BARGARA - BRISBANE (VIA PROSTON) AND A SOCIAL WHIRL (19 - 22 SEPTEMBER 2015)

As we pulled out of Bargara and made our way back through the outskirts of Bundaberg, we were about to travel on an unfamiliar stretch of road, just over 290 kms of it. The Isis Highway took us south from Bundy to the town of Childers, a really pretty little spot, unfortunately made infamous by the arson attack on the backpacker hostel some twelve years ago.

Robert Long, a Childers local, had, for what ever reason, developed a deep seated hatred of the foreign backpackers who flocked each year to Childers to pick produce. On the night of 23 June, 2003, he made good on a threat to burn down the Palace Hotel which had been converted into backpacker accommodation. Fifteen died that night, unable to escape the flames. Long, who was arrested five days later, has been imprisoned for life.

We have something of a personal connection with this dreadful event. A chap we met two years ago in Kurrimine Beach was the Superintendent of the fire services which responded to the blaze.....sadly the events of that night have had a profound effect on him.

But back to the present. As I mentioned earlier, Childers is a delightful town, one through which we had previously passed, and one we fully intend to spend some time in next year. The same can be said for many of the small country QLD towns through which we drove on this leg of our trip.

In Childers we turned south-west and began to head inland from the coast where we were greeted by some magnificent scenery.

The town of Biggenden, through which we travelled shortly after leaving Childers, lies at the foot of Mount Walsh, the huge granite outcrop pictured in the previous photo. From all we have gathered since, this is a place in which one can spent quite a few days visiting nearby areas of spectacular natural beauty. From the little we saw in transit, we have no reason to doubt this.

Once again we were travelling through cattle country,

and we could not help being taken by the stark difference between the green, well timbered hills of this area and the harshness of the dry cattle station properties of the QLD outback.

The much vaunted free camp site and rest area at Ban Ban Springs came and went. We had heard a great deal about this from several fellow travellers, and now having been there, we agree.....another for the 'to do later' list.

The Isis Highway took us through the little town of Goomeri and on to the much larger centre of Murgon. Both have a real charm, as does this entire area. We certainly plan a revisit when we have the time to just potter from town to town as the mood takes us.

On this occasion, however, we left the highway at Murgon and travelled some 50 kms or so to Proston which lies about 90 kms north-west of Kingaroy. We had been invited to stay overnight with our good friends Sue and Noel Peck, whom we had first met four years ago around the campfire at the Evening Star park, just outside Charleville. We have had several encounters with them since, including one when they visited Adelaide whilst we were 'between trips'.

Sue and Noel live on a few acres just out of Proston, a small town typical of this part of rural Queensland. Noel has really set things up well. The property can accommodate three visiting vans at any one time, complete with connections for power and water. Noel fought with 5 RAR in Vietnam and a lot of his veteran mates 'pop in' quite regularly. 

Apart from servicing the local rural community, Proston is 'on the map' for another reason....the nearby Boondoona Dam, a real holiday paradise. After dropping anchor we went out to see what the dam had to offer.

What a spot this is. From a well established vantage point,

we were able to look across the dam wall 

and out along one arm of the dam lake.

A short distance from the wall, a road leads down to the edge of the water where, on the day of our visit, it was organised chaos. This did not surprise us....it was a Saturday in the September school holidays.

The large caravan park was jam packed with vans, as were the many camp sites along the water's edge. Marquees, tent villages and ramshackle shelters of all types occupied every inch of the lake banks. And of course, with skiing, swimming, fishing and red claw netting all on offer here, there were boats of all descriptions bobbing at anchor in front of most sites.

We decided on the spot that this would be a marvellous place to spend some time....but only Monday to Friday and never in school holidays. Our 'to do' list gets longer!

En route to the dam, I had spotted a number of trees in the surrounding countryside which I initially mistook for my old Kimberley favourites....the boab. I was soon corrected. These were bottle trees, a Queensland native, and our our way back to 'Chez Peck', we were shown a real grove of them. Despite their superficial similarity to the boab, these are completely different species.

So with that new bit of botanical information under my belt, it was back to the magnificently fitted out 'shed' the Pecks call home and, joy oh joy, a roast lamb dinner.

After such marvellous hospitality it felt almost rude saddling up first thing the following morning, but we were expected in Brisbane later today and had over 300 kms to travel. So after fond farewells and plans to rendezvous somewhere on the road in the future, we retraced our steps back to Murgon and turned our heads south through Wannai and Kingaroy, home of the peanut and home base of that Queensland political enigma of the 60's, 70's and 80's, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, about whom the less said the better.

From Kingaroy we headed south through Nanango and Yarraman, before turning east towards Kilcoy and the coast. Before long we were confronted with a really familiar sight, two of the peaks of the Glasshouse Mountains which rear skyward in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

We were again approaching an old stamping ground, but this time from a different direction. By the time we had reached Kilcoy we were in do doubt that this was a Sunday. From here to Caboulture, on the northern outskirts of Brisbane itself, we were locked in a never ending tussle with 'Sunday drivers' all making the most of the scenery on what was an indisputably lovely spring day.

For once, I was actually glad to reach the city, where a Sunday arrival did carry the advantage of much less traffic than on a weekday, and where our electronic navigator again came into it own. By early afternoon we had made our way across town to Victoria Point, an old fishing suburb of Brisbane on the coast opposite North Stradbroke Island. Here we were to be the guests of Leonie and Russell Westerland, a  delightful couple we had met in May at 80 Mile Beach on the WA coast.

With a bit of juggling, we set up on their front lawn.

I say 'juggling' because with the length of our van I had to make sure that it didn't hit the house eaves. This did make our exit path a little cramped, but what a completely minor inconvenience that was in the overall scheme of things. As in Proston, Russell is all set up to provide power and water to the numerous visitors who occupy the patch of front lawn we were to call home for the next three nights.

We had a busy schedule ahead of us. Old friends from Adelaide had recently moved to Brisbane and a couple we originally met in Bremer Bay lived nearby. Lunches had been planned.

Kerry and Brian Mateer (Kerry and Liz used to nurse together in Adelaide) have bought a lovely house in bayside suburb not too far from Victoria Point. We were a mere fifteen minutes drive away. Very sensibly, the ability to dine al fresco is a feature of their new home.

We took full advantage of the venue, shared a very tasty lunch and caught up on all the news.

The following day was a repeat, but this time we were off to renew our acquaintances with Yvonne and Les, a couple with whom we had enjoyed many days at Bremer Bay and later in Denham at Shark Bay. They had taken a different route to Brisbane and it was terrific to be able to 'swap travelling notes'. We are very much looking forward to meeting them again somewhere in Oz.

And of course, we spent each afternoon and evening in the most entertaining company of Leonie and Russell (which included another lamb roast.....I had hit the jackpot!!), one of which did get a little out of hand when a liqueur rum tasting morphed into a sip or two of some very old ports.

"You win, Russ......I'm done!" (and as you can see, so is the blog....again it has developed a mind of its own for no apparent reason)

We really did enjoy our Brisbane stay. The three days there were a real social whirl. They went by in no-time. But much as we were enjoying ourselves, our schedule was unrelenting and it was time to go. The rigours of the coldest town in Queensland lay before us.