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.
For those of you who are not aware, we have had a lot of rain across Queensland through the latter part of 2020. Not drought breaking rain, but enough to transform the Queensland outback from shades of ochre, brown and gold, to ochre, green and yellow.
I took dozens of photos of the landscape as we drove towards the South Australian border. These photos are not particularly noteworthy, other than the fact that we were driving through outback Queensland, and it was green.
We stopped in Thargomindah to replenish our supplies, to check the road to Innaminka in South Australia, and apply for a permit to cross the border. Why did we want to go to Innaminka? Because it’s a super cool name, what other reason did we need? 😊
While applying for the permit, we were told that the main route to Innaminka was closed due to road works. There was a station road detour in place that would take us across Cooper Creek. This would not normally be a problem, but, because of the rain, the Cooper was flowing. We asked around and got varying accounts of how deep the water was and how fast it was flowing. But with comments ranging from “Nah mate, wouldn’t tow a van over that.” And “I just called my boyfriend and he said he’d do it.” We thought it best just to go have a look-see and if it was doable, we’d do it. If not? Well, Innaminka wasn’t going anywhere.
But, before Innaminka we had to drive through the tiny town of Noccundra. Now, according to the 2016 Australian census, Noccundra has a population of 11, one occupied building, that being a pub, and …well that’s it. So of course, we decided to stay there for a couple of nights. We discovered three of the eleven residents live in the Noccundra pub, but I’m not sure where the other eight live.
We free camped across the road from the pub, on the banks of the Wilson River. It was a great little spot and we shared it with another four caravans/campers, not that we could see them, and about a gazillion insects, which was probably why we couldn’t see the other vans. 😊
We took the kayaks out a couple of times and explored the river and apart from the insects it was a lovely peaceful place to stay. I feel I should point out here that I’m not exaggerating about the insects. The flies worked the 7am to 7pm shift and the mosquitoes clocked on at precisely 7.01pm and off again at 6.59 am. I’m not sure if it is always like that, or if they were just making the most of the rain as well.
Now this is not a word of a lie, though sadly I don’t have photographic proof, but I got up before dawn on our last morning at Noccundra to take some sunrise shots. Knowing what to expect I wore jeans, boots, a long-sleeved shirt, a hat with mozzie net over it, and one glove. I needed one free hand to operate my camera. Within fifteen seconds of stepping outside, my bare hand turned black as it was attacked a mass of biting little f…… flying things.
PS
It was at Noccundra that we first realised that Chunky Bum, our delightful home on wheels, was most definitely not insect proof.
We continued to head west, our goal, Thargomindah. As per usual, we didn’t get to where we were heading. Get used to that.
We pulled over for a break at Lake Bindegolly National Park, between Cunnamulla and Thargomindah, (you’ve got to love these names) and surprise, surprise we decided to spend the night.
The National park consists of several salt and freshwater lakes and the Balonne highway seems to split the park in two. On the right, as you’re heading west, we were informed that the lakes were freshwater. Don’t quote me on this. There is a long walk around the lake, picnic tables and much wildlife to be seen, but no camping. On the left, the lake is salt, again don’t quote me, just as much wildlife, and wait for it…you can camp there. So that’s what we did, and it was a lovely place to spend the night.
We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife, except some birds. In particular, a pair of very industrious Crimson Chats. I followed them and photographed them for quite some time, then the female began flying erratically and flapping around on the ground in front of me. At first, I thought she was injured, and it took me a while to figure out what was happening. She of course, was not injured, but that’s what she wanted me to believe. Had I been a predator, I would have followed her, and left her precious chicks alone. And people think animals don’t have feelings, don’t love.
It was a great little bush camp spot, the only thing wrong were the burrs and prickles, there were millions of them, and most of them ended up in my socks. 😊
Cunnamulla. What can I say about Cunnamulla? Well, it is a very sleepy town in outback Queensland, it can be extremely hot, though when we were there, the weather was perfect. There really isn’t that much to do there but, to be fair I think Covid-19 had taken its toll on the tiny town. Saying that, the Warrego Riverside Park at Cunnamulla is a little slice of paradise.
We were there for seven days, giving us time to catch up on some washing, relaxing and a couple of days work for Peter. I had a lot of fun wandering the extensive and quite lovely gardens photographing, you guessed it, birds.
I almost forgot, if you don’t go to Cunnamulla for any other reason, go for its water. I don’t know if it was just the caravan park or the whole town, but I swear that it has the sweetest, freshest water that I have ever tasted.
| Location | Cracow, QLD |
| Month visited | September |
| Length of stay allowed | 7 Days |
Very quiet spot located behind the mining museum. A surprisingly pleasant stay.
| | AMENITIES | COMMENTS |
| Ease of Access | I bit tricky if you come in the wrong way | |
| Yes | Showers | Well maintained with hot water |
| Yes | Toilets | Well maintained |
| No | Dump Point | |
| Yes | Water | Good drinking |
| Yes | Power | |
| Yes | Rubbish Bins | |
| Yes | Shade | No shade to speak of |
| Ground Covering | Some grassy, some concrete slab | |
| No | Shops Near by | |
| Yes | Pub Near by | We did not visit the pub, but it is across the road, an easy walk. |
| Yes | Pet Friendly | On lead |
| Yes | Fee’s | Donations onsite. For what they offer I’d say that a donation is a must. Help them to continue to help us |
Summary
We did not like the look of this when we drove in, but were pleasantly surprised at what Cracow had to offer. Very well maintained facilities, with fresh water and power. What more do you need. Pay a visit to the mining museum there, it may be small but it is interesting.
We give Cracow a 3 van rating.
Now here’s something you don’t come across every day. When we booked into Rolleston caravan park, we asked to book for three nights; we were told no. Not because they were full, but because nobody ever stayed that long, and they wouldn’t refund us when we decided to leave early.
Okay, so what’s wrong with the place? Absolutely nothing, the staff were friendly, the facilities were immaculate but…there is nothing, except a tiny little pub, at Rolleston. The sites are mostly gravel and there is no shade.
So why would we stay there, and why for so long? Well, Peter had to work, and we needed good internet access, which Rolleston had, but more importantly, it is situated a short drive from Carnarvon Gorge. So, after a couple of days working, we were able to explore Carnarvon in all its glory.
Our next camp was somewhat different. Worlds apart in fact. We were heading west and saw a sign for Nuga Nuga National Park. Never heard of it, sounded nice, so we turned off the road and went to check it out.
Big ears and Chunky bum had their first taste of a dirt road, with me behind the wheel. I have to say, it was a fun drive. Well, I enjoyed it, you’ll have to ask Peter if he did. 😊
Oh My! What a lovely spot. We camped by the lake and were blown away by the wildlife. Birds, turtles, kangaroos and emus. We only stayed one night, but we will definitely go back there again. Peaceful, serene, picturesque, it was just gorgeous.
Our next stop was Roma, we were meeting some friends and family there, boy what a let down that was. We stayed at the Big Rig Caravan Park, and we will not stay there again. We were out of school holidays, yet we were packed in like sardines. So much so that everyone was shuffling cars around to let other travelers’ in and out. On top of that there was a foul smell in our area. If it wasn’t for the fact that we had arranged to meet people there, we would have moved on.
Even though it was an unpleasant place to stay, it was great to catch up with everyone and we had a fun time.
So, our shakedown trip is done and dusted and we’re ready for our next foray into the wilderness. We repacked for a longer trip, including push bikes and an electric piano. What? You never know when you might need one.
Once more we squeezed through the garden gates, and this time we managed to not hit the tree.
Our first stop was at Esk, a mammoth one and a half hours drive from home. It was Peter’s first two days of working from Chunky Bum, and we wanted to make sure he had plenty of phone/internet coverage. That’s our excuse anyway.
After that we spent another night at Harland Park, where Hugo had a good catch up with Rodney the Rooster and we explored the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail which runs past Harland Park.
The next night we spent with family at Kingaroy. I had a killer headache and went to bed early, I got lots of sympathy for that. Peter and his brother hit the port bottle, so Peter had a killer headache in the morning. Sympathy…not so much. From there we revisited Ban Ban Springs.
So far, no new roads traveled, we have simply retraced our previous trip. The thing is, you can’t avoid travelling some of the same roads, and it is a good opportunity to stay at some of the places you have enjoyed in the past. Still close to home we drove through Gayndah, Mundubbera (you must check out the butcher there) and Eidsvold, before spending the night at Cracow.
By this time, we discovered we had a leak from our freshwater tank, the washing machine had broken away from one of its three insubstantial tethers and the greywater gauge was faulty. Fingers crossed that’s all.
