Woodgate

When we were in Emerald we went to a hairdresser and the young lady who cut my hair suggested we go to Woodgate as the beach was lovely. Woodgate is only 30kms down the coast from Bargarra but 100kms by road.
We travelled via Childers and visited the backpacker hotel where the terrible fire took place. There is now a wonderful memorial to all the backpackers on the first floor of the hotel and a gallery. Childers is a lovely town and we enjoyed morning tea before going on to Woodgate.
As you can see from the photos the beach is just perfect here and we swam and relaxed on the beach over the two full days we spent at Woodgate. We also were able to enjoy some lovely walks along the foreshore which like Bargarra is well paved and marked with the 10,000 steps. Woodgate also has a national park and there are plenty of kangaroos along the walk in the main street not in the slightest bit concerned by us going past.
This is certainly somewhere to return next year, even better than Bargarra. We seem to be finding great places even on the way home. Of course it helps that the weather has really improved too!

On to Hervey Bay where we hope the weather will be warm unlike our earlier visit.

Bargarra and News ........

Back to Bargarra Beach for three nights as we amble homeward. I needed to do some serious washing and also cleaning without the assistance of dirt returning as fast as I clean it out. We have the same site as we had on the way up but not with the excitement of thinking of the journey ahead! Our first night back at Bargara marked 100 nights on the road. We have covered over 12,000kms which is quite a distance but we have barely touched the surface and can see many trips to come.
Of course we went back to the Rum Distillery, and the Ginger non-alcoholic beverages have also been restocked. There is a great fish place here and we really enjoy fresh fish with real flavour and will have some in our freezer for the trip home. We did lots of walking as the weather is pretty good, although not up to the usual temperatures for this time of year, wish we had a dollar for every time we have been told that!
We also drove out to Mon Ripo turtle rookery and down to the port. We will come back at turtle time as it looks very interesting. There were two bus loads of school kids there so we didn’t stay long!
Now for the news of other kinds, in strict chronological order lest I be criticised for showing favour. Whilst in London, Pete and Dawn travelled to Paris and visited the Eiffel tower and you guessed, he proposed and we are delighted to say Dawn accepted! Pete was very well prepared and had a lovely (well we are told it is lovely, no photo has been forthcoming!) ring at the ready. No details are available yet beyond the engagement, but we are all thrilled and very excited about seeing them in a week or so. Just prior to leaving for England, Pete was successful in obtaining a new position at Gosford Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit so he certainly has plenty to look forward to.
Now for Kate’s news. Kate has accepted a position with Legal Aid in Shepparton as a senior solicitor. We are thrilled (again!) for her and sure she will be very happy.
It seems our family manage very well without us!

Eidsvold to Wallum Reserve

We’ve become rather taken with our camps book as you can tell and so we took a different route to Bundaberg following the stops in the book.
The country we have driven though these past couple of days has ranged from bare, scrubby ground to the beautiful ‘green drought’ we are hearing about on the radio as we drive. In fact we stopped on the side of the road after Biloela to consider our next move as a cattle producer was taking hay from one part of his property to the other side of the road and he stopped his tractor (as you do!) for a chat for fifteen minutes or so. A really friendly man who offered to swap his tractor for our van – we’ve had quite a few offers like that. The man who has the Lenards Chicken franchise in Rockhampton put the keys to the cash register in front of us and offered to swap too! Anyway, the beef farmer was saying how tough times have been for the past five years or so but that his bulls were looking pretty good and we could see how much he really enjoyed his life, drought and all.
We meandered onto Monto which has a sensational coffee and gift shop. The coffee was great and the browsing through the gifts even better! Ian gets this rather forlorn look which clearly indicates we have looked enough so we moved on, hardly damaging the budget allocation at all.
We drove on through to Eidsvold where we camped for the night at the Ceratodus Rest Area and met some other campers. Ian and Bob were in charge of setting the mood with a cosy fire whilst Karen and I enjoyed some liquid refreshment. However it was a dismal task (and fire!) due to the rain which had been fairly consistent throughout the day. The best thing about the rain was that it washed all the mud of the van from the Station which was considerable. We enjoyed their company and learnt a few new tricks from them as they are old hands at this bush camping business and very friendly. Ceratodus is a relocated train station and very interesting and well maintained.
We shopped for food in Eidsvold at a real country butcher and admired their beautifully maintained buildings, gardens and amusing sign in the main street, (apparently no vandalism here – we suspect because everyone knows everyone and would dob big time!) we drove on to Mundubbera and stopped at Binjour Range Rest Area where there was the most spectacular 180 degree view – it just took our breath away. There are no photos as we just couldn’t do it justice. All for free and you can stay there for a night! It was too early to stop for the night so onwards we went through to Ban Ban Springs for lunch where we again caught up with Bob and Karen who were also stopping for lunch. From there we went on to Wallum Reserve which is just out of Bundaberg for the night.

Kroombit Park and Lockenbar Station

We spent two nights at Kroombit Park and Lochenbar Station which is 35km east of Biloela. Kroombit was set up on Lochenbar Station because of the ongoing drought which has forced many landholders to be creative in order to provide some ongoing funds for their properties, whilst waiting for better times. There was a group of school children from Year 8 and 9 enjoying a school camp and also several bus groups of young international visitors. The camp is really well set up, much tidier and cleaner than many caravan parks we visited. On the first night Ian tried his hand at whip cracking and was very successful too. I put it down to his early practice as a parent gently disciplining his children. Yes, please also note his particularly fetching protective eye gear! This comment was greeted with much amusement by the international visitors who asked the ages of our children, I suspect to see if they survived! Later those who have no fear tried their hand at bull riding, we watched and decided not to participate, a very wise decision we think.
When we awoke on the first morning we were greeted by horses trotting past on their way to take the visitors out on a muster. Chooks wander throughout the camp in company with many peacocks. Just when we thought we had seen it all two donkeys amble past!
On our second night we enjoyed a campfire dinner of soup, damper and corned silverside. All delicious and cooked in the coals in camp ovens. The whole park looks like a stockmans bush camp and the tables and seats are cut from timber from the property.
It was certainly a different experience from all the other parks we’ve been to and well worth the visit.

Yeppoon

We stayed in Yeppoon enjoying the warmth and sunshine for a week. There are also two patchwork shops which can’t be a bad thing. Two days of weather warm enough to swim were very enjoyable and four days not very warm but still good passed quickly as we come to the last weeks of our holiday.
A highlight (!!) at Yeppoon was a 6ft green carpet snake which was sitting up directly above Ian’s head for some time as we enjoyed drinks with other campers. I can attest to our athletic agility when we looked up and saw it. A snake catcher from a nearby property was summoned and quickly removed the poor snake to live at his property. The heart tablets work too.
On the last day in Yeppoon we awoke to pelting rain and wind so it was definitely time to move on.

Seaforth

After Conways Beach we travelled south to Seaforth which is another unpowered site not unlike Bramston Beach and very enjoyable. We met some great campers and as usual learnt heaps from those folk who have been on the road for much longer than us. Next door we had the one of the biggest Winnibaggo set ups I have seen. Stuart and Pam have been on the road full time for 10 years now and don’t look like stopping. We had a very funny night at the BBQ area with several groups and really enjoyed our stay of three nights. It’s very handy being able to choose your own site we’ve found.
I took some sunrise photos and also photos of some ducks which came to visit every day. Any clues on the name of the white ones would be appreciated!
After Seaforth we went on to Clairview Caravan park to recharge the battery as we thought we might go to St. Lawrence which is unpowered. Fortunately Pam suggested that we fill the water tanks before we left Seaforth as when we arrived at Clairview the water was unpotable and so salty that when you showered you felt like you had just been for a swim in the ocean! The ocean was very rocky, littered with sharp corals and the tide retreats so far out you would need a cut lunch and a compass to find water deep enough to swim anyway. Places like Clairview and Winton and a few others along the way have given a whole new appreciation to our water! We were at Clairview for the eclipse and although it was cloudy we were able to see enough to appreciate the event.
After we left Seaforth we drove to St. Lawrence taking the alternative route due to a fatal truck accident which was very sobering. After the highway was reopened we were quickly overtaken by a long stream of trucks eager to make up for lost time so on a number of occasions Ian pulled over to let them pass. When we arrived at St. Lawrence it was disappointing as it was very dry and dusty. As it was only very early in the morning we drove on to Yeppoon which is nearby to Kinka Beach where we stayed earlier. We thought it would be good to have a look at this part of the coast as we cruised through earlier in our trip. The weather here is now better although all the locals are still saying it’s the coldest winter they can remember. For us it’s quite comfortable although still not warm enough to run with gay abandon into the sea to cool off!

Conways Beach

We spent four nights at Conways Beach doing very little. The weather was beautiful and the beach lovely. Our drive to Conways was spectacular, framed by the canefields where harvesting is now in full swing. The harvesting is all done mechanically now and without the burning we saw when we first travelled to Queensland with the kids some twenty years ago. Cane trains hum along the many narrow railway lines some seeming to run through front gardens and up the main streets like trams in Melbourne carrying their loads in open baskets to the mills. There is one in Proserpine close to Conways where we called in on our way to do the shopping. As we left after our four nights we came across the Variety Bash competitors which certainly added a different flavour to the journey. Some of the cars were very cleverly adapted for the event, like the ‘police’ car complete with flashing lights. They hardly needed an official police escort but there was one anyway.
On to Seaforth as our path winds down to Mackay. There is a huge bikkie gathering in Mackay with a couple of rival gangs so we’ll stay out for the weekend!

Pete and Dawn are in England now enjoying an 'English Summer" holiday. I wonder if their weather is as good as ours!