Central Highlands and Mackay – 9 to 14 June – Finch Hatton to Mackey and Home

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Day 8

Steam rising almost vertically on a still morning as we passed Marian sugar mill

Moving on to Mackay was the main item on the day’s agenda. We drove the 70 km or so to Mackay, turning north at Marian to the Bruce Highway and approaching Mackay from the north. The morning was clear with almost no breeze. We quickly settled into the Andergrove Van Park. We have been here before so know our way around.

Birds feeding near our caravan

We arrived just before midday, set up the van and had lunch. But there were delays while we chatted with a West Australian couple, of about our vintage, who arrived at the neighboring site, as we were setting up.

Then to chores that needed our attention, so washing and a trip to the shops completed the day.

Day 9

We were visited by a group of ducks

Last night Ruth encountered some problems with access to the Internet, with her computer and pad, while trying to connect to the Internet through the mobile hot spot facility of her mobile phone. So first order of the day was to get it sorted. A young technician at the nearest Telstra shop solved the problem in about two minutes, but there was a bit of a wait for his services, so we did not return to the van until lunch time.

Sunset Beach at Shoal Point

After lunch we went for a drive to the near northern beaches. I love this part of Queensland and could easily live here. Three promontories point northward into the Coral Sea, giving ocean views to the north and to a certain extent, to the west. Each has elevated terrain at their northern extremities and locals have taken full advantage of high ground when building their homes.

Dolphin Heads from the deck at the Eimeo Hotel

We started at Shoal Point, which is furthest from Andergrove, and returned through Bucasia, Eimeo, Dolphin Heads and Blacks Beach. We called at the Eimeo Pacific Hotel for Devonshire Tea. The hotel is a beautiful old building, situated at the top of a hill at the most northern point of the promontory. It has an extensive deck with umbrella shaded tables. Views are over neighboring Dolphin Point including the Dolphin Point Resort and to the not very distant outlining islands, that are part of an island chain that runs all the way to the Whitsunday Islands.

Eimeo Hotel deck

Lamberts Beach and Mackay Harbor

We returned back south and past our caravan park to drive in the other direction to Slade Point. At the tip of the point is a car accessible observation point that provides panoramic views of Mackay Harbor and the marina with its village of high rise apartments and hotels. In the distance, to the south and east, views are to be had of the twin coal loading facilities of Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay, with their cluster of loading ships and the armada of waiting empty bulk carriers out to sea.

A yacht entering Mackay Harbor

We finished the day by driving out to the end of the harbor breakwater. The parking area there gives another view of the coal loader and waiting ships plus a view of the harbor facilities. At that time of day they were silhouetted against the setting sun. About 25 years ago I had close commercial involvement in this part of Queensland. It was fascinating to see the development that has occurred during the last quarter of a century.

Day 10

Beach at Cape Hillsborough

Today we did a tour of the more distant beach locations north of Mackay. We repeated the first few kilometres of yesterday’s trip but then cut across through the small town of Habana to the Cape Hillsborough road. The drive was through more cane fields in an area of undulating terrain where each hill top seemed to be crowned by a house.

Mountains behind the beach on Cape Hilsborough

Mountains behind the beach on Cape Hillsborough

Cape Hillsborough has a caravan park, where we stayed for a few days about six years ago. Today we parked at the picnic area in the national park for coffee before taking a walk on the beautiful beach. The beach is not beautiful in terms of brilliant white sand. The sand is grey in colour and muddy nearer the water, as the tide was out. It’s beauty comes from the rocks sculptured by waves, wind and rain over the ages, the steep hills that fringe the beach and the dramatic mountains that form a backdrop. And then there is the implied romance of off shore islands, partially obscured by haze.

Beach side houses at Ball Bay

In then, in turn, visited Ball Bay, Halliday Bay and Seaforth. These towns of varying size each has its own bay , beach and a residential area of old fishermen’s hut type houses with newer residential and holiday homes built among them. Each town has an esplanade behind the beach, a park with facilities and a swimming enclosure to keep box jellyfish and crocodiles at bay.

Birds feeding under a tap.

We lunched under a picnic shelter at Seaforth, the largest of the towns. A family, returning from the beach, stopped at a tap near to our table to wash sand off their feet. The resulting pool of fresh water was quickly taken over by ducks and seagulls that seemed to enjoy a long drink of fresh water. They showed no fear and provided us with entertainment as we had our lunch.

Empty swimming enclosure at Seaforth

This latish lunch marked the end of our outing, so we headed back to the van for some preparation for our departure next day for home.

Picnic facilities at Seaforth

Days 11, 12 & 13

We had allowed ourselves three days to travel home. The weather was deteriorating as we came south and getting colder.

Water birds being fed at the caravan park

The first day brought us to the minute town of Yaamba, which is on the highway not far north of Rockhampton, for an overnight stop in a road side parking area. Once again we had heavy traffic thundering by with trains in the distance. But we are becoming immune to truck noise and enjoyed a good night’s sleep. There was heavy rain over night but we did not hear it.

A bulk carrier on its way into the Gladstone coal terminal

For the evening of day two we had arranged to call on my former secretary from Mayne Nickless days. We had some time to spare before arriving at her home so drove into Gladstone and found a parking spot with views of the harbor and shipping activity. There we relaxed and had lunch. Two empty coal carriers were escorted to their births by tugs while we watched.

Former secretary Sandy has a brand new husband who we had not met, so we accepted an invitation to dinner and to park overnight in the spacious grounds around their house, on the northern fringe of Bundaberg. They are developing the property into a wedding reception and conference centre. The attractive property has areas of forest and lush green lawns. We enjoyed their company and the meal prepared by hubby Ian and learned much about the challenges of establishing such a business.

There was a bit more rain overnight and more as we came further south, with frequent showers passing.

On our way back south we discovered the missing caravans from our trip north. They were all coming north on the Bruce Highway. The spare spaces that we had seen in caravan parks were in process of being filled.

Central Highlands and Mackay – 6 to 8 June 2016 – From Dingo to Finch Hatton

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Roadworks. This ravine was much deeper than it appears.

Day 5

Yet another sunny morning! There is hardly a cloud in the sky, but it is quite chilly. It is time to break out the “long johns” I think.

Much of the Fitzroy Developmental Road was quite new and easy going. Later in the day the roads became narrower and bumpier from constant use by heavy transport vehicles. There were road and bridge works under way in several places. At one point we plunged into a deep ravine and out the other side on a temporary road.

Not many hills in this area but Blackdown Tableland can be seen in the distance

We drove north from Dingo for about one hundred kilometres on the Fitzroy Developmental Road deep into the southern Bowen Basin. There is no coal mining at Dingo or any sign of it until near Middlemount , which we reached a few minutes after turning of the Fitzroy Developmental Road. From Middlemount to Dysart there are mines, but not prominent and most are well off the road. Middlemount and Dysart are both mining towns.

Public sporting facilities at Dysart

Both are modern with extensive community facilities and shopping centres that contain the shops that sell the essentials and some that sell luxuries.

Further on, we reached the longer established mining area where the mining activity is more extensive and visible. The road runs right through the middle of Peak Downs mine. Two over passes carry mining traffic over

Overburden is a sure sign of a coal mine

the highway, traffic including the huge dump trucks that carry the coal from the mine to the processing and loading facilities. We parked beside the road and while I walked around taking photos Ruth had the best seat in the house. She sat in the front of the car and watched the parade of dump trucks crossing the over pass no more than 200 metres in front of her.

A coal laden dump truck traveling from the mine to the loading facility

Coal production equipment at Peak Down Mine

Peak Downs Mine coal washing plant

The wide load turning off the highway ahead of us

Just before turning onto the Peak Downs Highway near Moranbah we came up behind a very wide load. The escorts were not interested in letting anyone get past so the journey to the junction of the road into Moranbah was a bit slow. We had visited that particular town when in the area two years ago, so we refueled and continued on the few kilometres to our

Vans parked at the Isis River camping area

stopping off point for the night beside the Isaac River.

A plaque commemorates the passing of this site by the Leichhardt expedition in 1844-45

Day 6

The weather is starting to get boring. It’s sunny and cool again but with temperatures in the mid 20s promised. The activity today was to get ourselves from Isaac River to Finch Hatton, a small town inland from Mackay, in the Pioneer Valley.

There was not much traffic going our way but there was a constant stream of oncoming traffic, most of it large trucks bound for the mining area. The Fitzroy Developmental Road that we had started out on the previous day, but left after about 100 kilometers, joins the Peak Downs Highway not far into our day’s journey. As we approached the intersection flashing yellow lights confirmed the chatter that we had been hearing on the two way radio and a truck carrying a very long bridge beam entered the road right in front of us.

About to drive through the parked convoy vehicles

We soon found that there were two more ahead, making a convoy of three over dimensional trucks and six escorts vehicles. We, and the string of vehicles behind us, knew that we could not pass, so we settled in to be part of a convoy of ever increasing length. Fortunately the large trucks up ahead were able to maintain speeds of about 80 to 90 kph so everyone was happy. This arrangement continued until the trucks pulled off for a rest break at the small town of Nebo.

That was the end of excitement for the day.

Those familiar with this end of the Peak Downs Highway might be interested to know that work is under way to bypass the steep winding section where the road climbs from the Pioneer Valley to the plateau that leads to the Bowen Basin. The work is well under way.

Driving through cane fields

The drive from Eaton to Finch Hatton is through sugar cane fields where the harvest was just getting under way. Cane harvest produces hazards on the road, particularly cane trains at level crossings, slow moving cane transport vehicles and cane harvesting machinery as it moves from farm to farm. The approach to a sugar mill is marked by that tell tale sweet smell of sugar juice. But to the ,locals the smell is the odor if liquid gold.

We drove to Finch Hatton via Marian, for fuel, and then drove through the neighboring town of Mirani. I was amazed at the extent to which suburbia has reached out from Mackay to those towns. Partly the result of housing demand from the mining boom, I suppose.

We arrived and set up in the Finch Hatton showground, which doubles as their caravan park, in time for a late lunch. We spent a lazy afternoon, mostly reading.

Day 7

Our reason for visiting Finch Hatton was to see Finch Hatton Gorge. A few years ago we drove to the start of the walks but didn’t have time to do any of them.

Finch Hatton Gorge is not a gorge in the normal expectation of gorges that are tourist attractions. It runs into a rain forest covered mountain range and its floor and sides are rain forest covered. It’s unique feature is the stream that runs through it, but more particularly two features of the stream.

There are two walks, the second being an extension of the first. The walk to reach Araluen Cascades is about 1.4 kilometres from the car park. The path winds through dense rain forest, around the heads of a number of gullies, for about 900 metres and then descends about 500 metres to the falls. A viewing platform provides an close view of the falls themselves but a staircase has been provided to access the rock pools into which the water tumbles.

I have put my video clips and images into a short video to give you an idea about the drive in to the area, the walk to the cascades and the Araluen Cascades themselves. Here it is.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjQv55Cpd4k[/youtube]

We did the walk to this point and spent 30 minutes or so just absorbing the beauty and atmosphere of the place. While there, a couple of French backpackers arrived. On our walk back we met several groups of walkers, many of who were in our age group. This is the most ambitious walk that Ruth has done since her knee replacement. She passed the challenge with flying colours.

The extension to the walk is a further 1.4 kilometre return to Wheel of Fire rock pool. We didn’t do this part but understand the feature to be a particularly large rock pool suitable for swimming. Both locations are popular with locals as swimming facilities, particularly in summer time and because they are free of crocodiles. The water looked to be well below swimming temperature to me but I suppose it is warmer in Summer.

The road winds up the mountain to Eungella village

After lunch we drove up the remainder of the Pioneer Valley and ascended the steep climb to the village of Eungella and the Eungella section of the National Park of the same name. Finch Hatton Gorge is also in the Eungella National Park. Before taking in the views from Eungella we drove on to Broken River with a objective of spotting a Platypus.

The Pioneer Valley from a Sky Window viewing area

But first we came to that 300 metre stroll known as Sky Window. I had forgotten all about it. The loop track leads to two excellent views. The first is over the mountain side where the road snakes up from the valley. The road is clearly visible from this vantage point. The second view is of the Pioneer Valley and the mountain ranges that form it. Today the view was clear with not much haze. The patch work of cane farms is quite attractive.

Our Platypus sighting

Our luck was in at Broken River. We sighted a Platypus three times before it headed for the river bank, probably going home to its burrow.

We returned to Eungella village to take in that perspective of the Pioneer Valley from a different angle before descending to the valley and returning to Finch Hatton for the night.

Just for fun, I edited some action camera videos, that we had filmed on the way up the range and coming down again, to give you an idea of what the drive is like. Here it is:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSdqdmS5JIw[/youtube]

Central Highlands and Mackay – 2 to 5 June 2016 – From Home to Dingo

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Day 1 – Thursday 2nd June

Free campers set up for the night at Gympie

Once again we were on the Bruce Highway, travelling north. We followed the Bruce to just past Gympie, turned left into the Wide Bay Highway for 20 kilometers, turned right to pass through Woolooga and ultimately to Biggenden, where we finally turned south west to our overnight stop at Ban Ban Springs.

The distance is 301 km. The map showed the road via Woolooga as being sealed all the way but there is an unsealed strip of about 20 km that winds its way over a range. We had been encountering showers all morning. A particularly heavy deluge arrived just as we hit the gravel. The wheel ruts almost immediately became rivulets that obscured the actual road surface. I thought we were going to arrive at our stopover with a dirty van but the rain continued for long enough after we came back on the tar to give us a quite effective wash.

To preserve the memorial bridge it has been bypassed by the road

Further on, but before Biggenden, we came across (not literally) a memorial bridge, which used to be in service, but has now been preserved by the side of the realigned road. It spans Bridge Creek right beside it’s replacement. Signage claims it to be the only privately funded memorial bridge in Australia.

One of the pillar style end posts commemorate local fallen from WWI

One of the pillar style end posts that commemorate local fallen from WWI

Adjacent to the bridge, but a bit further from the road, a picnic shelter has been erected. Its one wall (three sides are open) contains material about soldiers who did not return, including a letter from a soldiers fiance seeking information about his death. At both ends of each bridge rail stand small but monumental posts of stone. One of those at the northern end lists the local fallen from the First World War while the other lists those who served and returned.

Memorabilia from WWI relating to locals who served

Light and shade on the hills as we approach Ban Ban Springs

Rain was still falling as we reached Biggenden but cleared as we drove the 36 km to Ban Ban Springs. The sun broke through as we crested a hill to illuminate an agricultural valley. Clumps of trees stood out like stage props under a spot light, while cloud shadows patterned the hills that stretched across the scene like a backdrop.

Ban Ban Springs is a roadhouse and motel at the junction of the Isis and Burnett Highways. The rest area, where caravans stop over night, is right across the road. Since arriving her I have remembered that this route is a favorite truckies short cut for heavy vehicles travelling between North Queensland and Melbourne and Adelaide. I’ll let you know how much sleep we get.

Ban Ban Springs Roadhouse

Day 2 – Friday 3rd June

The trucks did not interrupt out sleep. Traffic reduced after around 8.00 pm and we only heard the odd vehicle go by. In no time at all the sun was peeping through the overcast of cloud, something that it continued to do during the day. We encountered little of the forecast rain.

We stopped at Mundubbera for morning coffee and at Monto for lunch, on both occasions using the excellent roadside facilities provided in this area. Both include driver reviver facilities for holiday periods.

Traffic was relatively lite with not as many caravans as we expected. Caravans on the road were mainly travelling south with few moving in our direction. Caravan parks don’t seem to be busy either. Perhaps the Burnett Highway is not a popular tourist route.

The main feature of Heritage Park is the ex Expo 88 Primary Industries silo

So it is not surprising that we are in a very lightly populated park tonight. We are in the 48 hour rest area that is part of the Queensland Heritage Park in Biloela. The park is managed by a club of historic machinery enthusiasts. They have a huge display of old agricultural machinery, small and large, and displays of the kind of household memorabilia with which I shared my early years. But much of the collection is older than I am. The central building of the complex that houses much of the display is the Primary Industries pavilion from Brisbane Expo 88. I had a close association with that particular building during Expo.

Part of the Heritage Park display – including a variety of cream separators

Motor vehicles have been lovingly restored to their former glory

Transport from an era long passed

Old farm machinery with visiting caravans in the background

Wagon and wine barrels standing beside the bar in the function shed

Thunder storms are forecast for tonight but as yet only a few rain drops and no thunder. Perhaps we will sleep through the noise even if it does occur.

Day 3 – Saturday 4th June

The storm arrived at midnight and woke us with torrents of rain drumming on the roof of the van. Our first thought was for the lady travelling alone in a vehicle with a roof top tent parked next to us. My next thought was, “Did I close the window of the car after I wound it down to insert the card that opened the gate to the camping area?”. That question had to be answered so up I got, put on wet weather gear and ran around the front of the car to check. Yes, securely closed! So I dashed back into the van with wet PJ pants and black mud all over my feet. After a thorough foot wash and a change of PJs we had a cup of tea and went back to bed

Recently plowed land with house and sheds north of Biloela

The rain had gone by the morning but the mud had not. Despite a covering of recently mowed grass the mud found its way through on to boots and shoes. Black mud and mower clippings make a challenging mess when clinging to the soles of said boots and shoes.

Today’s journey has taken us north to the Capricorn Highway via the small town of Dululu, where we made the mandatory stop at the loo. The overcast sky again gave way to sunshine but an unexpected storm came back from the opposite direction to that of the storm last night. It only lasted for 15 minutes or so.

Vans in the Duaringa camping area

We had intended to reach Dingo but the camping area at Duaringa looked inviting and with plenty of space, so we decided to stay. That decision was confirmed when we found the lady with the roof top tent from the previous evening. She joined us for a cup of tea and we found out a bit about her.

Her name is Annie. She is a single middle aged lady who loves to travel and particularly in Australia, as this is her third consecutive Australian winter. She has a Nissan Patrol with all necessary gear, which she leaves here in preparation for the next visit. She has covered a great deal of Australia, particularly the outback. She left the following morning, headed for a Simpson Desert crossing.

The setting sun lights up the edge of the departing storm clouds

After the storm the setting sun broke through to produce a stunning sunset that lit up the clouds through the entire 360 degrees of the horizon.

Day 4 – Sunday 5th June

The sun rose into a clear sky again. We didn’t see a cloud all day and at the end of the day, at Dingo, the sun set, producing a brilliant strip of orange light across a flat horizon.

The view approaching Blackdown Tableland

We came on the final 36 km to Dingo, refueled and parked the van in a large parking area behind the Dingo Roadhouse. We set up, put our security arrangements in place, packed a picnic lunch and headed west on the highway for the 12 km to the turn to Blackdown Tableland National Park. The next 12 km to the foot of the mountain runs through unfenced cattle country with plenty of grazing stock that seem to prefer the roadside grass to that further away from traffic. They were healthy looking beef cattle of various breeds.

The road that runs at the base of the cliff as the summit is neared

The road runs at the base of the cliff as the summit is neared

The road to the summit of Blackdown Tableland is sealed, but steep and winding. From the time that we left the highway we could see the long Cliffs of coloured sandstone that gives this mountain its special appearance. The climb was through dense forest for much of the way but near the summit the road runs directly below the cliffs.

A gap in the cliff face beside the road

The end of the sealed road at the start of the park plateau

The end of the sealed road at the start of the park road

The sealed road ends at the information shelter but the dirt road was in good condition and adequate for the 60 kph speed limit within the park. We drove to the southern car park, which is as far as you can drive. Walks start there for what seems to be a significant waterfall but the distance and terrain was a bit much for the time we had available.

The view from the lookout that we reached

The sign for the walks that we did not do

We were thwarted in reaching a lookout by a chain locked across the access road, but did make it to the lookout that provides a view to the north and northeast. It was only a 100 meter paved walk but the view was fairly spectacular.

There is a camping area about 5 km past the information shelter where a few campers were in residence. The lengths of the walks are more suitable for campers than for day trippers unless the day trippers arrive early and are young and fit.

We finished the day by driving on to Backwater. The town is all about coal and promotes itself as the coal capital of Queensland. Apart from mining activity and coal trains the town was quiet on a Sunday afternoon.

Coal conveyor and loaded train near Blackwater

The coal trains run along beside the highway in this area. At Dingo Roadhouse there is a truck parking area, the roadhouse, the highway and a strip of vacant land between us and the twin sets of rails of the coal line. A stiff south easterly breeze had been blowing the sound away from us but when the breeze dropped as evening fell it was as if the volume had been turned up.

The entrance path and old mining equipment at Blackwater

The entrance path and old mining equipment at Backwater coal information centre

Retired underground mining equipment at Blackwater

Retired underground mining equipment at Backwater

Driving past a long coal train

The trains are rather large, typically with about 100 coal wagons and three engines, with an engine at each end and one in the centre. So as they pass, you have the rumble of wheels and the scream of electric motors. The line is electrified. Trains go by at a rate of three to four per hour. So, yes, our sleep was a bit disturbed.

A final view of Blackdown Tableland as we drive back to Blackwater

A final view of Blackdown Tableland as we drive back from Blackwater

Massed water lilies in a roadside pond near Dingo

Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island Part 5

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Our association with Fraser Island has not been close but it has been long. We first visited almost 40 year ago. We were on holiday from Melbourne towing an early model Jayco Swan wind up van. We did the Fraser Island tour from Urangan. In those days a passenger boat took tourists across to McKenzie wharf where the tour operators kept a covered truck with seats running length ways along its tray. We jolted over sand tracks to see the main sights, including Lake McKenzie, Central Station and various other points of tourist interest.

A final look at The Pinnacles

Then, about 25 years ago, with two mates, in my 28 ft yacht “Aegis”, I set out for Lady Elliott and Lady Musgrave Islands, which are like a couple of full stops at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. By the second night we were off Sandy Cape at the northern end of Fraser Island. There we ran into a night of storms. That was challenging but not much fun. Late the next day we encountered a 40 knot northerly gale that blew us all the way back to Mooloolaba. We abandoned our plans and came home.

A fresh water stream makes its way across the beach to the ocean

The third visit was about 20 years ago. We came with friends and left our car at Urangan and travelled to the island in the back seat of their short wheel base Pajero. We stayed two nights at Kingfisher Resort, spending the intervening day being driven across the island to the eastern beach.

The first tour didn’t reach the beach and from the yacht the beach was a narrow strip of white against the green of the island’s vegetation. So, on this trip, we had our first introduction to Eli Creek, SS Maheno and Indian Head. As I recall, we had to reduce tyre pressures to get around Indian Head.

A last look back up the beach

And so, our fourth trip had reached its last day. Check out time was 10.00 am but we had to wait for the tide to recede a bit before starting home. So, while we waited, we spent most of the $20 refunded on the deposit on the amenities key on coffee.

Part of the bistro at Happy Valley

The only place of consequence that we had not visited was Happy Valley, so we made a short detour to check it out. The main store building has been rebuilt since we called there with our friends. It now includes modern flats and a complex containing store, coffee shop/cafe and a sizable bistro. The village now boasts a new holiday unit development. This looked most attractive, with its

Accommodation units at Happy Valley

proximity to those trappings of civilisation just mentioned. Just a short walk but by the time you reach the bistro your shoes would be full of sand. Oh well. You can’t have everything!

Approaching vehicles at Poyungan Rocks

Waves were still lapping at Yidney Rocks, mentioned in an earlier post, so we had to use the inland bypass. Further south the same situation appeared to be the case at Poyungan Rocks, at least when viewed from the north. So we used the bypass, only to find that, when viewed from the south, there was a clear passage between wave and rock. It was when we stopped to take a photo that we were overtaken by the avalanche of southbound vehicles featured in the second part of the video clip included in a previous post.

The coloured sands at Rainbow Beach

The final run along the beach provided some great views of the sand hills of Rainbow Beach. There was only a short wait for the ferry and we easily fitted on board. With tyre pressures at 18 psi we drove slowly into Rainbow beach to the under body car wash facility that has free air hoses for re-inflating tyres. Much quicker that the 12 volt compressor that we carry with us.

On the ferry (not our car)

With all that done we adjourned to a fish and chip lunch and then the 215 km drive home. The detailed washing and vacuuming of the vehicle will wait until the next day.

So Fraser Island gets a “thumbs up”. If we were to go back it would probably be to rent some more conventional accommodation, like a house or flat, for a week. That would give time to do some more exploring but provide time for leisurely walks along the beach and perhaps, even some fishing.

For anyone interested, the Inskip Point ferry costs $120.00 return. A Queensland National Parks pass for 1 month costs $46.65. One month is the minimum period for which a pass is available.

Five Days Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island 5 [youtube]https://youtu.be/itwnuWEmDQ8[/youtube]

Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island Part 4

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Rocks at the start of the climb

We went south yesterday, so its north again today. I had decided to climb Indian Head.

We left the camp as soon as the height of the tide made it safe to travel on the beach. When we arrived at the northern end of Seventy Five Mile Beach there was only one other

vehicle there and its occupant was fishing. The first part of the climb is steep and rough but then the rate of attrition eases and an easy path leads ahead. I only needed two “breather” stops on the way up, so I didn’t do too badly.

The Climb – The View to the North

The view from the top is magnificent in both directions. To the south the beach goes out of sight around a bend in the dunes but the the blue sea stretches to the horizon. To the north the beaches are shorter, divided by the small headland at the foot of which lie the Champagne Pools and then Waddy Point. Beyond Waddy Point the coast swings away to the north

The Climb – View to theSouth

so beaches past Waddy Point are not visible from Indian Head.

Having seen what lay beyond Indian Head, I was determined to get there. So, having descended from the heights, I asked questions of a couple of people who had arrived during my climb. I decided to give the loose sand that leads to the bypass behind the headland a try. The worst that could happen

Indian Head from the north

was that we would get bogged. In low range and second gear we drove onto the hard sand to give us a bit of a run up and off we went.

Whatever was I worried about? The Challenger took the whole thing in its stride. In no time we were through and onto the next beach where we paused for a cold drink and to savor the achievement and our surroundings. We then drove to the northern end and up another sandy incline to the Champagne Pools south car park. Access to the pools is by a board walk and stairs. We walked to an observation point overlooking the pools and which also gave great views back towards Indian Head.

Stais to the Champagne Pools

There are two pools. They sit together within the protection of stone walls. They are filled by the rising tide and if the tide is high enough, or the waves large enough, the surge of the breakers wash over the protective natural stone walls, flooding the pools with sea water and creating a champagne bubble effect. The backpackers love the place. The

The Champagne Pools didn’t have much champagne

opportunity to swim there is on the itinerary of every tour bus or tag-along group.

To go further north requires passage through a particularly challenging bypass behind Waddy Point, so we left that for another trip and returned the short drive from the car park to the beach to eat our lunch. We did it buffet style, standing at the back of the car on the churned sand and enjoying the cooling sea breeze. Did I tell you that the weather was perfect?

Some of the structure of SS Maheno

We still had most of the afternoon so we returned back, past our camp to revisit the SS Maheno wreck and Eli Creek, both places worth multiple visits and which had their normal level of visitors.

The information kiosk at the back of the beach informed us that SS Maheno had been a luxury liner on the Tasman Sea trade but had been retired in the mid 1930s and had been sold to Japan as scrap metal. A rare winter cyclone coincided with the tow to Japan, the tow line broke and SS Maheno ended up permanently on Fraser Island. It was used by commandos for explosive training during WWII and the RAAF used it for bombing practice at one point. But there it remains, partially buried in the sand and washed by every rising tide. And during the course of a year it is examined and photographed by tens of thousands of tourists.

Eli Creek and the foot bridge

We then moved on to Eli Creek again. The creek below the foot bridge was lined by parked vehicles, including buses, with a number of gazebos and vehicle awnings extended to provide shade for relaxing adults and playing children. Eli Creek, after it exits the sand dunes, turns along the beach for a couple of hundred metres so it provides excellent parking opportunities for its fans.

A caravan by Eli Creek

Someone, towing a large caravan to a camping spot somewhere, had pulled up beside the creek and extended the caravan awning to maximize their comfort as they whiled away some time.

Those who were not relaxing were making the pilgrimage over the foot bridge and along the board walk to indulge in the joys of floating, swimming or wading down the creek. The attached video clip shows something of the popularity of this pastime, as a group who had just arrived in three 12 seater aircraft hurried into the fray. A very good time was being had by all.

Five Days Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island 4 [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHsAprtBxJI[/youtube]

Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island Part 3

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

We just love driving on a wide flat beach

Coffee rock at Poyungan Rocks between Eurong and Happy Valley

We retraced our track down the beach for about 36 km to Eurong and then inland to Central Station and Lake McKenzie. This was our first trip on inland tracks, so it called for some different driving techniques to those required on the beach. Speed limits on the beach are generally 80 kph with 40 kph near popular and residential areas, but on inland tracks the limit is 30 kph so speeds are mostly less than 20 kph average.

Eurong Village is quite near to the beach

We headed south, past a small crowd at The Pinnacles, past a larger crowd at the SS Maheno wreck and past an even larger crowd at Eli Creek. We were again forced onto the bypass track at Yidney Rocks where the waves were lapping at the coffee rock, making it impossible to drive by on the beach. Coffee rock is embedded in the sand and can be

Eurong Beach Resort

more or less exposed after a single tide. It frequently runs all the way back to the foot of the sand dunes.

There is not much to see at Eurong. The resort dominates the commercial area and is complimented by some shops. The town has a bakery, police station and fire station. Most of the residential area is hidden in the

The main shop at Eurong

trees. Queensland National Parks main office for Fraser Island is also located there.

Most tracks in the area where we travelled were one way. Lake McKenzie is probably the most popular feature on Fraser, with Central Station not far behind, so the area attracts a great deal of traffic including tourist buses and tag-along groups. The tracks are narrow and winding so to meet a large bus on a blind corner can be rather frightening. The tracks are sand so become badly damaged, particularly in dry weather. A good deluge of rain washes sand into the deep holes thus improving the track. At the moment an average of 20 kph is the best that you could hope for and for much of the journey it was less.

Ruth preparing lunch at Central Station

Central Station was the headquarters of the logging operation that werenpersued from the late 1800s to about 1950. Some historical artifacts are on display, including a logger’s cottage and a shed containing the artifacts, the walls of which are covered with pictures and text setting out the history of the early days, including Indigenous history.

A Strangler fig at Central Station

There are extensive picnic facilities with tables aplenty, both exposed and sheltered. This is a favorite lunch stop for the tourist buses.

Palms line the creek

And then there is Wanggoolba Creek. Central Station was built on its banks, probably for the water supply. It’s almost clear water runs slowly over a bed of pure white sand that is tinged in places with the green of the mineral content in the sand, hence the sand mining in times past. Ancient green palms grow in its waters and its banks are lined with tall straight

The creek photographed from the boardwalk

trunks of trees reaching for the sun and the natural debris that nature produces in this kind of environment. All this can conveniently be viewed from a board walk that is part of a loop track that starts and finishes at Central Station.

A section of the boardwalk beside the stream

Bathers at Lake McKenzie

It is a further 11 kilometres to Lake McKenzie. In busy periods the large car park there is often filled before lunch time as visitors seek out this unique spot. Dingo management has lead to the banning of food lake side, but a large fenced picnic area has been provided. Visitors love the clarity of the water and somehow the pure white sand that surrounds the lake seems to invite sunbathing.

Amenities and lake access at Lake McKenzie

By the time we had spent a few minutes at the lake, the day was advancing. One thing that you can never forget, if the trip that you are doing requires much beach travel, is the state of the tide. Our target was to be home by 4.00 pm and the distance back to the beach at Eurong from Lake McKenzie is about 18 kilometres, probably at about 15 kph for a fair part of the way. We made it to Eurong at a few minutes after 3.00 pm. We refueled here, as 91 octane petrol was $1.85 per litre instead of $2.20 per litre at Cathedrals.

A genuine Fraser Island dingo

The 39 km run back along the beach took about 45 minutes but was interrupted early when, soon after leaving Eurong, we spotted a dingo trotting along the beach, near the edge of the water. We were able to drive up quite close to the animal. We were totally ignored.

We parked Cathedrals on Fraser at just after 4.00 pm but we would have been OK travelling on the beach for another hour. High tide was at about 7.30 pm.

Five Days Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island 3 [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q6Ifg9D_Jo[/youtube]

Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island Part 2

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Part of The Cathedrals

The sun rose over the dunes, but was sharing the sky with cloud patches. We found ourselves at the end of the family group queue when we wanted to wash the breakfast dishes. Two of the men were on duty for dish washing. It took them forever. But finally our dishes were done so we had another cup of coffee and then went exploring.

Part of The Cathedrals

Cathedrals on Fraser, where we were staying, is named for the coloured sand formations, known as “The Cathedrals”, because of their shape. They are formed from highly coloured, solid sand material and have weathered into their shape over eons. We made several stops for photos and for a short walk where a pathway has been provided at the area known as Red Canyon. There are many really remarkable formations in this area.

Part of The Cathedrals

The path at Red Canyon leads to the foot of solid sand cliffs that reach tens of metres up the side of the sand dunes. A viewing platform and information board is supplied.

Part of The Cathedrals

The Challenger at The Cathedrals

More of The Cathedrals

Indian Head

Our objective was Indian Head, the rocky promontory that is the northern end of the Seventy Five Mile Beach. It was named by Captain James Cook during his passage along the Australian coast in 1772. As he sailed past, he could see a number of Aborigines standing on top of the headland watching him watching them. Our arrival today was similar. The vehicles of a tag-along group were parked at the bottom of the access path and almost all of the occupants were standing along the summit. Indian Head looked like it had had a buzz cut.

Soft sand approaches to Indian Head bypass

There is a great deal to see beyond Indian Head, including Waddy Point, The Champagne Pools and Orchid Beach Resort, not to mention Sandy Cape and the lighthouse. But the beach stops at the headland and starts again on the other side. To get to the other side it is necessary to negotiate a bypass track that is well known for its covering of soft. loose sand. We watched as the tag-along group and several other vehicles made multiple attempts to get

The northern end of Seventy Five Mile Beach

through the loose sand. All of them finally disappeared around the first turn and presumably got through, but not without considerable effort and further reduced tyre pressures. We decided that being on our own this was not our day to push on. We returned the 26 km to camp for lunch.

The Pinnacles

After lunch we travelled back south to Eli Creek, passing the wreck of SS Maheno, with its mob of admirers, on the way. We also stopped to have a proper look at The Pinnacles. They are a similar formation to The Cathedrals but have a quite unique formation.

Aircraft parked near The Pinnacles

Eli Creek boardwalk

The top activity at Eli Creek is to walk along a board walk that parallels the creek for several hundred metres and then to enter the creek and wade, float or swim back to the beach. This must be fun because people, including some mature folks, repeat the performance over and over, despite quite low water temperatures. I remember swimming down the creek with the flow many years ago, but we gave it a miss this time.

Eli Creek is the largest fresh water stream on the east side of Fraser but seems to be now much smaller, with a reduced volume of water, that it was in years gone by. But the flow is reliable and much enjoyed by its admirers. Visiting family groups will often spend the day there,in the shelter of gazebos or roof rack awnings. Children love it as do parents. It provides an ever changing supply of safe clean water. But it often closes the beach to through traffic at high tide as the rising surf washes into the creek’s mouth.

RVs beside Eli Creek

Any further thought of examination of Eli Creek was quickly dismissed when the day’s promised shower descended on us without warning, so instead of going on to Happy Valley we returned to base.

The large group mentioned earlier in the story went to Lake McKenzie for the day and were having dinner at Happy Valley on the way back, before returning to camp after the 7.00 pm high tide. They came in quietly a little after 9.30 pm. But preparing the evening meal was a breeze without them there.

I guess they are typical of groups who visit Fraser Island. The four ladies all teach as the same Sunshine Coast school and their children attend there too. One couple are seasoned visitors to the Island and seemed to ast as leaders on group outings. All friendly people with well disciplined children who made lots of noise while playing but went quietly to bed. They were probably exhausted.

Five Days Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island 2 [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLvmTYgg_8[/youtube]

Playing in the Sand – Fraser Island Part 1

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

It was an adventure just getting there!

Our track along Fraser Island. Note the tracking line along the coast

We woke before the alarm’s set time. Five am! Too early, but when the timetable depends on tides then it is smart to know who is boss. And it wasn’t us. “Time and tide wait for no man”, Geoffrey Chaucer once wrote.

But the early start allowed us to drive out of our gate by about 6.30 am. After a stop for fuel and a call at the ATM we were on the sparsely populated north bound lanes of the Bruce Highway, a little before 7.00 am. The south bound lanes were another story, but someone else’s story.

The vehicular ferry to the south end of Fraser leaves from Inskip Point, about 10 km north of Rainbow Beach. That’s about 225 km north of home. We arrived at Rainbow Beach at about 9.30 am, treated ourselves to coffee, topped up the fuel, bought a ferry ticket, went through the car wash booth for a protective spray to be applied under the car and headed for the ferry departure point for that all important deflation of tyres for sand driving.

The only just fitted us on

I had a great plan to video the ferry before we boarded, but as we approached it appeared to be fully load. But as we were about to stop the attendant waved us forward into the last remaining space. No sooner were we on board than the ramp was up behind us and the ferry was under way. The crossing only takes about 10 minutes ($6.00 per minute), and we were deposited onto the island. We paused to take the missed photos and by the time we were under way again all of our fellow passengers were out of sight.

Resting migratory birds near the edge of the ocean

If you are last off the ferry there is no one coming up behind you for a while so, all alone, we set off on the 80 kilometre drive along the beach. The beach first runs easy west but soon turns in a of north of north east direction. The beach is a series of small sandy bays but the dunes to your leafy stretch straight ahead as far as you can see. We did meet the occasional vehicle heading back towards the ferry.

There was a fair amount of cloud around, with the sun shining through most of the time and the sea that steely blue that often comes with those conditions. The sand was quite firm most of the time, except for when we were directed further up the beach at the places reserved for small passenger aircraft operation. The aircraft get the smooth flat parts and the motor

A fellow beach driver crossing a small fresh water stream

vehicle traffic is directed into the loose sand. But it was not too bad. Just a bit of slalom style driving for a few hundred metres as the tracks in the sand try to determine your direction.

Apart from aircraft and soft sand, the greatest hazard on Fraser is the frequent water courses that run across the beach into the sea. Rainfall is temporarily retained in the sand of the dunes but much of it makes its way to the edge of the beach and then through eroded sand banks to the sea. The sand embankments are most prominent and easy to see near the base of the dunes. From there they decline, depending on the height of the tides. So keeping one’s eyes open is mandatory. Crossing where the banks are too high can be quite disastrous.

The bones of SS Maheno lie broken in the sand

But there are other traps. I was driving with my window open, savoring the fresh sea air. We crossed at the seaward end of a stream. It was a bit deeper than I thought and I drove through just a tad too quickly. The spray from the front wheel was caught by a rather brisk south easterly which blew it through the window all over me. Some of the spray even found its way onto Ruth. You may wonder if the water remains fresh right to the edge of the ocean. It does.

Part of The Pinnacles just south of Cathedrals on Fraser. One of the charms of this drive is the coloured sands

As we came north, we passed in order, Dilli Village, once the base of Dillingham Mining during sand mining days, now an education facility operated by the University of Southern Queensland; Eurong, the largest settlement on the island, with its resort and residential areas; Happy Valley, probably the second largest community on the island, with a general store, bistro and residential area; Eli Creek, the largest of all the beach streams; the remains of the SS Maheno passenger liner, resident on Fraser since the mid 1930s; and finally, Cathedrals on Fraser, our home for the next four nights.

The shop and reception at Cathedrals

We are accommodated in a permanent tent that boasts a double bed, a towel rack and two plastic chairs as the total compliment of its furnishings. Our possessions are in bags arranged along the walls. We prepare and eat our meals in a camp kitchen that has plenty of refrigeration and freezer capacity but this is supplemented by the Waeco 12 volt fridge in the back if the car.

Our home for four nights

In our immediate area, besides us, there are four family tents which between them contain eight adults and about 10 kids, most of who are between the ages of four and ten. So until their bed time there is not much peace and quiet. Their biggest impact however, is in the camp kitchen at meal preparation time. It is hard to get a look in when half a dozen adults are preparing food for a group of almost twenty. Washing up is a similar story.

Our small canvas community

I had forgotten that, in warm weather, when sleeping in a tent, a balance has to be struck between privacy and comfort. The only method of cooling is the breeze. Fortunately, on this coast, the sea breezes are reliable, so we spent the night largely on display through the insect screens, but no one was watching. We were awoken next morning by the early light. The aspect of the camp and our tent, was towards the east.

Border Country

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

I have been a bit slack. This material is almost a month old. It has taken me this long to get motivated to produce this blog post.

Canungra Creek runs along the back of the camping area

Our travel plans for 2016 include a reasonably substantial trip, which we will do, subject to a couple of contingencies. We normally try to do a short run with the van to check that everything is working before setting out on the main event. We have already found an issue with our Waeco portable fridge. It won’t work properly on 12 volts. This means that it is not cooling while we travel. We need to have that fixed before we leave on the next trip.

Part of Canungra’s main street

We have just completed a long hot and humid February and not much has changed with forecasts for the early part of March. But a bit of elevation normally means cooler nights, even if the days are just as warm. So our first camp site is at Canungra, to test the theory.

In a grassy corner of Canungra Showgrounds

Canungra is not really in the hills but it is close. We have the heights of Mount Tamborine to the north east and a little further away, to the south, is that part of Lamington National Park that hosts the well known O’Reilly’s Rain Forest Retreat. They are both on our list of places to visit while we are here.

The caravan park at Canungra is

The camping area has a brand new camp kitchen

part of the local showground and is set within a bend in the Canungra Creek. Canungra is in the Canungra Valley.

Some sites are in the open, near the events area and exhibition sheds, but we have secured a site beside a clump of trees on a bank overlooking the creek. We are sharing the area with a tent and half a dozen vans of various sizes. It was quite warm as we set up, but as the sun’s passage took it behind the trees, the heat went with it, leaving us to enjoy an unexpected coolness as we sat outside of the van. We had been hiding inside with the air conditioning on before the change occurred.

Day 2 presented clear blue skies at sunrise. Then fog filled the valley and quickly became rain clouds. The Weather Chanel’s prediction of 40% chance of rain became 100%. Drizzle continued until just before we left for our drive, but then cleared away to reveal patches of blue among the grey.

The road to O”Reilly’s Rain Forest Retreat is narrow, winding and steep in parts

O’Reilly’s Rain Forest Retreat, at Green Mountain in the western part of Lamington National Park, is 36 kilometres from Canungra, firstly along the Canungra Valley and then up the range along a sealed road. There are many short single lane sections, so there seems to be almost as many “Give Way” signs as there are trees. The road was dry for most of the way but that changed. O’Reilly’s is near to 1,000 metres above sea level. Canungra is at a little over 100 metres, so the climb is constant and steep in some sections, often with totally different weather at the top.

Rain drops on the windscreen and a grey sky

As is often the case with mountain tops, the clouds are not far above. The drizzle had returned, to make things inconvenient, so we looked around for a while, to give the weather a chance to improve, but it wasn’t cooperating. It seems that a shower had moved through the area, as on the return journey the road was wet well down the mountain.

Back at the caravan, the sun was out and a pleasant breeze was keeping things comfortable. The creek seems to have a bit more water in it after the rain. On the far bank the farmer, mounted on his trail bike, has just rounded up his dairy herd. It will soon be time for happy hour. Not for the cows, though. Its milking time for them.

The foot bridge and shelters at the Tamborine Botanical Gardens

Day 3 had a much cooler start. It was great to sleep under a blanket, probably for the first time in about three months. There was a bit of rain overnight, then some early fog, cleared to a fine morning.

It’s only thirteen kilometres up the mountain to North Tamborine, which is the first bit of commercial activity you come to after reaching the top. Then it is just a short run to

The busy roadway of Gallery Walk

The Gallery Walk, at Eagle Heights, where the action is. The main street is lined with eateries, galleries and a host of other shops, intended to tempt the jaded palette of the Gold Coast tourist who goes up there to escape sun, salt and sunburn for a day. There are three cellar doors offering samples of the local vintage and at least two shops featuring fudge. And of course, massage operators and tarot card readers. And souvenir and gift shops.

Places to eat are plentiful at Eagle Heights

Our first stop was the Botanical Gardens, where we made our morning coffee in one corner of the picnic shelter, to the back ground sounds of a young child’s birthday party. It was one of those events where young mums turn up with children, pushers, minute bicycles and soccer balls. We walked some of the paths and then moved on to do the mandatory walk down one side of Gallery Walk and back up the other side.

Another eating place on Gallery Walk at Eagle Heights

From there, we returned to Tamborine North to drive out to The Knolls National Park to enjoy the views back over the town of Tamborine towards Brisbane.and over the ranges to the west and south. Rows of ranges reach into the distance. With sunshine and a pleasant breeze we decided that this was a great location for lunch so we drove back to Tamborine North for some food and returned to the park to eat. It was a very pleasant lunch spot. On completion we returned to the caravan for a nana nap.

In the early hours of Day 4, we pulled up the doona to supplement sheet and blanket. It was quite a pleasant experience after over three months of nothing more than a sheet. The day dawned sunny and had reached the point of warmth and humidity by the time we had packed to start the day’s journey. A very easy day had been planned, with less than 100 km to Woodenbong, a small town just across the border into NSW, just off the Summerland Way.

Early Saturday commerce in Rathdowney

After refueling at Beaudesert, we continued on, past the turn to the Kooralbyn Golf Resort to the small rural centre of Rathdowney, for the obligatory morning coffee. At the butchery/coffee shop (yes I know, a strange combination), motor cyclists and the occupants of SUVs were having breakfast or morning coffee while next door, at the general store, others were buying in essential supplies, for their trip into the hills. It was Saturday morning.

Over the road, a visiting team of lady bowlers had arrived for that day’s competition. We did BYO coffee at a table in the small park that separates the shops from Mount Lindsay Highway.

Mount Lindsay, from the highway that bares its name

We passed Mount Lindsay and 11.00 am in Queensland became 12 noon as we had crossed the border into NSW. Another 30 minutes saw us settled into the green and neat nomad community of the Woodenbong Caravan Park, in time for lunch and a quiet afternoon. A breeze tempered the sun’s warmth and abundant shade provided suitable reading and dozing locations.

Another doona night was promised with a low of 13C. That is too cold for me as a daytime temperature but good for sleeping at night.

Motor homes in the Urbenville municipal camping area

Mount Lindsay Highway wending its way through farmland

The road south runs through picturesque farm land

Day 5 dawned so quietly that we slept until 7.45 am. Not even a rooster in this small rural town, to wake us. As a result of our tardiness, there was a bit of a scurry to be out by the 10.00 am check out time, but we made it. We drove off into beautiful cool, crisp morning. The theory about coolness at higher altitudes has been proved.

We made for Urbenville, which was only a short distance into our day’s journey, but far enough to make it a coffee stop. We pulled in to look at the Urbenville camp ground, another council run facility similar to Woodenbong, but a bit less formal. It proved a suitable location for our coffee.

As we continued south, we first passed Old Bonalbo and then Bonalbo, which I assume is really New Bonalbo. I had not heard of either town before, but there they were, in the middle of nowhere. Old Bonalbo is a collection of houses up a side street with a couple of business, including the post office, on the main road. A few kilometres south, Bonalbo, also mainly built to the side of the main road, is larger, with a substantial commercial centre. Some businesses were open on this Sunday morning. Shops were also open in Woodenbong and Urbenville. Such weekend services are different to how it was in country towns when I lived in the bush.

The bridge over the Clarence River at Tabulam

The Bruxner Highway is a good road over its entire length and this includes the Tabulam to Tenterfield section that we travelled, commencing with the magnificent single lane timber bridge over the Clarence River. Altitude increases by about 700 metres as the road crosses a couple of mountain ranges. We stopped at the small town of Drake, which is in a valley between two of the ranges, for lunch, reaching Tenterfield at about 2.00 pm NSW time.

We stopped at Tenterfield to add to our stock of provisions. It is only about 30 km from Tenterfield to Girraween National Park, our location for the next two nights. We arrived at about 2.30 pm Queensland time and settled into our site. This is a rare National Park camp ground with flushing toilets and hot showers. It is about 2/3 full of caravans and camper trailers. Everyone seems relaxed and friendly including the kangaroos and bird life.

Grazing kangaroos at Girraween

When we arrived, a group of about 20 kangaroos were nibbling the green grass in a fenced area beside the amenities block. For some reason two of their number, a mother and partly grown Joey, judging by their size, separated from the main group, hopped through the area around which the caravans and camper trailers are parked and began feeding a few metres from our van. They were

These two were quite friendly, grazing right by the van

not the least bit disturbed by us moving around near them and were still there when we went to bed.

Another overcast morning for Day 5. A strong breeze was disturbing the upper foliage of the trees. It was good walking weather, so we did two morning walks.

The first was the Wyberba walk, a distance of about 400 metres that

Waterhole in the creek on the Wybera morning walk

starts at the main car park and runs along Castle Rock Creek, the main stream in this part of the park. Rock pools in this stream are used for swimming, but there were no swimmers about today. Perhaps some will appear later, if the sun comes out.

The first walk completed, we returned to the van for coffee, then drove towards the eastern end of the park to the commencement of

Dr. Roberts Waterhole

the Dr Roberts Waterhole walk. This is a 1.2 km return stroll along a well graded gravel path to one of the areas of the park used by early settlers. The large waterhole was a reliable swimming location, visited by groups travelling in carts and drays. It is named in honor of one of the main campaigners for the establishment of Girraween as a national park. It was well worth the walk.

A well placed seat has views along the waterhole

Feeding Rosellas

Back at camp, fathered wild life paid us visits during the afternoon. Rosellas were feeding in the grass, with two of them coming quite near to us. They totally ignored me as I photographed them. Then, quite suddenly, what we later identified as a Red Wattle Bird, landed in the guy rope of our awning and was content to remain there as we had a close look and

The Red Wattle Bird

took photos. The Red Wattle Bird is identified by small red dangling bits, not unlike ear rings, that hang just behind the eyes, on both sides of the head. We had neither heard of or seen a Red Wattle Bird before. Our bird guide tells us that there are Yellow Wattle Birds in the southern parts of Australia.

Day 6 was going home day. There is one of those days at the end of every trip and I never want to get to it.

This morning a second problem became apparent. The water pump was quieter than normal, a sure sign of a voltage drop in the electrical system. This was surprising as

The Pyramid is a prominent feature of Girraween National Park

the battery had tested at a satisfactory level last night. Then the lights on the refrigerator control panel went out. In a national park, with no power, the fridge was operating on gas. So we turned everything else off and the 12 volt control lights came back on but, the battery was showing about 9 volts. Way too low!

Hooked up, with the alternator in the car providing power, the problem was solved in the short term.

The next item on our itinerary was morning coffee with Ruth brother and sister-in-law, at Warwick. Said brother had a birthday in a day or so. We spent a jolly 90 minutes with them and were on again on our way.

Other prominent rocks near the Pyramid

All that was left was to drive home, which we did via the Clifton to Gatton Road, arriving at about 4.00 pm, after a lunch stop at the Heifer Creek rest area at the foot of the Great Dividing Range.

To hark back to the problem with the Waeco portable fridge, the reason for a flashing error light first appeared to be that the “house” battery in the back of the Challenger, that is there to run the Waeco, is past its use by date, so must be replaced. Subsequent testing indicates that the battery in the caravan has also reached the end of its useful life. So two batteries need to be replaced before we head off again.

But there is more. With the battery replaced, the error light on the Waeco was still flashing. So that piece of essential equipment is currently with the service agent for repair.

Better to have happened now than somewhere in the outback. But that’s why we try to do a small trip before we commence a big one.

You have read the book – now see the movie : Cape York 2015

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

After we return from each of our extended tours I go through our images and videos and combine them into a video, or in some cases into a series of videos. When we did the Big Lap in 2009 the material took up almost all of 4 DVDs.

Normally I have produced one long story for each trip which has not been easy to break into sections. But for the Cape York trip last year I complied twelve shorter videos, which when combined, ran for almost an hour.

I have put links to some small video clips in various blog posts covering the Cape York trip so I thought I may as well break the longer production into manageable portions and load them to You Tube, to make the material more easily accessible to my blog readers.

The end result is six videos, each of a bit less than.ten minutes duration. Here is a summary of the videos and the link to each.

Cape York Adventure 2015 – Part 1. Covers from home to Airlie Beach and a day cruise through the Whitsunday Passage to Whitehaven Beach.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Gb-xM_mio00[/youtube]

Cape York Adventure 2015 – Part 2. This video tells of the section from Airlie Beach to Weipa and our explorations around Weipa

[youtube]https://youtu.be/s3l03Rt5bdc[/youtube]

Cape York Adventure 2015 – Part 3. You will see much of what we saw as we travelled from Weipa to Punsand Bay, our visit to The Tip and our trips around Bamaga and Seisia

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Q693fD5CiFo[/youtube]

Cape York Adventure 2015 – Part 4. This covers two separate day trips to Thursday and Horne Islands. The material is combined into one story.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/1G168MSeuik[/youtube]

Cape York Adventure 2015 – Part 5. Join us as we travel down the East Coast of Far North Queensland from Seisia to Cairns and then visit Cairns city and the rain forest areas of Daintree and Cape Tribulation

[youtube]https://youtu.be/LrKySa1q42w[/youtube]

Cape York Adventure 2016 – Part 6. This video wraps up our trip with our visits to Tully Gorge and the Central Queensland gem field towns of Rubyvale and Sapphire.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/q0-Aud4KUYU[/youtube]

We hope that you will enjoy seeing something of the scenery and points of interest that we encountered on this enjoyable and challenging journey.

Until next time,

Kevin