Comm Games Getaway, Day 24

It was weird sleeping in a bed, under a roof again, but the hot shower made things much better. I had a relatively early breakfast and then headed south towards home. A long the way I dropped into the Mazda dealer at Cleveland and picked up a spare rim for the car for a grand total of $5. This will be my second spare when I get a tyre fitted to it. Then it was back to pick up a couple of parcels from the post office and then home to unpack the car and do some washing and get my brain ready for work on Monday. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 23.

I was up early, had a coffee and headed off south while the tide was still low. I had an easy drive down the beach, before putting some air back into the tyres after leaving the beach at Noosa North Shore. Then across the Noosa river at the car ferry and I was going to go into Tewantin for breakfast but the bloody traffic at 8 am was terrible, so I went in the opposite directions and ended up with brekkie at the German Bakehouse in Cooroy. 

From there I headed via the back roads to Kenilworth, which was pretty busy, with the show grounds packed with caravans and tents, so I went and explored the Conondale National Park for awhile. 

I eventually found somewhere to wash off some the sand from the underneath of Blute. 

I was going to do a bit more exploring but the rain started to really pour, so I headed for the comfort and warmth of a cafe in Maleny for lunch. Maleny has really changed in the past 40 or so years since I lived there and I hardly recognized a lot of the town. The one thing that hadn't changed was the fact that it was rainy and misty. 

I then took the back way through Montville, Palmwoods and other small towns to go to visit mum and dad in Caloundra. It'll certainly be a change sleeping in a house this evening. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 22.

Once again the weather looked pretty grim. So I had a coffee and went for a drive into Rainbow Beach via the Freshwater Track before the tide got too full. Of course, it was then time for second breakfast at the bakery. 

I caught up with some internet stuff while sitting in the park, watching the rain come and go. After awhile I went for a drive up to Inskip Point for a look and the first couple of camping areas were pretty empty but the ones down towards the tip, which had a much firmer driving surface were packed with caravans. 

I wandered slowly back to Rainbow Beach as I still had low air pressure in the tyres and had some fish and chips for lunch before heading back to the Freshwater Track and finally back to camp. As I reversed the car into camp, the rain started to bucket down, so I ended up sitting in the car and reading a book on the iPad. After, the rain shower passed I was able to set things up properly and have a cup of tea, until the next shower. 

Around 4'ish the rain cleared up and the clouds disappeared, the people next to me packed up and left but the clear weather let me setup the campfire and cook dinner as normal. I also packed up the gazebo when it dried out, to save me doing it in the morning. 

The rain came back around 9 pm but I was already in bed and it put the last of the campfire out. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 21.

The weather has turned nasty with a strong south-east wind blowing most of the night and bringing intermittent rain showers with it. As a result I had a slow morning around camp, coffee, breakfast, lazing around all while dodging the occasional shower. Just before lunch time it started to clear up a bit although the wind was still pretty gusty, so I went for a drive north and then across the Leisha Track looking for somewhere sheltered from the wind. Just to the south of the Leisha Track the remnants of the old Cherry Venture ship wreck were showing. 

I spent a few hours in a nice protected spot having lunch and catching up on internet things before heading back to camp mid afternoon. On the way back I noticed that the rangers had set up a barrier so that people wouldn't accidentally drive over the wreck. 

I'd just got back to camp and got myself organized when the rain started bucketing down, so I sat in the camper warm and dry while reading and watching the rain. The rain pooled quite badly on one side of the gazebo and of course I got wet when I went out to get rid of it. 

The rain kept coming and going all afternoon, so there was going to be no campfire this evening. Dinner was some Sao biscuits with butter and vegemite in between showers. Then it was early to bed to read and drift off to sleep with the pleasant sound of rain on the roof of the camper. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 20.

I woke up early and watched the sunrise over the sea from the comfort of my bed, before going back to sleep for awhile. Then I had a leisurely coffee and breakfast with the weather looking surprisingly good. I.e. blue skies, no clouds, minimal wind and a calm sea. I lounged around camp for the morning waiting for the tide to drop down a bit. At one stage my mid-morning nap was rudely interrupted by a very large goanna attacking my rubbish bag. It didn't seem phased by me trying to shoo it away and only left after it had eaten all the bacon fat I had trimmed off my breakfast. 

Then I headed off for a drive up to the lighthouse, along the way the Maxtrax people where doing some filming and they were doing that for most of the day. 

 I turned off at the Leisha Track and went for a drive over to the other side of Double Island point. There is a deep water crossing just passed the toilets, so I couldn't drive around to the point, instead I headed the other way toward Rainbow Beach. The tide was still a couple of hours from dead low but I was able to drive almost all the way, only getting stopped by the rocks and water at the bottom of Carlo Sandblow. 

I turned around and headed back to the Lighthouse and had some lunch and lazed around for awhile. 

I took the walk up to the lighthouse and the view was spectacular but the wind was getting stronger, so I couldn't send the drone up for a flight. 

At the bottom of the lighthouse hill I chatted to some folks who had a camper built on the back of an Isuzu truck, it looked pretty nice but was big and heavy. Then back to camp, where someone had setup between me and the next camp along, they're not all that close but there is tons of other empty spots they could have gone.  I waited for the wind to die down again before starting up the camp fire but it didn't so I had to improvise a wind break with a camping table on its side. Then dinner, campfire reading and bed. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 19

Once again it was misty and foggy when I woke up, it wasn't raining as such but there seemed to be drops of water condensing out of the atmosphere. A quick coffee and pack up and I was on the road to Gympie. I refueled the car and then had breakfast at a servo just before turning off towards Rainbow Beach. The next hour or so I hardly remember as this is one of the most boring roads to drive. The mist and fog had disappeared around Gympie but was hanging around a bit at Rainbow Beach. 

I wandered around Rainbow Beach for a bit and organized my camping and car permits and did a little fresh food shopping while waiting for the tide to drop down a bit. Then it was off to the Freshwater Track where I let some air out of tyres and then continued on down to the beach. By this time all the clouds and mist had burned off and the rather was spectacular with clear blue skis and a reasonably calm sea. 

On the beach I turned south to go and find a camp site. There wasn't a lot of people about and I found a really nice grassy spot with a little protection from the wind but still with a good view of the sea. I set up the Gazebo for a bit of shade, made some lunch and settled in for a lazy afternoon of reading, beach walking and snoozing. 

Around 5:30'ish the wind started to die off a bit so I got the camp fire going and cooked dinner, then sat around the fire reading for quite awhile as it was a very pleasant night. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 18

I had a little sleep in as it was foggy and misty again, although no rain. After a coffee to wake me up, I packed up and headed off towards Gayndah. On the way way I dropped into the Mt McConnell lookout but it was still a bit misty for a good view, then I stopped for a look at the Claude Wharton Weir just to the north of Gayndah. 

As I'd yet to have breakfast I dropped into the Gayndah Bakery for a Bacon and egg roll and cappuccino - very nice. Then it was up to the Archer's Lookout at the back of the town as the sun was burning off the mist. 

I headed off to Ban Ban Springs via the back roads and found a great little creek crossing (Thompsons Crossing) before turning south on the main road to Murgon, however I didn't get there having detoured to have a look at Boat Mountain Conservation Park and taking the back roads to Goomeri. 

At the bakery in Goomeri I had a very nice Lamb and Rosemary pie for lunch. Heading out of town I dropped into Kinbombi Falls for a quick look. The free camp area there was pretty nice but the falls themselves were a bit disappointing. 

Heading east past Kilkivan I took a back road to have a look at a gold mine (it appeared to be closed to the public now) and then on to look at a Copper mine chimney, but it wasn't visible from the road. So back to the main road and further east, instead of heading into Gympie I took a detour to the little town of Widgee about 20 km west of Gympie. I setup camp for the evening in the show grounds, where there was a nice hot shower and grassy camp site waiting for the cheap price of $8 per night. 

Tomorrow, I'll head into Gympie and refuel the car and do a little fresh food shopping before heading off to Rainbow Beach and then heading down to camp on the beach at Teewah in the Cooloola National Park. I'll stay there for a couple of days to relax on the beach. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 17

Clouds and drizzle are what I awoke to this morning, so after some coffee was prepared and consumed under the shelter of the camper's fold up door. I packed up quickly and headed into Chinchilla for  breakfast and a cappuccino at Maccas. Their free 30 mins of WiFi also allowed my to download and catch up with the latest episodes of my favorite podcasts. 

On my way out of town to the north I dropped into have a look at Old Man Lagoon and Round Water Hole. 

The later would have been a pretty nice spot to camp although it should more correctly be named Oblong Water Hole. I continued north and took to the dirt roads through what I think is the Barakula State Forest. Wikicamps showed me a nice little lookout on the top of Round Mountain. The track in started off a bit sandy but got quite steep and rocky, so I engaged low range and powered up the hill. There was a nice outlook from the top, so I stopped and had some morning tea there. 

I continued heading north through the forest as it was a really pleasant drive over mostly reasonable dirt roads. I decided to stop in at Auburn River National Park to have some lunch and it seemed like a nice little place, so with a couple of bars of Telstra signal available I got onto the parks website and booked a spot for the night. Of the five camping sites available, three were already booked, so I got the fourth. I set up for the evening and put up the awning in case of more rain and then went for a walk to the gorge lookout. You really couldn't see a lot of the gorge from the lookout so I launched the drone for a birds eye view. 

Back at camp the other people who had booked showed up at around 4 pm each towing a rather large caravan and unfortunately I split them up as I had taken the middle camp site as it was the flattest and had the best Telstra signal. I then relaxed around camp, catching up with mundane things like battery charging, and getting the wood ready for the evenings fire. 

There were a few small bitey things flying around but a bit of Bushmans spray sorted them out. As the sun went down I lit the fire and had an early dinner.

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 16.

Once again the flies were up early and seemed to be more annoying than the previous evening. So it was a quick coffee and hit the road north. I stopped along the way at the monument to the most powerful explosion in Australian transport history. Back in September of 2014 a truck carrying ammonium nitrate caught fire at Angellala creek south of Charleville destroying the road bridge and metal railway bridge. Fortunately, the blast wasn't fatal but did injure 8 people. 

I continued onto Charleville where I refueled Blute and had some brekkie at the bakery. 

Then it was eastward bound through Morven and then Mitchell where I was contractually bound to have lunch at the bakery. Then Roma and Miles and I setup camp at the Weir about 5 or 6 Kms south of Chinchilla. 

I got there a bit late as all the good spots fronting onto the water had been taken by grey nomads in their migratory caravans. I still had a nice spot at the back under the shade of a few trees however as the sun went down the mozzies came out in force but a spray with some Bushmans seems to be holding them off, at least for awhile. At present my plan is to head across to the beach in the Cooloola National Park and setup camp for 4 or so days and simply relax and chill out. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 15.

I got up relatively early to try and beat the flies but once the sun was up they were at their annoying best. I cooked some breakfast and coffee and then got ready to walk down to the river, turns out it is only about 1 km return, so not that difficult. There wasn't a lot of water in the river and I'm not even sure it was flowing. I gave the drone a bit of a flight to see if there was anything interesting around but the surrounding countryside was pretty flat. 

So, I headed back to the car and finished packing up before heading north out of the NSW part of the park and into the Qld section. 

I drove around the track in the Qld section looking at a couple of remote camping spots, an abandoned shed (Redbank Hut) and Nebine Creek, neither were all that enticing(there was still tons of flies), so I headed out of the park to the north towards Cunnamulla. 

I had lunch (from the bakery) in a nice shady park in Cunnamulla and while the breeze was blowing the flies were not around. Then it was north again to Wyandra where there was a nice little free camping spot with hot showers and toilets. I pulled in there and set up camp and had a nice hot shower. 

They ask for a donation to help cover costs and after that shower I was happy to leave them some money. There were still flies around but they weren't quite as annoying as earlier in the day. There is another BT-50 here towing an off road camper and we seem to be it for the night. When the sun goes down a little later and the flies hopefully, completely disappear I'll cook some dinner and settle in for the evening. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 14

I had a very lazy start to the day, sleeping in a bit then having coffee and a leisurely breakfast before packing up and hitting the road around 9:30 am. I stopped in at the Weir just up the road and it was probably an even nicer place to camp with lots of water (including a snake swimming around in it) but there was way less space. 

I continued on into Moree where I refueled the car and picked up a couple of ice coffees on special. One to drink then while continuing to drive and one for tomorrow. 

I had a quick lunch in the park by the river at Collarenebri, they had a really nice camping spot by the river with good toilets and hot showers, all for free, however a limit of 2 nights which seems fair. 

I continued westish via a bit of a windy route to Culgoa National Park, arriving there a bit after 4 pm. There was plenty of emus that I passed by but they didn't seem to recognise me in a blue car, as they moved promptly off the toad and didn't try to kill me. 😊I was going to stay for a couple of nights but the flies when I arrived were maddening and persistent, although they have disappeared once the sun went down. 

I had some dinner and sat around the fire for awhile, deciding to go for a walk down to the river in the morning and then head north into the QLD section of the park for a bit of a look. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 13.

The fog and mist had appeared in the early morning sometime after a fine, clear and chilly night. 

I had breakfast and a leisurely pack up but was still on the road, a bit after 8 am. Most of the canoers had packed up and were on the water just about to head off. I followed the road west stopping at Dalmorton to look at the camping available on the river (not as much space as Buccarumbi bridge but still very nice) and the remains of the old village. 

Then a quick stop for photos at the hand carved tunnel and then wandering along the road seeing occasional spots that would be good for camping. 

I turned off onto the Narrow Pass Fire Trail to drive up to Tommy's Rock Lookout. This was a very steep, twisty, narrow dirt road that had numerous humps to stop water runoff causing too much erosion. I used second gear low range and Blute had no trouble climbing the hill, although it would have got interesting if there was someone coming the other way as there was not much room to pass. The view from the lookout is stunning on a fine day like today. I thought I could continue along the fire trial and come out to the south of Glen Innes but the signs said that there was a locked gate so I went back down hill also mostly in second gear low range. 

 Not far away is the Mann River Camping Reserve, however it is closed at the moment for upgrades. I haven't been there for years but it looks like they have flattened it all out and made dedicated camping sites, each with a table and fire pit, instead of having the large grassy area where you could set up camp however you want. Heading out I went up the long and windy road up the side of the range and then was expecting a rather corrugated gravel road before getting to the main road but they have bitumened it since I was there last. 

I had some KFC for lunch in Glen Innes and continued west through Inverell and Warialda on the Gwydir Highway. I was aiming for a site just past Pallamallwa but took the wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the river. I really should have read the directions in Wikicamps properly. 😞 A short back track and I found the place no worries. The river is not running and is looking pretty dry but the Gum Flat Camping Reserve is quite large and has lots of nice spots and not that many people here. 

While writing this I'm hoping that the wind will die out, so I can light up a camp fire without burning the whole place down. On the plus side the wind does seem to be keeping the biting insects away.

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 12

After a few days at home to do some shopping and washing, I headed off again. First thing in the morning I threw the food in the fridge and headed off to the Mazda dealer at Tweed Heads so that Blute could get its 30,000 km service. After dropping it off I walked up to Coolangatta for breakfast and coffee before going to sit in the shade to read a book and watch the buses drop off a continuous stream of people for the beach volleyball stadium.

 I wandered back around by the river and got a phone call that the car was ready, so back to the service centre where I paid them some money and headed off. 

The traffic going south on the M1 was pretty good but the highway police were out in full force, there were three cars before the Byron Bay turnoff. I stopped off in Woodburn for lunch from one of the Bakeries and then continued on to Grafton where I turned west on the Gwydir Highway and then turned off onto the old Grafton-Glen Innes road. I followed this until I got to the Buccarumbi Bridge camping area on the Boyd river. 

This has some great little camping spots up on the bank of the river and there was only a few cars already set up, so I found a nice spot and decided to camp for the evening. 

As I arrived there was about 5 or 6 canoes of people just launching and heading off down stream, so I thought it would be a nice quiet evening. Just as I was considering going down to the bridge and going for a swim, a group of about 40 or so people in canoes turned up and started setting up camp. Turns out they were on a trip organized by a Tafe College. Several other people in canoes also turned up and set up camp. Luckily there is a large area and it wasn't crowded or noisy at all. There was lots of people wandering around looking for firewood but it had already been well and truly collected and burned. One enterprising chap got in his kayak with a hatchet and paddled over to the opposite side of the river to bring back a load of wood from over there.

 I had an early dinner and sat around a small fire made with some of the wood I was carrying before going to bed early to write this up and read. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 11.

I was up early, brekkie cooked and on my way by 7:30 am. I dropped into Pindari Dam along the way. It's pretty impressive and has a few nice free camp sites but I suspect school holidays would see it packed as there is a boat ramp and water skiing there. 

Then it was onto Emmaville (a nice little town, although no bakery I could find), Deepwater and then Tenterfield. I had morning tea at the bakery in the Main Street, sausage roll and a bundy sarsaparilla. 

I headed towards home via Casino, Lismore and the M1 getting into home mid afternoon. 

I partially unpacked the car and put through several loads of washing. It was nice to be able to sit back in my comfy chair and catch up on my Netflix viewing. Shopping tomorrow and get a few things organized, then back on the road. 

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