After our free camp stay at Yaamba, we had originally planned to do the same the following night. The Boyne River rest area, about 70kms north of Bundaberg, was our target, but as so often happens on the road, Plan 'B' had to be activated. More of this shortly.
We knew that our travels south were highly likely to be taking us into some pretty chilly weather. We planned to visit Stanthorpe, a town in the southern Queensland 'granite belt' region near the NSW border. Stanthorpe, and its sister town, Applethorpe, bear the well deserved reputation as generally being the coldest towns in Queensland. Overnight temperatures below zero are not uncommon at this time of the year. If we chose to free camp in these regions, our diesel heater would assume a critical role.
Before leaving Kurrimine Beach I thought it would be a good idea to make sure the heater was operating correctly. We had not used it since leaving Adelaide. You've guessed it....not a squeak!
A set of numbers on the LED control panel screen showed me that we had a range of problems. Out came the relevant manual and I read the bad news that two of the faults were listed as 'Contact your nearest repairer'. Bugger. After a rather interesting series of phone calls to Dometic, the Australian distributor of these heaters, we finally tracked down a qualified repairer in Bundaberg (I was not keen to have to haul the van around Brisbane...a smaller town en route was just the shot). We were scheduled in for the work at 0830 hours on 17 September. This fitted well with our planned visits with friends near Kingaroy and in Brisbane.
From Yaamba, we made our way further south, through the unavoidably hectic early morning traffic of Rockhampton and on past Gladstone. Before reaching Boyne River we poked our noses into another listed free camp area. The Calliope River free camp, not too far from Gladstone, has to be one of the best of its kind we have ever come across. Large well grassed areas, plenty of shade trees, oodles of manoeuvring room and all this on the banks of a substantial and picturesque river. Needless to say it was very popular, but there would still have been plenty of room for us. Unfortunately we needed a few more kms under our belts, but this spot now bears a rave review note in our Camps book.
We pushed on, lamenting the fact that our schedule meant we had to do so, and arrived at the Boyne River rest area at about midday. Talk about chalk and cheese! It was completely unsuitable. There was even a large sign stating that overnight camping was prohibited. Despite this, quite a few vans and campers were dotted about, but we were less than enthused. It all seemed a bit bizarre....a sign banning camping at a listed free camp site...whatever next!
So what now? In this instance a rapidly devised Plan 'B' was to press on and try to get into Bundaberg a day earlier than we had previously booked. A quick phone call and all was arranged.....our assigned site was available.
So, after a day which had now become a deal longer than previously anticipated, we arrived at the entrance to the Bundaberg Park Lodge where the office also doubles as a convenience store and take-away shop.
As drove on to our allotted site, the large bank of letter boxes alerted us to the fact that this could be a park with many permanents, and indeed it is.
Passing travellers are catered for, but only in limited numbers. There are only about twenty sites here for folk like us, but as you can see, there are plenty of shade trees and many of the site have good grass.
Except ours!!......or at least that to which we were first directed. For some reason the office staff did not know that recent plumbing work had resulted in the entire site being covered in red clay, and uneven, damp and clumpy clay at that. This will never do.
A quick return trip to the office sorted all this out. By now I was definitely in no mood to be trifled with. We moved. Although our new home did not have grass and was challengingly narrow, it was beautifully shady and boasted a pretty border garden.
With a couple of hours of late afternoon sun, this was more than comfortable.....the site itself, that is.
This park has one major drawback, its location on the edge of Bundaberg's ring route. This large fence, just beyond the back of our van, is all the separates the park from a very busy road,
along which, during our stay, there was a constant stream of large trucks. The cane harvest was in full swing, and apart from all the long haulage semis using the road, cane trucks came and went all day long (there are very few cane trains in this area) taking the raw product to the mill and returning laden with bales of cane mulch. The racket was constant and something we'd not experienced since leaving Carnarvon.
But we were here now, and I certainly had not intention of changing parks. It would only be for two nights.
This is a park which would definitely benefit from an injection refurbishment funds. The ablution facilities are tired and in need of a good makeover, although they did display someone's sense of humour
in the signs which indicated which was which.
The camp kitchen is equally in need of a good refit,
and although the park pool itself is clean and of a reasonable size, the surrounds are somewhat cramped between fences and the park office building.
Many of the permanent residents near the transients' area of the park have gone to some trouble to surround their little homes with gardens and trees, but I cannot comment on the remainder....I did not see the point in venturing further into 'the village'.
Apart from those of us in transit, this park also caters for longer term residents in a series of small, motel type rooms (one of which was the scene of much coming and going.....with none of the passing visitors acknowledging each other, and each visit brief.....ah, the suspicious mind of an ex drug squad detective!)
All in all, apart from the traffic noise, we had a comfortable stay here, and let's face it, we were here on a mission, not as tourists on this occasion.
Given that we now had an extra day up our sleeves, we took the opportunity to visit a beach location some 50 kms from Bundaberg itself, Woodgate Beach. This had been on our travelling radar for some time, for four years or so in fact, ever since we had met a charming couple from this small beach town in the camp kitchen on a very wet afternoon in Blackall in central outback Queensland.
They were restrained in their praise of their small seaside home town, but left us in no doubt that Woodgate Beach was well worth a visit. They were absolutely right. It is a marvellous spot, with a beautiful long, flat beach, good local infrastructure and a large and very well maintained caravan park right on the Esplanade...another for our 'MacArthur' list.
The extra day here in Bundaberg also gave me the opportunity to check the most direct way in which to get to the heater repair shop....this was a boon....Bundaberg is a large town and, as per Murphy's Law, we were on the opposite side of it to the heater folk.
Thus well prepared, we upped stakes on the appointed morning and appeared on schedule for the work to be done.
I just love these occasions (???).....we have no choice but to drive around trying to keep The Black Panther entertained whilst awaiting the "come and get it" phone call. We did take the time to check out Moore Park beach, north of Bundaberg (it was not a patch on Woodgate) where we stopped for a while, took Max for a walk on his lead and then let him have the run of the cruiser. He'll always head for the high ground!
The boys at Barron Outdoors are whiz kids. Well inside the projected repair time came the welcome call....."it's all done". The business is owned by an ex Federal copper. He recognised my service ribbons on the front of the van and within no time we were swapping career notes. Whether that influenced the eventual bill or not I cannot say, but to have the heating burner cleaned and reset and an electrical circuit fault identified, located and rectified for must less than $150 worked for us. We were now fully prepared to take on what ever the Stanthorpe area might throw at us.
Right, Bargara here we come. Some weeks prior to our arrival in this part of the world we had been contacted by our good friends and ex-neighbours, the Lorenzins (you may recall we caught up with them in Broome when there in May). They were in Queensland in their van, and as luck would have it our schedules meant that we could just fit in a couple of days together. Bargara, on the coast about 20 kms from Bundaberg, was to be our rendezvous point.
We duly set up in the small, rather quaint Bargara Absolute Oceanfront Tourist Park, where our site was different to say the least. Mind you this large fence proved a blessing when, the day after our arrival, this coast was hit by a 'southerly buster'. We were very well sheltered from the wind (we were actually surprised the rather rickety looking fence did not blow over).
This park is well named. Absolute ocean front it is. We had a delightful view from our dining table.
The one thing missing along most of the Bargara foreshore is sand. There are a couple of cove like beaches to the north of our location, but the majority of the foreshore here is lined with large, black rocks on which the storm driven waves crashed incessantly.
Obviously, with no room to put out our awning (something we would have rectified if our stay had been longer), we were organised in no time. Marie and Dennis pulled in later that afternoon in their monster 'Humpback' van and took up station nearby.
We still had plenty of Kurrimine mackerel in the freezer. I was delighted to cook up a fine feed of fish for the four of us after which we settled in for a few nightcaps which Dennis recorded for posterity on his phone camera.
I have to report being a touch wounded the following morning, and although I joined the others in a drive around nearby Burnett Heads, I declined the offer to visit the Bundaberg Rum Distillery.
Liz upheld the family honour, with enthusiasm as it eventuated.
Thus well prepared, we upped stakes on the appointed morning and appeared on schedule for the work to be done.
I just love these occasions (???).....we have no choice but to drive around trying to keep The Black Panther entertained whilst awaiting the "come and get it" phone call. We did take the time to check out Moore Park beach, north of Bundaberg (it was not a patch on Woodgate) where we stopped for a while, took Max for a walk on his lead and then let him have the run of the cruiser. He'll always head for the high ground!
The boys at Barron Outdoors are whiz kids. Well inside the projected repair time came the welcome call....."it's all done". The business is owned by an ex Federal copper. He recognised my service ribbons on the front of the van and within no time we were swapping career notes. Whether that influenced the eventual bill or not I cannot say, but to have the heating burner cleaned and reset and an electrical circuit fault identified, located and rectified for must less than $150 worked for us. We were now fully prepared to take on what ever the Stanthorpe area might throw at us.
Right, Bargara here we come. Some weeks prior to our arrival in this part of the world we had been contacted by our good friends and ex-neighbours, the Lorenzins (you may recall we caught up with them in Broome when there in May). They were in Queensland in their van, and as luck would have it our schedules meant that we could just fit in a couple of days together. Bargara, on the coast about 20 kms from Bundaberg, was to be our rendezvous point.
We duly set up in the small, rather quaint Bargara Absolute Oceanfront Tourist Park, where our site was different to say the least. Mind you this large fence proved a blessing when, the day after our arrival, this coast was hit by a 'southerly buster'. We were very well sheltered from the wind (we were actually surprised the rather rickety looking fence did not blow over).
This park is well named. Absolute ocean front it is. We had a delightful view from our dining table.
The one thing missing along most of the Bargara foreshore is sand. There are a couple of cove like beaches to the north of our location, but the majority of the foreshore here is lined with large, black rocks on which the storm driven waves crashed incessantly.
Obviously, with no room to put out our awning (something we would have rectified if our stay had been longer), we were organised in no time. Marie and Dennis pulled in later that afternoon in their monster 'Humpback' van and took up station nearby.
We still had plenty of Kurrimine mackerel in the freezer. I was delighted to cook up a fine feed of fish for the four of us after which we settled in for a few nightcaps which Dennis recorded for posterity on his phone camera.
I have to report being a touch wounded the following morning, and although I joined the others in a drive around nearby Burnett Heads, I declined the offer to visit the Bundaberg Rum Distillery.
Liz upheld the family honour, with enthusiasm as it eventuated.
The intrepid trio had arrived too late for a distillery tour, which is normally a prerequisite for a product tasting.
Dennis apparently turned on the charm at the distillery shop, which was originally the manager's house,
and all three were able to indulge themselves in the very well appointed tasting room.
The liberal attitude of the staff was well rewarded from a sales perspective. The clink of several bottles of Bundaberg liqueur rums, of different exotic flavours such as coffee and banana, heralded Liz's return to the van. The Lorenzins had been equally lavish in their purchases. And who was I to challenge Liz's justification that these can only be bought at the distillery and nowhere else apart from on-line (and then only as a minimum of six bottles) so to be able to buy only two was a saving!!!
I'm a decidedly non-rum person in normal circumstances, but I did have to admit (much later in the day) that these made a fine end to a good meal, and did go exceptionally well with strawberries and ice cream. Well done, Liz (who now keeps a very close eye on the fluid levels in these beautifully presented bottles)
We did enjoy this brief sojourn at Bargara and the company of the Lorenzins. But we could only linger for the allotted two days. Friends in the tiny town of Proston were expecting us.
Dennis apparently turned on the charm at the distillery shop, which was originally the manager's house,
and all three were able to indulge themselves in the very well appointed tasting room.
The liberal attitude of the staff was well rewarded from a sales perspective. The clink of several bottles of Bundaberg liqueur rums, of different exotic flavours such as coffee and banana, heralded Liz's return to the van. The Lorenzins had been equally lavish in their purchases. And who was I to challenge Liz's justification that these can only be bought at the distillery and nowhere else apart from on-line (and then only as a minimum of six bottles) so to be able to buy only two was a saving!!!
I'm a decidedly non-rum person in normal circumstances, but I did have to admit (much later in the day) that these made a fine end to a good meal, and did go exceptionally well with strawberries and ice cream. Well done, Liz (who now keeps a very close eye on the fluid levels in these beautifully presented bottles)
We did enjoy this brief sojourn at Bargara and the company of the Lorenzins. But we could only linger for the allotted two days. Friends in the tiny town of Proston were expecting us.
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