Townsville Ho!

After a fortnite of life in The Big Smoke with it's temptations and hustle & bustle, it's off again on to a quieter place.  Brisbane is a beautiful city with plenty of lovely parks, great weather etc but it is still a city.  So I am taking a circuitous route to Townsville to meet up with Tasmanian friends on 10th September.  The plan is to take an inland route via Carnarvon Gorge, Emerald/Sapphire, Long Reach, Winton and then up to Hughendon, Charters Towers to Townsville.  I leave Townsville on 12th Sept and meander toward Bundaberg, where an opportunity for a weeks stay availed itself from 17-23 Sept.  Then back to Brisbane.

Determining how much power I need to produce to be reasonably independent is proving a challenge:  One fact I discovered on my last trip is that you can't count on 'free camping' when you like.  In the area I traveled many of the campsites were pay sites - while reasonable, it begs the question of  "Is the expense of being reasonably self sufficient justified?"  More information needed, this trip should help. 

In Brisbane I obtained a portable 100W solar unit to trial:  If it provides enough to keep me 3-4 days away from a power point, that should then suffice, else I will need to look at permanently mounting a panel on the roof, with perhaps an extra 105AH deep cycle battery (checked into on arrival here but VERY expensive).  So this run will provide me with additional knowledge as to the final setup.  An isolating solenoid kit was obtained as well, yet to be installed. 

The van is great for city running as it isn't much bigger than a car and fits into most parking spaces.  Dodging traffic in Brisbane was feasible and fun, although I'm sure it is a big help to have Tasmanian license plates!  Avoiding the CBD is also essential for me but it should be OK there as well, just not in peak hour.  A good GPS helps as well.  My time here has been very useful in getting bits & pieces I need, helping the family I'm staying with and indulging in pizza and ice cream.  So, the van has once again been reorganised and I am looking forward to traveling through some important historic places.  

Journey's End (for now)

Tomorrow it's back to civilisation (?!?) after eight days traveling about behind the Sunshine Coast.  I went to Borumba Dam where I thought you could camp on the waters edge, but the campground 1km from waters edge (BUMMER!).  I'd purchased a fishing license hoping to use it there but the dam access was limited - great if you have a boat as the ramp is excellent, other than that it is steep & scrubby along the banks.  The campground manager is a metallurgist (retired) and has worked around the north of Australia, with high praise for the Kimberley's but loves the northern remote areas generally.  He and his wife run  the camp, and an excellent job they do.

From there I went to the southern end of Wivenhoe dam for two nights, camped near the waters edge.  It is a very popular campground, on the waters edge but the fishing wasn't great at this time.  Lots of campers with canoes and they go out after fish and redclaw, a feral yabbie type that is quite good eating, I've been told.  So, a yabbie trap is on my list.  And now as the sun has set, I shall get my fire going again and enjoy my last evening in camp.

On the (backroads) again

Continuing the wandering - I will include names of places I visit even tho they may not mean anything to some, or in fact, be able to be found w/o a copy of Camps6 Australia Wide" BUT some of you out there said "Keep us informed of your travels".  Left Little Yabba Picnic Area for Browns Creek Campground near Eumundi, with a stop at a rest area near Kenilworth to get online and do emails.  Both of these are 'free camp' areas, thus very few facilities, certainly no power.  Three nights is the limit away from power to charge the batteries as the fridge cut off after 1 1/2 days. 

At Browns Creek, a Census lass came around, so I filled out the form: Just grey I guess, not invisible.  The Browns Creek Campsite was nearly full when I arrived reasonably early in the day, I suspect some campers didn't take much notice of the 48 hour limit.  It is also not far off the Bruce Highway, a very busy (therefore noisy) highway. 

I phoned a Grey Nomad couple in Buderim and arranged to catch up with them on Wednesday, which I did after visiting the Eumundi Market and a drive down the coast road from Noosa.  They have done a fair bit of camping in various vehicles so it was very educational for me to talk to them, as not only what areas to consider visiting, but also setting up, esp. for solar, as they had set up their current unit, a small truck with a poptop camper integrated onto it.  Overall, it is not much longer than my vehicle but has it's own dedicated dining area and bed, so there isn't the evening & morning re-arranging for sleeping & day use.  I'm jealous, of course, however my view on camping is that you are roughing it a bit:  With two people the extra 'convenience' would be essential.

 

A lot of good knowledge & experience in relation to solar power, extra water, great tips and places to camp was imparted  quickly, with enough notes to support my not-so photographic memory, BUT what I did photograph was a squirrel glider on it's nest box on their deck!  There is a family of 6-7 living there and they come out late in the evening after the kookaburras (who fancy a tasty squirrel glider) have gone to roost.  What beautiful animals they are and they bring a lot of joy to their hosts (and visitors as well!). 

 

Leaving there this morning (11 August) I set off for Borumba Campground on the Borumba Dam, but as there is no power there I stopped the night at Island Reach Camping Resort in Imbil, not far away.  Once again, the GPS 'guided' me over all nature of road whereas on the map it looks straightforward to travel on main roads.  However there was a bonus as I traveled thru a State Forest with signs pointing off to a scenic lookout well worth visiting, even if I'm not sure if I could find it again. 

 

Met my first Solo Grey Nomad today, a chap roughly my age with more stress than he can handle at the moment so he took off for a few days with three dogs.  He designs & builds houses, tho now retired, but has undertaken to build a house for his daughter, a work-in-progress interrupted by some acute health problems, thus the stress.  He did admit he is reluctant to go to Brisbane for the treatment he needs, hoping - as we mere males do - that with a bit of rest today, tomorrow we will be Superman again.  Again, he had a wealth of experience traveling and was also knowledgeable in solar power and power options generally for free camping.  He had a gas fridge he bought for $350 and reckons it cost him 80 cents/day to run.  He also has a portable solar panel and was happy to discuss it's virtues.  An interesting chap, and in the last couple of days there is much information to think about.

Yabba Creek!?!

The week and a bit in Brisbane has been productive and also relaxing.  Of first priority was a decent GPS; I settled for a Garmin nüvi 4190T and am very happy with it.  A major reason is that there is a download available from Camps6 Australia, loading all the camps listed in their book onto the GPS, which to me is invaluable.  It also has Bluetooth so I can talk handsfree when a call comes in (there is never anywhere to pull up when the phone rings when you are driving), so I will be assured of being contacted by all the telemarketers out there!  For city driving there is Advanced Lane Guidance, a 'must have' for me as my 'scenic tour' of Melbourne proves.

I have re-arranged the van somewhat, with the aim of anticipating usage and sorting things more in the order I will use them, E,g a set of clothes, rather than have all trousers in one cupboard, shirts in another etc.  That way some of the 'deeper' storage areas don't need to be constantly accessed (usually a procedure involving moving a lot of other things to get to them).  I also purchased some bins to better sort things and have them more readily available. A new summer weight sleeping bag and setting up the awning should help as the weather is now warming up.  As extra tabs were required for the awning, the sewing machine was required!!

So on Sunday, 7th August, I keyed '162' into the GPS and set off following it's instructions.  Let me explain this a bit more:  The sites in the Camps6 book are listed by State, name and number.  On the GPS, you select the State and the names are listed, so you can scroll thru them to find the one you want, or you can key in the relevant number as a quick means of selecting your goal.  Such is faith (or perhaps laziness) that I didn't bother checking the map, until, after continuing along ever narrowing & winding roads, -  to the strains of "I'm Just an Okie from Muscogee" appropriately - I came to the end of the road!  The GPS stated I had a few more Km to go, but I was in a cull-de-sac surrounded by houses.  So I looked at the map.  The first thing I discovered was I should have keyed in '168'.  I then noticed some vague tracks shown on the map, but if they existed, I doubt if they'd have been trafficable by my van, as I was on quite a hill and the only way was down, sharply!  So I backtracked to the main road, continued on and along the way noticed the path the GPS was trying to take me originally was a very deep, steep rugged valley!  Arriving at the Little Yabba Picnic Area, just south of Kenilworth, QLD, I set up the van, complete with awning!  The only other vehicle was another HiAce from Tasmania!  We exchanged greetings, spent the evening in polite conversation and thus was the first day of my true goal-less Grey Nomading.  From here I'll review other camps in the area to decide where to go next, meanwhile, I shall spend the day here and move on tomorrow (Tues).  Unfortunately there is no phone reception here; tonight is Census night, so that could be interesting!