Heading west for a shakedown…
After a long wait, we left our home in Brisbane on 7 July 2023 for a 30-month road trip. The rough plan was to travel Australia and experience as much as we can fit in.
During the first three weeks, we were heading west in Queensland for a shakedown trip to test the car and caravan. The plan was to travel west in Queensland for three weeks, cross the border to New South Wales before heading back to the East Coast. If we identified any issues with the car or van we had an opportunity to get it sorted when passing Brisbane, before heading down south, in the direction of Sydney.
Update
We Left our home in Brisbane with mixed emotions.
But we were off…
Our first stop was Lumley Hill Campground at Lake Wivenhoe. This is one of our favourite camping spots, with great sunsets and starry nights.
We were fortunate enough to enjoy the weekend with friends.
The sunset did not disappoint, and we had a few late nights with friends around the campfire.
We even had a few new visitors… About forty of them, feeding in the shallows.
After saying goodbye, we headed further west to Gatton. Forty-five minutes past Gatton, the road ends at Glenrock State Forrest.
This old cattle farm forms part of the Main Range Conservation Park, nestled in a valley, amongst the ranges.
These parks protect the upper catchment of Blackfellow Creek flowing towards the Lockyer Valley. The creek was dry at the campsite while we were there.
The slab hut below was built to commemorate homes of early settlers, constructed of rough horizontal and vertical wooden slabs, tied together with wire. The walls (vertical slabs) were sealed with mud clay and hessian for insolation.
The nights here were cold, quiet and dark.
And by cold, I mean -3°C at night. The ice thrown out the previous night was still intact (maybe even larger) by the next morning.
During the last weekend of our stay at Glenrock, we had friends join us. Leaving Glenrock, we crossed sections of the creek that still had water.
After staying at Glenrock with no power, water or mobile phone reception, we left with confidence that we can easily stay off-grid for 8 days again.
We were very impressed with Starlink (Satellite internet technology) providing download speed up to 273 Mbps and upload speed of 23.3 Mbps in an area with very limited phone reception.
Heading further west, our next stop was Yarramalong Weir Reserve on the Condamine River, between Pittsworth and Millmerran.
By this time, we were running low on supplies and decided to spend a day at Millmerran to fuel up and refill our water and food supplies. The Council provides a free camp very close to the center of town.
The kitchen area had brochures of all the attractions in town. Some previous campers left books to take and some of the friendly locals dropped off some fresh nectarines and lemons for the campers to enjoy. I also replaced the battery in the Cruiser as it was four years old, and I did not want to get stuck further west. After restocking, we had a relaxing day strolling through town.
Many towns get artists to paint murals on large infrastructure like buildings, dams and silos. These art works are often linked amongst towns, to create art trails and increase tourism.
Between Millmerran and Goondiwindi, we made a quick stop at Yelarbon to view the art on the silos titled “When the rain comes”, which depicts a hopeful oasis scene for this desert town.
We headed south of Goondiwindi at Bengella Reserve on the Dumaresq River. This free camp had no facilities but heaps of firewood, if you are prepared to gather, cut and chop. We were cooking mostly on the fire and even extended our stay.
After we restocked at Goondiwindi, we headed to Nindigully Pub on the Moonie River.
This pub offers free camping and in return most campers would join for happy hour at the pub or have a meal from their kitchen. This is the oldest pub in Queensland and also serves the largest hamburgers in the state. We shared a steak sandwich filled with a whopping 1.2kg steak in it.
This isolated pub was also the setting for the 1999 movie Paperback Hero. There was still some memorabilia on display.
We headed south for a quick stop at Thallon to view their silos and were greeted by hundreds of wild cockatiels.
We crossed the border between Queensland and New South Wales at the Mungindi border crossing.
