We finally arrived back at Winterwood after 5 days of travel. Around 2200 km after we left Yeppoon we were at home in Trentham Victoria. It is still cold here by mid-Qld standards. The temp gauge was registering 8 degrees C. However we got here safely, thank God.

The biggest surprise along the way was how much the countryside had changed from dry to lush green during the 10 weeks plus we had been away. Evidence of drenching rain were to be seen everywhere in Queensland and NSW. Rivers were running very high or in flood. Large puddles of water had gathered in all depressions All the dams were full or overflowing.

A large thank you to all who have stayed with us during our trip. I hope you have enjoyed the blog and some of the experiences I have managed to record. Please feel free to share the link with your friends and family so that they may also share the beauty of this great country with its diverse sceneries and history.

I will shortly be in the Kimberleys in Western Australia. Talk to you then.

Inconvenient, bothersome and unhappy were some of the thoughts we had. I pulled off the road and changed the tire. Drove to a tire place and was informed that the tire had started separating, inner layer from outside casing. So a new tire was needed. Ok, $100 later I had another new tire. I also lost more than an hour on the trip.

Would you believe it, 10 km from our destination Dawn heard a bang and just saw smoke when she looked out the window. The spare tire that we used to replace the bad one with, had also exploded and was smoking as I drove. Pulled off the road again and put the new tire on. Just as well we had it fixed. So to-morrow morning early I will have to buy a new tire before we continue our trip. Another $100.  I can hear the gods laughing as I write this.

There is an interesting tree at the caravan park. I have seen a few of these along the way in Queensland. To me the trunk looks like the boab tree like one sees in the Kimberleys WA. However, the foliage looks very different. I have searched on the internet to find out that this tree is called the Queensland Bottle Tree. See pic attached. It really is a beautiful tree

The Qld bush along the way sports many trees > I was expecting the countryside to be very much drier and sparser. I have pics of some great vistas. The countryside here in NSW is just splendid. It is green and stunning where it was very dry when we went through here 10 weeks ago.

The road along the Newell Highway is very busy (as expected). There are hundreds of big rigs heading up and down. They varied in size up to the road trains that were up to 4 trailers long. The Newell is a major arterial way that connects the big centers of south eastern  Australia. Some other big haulers had massive loads that took up the whole width of the bitumen. They were preceded by police patrols that forced all else off the road.  See pic.

Almost time to head back south. We are going to take our time and do a little bit of exploring along the way, where warranted.

We have had a really great time here at the Capricorn Coast. A number of times I tried some fishing and managed to catch some mackerel. I enjoyed standing on the rocks and watching the dolphins and sea turtles swim by.

I have done some swimming, playing around in the surf and today some body surfing as the waves were up. We have had many beach walks. We walked in the low tide waters (knee high) into the sea for up to 400 meters from the beach. Words like wonderful and exhilarating come to mind.

Imagine my surprise and horror when I saw the Crocodile warnings on a slipway at Emu Park beach. These signs always say ‘Achtung’ I guess for the German tourists. The signage says: ‘Be crock wise in crock country. Sightings (phone #)’.   A day earlier our neighbor at the caravan park told us that some person had sighted a crock in the mangroves just up the road. He was on his way to the beach and the path leads through the mangroves. I did not believe our friend as I thought he was pulling my leg. Well, I am going to be a bit more cautious from now on. I truly cannot believe that crocks come this far south. Someone had placed a soggy biscuit in the mouth of the crock

We have had great weather with temperatures around 23 degrees most days. The last few days have been very humid and then yesterday we had a good bit of rain. The temp felt much worse due to the humidity and the UVs which were right up. Even our dog had had enough and escaped into the caravan for some respite.

Yesterday I came across some more retro caravans in the park and have attached a pic. The couple in one of the caravans had purchased their van in the 60s and had it done up just recently to look schmick again.

If the weather continues I might do some more body surfing to-morrow.

Today has been a delightful day. Yeah, the temperature was 23 degrees again, the sun was shining and we walked on the beach with our dog. People are friendly here on the Capricorn Coast. We are in our last week up here and so it was good to see a few unexpected sights.

As we drove along the road we came across a letter box that was just begging to be photographed. Earlier on this trip I did a segment on letter boxes and this pic is just had to be included.

We spent a few hours at the Rockhampton Botanical gardens. They were established in the mid 1800s and have included some pics. The lake has turtles and ducks competing for scraps of bread. I have included a few pics of the gardens. I was impressed by the many varieties of Bamboo on display.

Within the gardens is a German WW1 Howitzer. This forms part of a war memorial. This is now the second German made artillery piece that I have come across in this ex British colony.  I am curious how these guns have ended up miles from the battle fields of Europe. The local Kiosk provided some excellent scones and tea.

When we left the park this afternoon for our beach walk we saw new campers with a beautiful Airedale Terrier dog. The context is that our 3 boys grew up with one of these wonderful animals. We got the dog, then a Siamese cat and then 3 boys. I moved house before the menagerie got any bigger. Look at the pics, you’ll understand. So the pics are for my 3 boys.

Yesterday a pink Hotrod (The Pink Peril) moved into the park with a retro caravan in tow. Just had to share the pics.

We have been knocking around the neighborhood the last few days. That includes one or two beach walks a day. Last night we sat on the beach just before sunset and had a few frosties as the sun went down. Very relaxing.

The day before I was at Yeppoon harbor and took this interesting picture of the harbor at lowtide. It looked very funny with all the boats resting on the mud bank of the creek at lowtide. Turns out that the harbor is made up by a small creek. Turns out that the general water depth is pretty shallow all along this coast. The tidal differences are large.

Once the tide comes along again everything looks normal. You’d never guess that  the water was so shallow.

To the north of Yeppoon the main beach becomes the Farnborough Beach which continues on for 20km and terminates at a natural bay where the Fishing creek runs into the sea. There is a beach access where we got onto the beach and drove to Corio Bay. Just great to have a decent drive on a beach again; makes you feel so good and free.

Ex-Turtle

There was a bush fire burning vigorously which cast a pall of smoke over the coast.

That’s a big ask! First we need to define what constitutes a beach that can be considered for this list. I am not talking about the longest or widest or most sandy etc, etc. By the way, the longest beach probably is the Coorong from Kingston to the Murray River mouth in SA. It is over 150km long. I did that with the boys some 15 years ago in my great GQ Nissan Patrol. That was a decent trip.

I would say that some of the defining criteria for the top 5 might be: (I would love to hear from readers what some of the other defining criteria might be).

• At least 1km long with a sandy beach of decent width at low-tide,
• Not dangerous to human life; ie no crocodiles, blue ring octopus, Box Jelly fish,
• Attractive natural setting ie defining natural beauty or pleasing features,
• Definitely not overdeveloped or overrun by human beings,

Top 5:

I cannot name all 5 beaches that deserve to be in this list. I have not seen 5 such beaches. However I have been on one beach that definitely fits the bill.

So my first beach would be Cable Beach in Broome WA. I have been there several times.

Then I have two more beaches that might make the list.

The first could be the beach at Woodgate Qld. between the Theodolite creek and the Barrum river. It is just sensational, stunning and has a chill factor when you are there.

The other beach is at Lammermoor on the Capricorn coast south of Yeppoon. I wonder what other readers may think.

So…….I  can propose only these:

1. Cable Beach, Broome, WA

2. Wood gate Beach Qld

3. Wineglass Beach Tasmania       https://www.google.com.au/search?q=wineglass+beach+tasmania&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CEMQsARqFQoTCOK3hM–38gCFQblpgodRzMKdg

  Pic credit:  Touchdowndownunder.wordpress.com

4.  Whitehaven Beach Whitsundays

5.  I have not seen it yet.

If you were to draw a line from Rockhampton to Yeppoon and then to Emu Park (and Zielzie) and back to Rocky, you’d have put a border around some of the most scenic and interesting countryside in Queensland. There are a number of geological features called ‘plugs’ where rocky outcrops appear to have been forced out of the ground. They look almost like pimples on the landscape. These were created by volcanic activity millennia ago.

I am constantly amazed by the foliage. There are many spectacular species of old trees like the Fig tree below. The area is very easy on the eye. One bay follows the other as you head south from Yeppoon. There are at least 15 bays and headlands. One never tires of walking on the beach at any tide. As the bays are very shallow you can walk into the sea forever it seems. Every day we have 23 degrees C. Only a slight breeze…  Yeah I know, it is really tough to endure!!

  and another tree:

However, I am really surprised by the interesting history of the area as some of the links below might indicate:

The town of Rockhampton was created in 1853 by the Archer family. Soon gold was discovered and a 50 year gold boom endured. The largest mine was at Mount Morgan. Initially sheep were farmed and these were later replaced largely by cattle. This area still is a major cattle area. These industries attracted the populations in the early days. These days there is a substantial coal mining industry as well. In the process Rockhampton has become the capital of central Queensland.  The wealth from the gold boom resulted in riches that afforded the building of the many beautiful buildings that have been preserved and adorn the town and river frontage.

In the early days roads were constructed to Yeppoon and Emu Park. There was no road from Yeppon to Emu Park as the Causeway lake at Kinka beach presented an insurmountable barrier. A railroad was built to Emu Beach where the wellheeled had their coastal homes in this slice of paradise.

Some of the history at the link below:

http://library-resources.cqu.edu.au/cqcollection/manuscripts/short-manuscripts/rockhampton.pdf

This summarises some of the main industries of the early days like Beef, gold mining and natural wealth. Gold was found throughout the region and in places was very lucrative like at Mount Morgan.

Some old images showing early Rockhampton at:

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/old-images-show-how-much-rockhampton-cbd-has-grown/1894214/

A summary of early development can be found at

http://ajthompson.com.au/capricorn-coast/history-rockhampton-environs-early-settlement.htm#.VcHpAfmqqkp

The history of Yeppoon is similarly interesting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeppoon

A quick summary can be found here:

http://queenslandplaces.com.au/yeppoon

Further info includes Emu Park where we have been a few times now:

http://www.cqhistory.com/places/yeppoon.html

I have just had a look at a list of shipwrecks to be found off the Qld coast. There are literally hundreds of them. In some cases Queensland towns derived their names from the name of a shipwreck in their vicinity, for example: Coolangatta at the Gold Coast

http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/qld-wrecks.html

Needless to say the above is just the tip of the iceberg.

I spent some time on top of Mount Archer. The hill overlooks the city from about 9 km  away. It shows off the big Fitzroy river snaking through then landscape. There are some stunning views for 360 degrees.

Locals call this town Rocky. As has been said earlier, Rocky has a population around 85,000.  It is a nice size town, but surprises in how neat it is being kept by the local council. It has a lot of ‘old world’ charm. The town center has a large shady main street that is wide and has many well maintained British colonial buildings. The old Post Office building looks almost new, but has been converted and sports a lovely coffee shop serving great coffee and good cakes. The town is about 40 kilometers from the coast

The ‘Oxford pub in the main street offers great pub meals and has all the local beers on offer. We had the Curry and rice meal. This was beautifully spicy and was a substantial meal. It cost only $8.00. Cannot believe how they can do it so cheaply.

http://stevesoutbackadventure.com/?p=587 Continue reading »]]> Exploring the Yeppoon Coast.

Views from Yeppon!

Yeppoon is built across a number of hills. They offer excellent views in many directions; see below.

Rosslyn Harbor, where the ferry to Great Keppel departs.

The Great Dividing Range snakes its way up the Australian east coast 50 – 150km inland. Close to Rockhamton a few tentacles separate and reach towards the north east. They reach the coast in the Yeppoon region and disappear into the Pacific Ocean. This makes for a hilly coastline with lush vegetation and grand vistas as far as the eye can see. The ranges do surface out of the sea every now and then as a myriad of islands, the best being the Great Keppel island. Wherever you look there are islands of varying sizes.

Great Keppel island

The name ‘Yeppoon’ is aboriginal for thunder or roaring noise. See early history at:

http://ajthompson.com.au/capricorn-coast/history-capricorn-coast-early-settlement.htm#.Vbca3vmqqko

We have been here for a week now. Done some driving around Yeppoon and the coast south. Great place and beautiful with more than 50 island visible. It’s called  the Capricorn coast as it is just north of then tropic. As a result it is beautifully warm here in winter. Temparatures range mid to high twenties every day and in the afternoon the cool breezes start.

We are staying at the Coolwaters  Holiday Resort. They have cabins and powered/unpowered sites. There are some permanents as well. They are located around 12 kilometers south of Yeppoon. I can strongly recommend this place. It is very well run and looked after. It has a mini Water World for the kids and the older kids (:-)  There are the other usual entertainment assets like Jumping Pillow, Tennis Court and even a BMX circuit for the slightly older kids. They have a number of fire pits where residents can light a fire to share with others and have a yarn. The resort borders the Causeway Lake and inlet and the fishing is good.

The staff are very friendly and the park is well run being constantly maintained….Do I need to say more?? Great place to stay, especially at weekly rates!

We will remain here for a good few more weeks.

Crab Art or Aboriginal Art

We love going for beach walks, Dawn, Lexie (dog) and I..It imbues you with a sense of freedom and calms the spirit. All over the beaches up here there is this beach art visible at low tide, see pic below. It is caused by the tiny Ghost crabs coming out of their holes as the waters recede. They then filter the surface mud for food and leave behind these round little balls of mud that radiated in all directions from their hole in the beach. The high tide then comes and washes it all away. The next low tide sees the play being repeated. It is just beautiful.

Now if you just zoom a bit into the picture it seems to me that I am looking at a piece of Aboriginal art. Many or most Aboriginal paintings use the myriad of little balls/dots to make a larger beautiful picture. Often the theme of the picture is circular in nature. Could it be that our ancient people got their inspiration from natural events such as this Crab Art???

Happiness is;

Happiness is a beautiful view, a thumping southeast wind banging into the hills and a bum firmly lodged into a sling as you ride the airwaves like a bird. Doesn’t get much better!!

Chilled out camping.

Looks like Hippies staying overnight at the resort.

Green palm tree stumps

Interesting to see that trunks of Palm trees generate a sugary sap once they have been cut down. This attracts the fruit flies a lot of which get stuck in the goo.

Waiting for fish to jump out of the water and surrender.

The cake and tea shop

The Lady of the Manor;- I mean Caravan!

Mangroves everywhere

If you look around south of Yeppoon there is a swag full of bays and little townships. Most of them are attractive. Most have great beaches and they are not overrun.

When I came around the corner on this beach I was startled by what I saw. At first glance it looked like a heap of skulls lying on the beach, A second look revealed that indeed it was coconuts that had been deposited here by the currents over time.

Some  of the houses are not too shabby!

!

After a week out in the sticks at Baffle Creek we were ready to move on to our next destination. This was Yeppoon 330km further north. We had enjoyed ourselves in Baffle Creek, walking along deserted beaches and living in a quiet caravan park. The beaches were cluttered with trees from the recent cyclone. This had also eaten away at the dunes and caused substantial erosion in some places.

We left for Rockhampton in the early morning and headed north along the Bruce Highway (A1). Rather disappointingly the road was in very poor condition at times. There were ruts in many places for kilometers at a time where the years of heavy loads had squashed the road surface to create humps in the bitumen which made it look like a track. That is very disappointing for a state freeway.

The way it affected me is that my truck would sway from side to side and the caravan would do its own thing and sway in a different beat. This created some tricky driving. I had to wrestle the rig many times to make sure it did not wander onto the wrong side of the road. I was pretty much exhausted by the time we got to Yeppoon.

The way it affected Dawn was that there were many loud screeches of panic as she reached for the ‘Jesus’ bar and of course there is no such thing in the Navara.  The  “Jesus’  bar was a large handle on the passenger side of the dashboard of the Nissan Patrol.  People could hold on to this as they got into or out of the vehicle. It was used mainly by frightened passengers to hold onto as the vehicle bounced around rocky mountain peaks whilst 4wdriving.

Rockhampton is a town of more than 85000 people and is well laid out. It’s a pretty place and I look forward to exploring it in the next week. We continued on to Yeppoon which was only 36 km away. I was glad to book into our caravan park and get organized with setting up every thing. I look forward to a relaxing few weeks here at the Capricorn coast.