Tada Townsville

We left quite early for us this trip. With no service, there was no morning paper to read so it was off North again, this time aiming for Charters Towers then Townsville. A lot of large loads this morning, I’m guessing they save them for the weekend so that there is less interruption to normal truck travel. This morning it was all about the kangaroos. Heaps of them crossing the road at different points, the recent rains obviously providing them with more feed. The cattle are looking pretty fat as well, a good season all round as long as the dreaded Foot and Mouth doesn’t rear its ugly head.

Our home amongst the palm trees

We refuelled in Charters Towers and stopped for morning tea before pushing East towards the coast. A fairly mundane run until we neared Townsville where we passed several Armoured Personnel Carriers being trucked south by the ADF. Then closer in we could see the mountains pop up. We were fortunate to get the last site at our caravan park, only suitable for little motorhomes or tents, so we settled in here to do our chores before catching up with Tommy Who tomorrow. So the washing is done and I’ve had a nice long shower ready to meet the world

Heading Further North

Despite the constant gentle rumblings of the coal trains moving coal towards the coast, it was a peaceful night’s sleep, even if a little chilly this morning. We’ve been in touch with Tom and Robynne and we’ve made plans to catch up with them on Sunday, so we decided to head to Belyando Crossing Roadhouse and Caravan Park, 380 kms up the road. It promises all the facilities including phone service.

Look up in the sky, it’s a piano

We stopped in at Clermont, famous for the piano in the tree during the 1916 floods (It has had more floods since then but none quite so memorable) We once again enjoyed the bright sun on different scenery as we travelled North. We got a bit of a scare at one stage when we were cresting a hill, a young 4 wheel driver was on the wrong side of the road. It was his gallant act of the day, swerving to miss an echidna crossing the road. Didn’t do much for my underwear though.

All lined up for the power pole and buggar all else

After arriving we discovered two things about Belyando Roadhouse – the caravan park is a second thought (seemed to me to be give us the money and fight it out amongst yourselves for the powered sites) and that, if you’re lucky, you may get 3G service but then again you probably wont). Jenny was shattered, no Friday night football!

Onto Bluff Hotel

Another 0º morning but this time with bright sunshine, absolutely beautiful morning. We had breakfast and then walked the Monto main street, stopping for a coffee on the sunny side of the street. From there we headed back out the road to view the Three Moon Silo Art. The parking area also had a roadside stall selling fresh vegetables, fruit, relishes and slices, all stored in the shade in eskies with an honesty box

Three Moon Silo Art

After viewing the silos we hit the road to Biloela just to see where such an inclusive community resides. It was much larger than we had anticipated so a quick shop to top up the grog supply then back on the road heading North, stopping at Jambin for lunch. We enjoyed the rolling farmland and the numerous cattle. Still lots of signs of flood damage to roads but getting a little less each day. We decided we would move away from the coast as we will probably find accommodation easier to find. We will head into Emerald from here (Bluff Hotel Freecamp) before turning North again to head to Townsville to catch up with Tom and Robynne

Left the Sunshine Coast but not the Sunshine

Well all good things must come to an end, so today we left Diddillibah and the kids behind after being spoilt rotten for four days. We decided we would head towards Biloeila and come back to Gympie for the steam train trip on our way back south. We took the scenic route and really enjoyed travelling across countryside we hadn’t seen before. We came across the Woolooga Solar Farm under construction. This 214MWp project in Lower Wonga, Queensland began construction in June 2021 and when completed is expected to generate 438,000 MWh per year. This a lightsourceBP project

Amazing large scale solar farm in the Queensland countryside

We kept on travelling north into some really pretty farmland, with signs of flooding here and there. We discovered (literally from the back of the dunny door) that there are numerous RV friendly sites in this local government district so we chose to stay at Monto RV Community Stopover, which is in the old rail yards and alongside the Main Street. There are also painted silos nearby so we will check all of that out tomorrow after paying the princely sum of $5 for the night

On the back of the dunny door at Gayndah

Enjoying the Break at Diddillibah

It’s been pretty laid back here, just chilling with Shaz, Paul, Renae and Blake. We visited the Terella Brewery yesterday, which is just up the road and enjoyed the music, food and a couple of drinks before heading back home to enjoy the rest of the day in warm sunshine.

Blake, Renae and Nanny enjoying Blueberry Cider at Terella Brewery

Today was spent enjoying the sunshine. The crew tried their hand at mini golf and Jenny, Shaz and Blake had a go at fishing from the pontoon on the river. Shaz was the only successful angler catching a below size bream much to her delight and the amusement of the residents of the nearby Glamping tents. We had a visit from Blake’s Aunty and Uncle for a barbecue dinner. the temperature started to drop off quickly so it wasn’t a late night (it turned out that we aren’t allowed to have fires under the penalty of death…would you believe expulsion from the park☹️)

Sunset at Diddillibah Camp

Camped at Diddillibah

Sharon, Paul, Jenny and I met Renae and Blake for dinner at the Beerwah Hotel for a top notch meal before we returned home to our waterlogged camp at the Showgrounds. We awoke to dry skies and a bit of wind. The camp had largely dried out so we left at about ten to do some shopping then moved onto the Rivershore Holiday Resort in Diddillibah where we will all camp for the next four nights.

Blake’s Beast in camping mode

The place is packed full of families and the Park offers a variety of entertainment for the whole family. Blake has his fire pit out and ready for action so at least Jenny will have her fire tonight.

Down to Beerwah

Donuts to go at the Kenilworth Country Bakery

Well it poured last night! Well over 50 mm rain for the night. We woke to a waterlogged campground (and a minor leak through the exhaust fan). We had to cook inside this morning before heading up the street to the bakery and then hitting the road to Eumundi (with several creeks brimming the banks) before joining the M1 and moving south to Beerwah. Torrential rain all the way down the highway, even aquaplaning at times. The campground here is pretty saturated as well. We arrived in time to bring some lunch for Paul and Shaz in the form of fresh pies and donuts. Renae and Blake won’t be joining us camping tonight because of the ongoing rain but we’ll catch up for dinner at the Hotel instead. Despite the heavy rain it is still moderately warm. Tomorrow we will move on back up the road a tad and the rain is forecast to clear tonight so we should be dry again tomorrow.

I say… a tad wet underfoot!

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

Set off from Bell which is a quaint if dying little town and headed towards the coast. The roads out of here don’t seem to go to the places that we are seeking, so there was a fair bit of toing and froing. This is the first time we’ve travelled on many of theses roads, passing through places like Maclagan, Yarraman, Blackbutt and Kilcoy before heading into and over the mountains. Not the best day for it, constant rain, heavy on occasion and then foggy at other times, with narrow roads, hairpin bends and slippery surfaces.

Right hand down a bit.
Pretty…wet that is

It took us much longer than we expected to reach Kenilworth where Sharon had insisted that we get a pie and donuts at the Kenilworth Country Bakery (that was Jenny’s excuse anyway). We just made it in time as it shuts at two. We settled for a sausage roll and decided we will head back there tomorrow for a second go.

Give me ya bloody sausage roll!

Our camp is at the Kenilworth Showgrounds which is a very popular camping spot in an attractive little town. It’s pretty wet underfoot so I actually had to engage the four wheel drive to get into our spot (well that was my excuse anyway). Apparently we have parked incorrectly because the caretakers like all the vehicles to be parked in straight lines but she kindly allowed us to stay put as we are only here for the one night

No cooking outside tonight.

Up the Road to Dalby

Farewell to the Nindigully Pub for another few years

We woke to a relatively warm morning this morning with the sun beaming away while I cooked breakfast. The wind started to come up a bit before we left camp but by the time we hit the highway it was quite strong. Once again the signs of heavy rain were obvious with damaged road surfaces at almost every turn. We cut across country to come out at Westmar where we actually had to ford water across the road. We stopped for a short break there before moving on to Moonie where we had lunch. It started to lightly rain along this stretch of road but never came to anything much, just cleaned the windshield.

The rains are coming Marg!

From there we moved on towards Dalby where its very apparent that cotton is king. Vast fields of irrigated cotton in various stages of growth. Numerous roadtrains carting either grain or cotton. A thriving agricultural area. We moved on to Bell to camp the night at the Bell Tourist Park and some home-cooked dinner

Nindigully Pub

We spent yesterday wandering the streets of St. George, checking out the river and the local shops. Made my usual lucky purchase (on special at less than half price and then they knocked another 20% off) Gees Melva, I saved more than I spent! We visited the local Bakery for lunch then did some grocery shopping before heading back to camp. Did the usual caravan park thing (laundry, showers and filling the water tanks).

Our camp at Nindigully on the banks of the Moonie Creek

This morning we hit the road again but this time just down the road to Nindigully Pub Freecamp. Didn’t take us long to travel the 48 kms down the highway. We found ourselves a spot in the sun and enjoyed just basking the time away. A few photos of the birdlife before turning our minds to reading and other catchups. No service here (or TV thank goodness, I’m safe from Home and Away) A very cool breeze came up in the afternoon so we retired to the Sprinter to await Dinner at the Pub.

A juvenile White Necked Heron enjoying the view

We headed up to the pub (another claiming to be the oldest pub in Queensland first licensed in 1836) for our much anticipated meal. Sadly the Crispy Crackling Pork Belly was better on the menu than the plate but at least we didn’t have to cook it. The place was certainly full and we enjoyed a glass of wine before heading back to camp for our Port, then Drambuie and chocolate for our evening nightcap.