NW through Queensland

Today's drive of less than 300 km will have us at our next campsite around lunchtime. 
Whenever we are on holidays our aim is to make our campsite for the evening before or just after lunchtime, and after setting up which takes less than ten minutes we normally sit back with a cold beer and enjoy our surroundings. 

Just 50 km after leaving Eumundi we passed through Gympie then onto the Wide Bay Highway towards Kilkivan. From here we took a minor road to Tansey which involved climbing the Coast Range with a maximum elevation of 357 metres. 
Here we joined the Burnett Highway passing through Ban Ban Springs and Gayndah. 

Our intention tonight is to camp at the RM Williams Learning Centre in Eidsvold. 
The centre charges $10 to park in a very large open area adjacent to the complex. This includes access to toilets, water and the use of a BBQ but there's no power available. 
We had plenty of time to explore the centre which we found very informative. 
Camping is also allowed at the nearby showgrounds with fees paid at the servo across the road. Here your $15 gets you water, power and toilets.

A leisurely start this morning after a tour around the town, before continuing northwards still on the Burnett Highway. We passed through Monto, Biloela and Dululu before joining the Capricorn Highway as we headed westward to spend the night at another campsite in the small town of Duaringa. 
Sad to see that the pub at Dululu has now closed down. We have stayed at the free camp nearby on a previous occasion.

We have stayed at Duaringa several times before. There are toilets, showers and a dump point and while we don't use any of these facilities, because we prefer to use our own, we are more than happy to make a donation all the same. 

Continuing further west we passed through Blackwater, Emerald and Alpha and were going to stay at Jericho but after viewing the weather for tomorrow with the likely hood of a large low coming in from the west we continued on. Our plan was to camp at Lara Station and we were concerned that the 13 km dirt access road would be closed. We normally prefer to drive between 200 and 300 km each day but today's drive to reach Lara Station was 504 km. Thankfully a large tail wind helped with our fuel economy.

I purchased Road Trip from the App Store after reading about it on Face book and will use this to monitor our fuel statistics for this trip.

We have driven along the Capricorn Highway on numerous occasions but have never seen the countryside looking so green. The vast majority of flood ways and creeks we crossed on the 141 km stretch between Alpha and Barcaldine all had significant amounts of water in them as did the spoon drains beside the road.

We arrived at Lara Station after exiting the Landsborough Highway 28 km south of Barcaldine and driving the last 13 km over a very well maintained dirt road with just some minor corrugations.  

What an oasis this location is. The wetlands are fed by a century old bore and have attracted an abundant amount of bird life with over 120 species recorded. Recent rains and the abundance of water lying around meant that there were very few birds here during our stay.

We enjoy our privacy so chose our campsite well away from our fellow campers. Life for us just doesn't get much better than this. We enjoyed the ever changing colours around us as each day progressed and once the sun had set and we lit our campfire and out came the stars.

Our five days spent here were very enjoyable and totally relaxing and we will return here again.

The predicted low system did eventuate dropping 32 mm on the station and closing the access road for several days.

We had ourselves a mini muster at Lara with ten Bushtrackers parked up for several evenings. Most were heading to the muster in Winton.

We rejoined the Capricorn Highway at Barcaldine for the run towards Longreach. Today we are just passing through to a spot we camped at last year in the Ayrshire Hills which are NW of Winton. 
As we passed by the showgrounds in Winton we could see Bushtracker vans arriving for this year's Bushtracker AGM Muster. Just over seventy vans are expected for the muster which will help inject some much need money into the community.
We topped up our diesel, shopped at the supermarket, lunched at the bakery and purchased some beer and wine. That was a total of $460, so you can imagine the dollar benefit to Winton having the muster here with over 140 people attending

There are no facilities here and we are again parking behind the same small hill to stop any truck noise that may eventuate during the evening. 

After the sun had risen and we had taken our photos there wasn't much else to keep us here so, after breakfast we were on the road quite early heading towards Kynuna. 
A lightning stop for a cuppa at McKinlay 

and then 106 km later we passed through Cloncurry where we joined the Barkly Highway.

Our campsite for tonight was just another 60 km further west at the site of the former Mary Kathleen Uranium Mining township. The entrance is just over 12 km west of the turnoff to another free camp that we stayed at last year called Corella Dam, built as the water supply for Mary Kathleen.

I was last here in the 80's when a school friends parents were minding the township after the mine had closed down and before any infrastructure had been removed. It was quite eerie being driven around the streets with no one living in the houses and not another soul in sight. 

Well the place is still quite eerie with the remains of bitumen roads and slabs from houses and shops that were all relocated to either Mt Isa or Cloncurry.
This is a wonderful free camp with no facilities. There is room enough for any number of vans and there are plenty of building slabs remaining that can be used to park the van on.

We drove out to view the open cut mine that has now filled with water.

Another leisurely day's drive today with just 244 km to our next campsite which will have us set up around lunchtime. That includes stopping in the Isa to refuel and tend to some last minute shopping at the Coles supermarket. It will be another twelve days until we pass through Katherine and there are no other supermarkets in between.
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Last year on our way to WA we camped just outside Camooweal on the Georgina River, and are again staying in the same location, but this time we are spending five days here.

It's always nice to have a water view and camping here ticks all our boxes. The two main billabongs are Lake Francis and Lake Canellan. 
We prefer staying at the later location which is several kilometres past the cattle yards. The majority of people prefer staying at Lake Francis which is closer to the highway and town. There are no facilities at either spot but Camooweal is just several kilometres away with a dump point, garage, caravan park and of course a pub. Just about every town no matter how small it is has a pub, with this town's population just shy of 300.

On our third day we drove out to Camooweal Caves National Park. 

The majority of the caves here are just vertical sinkholes that have been formed by water filtering down through fractures in the surrounding land surface. The park is 22 km south of Camooweal along the unsealed Urandangi Road. The caves themselves are not very inspiring but the Nowranie Waterhole certainly made up for this with its lovely river red gums and quite long waterhole which is surrounded by dry grasslands that cover much of the Barkly Tableland.

Our yabby pots produced this haul of Red Claw last night which were polished off for lunch today.

Lara Station

We arrived at Lara Station after leaving the Landsborough Highway, 28 km south of Barcaldine, and driving the last 13 km along a well-maintained dirt road with some minor corrugations in places.
 
All the sites are spread out around the Lara Wetlands, which were created from a 100-year-old bore. Initially, the wetland was formed by digging open bore drains; however, these have now been replaced with pipes. The wetlands measure 1 km by 800 metres, and when we arrived, about thirty groups were scattered around the area, with our nearest neighbour just 60 metres away. Over 120 bird species have been recorded here, but due to the abundance of water, we could only identify around 20 different species.

Camping fees are $20 per couple per night. With limited phone and internet access, there is no Eftpos available. Your fees include flushing toilets, hot showers, fresh artesian drinking water, and free wood if you cut it yourself; otherwise, it's $10 a barrow load, with each site having a fire pit. There is also a mineral hot pool at a very pleasant 38 degrees. Additionally, there is a dump point for toilet cassettes.

Originally, Lara Station was part of Barcaldine Downs, which was divided into three separate stations, with Lara covering 15,000 acres. The station has had two owners, with Michael and Jo purchasing the property in 2009. To supplement their income, they both worked in the mines and returned to the station on their weeks off. Michael had been flying planes since he was seventeen and also held a helicopter licence; he would muster cattle from time to time. Jo, with Michael's support, wanted to start a tourist venture, and on 12th May 2014, her first paying customers arrived. 

Later that same day, Jo received the tragic news that Michael had been killed while mustering cattle in the helicopter. Since that fateful day, many wonderful people have come here to support Jo after the accident. Take Bill, for instance, who arrived three months ago, just over two years ago, and is still helping out. Then there is Debbie, who lives on the Sunshine Coast but comes for three to four months each year to lend a hand. A two-hour tour is offered, and at just $10, it is well worth the price. We highly recommend that if you stay here, you must do it. 

The tour includes 'smoko' with freshly made scones, jam, and cream. The original Lara Station residence is only visible on this tour. The impressive house was built between 1917 and 1918 for Eric Sealy. It combines features of both bungalow and colonial Georgian designs. The house is elevated and stands on gidgee wood stumps, which are resistant to white ants.

The two wings come together and join at a hexagonal living room, which is the focal point of the house. This room has 15-foot-high ceilings and is lined with red cedar. As his family grew, more rooms were added to the house, with covered verandas three metres wide on both sides and a five-metre veranda at the end.
 
Eric Sealy was a very wealthy man but, by all accounts, not well-liked, including by his own family. He had three daughters, two of whom married into wealth and moved far away. The middle daughter remained at home and married the head ringer, much to Mr Sealy's disgust. He allowed them to marry on the front veranda of the house, but then forbade them ever to set foot in the main house again. This also included any grandchildren. They lived in a small house about 50 metres from the main house, and the only time Mrs Sealy could see her daughter and grandchildren was once a week when her husband visited Barcaldine.
 
Mrs Sealy passed away first, followed by Eric. The daughter wanted to move back into the big house, but the ringer refused, saying that if he wasn't allowed to enter the house for the past thirty years, then he never would.
 
The irony of this story is that the ringer's children moved away, and his wife passed away, leaving him with sole ownership.
 
Because the ringer had no interest in the house, he let it fall into disrepair. Jo has tried to have parts of the house restored, but there is still much work to be done, and a considerable amount of money is required to finish the restoration.
 
We thoroughly enjoyed our five days spent here, so please, if you are passing this way, stop in and support Jo. 

1000 Kilometre Shakedown and Service

Bushtracker recommends that the van undergo a 1000 km service.
 
This service includes adjustments to the brakes, checking wheel alignment, inspecting the suspension, and adjusting wheel bearings, among other things. Once we were notified of our handover date and aware of the factory's busy schedule, I arranged for the van to be scheduled for its service. That involves an eleven-day turnaround.  

In our case, we were unable to fit all our gear into our Landcruiser before our holidays, so we are towing the van home to Sawtell and then returning for the service before heading off for about three months. The round trip is over the required 1000 km.

Our plan is to spend several days packing the van and testing all the systems to make sure everything is working correctly. We don't expect any problems, but if any arise, they can be addressed during the service. 

 

Even though I have towed a large van before, I was a little hesitant as we headed out onto the Bruce Highway for the drive south towards Brisbane. 

It's always jam-packed along here and past the Gold Coast, with endless streams of traffic going in both directions. However, I shouldn't have worried, because once we settled into a rhythm, the van towed beautifully behind our Landcruiser. 

 

As we entered NSW and crossed the Tweed River, the traffic congestion eased considerably, and the drive became more relaxed for most of the rest of the trip. The exception was the Pacific Highway upgrade, approximately 50 km south of Grafton, where speeds were mainly 80 kph, but dropped to 60 and 40 kph in certain sections.

 

Ros's first task was to cut and fit the non-slip matting to the surface of all shelves and drawers. We have found that Clark Rubber sells the best product that doesn't break down like the cheaper versions. 

 

Another change involved replacing the white Dometic fly screens, which show dirt and shrink over time, with black midge screens. Plus, they look much better anyway. 

It then took several days to load the van and another couple of days to ensure that all our systems were working correctly.

 

The day before leaving, we took a short drive to the local weighbridge to weigh the van and 4WD. It's something we usually do before any trip - a piece of mind to know we are within our limits.  

 

Whenever we travel north towards the Sunshine Coast, towing the van, we always break up the journey and spend the evening at the Yelgun rest area, just north of Brunswick Heads. The only facilities are toilets and BBQS, but the area is far enough away from the highway so there's no road noise at night from the almost constant stream of passing B-doubles.

We are staying again at the Big 4 caravan park at Forest Glen. The caravan park has seen better days, but we only stay here for a night at a time whenever the van is booked into the factory. 

Drop-off time is always 7:00 a.m., and this park is conveniently located near the factory, with minimal traffic to contend with at this time of day. The management is more interested in promoting their new venture, which makes much more sense. This involves building 190 architecturally designed homes, with stage one already sold out. I'm sure that eventually Nature's Edge will encroach on the existing caravan park, which will likely no longer exist as a result. Natures Edge.
 
Our service went off without a hitch (no pun intended), but then that's what we have come to expect from Bushtracker, who in my humble opinion (IOHO) make the best off-road van in Australia.
 
Tonight, we are camping just over 25 km north of the Bushtracker factory. The Eumundi RV stop is more enjoyable than staying cramped in a caravan park, and at just £15 for the night, it is also considerably cheaper. 

The charge covers the use of shower and toilet facilities, along with a dump point, for a maximum of two nights' stay. We enjoyed a lovely happy hour with friends Hank and Deb, who dropped by to say hello. We also received a surprise visit from Stu, whom I haven't seen since 2005. 

Handover Day

Well, it's been ten months, but finally, handover day has arrived.
 
Saying we were excited would be a gross understatement. 
We are more excited this time than we were in 2008, if that's at all possible.

The handover process for new owners takes the better part of a day, but in our case, this is the second time around, and we were finished just after lunch.

 

Firstly, we were shown how our audiovisual systems operated, including our satellite dish. Jeremy from Sound in Motion had arranged before delivery for our details to be registered for the VAST box, ensuring everything was operational today. The rest of our handover covered how our electrical system functions and how all the other equipment interacts with it.
 
Our preferred option when travelling is not to stay in caravan parks unless we are visiting places like Darwin, where there are no alternatives. This van, like our previous Bushtracker, is fully self-contained with 600 watts of solar panels on the roof. These panels charge our 300 Ah lithium batteries, which power everything in the van. The van is also pre-wired to accommodate an additional panel if needed in the future.
 
We also have a water sterilisation unit fitted with double filtration canisters, filtering down to 0.2 microns, followed by passing through a quartz tube with 2600-2700 angstrom UV. All our accessories operate on 12 volts, from our 220-litre compressor fridge to our audio system. Our 4 kg washing machine can even be run through our inverter if necessary. When we need our air conditioner 'out the Back of Bourke', our Honda generator can supply power. Even our diesel heater and satellite dish, which provide us with VAST (all free-to-air channels), are 12-volt.
 
We also have the connections in place so that, when we head off in the van, we can take our Foxtel box from home.
 

We decided it was too late in the day to return home, so we made our way to the Big 4 Caravan Park, where we spent time reviewing everything discussed that day. 

A celebratory happy hour was quite early this afternoon, followed by dinner at Jampa's Tibetan Restaurant, which we highly recommend. We have dined there before; it's housed in a separate building within the caravan park grounds. 
It's also BYO, so we brought along a 2012 bottle of Henschke Henry's Seven Shiraz blend, which helped cap off a very memorable day.....

Camp Oven Cooker

Last year, while we were camped at Longreach Waterhole, we met a couple whose son makes these stainless steel camp oven cookers.

For the past thirty-odd years, we have always used coals for roasting and baking, but now prefer using heat beads. 
We use the Easy-Lite Heat Bead brand. Once they're lit, it only takes thirty minutes for them to be ready for use. 

You place the required number into the cooker and light it. The initial flame only lasts for several minutes before it dies down.

Once the beads have turned into grey ash, transfer the required number of beads to the camp oven lid and place your camp oven on top of the cooker with the remainder of the beads underneath the oven. 

The following link displays the number of beads required for a specific camp oven size.
Required number of heat beads

There are two reasons for providing your camp oven size when ordering. Firstly, so that your oven will sit perfectly over the cooker

 And when not in use, the cooker fits neatly inside your camp oven for storage.

The holes in the base allow the beads to breathe while cooking.

We purchased an old electric fry pan from a recycling centre and used that as our base.

Wade, who makes the cookers, can be contacted on 0417 605 o49 or wade76.ws@gmail.com. You can also search camp oven cooker on Facebook