2011 Trip: North from Maroochydore

About one day into our 10 days or so at Maroochy Palms CP it started to rain, and didn't stop. We took our van to Bushtracker on Monday 22nd and returned to a cabin in the Caravan Park. Rain, rain, rain.

During our 4 days in the cabin, trying to avoid cabin fever, we went to the movies and saw Red Dog. This is about a red cloud kelpie that became legendary in the town of Dampier in north west Western Australia in the '70s. It was OK. Robyn used to have a red cloud kelpie so, at the end, the tears were flowing and the tissues were scrunching.

We also drove down to HEMA Maps south of Brisbane and had our Hema Navigator updated. It now has Ezi-Ozi, a version of Ozi-Explorer that is more user friendly, and iGO, a street navigator replacing the virtually useless Route 66. I'm very impressed with iGO. Hema have installed all the Camps 6 places with a great interface. The upgrade cost a couple of dollars but it's excellent.

During this break, Ken & Lyn flew home while their van was in for a bit of warranty work. They will catch up to us in Cairns in mid-September.

Friday 26th August:
We picked our van up in between showers. All the insurance repairs were done very well. A couple of minor warranty things were attended to and I had an extra solar panel installed and a storage tube through the rear of the van.

I've ordered on of these squeezebox ladders from TXP (http://www.txp.com.au/shop/home.php  ) and it will be waiting in Cairns for us. It will fit nicely into the storage tube. It will be the 5 step version.

Heading north up the Bruce Highway we pulled into the Six Mile Creek Rest Area (QLD148 in CAW6) just south of Gympie. We had lunch here and transferred stuff back into the van from the Cruiser. We didn't want to stay overnight here so we took the road out towards Tin Can Bay to try Standown Park (QLD141 in CAW6), half way along the road. What a great spot. It's a caravan park (sort of) with power and water and a very pleasant happy hour. It was still raining, bucketing down actually, so I didn't take any photos. Standown Park specially caters to Armed Services veterans, which is great to see. I proudly recited my Service Number from my days as a Cadet Aircrew (failed) in the RAAF and parked up. Coincidentally, all my fellow members from Number 78 RAAF Pilots Course are having a reunion in Perth in September, but we will be in Cairns.

Saturday 27th August:
Continuing north through Maryborough, Childers and Bundaberg. We had a look at a couple of the rest stops west of Bundy but they were not appealing so we went on to GinGin and stayed at the Showgrounds (QLD119 in CAW6). Now showgrounds are a real mixed bag. They can be great, and GinGin Showgrounds were in excellent condition, but, perhaps paraphrasing John West's well known sales slogan will explain it best:

It's the customers that caravan parks reject, that make showgrounds the worst.

Sunday 28th August:
Northwards, ever northwards. Last year on our trip with Steve & Glenda we stayed at the Calliope River Rest Area (QLD105 in CAW6) on the north bank. This year I wanted to try the south bank. Before we left home I got the lat & long of the road entry off Google Earth and put it in our navigator. It was spot on.

It was still wet but the rain held off long enough for me to take some photos.

You can see the north bank in the background with the line of vans parked up. It's a very popular place.

This concrete causeway is the old Bruce Highway and is now closed off. We had a pleasant chat with the owners of two other Bushtrackers there and left in the morning.

Monday 29th August:
Continuing north through Rockhampton we passed several places I recognised from last year. Tonight we stayed at St Lawrence (QLD89 in CAW6). Excellent place. It was slightly waterlogged and one of the other people there told us they had 40mm last night in half an hour. This photo was taken in the afternoon.

That night I reckon we had at least another 40mm. Probably more because it bucketed down for most of the night. It was the heaviest rain we had ever experienced in the van. No leaks, fortunately.

Tuesday 30th August:
North through Mackay and Proserpine to Bowen. Last year we parked up near the fishing harbour for lunch. It was a nice spot so this time we booked into a CP for 3 nights. It was the Tropical Beach CP (http://www.tropicalbeachcaravanparkbowen.com.au/ ) and was pretty good.

They have a happy hour each afternoon and we met a lot of people who book a site there each year for 3 months. These waterfront sites are particulary sought after. The wind is at their backs and they can enjoy the view every day.

While at Bowen we drove down to Airlie Beach. Very nice, but really yuppified. We were now starting to see the damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Yasi earlier this year. More was to come. And in a shock move, Robyn declared an end to real books made of paper and we bought a Kindle at the local Woolies supermarket.

Friday 2nd September:
We drove through Home Hill and refueled at Townsville. Heading north we seeing more and more damage from Yasi. Trees down, snapped off. Debris way above the ground.

Tonight we stayed at Bushy Parker Park (QLD36 in CAW 6) at Rollingstone. A nice place. We were next to a gent who let me have a good look over his Chev Silverado, hhmmmmm.

The next day we would be passing through Cardwell, and I was begininng to dread what we would see.