Homeward Bound

 After leaving the Tullebudgera Creek Tourist Park, we continued north along the M1 before turning onto the Logan Motorway that would take us further west towards Toowoomba.

Mr Google took us onto the Toowoomba Connection Road rather than the more accessible and newer A2 or Warrego Highway section. This connection road would be the steepest road we have ever towed our van up and over, but thankfully, the Chevy took it all in its stride.

We could have driven straight home from the Gold Coast in just a day, but we wanted to experience the changes the new Elka shock absorbers had made on some of the worst back roads we had previously driven over six months ago.

Our first night was spent camping beside the Dumaresq River in Texas, near the Queensland and New South Wales border. 

We spent just one night here before again taking more back roads through Yetman, Warialda and Bingara, where we camped for three days beside the Gwydir River.

Even though we only made minor changes to the shock absorbers' high and low compression rates, we were totally blown away by the difference between the new and the old.

We packed up in pouring rain as we headed east, passing through Delungra, Inverell and Glen Innes. The rain continued as we descended through Gibraltar Range National Park, where we experienced heavy fog with limited visibility.

We planned to camp at Cangai Bridge, one of our favourite campsites beside the Mann River, but with the rain and the dirt road access to the campsite, we continued on home.

We departed on June 3rd and returned on November 20th, having travelled 15,236 km with an average fuel consumption of 20.93 L/100 km.

Bushtracker Visit and American Car Company

 It was just a short run from Gootchie Creek to the RV stop at Cooroy. The only facilities are water and a dump point; all water must be retained, and sites are twelve dollars per night.

Our van was booked for a service that included checking the bearings and brakes and greasing the hitch. We always camp outside the factory gates on Enterprise Street the night before, ensuring our van is the first cab of the rank.

After our service, we returned to Cooroy for a few days before heading to the Gold Coast. We were here to have new adjustable shocks fitted to our Chev Silverado. The current shock absorbers were not fit for purpose, especially when driving over the crappy undulating Queensland-sealed roads. 

We fitted Canadian-made Elka shock absorbers. They are 2.5"reservoir shocks that can be separately adjusted for high and low compression.

After fitting in, we returned to the Tallebudgera Creek caravan park along the M1 Gold Coast Highway and could immediately feel the difference.

The real test was over the next few days, travelling over some of the inland roads we had previously driven several months ago. These shock absorbers were very expensive, but chalk and cheese compared to the old ones, with the proposing effect almost gone, and that is only with minor adjustments to the compression ratios. Further changes will be made over time.

The rear shock absorbers with protective boot cover the shaft from possible rock damage.

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The black knob controls the high-compression changes, and the red knob is for low-compression.

Agnes Waters 1770 and Gootchie Creek Escape

It's certainly been many years since we last visited Agnes Waters and 1770. Then, the access road from the Bruce Highway was dirt.

In those days, this area was just a sleepy location that had not grown but was now bursting at the seams with development.

We were heading south, so this stop was short and probably would be the last time we came here again.

We stayed at The Summit in Agnes Waters and had initially booked an unpowered site, but once we arrived, it would have been impossible to camp in this section with the uneven ground. So luckily, there was a powered site for our stay.

Apart from having a good look around, we shopped and enjoyed lunch on one of our days along the waterfront in 1770. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch, particularly my crumbed red emperor.

From here, we ventured further south along the busy Bruce Highway to our next stay at Gootchie Creek Escape just south of Bauple. It is a six-hundred-acre property just over one kilometre west of the Bruce Highway. We arrived on a Thursday and chose a site along Gootchie Creek, but there are unlimited sites on the property. The usual facilities, including showers, toilets, and a dump point, are on site. The facilities can be seen in the background.

Unfortunately, our idyllic campsite was shattered on Friday afternoon once the hordes arrived with their noisy children and doof doof music, played loudly late into the night. Luckily, we only booked for two nights; otherwise, we would have left anyway. So if you enjoy serenity, I would only camp here during the week, not during the school holidays.

Haliday Bay north of Mackay

 We shopped in Proserpine before heading south to spend time camping at Haliday Bay north of Mackay. We've never ventured off the highway in this part of the world, and we were so glad we did. Talk about a little slice of paradise with a small campground with powered and unpowered sites. Of course, we chose the unpowered area. The site is suited to fully self-contained caravans and motorhomes.

The on-site bar and restaurant were closed during our visit because of the reduced numbers now travelling so late in the season.

Twenty-seven dollars per night unpowered with water available, a dump point and a lovely beach with a swimming enclosure to keep the stingers at bay. There's even a nine-hole golf course, but unfortunately, my golf clubs are at home, and the hired clubs leave much to be desired.

Initially, our four-night stay has grown to a sixteen as the area is so peaceful and quiet, but then, of course, it's late in the tourist season with fewer people travelling.

The past weekend was busy with people from Mackay camping here, but now that it's Monday morning, we almost have the place to ourselves.

Spearfishermen and snorkelers reported that the area around the rocks on the point out from the swimming enclosure had many sea snakes.

Another small community at Seaforth, ten kilometres north of here, sells fuel. It has a small shop and a bowling club, where we enjoyed lunch on one of our days.

With six hundred kilometres from Halliday Bay to Agnes Waters, we decided to break up the drive and stay behind the pub at Marlborough, where you can camp for free, provided you frequent the pub, so we both enjoyed our lunch and a beer.

Bound for the Coast

 From Julia Creek, we continued further east along the Flinders Highway towards Richmond on what we can only describe as the worst road we've ever travelled, with damage on the left-hand side caused by the large B double and triple trucks that use these roads. We rode the centre line wherever possible, providing we could see far enough ahead to escape furrows created on these roads that were never built to handle the weights of these trucks and their loads.

These road conditions continued for another one hundred and fourteen kilometres until we reached Hughenden, where we camped at the free RV park, a large dirt car park the size of two football fields with a dump point and town water. We'd planned to spend two nights here, but one night was enough after walking around town and the swirling wind kicking up dust in the RV park.

The road condition east towards Charters Towers started to improve, making the two hundred and forty-six kilometre drive much more enjoyable. We stopped briefly here to refuel before moving another twenty kilometres east to camp at another free camp beside the Burdekin River at Macrossan Park, where toilets and rubbish bins are available. Again, the area was dirt, but we positioned ourselves near a large area of grass even though it was dry, which would stop us from being covered in dirt from wind and passing traffic. It was busy, which can be put down to having toilets on site, and many permanent campsites looked like they'd been camped for a considerable amount of time.

The old sandstone pylons have been replaced because the weight of the trains carrying refined metals and mineral concentrate to the coast wouldn't be able to take the additional loads.

The remainder of our trip along the Flinders Highway was an enjoyable drive as we headed towards the Bruce Highway. About thirty kilometres west of Townsville at Woodstock, we turned onto a minor road that took us by properties with mango plantations. We saved ourselves from having to travel an extra sixty kilometres.

Since leaving home in early June, the traffic has been minimal for the areas we've been travelling through, so it was a real shock to arrive at the Bruce Highway and be confronted with streams of traffic heading in both directions. The highway remained busy for the next one hundred and fifty-three kilometres until we arrived in Bowen. All the van parks were booked out even though the school holidays were nearly over, so we spent the next four nights at a farm stay twenty kilometres south-west of Bowen at Glen Erin Farmstay for twenty dollars a night where there was bore water available, a dump point and showers and toilets.

We travelled to Airlie Beach and booked into a caravan park on the Shute Harbour Road. It's been eight years since our last visit, and we were blown away by the progress here. There are new marinas and resorts, and the Airlie Beach Hotel has been transformed into mega accommodation. While here, we ventured into Proserpine to pre-poll for the voice referendum.

                                                                    

Airlie Beach and North Queensland were our yearly destinations to escape winter in Canberra while we lived there for over forty years, so we've seen the vast changes in that time.

We are booked into Bushtracker on Wednesday, the eighth of November, for a van service that will include replacing the wheel bearings, so we are currently trying to juggle times and places to stay for the coming month as it's just on one thousand kilometres from Airlie Beach to the factory at Kunda Park on the Sunshine Coast.

So, after leaving Airlie Beach, it was only just over fifty kilometres to our next four-night stopover at Lake Proserpine. The only facilities here are a small kiosk selling essential items, showers, toilets, and rubbish bins. The campground overlooks the lake, and fees are ten dollars per person per night. Unfortunately, during our four days here, we experienced powerful, gusty winds, and as usually happens on our departure day, the winds have eased.