Agnes Water - Rockhampton

Wed 11 July – Up early as the next camp we want to stay in is “first come first served” and we do not want to miss out. We are heading out to the coast to Agnes Water about 120kms away. We arrived at the Workmans Beach camp at about 10:00am and got one of the last sites. This is a Regional Park camp and set in bush. It reminds us of the great State Park camps in the USA. We walked out to the headland behind the camp with great views. After lunch we rode down to the town and the beautiful beach of Agnes Water. The end of the beach faces north and is sheltered from the S.E.  winds. On the way back, we walked a couple of short tracks with great views. We have booked for 2 nights but may stay longer.

Thurs 12 July – We packed our lunch and cycled 7kms to the town of 1770.

This is where Captain Cook made his second landfall on Australia. (Botany Bay was the first). There is a sheltered river mouth where he moored the Endeavour and caught fish, and shot the turkeys which are still everywhere. We walked thru the Joseph Banks Conservation Park to a lookout. Back on the river we had our lunch before the return ride to Agnes Water Beach for a sit in the sun and a read.

Fri 13 July – Another packed lunch and a ride in the opposite direction partly on a road and then a 4WD track to a carpark at Springs Beach.

We walked the Red Rock Trail along beaches and over headlands for 3kms. The area up from the beaches is all privately owned (Myers) with eco-friendly houses set discreetly into the bush. A great walk with pristine beaches.


On our way back, we walked a boardwalk thru a Paper Bark forest. Enjoyed some time relaxing when we got back.

Sat 14 July – We left this great camp (we will be back!) and drove 120kms north to a free camp on the Calliope River. There is camping either side of the river and we got a great spot on the north side overlooking the river. There are about 100 campers and caravans in this area but there is lots of space. Most people lit camp fires at sunset.

Sun 15 July – It was a very cool morning. When the sun reached “Andy” I gave Val a haircut. Clear skies and very sunny. In the afternoon we walked over the old bridge to the camp on the other side of the river. The guy next door lit a camp fire at sunset and invited us and another couple to join them. A very pleasant evening talking and enjoying the brilliant stars.  Even saw the International Space Station fly over.

Mon 16 July – We will stay here for another night. It was much warmer this morning. Breakfast outside in shorts. We walked up to the small café where the local CWI ladies serve scones with jam and cream. Very yummy. Our neighbours lit a campfire and we spent another very pleasant evening with them.

Tues 17 July – A 100km drive to Rockhampton where we are booked into a camp. We did a shop up and after lunch Val washed everything that did not move! I had to be careful I did not end up in a washing machine. We will return to this camp in a few days’ time to look around this city of around 100,000 situated on the Tropic of Capricorn.

Wed 18 July – We drove out to the coast to Yeppoon, found a park and walked the beach into the town. It is a bit like a mini Mooloolaba with yuppy shops and apartments above. This area is Keppel Bay with the Keppel Islands in the distance. We booked into a camp down the coast for a couple of nights. There seem to be lots of older couples from Victoria wintering over here. The camp is on an inlet with a causeway separating it from the sea. We sat on the inlet watching the sunset.

Thurs 19 July – We walked across the causeway and along the beach for about 5kms. The weather has been perfect for the last three weeks. Sunny days (around 23C) and cooler evenings. We spent the afternoon in the sun/shade reading.

 Back to the inlet with our chairs and a glass of wine to watch the sunset with the pelicans.

Fri 20 July – We drove away from the coast and inland.
 This will be the last time we see the sea for a very long time!

 We went to the “Fardooley’s Bush Camp”. This is a private little camp up on a plateau in the bush. There were about 20 sites, run by a hard case couple who just enjoy the company. At around 5:30pm we all assembled in the Fardooley Bar for “happy hour”. We had a great couple of hours talking to many other couples traveling much as we are.

Sat 21 July – A cooler but sunny morning. I had bought some bits to fix the tap in our shower and spent most of the morning (with Val’s help) shifting the tap. A very successful job.

In the afternoon we walked down the hill and followed a track to the creek. Platypuses have been sighted there but the creek was just a series of shallow puddles so non Platypuses. Back up to the bar for “happy hour”. Very hospitable hosts.

Sun 22 July – Back to the city of Rockhampton with a shop up on the way. We are booked into the same camp as last Tuesday and will spend a couple of nights here before heading inland for the next part of our journey.

Sunshine Coast to Bundaberg

Sat 30 June – We left our site and sat in the carpark for lunch before driving to Little Mountain where Judy and Frank McAlister live. It’s basically a suburb of Caloundra. We parked in their drive and had a great catch up. Val and Judy took Lucy (Debbie’s dog) for a walk while I used Frank’s workshop to fix our bed ladder. I also replaced a TV aerial on Franks RV. Drinks and then a great dinner.

Sun 1 July – We meet up with Jill and Bob Rice for coffee at an outdoor café at King’s Beach. We parked and walked a boardwalk to the café.  Another good catch up. After lunch back at Judy and Frank’s we drove to Mooloolaba and booked into the beach camp. (expensive!) We had arranged to have drinks with Peter and Rana Eggleton. We walked the beach and back thru the shops, changed and then had a short walk to their luxury apartment overlooking Mooloolaba and Alexandra Heads. Val played badminton with Peter for many years. We had a nice time with them and some friends who were staying from Christchurch. The views from their 9^th floor apartment were spectacular. We wandered back to “Andy” buying fish and chips for dinner.

Mon 2 July – We drove to Woolworths (food) and Bunnings (LPG) then followed the Sunshine Highway thru Noosa to the ferry across the Noosa River and into the National Park to the beach camp at North Noosa. We were going to come here last year for a night but it was not worth the expense of the ferry crossing. We got a site overlooking the beach. The day was beautiful despite the forecast. Spent the afternoon enjoying the view. We were outside until after sunset around 5:30pm.

Tue 3 July - We have booked in for 3 nights here and, after breakfast outside, we went for a long walk along the beach. This beach looks back into the main beach at Noosa. Another lazy afternoon.  We took our chairs onto the sandhills at the rear of our site. Weather was the same as yesterday.

Wed 4 July – It was overcast and windy in the morning. I changed the bathroom light to LED. “Andy” is all LED now. The weather cleared a bit so Val did some washing which we hung up in the awning. After lunch we walked along the beach in the other direction. Some of this beach is like 90 Mile Beach, a public road for 4WDs.

Thurs 5 July – We left this great beach and back across the ferry ($9 each way) and joined the Bruce Highway to Maryborough. We are following a different route from last year to Bundaberg. We stopped in a carpark in the centre of Maryborough where there is a designated area for self-contained RVs and caravans. We are all backed in with a great grassy area behind us. At the Town Hall (next door) we picked up a free parking permit for 48 hours. There are about 20 parking spaces. A great way to promote the town. We also picked up some info on the place and will do some of the historical walks.     

The other thing we discovered was that Maryborough was the birth place of P. L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins.
We walked around the CBD (not very large). They have really played on the Mary Poppins theme with a statue and even the “Don’t Cross” lights are Mary Poppins.






This town is on the Mary River and was famous for ship building. They also have replica of a locally built steam train, Mary Ann, with the tracks right behind our parking place.

Fri 6 July – Breakfast outside on the grass and then a walk around the town until it started to rain. After lunch we continued our walk thru the gardens and along the banks of the Mary River. Quite a few yachts moored in the harbour. Back into the town where we checked out the RSL for dinner. The Huge Anglican church bell tower was chiming a very disjointed version of “Home on the Range”. Strange we thought until we spied a sign saying that, with a group of 8, you could learn to ring the bells. Pre-dinner drinks in “Andy” before a short walk to the RSL for a roast of the day. Very yummy!

Sat 7 July – After dumping and fuel we continued up the Bruce Highway and then turned down to the coast to Woodgate, a trip of 90kms. We are camped at the local hotel on a big grassy site over the road from the beach. We put out the awning just as it started to rain. Later the rain stopped and we biked a great cycleway following the beach for 5kms passed many lovely holiday homes and a couple of shops. Just as we got back the rain started again.

Sun 8 July – It was really cold in the night but a sunny morning with a cool wind. We shifted sites to get some shelter. We walked down to the beach where the tide was out and the sea was calm. After lunch we biked along the beach in the opposite direction from yesterday to where a creek joined the sea and then back along the road to our camp and continued on the cycleway to the shops and an ice-cream.

Outside at dusk several kangaroos graced us with their presence before hopping away. It was slightly warmer in the night thank goodness.

Mon 9 July – This is a great beach so we have decided to stay another night. We took our chairs down to the beach and sat and read. There are surprisingly few people here considering it is the school holidays. The water is still too cold for us to swim! In the afternoon we took a long walk along the beach. This beach deserves a better name than just Woodgate!

Tues 10 July – Back on the road for a short drive to Bundaberg. This is as far north as we came on last year’s trip. After a big shop up, we checked into the CMCA park for a night. The CMCA is the Aussie equivalent of the NZMCA in NZ. They have very few camps however, this one is great, but we will not be renewing our membership. 

There are some interesting vehicles here including a house boat on a trailer. (Boat a Home). It was a cool evening but it did not stop the more hardy folks assembling for “happy hour” including us.