On The Road Again

It never ceases to amaze us, but every time we decide to head off towing our van, it almost always rains. This trip was no different, as we left home on Sunday, the 4th of June. We experienced heavy rain for about twenty minutes after departing, but thankfully, the skies cleared to reveal a lovely sunny day.
If heading towards Queensland, we prefer to camp at Cangai Bridge on the Mann River, just over 150km from home and west of Grafton. However, as we approached the turnoff, dark clouds started gathering. It looked like we might face another downpour, so we changed our plans since the campsite was along a dirt track.
We continued onto the New England Tableland through Gibraltar Range National Park, with our Chev towing us effortlessly at 1100 metres above sea level.
We paused for lunch at Beardy Waters rest area before heading through Glenn Innes and Inverell. It was just another 50 km to the small town of Ashford, and our camp for the evening was just outside town at the Severn River rest area. The site is spacious beside the river, equipped with a composting toilet and rubbish bins, and we shared it with four other groups.

Our second day involved a short 70km drive to another free site south of Queensland, near the Dumaresq River in Texas. Although the campsite was quite busy, our early arrival allowed us to find a spot without any trouble. 

To reduce travel distances, we spent our third night at The Gums Golf and Cricket Club for just $10; they provided showers and toilets, although we primarily used our own. We had read glowing reviews about Judds Lagoon just outside Yuleba on Wiki; we planned to spend two nights there, but sadly, the site didn't appeal to us. So, it was a brief stop of just one night. The lagoon was relatively small and could only accommodate two vans camping beside it.

After the disappointment at Judds Lagoon, we moved on to Neil Turner Weir at Mitchell, where we have been visiting for more years than we can remember. The camp area has been expanded, and this might be related to the increasing number of travellers soon passing through on their way to the Big Red Bash in Birdsville.

We spent three nights here, and the diesel heater certainly got a good workout with frost on the car and van each morning. We limited our drives to approximately 200 km on travel days, which was the distance to our next stop in Charleville. We camped at the CMCA park just outside town. Our van is insured with Ken Tame, and a CMCA membership is required for this insurance. As members, our two-night stay costs only $14. However, they do specify that no water can be discharged onto the ground; there is a central fire pit each evening; and they provide potable water and a dump point, which suits us perfectly. It's incredible how much money is spent in these towns; we paid $569, including fuel, groceries, a haircut for me, and lunch at the pub. Fuel was $1.899 per litre. 

Our next stop was Quilpie, where we spent three nights camping on the western side of Lake Houdraman for $15 per night, with only a rubbish bin available, but the added bonus of having the place entirely to ourselves. It was free many years ago, but the property owners have now installed showers, toilets, power, and a bar on the eastern side. We passed through Quilpie last year after completing the Strzelecki Track, and even more businesses have closed during this time, which is quite sad.

We were now heading towards Windorah after navigating the many hundred or so floodways over the single-lane bitumen. We decided to camp at the caravan park as Ros wanted to wash our sheets, and it was easier doing this there than in our washing machine. We paid $22 for an unpowered site, and fuel had now increased to $ 2.33/l.

We left Windorah on day fifteen to camp at Betoota. The single-lane bitumen stretches for 125 km, with the remaining distance mostly dirt, with the occasional stretch of bitumen near Deons Lookout and 20 km from Betoota. The gravel sections, while extremely dusty, were in good condition as we sat on 60km/h. We camped beside Browns Creek waterhole, where we had the place all to ourselves. A composting toilet has now been built at the far end of the waterhole, so it will mean the white graffiti brigade won't be leaving toilet paper blowing in the wind.

Even though the pub was bustling, we had our lunch of meat pies with sauce washed down with a Canadian Club. We sat under the trees, which were lovely and cool beside the waterhole, for the remainder of the day.

The remaining 166 km of gravel road into Birdsville was in good condition, with bitumen caps on some of the larger sand dunes. We came across a very healthy-looking dingo beside the road and wondered if he was being fed by people passing by.

Arriving at the Town Common, we set up camp just before the bridge and one kilometre from the pub.