Brisbane to Cooktown

The newer entries will be added to the bottom of this page as it reads better I think

_________________________________________________________

11-14/7/12: After leaving Brisbane, we drove to the Sunshine coast, and spent a bit of time around Coolum, Noosa, and all points inbetween. We (Janine) wanted to go to the weekend market at Eumundi, so we did. It is pretty big and took a bit of time to get around. I managed 10 minutes or so, and then went and read my book in peace. 

_________________________________________________________

15-16/7/12: The next day we set off north again, and drove to Gympie. I don’t think we stopped. The road north (A1) is terrible. It is one lane, and full of holes. There have been multiple attempts to patch it up, but now it looks like a cobbled street. So we tried turning off and heading out to the coast. We aimed for Tin Can Bay because it sounded unusual. It might have been the weather (it hasn’t stopped raining since we left Brisbane), but the bay was more of a swamp. There was nothing much to do there so we went to the supermarket and headed back towards the A1 at Maryborough. This road was even worse. We had our sights set on spending the night at Childers at a roadside stop, which we did. Along with about 20 other vans. The roadside stops in this part of Queensland are few and far between, so every man and his two dogs are there.

One recent addition to the van is a TV antenna, which looks just like a normal car radio antenna. So we stayed in, and watched a bit of telly.

We spent the next day drinking coffee in Childers and spent the night there again. The sun came out for an hour or two in the afternoon so we just lazed about reading by the van. 

_________________________________________________________

17/7/12: In the morning we had more coffee in Childers, and then drove to Bundaberg. We had lunch there by the river. After lunch, we stayed off the A1, and took a side road out to The Town of 1770. This is where (and when) Captain Cook came ashore when he ‘discovered’ Australia. Again. After the Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon had discovered it in 1606. We had a good look round, and it was nice enough. But there was nothing ‘historical’ there, and nothing from 1770.

We headed back to the A1, and north to a roadside stop just south of Gladstone. This was even busier than Childers, and we struggled to get a park. 

_________________________________________________________

19/7/12: This morning we needed to get to Mackay to sort out some banking. So we did, and it took most of the day. We had to pay for a campsite about 40 kms north of MacKay as there was nothing else. Its very noticeable how few roadside stops there are up here. They’re about 100-150 kms apart and everyone gravitates to them. And most of the towns are just towns.

The road doesn’t follow the coastline as such, so it’s been a bit hard on the dogs missing out on their beach runs. Its been a lot of driving this past few days. Hopefully the weather will improve and the distance between places worth seeing will get less. Otherwise, it seems like we’ll be back in Melbourne in a couple of weeks the rate we’re going.

_______________________________________________________

20/7/12: Today we drove north to Proserpine, and then out to the coast at Airlies Beach. The sun was out, no clouds and everything looked much better. We had lunch near the harbour at Airlies, and then drove around the area for a bit. We decided to check into a campsite ($25 unpowered) for the night at Airlies. We got there about oneish, and sat in the sun all afternoon reading and Googling. Very relaxing.

_________________________________________________________

21/7/12: After leaving the campsite at Airlie, we had a look around the Saturday market, but it was pretty small. We decided to continue north to Bowen and on to Home Hill. On the way, we drove up to a lookout which was good. Lots of Rock Wallabies sitting around. Home Hill is a great spot if you’re travelling in a van. They had a ‘comfort spot’ in the centre of town (it’s a one street town) where you can park overnight. They provide a camp kitchen, with power to charge things up, and a toilet block with hot showers (free). It was quite busy. We made the ‘mistake’ of stopping on the way into town at a reserve thinking it was the rest stop. It wasn’t but it was better. Only a few vans, on a grassed area, with water and toilets. 

_________________________________________________________

22/7/12: In the morning we went to the supermarket in Ayr just up the road, but it was shut. We decided to go on to Townsville. It was Sunday so a lot of things were shut too, but it seemed quite nice. Not what I was expecting. We had a drive around, and then went up Castle Hill which is another lookout. It was pretty warm – about 25 C. Janine had made plans to catch up with a mate in Townsville in the next day or two, so we decided to drive inland a bit to another free camp. Its near Charters Towers on the Burdekin River. There were about 25 other caravans there. Caravanners are a different breed to motorhomers. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but they are definitely different. They don’t interact or chat much in comparison, and seem to spend most of their time establishing a new home wherever they are. It takes them hours. Weird they are. 

__________________________________________________________

23/7/12: The next day we drove back towards Townsville, via Ravenswood. Ravenswood is an old mining town. Very yesteryear. We had another night to go before catching up with Jano’s mate Cath, so we went back to Home Hill. It was an hour the wrong way, but it’s free, with showers, and TV reception. 

_________________________________________________________

24/7/12: Back to Townsville today and a catch up with Cath and Julian. Lots of beers, and Oxford sausage pasta sauce, and sticky date pudding. We parked on the drive which was handy. We had a walk along the front in the evening. It was a really nice day.  

_________________________________________________________

25/7/12: After leaving Townsville, we had great plans for stopping at one of many free camp spots on this bit of the coast. We didn’t want to go too far, and fancied staying a few days somewhere for a break. The problem with Queensland so far is that places to stay are few and far between, and the coast road is miles from the coast. So its been getting a bit monotonous.

We pulled in at Saunders Beach, Toomulla Beach, and Balgal beach, all of which had toilets and free camping right next to the beach. But they were totally full of caravans. And caravanners. We were there early in the day, but it made no difference. No one seemed to be using the beach, or taking advantage of the area. Just all sitting in their newly made suburb, doing the washing etc. So we pressed on to a road side stop at Rollingstone which was also full. We managed to squeeze in on the slip road into the stop. It was nice enough, right on a small lake which was bright blue for some reason. We made the decision to find somewhere to stay tomorrow at a paid campsite, to relax for a bit.

_________________________________________________________

26/7-1/8/12: Today we continued north through Ingham and Cardwell. We had a quick look around Tully, but the ‘show’ is on this weekend so the place was heaving. This area of coast is where the cyclone (Yasi) came through last year. Apart from a few downed trees, you’d never know.

We turned off the main highway, and took a smaller road back out to the coast at South Mission Beach. It’s all very tropical, with palm trees on the beach. We happened across a smallish campsite that takes dogs, right on the beach. We booked in for a night, and then added a few more nights until the middle of next week. There’s a pub next door, and a few shops nearby. The beach allows dogs, and the weather’s great (27C and sunny). The site is pretty cheap too - $26 a night, with the 7^th free. We have got a lot of banking and bits and bobs to sort out, so it’ll be nice to do all that here, interdispersed with beach walks and trips to the pub. 

_________________________________________________________

2/8/12: Well, we're still here. We spent the week sorting out our financial records for the last year, sitting and walking on the beach, and being sociable. We met two couples, one of which has been stalking us since Emu Heads!!. So we've all been catching up having bbq's and going out for dinner which has been nice. After a week of just relaxing, we've decided to have another one. We've moved to a different campsite about 300 metres down the road. Its still pretty much on the beach, but is much cheaper. Its the local skydiving centre too, so the crowd in this one is a bit less grey. Or wrinkly. The facilities are better than the first site, and its only $90 for 7 nights. Plus we can get TV and internet reception. 

We intend to go out on a boat in the next few days, and visit a couple of the Whitsunday Islands and do a bit of snorkling. Hopefully the weather will hold out for that - its been 27 C and sunshine every day for a week now. So not much to report all in all, but still good this end.

__________________________________________________________

9/8/12: Not much to report really. Still staying in the same campsite ($12.80 pn), and generally being lazy. We have been hanging about with our new chums quite a bit, having bbqs, going to the pub, and having cheap steaks ($5 steak night on Wednesday at the pub). We spend most days walking on the beach, or reading. Twice a day the parachutists land on the beach next to the campsite, but we haven't done it yet.

On Monday we went out on the water taxi. There have neen two cyclones here in the last 5 years, and a lot of the tourist accomodation on the islands has closed down, so the water taxi isn't really needed anymore.  So the operator charges $30 for three hours of island hopping, snorkels and flippers included. It was really good. We took a picnic lunch, and spent an hour or so on an island. 

We will probably leave here on Monday and carry on up north for a bit. And then the long trip home for Christmas.

_________________________________________________________

14/8/12: Well, we stayed another night at South Mission Beach because Clive ate something and was up all night with D and V. We didn't fancy driving off with him in the back in that state so we waited. We loaded up with water and food, and took off today, still heading north. On the way north we stopped at Josephine Falls. We haven't been to a waterfall for ages! The falls are surrounded by sugarcane crops which are still being harvested due to the rain. After the falls, we got as far as Babinda. We stayed at a free camp here, which was good. It had toilets and water. We had big plans of going canoeing down the river the next day, but it was pouring down. We decided we might call back here on the way back down. 

_________________________________________________________

15/8/12: Woke up to pouring rain so no canoeing. We decided to keep going up to Cairns. It rained most of the morning, but cleared up a bit in the afternoon. On the way to Cairns our fan stopped working so no fresh air or air conditioning. So off to yet another Mercedes dealer in Cairns. And another afternoon sitting around with the dogs waiting to see what it was and if they had the parts in stock. It needed a new fan, which they had, so it was all done by 5 pm. If you're ever tempted to buy a Sprinter; don't would be my advice.  We hadnt really planned where we were going to stay around Cairns other than maybe the showgrounds, but they were shut. So we headed north to lake Placid caravan park which has good reviews. At $37 for an unpowered site it'd want to. Just another caravan park as far as we could tell.

_________________________________________________________

16/8/12: Today we were aiming for Cooktown. A bit optomistic really. We stayed on the coast road, and headed into Port Douglas. The coast road is really good. As good as Victoria's Great Ocean Road. We had a couple of stops on the way, and then had a brew in Port Douglas. Port Douglas is a bigger version of Noosa - only there for the tourist trade. But its still nice. From here we wanted to stay on the coast and go to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree National Park. This road doesn't continue on, so it is a round trip back to Mossman just north of Port Douglas, and then back inland. We made it as far as Daintree Village for lunch, and gave up. We can't camp up there because of the dogs (National Park), and we were driving further and further from where we were heading. So we went back to Mossman.

The road to Cooktown wasn't what I was expecting. In my head it should have been red dust and outback. But it was the opposite. Lush forests and mountains. we climbed quite high out of Mossman, and then drove along the tops of the mountains. We made it as far as Mount Molloy and spotted a road stop. It was full of travellers and we squoze in. We'll probably make it to Cooktown tomorrow.

_________________________________________________________

17/8/12: We left Mount Molloy and headed up to Cooktown today. It about a 2 ½ hour drive. The countryside did get a lot drier and desolate – more what I was expecting. There are a couple of really good look outs on the way. And lots of cows grazing along the road side. Cooktown itself is just a small town. A few shops and a small harbour area. We spoke to a couple of American tourists on the way up who had stayed at a farm stay just outside Cooktown, so we headed there. Apparently we were supposed to be in the cabins provided, but the owner let us stay in the van and just use the showers etc. It was quite relaxing and we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a fire, and sat around watching the sunset. 

_________________________________________________________

We have travelled as far north as we can - the road ran out and turned to dirt. There’s about another 650 kms of dirt road north of us, but we didn’t fancy it – it’d shake the van to bits. So its homeward bound! We had big plans of heading across to Darwin and back down the middle, but we’ve changed our mind. We would end up doing that road twice, as we’d use it when we travel to the west to Perth and around the top. So we will go back south more or less on the coast for a while, and cut inland further south. The next leg is here.