Lap of Australia – Week 25

This week we continued to make our way North in Queensland and had a lack of sunshine along the way. At least the weather was still warm though!

Day one

We woke up to amazing weather this morning, and we were keen to go and explore Agnes Waters and Seventeen Seventy. We decided to head to Seventeen Seventy first, and our first stop was the Captain James Cook monument, where he landed in 1770. We had a walk around the area and had a look at the beach, and we were keen to do a walk in the area but it was unfortunately closed due to maintenance. So instead we did the drive up to the next destination, which was the Countess Russell Anchor. We had a quick look around the area, then walked down the road to two lookouts, Wave Lookout and Busted Bay lookout. The lookouts provided great views of the area and was a nice little walk as well. After we had a look at the lookouts, we headed back down to Endeavour Park to have some lunch and a quick walk around. We had a bit more of a look around Seventeen Seventy, then decided to head to Agnes Water for a look. We went and had a look at Agnes Water Beach and it was so nice and sunny on the beach so Sam decided to have a quick surf. As it was school holidays, there were people everywhere but we managed to find a spot to ourselves where Sam could practise. We spent around an hour on the beach, then headed back to the car and drove down the road to the Paperbark Forest Boardwalk. It was only a short 400m walk, but the walk was just beautiful and it was a really interesting walk through the forest. The track was specially designed so you could walk through the wetlands without getting wet, with some cool paths along the way. We had a couple of goes through the track so we could get some nice photos, and also because we had some lady pop up in all our photos for the first time! After our walk, we did the sandy track back to our campsite and settled in for the rest of the day.

Day two

It was time for us to leave Deepwater National Park and to head North. We decided to try the other track out this time as we weren’t too keen on getting the car and trailer stuck on the sandy track, and it was a good decision as that track was a lot easier! We spent the morning driving, stopping at Miram Vale and Mount Larcom along the way. Both were very small towns but had nice toilets and picnic tables for lunch. We made it to our campsite in Rockhampton that afternoon, and we had booked a campsite at the Rockhampton Ski Club through Hipcamp. It had plenty of room to pull up and had toilets and showers. You could also connect to power if you needed to but we decided to go unpowered to save some money. The cost was far less than what the caravan parks wanted to charge and it was in a nice location as well. That afternoon, we decided to go and explore a bit of Rockhampton and discovered that they have a free zoo located near the Botanic Gardens. The zoo was really good for free and had heaps of different animals such as dingos, meerkats, koalas, a crocodile, chimpanzees and much more. It was nice to walk around and have a look at the different animals. After the zoo, we popped into the botanic gardens for a quick look, then made our way to a laundromat to do our washing. We would usually use the caravan park washing machines but as we weren’t checking into one for a while we decided to visit the laundromat for the first time. The owner was really friendly and it cost the same as it would at the caravan park, and Sam made good use of his time by finding some car parts we needed at a shop next door. We got the washing all done and dried, then headed back to the Waterski Club.

Day three

Today we woke up to cloudy weather, but we still decided to go out and do some exploring anyway. We did have a bit of wind and rain along the way, but it was still a nice day out. We were heading to the coast to go and explore Yeppoon. Originally we wanted to stay in Yeppoon but with it being school holidays, everything was either booked out or double the price, so we decided to just do a day trip instead. Our first stop was Yeppoon Lagoon where we had a quick walk around and checked out the area and the beach. This would be a great spot to sit on a warm, sunny day, but as it was a bit cloudy for us we decided to just go for a quick walk then keep moving. Our next stop was the Wreck Point Scenic Lookout, and it provided great views of the Capricorn Coast and Keppel Bay. It is called Wreck Point as The Selina washed up at that point in 1848 and there is shipwreck artwork there with some information. It was very windy at the lookout, but we still went for a walk around the area. From the lookout, we headed to the Capricorn Coast National Park Double Heads Section to have a look at Fan Rock Lookout and Rosslyn Bay Lookout. It was a bit of a climb to the different lookouts, but the views were really good and worth the climb. After the lookouts, we went for a walk to Pebble Beach for a look and it was spectacular. We had a quick walk around Pebble Beach, then headed back to the car and drove down to Bluff Point where we did the 2.56km loop walk. Now this was a very steep walk to start with, and we chose the opposite direction to everyone else for some reason so not sure if we picked the most steep side or not. It was a really good walk though and provided some more great views of the area. We finished the walk and had some lunch, then the weather decided to turn and it started raining so we called it there and started heading back to Rockhampton, stopping in at the supermarket on the way back to the waterski club. 

Day four

It was time to leave Rockhampton to head North, but it was looking a bit cloudy so we were hoping we weren’t going to get caught in any rain. We started our trip getting some water and using the dump point, then stopped in at the supermarket (again) before continuing our trip. We were driving around three hours and decided to do the trip in basically one go. We arrived at our next campground around lunch time and we headed to Carmila Beach to their low cost camp. This camp was only $12.50 a night and had toilets and firepits, and you just had to give the local council a call and pay over the phone. Initially, we found a spot in the first section for caravans, and set up and had some lunch. After lunch we decided to go for a walk and check out the camper trailer camping section and as soon as we arrived we had camping envy. It was a lot quieter down in this section and there were plenty of spots available to set up. The views were also just as good as they were in the caravan section. We walked back to our campsite and noticed our neighbour had just fired up his generator, so we decided to pack up and make the move down to the next section. We found a nice spot with beachfront views and settled in for the afternoon. It was much more peaceful now and the toilets were a lot cleaner too! That afternoon we went for a walk along the beach and started to plan out our next week. We also had a chat with our camping neighbours and they had a very cute dog and also a cat that they took for walks along the beach on a lead. 

Day five

We were only doing an overnighter at Carmila Beach, and because we decided to stay hooked up, it was a quick pack up for us this morning. We were only heading an hour down the road, but we were going to a free camp that is known to be busy so we wanted to get there early to secure a spot. We started our day with a walk down the beach to the creek, then we headed off from Carmila Beach and made our way to Notch Point. It was a bit of a rough road getting in and you definitely need a four wheel drive and off road van, but we took it slow and managed to arrive all safe and sound. People must have been scared off by the predicted rain as we managed to get a great spot that protected us from the wind and had amazing views of the area. There weren’t too many people camped there at all and it was nice. The water was also this amazing blue colour, even with the grey skies and it was so nice to look at. We spent the rest of the day relaxing by this amazing free camp and Sam did some fishing. We also went for a walk along the beach and had a look at the Mangroves as well. The rain started in the afternoon and kept going into the evening, and we weren’t too sure what the weather was going to bring for the next day. 

Day six

This morning we woke up to rain, and the battery on the trailer was getting very low. We decided to make some pancakes and make some jetboil coffee (due to lack of battery) and see where the day took us. After breakfast, the rain got worse and the sun was not coming out at all and we were at risk of running out of battery. We had to make the call to leave Notch Point and get ourselves a powered site a day early so we didn’t have our food spoiled in the fridge or freezer. Plus, with heavy rain, there wasn’t really too much we could do at Notch Point except sit around in the camper, and fishing in the rain wouldn’t be too much fun. We called the caravan park we were booked into at Mackay to see if we could arrive a day early, and they had a spot available so we packed up in the pouring rain, then made the slow journey back out to the highway. The road out was in worse condition than it was coming in, and probably would have been even more different if we had left Sunday. We weren’t too keen to leave, but it was the right call and we will definitely go back and visit in the future. On the way to Mackay, we stopped in to get some diesel and then made the journey to the caravan park. We found an older caravan park that had powered sites for only $33, and this was one of the cheapest powered sites we have had in a very long time. We set up the camper, had showers and had a nice platter for lunch before heading out in the afternoon to go and check out the Bluewater Sculpture Area. The rain had started to ease up by then so we went for a walk on the Blue Water Trail, then we went to Red Dog Brewery to try some beers and ciders. We had a paddle each and really enjoyed the different beers they had to try. After our drinks, we walked back to the car and headed back to the caravan park for the rest of the evening. 

Day seven 

Today was the only day we had in Mackay where it wasn’t going to rain as much, so we decided to make the most of it and go for a drive to do some bushwalks. We had heard great things about Cape Hillsborough National Park, and with it only being around 45 minutes from Mackay, we decided to go and check it out. The first walk we did was the Andrews Point track, starting with a quick walk along the beach first. The track was actually quite steep and a bit slippery as it had been raining, but all the different lookouts along the way were amazing. We also managed to walk back via the beach as it was just before high tide, but we did have to do some rock hopping along the way. It cut a few kms off the trip back so we were happy to do some rock hopping to get a different view on the way back. After we finished that walk, we decided to do the Beachcomber Cove track as it was in the area, and was only a 3km return walk. This was also quite steep walking up the ridge, but then you came back down to the beach in a secluded cove and it was just spectacular! We had the walk to ourselves and it was so nice to just walk along the beach and take it all in. You can also walk back via the beach on this track if it is low tide, but it was very much high tide when we got to the cove so we had to come back the way we came. It was still a nice walk through the rainforest though so we didn’t mind too much. After we finished that walk we hopped into the car and drove down the road to The Diversity boardwalk for a look. This was a lovely short walk through mangroves, eucalypts, melaleucas and vine thickets with there being lots of information to read along the way. By the time we got to the boardwalk it had started raining, so it was a nice, but wet walk along the slippery boardwalk. We finished this walk and decided to call it a day as it was starting to rain hard, so we headed back to the caravan park via the supermarket. For the rest of the day, we talked to the family and avoided the rain in our camper. We have two days of heavy rain coming up before the sun comes out again, but we are hoping we can get out and explore where we can.

Weekly stats

Number of KMs – 949

Number of states – 1

Number of campsites – 5

Number of items lost – 0

Number of items broken – 0