long time. Later we headed straight to the Botanic Gardens for lunch and to see Bert Hinkler’s house and museum with his 1920’s Avro Avian plane. It was well worth the visit.
You will notice a rainbow flag appears now and then in photos. It was a parting gift from Neil & Erica Holland. We had used it years ago when crossing the Simpson Desert. It comes out at random times for no apparent reason, although sometimes it is used in unimaginable ways. Of course it’s called Priscilla.
But it was time to move on, so next morning, after the usual beach walk starter followed by breakfast, we dismantled the camp and headed north. We girls had made the observation that at every toilet stop or camp site, the girls were always at the far end. The boys laughed at us disbelieving our theory. So now there is a running tab. Girls theory has proven true so far. Just another example of male dominance!
We didn’t realise what a long day we had ahead. We headed out of Bundaberg at a reasonable time but didn’t reach Yeppoon until 5.00pm. We did a detour via Agnes Waters and 1770, both very interesting and a lovely lunch stop at 1770, but by 1.30pm we still had 3 1/2 hours to get to Yeppoon. The countryside was dry, scrubby, a bit uninteresting. On the way I realised I’d lost my Mastercard – my own silly fault. Fell out of my phone case while I was taking a photo. Inconvenient but not too much of a concern. Then, for no apparent reason, my carseat started to sink. Nick’s did the same years ago somewhere remote near Uluru. Oh well, it’s not the end of the earth, I can still see out of the window…
Crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.
Battled through peak hour at Rockhampton, pulled into Beachside Caravan Park in Yeppoon at a few minutes to 5, just as they were shutting. We were all stuffed.
A good sleep later, we decided to stay an extra day in Yeppoon. Met up with my niece for coffee at the Marina. So lovely to chat with a local & Bree showed us some pretty amazing very expensive cruisers belonging to her friends, moored in the harbour. Later, we took ourselves on a sightseeing drive, saw the Singing Ship, and great views across to Great Keppell Island. The history of Cook’s sailing through the waters of these islands is very well documented, even though our senior brains couldn’t retain much of the details.
Marilyn and I decided we would swim in the Yeppoon Lagoon, a man-made pool, free to anyone, built by the local council. Probably because the sea was a bit brown and crocs could be lurking. But the swim was refreshing albeit very cold.
Onwards northward. After a delightful morning tea at Mackay Botanic Gardens cafe we headed north through fairly dry mundane country. Scrubby bush, paper bark trees, small settlements with a rundown pub, derelict cars and not much more was typical of the scenery. We chose tonight’s destination on a whim, and it proved to be a winner. Cape Palmerston Tourist Park was located on a dusty back road in an isolated part of the Capricornia coast. Crocodile country. Arriving at a basic reception/supplies area, adorned with photos of mostly men holding big fish or crabs, a freezer of frozen white sliced bread, multiple travel brochures spread across the tables and the usual collection of odd books people had donated to future customers, the weather-worn lady welcomed us into her cool office. The drone views of the park looked a bit ordinary, so we had low expectations of this campground. We wanted unpowered, so were sent down to a large grassy area that resembled a botanic garden’s lawn area more than a camp site. Enormous eucalypts hosted a good range of birds, kangaroos grazed nearby, the bush turkey’s annoyed us as is their way, but it was peaceful. The beach was walking distance and the bathroom facilities were excellent. With an almost full moon, it was perfect, except for the dreaded midges, which had plagued us most of the trip north.
We thought a drop into Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour should be part of our itinerary. We chose to camp at Proserpine, 20 minutes west of Airlie, in a rather downmarket caravan park. Being the King’s Coronation night, we thought dinner at the Prince of Wales pub was a good choice, and quiche was on the menu. Alas, the staff there had made no connection to the significance of the name of their pub and were vaguely disinterested in our suggestion that the quiche could be called Coronation quiche. So we all settled for Red Emperor and chips…delicious.
Back at camp we managed to hook up the iPad to the ABC iview telecast. Sat under the stars, balmy night, full moon, listening to the glorious choral music and watching the pageantry that can only ever be seen in the UK, as King Charles 111 & Camilla became King and Queen.
Ever onwards, next day we headed a short distance north to a remote fishing village called Groper Creek. Crocodile country now. The scenery has become far more interesting with the dark green sugar ready for harvesting and the mountain ranges jutting up in the distance. Not many camper vans on the journey so far, and getting a site each night has been easy. Groper Creek mosquitoes killed us, biting our legs arms and faces, adding to the welts we already had from midges. Really, you need a tinny and a rod to blend in at Groper Creek, and we had neither. We heard a large croc had been caught just near where we camped…urgh!
I will stop now, that’s plenty for one blog. We’ve only been away for two and a half weeks. It feels like we’ve driven long distances, probably missing lots of sights we shouldn’t, but at least we’ve reached FNQ and escaped the chilly blast our NSW & Vic families are experiencing. Here at Mission Beach we feel the crowds haven’t arrived yet. There isn’t a continuous stream of vans on the highway. The locals here say June will be busy.
Next blog will include a trip to Magnetic Island…..and we’ll also be venturing up the Cape to the tip. Some photos are Andrew’s, thanks mate.
Love to get your feedback. Hope you’ve enjoyed this blog.
Jenny & Nick, Marilyn & Andrew. May 11th 2023
COME AWAY WITH ME 