Charleville, Wyandra, Cunamulla, Enngonia, Bourke

 Heavy rain was forecast so we had to get off our earth bank camp on the riverside in Mitchell. Before leaving we decided to drive out to the Kenniff Monument at Arrest Creek. The monument is a memorial to all the police killed by bushrangers. The Kenniff Brothers were arrested in 1902 and were, according to the State Library of Queensland, Australia's last two bushrangers. There is nothing else at Arrest Creek but the sculpture is cool. 

The Warrego Highway took us through Morven to Charleville, it is a bit of a bouncy road in parts but otherwise easy driving in a straight line west. We checked out the caravan park in town but it looked very ordinary and did not get good reviews so we plumped for Red Lizard Campground 7kms outside Charleville. Red Lizard is really a caravan park with all the amenities you would expect but laid out like a bush camp, all red dirt (gravelly enough to cope with wet weather) and corrugated iron buildings. The showers were huge and hot, all in all a great place to ride out the expected bad weather.

 The promised rain arrived and the temperature was 10°C lower than the previous day so it seemed like a good time to visit the Cosmos Centre at the airport. Charleville promotes itself as the town of cosmos and bilbies, we couldn't guarantee ticking a bilby off our list while in the town but we could make sure we saw the cosmos bit. After popping in for a look at the excellent and free Flying Doctors exhibition which is also at the airport we got to the Cosmos Centre which was great. The weather didn't allow for all the usual sun and stargazing activities but we watched a movie in the planetarium instead. There were three movie options and the other people there had already chosen to see the one about telescopes, the children's movie about cartoon characters visiting the planets would have been more suitable for my level of understanding of all things space but Ian enjoyed the one we saw. The exhibits and information section was free and there were some really neat things in the gift shop. 

 The next morning was very misty but no rain and I managed to get a blurry picture of a Red Capped Robin through the window of the van. We drove in to check out the town, which was pretty large, and visited the Historic House Museum. The museum was one of the better ones with helpful, knowledgeable volunteers and we rounded off our visit with a stop at the cafe opposite which was incredibly busy. We then drove back to the airport to visit the WW11 Secret Bunker. The tag along tour ($30 each) was fully booked so we just looked around the centre ($10), which was great! In 1942 Charleville became an American Airbase and there were some good stories about how American Servicemen found Australian Outback life with excellent interactive displays. 

The Red Lizard Campground was not the sort of place that chases campers out at 10am so it was closer to 11 when we hit the road. We were starting to head south now and expected to take about another week to get home visiting some towns we had not been to before. With that in mind we picked Cunamulla as the next destination and stopped in Wyandra for a coffee and scones on the way. Wyandra is a tiny town but the cafe/post office is quite celebrated, very quirky with a shop full of all kinds of tat and a camping area out the back. The cafe service was a bit chaotic but we got fed in the end and got back on the long, rather boring road where all there was to look at were emus and goats until suddenly a procession of amazingly decked out cars charged past in the opposite direction. It was The Shitbox Rally! 

 Hundreds of cars take part in the rally each year raising money for Cancer research. This year the route was from Mildura to Townsville and there are restrictions on the age and state of vehicles taking part because they have to qualify as shitboxes. Many fall by the wayside and have to carry on in the support vehicles but it looks like a huge amount of fun.
 The cars were just setting off after a stop in Cunamulla and as we pulled in to the town there were still a few stragglers heading for their cars, some wrapped in togas and others dressed as Mexicans.

 Cunamulla looked pretty ordinary but we had read good things about Warego Riverside Caravan Park so we ignored the lack of delights in the town and headed there. A couple of kms outside town it is indeed beautiful. We went for the unpowered bush camping option on the riverbank at $38, the sites were big and all had fire pits and we were allowed to take our pick. Lots of bird life and music in the camp kitchen at 4.30. This was the first Happy Hour we had attended on the whole trip, we usually avoid the kind of places where they happen, but this was ok and the music duo were pleasantly entertaining even if the music was a bit too Country and Western for our taste. 

 We went into Cunamulla for supplies in the morning and I take back all I said about it. The town centre was actually rather nice and in the centre sits The Cunamulla Big Fella, a statue of a song by Slim Dusty. I picked up some bits in a small IGA with a very grumpy cashier before continuing south on the boring emu and goat road into NSW and Enngonia. There is not much in Enngonia apart from the visiting mobile dentist and the Oasis Hotel which has a huge, flat area out the back for campers. It is free with hot showers and toilets in a little garden with dogs, goats and calves wandering about and the expectation is that campers will at least have a drink, hopefully a meal in the pub. We did both of course, and the food was very good.

 Next morning was bright and sunny as we set off again in the direction of Bourke. I like Bourke, it sits on the banks of the Darling River with beautiful parkland all around. The Back of Bourke visitor centre has an excellent cafe where we sat watching birds including Red Tailed Black Cockatoos before setting off for the last few days of our winter trip.

Kilkivan, Chinchilla, Wallumbilla, Roma, Muckadilla, Mitchell

 After picking up a few supplies in the enormous IGA in BilBli we set off through rain to our next stop. We were now heading away from the coast for the kind of territory we really enjoy the most, small country towns. We had to travel north on the freeway to Gympie before we could strike off inland but, as soon as we pointed our rig towards the west, the rain stopped and the journey became far more leisurely. 

 Our first stop was Kilkivan, a tiny pioneer mining town where we settled at Kilkivan RSL Memorial Park donation camp, clean toilets, opposite the pub where food is served from 6-8 every night. The pub was great! Cowhide pool tables with beer can lights and plenty of vegetarian options on the menu and busy even though it was a Monday night. 

The next morning we wandered in to the little town and visited the museum. I have been to many, many museums in country towns and often they just contain ramshackle collections of farming equipment and stuff local families have donated after their rellies have died, ranging from wedding dresses to stamp collections and artificial limbs. Kilkivan, however, had a brilliant little museum, well organised and laid out in a way that would make for an easy school visit. Old buildings like a school house, laundry, barracks had been brought to the site and housed relevant artefacts and the barracks building was home to a significant rock/stone/crystal collection, well done Kilkivan!

 Kumbia was the next place we had expected to stop so we continued one and a half hours west but the camping spot was disappointing so we carried on for another 90 minutes to Chinchilla Weir. This was one of those spots that some Queensland councils do so well. A superb location on a lake with flushing toilets, bbqs, fire pits and even a few powered sites for those who need them, all for a $5 donation to be paid at the visitor centre in town. Many people were there for fishing as the lake was stocked with several species with a boat ramp, day use area with yet more bbqs and a playground. The sunsets were glorious and the whole place was very quiet overnight even though it was pretty busy. 

 Ten minutes drive away, the town of Chinchilla is quite large with a Woolworths and other chains. The Cultural Centre which houses a gallery and cafe was preparing to host Words Out West, a writers festival. If there had been someone appearing I really wanted to listen to I think we would have stayed until it began but it was nearly a week until the festival started so we decided to give it a miss. The town is home to Melonfest and The Big Melon and the beautiful botanic gardens has a brand new, melon themed, water play area.

 After a very relaxing few days in Chinchilla we packed up and headed for Wallumbilla for no real reason other than it was in the direction of Mitchell where we planned to spend a bit of time. There had been the usual odd  behaviour at Chinchilla Weir where people park creepily close to others even though there are huge empty areas available but, on the whole it was most enjoyable and we would stop there again. It was bright and sunny as we bounced our way along the notoriously bumpy Warrego Highway to Wallumbilla. The road trains started to become much larger after we passed through Miles and officially entered the outback. The road gets a bit alarming at the beginning of each week as massive cattle trucks storm by one after another heading to and from the Roma cattle saleyards where the biggest cattle sales in Australia take place every Tuesday.

 Wallumbilla is pretty small but has a pub, school and grocery store. We camped at the showground for a donation which has toilets, hot showers and some power and is very handy for Roma if you are going to see the cattle sales. We wandered over to the pub, taking our lives in our hands to run across quite a long bridge with no footpath on the road train route. I am not sure the pub was entirely worth the risk to life and limb but they did have an interesting pricing system where a glass of wine was $6.50 and a bottle $10 so we were glad we made the effort. 

We were still heading for Mitchell but did not want to arrive on a Saturday when all the decent spots are usually taken up so we factored in an extra stop at Muckadilla. The route took us through Roma where we stumbled upon the Sculptures in the Outback exhibition displayed along the roadside. I love a metal sculpture and there were heaps! We voted for our favourites, mine was the seat with the hat above it but I had to include a picture of a bird of prey which was sculpted by a 14 year old boy! 

 Muckadilla Community Park is a donation camp with toilets and showers overlooked by the Muckadilla Gun Club and just a short stroll from the Mucka Pub. The pub is quite famous and very busy with a resident dog named Bandit who is mentioned on the menu, it says 'please do not feed Bandit however long he sits and looks at you'. There are other amusing signs about the place and an explanation of why it is actually called The Mucka Bup. Apparently the landlady was quite fussy during the renovations so the decorators mixed the letters of Pub up on the outside wall just to wind her up. A picture got into the local paper and visitors came just to look so it has remained The Bup ever since. 

 As I have mentioned before, we were heading to one of our favourite spots, The Fisherman's Rest in Mitchell. It is a beautiful, peaceful free camp in the river a couple of kms out of town. There is a drop toilet and we have learned from previous visits that it is good to check our chosen site for prickles before setting up. It can be cold at night but that was not going to bother us now we had our new diesel heater. As it turned out the weather was glorious and we had a very relaxing few days visiting the hot springs spa pool in town ($8 for a 2 day pass) and just generally hanging around enjoying the wildlife and surroundings. 

Coopernook, Woolgoolga, Murwillumbah, BliBli

 After a few delays we set off on our annual winter trip at the beginning of June. This time we were planning to visit some friends on the Sunshine Coast at the beginning of the journey so drove up the coast for a change. 

It was not the mad dash to get to somewhere warm that we usually attempt because Ian had installed a diesel heater in the caravan. This proved to be a game changer for us. No more being forced to stay at powered caravan parks just so we could plug a fan heater in, we could stay where we liked and still be cosy in the van. So we drove in glorious sunshine for less than two hours to Coopernook State Forest free camp. It was a huge, flat, grassy, camping area among the trees with a few picnic tables, a forest playground and spotless drop toilets. Very nice indeed, we will be back.

 The following morning we set off to Woolgoolga, two and a half hours north and just past Coffs Harbour. The freeway now bypasses all the little towns it used to go through which makes for an easy, if a bit dull, journey. The Coffs Harbour bypass is still under construction however, so there is still a fair bit of stopping and starting to be done there.

 We had opted for Sunset Caravan Park in Woolgoolga as there were not any options for free or cheap camping along the coast and it turned out to be an excellent choice. $48 unpowered, we choose unpowered because there is always far more room than in the powered areas where vans are crammed in right next to each other. The park was fun with mainly permanent residents who had turned their caravan and annex setups into quirky little dwellings over the years, mostly with beautiful gardens. The amenities were spotless although the pool and camp kitchen were being renovated over the winter. The RSL is situated at one end of the park and has great food with an extensive Malaysian menu as well as the standard RSL fare and the Bowling Club is at the other entrance, so no shortage of food and drink options here. 

 There is a nice short cut from the park to the town which sits on a fabulous stretch of coast and is a wonderfully diverse, friendly place. Following WW2 Punjabi Sikhs with Agricultural expertise were encouraged to move to Woolgoolga to work on the banana farms which were experiencing a labour shortage. There are a couple of fabulous Sikh temples in town and the wonderful Sikh Volunteers, who turn up with their food truck to offer relief after fires and floods all over Australia, hail from here.

 We were enjoying Woolgoolga so much we decided to stay for another night and took the receptionist's advice to dive out to Nana Glen for a look. Russell Crowe has a farm there and, as we were in the middle of banana country we expected to see a few nanas but nothing. In fact, Nana Glen was a bit ordinary so we hopped back in the car and drove to Glenreagh instead which was much more interesting. The Big Golden Dog dominates the little town and the Return and Earn was due to open when were were there. These are usually permanent setups in supermarket car parks where you post your bottles and cans into a machine and get 10c each for them. In Glenreagh two retired chaps turned up with a gazebo, some bins and a cashbox then the locals filed in with their empties. It looked pretty efficient but did not have the advantage of the anonymity of the machine, instead they had to face being judged for the amount of bottles and cans they were returning.

  After coffee at The Bluebottles Cafe we headed north again to Murwillumbah Showground where we found the bossiest caretakers we had ever encountered! After a big fuss and much huffing and puffing about us turning up on spec instead of booking, Sue and Gary just managed to squeeze us in. Gary was very firm about exactly how we should drive our caravan onto our pitch and we could see all the other campers sniggering as they had obviously had a similar experience. The place was enormous and more than half empty, I can't imagine what the hoo haa would be if they were actually busy. The price was $35 unpowered, which is up there for a showground, the amenities were clean but old and there was no temperature control on the shower. This was ok for us but the showers would have been way too hot for a small child. There was also a snake curled around the rafters above my head in the ladies toilet.

 Murwillumbah is on the Tweed River in the shadow of Mount Warning. It is a very hilly town with nice historic shopfronts but very higgledy piggledy with cafes, shops and houses squashed together in confusing, meandering streets. Nice but very busy.

 We had a few running repairs to do and wanted to stay a second night so had a small fight about who was going to approach Sue and Gary to ask. I lost so had to do the begging, after much deliberation they managed to squeeze us in again pointing out we were Very Lucky because Gemfest was coming for the weekend. Some stallholders were already setting up their crystals and dreamcatchers and apparently there would be some shamanic drumming later... can't wait!

 Murwillumbah is a really busy town with loads of cars everywhere in the jumble of streets. We needed to get a part for the van so drove out to a big industrial area. On our return we found queues of traffic because there was glass all over the road in not one but two different places. There was no sign of the truck carrying the glass so presumably they carried on oblivious to the fact that they had lost their cargo. I hope they weren't the long awaited windows for someone's Grand Design. So we scrunched over the glass then went for coffee in the lovely Austral Cafe which was started over 100 years ago by a migrant from Ithaca. His village scraped together the money for his passage when he was 15 because his father thought there was no future for him on the island. He worked in cafes before opening his own which still has the original booths and decor and serves amazing thick shakes. 

 Gemfest was up and running by the time we were leaving but Gary was his usual jobsworth self and would not let us leave the van to have a look, it had to be moved to an area designated by him. We obeyed and had a look around before heading into Queensland to BliBli where our friends live. The road took us alongside several Gold Coast theme parks and Ian got stuck driving for a long stint because there were no stopping to change over opportunities. We had selected Riverside Caravan Park in BliBli, $40 unpowered, right on the river, good amenities. There is a big IGA next door and it was a very short walk to Peter and Pam's house. 

 A castle overlooks the park, which is something you don't see very often in Australia. Apparently it was built by a Scottish couple in 1972 to house their doll collection, now it is a sort of history/toy day out for kids, very strange. There is a big dog park just along the road so we wore Harvey out before leaving him in the van while we went for an evening of musical entertainment in Pam and Peter's over 55s village.

 In the morning Peter picked us up and we went to nearby Palmwoods to Piggyback Asian fusion restaurant for lunch. The towns around here are very attractive as it is extremely hilly so the views are great. Palmwoods was a bit of a destination town for bars and eateries with Rick's Garage (bit like The Ace Cafe) dominating the High Street.

Strahan, Queenstown and New Norfolk

 The roads taking us to Strahan were meandering but in good condition and it was only two and a half hours before we reached our chosen camping spot, Strahan Golf Club - $15 a night, no facilities. The two caravan parks in town had very poor reviews so we plumped for the cheap option which was only a 15 minute walk from town. We didn't see a single soul on the cold, grey walk to the waterfront. Strahan does feel a bit like the end of the world and in some respects it is, once out to sea there is nothing for 15,000kms until you hit Argentina. 

 We arrived in the centre of things, the waterfront , and there was still no sign of life until we wandered into the sawmill and found it packed. That's where everyone was! Apparently there had been a free talk at 3pm, cleverly timed to coincide with the return of the Gordon River boat trips. On the excursions the guests had been filled with information about Huon Pine, a timber from the area ideal for boat building, and they were going mad in the sawmill shop buying anything they could lay their hands on that had been fashioned from Huon Pine. 

We went and had a look at the two boats that offer daily Gordon River lunch cruises and selected the Gordon River Cruises boat which is part electric so quieter, it is also the first on the river in the morning so the famous reflections should be undisturbed. The trip was $155 each for the cheap seats and we had to be there at 8am. It was so cold we couldn't face hanging around to see the daily play, 'The Ship That Never Was' which is performed at 5.30 every afternoon, apparently they do provide blankets. We shivered our way back to the van wearing coats, scarves, hats and gloves while the local kids were kicking a ball in the street dressed in shorts and t-shirts. 

 We were up bright and early in grey drizzle and got ourselves rugged up for the cruise. The golf club had been a pretty ordinary place to camp so we took the van to the waterfront with the intention of moving on to our next stop once we disembarked. Upon boarding we discovered that our cheap seats were actually better than the more expensive ones. They were not by a window but were elevated so occupants could see out of both sides and the front all at once.

The weather cleared as the boat took us out beyond the harbour to demonstrate how tiny the entrance was and to explain the measures that had been put in place to make it safer. It was really pleasant on deck, the wind had stopped completely and it was no longer raining although quite cloudy. Next we glided silently along the Gordon River, the reflections were breathtaking. Apparently we had hit upon a rare day when the conditions were absolutely perfect for max mirror effect, a bit of sun, no wind and plenty of cloud. The picture featuring us at the top of this page is not of mist, that effect is made by the reflections of the clouds on the dark, glassy river. 

The boat stopped at a jetty where we all got off and walked around a little boardwalk in the World Heritage Rainforest. It was gorgeous, all damp, mossy and slippery with loads of fungus. Back on the boat the lunch was very generous with excellent Tassie Smoked Salmon which we tucked into as we headed for our next stop at the penal colony of Sarah Island.

 The crew handed out umbrellas as it had started to drizzle when we arrived but, as soon as the guides collected us for our tour, the sun came out. Sarah Island is very pretty but it must have been daunting to be imprisoned there. The convicts who misbehaved ended up there and, if there was further poor conduct, they were sailed across to Grummet Rock next door where there was just a cave which flooded for shelter. Eventually this was deemed too cruel and they stopped using Grummet Island. Eventually a shipbuilder set up his business on Sarah Island using the local Huon Pine and convict labour. Reoffending, escape attempts and suicides became a rarity as the convicts learnt a skill and put it to good use until the authorities decided the convicts were enjoying themselves too much and closed the ship building venture, preferring punishment to rehabillitation. 

The Sarah Island tour was brilliant, as was everything about the cruise and we got off in time to take the very scenic drive to Queenstown for our next stop. There was only one place to stay, the football oval which was $50 with no facilities, gulp. It was quite pretty, surrounded by pine covered hills with a little creek running along behind us but home to a wasp family. I haven't had to worry about wasps for 11 years now and had forgotten how incredibly annoying they are. 

 Wasps aside, Queenstown was quite interesting. It had grown up as a mining town, digging up copper, silver and all kinds of different rocks. The hills around are striped in multiple colours and the creek is orange in places where it runs through the copper and sulphur bearing rock. Apparently an engineer found a way of running a smelter without coal, the downside was it produced sulphurous gases, killed all the vegetation and made the place virtually unlivable. Queenstown is home to the Wilderness Railway which looked amazing but unfortunately didn't run on the day we were there. The railway station was delightful and housed an excellent cafe although there was not much else in the town. 

 Another winding, pretty road took us on our way to New Norfolk where we would be within easy striking distance of Hobart to return the van. On the way we stopped at Nelson Falls to take the 20 minute circular walk through the rainforest full of ferns, moss and fungus to a spectacular waterfall, well worth the short detour. 

 There were not many towns along our route to New Norfolk so we were glad we had filled up at Queenstown with eyewateringly expensive fuel - thanks Donald - but as we approached New Norfolk huge cherry farms lined both sides of the road. New Norfolk is a funny place, it is one of the oldest towns in Australia but not maintained in a way that makes the most of its history. We had arrived on a Sunday and the town was deserted and all a bit grim and down at heel even though it is built in a beautiful location on hills overlooking the River Derwent. Our caravan park was on the riverside, $50 a night for power, but I think we were put in Bogan Town, must have been our Go Cheap motorhome. The amenities were nice and it was a good place for us to pack up and clean the van up before giving it back. 

The following morning we woke to discover that New Norfolk was quite a bit better than we had first thought. The town was an uphill climb from the caravan park but much nicer with some people milling around it and was a funny mix of expensive shops and very cheap ones. After coffee at a very nice cafe/gallery combo we took a fabulous walk along the river which is quite black and glassy with some good reflections though not quite as dramatic as those on the Gordon River.

We packed up the van and set about the task of eating and drinking as much of the remaining food and grog we could fit in before giving the rest of it away to our camp neighbours. The trip to Tasmania was wonderful and, now we can fly direct from Newcastle, we will be back.