After a very pleasant couple of nights at the Heritage Centre in Wandoan, we set off north again on our journey to reach the tropics. The weather was already warm this far up but we were determined to reach our target, so after a quick coffee and a visit to the world's cheapest op shop, we were on our way. The plan was to stop at Biloela next, a town which had been regularly in the news as the townsfolk had campaigned to keep their neighbours, a refugee Sri Lankan family, in Australia. We thought this little place deserved to have some of our traveller dollars but the drive along the road in revealed Biloela to be massive and a bit like Slough so we decided to give it a miss and continued to nearby Goovigen in the Banana Shire region which had been recommended by a man called Neil we had chatted to in Condamine a few days ago. 

We passed two huge Wedge Tailed Eagles snacking on a dead kangaroo in a field as we pulled into Goovigen Recreation Grounds and there was Neil set up near the entrance. He was right, this was a great spot to stop. $10 a night donation for power and water or $5 without, hot showers, toilets, a playground and a big oval to walk the dog around. There were spaces for around 12 vans to comfortably camp there and it was full by evening. The town was tiny but had clearly once been a buzzing little place with a railway station , shops and a pub. All of those were closed down now, perhaps the cheap camping initiative will help to change that.

  We found out we had stumbled upon and accidentally been following The Great Inland Way, which runs from Melbourne to Brisbane and features all these wonderful places to stop cheaply. Most of the travellers we met had taken this route out of Victoria to escape the winter down there, many did so every year and bumped into others they had met on previous years in exactly the same spot. That would not suit us, we like to try and see new places each time we get the caravan out. 

On the first morning I woke to an amazing dawn chorus so set my alarm to be up in time to see it the next day. We were determined to see budgies this trip so I was hopeful but all I saw were Butcher Birds and Choughs. Pleasant Lake was supposed to be a local attraction so we drove there to find it was no more than a puddle and not very pleasant so we continued to Victoria Lake which was very pretty. There were no campers there but people complain that it gets quite messy in the busy season because some campers do not know how to behave in an area with no toilets, I think we will give that one a miss. 

The campers all gathered around a big fire in the evening and I discovered two things: 1) Not many caravanners share my political views, there were some rather offensive comments thrown around regarding the upcoming  referendum for a Voice to Parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 2) I could not live permanently on the road like many of these campers. Some have a plan but others just seem to drift from place to place, I cannot see how one could maintain friendships or hobbies in that situation.

 It was time to move on to Rockhampton which lies on the Tropic of Capricorn. We knew there would not be any free or cheapo camps and were warned it would be difficult to find camping vacancies in Rockhampton, it was so we chose to stay about a 40 minute drive south in Mount Morgan at the Silver Wattle Caravan Park. What a beautiful spot, because we don't need power we bagged the best site in the whole place, right at the top of the park with views over the Mount Morgan range. Everything was spotless, there were even buckets in the showers to collect the first flow of water before it reached the desired temperature to then pour on the flowerbeds as there had been no rain for months. The town itself was a 5 minute drive away and a reasonable size with supermarket, coffee shop etc. 

We drove in to Rockhampton the next day and did all the touristy things like posing in front of the Tropic of Capricorn sign at the visitor centre where we chose our ferry for a trip over to Great Keppel Island the next day. We also went for a short walk in the Botanic Gardens, no dogs allowed so we couldn't leave Harvey in the car for too long. 

The gardens were beautiful and had recently been overtaken by a huge colony of bats. The trees were absolutely full of them and apparently they were becoming a bit of a nuisance but we loved them. Rockhampton is a big town and very ordinary in parts but has some wonderful old buildings lining the riverside, after a wander along there we set off home to Mount Morgan. 

Back at the caravan park there was a Happy Hour around the fire where the owners handed out spring rolls and damper, they even provide a complete meal on a Saturday night for $20 which all goes to the Flying Doctors. The park is very high up so beautifully cool at night and warm during the day, very green even though it was so dry and we could see fires burning in the hills surrounding us.

 Up early the next day to drive to Yeppoon for the ferry over to Great Keppel, one of the Barrier Reef Islands. All the ferries take dogs and we went with Freedom Fast cats $55 each and $5 for Harvey. The crossing was only 30 minutes and Harvey was not too sure about it but the island was glorious, turquoise sea and white beaches. 

There were a couple of nice cafes and a bar but I was a bit disappointed when I ventured inland to find derelict buildings and tumbledown fences. Apparently these resort islands were huge in the 1980s but have since fallen out of popularity, however we had a nice time and Harvey was happier on the return journey. 

Took a quick detour to Emu Park after disembarking the ferry, gorgeous town, very child friendly with a huge park on the waterfront which had been developed with a fund to help people work again after COVID. It featured a wonderful singing ship sculpture which was installed 200 years after Captain Cook found and named the Keppel Coast.