Caravanning Camping Touring
Let me share some of our stories with you. I'll try to keep it fun and interesting, with heaps of photos, hints, tips and reviews all relating to life on the road.
We learned a valuable lesson on the trip between Kingaroy and Port Macquarie. Simply put, if you want to find an overnight stop, do not travel the new Pacific Highway.
Over a period of twenty-four years, the Pacific Highway between the Queensland border, and Newcastle in New South Wales, has undergone major road work, including bypassing all towns along its route. Now this is great for those wishing to go from A to B quickly, not so good for the towns who miss out on travelers passing by, nor for travelers who wish to meander, explore, and take a break in these bypassed towns. As we found out the hard way.
We left Kingaroy around seven am on the seventh of May. The plan was to take a relaxed drive as far as New Italy, which is about five hours drive, if you stick to the speed limit, overnight there then head on down to Port the next day. When towing, we tend to drive a little below the signed limit, adding extra time to the journey. Add to that the fact that we stopped a quite a few times (you know us, we’re never in a hurry to get anywhere,) come four thirty that afternoon, we were well and truly ready to call it a day.
A friendly visitor at one of our stops.
New Italy is possibly the last remaining rest stop on the Pacific Highway between the Queensland border and Port Macquarie. It has a café, a small museum, gift shop, toilets, and a large parking area suitable for overnight stays.
I mentioned the work being done on the Pac, well, they have just recently finished the section adjacent to the New Italy rest stop. It has changed so much that we drove merrily past it. Never saw it; missed our stop. Bypassed it. Don’t ask me how we did that, but we did.
We drove for another hour, Peter was getting tired, it was getting dark, and we were having no luck in finding a place to stop. Then I saw the sign to Iluka, and there was a caravan symbol on it. We made a snap decision and took the exit.
As the road became narrower, we lost the last of the daylight. The road was in pretty bad shape, courtesy of the heavy rains, and we had no idea where we would end up. We did eventually come to the end of the road, and a little caravan park which, unfortunately for us, was fully booked. Nothing to do but perform a three-point turn, with a fourteen-metre rig, in the dark, and head back the way we came, only this time we stayed on the Old Pacific Highway.
It was seven thirty when we finally found a place to stay in the tiny town of Ulmarra. We wearily parked down a backstreet, between a park and the local police station, it wasn’t until we woke up the next day, that we realised we were only metres from the banks of the Clarence River.
Let’s just hope we don’t have too many drives like this one.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
It was always our plan to run the Ford Ranger and caravan (Big Ears and Chunky Bum,) over the weigh bridge to see how heavy we are. So, on our third day of freedom, still in Kingaroy, we went to Bean Growers Australia and we got weighed.
Suffice to say, our next call was to weight Watchers.
Both Chunky Bum and Big Ears are a little bit on the chubby side, not to mention Peter and myself. But what does this mean? Well, in order to conform with safety requirements, we need to go to an engineer who will inspect Big Ears & Chunky Bum and, if compliant, we can be recertified.
We had planned to travel south from Kingaroy, but we found a company called Transmod on the south side of Maryborough who specialise in recertifying caravans and cars to meet Transport and Main Roads requirements, so off we went northbound yet again.
The Good news is, is that both Big Ears and Chunky Bum have been inspected and have passed with flying colours. The Ford Ranger has anti-sway as standard, and not long after we bought the Ranger, Peter had the suspension overhauled with heavy duty springs and a two-inch lift. This means that the 3200kg gross vehicle mass can now be upgraded to 3500kg.
Chunky Bum has been fully inspected and has been recertified from 2900kg to 3400kg gross vehicle mass, and now you know why we call the van Chunky Bum. All jokes aside it is a big relief to have had this done. Our combined towing mass is still six ton, that alone is a scary figure, but now we know that the Ranger is more than capable of towing the van, and that the van is not legally overweight. Saying that, we have decided to head back to Redland Bay and leave a few more things in storage. Things that carry a bit of weight and that in truth, will rarely be used. I briefly considered leaving Peter, but he does most of the driving so… 🤪
…here we are, six days after starting our big Australian trip, Big Ears and Chunky Bum have been weighed and found wanting. They have both been recertified to a heavier specification, our wallet is considerably lighter, and we are heading home. But just long enough to offload some non-essentials, then we will be back on the road, this time heading south.
That evening we camped just off the Bruce highway south of Maryborough in a little town called Tiaro. Petrie Park to be precise. This is a small free camp right on the banks of the Mary river. It is a small area and there is not a lot of level ground, but it is a pretty spot, well away from the road and very popular. We were on a bit of a slope, but we didn’t think it would be much of a problem as our heads were up hill. What we didn’t account for though were the slippery sheets. They are not satin or silk, but on a decent slope they act as a remarkably effective slippery dip. It felt as though we spent more time clawing our way up-hill in the bed, than we did sleeping.
It’s worth mentioning that there is a good boat ramp at Petrie Park, and though we were tempted to put the kayaks in, we were on a bit of a schedule, so decided not to take the time to enjoy the river. I have to question the accuracy of this sign next to the boat ramp,
I’d have thought we were a bit far south for crocs, but hey…who am I to argue.
See you out there somewhere
On Tow and on the go
After many years of dreaming, several years of planning and four weeks of chaos, we are finally ready to hit the road and explore our magnificent country in comfort, in our own time and for as long as we please. Finally, we are free!
I guess you could say we are undertaking the ultimate downsizing of our home. For weeks now we have been sorting, packing and taking most of our worldly goods to a secure storage site. At first we thought we would have heaps of space, then after a couple of trips we went into panic mode thinking…It’ll never all fit in! But in the end, it did. Peter has done a excellent job squashing our belongings into a three by three metre storage locker. Not only that but he has done it in an organised and orderly way. So much so, that when I said, “Peter, my sweet, my darling, my little sugar dumpling,…” (I don’t normally talk to him that way. I was trying to butter him up because of what I was going to ask,) “…my cherry blossom. You know that yellow throw with the cream tassels?” He nodded suspiciously. “Well…” I said. “We took it to storage on the first run, but I’ve changed my mind. I want to take it with us.” I smiled sweetly expecting an onslaught of verbal displeasure, instead he said. “Not a problem, I think know where it is. I’ll get it for you on my next run.” And true to his word, he did. Mind you, he was gone an awful long time when he collected it, and I’m sure he must have unpacked half the locker to get to it, but it does look very nice on the bed.
I have been asked if I will miss the comfort of home, and I actually ask myself the same question many times leading up to, and after our decision to embark on a life on the road. I guess that is a question that I won’t be able to answer honestly until I have been on the road for a while. So I’ll let you know about that in a few months. I mean, I’m sure I will miss a lot about our home. The luxury of a fully stocked, large kitchen, the bedroom with Ensuite, the media room and my piano not to mention the wonderful outlook. But…I reckon the tradeoff is pretty good, because instead of brick walls and colourbond roof, I will have wide open spaces, crashing oceans, mountainous regions and rainforests. I will have ever-changing scenery to entertain me and a chorus of melodies from our unique Australian birds, and I will have vast, clear skies filled with millions of stars. Even more than that, if more is needed, I will be embarking on an adventure of a lifetime with Peter, my partner in crime, my best friend, the love of my life. I honestly don’t think it can get much better than that.
So, where are we going? Not very far apparently… 
…we overheated on the first hill we came to. Just kidding, sort of. We did get the transmission overheat alarm, and the car did slow itself down to a crawl, much to the delight of the cars behind us. But after we stopped and popped the hood, stared at the engine for a couple of minutes (as if we knew what we were looking at) then closed it again, we got back in the car and drove off. We didn’t have any more problems, and we did climb quite a few hills on the way to Kingaroy. I think Big Ears just chucked a hissy fit because he was having to tow Chunky Bum again. He’ll get used to it. Anyway, back to where we are going. Initially we will be catching up with friends and family, in Kingaroy, Port Macquarie and Sydney. Then from there, I think we will be staying in NSW and heading west, towards Broken Hill and on to the Menindee Lakes. From there? Who knows. We can go where we want, stay as long as we want, do what we want.
For my overseas readers, we are at the back end of Autumn, so we are travelling in the cooler weather and the further south we go, NSW, it will only get colder. Oh, and it has been raining for the past 4 days. 🌧 Here we go again. 🤪
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go
So, this was the last leg of our trip and finally, the rain was beginning to ease. We stayed overnight at a free camp at Bluff Rock, just south of Tenterfield. The next day we found a lovely little spot for morning tea. Beardy Woodlands, on the New England Highway. This area had distinct English country feel. I don’t know if it is like this all the time, or is a result of all the rain, but the river was flowing fast, and was surrounded by lush, green grass, speckled with wildflowers. Sure they could have been weeds, but they were still pretty. The scene was completed by weeping willows on the riverbank and grey sky that promised rain.
By this stage we were pretty much out of clean/dry clothes. We had the choice of making the run for home or finding a spot to do some washing. We chose the latter. That is how we found ourselves at the Country Style Caravan Park at Glen Aplin, about five a minute drive into Stanthorpe (Link TBA) It rained all the first day there, and most of the second, but by the third day we had beautiful washing/drying weather.
Things brings us to the end of our trip, almost. We wanted to squeeze in one more stop. Why? Because we could. Where? We didn’t know. We were on the Old New England Highway and drove north. Somewhere along the way we saw a touristy road sign showing a caravan symbol, that was good enough for us. We took the turn and twenty-five kilometers later found ourselves turning into the Goomburra Valley Bush Campground.
What a lucky find that was, it is a beautiful relaxing spot. We were only there for one night, but that was long enough for us to know we will definitely be back.
Tomorrow we will be home.
After leaving Port Mac we drove through to Coffs Harbor. Here we had some fun exploring the area on our e-scooters, before continuing on to Macksville.
Macksville is a lovely little town on the banks of the Nambucca River. The Pacific highway used to take you through Macksville, but like so many other small towns, it has been bypassed. Â But, if you have the time or the inclination, it is a great little spot for a rest or an overnight stay, which is what we did. We spent a comfortable night in a small free camp area on the banks of the River. And guess what, we had blue sky and sun, for a while anyway. ?
The next day we headed north-west, then cut further inland from Grafton. We planned to stay at the Floyd Bush Campground, Coombadjha, on the Mann River, it looked like a great spot and had a lot of good reviews. But long story short, we never made it there. Both access roads to the campsite were closed due to flooding. Who would have thought it?
Now planning is not our strong suit, so we did what we normally do. We pointed the car in the general direction we wanted to go…and drove. Our general direction took us over the Gibraltar Range, a very pretty drive, even in the pouring rain. After a while we saw a sign for Washpool National Park. (Insert link to review) It was getting late in the day, so we decided to give it a try. We didn’t realise how high we had driven until we started to go down.
It was still raining, it was a steep narrow, gravel road and I have to say, it was a little bit scary. By the time got back on to level ground, the smell of burning rubber told us just how hard the brakes had worked. We did very little that evening. Basically, got the camp in order, went inside, dried off, had a couple of stiff drinks, and pretty much went to bed.
The next morning, we woke up to a fresh, beautiful, rainy day. The funny thing about all this rain is that when we were packing, I took all the winter and wet weather clothes out Chunky Bum. Peter asked why and I said derisively, “We won’t need it. It’s almost mid-summer.” Who has egg on her face now then?
It was here that we got to try our Ozpig for the very first time and I have to say, I was impressed. For those of you who don’t know, the Ozpig is a self-contained fire/cooking unit. It takes very little timber to get a good fire going, it is safe to use in, just about everywhere I think, because it is off the ground and well contained. And it is a great little stove to cook on. By the time we left Washpool NP the Pig was my new best friend.
Even though the weather was terrible, we just had to do a bush walk. We put on some wet dirty clothes; we were running out of dry ones. What the rain had missed, the dampness had gotten into, and hit the road. It was not a long walk about 5 kilometers return, but it was lovely. I have to say I’ve never bush walked with an umbrella before. I also have to say it was an utter waste of space.
The walk followed the stream, and because of all the rain, it was flowing deep and freely. The track was becoming slippery and we decided to turn around as soon as we’d found a place deep enough for a quick dip. Yep, you heard right, we wanted to have a dip. Well, we were already wet, and we thought that it would be refreshing. Hmmm, refreshing…if I said my heart skipped a few beats when I jumped in, I would not be lying. It was f-f-f-freezing.
Now we had stripped down to our undies for this little dip, we figured, who else would be stupid enough to go out walking in this? As it turns out, we were not the only idiots out that day. We needn’t have worried though because as it turned out the other idiots were stark naked. Yep, you heard me, not a stitch to be seen, not even the mandatory thongs!
They were of course, Europeans. What else needs to be said. Still, we had a good long chat with them, and they seemed to be a lovely family. At least they didn’t have to worry about drying their clothes when they got back to their camp, on the other side of the river.
I also had my first sighting of a Satin Bowerbird and…wait for it, a Lyrebird, very exciting. After some considerable stalking skills in the rain, I managed to get some good shots. I feel I should mention at this point that I was running out of dry clothes. Maybe we should move to the camp a cross the river?
After the excitement of the day, we dried out some wood, dried out some clothes, poured a couple of scotch’s and enjoyed a late-night viewing of Guardians of the Galaxy by the light of the shimmering pig.
I thoroughly enjoyed our three nights there and was a little sad to leave. Because of all the rain, we did a quick reckie run to check out the road before we left, and it was ok. Big Ears pulled Chunky Bum up the steep incline without a hitch, and we were back on the black once more.
We realised now that we had surpassed Soggy and very, very and we were now officially saturated. Good job we were heading home.
We left home on the 5th December 2020 and drove to Kingaroy. My sister-in-law was celebrating her 70th birthday, and we had an absolutely lovely day catching up with the family. It was a great start to our trip.
From there we went to Hervey Bay for a few days before travelling further north to Burnett Heads, and that’s when the rain began. After a week at Burnett Heads, we were starting to get a bit soggy, and hoped to leave the rain behind us as we began to mosey towards NSW.
The day after we drove out of Queensland into NSW, we discovered that the border had once more slammed shut behind us. Luckily, one of the benefits of being retired is that you have no time constraints, so, we decided to keep to our plan, which was to go to Port Macquarie and have Christmas with mum, my brother, and his fiancé and of course, Hugo.
Our plan to leave the rain behind was short lived as It rained for the entire trip, on top of that, it was bloody cold, but we arrived at Port Mac safe and sound on the 21st December and made our home at Flynn’s Beach caravan park, (Link TBA). We had a wonderful Christmas and a great catch up with mum, even though the weather didn’t allow us to do much, we had some quality catch up time.
It was sad to say goodbye to mum when we left on the 4th January, but even though I know she will miss us, I think she was ready to get back to her normal routine without having to worry about anyone else. As we were packing to leave, we realised that we had gone from soggy to really, really wet. Surely, it had to stop raining soon.
