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| Travelling around Queensland |
Queensland round up
A relatively short roundup of all the places we visited on our trip around Queensland. Yet it is still a long post, so go grab a cuppa, come back quick and revisit some of these places with me. I have included lots of links to the various posts (done in blue) if you want a more in depth read, just click on it. Each link will open up on a new tab, you wont lose you spot on this page. Also the map of Queensland tracing our route, can be enlarged just by clicking on it.
Our road trip begins
We left Wollongong back in April 2012 just after Easter. We went north and west via the
Warrumbungle National Park and
Burren Junction and came into Queensland basically at
Goondawindi. We spent a few nights each at
Ninigully Qld's oldest pub,
St George,
Surat and
Neil Turner Weir.
Heading to the great Outback
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| Outback cattle mustering |
We then spent a week near Augathella, at
Bogarella, a 60,000 acre cattle station where we did some volunteer work. After this we needed some time out at
Blackall,
Lloyd Jones Weir and Barcaldine before heading into
Longreach. We stopped at a few places before we arrived in
Mt Isa. After this we went north to
Gregory Downs and then into
Boodjamulla National Park also known as Lawn Hill where we had some fantastic times. Gregory Downs would have to be my favourite free camping spot, though there are others that have better facilities, there was something special about camping down on the waters.
Gulf Country and Cape York
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| 4WD trek up to Cape York |
From here we kept on going north to the Gulf country covering
Normantown and Karamba. From here we started east across the Savannah Way then south, ending up at
Ravenshoe and Millstream Falls. We ended up spending a fair bit of time on the beautiful Atherton Tablelands, some 6 weeks or more all up. We were waiting to meet up with the Black Diamond 4WD club from Wollongong to join their safari up to the very tip of Australia. Starting with
Daintree and Cape Tribulation and
Cooktown before the real 4WD experience started. We went up the
Old Telegraph Line where we did some hairy river crossings. We eventually reached the Jardine River ferry crossing before arriving in
Bamaga, Punsand Bay and the very tip of Australia.
The wondrous Atherton Tablelands
After our epic 4WD trip (well epic to us anyway) we were back at
Ravenshoe, visiting some beautiful places such as
Malanda Falls, Yungaburra and Mareeba.
We were awaiting to spend some sunshine days in
Cairns with our gorgeous grand daughters along with their parents of course.
We took a short flight home with our son and his family to spend a few days with our youngest
celebrating his 21st birthday.
The coast between Cairns and Townsville
We stopped a quite a few free campgrounds including
Babinda and Rollingstone before our car troubles led to an enforce stop at
Townsville. The historic gold mining town of
Charters Towers was well worth a visit. Then we headed back to the coast to
Bowen, the start of the great Whitsundays where I enjoyed a time of snorkeling.
I loved
Ball Bay where I got to hand feed wild whistling ducks as well as the walks along the beach. Once again we did quite a bit of free camping including
Dululu, Wuruma Dam and Claude Wharton Weir.
The free camp at
St Lawrence was where we saw our first Team Penning.
Beautiful Bundaberg
Family time was spent with my sister and her family in the lovely city of Bundaberg including a visit to the
Bundaberg Botanical Gardens and
Bargara Beach.
Another family happening necessitated a flight back home. When we arrived back we spent a few more days with my sister and her family before hitting the road. We were about to start visiting a lot of friends rather than just travelling and sight seeing when we hit the road again.
Gin Gin to Toowoomba
First off was a short drive to
Gin Gin, staying with friends we met at
Weruma Dam culminating in a visit to the historical museum there.
We then went onto visit other friends at Bli Bli which included a quick drive around the touristy town of Maroochydore and Mooloolaba.
From here we went west to the interesting
Glasshouse Mountains before stopping at
Cruice Park and Hampton on the way to visit friends in
Toowoomba.
Boonah, south to the border
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| Rob standing outside the Jacaranda Trees in Boonah |
After Toowoomba we took some time out using
Boonah as a pivoting place from which we could unhitch the caravan and search out buses for sale in the area from Rosevale in the west to Logan in the south Brisbane are down to Coomera just touching the north of the Gold Coast then back west through Beaudesert. Other than looking out the window as we went from place to place, we weren’t here to sight see and so we really can’t comment on these areas.
Leaving Boonah we took the leisurely and very winding road south past Rathdowney down over the NSW border. Our trip around Qld took us over 6 ½ months or to be precise, 28 weeks. We were not interested in going to cities or taking rides and attractions, we just want to relax in the warmer weather of Queensland and experience the atmosphere and the fellowship of like minded travellers.
More sightseeing to do
There is still so much we haven't see and so I guess we will just have to come back another winter and warm our tootsies once again.
What is your favourite part of Queensland?
Is there some place we have not visited that you know we will love?
