And back again in Brisbane

The week at Bargara was very relaxing.  The resort is right on the beach, and a lovely beach it is!  Apparently it is an egg laying area for turtles, so much of it is protected (and rightly so).  Bundaberg is nearby and that is where they make Bundaberg Rum, so a factory tour was certainly on the "Must do" list.  Six million litres of rum are produced each year, 97% of which is consumed in Australia.  They were preparing a special release and our tour group was privileged to see the much more manual intensive bottling process:  The special 1 litre bottles are put onto the line manually, washed & filled as per normal (automatically), and the hand corked & sealed.  The release was going to be in five days hence, and the waiting line had already started!  There are actually Rules for Lining Up!  Collectors are certainly keen!!  We got to sample some rum and I bought a few bottles also.

The Big Barrel, the information centre for Bundaberg Ginger Beer, was also on my list.  It wasn't a factory tour, rather a self guided tour through the Centre describing the history, process etc.  Very interesting, informative but perhaps, having brewed ginger beer in the past, not as enlightening as the rum factory.  

The town of Bargara is a bit out of the way, but is a popular holiday destination as well as a very pleasant place to live.  Being out of the way a bit it was later being 'discovered', but there are a lot of very nice new houses, with the older original ones on the market, most likely to be torn down by a new owner, either for a new modern house or a block of units.  The beachside land is beautifully developed into parklands, with walking tracks, picnic tables and BBQ's for quite some distance.  Very pleasant and much appreciated, judging by the numbers using it.

The daily routine wasn't strenuous by any stretch of the imagination:  Walk along the beach, perhaps a stop for coffee or ice cream, a drive to see the area or washing clothes (real washing machine & dryer!), long shower in the heat of the day and then tea followed by another walk.  I tried fishing but the afternoon winds were quite strong & the beach reasonably shallow so I couldn't get out beyond the breakers, which were quite a way out:  I didn't have to clean any fish either.

The week ended too quickly and the drive to Brisbane on 24 September was an uneventful five hour drive.  To date I've traveled 4328 km since leaving Brisbane on 30 August on this trip, and 7,737 km since leaving Tassie.  The aim was/is to trial the Grey Nomad life and it has been an experience!   Living in a van takes some adapting, it seemed every time I stopped I re-arranged things; yet I still seem to dig deep when I need an item, but less and less.  Power capacity has been greatly improved with the solar panel charging my stand-alone single 105AH deep cycle battery which keeps my laptop running and therefore communication with the world.  I'll be replacing the current house battery - a normal car battery - with two 105AH deep cycle batteries to allow me to free camp longer.  Cooking is pretty basic, mainly to keep washing up to a minimum:  Water isn't so much the problem, rather disposal of grey water.  The people and their rigs vary greatly.   At the top are large motorhomes with all the comforts, some including a car in tow.  A fellow in Gin Gin was getting his converted large bus cleaned up after 6 months free camping in remote areas, to return home again.  Another couple I met sold up, bought a motorhome to live and travel in.  Many have a 4WD with a caravan or campertrailer and go out on trips, returning home for a while to plan the next one.  There are even some traveling on a motorcycle with a trailer.  They all seem to talk about the freedom, some of them find it the best lifestyle for their economic circumstances and they all seem to agree it's a good life!  One fellow told me he and his wife returned after a few months away and he was looking forward to the next trip:  When his wife said she wasn't going anymore, he found another woman and took off again!  There is always someone willing to help if needed and they are a supportive community generally. 

Despite it's penchant for gravel roads & garden paths, the GPS is essential.  Having the Camps6 sites programmed in is terrific as they can be a bit out of the way at times.  For getting around larger towns & cities - essential!  You can quickly find the nearest petrol station, shopping centre, specific shop, Eg Jaycar, even the nearest toilet!  With the advantage of Bluetooth as well, you can be assured of never missing a telemarketer's call.

Now to plan the next rip.

SCRATCH SCRATCH Scratch scratch

Beware the sand flies of QLD beaches.  Three days minimum - scratch scratch scratch.  Sure cures (so I was advised) include Listerine, Dettol & baby oil (50-50), vinegar - all of which were at the shops, meanwhile I was mile away in the very pleasant setting of Boulder Creek Rest Area, a free camp by a mountain stream.  It is ~50km west of Mackay, up yet another gravel road and difficult to find - the first time:  It was pretty crowded tho, as many keep returning. 

Kev was camped next to me and was working on his fridge, as it wasn't working on gas.  I guess I helped him but he showed me how to unblock the gas jet, which apparently will sometimes get blocked from waxes in the gas.  He's been on the wallaby track a while and explained that things going wrong are to be expected, which comment was confirmed by the lady on his other side, a great grandmother who's been traveling solo for quite a few years.  Russ & Bev were happy to discuss their stove made from a 9kg gas bottle and it was a very versatile unit indeed!  It had a plate, grill and a camp oven that fitted snuggly into it.  An ingenious and practical recycling to say the least.  Many campers also had dogs with them so I got in a bit of dog walking as well, although they were small and not really happy about rock hopping across the creek - unlike Big Red.  Two pleasant nites (bar 'scratch scratch scratch') were spent there, then moving on to Gin Gin - near Bundaberg - for a nite.  I left early to be sure to get a spot, as many campsites fill quickly but Gin Gin is huge!  Also popular.  I wanted to be close to the Don Pancho Resort, Bargara, where I'd booked in for a week from 17 Sept. 

From Townsville to Bundaberg was interesting, especially after the wide flats of the outback.  There are more hills which appear to be remnants of volcanoes or some ancient geographic uplifts.  Eons of erosion have produced flats and where there is access to water (artesians, mainly, I believe, although some of the rivers could supply irrigation) cane is the main crop.  I also saw some banana plantations and even a few paddocks of corn.  Between the major cities there isn't much so as soon as the petrol gauge gets to 1/2, I look for the next servo, usually a roadhouse.  Away from towns and access to water there is a lot of rough grazing and bushland.  The roads are generally good but there are roadworks everywhere repairing damage from the devastating floods a few months ago.  Along the coast the traffic is very heavy but moves steadily:  In the outback I'd travel at 80-90 km/hr and move over when approached by the odd faster vehicle but on the coast there is always someone behind so I travel at or just under the speed limit and continually get passed!  But I get there, and "there" currently is Bargara, near the sea and now to get on with enjoying my week!

Townsville

The Strand in Townsville is certainly a vibrant, busy place.  It is a beautiful long beach area that consists of a terrific waterpark for children, BBQ areas, various memorials, including their Cenotaph, a Coral Sea Battle Memorial and a National Servicemen's Memorial.  Townsville hosted a National Servicemen's Reunion on the weekend, a well attended event of which a friend from Tasmania attended and we'd agreed to meet while he was in Townsville.  Said mate attended a reunion there a few years back and we set off to re-visit the Thuringowa RSL Club - it is an unusual Club indeed, being way out of town, in a paddock on it's own, and certainly not easy to find, but we (he) did!  We talked to some recently discharged Diggers and enjoyed the ambience of the Club!  Activities organised for the reunion included a concert, Dawn Service, March and Memorial Service and other social functions.  The concert featured Normie Rowe and Judy Stone as well as the brilliant 1 RAR Band - a great open air concert on The Strand!  Well done Townsville!  On Sunday we attended the Dawn Service and then I got photos of him marching into Anzac Park, and while he attended the Memorial Service & BBQ after, I had to leave to get to my next planned stop, called Funny Dunny.

Funny Dunny sits about 20km off the main road and is close to the beach.  So what's funny about the dunny?  Can't say, as it is one of the modern functional composting toilets found in remote areas, so my guess is the original may have been unique.  The area is a popular recreation area with use over the years obvious.  It also, unfortunately, has those nasty little sand flies and I can state from experience that Listerine doesn't deter them.  Unfortunately I haven't yet found the Nature's Botanicals insect repellent - designated for horses but is a natural product used by stringers apparently.  It is a pleasant spot with quite a compliment of bush turkeys - start tossing out a bit of food and a dozen of them will soon gather around!  Two nites were spent here with the thought of perhaps a fish feed but they are not biting (I should have been here yesterday:  Further up by the channel - 2km up the beach - is where they are....).  It has been a good rest tho and a good test for the solar panel, which proved successful! 

Townsville!

Now in Townsville, a bit ahead of plan but the blown tyre sort of changed things:  Now running two new front tyres and much more relaxed. 

I've had some funny things happening with my photos and posting them on the web album.  Internet is sometimes on the fringe and I suspect they may appear not to be loading, so I load them again.  I think it's tidy now, hope you don't find them too boring.

I'm in a caravan park on the beach, very pleasant indeed, the plan for the evening is to sort of meander down the Strand and find a nice restaurant for tea. 

On and on

From Carnarvon Gorge I headed to Sapphire, with a stop overnight at Springsure, under an awe inspiring sandstone bluff which is floodlit at nite.  For some reason my GPS seems to think I prefer gravel roads, for it not only took me along one, but led me up the garden path to Mt. Ogg station, a dead end, and then got lost itself!  Getting dark, cows & roos sharing the road and the petrol gauge dropping like a rock, but fortunately the GPS got itself oriented again & got me out, an hour late but I filled with petrol in Rolleston and continued to Springsure (and on to Sapphire the next day).

Sapphire is a very interesting place in the gem fields, with Rubyvale just up the road.  A lot of sapphire mining and very interesting sapphires as well, but no rubies.  Sapphires come in a range of colours with orange being the most rare and yellow next.  A fossiker camped at the rest area took great delight in telling me all about it, as well as his life story - I gather it can get lonely out on the diggings, esp since there are enough paranoid fossikers with guns to pretty well prevent a lot of wandering onto neighboring claims!

Sapphires are spewed up by volcanoes, erosion then deposits them in streams which eventually get buried themselves, so the miners dig down until they hit the 'wash' layer which is the sapphire bearing belt.  They mine this, then screen & wash it to find the sapphires.  There is also topaz & zircon.  Said chap had an orange sapphire, 3 carat polished, which he told me was worth $900.  If it were cut it would yield a 1 carat gem worth the same price.  He intends to keep it and have it mounted in a ring for himself.

 Longreach was the next stop, with the Stockman's Hall of Fame firmly on the agenda, and an informative & interesting place it is!  They have a show they put on also, which is very enjoyable. 

The Qantas Museum was also visited with the tour of the Super Jumbo quite interesting and informative. 

Spinifex and Dinosaurs!

Moving on from Longreach to Winton, and the change in the vegetation is quite marked:  From rough grazing to what appears natural bush and it looks drier.  Winton is a jewel in the Outback, being well set up for tourists and having some very interesting attractions.  The main draw for me was the home of 'Waltzing Matilda' but the dinosaur discoveries were also unique as it is the only place in the world where they have footprints of what is termed 'The Dinosaur Stampede'.  An incredible sequence of circumstances resulted in this rather amazing feature.  First, was a mud flat just the right texture to capture the tracks, being located next to a creek where critters went to drink.  Then, while a lot of smaller dinosaurs were having a drink, a T. rex equivalent runs out of the bush for dinner.  The smaller dinosaurs run everywhere, leaving plenty of footprints, plus Rex's prints are very well captured.  Then just the right type of flooding to not wash the prints away yet cover them with silt happened, eventually deposits covering them to at least 70m which was then washed away again (its only took 100million years).  They were discovered but not recognised for what they were for a few years, then the penny dropped and preservation of the area of footprints undertaken.  Now there is much effort into finding and re-assembling dinosaur bones.

They are the only sequence of prints of moving dinosaurs on earth, and were studied by the animators of Jurassic Park to make their models move as they would have 100 million years ago.  They have subsequently discovered a lot of dinosaur remains in the area, many new species:  Apparently Australia was thought to have had very few dinosaurs but they now know there were a great deal of them here.  There are also many fossils of ferns, redwoods and Australian pines (araucaria).  A totally amazing and unique experience!

The Waltzing Matilda Centre is a Must See and is certainly very well done.  It goes thru the history of the song and I certainly learned much from it:  It's origins are actually Teutonic, I'd tell you more but that would ruin your visit there.  It is an iconic song to say the least.

There are also boulder opals found in the region,  while the re are very good ones to be found, most are rather ordinary:  As the Park Ranger stated, "No one I ever heard of got rich opal mining in the area.".

Not far from the Dinosaur Stampede (well, only about 70km) is Old Cork Station on the Diamantina River, so I headed off there as well - all gravel road and all pretty bumpy.  I found the River but never did find the Station House, tho only a few km from it.  I took the River Road back, not a wise move as it turned out.  That country is flat as, so any slight dip soon becomes a rather good waterflow in the rains:  Driving along at 70-80 km/hr and you suddenly dip slightly BUT in the recent floods the bottom of that dip is scoured out, causing some interesting and unique waltzes of the van!  While the song goes "...for the rain never falls on the dusty Diamantina...", it's pretty well true because the region was dry as and very dusty too:  The recent rain (probably a 1 in 100 year event) was the exception, and that only to prepare the crossings to add interest to my trip.  I might add the weather is clear, sunny and warm.

The campsite by the Long Waterhole was enjoyed for the nites in Winton, and that's it for now - time to move on again.  Rather a long blog but I've discovered I need to allow extra time in my trips for actual travel time and for collating facts, photos etc.

Qwik update as I sit in the waiting room of Barr's Tyres in Charters Towers.  On the way up from Winton a front tyre blew.  I was going to replace them when I got back to Brisbane but not really comfortable about driving all that way with no spare, given the other front tyre is well worn also.  It is amazing how many discarded tyres & tyre bits are along the highway - I  noticed every one of them!  Just to keep my paranoia up, when I went to start the vaan this morning the battery was dead.  I organised with a neighbor to charge it but it seemed fully charged, so to the obvious, and Yes, the terminals were dirty!  Should be off soon to Townsville and lunch with a Tassie mate who is there at the moment.  Tonight I'll free camp just out of Charters Towers.

Cheers all!

Carnarvon Gorge

What a fantastic place!  The Gorge cuts thru a sandstone belt with gorges leading off to the sides as well.  The vegetation varies from drier eucalypt to wet rainforest in the gullies.  The view from Boolimba Bluff takes in much of the Gorge and is well worth the steep climb up:  There is a section ONLY 300m of 1 in 3 incline which was achieved but with a few rests.  The view from the top was well worth the trip.  Mickey's Gorge was also quite spectacular, as well as a much easier walk.  I can certainly recommend a visit if the opportunity arises!

Leaving the area at 3pm for the Springsure campsite was interesting as my GPS took me thru the scenic route along the backroads, complete with getting lost and the petrol gauge getting uncomfortably low.  The road was gravel and mainly access to more out of the way stations, including Mt. Ogg where the road ended!  It was getting dark, there were cows  roo to worry about, I had no idea where I was nor did the GPPS, but suddenly the GPS figured out how to get me out and all ended well, if an extra hour longer.  Partway along I heard a conversation on the radio about dropping some plugs off with Sally, who was at the gate collecting them mail, and a few minutes later I passed a lass on an ATV:  We waved and I bet she thought "I wonder if that crazy Tasmanian knows he's lost?".  The road ran thru a valley with sandstone cliffs rising from it a little back from the road, a very pretty drive.  A few stops due to cramp, plus a few quick leaps out of bed during the night, but the view was still worth it.

I finally made it to Springsure at 7pm where the campsite was under a huge bluff, lit up with floodlights, a very nice backdrop.

The next day was a drive to Sapphire, passing thru Emerald on the way.  The day was spent affixing Anderson plugs to both batteries & the solar panel, plus helping a fellow from WA in the adjacent van switch from halogen spots to LED's.  They invited me for tea and a good chat after.  Tomorrow it's off to the gem fields & local tourist attractions:  I would guess this would be a good spot to pick up some sapphires!