Travelling the country in a hybrid caravan (Emu Expedition)

The Fraser Coast

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We drove south, taking time to look around Gladstone. I remembered it as being industrial but I was surprised at how nice it is – it is clean, not too busy and has a nice ‘feel’ to it. Not what I pictured at all.

Our next main stop was going to be Bundaberg but we found a lovely camp about 14kms north of the town called Wyper Scout Camp which charged $5 per person per night and had clean toilets, showers and a camp kitchen (not that we use camp kitchens very often). We had a lovely stay there.

Wyper Scout Camp

The weather was lovely so we started our day in Bundaberg at the Botanical Gardens. If we had realised how large and beautiful it was, we would have set more time aside. As it was, we spent a couple of hours there and thoroughly enjoyed our walk through the Japanese and Chinese Gardens and around one of the lakes. There were so many birds as well as turtles and fish. We spotted quite a few Eastern Water Dragon lizards too.

We dragged ourselves away from the gardens to check out the Bundaberg Rum Distillery and book a tour. I wasn’t that interested to be honest as I’m not a fan of rum but I went along because John rarely complains about all the places I drag him. However it was an interesting tour and I really enjoyed the two drinks included in our ticket. John had the top shelf rums and I had the salted caramel and the coffee and chocolate liqueurs. Delicious!

Bundaberg was a lovely city. Like Gladstone, it was very clean and spacious. Roads were wide and it was easy to get around. We were impressed.

We were particularly looking forward to visiting Hervey Bay. For some reason I thought it would be a small town but it was huge! The Esplanade was lovely but we are just not fans of big towns and busy places. However, we stayed in one of the (very busy) caravan parks for three nights and booked a 4wd tour to Fraser Island.

Thirty three years ago I visited Fraser Island and thought I was in paradise. The clear, blue water, white sand and green rainforest made this remote island magical. I remember the dingoes roaming around us and looking at the shipwrecked Maheno on an empty beach. I was really looking forward to sharing the experience again with John.

Well Fraser Island has ‘progressed’. There are resorts and towns. Tour buses ferry tourists from barges that regularly sail from the mainland and line up outside the resorts where passengers line up inside for a prepared buffet lunch. Everywhere we went there were bus-loads of people doing the same tour and looking at the same things we were. On top of that, the weather was pretty miserable; wet and cold. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very good tour but Fraser Island has lost its magic for me. Sadly it is very commercialised now and we saw only one dingo. Obviously they are keeping away from the hoardes of visitors .

It was a full day tour – we were collected from the caravan park at 7am and dropped back around 7pm, and the buffet lunch was included. A lot was certainly packed into the day including the barge over and back, a rough trek from the west coast to the east, a drive along 75 mile Beach, a visit to the shipwreck, a walk through Eli Creek, we saw the coloured sands at Rainbow Beach, Lake McKenzie and had a guided walk through the rainforest. It was a great day.

The steam ship SS Maheno was built in 1905 and sailed a regular route between Sydney and Auckland until she was commissioned as a hospital ship in Europe during the First World War. It was shipwrecked here in 1935 during a cyclone.

Eli Creek
Lake McKenzie
The Rainforest
The coloured sands
Rainbow Beach

We woke to pouring rain the following day and drove through it to Noosa where we hoped to meet up with our Tasmanian friends, Joanne and Dan, three year old Theo, and Jo’s mum, Wendy. We camped at a small park for self contained vans twenty minutes out of town and drove in to see our friends. It was a lovely catch up. It has been a few years since we have seen Jo and Wendy, and it was great to meet Dan and little Theo.

The next morning we packed up in the rain and headed into town for breakfast before making our way towards Brisbane to see another dear friend.

From Tully to Townsville

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We left Cairns reluctantly and headed south towards Townsville with no real plan on where to stop for the night. Wikicamps hasn’t let us down yet so we didn’t think about it until around 3pm. We like to camp no later than four o’clock so that we have enough light to set up camp, cook dinner and relax.

On the way we called into Tullly. We didnt stay long but it was interesting to see their display on the history of their sugar cane industry.

Tully

We headed to a camp at TYTO in Ingham which had good reviews. We pulled into the car park at the Visitors’ Centre and booked in for the night. It cost us $15 and we had to be fully self contained. No cooking was allowed outside which was a problem for us having an outside kitchen. Luckily we had been a bit naughty and had something at a bakery in Ayr on the way through so we had a little cheese platter inside the van with a red wine. This was a lovely camp right on the wetlands. So peaceful and pretty. We had a good sleep – as we always do.

It was chilly in the morning (for us) so we donned track pants and jumpers and walked across the boardwalk to a little training cafe for a nice, hot breakfast. (We didn’t want to get out our muesli in case we got into trouble!). The scenery was beautiful and there were lots of birds enjoying the wetlands.

Ingham wetlands camp

From ingham we drove to Townsville where we had arranged to camp for a couple of nights at John’s friend’s place which turned out to be quite close to the city. It was great to see Darrell again and he seemed to really enjoy having us to stay: he insisted on cooking dinner both evenings.

John and Darrell

Townsville was not at all what we expected. It was clean, easy to navigate through, and not terribly big. We strolled along The Strand enjoying the holiday feel of the place – the beach, the pier, the cafes and families out enjoying the sunshine. We could understand why people enjoyed living here.

Later we drove up to the top of Castle Hill to check out the view of the city. We were surprised at how many people were walking up! At the top, there were several paths and lookouts with different vantage points. We certainly got a very clear picture of what Townsville is like.

We really were impressed with Townsville which I felt was a very liveable city. And we had a lovely visit with Darrell and Lorraine. John and Darrell enjoyed talking about the old days over a few beers. We hope he might come back over to WA some time soon but he seems perfectly happy where he is.


So off we went again heading towards Airlie Beach where we thought we would spend a few days. We drove first of all into Proserpine to check out a free camp but it was full up. What a shock we got when we arrived at Airlie Beach! It was absolutely packed with tourists. All the caravan parks were full to the brim despite the school holidays here in Queensland being over. With Victoria, in particular, being so cold, it seemed that most Victorians were coming north and filling up the caravan parks. We did eventually find a private property that took in vans at a cheap rate to help wildlife.

We were not impressed with Airlie Beach purely because we couldn’t find a place to park. It was much too busy for us. Proserpine was nicer and not as busy. We enjoyed a coffee at the bakery there and watched the world go by.

Our next stop was Rockhampton but on the way we stayed at a nice free camp at Marlborough. The following day we detoured to walk around Yeppoon which was very pretty but, again, really busy. We did enjoy a coffee and brownie at a nice little cafe called The Alley. (I’m wondering if you recognise a pattern here?)

We arrived into Rockhampton in the early afternoon and settled into the Riverfront Caravan Park, the only Park with vacancies in the whole of the town. The best part of Rockhampton for us was catching up with friends and fellow travellers, Sue and Ross who ended up in town for the same night as us. They camped their van next to us and we shared travel stories over dinner. It was great to see them and we plan to catch up again in New South Wales later in the year.

Catch up in Cairns with the Kids

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⚠️ Spoiler alert. Lots of photos of grandchildren. ⚠️

We hadn’t seen Kyran, Vanessa, Tommy and Joey since Nhulunbuy and we were looking forward to catching up with them. They had booked a holiday in Cairns for about ten days, seven of them with Vanessa’s parents visiting from Melbourne. We didn’t want to intrude on their time with Terri and Bob but, since we would be in Queensland anyway, there was no way I was going to miss a chance on seeing our grandchildren again. We organised to meet them for the weekend before Vanessa’s mum and dad arrived. Vanessa had booked a hotel on the Esplanade while we booked into First City Caravilla Park just ten minutes away.

We had a wonderful couple of days with them, taking Tommy to IPlay, Muddy’s Water Park and the Lagoon. We met up with friends of theirs too and enjoyed lunch at the Hemingway Brewery followed by cocktails at Wolf Lane Gin Distillery.

John and I had spent some time in Cairns while having our car and caravan fixed but it was completely different being here with family. And the weather was glorious. We were very sad to leave them, particularly Tommy who was turning six a few days later, and Joey who, at eight months, is always happy. But it was time for us to hit the road and for them to get on with their holiday. It was a bonus having this extra time together.

Iplay
Muddy’s Water Park

Our Top Twelve Travelling Tips

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There is no doubt about it. We brought too much stuff. Our van is full of things we might need one day on our trip – like winter clothes and extra rugs which haven’t seen the light of day since we left. (But it is sure to be cold when we head south very soon). We also had to give away our rather large but comfortable camp chairs and John’s golf buggy which just took up far too much room in the boot of the car. We learned as we went along!

In our first month of travelling, I listed items we felt were essentials. More than 13 months in and I’m updating that list! Some are still on there but others we found were not as vital as we first thought. Now we have a much clearer picture of what are our must haves. This list is in no particular order and I should point out that if I name brands, it is because that is what we like or have. We don’t get any money for mentioning them!!!!!

  1. Birthday Calendar

A friend gave me this idea (thank you Nicole). Knowing we would be away for at least a year, I made a birthday calendar through Photobookshop putting each member of our family’s photo on their particular birthday. It hangs on a hook in our caravan and is easy to see birthdays that are coming up.

2. Cheese Board

My daughter gave me a cheese board identical to this one for Mothers’ Day a couple of years ago. I used it lots at home but wasn’t going to bring it as I thought it was a bit heavy plus I didn’t want it to get damaged. At the last minute I put it in as it fitted nicely in the caravan kitchen cupboard. I’m so glad we did; we use it all the time. We use the underside for chopping vegetables etc and the top as a cheese platter, particularly when we are having Happy Hour with other campers. Some nights we don’t feel like cooking dinner and just have a glass of wine and do a cheese board.

3. Wine Glasses will Travel

Talking of wine, our family must have felt wine glasses were an important ‘must have’ on this trip. And they were right. John was given the red wine glasses in the tin by Kyran and Vanessa. They are terrific to drink out of and safe in their tin when we are driving on even rough roads. Tayler bought us the stainless steel wine glasses, which she bought from Kmart just before we left home. They are also great and, of course, unbreakable. Cheers!

4. Wiki Camps App

We would not be without the Wiki Camps app when we are camping. We depend on the recommendations of other travellers for nice free camps, good caravan parks, worthwhile museums, cafes and points of interest as well as finding out what camping sites are ones to avoid. This app has saved us a lot of time and money. We try to give back by also reviewing some of the places we visit. If you are planning a trip, do yourself a favour and download this app then use it. It is very user friendly.

5. Toiletries

These toiletries from Seed and Sprout were also a gift and they have been really handy while travelling. The soap bag is great. I just put in a fresh cake of soap when the previous one is almost finished, and use the bag as a sponge. No mess. No waste. It hangs particularly well in the inside and outside caravan showers and in the caravan park shower cubicles that have limited shelf space.

The little tin contains soap, shampoo and conditioner (the one pictured is from the website and is deodorant). I don’t use it all the time but when the caravan park shower cubicles are small, it’s easier to carry this little tin than cumbersome bottles. Besides, the products are lovely to use.

6. Bigger Tins

These tins are great for keeping pasta, rice, leftovers and so on. I also use them for packed lunches, morning tea, nuts and dried fruit in the car. The lids are really secure so I also use the round ones for liquids as they don’t spill or fall over. So versatile. Most of these are from Seed and Sprout. In one set there is a small tin where I keep $1 and $2 coins for the caravan park washing machines. In fact we started saving these coins months before we left on our holiday.

7. Squishy storage containers, bucket and basin

I love that these fold down and save so much space. We use the basin every day for washing dishes and the bucket lots for cleaning. We have a set of different coloured and sized storage containers which stack really well and squash flat when not in use. I keep all my muesli ingredients in them as they are very light. Definitely make life easier.

8. Yeti Coffee Cups and Wine Tumblers

These have been a great discovery. A bit pricey but well worth it. We make a coffee in the Yeti mugs at breakfast and I drink mine as we are travelling. John prefers to have his when we stop a couple of hours later and he finds the coffee still too hot to drink!  The wine tumblers keep my gin and tonic or white wine lovely and cold on balmy evenings. We love that the magnetic lids slide shut too. We like these so much that we actually now also have the stubby holder, larger coffee mugs and a one gallon water bottle. Highly recommend.

9. A Good Torch

I bought a Wanderer torch from BCF before we left. It cost about $120 but I thought it was probably going to be worth the money. We had so many cheap torches that would never work when we needed them. It was a good buy. It is solid and reliable and has never let us down. There is a setting where it flashes on and off which might be useful if we get into any trouble.

10. Tins of Cutlery

I bought each of us a cutlery set in a tin from Tyfords in Dongara before we left but I wasn’t really sure if it was a good idea. Turns out it was. Each tin contains one fork, knife, spoon, straw and chop sticks. We use them every day. They pack away easily and neatly. I really like the idea of having our own little set of cutlery especially when we are in a group. Love them!

11. Doormat

A small piece of artificial grass on the step of the caravan and another piece on the ground as a doormat has really helped keep the red dirt at bay. Thanks Richard!

12. String Bags

I bought three string bags for our trip but I wish I’d bought a few more. We use them in the ensuite in the van to hold loo rolls and around the kitchen to hold fruit and veg.  But I need a couple to keep in the car for shopping and another couple to take my pjs and towels to the shower block and also to take my laundry to the washing machine! Can’t have too many string bags!

Loos and showers of the Outback

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Sign for the ladies rest room at a roadhouse
Shower at Cygnet Bay campground
Toilet and shower at Pender Bay- I couldn’t see over to see out but I’m sure others could see over to see in!
Toilet and shower at the best camp ground in Derby!
Toilet at “Over the Range Mechanics’, Gibb River Road
How to tell if the toilet is free
Our caravan outdoor shower (we have an inside one too)
Cape Arnhem camping area toilet
Cape Arnhem toilet roll holder
Nhulunbuy wharf
Scout Camp, Near Nhulunbuy
On board the yacht ‘Humpy’ at Nhulunbuy
Giddy River, near Nhulunbuy
Pine Creek NT
Crab Claws Island Resort
Lola’s Pergola, Cullen Bay, Darwin
Bark Hut Inn, NT
Mataranka Homestead
Daly Waters Pub, NT
Old Hale Homestead
nice and airy!
Old Ghan Museum, Alice Springs
Boulia, Queensland
Tobermoray
Middleton
Winton, Queensland
Drovers’ Hall of Fame, Longreach
Richmond
Heartbreak Hotel, Cape Crawford
Macassan Beach
Blue Mud Bay
Roper Bar Store
Lorella Springs
Sunset Caravan Park, Mt Isa
Public toilets in Normanton, Queensland
Croydon, Queensland
Laura, Cape York Peninsula
Lakeland Hotel, Qld
Babinda Queensland
Cool outdoor shower, Biboohra Qld
Visitors Centre, Mareeba
Hemingway Brewery, Cairns

Down the Rabbit Hole at Yungaburra

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Yungaburra is a very quaint and picturesque town in the Atherton Tablelands with a very welcoming feel throughout. Yet another little town that goes to great lengths to look lovely and entice travellers to stop and explore. And explore we did.

I think the first thing that attracted us to Yungaburra were the beautiful hanging baskets of colourful flowers all down the main street and beyond. Next the beautiful, well maintained parks and gardens, and the cute, interesting looking buildings, shops and cafes throughout town. We spent quite some time enjoying the unique gift shops, the huge book shop which took up a whole shed, the lovely littie Visitors Centre, the op shop and the art gallery where we found an artist at work. She explained that several artists use this space to create and that the owner runs art classes for young and old, beginners and experienced artists, as well as the disabled and anyone else interested in learning to paint. And the ‘At the Art Garage’ has been running for several years.

Below – Spencer and Murphy Bookshop

We lost count of the number of cafes we could choose from but, when John went to the barber, I popped in for afternoon tea at the Whistle Stop Cafe, a lovely cafe with a very attractive walled garden area. I couldn’t resist it. When the young lady brought my coffee I asked her if they actually serve fried green tomatoes. She looked confused and said “others have asked me that question but I don’t understand “. So I explained that the Whistle Stop Cafe was the main setting in one of my favourite movies “Fried Green Tomatoes”. I was a bit surprised the staff didn’t know that fact.

The next day we popped into another interesting looking coffee shop – Mad Hatterz Cafe. That was fun; such a funky little Cafe with excellent coffee and scones. (The day after we went back and had yummy beef burgundy pot pies for lunch!)

The countryside around Yungaburra is lovely with natural rainforest, hills and farmland. There are also several crater lakes left over from extinct volcanoes. We spent a morning driving around the lakes enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Close to town there were several viewing platforms along Peterson Creek from which to look for platypuses but we were unlucky. We were fortunate though to see both the Curtain and Cathedral Fig Trees which were quite spectacular.

Cathedral Fig Tŕee
Curtain Fig Tree

As we drove around the Danbulla National Park, we came across a pair of chimneys sitting in the middle of nowhere. It seems that this area was set out for soldier settlement after the First World War and this is all that remains of a house built by a soldier in the 1920s.

We camped at a lovely quiet caravan park on Lake Tinaroo. Opposite the park is the Avenue of Honour, a tribute to Australian soldiers who fought in Afghanistan, and we found it to be a particularly beautiful and peaceful tribute.

Before leaving this beautiful area, we popped into Atherton which, coincidentally, had a Vintage Car Show on at the local school. John particularly enjoyed taking photos and sharing stories about some of the cars his dad, his friends or he owned in the past. It was an enjoyable couple of hours.

Then we called into a museum in a little place called Tolga. The volunteers enthusiastically shared the town’s history with us as we checked out their displays. The museum focused on the old railway and on their war experiences. As we learned in Ravenshoe, this whole area was used to train soldiers in jungle warfare to help prepare them for Papua New Guinea. This museum was definitely worthwhile visiting, just like every museum in every little town we’ve been in.

We loved the little towns of Yungaburra and Tolga and their beautiful surroundings. We would have hated to miss out on seeing them.

‘Oasis on Barron’

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By the time we arrived at our next camp, John had found someone in Cairns who would squeeze us in to fix our wheel the following week. What a relief. We still have to have our windscreen wipers fixed on 21st June in Cairns (that was booked over a month ago and was the first free day) so we wanted to stay around the Cairns area. We had also decided to stay longer to be able to catch up with Kyran, Vanessa, Tommy and Joey when they visit Cairns early in July. Not only that but we are having some warranty work done on our van on 1st August on the Gold Coast. We are not used to having to plan so far ahead!

Annette answered my ad for a housesitter. They offered us free camping with power and water (plus access to their house if we needed it though all we needed was use of the washing machine and fabulous rainwater shower outside). This was in return for feeding Storm their Great Dane, and Marley their cat on the evenings they had to work away.

They live on “Oasis on Barron”, ten beautiful acres about 16kms out of Mareeba (an hour from Cairns). It is so lovely that they have started hiring out their garden for weddings and other special events. (Barron makes reference to the Barron River that runs through the property).

We were able to use this lovely garden as a base to explore the area. I wasn’t that keen on Mareeba although it was very convenient for us to get medicines, shopping and our flu needles. (We had our fourth covid jags in Babinda). I was really impressed with the town library which had been moved out of town and ended up being a 4km walk. I also had a wander through the book shop and markets while John played golf. We also spent too much time at Coffee Works which serves the best hot chocolate and has a lovely gift shop. The biggest surprise was the Visitors’ Centre which had a great cafe and a wonderful museum with displays about the town’s history. Once again, another little town proud of its past.

We had both been to Kuranda many years ago and looked forward to returning. It was only forty minutes from our camp so we decided to leave the car at Kuranda and take the Skyrail down to Cairns and back. We would have come back on the Kuranda train but the terminus for each were kilometres apart. It was a lovely day and we thoroughly enjoyed wandering around the markets and shops. We both remembered the markets in the rainforest but the shops were new to us.

The skyrail was terrific – the views over the top of the trees, the Barron Falls and then the view of some of Cairns. John commented that we couldn’t see the floor of the rainforest, the trees were so thick.

It has been a delightful two weeks’ stay here at Annette and Dan’s beautiful property and we’ve enjoyed spending time with Storm. Tomorrow we are heading towards Atherton and Yungaburra to have a look around and we are looking forward to that.

Cassowary Coast – Camping at Babinda and Etty Bay

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John managed to talk to someone in Townsville who might be able to fix our wheel so we decided on a very slow trip down there with plenty stops. John was quite stressed driving and stopping often to tighten the nuts on the caravan wheel. I thought he needed somewhere peaceful to camp so I checked my trusty old Wiki Camps app and saw one that sounded nice in a place called Babinda not too far south of us.

The drive was very pretty with mountains in the distance and both sugar cane and banana plantations on either side of the road.

As we neared the farm, we came to an interesting, single lane bridge across the Russell River which is shared by both cars and cane sugar locomotives during the sugarcane season (June to November). Apparently there is a resident crocodile called Clyde in the river that suns itself on the sandy bank. We didn’t see him. There is also a deer farm here.

The Babinda Rainforest Farm is a private property about 12kms out of the township, with the rainforest as a stunning backdrop. The owners charge $18 per night for self contained vans only. We stayed for two nights and were the only ones there – unless you count the alpacas, chooks, dogs and geese! We had access to lovely, fresh, mountain spring water to drink and to swim in as the creek, which passed by our camp, had a swimming hole. Unfortunately the water was icy! I could have jumped in after I walked their very steep climb to a lookout through the rainforest. I was exhausted and eaten alive by mozzies. Otherwise we had a wonderful, peaceful stay there; it was just beautiful. It was also a great base to explore the area.

Babinda Rainforest Farm
No, we didn’t have a bath – although it was tempting!

Someone had recommended we visit the Babinda Boulders so we thought we’d do a quick visit then wander through the town. It turned out not to be such a quick visit as it was unexpectedly lovely with walks by the river and waterfalls. A few people swam but we didn’t. However I saw my first platypus in the wild! It was ducking and diving in the water, having a lovely time and we had a lovely time watching it.

There was also some interesting information about an air crash during the war on Mount Bartle Frere behind us.

The township of Babinda is lovely, somewhere else I could live! We love these old buildings in the main street and the Queenslanders in the back streets set up high in front of the rainforest.

Of course we called into the Golf Club and John enjoyed nine holes with some locals

We were a bit sad to leave our beautiful camp in Babinda but we headed off to Etty Bay for a couple of nights that I hoped would also be relaxing.

Etty Bay Caravan Park

It was! The caravan park was right on the beach and we had a lovely campsite with very nice neighbours again. And we had a regular visitor. A cassowary must have liked the smell of John’s cooking because he kept coming back! And he took off with our avocado which John took off him.

A very cheeky cassowary!

As well as cassowaries wandering through the caravan park, there was also a big monitor lizard that looked very much at home.

This Monitor Lizard was quite at home at Etty Bay!*

We used to love the sunsets from our verandah in Dongara and I wanted to get up early to see the sunrise on the other side of the country. It didn’t disappoint.

Sunrise at Etty Bay

Once again it was hard to drag ourselves away from this beautiful spot. We were turning around and going north again. We needed to stay in the area to have our wheel and windscreen wipers fixed. I’d put an advertisement into the Grey Nomads Times to see if anyone needed housesitters but, with such short notice, I didn’t really expect a response. However Annette contacted me. She and her husband had to go away for a week or two for work but had no-one to feed their cat, Marley, and Great Dane, Storm. So we headed off to their place near Mareeba.

*My photo of this lizard wasn’t very clear so I exchanged it for this one from the internet

Books Lynn is reading on our trip

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That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”

– Jhumpa Lahiri

Uh

Books John is reading on the big lap

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"I love the way that each book — any book — is its own journey. You open it, and off you go…" 
– Sharon Creech

Another scare and the Good Samaritans who saved us

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Driving south from Port Douglas, we were feeling quite relaxed and comfortable with our decision not to tackle the rough roads to Cape York. The sun was shining and the view was lovely. The Captain Cook Highway we were on was getting busier and we noticed beach side caravan parks were full. This is peak season in Queensland.

As we drove the highway negotiating the traffic, we felt a sudden shaking in the car. John managed to pull over as he thought we had a flat tyre – again. But everything looked fine. He said he would pull off at the next street but as we took off, one of our caravan wheels went rolling past us! Luckily we weren’t going fast. We had to pull up on the side of the left hand lane but still in the way of traffic. With our hazard warning lights on, we checked the damage and looked for the wheel. It had sheared off with all the studs and nuts too but they were nowhere to be found.

Within a few minutes people were stopping to see how they could help but there was nothing they could do. We rang the RAC but held on for ever trying to get roadside assistance. Then a young man, Mat, stopped and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He was sure he could fix things at least temporarily. He took off to his home nearby and came back with a jack and tools then set to work. While he was gone, another man, John, a pastor, stopped to help then took off. He returned with some witches’ hats and orange netting which he set up to keep us all safe. (While Mat worked on the van, John and I had been directing traffic around him). Very soon after, a Mobile Caravan Repair Van pulled up. Alex had been driving home in the other direction and turned back to see how he could help. Next thing we knew a police car arrived with its lights flashing. Two young police officers wanted to assist too. They helped direct the traffic around us. We really were overwhelmed with the kindness of these Palm Cove locals who could not do enough for us.

Our Good Samaritans

Before long the Main Roads people and another group responsible for the flow of traffic on that stretch of highway had joined us. They cordoned off the area we were in and stayed until we could leave which was a couple of hours later when we were able to organise a tow truck. Despite Mat’s hard work, the wheel would not stay on the van.

Pastor John

Pastor John stopped and helped even though he was due to officiate at a wedding later in the afternoon. He left it until the very last minute and was covered in grease before he left us.

Mat

Mat, a Phys Ed Teacher at the local high school, insisted he could do something to help. He runs a YouTube channel on travelling and fishing the Cape York Peninsula. Obviously his 4wding experiences benefitted us today. I had seen his videos before and checked them out again. Definitely worth watching. Have a look here https://youtube.com/c/MatTwentyEight

Alex

Alex is a contractor for a caravan mobile repair company and he went over and above in his duties of getting us back on the road. And always with patience and good humour. He also organised us a campsite when all the caravan parks in the area were full. Not just a campsite but the best campsite for miles.

Call Alex if you have caravan problems near Cairns

The Police

The two police officers were very kind and helpful. In the evening they found us in the caravan park to make sure we were all right!

Palm Cove Caravan Park

This was a lovely park opposite the beach in beautiful Palm Cove. They were fully booked through to September but, after a word from Alex, they fitted us into the best site in the whole park. The staff were exceptionally nice to us and even found space to allow us to stay longer than the three days allocated if we needed to. We didn’t but we did end up having a lovely few days here even though we had a slanty sleep the first night!

Crickette and Rob

I think Crickette must have noticed how tired and dejected we were when we arrived with the tow truck at the caravan park. They were our new neighbours. She immediately offered to make us a g and t! Once we got ourselves organised we did join them for a drink. In fact we had drinks with them the following evening too. We laughed lots as we exchanged camping stories. They really took our mind off our problems.

We really liked Palm Cove. It was like a mini Port Douglas. Although we are not very keen on busy, touristy places, it was a nice change to have a variety of lovely cafes and bars to choose from. They were all situated on the promenade overlooking the beach. In fact we found a great little Cafe called Espresso that had the best pancakes and banana bread, and we enjoyed a ‘Cheeky Guinness Pie’ at O’Donnell’s Irish Pub. The caravan park was also on the promenade which was handy. It was a pretty good place to be “stuck”!

We still need work done on the wheel so taking it easy until we find a workshop that has staff! We are very grateful to all those who helped us. Pastor John told me later that he used the incident in his sermon on the weekend, talking about Good Samaritans. I hope he remembered to include himself.

Living and Loving the Grey Nomad Life!

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For some years now I have subscribed to the ‘Grey Nomads’ website and newsletter. It’s a must for older people on the road as it’s full of useful information. I particularly enjoy reading the classifieds and about the Grey Nomad characters on the road. I love to see where they’ve been and what kind of vans they travel in. Well this month, John and I are the featured Grey Nomad characters on the road!

If you are travelling or interested in travelling, check out their website at http://thegreynomads.com.au

Awesome Rock Art in Laura

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Flying Foxes

When we were in Cooktown we asked around about the road conditions to Cape York and were met with mixed messages. It seemed we had lots of creeks to cross and the water level had dropped. In the end we decided, after our scare on the Bloomfield road, that we would give it a miss. However I was keen to go to Laura for three reasons: it was my niece Laura’s birthday the next day, I wanted to see if it had changed much over the years, and I had read about some Aboriginal Rock Art near there.

There were several spots to see the rock art but only one was self-guided; the other two cost $190 each per tour and that was well outside our budget unfortunately. I believe these paintings are 40,000 years old so it would have been amazing to see. We did go to Split Rock, just before Laura, and climbed up to see those that were around 15,000 years old.

It was a bit of a climb to see the rock art

As we climbed we caught up with a group who had an Aboriginal guide so we tagged along and listened to some good descriptions on what the pictures meant.

It was well and truly worth the drive and the climb. Fabulous! (I nearly didn’t take my phone to take photos as i didn’t think it would respectful but the Aboriginal guide said it was fine). I read that the rock art around Laura is listed by UNESCO as being among the top ten rock art sites in the world. We were so lucky to see it.

We continued along the road into Laura but it hadn’t changed, there was still nothing much there. Instead of camping there, we drove down to Lakeland Hotel where they allow free camping on the grass. We had a great lunch there and a nice overnight stay.

The following morning we took off south, stopping for lunch in Port Douglas with a plan to camp at Trinity Beach. The scenery was beautiful.

Such a scenic drive down the coast
Port Douglas

Cooktown, a history lesson in itself

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My only memory of Cooktown is of a main street with a milkbar, the main street being a dirt track. So it was a pleasant surprise to drive into such a beautiful, pristine, thriving town with a population of just over 2,000. The main street is still there but it’s bitumen with beautiful, historic buildings on either side. The town sits on the Endeavour River and is surrounded by ocean and mountains with stunning views from many vantage points including the main street.

Beautiful historic buildings line the main street

Cooktown is, of course, of great historical importance and this is evident throughout the town. It was named after Captain James Cook who explored the east coast of Australia in 1770. Cook’s ship, HM Barque Endeavour, struck the Great Barrier Reef off Cape Tribulation and was forced to beach here on the river until it could be repaired. It was Cook who named the river after his boat. There are monuments of James Cook all around town and we visited the James Cook Museum situated in the old convent school building. The original anchor, cannon and other artefacts from the Endeavour were on display there.

There is still a Chinese influence in some of the old buildings left over from the Gold Rush in the 1870s when, just like in Croydon, the Chinese moved here and become cooks, shopkeepers and developed market gardens.

Australia has quite a violent history but from the information supplied here, it seems that Captain Cook had a good relationship with the Aborigines from this area. According to his diaries they resolved issues peacefully. This is reinforced in the Reconciliation Garden just off the main street.

As well as visiting the James Cook Museum, we called into the Cooktown History Centre run by volunteers and with terrific displays of Cooktown’s past. It focused less on James Cook and more on the progression of the town particularly since the Gold Rush, and also on the cyclones that have hit the area.

This photo was taken at the Cooktown Golf Club

For such a small place, there is a huge amount of history on display. Before leaving, we drove to the lookout then wandered around the rest of the town, enjoying morning tea at the Botanic Gardens. This is definitely somewhere I could happily live if it wasn’t so far away from family and friends .

A very different landscape – Far North Queensland

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We ended up camping in Ravenshoe for two nights because the mechanic, Nigel (who spent nearly two hours on our car but only charged us $50) could not fix our windscreen wipers. He did, however, refer us to Volkswagen in Cairns and rang them to explain our problem. It was Friday evening and raining so there was no point in moving on right away. We camped at the Tall Timbers Roadhouse which was lovely. There was a river with platypuses near our van but they hid when we tried to find them.

Our plan to drive to Cooktown and beyond was thwarted by the windscreen wipers’ issue so, instead we drove to Cairns. What a beautiful drive it was through the Atherton Tablelands. Coming so recently from the red dirt, the green of the tropical rainforest was just incredibly lovely and quite a refreshing change. The road itself had a canopy of beautiful trees for much of the way. We pulled up at Malanda Falls to stretch our legs and for morning tea at the lovely little Cafe there.

Canopies of trees lined the road
Malanda Falls

The scenery was actually breathtaking. The road was narrow, enclosed by the greenery, but it full of twists and turns for a very long way. John had to focus really hard on driving and I began to feel car sick. I just wanted the road to end. It was actually a huge relief to book into the G’day Caravan Park in Cairns which was only a few minutes from the Volkswagen mechanic.

Everywhere we have been on this trip has been impacted by covid19 and the lack of staff. Nothing was any different in Cairns. The car couldn’t even be looked at for three weeks. All we could do was book it in and continue our journey.

To drive to Cooktown meant going back the beautiful, winding road and I couldn’t face it. My stomach was still recovering from the previous day. I don’t think John was keen on driving it again either. Doing a big trip like this means having to be flexible so we took off towards the Daintree with a plan to visit Cooktown later. On the way we stopped in Port Douglas. John had stayed there years before and remembered it being lovely with an amazing golf course. Port Douglas is lovely. It is certainly aimed at tourists with lots of white hotels and apartments overlooking the beach. The main street was busy with people having coffee and browsing the souvenir shops. Lovely as it was, it wasn’t for us. We found The Tin Shed with an outdoor cafe on the water. Then we took off for the peace and quiet of the rainforest.

Coffee at The Tin Shed was a better option for us.

I did the Cape York Peninsula in 1989 when my son, Kyran was just two. You needed a 4wd and a lot of nerve in those days to drive further than the Daintree ferry. John was turned back from the ferry around the same year because he only had a 2wd. We were interested to see how things had changed in over thirty years.

The ferry was just as we remembered it.

Daintree Ferry (photo from their website)

The road from the ferry was all bitumen. I was afraid the area would have become too touristy and commercialised but, while there were ice cream shops, cafes and accommodation, I was pleased to see everything tastefully done to suit the beautiful surroundings. We found our way to Cape Tribulation to camp ‘where the rainforest meets the reef’ and it was just as lovely as I remembered it. The camping ground (which didn’t exist in 1989) blended with the rainforest and was bordered on one side by the beach and the other by the National Park.

We had a great couple of days here. We wandered along Myall Beach to a boardwalk which took us through the rainforest. This was a bucket list item for John, and it met his high expectations. It is hard to describe the beauty of the rainforest – the stunning trees and root systems all on display for us to enjoy. I took these photos on my phone but I hope they capture some of just how lovely it is.

We left the van and went to have a look at more of the Daintree area which is just gorgeous. We took another walk – this time at Jindalba. Once again, a boardwalk was provided which blended well with the environment.

After so much walking we decided we deserved a special ice cream from the Daintree Ice Creamery. Wow! Such choice. John chose Mango Kulfi and I had Coconut, Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Sauce. They were delicious.

Our last stop was at Thornton Beach, yet another deserted beach. We had noticed the amazing shapes the Bubbler Crabs were making on all the beaches here.

Thornton Beach

Naturally we don’t swim in the water here because of crocodiles and stingers. There are beautiful waterholes nearby but we didn’t want to swim. At this beach a large crocodile has been spotted regularly for the past twelve years.

We had purchased a return ticket on the Daintree Ferry but decided to take the rougher road through Bloomfield to visit Cooktown. It may not have been the best decision. There was a sign saying ‘4wd vehicles only. No caravans or trailers’ but we were assured by a few people that the road had been graded and was fine. In fact there was a caravan behind us and a large touring bus in front of us – and we loved its name!

So we felt fairly confident travelling this road although the van in front pulled over to let us to go first! The drive turned out to be very scary! The creeks we drove through were fine; the sand, mud, stones and potholes were manageable; but the steep (27%) declines and inclines on the narrow road were horrendous and when our brakes locked and we slid down a long, steep hill with a sharp drop down the mountain beside us, that was not fun. Thankfully, we survived to tell the tale but it reinforced our decision that we have done enough adventurous driving and we will stick as much as possible to the bitumen from now on.