TO BOWEN AND BEYOND

The camps near the quinkan rock art south of Laura were pretty ordinary and burnt out so we didn’t stop there and continued on to a lookout just south of Lakeland, where we set up for the night overlooking the escarpment – impressive views.

The view from our lookout camp

Next day on the way back to Japoonvale we pulled up at Hann River and had an uninvited guest who was very fond of Leo’s dog food so he joined us for lunch. He was so quiet and had obviously sussed out all the tourists. I don’t think he had to do much foraging for his food and Leo certainly didn’t faze him. He just kneeled down and tucked in. While I was patting him John suggested I get some emu feathers but I decided I didn’t fancy getting kicked by those legs.

Our uninvited lunch guest

We arrived in Townsville on Saturday and immediately set about cleaning the van with Pav’s  pressure cleaner. A week later we just about had most of the red dust off. We would finish the job  in Bowen. Our first week in Bowen was spent at Oscar and Tracey’s – thanks guys.

Trace got creative with her phone camers!

Then we headed out to the property at Warden Bend where we spent another week with Hope, our granddaughter, who we picked up on Saturday. Mitch, her Dad, came down on Sunday and we had a lovely morning at the beach.

What a sweetie!

Hope with her dad, Mitch

 I had forgotten how lovely the beaches are in Bowen and the water was glorious – not cold and crystal clear.

Beautiful Horseshoe Bay

I spent many Sundays here as a teenager

Hope had a wonderful time playing with all her cousins out at the property – 4 girls and 1 boy – who are all full of beans. 

Hope with her cousins Tayla, Mia, Emma, Lane and Georgia

Leo enjoyed the freedom of the property too although we had to tie him up at night as the passing wallabies were too much of a temptation. We thought he was going to drag the van away some nights in his eagerness to chase them. He was also intrigued by the horses. Dad and Doug had just brought their new filly home to be with her mum, Emmataylane. Emm is no longer racing and hopefully her daughter will prove as good if not better on the track.

Hope and her mate Leo

Emmataylane and her daughter

 

Our first stop after we left Bowen was the rodeo grounds at St Lawrence where there were lots of other vans, campers etc. The facilities here are great, there are no fees – yet – and there is a fantastic area of wetlands nearby which is great for bird watching. Next day we headed to Rocky with a short stopover at Yaamba so that Hope could have a break from the car. It was a terrific spot for her as she loved playing on the swing and the birds turned out to be very quiet. She got a real kick out of feeding them. They almost ate from your hand.

The friendly birds at Yaamba

 

That one goes there Poppy!

After dropping Hope off we continued south to Calliope River, which is a great stopover, although one of the toilet blocks was closed so that the composting could catch up. I could not see the logic of closing a toilet block during the busiest time of the year – May to October. But the camp area was still very full. The road works seemed to increase the further south we travelled. Our venture into Agnes Waters and 1770 was disappointing. The free camp at Workman’s Beach was very cramped and looked like it would be prone to sandflies so we had a look up at 1770. There is a lovely camp right on the beach in the inlet but unfortunately they did not allow dogs. When we stopped for lunch on the inlet however, the sandflies soon made their presence felt and we were told by a friendly local, Bevan, that the caravan park at Agnes Waters was also bad for them so we decided to continue on south. We took a shortcut on Gorge Road across to Lowmead and discovered some nice little spots along this road which would be fine for an overnight stop and we were wishing we had stopped at one of them instead of going on to Granite Creek. The camp itself here is fine but the noise of the traffic on the highway is hard to escape.

As we were meeting our friend Beez on Friday at his block in Gin Gin we decided that this would be a great opportunity to visit my Aunt Marj and Uncle John at Boolboonda on the Gin Gin-Mt Perry Road. We had three lovely days there. They showed us all around Mt Perry and took us out to Mingo Crossing, a lovely new caravan park on the Paradise Dam. It is only quite new, with excellent facilities and will be a great little spot for fishing once the dam stocks build up. We also visited the Boolboonda Tunnel, an old railway tunnel carved through the mountain, with no supports at all – just sheer rock. It was full of little bats so take care. They will leave lots of little messes on your car.

Boolboonda Tunnel

Inside the tunnel

Mt Perry from the lookout above the town

I particularly enjoyed our stay at Boolboonda. This is where my Dad’s family have lived for over 100 years and we parked the van where my great-grandmother’s house once stood. I also got to visit my grandma’s old homestead where the family ran a dairy when my Dad was a child, his old school on a property which Uncle John’s family now own and the cattle properties which he and his son Robert now own including Ellimatta, Four Mile and Sixty Mile. We left with the fridge full of vegies just as when we left Bowen. Uncle John is an enthusiastic gardener like my Dad and Aunty Marj provided some lovely orange jam.

The homesteads and dairy at Leather's original dairy farm

John inspects the old dairy. I learnt to milk cows here AND stand in fresh cow pats to keep my feet warm.

The old Boolboonda school where my Dad and his siblings went to school.

Marj & John were babysitting puppies while we were there - quite a handful!

It was a short drive back into Gin Gin and then out to Tirroan where our friend Beez has a 20 acre block. He has recently planted some table grapes and John had a lovely time doing some slashing on the tractor and helping Beez fertilize and irrigate the grapes. The only drawback was Leo and Gringo, Beez' dog. They could not get along and we had to keep them well apart as they just kept getting into each other. 

John and Beez inspecting the grapes.

After three nights with Beez and then headed south, calling in to visit friends, Mickey and Muriel in Cooroy then going on to the Sunshine Coast and finally the showgrounds at Caboolture. The campground here is fairly average as the sites are quite small. We managed to catch up with Bob and Wendy and recommended the Redcliffe showgrounds to them as they are much roomier and the toilets etc. are much nicer.



.Next morning it was a short drive into Sandgate to Rob and Bron’s lovely old queenslander where we were met by Ruby, their german shepherd bitch. She and Leo took a bit to get acquainted but by the end of our stay they were best buddies, playing together quite happily. Rob’s huge front yard was a great place to put the van so we settled in nicely. Lachlan and Dave, our two older boys, came over with Kristie, Dave’s partner, for a quick get together that night. We returned to the Bushtracker factory early on Thursday morning after a surprisingly hassle-free one-hour run up the M1 from Sandgate. After a little dodging and weaving re the awning, fly screens etc. they got into the minor warranty repairs while we spent a lovely day with John’s parents at Currimundi. We met up with Bob and Wendy again at the Landsborough Pines Caravan Park near Australia Zoo and luckily got their last available site. A lot of vans were pulled into a rest area just off the M1 on Steve Irwin Way. This must be a popular free camp but is would be very noisy with both traffic and train line nearby. Obviously the area is very busy because it is so close to Australia Zoo.

Murphy’s Law says that something has to go wrong so of course when we arrived at Suncoast Caravan Services on Friday morning Dometic in Brisbane had sent the wrong awning up. Naturally this meant a further three day wait until another was sent for fitting the following Tuesday. But this wasn’t to be either. TNT managed to lose the replacement awning so we sat in Brisbane awaiting word of its arrival. Meanwhile John and I decided we would definitely NOT like to live in the city again. We did, however, have a chance to catch up with the rest of John’s family here which was great.

Dave, John, Chris & Lach with the boys' bikes.

Rob and Quinn took John out to Moreton Island in the boat on Saturday morning. There were no fish but Rob managed to provide some excitement for us all when he reversed the trailer and boat off the end of the Search & Rescue boat ramp at Shorncliffe. It wasn’t really his fault as the channel had just been dredged right up to the ramp so there was a big dropoff and no sign to warn anyone. Fortunately the only damage done was to Rob’s pride as the girls came to the rescue with the Cruiser and pulled it out. (Charterboat! What Charterboat?)

Rob's trailer misshap before rescue.

After our extended stay in Brisbane we were more than pleased when the installation of the new awning went smoothly. The crew at Suncoast Caravan Services must be congratulated. They are a very professional outfit and extremely helpful.