Mini holiday-Boyne river, Benaraby 30.6.18

We decided to go camping for a few days while we are waiting to go to Sydney.
Headed off at 8.30 this morning with no real plan in mind. Stopped in Gin Gin for morning tea & set up camp on the Boyne River at lunchtime. Not long after lunch an ice-cream van turned up and we just had to support the locals 😋.

After that treat we went for a short ride along the very rocky river bank.

our camp spot

Lots of vans pulled in to the camp ground in the afternoon. Very popular spot. Bit of road noise so it will be interesting to see how much sleep I get. Thankfully I have a couple of good books and a great book light, compliments of my Dad.
Travelled 242kms & the weather has been perfect.

Day 26 the cubby house pauses at home for a bit. 18.6.18

A very different view of Calliope river this morning. Freezing cold overnight & Mark couldn't sleep so being the caring person I am, I volunteered, at 11pm, to dash out to the car and grab a spare blanket. I even gave him my favorite bed socks 😍. Finally we got some sleep.
Awoke to find ice on the car and mist
 on the river. No one was in a hurry to pack up and leave this morning.

Didn't leave until after 8.30, first stop Gin Gin for morning tea. Lovely coffee at the bakery.

Silver lining of changing our trip on short notice is that we get to have dinner with Melissa and the girls before they fly back to Melbourne tomorrow morning.

So for this part of our trip the camper trailer, aka the cubby house, has travelled 3572kms. That makes us due for the 10,000km service already. Not bad considering we have only had the camper since February.

A very basic map of our trip.

23/6. Due to unforeseen circumstances our trip to Sydney has been pushed back again until July. So after the camper has its service next week we will head out again for a week. We will most likely go to Agnes waters, 1770 & Tannum sands.

Day 25 Calliope 17.6.18

It wasn't as noisy as expected at the roadhouse & we managed to get some sleep. Packed up and headed south by 8. Our meetings have been delayed so looks like we will be home for an extra couple of days before going to Sydney.
Morning tea stop was pancakes in Claireview, but at a different spot than previously.

Lots of places on our trip have had murals.

toilet block

community center

Then it was on to a little place called Yaamba for a picnic lunch. No photos as I was too lazy 😱
Camped at Calliope river for the night. Temperature cooler than when we were here a few weeks ago ❄
Today we travelled 522kms, way too long to be sitting in a car.

Day 24 Bloomsbury 16.6.18

We are still heading south, all the way to Sydney! We have some business to take care of there so we will stop in at home for a day or 2 and leave the camper behind. We hope to rejoin our friends in western Qld somewhere.

This morning we went for a short ride bird spotting around the lagoon before Mark cooked us pancakes for breakfast.

Green ants nest

unusual bug

If you look hard, there are 2 forest kingfishers in the tree

view out our back window. Just behind the trees was a mob of agile wallabies.

No one was in a hurry to pack up and leave this morning it was so peaceful.
We drove to homehill to use the free showers in the camping area & enjoyed fish n chips in the local pub for lunch. While on the road we(Mark) changed our plans and decided no to go to Guthalungra but push on to Homebush, an extra 200kms. Along the way he changed his mind yet again as we were both getting tired. So we are camped out back of a roadhouse in Bloomsbury. Might be in for a noisy night but apparently the coffee is good!

Day 23 Ingham 15.6.18

Watched the sunrise this morning over the cane fields during my 2km walk. Harvesting is underway and it was quite interesting watching all the action.

Today we are heading south along the Bruce Hwy, stopping at whatever takes our interest.

Selfie at the Rex lookout

we've driven past this lookout 3 times this year but was never able to get a car park until this morning.

Stopped at beautiful Cardwell for a picnic by the sea and a look around. Note to self: come back and explore more!

Sensory pathway

Trying out the sensory path. I finished it but Mark didn't!

another selfie

Probably the most comprehensive list of war involvement we have seen.

a memorial to 2 local fishermen

Then it was on to Ingham supposedly for just a quick stop at the wetlands but we liked it so much we decided to stay the night. We are camped out the back of the tourist information center right next to the lagoon. They charge a fee of $10.

the view from our window

cane thrasher

rainbow serpent

The above photos were taken within 500m of our camper.
We rode into town and stumbled on to a great bike track through parkland. Light was running out otherwise we would have kept going.

A children's bike ed area

another lagoon, lots of Willy wagtails & plovers

this big, old tree looked great in the setting sun

Not something I usually like to see on my bike ride 😱

Today we travelled 301kms, taking the campers total to 2265!