A hop, skip and jump to Airlie

It was tough leaving Seventeen Seventy but we must get back on the road and keep moving.  We always knew our trip through Queensland was going to be a fast one to allow us more time in SA, WA and NT.  We returned to Bundaberg as we had to get our vans first service done the next day.  First stop was to visit Jason’s Aunty Trina’s new home and wow were we impressed, it is such a beautiful home.  We could have sat forever on the back deck whilst the kids enjoyed doing some gardening… hopefully they didn’t wreck anything with their cousin Austin.  Thank you so much for morning tea and lunch Trina.

Visiting Aunty Trina and Archie.

 

 

After a catch-up up and delicious feed we moved onto one of the greatest free camps ever – the Doherty’s household.  Here we weren’t charged any fees for power, had use of their bathroom, they even cooked us dinner and even had an early birthday cake for Hamish & I.  In my family you know that the rellies don’t mind you when they share their roast mutton with you!  Thank you so much for your hospitality Aunty Ria and Uncle Jeff, we really appreciated it.

Saying goodbye to Aunty Ria.

 

Whilst the van was being serviced and having a bit of extra work done to it we just did a bit of shopping, eKindy and of course washing.  Nothing major had to be done, just the general service, a few small warranty items (i.e. button came off the couch) and adding things like a small t-leveller to the front a-frame (saves us trying to find where we put it each time we pull up).

Our original plan was to head out to Carnarvon Gorge but in true fashion we decided to save this to closer to the end of our trip.  So instead we decided to make a beeline for Airlie.  It was way too far to drive in one day (thinking slow nomadic lifestyle here), so we decided to spread it over three days and free camp our way up there.  It is certainly a lot easier when it is only roughly 3 to 4 hours drive each day. 

The first stop was the on the Calliope River just north of Calliope.  It was hard pulling over at 11am and sitting back to have a beer!  It was warm, but not bad.  We just sat under the awning and filled a bucket with water for the kids to play with.  The Pioneer Historic centre was just a walk away so we went up there to grab some cold ice-creams.  It was so cheap to get in we thought we would check it out and it didn’t disappoint.  It is funny how you rate it based on family members – Jason and I agreed it is the sort of place my dad could easily spend a full day in.  Obviously with two young kids we went through it a little faster.

The view from our van.

Kids having fun in the heat.

In the afternoon we went for a walk down to the river and crossed the old bridge.  It is quite low when you compare it to the new up further day the river.  We got talking to a local who was fishing with his children (whose partner was an old Urshies girl) and he told us how in the floods last year, it was 10 metres over the old bridge and an amazing sight.  It was hard to imagine that much water, but apparently it made for fantastic fishing.

Afternoon walk down to the river.

The old bridge and off in the distance you can see the new one.

Making the old bridge look even older!
 

The next day we got away nice and early as we knew we were to have an eKindy session for Hamish but we just didn’t know when at this stage, so we thought we would try and get as far down the road as we could and constantly check the emails.  After we had set off I mentioned to Jason how there were some caves (Capricorn Caves) just north of Rockhampton.  I couldn’t really remember what they were like but we thought we would stop and check them out.  We are so glad that we did as the tour was fantastic and inside was not only so cool (literally compared to the heat outside) but the cathedral cave with the lighting and music just left us all in awe.  If you are in the area you really should stop in for a visit.

Heading towards the entry.

They are looking down a small hole that has quite a drop.

Inside one part.

Some of the lighting effects they have done.

 

After the tour it was getting quite warm so we retreated back to our air-conditioned car and hit the road again.  By this time we decided we should make a decision as to where we were going to pull over for the night.  Obviously as we were just heading straight to Airlie Beach we just wanted a simple free camp and so we found one in the middle of nowhere.  I think from memory it was 130km south of Sarina.  I am glad we are travelling the opposite to the majority as whilst the free camps are popular, they aren’t packed.  We pulled up at about 1pm as we had Hamish’s eKindy session to do and just because we could. 

Hamish having a play outside.

Our van at the free camp.

 

There wasn’t much there but it had some trees, some birds and a big grassed area to run around in so the kids were entertained.  When free camping we don’t have power to plug into so no air-conditioning in the caravan.  It makes us really glad that we installed all the 12 volt fans over the beds.  So far though it has been bearable, we just stripped down the kids, let them have some water fun and just sit outside in the shade.

Beautiful sunrise to wake up to.

Okay this tree was by the creek and had some different looking fruit/seeds.  Can anyone tell me what tree it is?

 

After a lovely night’s sleep it was time to hit the road again.  As we had a big drive ahead of us (hey it is out biggest day yet) we aimed to get on the road nice and early (about 6:30).  We prefer to travel in the morning as the kids are happier then and it is quite a bit cooler.  This is odd considering we are sitting inside the air-conditioned car!  Maybe that will change once we hit the real hot weather.  We also had an eKindy session at 11:30 so the aim was to be at our destination and all set up before that.  We did it with plenty of time to spare.  Luckily the caravan parked I had booked us into would allow us that early.