Inskip Point
We start this 3 weeks trip at Rainbow
Beach and make camp at Inskip Point where we stay for three days -
about a three hour drive from Brisbane. There are five campgrounds
at Inskip all named after ships. Some are 4WD only sites but a
couple are okay for 2WD, we pick MV Sarawak which seemed to be the
more popular of the two, lots of shady trees and sand and we can see
Fraser Island across the water. We find a spot and set up. We took
in the main tourist attractions at Rainbow Beach and Tin Can Bay.
One morning we walked through the national park, a shady walk, quite
hilly in places which led us to Carlo Sand Blow – a huge sand mass
which has built up over many years. Fabulous views to Double Island
Point and over to Tin Can Bay from here. We also saw a few people
hang gliding. We walked back on the coastal path which brought us
back into Rainbow Beach where we had a swim. The surf was a bit
boisterous so really just a cool off, I'm passed the days of being
dumped in the surf.
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| Carlo Sand Blow |
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| A rest at the sand blow before the walk back |
One morning we drove to Tin Can Bay to
watch the dolphin feeding which happens every day at 7.30 a.m. You
can paddle in the water right next to the dolphins who are waiting
for their breakfast, up to five dolphins appear on a daily basis.
The day we went there were two. We paddled alongside them and
watched their breathing hole opening and shutting – beautiful
gentle creatures. The feeding starts at 8 a.m, you can give them a
fish which is supplied in a little bucket that an operator takes from
the bucket, places it in the palm of a human feeding hand, with one
gulp it's gone in an instant. At the end of the public feeding the
operators give them more fish and then they know that breakfast is
over and off they swim until the next day. A good opportunity to see
dolphins up close. We had breakfast at a picnic table adjacent to
the ocean.
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| The Dolphins |
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| Waiting for Breakfast |
We took the bush walk through Bymien
Rainforest, it was deserted, only us, the sound of birdsong, chirping
inserts, very peaceful until the sound of machine gun fire disturbed
the peace. There is an Army training centre in the vicinity and
obviously there was a training operation in progress. We continued
our walk arriving at Poona Lake, a very pretty bush walk, about 4 km
return.
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| Picnic Area at Bymien Rainforest |
Inskip Point Camp Site Rating – Out
of 10 Stars – 3 (but expected in a bush non powered site). Also an
apx 10 km drive from Inskip to Rainbow Beach so a bit of a drive each
day to go somewhere. Wouldn't return here.
Town of Seventeen Seventy
And then it was on to Agnes Water which
became Town of Seventeen Seventy after we rejected the van park at
Agnes.
The Town of Seventeen Seventy is only a
five minute drive on from Agnes and we booked into the Captain Cook
Caravan Park, a lovely peaceful spot in a bush setting. Good
amenities here, a powered site, a shop, a restaurant or take away and
a swimming pool, a 700 metre walk on track that leads to the beach.
Things we've done here:
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| Our camp site |
The
Town of 1770 holds a unique place in Australia’s history. A
monument marks the spot near Round Hill Head where Lieutenant James
Cook first anchored in Bustard Bay and came ashore on Wednesday the
24th of May, in 1770.
We cycled to this monument and lookout. We secured our
bikes and took the little walk down to the headland where there is a
lookout and a light for shipping erected high on the point. Then we
walked along to the Bustard headland so named because Captain Cook
and his crew killed a turkey (or a bustard) and cooked it for dinner
– or so the story goes. It was a nice cycle route along the
coastline for part of the route. We did encounter a few hills which
made us work a bit harder – not all flat terrain like Bribie!!
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| Monument to Lt James Cook |
We visited the Museum where there is,
of course, heaps of history of Captain Cook's discovery of 1770, this
was his second voyage after discovering Botany Bay. We were able to
view log sheets and journals of life on board the Endeavour, some
graphic details of medical procedures and the tools used for
amputations and other gruesome treatments, maps, general information
of the area and heaps of relics from yesteryear. Quite an
interesting hour or so spent here.
We walked the local beach a couple of
times, surf here is quite boisterous so just paddled along the edge
of the water, nice breezes blowing so a pleasant walk.
We drove along to the calm water area,
took the chairs and had a nice view in front of the water, lots of
boats bobbing, good spot for relaxing with our books. I walked along
the walking track and back for about half an hour.
We visited the Sunday Morning Markets,
had a wander through, just bought some fruit and vegetables and a
book.
We initially booked in for three nights
but extended for another two before moving on. We are enjoying the
peace and relaxation.
The only annoyance here were the sand
flies. We got lots of bites and itchies so we had to remember to use
the repellent. The pharmacy does a good trade in anti-itch
ointment!!
Kinka Beach (Near Yeppoon)
We're hitting the
road again and Kinka Beach is our destination. All packed up and
ready to go by 9.30 a.m. We're getting better at dismantling the
annexe (and erecting). We stop at a big shopping centre in
Rockhampton and stock up at Woolies, hopefully will last us till we
get home apart from top ups. Gosh, it's hot here at about 36/37
degrees. The temperature dropped considerably once we left
Rockhampton behind. About another 40 k's and we arrive at our
destination – another Top Tourist Van Park where we get a discount
now we are members. It's really nice, very large, sites well spaced,
a swimming pool, good facilities and right opposite the beach. Warm
sunny days with a cool breeze blowing which builds up to a more
boisterous blow in late afternoon and that makes the palm trees bend
and sway in the wind – a very tropical setting. Things we've done
here:
Yeppoon
Drove into Yeppoon
(20 minutes drive away), had a look around, we walked the foreshore
track. Stopped and looked at Rosslyn Bay, apparently a good fishing
spot, we had a general look around. We walked around the bay and
marina admiring all the yachts and boats (some huge vessels). We
drove out to the old Iwasaki Resort which is now called the Mercure
Capricorn Resort. Very large but it is telling its age and looks
rather dated, I'm sure there would be more exciting places to stay.
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| The Marina at Rosslyn Bay |
Saturday Morning Market at Yeppoon
It's
basically a fruit and vegetable market that trades for three hours.
We stocked up on some local produce at very good prices e.g. 10 cents
for baby corn cobs, bag of zucchinis $1, bag of squash $1. We also
bought fish twice from the fish van at Yeppoon, beautiful local fresh
fish. Bought enough to freeze some too. Richard did throw a line in
early one morning but he came home empty handed.
Emu Park
Is
a ten minute drive in the opposite direction where we sighted the
remarkable Singing Ship, it is dedicated to James Cook who named
Keppel Bay in 1770. The sculpture is aptly named as it sings almost
constantly due to on-shore breezes.
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| The Singing Ship |
Beach Walk at Kinka Beach
Just across the
road and down the beach track leads to a long stretch of beach. Did
an exercise walk along the beach each day.
Byfield
About
30 minute drive north from Yeppoon are the lush forests of Byfield
and surrounding nature reserves The
Byfield National Park and State Forest abound with wonderful scenery
amid rainforest-edged creeks and rugged forests. We did a lovely
bush walk through the rain forest. There is a picnic area adjacent
to the car park where we enjoyed a picnic lunch. There was just us,
a bird watcher and a couple of scrub turkeys looking for some crumbs.
The male turkey had been very busy making a huge nest to encase the
eggs. We watched him uncover the eggs, check they were safe and then
bury them again underneath piles of leaves and twigs he painstakingly
collected. Mummy Turkey just kept her eye on him while she walked
around. Guess she'd done her job. Now it was up to him to do the
rest.
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| Bush Walking at Byfield |
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| Lunch at the picnic area at Byfield |
We
also visited the wonderful Nob
Creek Pottery which is set in the rainforest of Byfield and is a
studio pottery producing a huge variety of traditional style
pottery. It is a family business and we talked to the young potter
there who let us watch him decorate some bowls he had just made. His
parents who own the pottery were away so that just left him in
charge. There is an art gallery there too and some very interesting
pieces to view or buy. A great place to visit.
Cooey Bay
Sits on a point in
Yeppoon and overlooks the site in the ocean of a wreck (although the
wreck is long gone) but it is a good spot to look along Lammermoor
Beach and take a photo or two.
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| Cooey Bay and Lammermoor Beach |
We enjoyed our
five days stay here. We left at 9.30 a.m on November 3rd
and hit the road via Yeppoon where there is a Woolworths supermarket
so we topped up before we got on our way – destination Cania Gorge.
Cania Gorge National Park
We travelled to
Cania Gorge via Yeppoon, Rockhampton, Mount Morgan, Biloela (our
lunch stop) and then Cania Gorge. The landscape is brown and dry en
route to the gorge, very obviously this area is desperate for rain.
Cania Gorge is one of Queensland's best kept secrets and is home to
our destination of Cania Gorge Caravan and Tourist Park, another Top
Tourist park. The camp site here at the gorge is delightful and in a
natural bush setting. Good facilities, swimming pool etc. We stayed
here for four nights and each day we did one of the many bush walks
in the area. Cania Gorge National Park boasts 3000 hectares of
spectacular landscape, prominent sandstone cliffs, caves, eucalypt
forest and dry rain forest with mosses, orchids, figs and vines
growing in moist sheltered areas. This secluded area is home to a
variety of native flora and fauna including kangaroos, rock wallabies
and many birds. (We were woken at dawn each morning with very loud
bird song). Richard reported that the night sky is beautiful with
illuminating bright stars that he noticed on nocturnal walks during
the 'wee' hours. During
our stay here we walked to Fern Tree Pool and Giants Chair circuit.
This was quite a steep climb in places but well worth the effort when
we reached the picturesque fern tree pool. We also walked Dragon
Cave and Bloodwood Cave and the two storey cave circuit. The
overhanging rocks and giant monoliths were quite spectacular. In the
main we walked without encountering another human soul.
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| At Fern Tree Pool |
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| Walking alongside many black boys |
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| Richard Resting on a Rock |
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| Traversing a rocky decline (thank goodness for walking poles) |
On
Melbourne Cup Day we drove into Monto (25 km away) to watch the race
at the local pub and place a bet. I'd saved the Sunday paper racing
supplement and studied form on the drive and made some selections.
However, on arrival to the pub (the top pub) - there are two pubs in
Monto and the top pub as opposed to the bottom pub is apparently the
more salubrious of the two – on arrival we discovered that there
were no betting outlets in town. I've heard of a pub with no beer
but not a town with no TAB. Oh, well, we'll probably save our money.
We settled in along with three others to watch the race – the
crowd swelled to 10 (including us) before the horses jumped. And
wouldn't you believe it, I picked the winner!!! We may as well have
stayed put and watched the race on the TV in the camp kitchen. But
then we would not have discovered the town of Monto!!!! And the Top
Pub!
We
drove out to the dam one day, saw some rock wallabies on the side of
the road, there is a pretty picnic area here alongside the dam.
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| Wallaby and Baby Wally |
We
thoroughly enjoyed our four day stay here, the bush walks, swimming
in the pool, relaxing, reading, a game of scrabble here and there, a
lovely area and our fellow campers very pleasant folks too.
We
left Cania Gorge and made our way homewards, destination Kingaroy for
an overnighter to break the drive. We passed through the little
townships of Monto (the town with no TAB), Eidsvold, Gayndah (our
lunch stop) and the oldest town in Queensland. We had a coffee at
the Big Orange, thought we'd buy some oranges there but it's not
orange season. The proprietors did show us the orchard with the tiny
oranges and mandarins just showing and the machinery that grades them
into sizes after they're picked. We continued our drive into
Kingaroy and arrived mid afternoon. We didn't even unhook here as it
is just an overnight stop. We went to the RSL for dinner. Before
leaving the next day we had a look around the information centre
which houses an interesting museum of the history of Kingaroy and
relics from yesteryear. We then got on the road home and arrived at
lunch time.
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| The Big Orange at Gayndah |
A
very relaxing and interesting three week trip during which we
discovered new places and environments - and drove approximately 2,000 kilometres.
