Greendale around Australia

28th July 2011

Left home and headed to Poona for a week's R & R. Not much to do - went walking and bike riding and went to Maryborough for one day. Didn't even wet a line although there were a few fish being caught.

4th August 2011

Moved on to Burrum Heads - once again not a great deal to do unless you're into fishing although there is a nice walk along the waterfront. The weather has been nice - wouldn't think that it is still winter. Went for a drive to Howard, Buxton, Woodgate and Childers. Played golf at Howard and visited Art Gallery and backpacker memorial at Childers. Drove to Hervey Bay one day via Toogoom with lunch at the Boat Club and caught up with Noel and Lyn.

11th August 2011

Burnett Heads was our next stop. A great little spot where we went walking to the lighthouse and for a bike ride to Mon Repos and then decided to go the other way and rode to the Port. One whole day was spent in Bundaberg visiting the Hinkler Aviation Centre and Hinkler House (very well done interesting displays) and then to Rum Distillery for a tour and tasting. Also went for a drive to Elliott Heads (nice spot) via Bargara and Coral Cove. Played golf at Bargara - very nice course although we didn't do it justice. Also had tea with Stephen and Elizabeth.

18th August 2011

Arrived in Miara north of Bundaberg. Certainly not much at Miara - a caravan park in the middle of canefields on the banks of the Kolan River with a small kiosk that opened when it wanted to. Went to the Bundaberg Air Show which was quite entertaining with lots of old and new planes including a display by the Roulettes. The weather for the week wasn't great - very windy and cool so even the fishermen weren't happy.

25th August 2011

Travelled to 1770 where Kylie Nathan Travis and Sophie joined us for a few days. First wet weather of the trip but didn't stop kids from spending time in the water. Also took them walking along beach and up to the point. After they left we went on the LARC for a day trip to Bustard Head Lighthouse. Great day - travelled along beach then across several creeks and after lunch up to the lighthouse. Very interesting and well kept displays at lighthouse keeper's cottage and graveyard. Stuart Buchanan an ex-lighthouse keeper lives on site and has had a great deal to do with the restoration and maintenance. Bought one of his books which he signed. On the way home stopped at some sand dunes and did some sandboarding down on boogie boards - great fun. Arrived home after six in the dark but a very interesting and informative day. Played golf at Agnes Water course - hasn't got any less challenging and very easy to go into the bush but at least the fairways were green this time. Very enjoyable 9 hole course - we played 18.

3rd September 2011

Moved on to Tannum Sands where we called in on friends Craig and Wendy. They took us on a tour of Tannum Sands, Boyne Island and Gladstone - including Auckland Hill, the harbour, coal loading, QAL and the smelter. Had lunch at Yacht Club. A great day was enjoyed.

5th September 2011

Travelled to Boynedale Bush Camp on Lake Awoonga in the Boyne Valley. This is a free camp about 30km from Calliope maintained by the Water Board. Nice grassed area with fire rings, composting toilets and tables and shelters. Most people were catching red claw in dam. We did a bit of walking and bird watching. Very enjoyable although weather was a bit cloudy and windy.

8th September 2011

Left Boynedale and travelled via Biloela to a free camp at Dululu. One pub town with nothing but the one pub (no shop or facilities). Camp was a little ordinary.

9th September 2011

Arrived in Emerald after deciding not to stop at Bedford Weir. The weather wasn't great. Caught up with Neil and Cathy and went for tea at Irish Pub. Also had a barbecue at their place and did some sightseeing.

12th September 2011

Moved on to Sapphire on the gemfields - the caravan park at Sapphire is a little gem with great facilities - very neat and tidy and everything you could possibly want except grass. Bought some buckets of wash and were taught how to sieve and wash it and find your fortune. Found some small pieces and a few that could be cut but nothing of any value. Enjoyed this park so much that we found it very difficult to leave. Went walking/climbing to Policeman's Knob - 360 degree views, spent time at Rubyvale and went down a sapphire mine and went for a drive to the Willows gemfield. A very enjoyable week was had here.

19th September 2011

Left Sapphire and travelled to Jericho via Alpha. Nice bakery at Alpha then on to the free camp at Redbend on the Jordan River at Jericho. Went walking to town (the smallest drive in theatre in sosuthern hemisphere with room for 32 cars) and along the river and walked through local cemetery. Nice camp spot on the river and well maintained.

20th September 2011

Next stop was Barcaldine where our stop was at the local showgrounds. Very convenient to walk into town and see the sights. The tree of knowledge has become a monstrosity but there is quite a bit of history here. Still five pubs in the main street even though most of them seem to have burnt down over the years. Lots of plaques around detailing the history of various old buildings. Went for a drive to Lloyd Jones Weir to see if it was worth camping there but decided to move on.

21st September 2011

Moved on to Ilfracombe - once again quite a bit of history here. Visited the Wellshot Centre which details some of the history of Wellshot Station, had a beer at the Wellshot Hotel and visited the Langenbaker House - this house was purchased by the council 20 years ago when the last Langenbaker died. It has been left as is with very few changes since it was brought here in the 1890s so it is a very good example of living conditions in the outback. Travelled to Longreach to visit the Hall of Fame, Qantas Founders Museum and Powerhouse Museum. The Hall of Fame is a great museum with lots of displays and the Qantas Museum was very interesting. We inspected the 747 including sitting in the pilots seat, climbing down to the wheel bay and luggage bays and doing a wing walk. The original 707 (first jet plane purchased by Qantas) is also on display after being restored in England and flown back to Australia. Also had a Cobb & Co coach ride over the common outside Longreach. Spent some more time in Ilfracombe visiting the Machinery Mile, gun and bottle display and the Romani Light Horse display. As the weather was quite warm visited the artesian spa and pool a couple of times. A great little town and a very friendly park.

29th September 2011

Quite a big trip (for us) today as we travelled to Winton. First stop was the Waltzing Matilda Centre - another great centre displaying all sorts of weird and wonderful things although the main focus is on the song Waltzing Matilda and Banjo Paterson. The next morning we headed down town again and ran into Bill and Tiff McCarthy (small world) who were in town for a wedding. Wandered around town visiting the Pelican Pond, Winton Club (site of first Qantas meeting), Arno's wall (everything including the Kitchen sink), open air theatre including the world's largest deck chair and the Corfield and Fitzmaurice building (an old store which now houses displays of dinosaur bones, fossils etc.). There are also lots of statues and monuments scattered around the town. Then went for a drive to the Long Waterhole and Pelicans Waterhole (site of the original town) and played a tune on the musical fence. Nice shady park but very dusty. Said goodbye to Karen & David who are heading to Darwin.

1st October 2011

Our destination today was Hughenden - another longish day. The next day we headed to Porcupine Gorge about 60 km north of Hughenden. Very spectacular scenery and interesting drive with lots of points of interest along the way. There was still water in the bottom of the gorge so decided to do the 2.4km walk down into the gorge. Going down was fine but it was a hard slog back up again. Well worth the effort. Home again in time to watch the NRL grand final (bugger) and a burger from the famous FJ Holden cafe for tea. The next day was the Discovery Centre which houses a display of fossils and life size dinosaur as well as information on the local grazing industry. Then off to visit the historic Coolabah tree which was blazed by Walker and Landsborough when they were searching for Burke and Wills. Once again a very neat, well presented town with lots of history even though the Flinders River was totally dry. Visited Mt Walker to view the sunset - a total of seven lookouts up on top of the flat topped mesa which is about 500 metres high. The park was quite nice - first green grass we had camped on for some time.

4th October 2011

The next leg of our trip was to Charters Towers. Different history this time as it all relates to the gold mining. Went on a self drive tour with an audio cd that we hired from the info centre. Travelled up Charters Towers hill, Pioneer cemetery, Lissner park and drove past lots of the historical buildings of the town. Visited the Venus Battery which was very interesting - the lessee is very passionate about the history and hopes to totally restore the battery to a working state. Well done. Went walking around the town - it is certainly great to see a lot of the old buildings being maintained and restored. The Stock Exchange, the World theatre, town hall, police station and lots of pubs and banks are worth a look. Took a drive to Fletchers Creek and the weir on the Burdekin river - lots of water and very pretty. Went up to see a show at night on Charters Towers hill - the Ghosts of Gold - once again very entertaining.

8th October 2011

A short drive today to Ravenswood. The whole town has been listed by the National Trust as there are quite a few historic buildings, lots of gold mining paraphanelia left where it was used and about a dozen restored chimneys. Carpentaria Gold still conducts an open cut mine which is quite large and there is a lookout site which overlooks one of the pits now full of water. Drove around most of the town following a self guided tour which explained a lot of the sites. Also went to the quartz outcrop and visited the old section of the cemetery. Had a beer at one of the historic pubs - the Railway. Very interesting couple of days

10th October 2011

Travelled into Townsville - the countryside still very dry and lots of fires around. Needed to restock supplies but decided not to spend too much time in Townsville. Walked along the Strand but the rock pool was closed because of an outbreak of algae. Went out to Herveys Range to visit Ian to spend an enjoyable afternoon and stopped at the lookout but not much to see because of the haze and smoke. Didn't bother going up Castle Hill as the view would have been the same. The morning we left there was a heavy fog so once again no views to see.

12th October 2011

Left Townsville and headed south. Passed through Ayr and Home Hill and took a detour to Groper Creek because we had been told it was nice. However, just a fishing village with a caravan park and a few houses and shacks. Nothing to do there except fish so we decided to keep going. Arrived in Bowen and found a caravan park at Queens Beach right on the beach and near the golf course. Took a drive to Front Beach - the area where the film Australia was filmed, walked out on the jetty and drove up to Flagstaff Hill where there are some impressive views out to the Whitsundays. Decided to spend some R & R time in Bowen and spent time walking, swimming and playing golf. There are lots of different beaches around Bowen Queens Beach, Horseshoe Bay, Kings Beach, Rose Bay. We decided to treat ourself to a two night stay at a Resort at Rose Bay - very nice right on the beach and all that room!!!

26th October 2011

Reluctantly packed up and left Bowen for Airlie Beach. Stayed between Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour and did a little bit of sightseeing around the area. Up early on Thursday for our trip out to the Reef. Left Shute Harbour and travelled via Hamilton Island to Hardys Reef. Once there the tide was travelling rather fast but Russ donned the stinger suit, life vest, flippers, mask and snorkel and had a float over the reef. I settled for a trip over the reef in the semi submersible. The weather was kind and after a delicious lunch, made our way via Hamilton and a late afternoon return home.

28th October 2011

Travelled today to Cape Hillsborough Nationalo Park north of Mackay. Good weather for swimming in the pool and a late afternoon walk along the beach. The next day we explored Ball Bay, Haliday Bay, Seaforth and Smallies Beach. Mostly undeveloped but there are some million dollar houses up on the top of hills with nice views. Then went walking up on Andrews Point which takes you around four lookouts and we timed it right so we could return via the beach at low tide.

30th October 2011

Set off from Cape Hillsborough with the idea of staying somewhere south of Mackay for a little while. Went into Campwin Beach, Grasstrees and Sarina Beach. However there is no camping allowed here and the council has shut down the caravan parks. Travelled on to Clairview which is right on the beach beside the highway and the railway line. A small settlement with a caravan park and the shop at the caravan park doubles as a licensed restaurant. Nothing to do there except walk along the beach which was quite rocky and the tide goes out a long way. Caught up on e-mails etc.

1st November 2011

Todaqy we moved on to The Caves north of Rockhampton. Went for an hour long tour through the caves with a very informative young guide. Went for a walk and saw all the sights. A very quiet night was enjoyed here.

2nd November 2011

Moved on to the Capricorn Coast and we had heard good reports of Kinka Beach so thought we would check it out. However it didn't appeal so kept going to Emu Park where we found a council park right on the beach and near the shops. A very nice area and we explored the beach and the singing ship. Took a day trip to Byfield National Park and visited three camp sites. Waterpark was a pretty little spot with a nice walk along the creek. There wasn't much to see at Red Rock but then we went on to Upper Stoney Creek. This was a little oasis with a nice swimming hole and very well maintained. Went for a 5.5 km walk through the bush but this track wasn't very well maintained and the signage was sadly lacking. Spent a week at Emu Park and explored Yeppoon, Rosslyn Bay, Zilzie, went beach walking and played a round of golf.

9th November 2011

Left Emu Park and headed south to a camping area beside the Calliope River. A very popular fishing area because the tide rushes over the shallows and many people were trying their luck in boats and off the bridge and the banks. Closed season had started for barramundi but I don't think that stopped some people from catching and keeping them. A very nice spot but we heard it got a bit rowdy on weekends so it was time to move on.

11th November 2011

After a late departure the next stop was Cania Gorge via Biloela for shopping. This trip we were able to get up to the dam and the lookout. The dam was full (probably the first time) and there were very well maintained lawns, barbecues etc. A nice spot. Went bush walking to the Shamrock Mine site, the Overhang rock and the two storey cave as well as the Fern Pool and the Giants Chair lookout. We've now done all the walks here bar the long one but it's a lovely quiet place and we swam in the pool every day as the weather was heating up.

15th November 2011

Today's trip was to Wuruma Dam which is accesssed via Abercorn. Once again this dam is full but it was hard to find a level area and the weather really heated up here. This combined with a neighbour who ran a noisy generator all day until he ran out of fuel made for an uncomfortable stay.

16th November 2011

Had decided to leave today but got chatting to some other people from Cooroy and it was lunch time before we started packing up. Could have stayed another night but the neighbour had gone and got some more fuel for the generator so time to go. Went and had a look at the dam wall and then travelled on to a conservation park near Eidsvold (which would be a great winter camp) but too hot and dry. Very hot travelling and called in at the weir at Gayndah but no room for us so stopped at the first caravan park and pulled up and put on the air conditioner.

17th November 2011

Travelled home via Tansey and Kilkivan. Very green between Gayndah and Tansey so they must have had some rain but everything quite dry at home. Nice to be home but probably won't be long till the next trip.