Our Aussie Adventures

It was a matter of going through the motions again this morning. Me outside, rolling up the awning, rolling up hoses and power leads. Bec on the inside, making sure all of our bits and pieces are securely and safely stowed, then checking to ensure that all of the cupboards were secured. We’re getting right into the swing of packing up camp now, and it’s getting easier and quicker with each move we make.

Bec, her cousin and our little visitor.

Almost before we knew it, the van was mated up to ‘The Beast’ again, and we were ready to hit the frog and toad. Goodbyes were said, as well as promises to not leave it another 6 or 7 years before catching up once more, then with a final check of the van, we were on our way. And only 5 minutes late to boot. So you can expect to see us back in Melbourne at 7:50PM on the 11^th of October.

Getting out of the property wasn’t quite so bad at least, as getting the rig in, as Becs cousin had opened up a side gate. So rather than a slalom course of trees, we had just to negotiate a tight bend through a gate and then the drainage channel onto the road. We bottomed out only ever so slightly, as the van dragged its rear end, managing to get out onto the main road with a minimum of fuss.

Then, for a change, the clouds parted, and the skies lit up a luminous azure, thanks to a shining sun, and what we hoped would be only a short hop up the road to Mackay, was exactly that.

We would end up doing a few more kilometers today than what we did on our day from hell enroute to Rockhampton, and yet it was like a walk in the park today. Roadworks were non-existent, the roads were for the most part well maintained and easy going, and apart from an occasional spittle of rain, the weather was great. If only every day could be like this.

It was only a little past 2:00PM as we rolled into Mackay, having driven without the need for a break, all the way from Rockhampton. That meant we had plenty of time to unhitch the van at the caravan park and head out for a little bit of a look around town. Since we are moving on again in the morning, we wanted to make the most of what time we do have here.

Naturally, you will all by now be familiar with one of my often used phrases about wheels and how they tend to come off at the most inopportune moments. This was one of those times.

We had been planning on free camping tonight, but given that our water tanks are dry after our stay at Becs cousins, we decided to check into a park and avail ourselves to their seemingly never ending supply of the wet stuff to re-fill our tanks. Nothing like adding another 180Kg of dead weight to ferry around, but handy for those nights we are staying off grid.

Anyway, the van park we have selected, in which to spend the evening is rather more busy than expected, with quite tight little sites, set amongst lovely looking, but difficult to maneuver around foliage. So, with quite a number of onlookers, we launched into our Bec and Marcus reversing show, which we may yet entitle: ‘How not to park a van’.

Attempt number one saw us parked up nice and straight, but right bang in the middle of the concrete annex pad. Not ideal, so out we went for attempt number two.

Attempt number two, saw us parked mostly off to the side of the concrete, but on an embarrassingly acute angle that was far from ideal. Then it was like a sing song of the Hokey Pokey, as we put the caravan in, then took it out, put it in, took it out, then turned it all about. I have been telling Bec, that as the observer, she is effectively driving the show. I can’t see a great deal from the driver seat, so she has to be my eyes, while I purely follow her instructions. Therefore, if it’s not working out, it’s on her head. I have drilled this mantra into her. She is the boss. In charge of the move.

Then something scary happened. Bec screamed over the radio that she’d had enough and that she was going to do the driving, while I could stand out and get wet under the suddenly darkening skies, to guide her in. This was petrifying, because now I had to prove to her that it was indeed the task of the observer to make the right calls and give the right directions. And wouldn’t you know it, just like that, before you could blink, ‘The Beast’ was facing one way, the van another, and neither of them anywhere near right. Oops. Talk about a giant feed of humble pie as Bec climbed down from ‘The Beast’, an icy stare on her face and a grimace of “Told you it’s not that easy.” What could I say?

For attempt number three, I again took over the wheel, and tried coming in from the opposite direction, after turning it all about just like the line in the Hokey Pokey song. Strangely enough, reversing against the drivers side made the whole operation that much easier, and we looked like pros, as we expertly worked together to glide it up into the perfect position. It only took us about an hour to manage this I might add.

Even in the right spot though, we had to negotiate the swamp like surrounds on foot. In the worst spots, we sank almost an inch with every step we took. And then, just to add insult to injury, we found that the slight bottoming out this morning had bent our entry step enough to make it difficult to use and our water hose was to be too short to reach the taps. With the step beaten roughly back into shape, we looked longingly about for our water connection finding that we had a choice of two, one to each side of our site, and both about 15 metres distant. Not an issue, apart from the fact that even stretched to its limits, our water hose is only 10 metres long. I wouldn’t usually care for the sake of just one night. I’d normally just turn the pump on and use our tank water for the stay, but given that the whole reason for booking in at a park was to replenish our empty water reservoirs, it was to be a major issue. One that would necessitate an emergency excursion to the nearest Bunnings to purchase a longer hose.

So, with the van mostly set up, we lumbered out of the park in search of the hardware store. It’s probably not the best idea to rely on the services of country towns, late on a Sunday afternoon, but thankfully the bigger stores were open, and we were able to successfully obtain a new hose. As well as the hose, I needed a new coffee pot, having found this morning that my current one had cracked. So our next stop was at a ready to close for the day shopping centre, where I thankfully managed to find what I needed. Then it was back to the van for dinner. So much for seeing the sights of Mackay, unless you call the shopping centre an attraction.

Well, it has been a big day.

Then, back at the van, thankfully with our water storage now topped to the brim, I managed to rip open one of our pillow cases. So you can rest assured that in the very near future, you will be reading all about us shopping for a whole new set of pillow cases. You can’t just buy one you know. Then they won’t match. And Bec calls me anal.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.

Phew, another terrifically hard day of doing zilch was ahead of us again today. We were so far behind the eight ball after a much needed sleep in, that we didn’t even sit down to breakfast until almost midday. Funnily enough, it was while we were eating breakfast, that we were discussing what we should do for lunch. Then, it wasn’t too long after that we were invaded.

Becs cousins kids were staying for the weekend, and they soon came knocking on the door to say G’day and play with the dogs. The oldest didn’t stay for long, but the young ball of energy wanted nothing more than to roll about with the dogs. I was a bit worried that Bethany, who usually doesn’t take to little people, especially girls, would become a bit savage, but I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Alvin was definitely his usual stand offish self, snorting his disapproval now and then. Bethany on the other hand had a grand time playing and lavishing the cuddles.

Bec got roped in once the dogs became a source of boredom, watching videos and playing tea parties or some such thing, as girls are want to do. I on the other hand surrounded myself in travel brochures, and inferred that I was much too busy for such activities. In actual fact, I was, having to do a bit of on the hop planning for our next series of destinations.

I found out today that one of the routes that I had planned on taking, between Atherton and Hughenden, is unsuitable for caravans, and the alternate route will add close to a days driving to our itinerary. Hell, we’re already looking at getting home late. I don’t know that we can afford a whole half a day extra.

So, out came all the books and guides, as I tried to work out a new itinerary around the northern most part of Queensland, which will keep us on track time wise, without the need to miss out on too many of the sights. The bed was soon covered in unfurled maps, spread eagled guide books and little bits of paper, all covered in scrawled notes. I may have worked through a few of the major issues that were facing us, but I still ended up with an almighty headache and there are still a couple of things I’m not too sure about. Stay tuned for more on this topic in the near future of course.

All the while, I was making sure to keep a close eye on Alvin, who really didn’t take to having a little princess swanning about in the caravan, although Bethany was lapping up all of the attention she could muster.

By the time we started to get dinner ready, Bec was frazzled. We’re not used to having kids about, especially one fuelled with such a high level of energy and stamina, and it was exhausting. I honestly don’t know how people do it full time, and I didn’t even do so much. Bec however went for a walks about the property to look at butterflies, bugs and frogs, pushed the billy cart around for a while, watched a movie and even made time to prepare the salads for the barbeque dinner that we’re having cooked for us tonight. What a trooper. Whilst Bec was about ready to crash, our little visitor was still happy to bounce about and keep Bethany enthralled. I was glad I’d entrenched myself in the travel planning, because I don’t think even I would have kept up. I was wearied purely from watching.

With dinner done, thanks so much to Becs cousin, we sat around chatting for ages, before calling it a night. It wasn’t too late a night, but considering we have to be up at a reasonable hour to get the whole shebang on the road again tomorrow, it was late enough.

While I think of it, I had an email enquiry the other day about the fifth wheelers we were looking at in Gympie. I may not have explained myself too well, as the question was, what is a fifth wheeler? In laymans terms, they’re a BBC or Bloody Big Caravan, towed behind a ute or small truck, using a hitch similar to that used on a truck and semi trailer combination. As a result of the hitch set up, they are a lot more stable to tow, and offer a lot more living space than a comparably sized regular caravan at a much higher price naturally enough.

Now that’s what I call a BBC!

And what about the interior?

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.

Whilst Bec got to enjoy another sleep in today, I was up at the crack of dawn to take ‘The Beast’ into town for its service. I did only book it in for an oil change, but have decided to get them to do a full service, as I don’t want to have to find someone further north that can fit us in, and don’t particularly relish the idea of taking yet another day out of our schedule to get it looked at again. Not so soon anyway.

The service centre was a mad house when I arrived, with cars lined up ad nauseam, and I was seriously concerned that they were going to turn me away, despite having booked in. I needn’t have worried, although they won’t be done until sometime after lunch.

So, without transport for the next 5 hours or so, I was limited to doing whatever I could find within walking distance. Being that it had only just gone 8:00AM, and nothing much was open yet, I made my way to the beckoning luminous golden arches of the nearest McDonalds, where a welcoming coffee helped to kick start the day. It also gave me a chance to sit quietly and log onto the Internet, uploading all of our latest photos onto Flickr. Be sure to check them out. I still have to reorganise the ‘photostream’, but if you go into the day by day sets, they are all in order there. And just in case you’re wondering, with our peaceful day yesterday, the camera didn’t even get an airing, so don’t hold your breath for those shots.

Before I knew it, I’d whiled away an easy hour or so, and the township was beginning to awaken to a glorious morning, made all the more exciting by the partial solar eclipse that was happening right above our very heads. Although, I only remembered about that later when I saw it on the news, so missed the entire show.

Leaving McDonalds, I headed off for a bit of a walking tour of the city centre of Rockahampton, ostensibly in search of a few bits and pieces for the caravan, although again I had no luck.

I am still after a special automatic switch to put in behind the fridge so that the power turns on and off by itself when plugged into the car. I trawled through electronics shops, four wheel drive stores, camping and outdoors specialists and anywhere else that I thought may on the off chance carry the bits I was searching for. No one had what I needed though, and I may as well have been asking to purchase a motorised unicycle, as no one had any idea where I might even find one. I know they exist, because I’ve seen them back home, but as is always the way, as soon as you start to look for something, finding said object is impossible.

Beef Capital of Australia. Bulls like this are dotted around the town everywhere.

As well as walking back and forth and up and down each street, looking for possible haunts to buy my gear, I took myself on a bit of a tour of Rockhampton. Taking in again, some of the fabulous sights and buildings we had observed from the car the other day, as well as taking a peaceful stroll along the banks of the mighty Fitzroy River.

Overlooking the Fitzroy River.

The beautiful looking Heritage Hotel.

I have found Rockhampton to be a lovely place, although looking closer today, noticed that spliced in amongst the beautiful old buildings are a number of 1960s era buildings, that may have been futuristic in their day, but have dated quite poorly. As I walked past one hotel in particular, I could almost imagine what it would be like to walk through the foyer and into a time warp. I could picture the velour walls, shag pile carpets, a mission brown timber bar in the corner lined with martinis and a bowl of keys. Groooovy Baby! Maybe, but not my thing and it’d be my luck some bastard would run off with ‘The Beast’ and leave me with the Torana from Yeppoon.

By midday, I was just walking around aimlessly, hoping not to look like a homeless bum, so I made my way back to the car dealership to wait it out. It was another hour before my phone chimed, with the message that ‘The Beast’ was safely out of surgery and ready to be picked up. It was me who nearly needed an ambulance next, when I got the bill. I’m sure that they must have given me the special ‘he’ll never be back anyway’ tourist price. Lets just say “not much change out of a grand” and leave it at that. It had to be done, so I paid up, through gritted teeth and went on my now not so merry way. I called Bec to tell her I was on my way back to the caravan, and to break out the baked beans for dinner!

Back at the van, I found that Bec had actually been having a glorious time. Not having had access to mains pressure water, she has been living without the washing machine since we arrived in Rocky. Now that her cousin is home, she jumped at the chance to borrow his washing machine. I am sure she was in her element, plowing through 3 full sized loads apparently, although she alleges that it wasn’t all fun and games. I’m not so sure though, as all my cleanly washed clothes were even piled up, neatly folded, just waiting for me to shove them in a cupboard.

As a thank you, I offered to take her out to dinner and a show again. It’s Friday night and the bull riders are back at the Great Western. I don’t think she heard me though, because she was too busy sweeping, although I don’t know how effective a broom is when it’s swung round in the air at head height like that. Someone will lose an eye if that keeps up!

We managed to have a bit of rest between me getting home, and deciding to head back into town again. At 40 odd kilometers each way, we’re racking up some serious miles just going to and from town. Tonight was to visit a much vaunted night market along the banks of the river. We should know by now that the markets that seem to get the most hype are the ones that have the least stalls. We were yet again faced with doing the rounds of a market boasting only a 1/2 dozen or so stalls. As seems to be the fashion, we did strike up a conversation with one of the stall holders, chatting about his caravanning experiences. It’s always good to hear from other vanners, especially those who have suffered similar issues and set backs as have we. Makes us feel normal, part of the fraternity even.

From the market, it was off to dinner, and whilst I was only joking earlier about taking Bec to a dinner and show again, that is exactly what we did. We decided that since we knew what to expect there and found the food to be pretty good, it was our safest bet. My cunning plan came to fruition after all.

…and not so good.

Looking good…

The bull riding tonight was a bit tamer than Wednesday, and even Bec mentioned that she preferred the adrenalin rush of the rougher stuff, even if it did scare the bejesus out of her. She’ll be a rodeo groupie before you know it.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.

For the first time in days, the sky didn’t cave in upon us today. With the sun shining gloriously and the gentle breeze sending a cooling draught through the van, it was a fabulous day. We were thankful for the lack of precipitation today, especially since we learned that Rockhampton has in the past 3 days, already achieved in excess of its average Autumnal rainfall. Just our luck. Yet, despite todays positive change in the climate, we elected to spend the bulk of it cooped up in the van anyway. In fact, we achieved so little today, it even crossed my mind to not even post an update. Really, who wants to read about us, two swashbuckling adventurers, sitting around lazily doing nothing, but I didn’t want everyone thinking we’d fallen off the edge of the earth.

I’ll make it short and sweet though, as other than giving you a minute by minute, blow by blow account of how I cleaned out the boot of the caravan, or how Bec swept and tidied the van, there really isn’t much else of note to tell you about.

We had originally planned to go into town, but even after a decent sleep overnight, we awoke feeling drained, still fatigued. We’re blaming our constant tiredness on all of the fresh, country air that we’ve been inhaling in the past few weeks. So, instead of going anywhere, we settled down in the van braving the cripplingly slow Internet to research our future travels, before watching a movie and some TV.

One of the highlights of our day was preparing our roast chicken rolls for lunch. Creating dinner was the other, as we attempted to cook a roast for the first time in our electric frypan. It was all going pretty well too, until Becs cousin came home from work and we got to catching up with him. He has been away for work since before we arrived, and until he returned this afternoon, we weren’t even 100% sure that we were camped on the right property. I don’t know what we would have done, had we got a message from him this evening asking where we were. That could have been embarrassing.

Before we knew it, clouds of smoke were wallowing out of the van, as the butter we’d put in the oven to melt turned into an astringent smelling, gooey, black, mess. It was too late to roast the vegetables by this stage, so we ended up with roast pork and steamed vegies.

We’d also cooked enough for three, just incase Becs cousin had wanted something to eat. He declined, saying he had some stuff to do in town, but the clouds of smoke still billowing out of the van may well have scared him off. As it turned out, dinner was delicious, so the two of us were quite happy to chow down on all three serves.

As I sit writing this, Bec is watching some more TV and bouncing about creating a Dalmation like pattern on the ceiling of the van, squatting one by one, the swarm of bugs that have invaded our living space.

Yeah, I know, boring, but it doesn’t matter what sort of spin I put on it, I can’t make it any more stimulating than it is. We need days like today though, as the constant travelling is actually quite arduous, so it’s quite cathartic to be able to kick back and just do nothing.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.

With a big day ahead of us today, we were out the door early, heading for our first stop at the nearby Koorana Crocodile Farm. A working farm, they have branched out into tourism and provide an excellent insight into the whole business of crocodile farming.

We arrived in time for the first guided tour of the day, which started with a talk about the history of the farm. They are not afraid to admit that they are purely in it for the money, but as a fortunate benefit, the farming process assists in the conservation of the breed. As we saw later during the tour however, even though most of the crocodiles will spend about 4 years here before becoming handbags, shoes, wallets and other assorted leather goods, the breeding pairs are cared for and almost considered as family pets, so much are they loved. The tour also gave us the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the pre-historic beasts. Close enough, that there was only a fine wire fence between us and them, and two guides were required to ensure no one accidentally lost an arm or a leg. It never ceases to amaze me, that the moment someone is told not to stick their arm over the fence, the first thing they do is stick their bloody arm over the fence. Hence the second staff member, constantly running back and forth, reminding folks to remain entirely on our side of the wire. And then some idiot was silly enough to query if the crocodiles were really that dangerous and was it really necessary to have two guides with the group?

Surely they’re not that dangerous?

The tour lasted about an hour and a half, and was money well spent. As well as getting to see crocodiles up to 5 metres long and weighing in at close to 1,000Kg being fed, at the conclusion of the tour we got to hold one of their slightly smaller brothers. The skin was surprisingly supple to the touch, with a distinct lack of sliminess, which I was expecting to feel.

Bec checks out her next hand bag.

Following the crocodile farm, we took a scenic drive along the coast from Emu Park to Yeppoon, stopping along the way at the Emu Park Beach to take some photos of the choppy, turbid water. The recent weather has turned the waters a dirty coffee brown colour, and the stiff breeze that was blowing ashore today meant there was a consistent white topped chop breaking against the sands of the beach.

Wind lashed Emu Park Beach.

There was a look out further down the road, which I imagine would provide a stunning outlook of the nearby islands on a clear day, but failed to impress today, the strong wind menacingly tugging at the brim of my hat.

Our stop in Yeppoon was designated as our lunch break, and for the first time since we left home we had finally remembered to pack a cut lunch, something we had suggested that we would do every day. So with the dogs taken for a run in the park and our bellies full, we continued on our way. I would think that as for the lookout, Yeppoon would be at its best on a fine day. The only thing I knew of Yeppoon before we visited was courtesy of the old television advert, in which it gains a mention as being the place where a cannon went off and put a ‘dirty great hole in the roof of a Torana’. Sadly I could locate neither the damaged car (or any Torana for that matter), nor the cannon that fired the mortal shot. It is otherwise a rather typical beach side town, with plenty of apartments overlooking the ocean, and is the main launching place for boat tours to the reputed Great Kepple Island, which lies just off of the coast. The island was initially on our list of things to do, in the hope of doing some snorkeling, but given the continuing poor weather we have decided to give it a miss.

As a result, we continued along the scenic route taking the road back towards Rockhampton, heading for the local zoo and botanic gardens in town. In an exciting twist, we found that entry to the zoo is free. Not only that, but we arrived at the perfect time to see the keepers doing the rounds and feeding some of the animal inhabitants. Firstly was the aviary, where there is a range of birds flittering about uninhibited all waiting for a feed of grapes and bugs. Next door, in a separate section were a couple of brightly coloured Cassowaries, also coming out of hiding for a bunch or two of grapes. Hardly a snack when you consider that they can consume up to 12Kg of fruit per day.

Captive Cassowary.

From the aviary, it was time for the chimpanzees to get their afternoon tea. They were rousing, as the keeper slid plates of yoghurt into the enclosure, which they ate almost daintily with a spoon, before receiving a drink of orange juice each. Then, whilst the keeper was talking about them, leaning against the fence of the cage, the chimps sat inside, prodding him with their long slender fingers, and even undoing his shoe laces, much to the amusement of the crowd.

We didn’t get a chance to finish looking around the whole zoo, or even make a start on the adjacent gardens though, as the rain again began to cascade down upon us. Not expecting a shower, as the day had been relatively clear, all of our jackets and umbrellas were still safely stowed within ‘The Beast’. It was a mad dash back, trying to stay as dry as the scarce overhead foliage would allow.

Being that it was on our way back to the caravan anyway, we made a final stop at the information centre again, braving the rain to get some photos of us straddling the invisible line between temperate and tropical zones.

Here I am. No, over here. Standing in the temperate zone and the tropics all at the same time.

Returning to the van, we had enough time for a quick rest, before jumping back into ‘The Beast’ and heading back into town. We decided to leave the dogs behind again, which I am sure they were secretly thrilled about. Bec is right, that they are quite calm about being left ensconced in the van.

In keeping with our animal themed day, we were going out for dinner and a show tonight, at one of Australia’s largest indoor rodeo arenas, where there is free, live bull riding every Wednesday and Friday night.

Arriving at the Great Western Hotel, we ordered our dinner. Bec a surf and turf, and me an 800gm slab of their finest rump steak. Sitting out at the tables lining the bullring, we dined on deliciously tender steaks, while watching cowboys ride the still living variety.

I found it exhilarating, thrilling in the excitement as the bulls crashed about the arena, throwing off the riders, generally with practiced ease. One of the bullfighters, or ‘clowns’ copped a good hit, right in front of us, pushing the perimeter fence alarmingly, while one of the bulls escaped from his pen, leaping the 6 ½ foot fence, thankfully into the ring rather than out of it, and then it took a cowboy in a bobcat to entice some of the meaner looking beasts back out of the arena.

I enjoy my dinner and the rodeo…

…while Bec tries to ignore the rodeo.

Whilst I was enjoying the spectacle, Bec was watching nervously, worried that at any moment a beast might launch itself over the fence and into her dinner. She was glad that she came for the experience, however I seriously doubt that I’ll entice her to return, no matter how good the food was.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.