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Rob's Caravanning Tips, Rockhampton (2026)

13/07/2024

2024
10th Wednesday; no lights and little noise last night. Got to Winton about 11am for fuel and then on to Longreach. Hamburgers at the tavern for lunch and then each of us went our seperate ways. I got some filters for the generator and then back to the van. My wife found a pair of shoes. We spent the night a few kms east of Ilfracombe where we sat around the fire. Nibbles tonight because neither of us are hungry.

11th Thursday; the 60 odd kms into Barcaldine was uneventful and we had coffee before heading off to Jericho. That reminds me of an event on the way from Mt Isa to Mary Kathleen. The scenery along this very windy road all the way to Cloncurry is magnificent hills and the road is used by road trains and mining trucks. The road is very good with plenty of passing lanes to get the faster traffic through. Anyway there we are driving toward Mary Kathleen and there are two B double mine trucks,one after the other in the oncoming lane, and then there’s a traytop ute off the side of the road trying to get control in the loose dirt. He decided to pass both trucks, on a corner and over double lines and then he saw us and immediately turned off the road. We went between him and the trucks, and I didn’t have time to consider what would have happened if he slid back on the road. Well that woke us up. Anyway, back on the road to Jericho. There’s plenty of wood and good places to get the van off the road so we stocked up. We camped about 80 kms east of Alpha near Boguntungen or Willow. We found a large gravel pit off the road and after cleaning the site, which had been used as a toilet, we setup. It took a bit to get the Hill Billy spike in the ground through the road metal and I guess I will need to get the angle grinder to the top of the spike so the frypan fits. The area is a bit raised and we’ve got a wonderful view of the surrounding hills. Buffalo sausages tonight and a few beers.

12th Friday; It was cold again last night about 7°. Now that we’re so close to getting back to Gracemere, I think we’re slowing down. Called into Coles in Emerald for a few things, and then lunch in the van and then the last 120 odd kms to Duaringa. The roads again were atrocious and I was angry that more money wasn’t spent and the work wasn’t done right. Still, no use complaining. Duaringa was busier than two months ago, but we found a spot, setup camp and got out the fire pit. Barra, chips and peas tonight then Gracemere tomorrow

09/07/2024

2024
JUNE 16th Sunday; left Tomato Island and back along the dirt road to the turnoff at Roper Bar. The road is still remarkably good but then there’s the 32kms from the turnoff to the start of the bitumen. The NT Government signed a contract to have that bit of the road bituminised over twelve months ago but they haven’t started. I’m guessing the quoted price is so out of date that it won’t be done for some time, if ever. The corrug*tions are horrendous and Bobbie has major issues. We just bear it and get through. We arrive at the Manor caravan park around 3pm and setup in the same site we had a month ago. Bobbie will need some days to recuperate. I did go down to the spring and floated down with many others who were really enjoying the experience. The springs are a real draw card but they are located within the national park which charge $10 per adult entry fee or $25 per family.

19th Wednesday; We left Mataranka and spent the night at Pussycat Flats near Pine Creek. It’s a bit rough with free camping and powered sites on the old race course. They have a terrific bar area and it’s good to meet other travellers

20th Thursday; Humptydoo and Mike and Moyras rainforest. Bobbie went with Moyra to a few gardening meetings and get togethers and I helped Mike move mulch, dump rubbish, move a pile of steel to make way for fruit trees and we built a raised garden bed. Always good here with the Bali Hut kitchen outside, able to watch the footy and cook on the open fire.

27th Thursday; Moved into Leanyer at the Urban Retreat in Darwin. Private land where about 6 vans can park and just around the corner from Darren and Kerry our nephew and his wife. Thursday night we went to the Mindel Market which was busy. Bobbie was hoping to get some Broome pants but the range wasn’t great. We grabbed some takeaway and hightailed it back to camp. The hordes were not enjoyable. Friday night we had a Barbecue at Darren’s, and Nat our niece and her son Lex also come over. It was a great family night. Saturday lunch was at Yots on the Cullen Bay Marina and we both had a prawn and mango salad with lots of fresh salad. Sunday, and Bobbie did a bit of shopping at Casuarina while I went over to the sports bar to watch Port beat St Kilda. They won but what a terrible spectacle.

JULY

1st Monday: Did a bit of last minute shopping and then headed down the Stuart Highway to Pussycat Flat near Pine Creek. We had such a good time there in the way up we decided to try it again. We met a couple from Marion SA in the bar and they were heading toward Mount Tom Price in the West to catchup with a daughter.

2nd Tuesday; Ninety kms to Katherine for fuel and more shopping and then lunch in Mataranka and on down the highway. I wanted to get wood so we stopped at a WW11 hospital site a few kms south of Laramah. It wasn’t the site I thought it was, and the road was pretty narrow so we couldn’t turn around. After a few kms of sandy track we came across a clearing, just before a closed g*te leading into a station property. We stopped for a coffee and I found some firewood and we decided to spend the night. Around 4:30 I started a fire in our fire pit and sat down with a beer. Bobbie came out and we sat and talked about some of the things we have done over the years. Trips to Cape Arid in the early days and sitting around the campfire all rugged up because it was freezing. The time we spent at Broome in 2003 when Bobbie was a tour guide at Willie Creek. Bell Gorge in the Kimberley with the kids and the flight out to the Horizontal Falls. We have been very lucky to have done what we’ve done and we feel that the Caravan is our home and the house at Gracemere is merely a base. As night came we cooked Buffalo sausages, potatoes, zucchini and pumpkin in the Hill Billy Pan over the open fire. We drank wine and beer and we talked about the stars and how fortunate we are. There were no mossies and no flies and the temperature was perfect with just a slight breeze. I remember similar nights years ago north of Broken Hill and again on Skull Creek road east of Nullargine in WA. We’ve had many, and we’ve been very fortunate.

3rd Wednesday; Maryville Ruins: A large area near stock loading facilities. It was very cold and windy.

4th Thursday; Barkly Bush Camp; we got in later than usual but it was a bit cold so we weren’t planning a fire. We’ve stayed here a few times and as it’s a fair way from the road it’s nice and quiet.

5th and 6th Camooweal waterhole; The waterhole is a Mecca for birds. Pelicans, brolgas, kites, shags and many more. It was a delight to camp on the edge of the water and have this view. It was a bit windy during the day but was still after about 5pm. We had a fire both nights and met a fellow traveller, Marcel, from Brisbane who was travelling to meet his wife in the Alice. She’s suffering Macular degeneration and needs an injection every four weeks or so. So far our health is holding up so fingers crossed

7th and 8th Mary Kathleen. This is the location of an old mining town but all buildings have been removed conveniently leaving concrete pads for caravans. It’s sort of like a caravan park with no facilities and no cost. We found a camp away from others in the old ANZ bank. Unfortunately they took the money when they left. Bobbie was vomiting in the evening which we think may have been caused by the road trip here. It was a bit windy during the warm days (30°) but calmed down so we could enjoy a fire at night. It got down to about 12° overnight so not too bad.

9th Tuesday; We headed into Cloncurry for a dump run, some veggies and an apple turnover. Bobbie had a vanilla square. All good healthy food to keep us going. The Landsborough Highway to Winton is terrible. It has undulations and where they have put drains across the road, the repairs have left a mound so that every 3 or 4 kms it’s like a ski jump. This didn’t go well with Bobbie’s vertigo issues but she was a stalwart and we continued the. To our camp at Dinosaur Creek about 60 kms north of Winton. We’ve stayed here before and I’ve always liked tte open space. We were getting down on firewood so it was also good to scrounge a few bits from the creek bed. Lamb chops tonight and although it’s a bit windy the weather is warm.

08/06/2024

2024
JUNE 7th Friday; We we’re getting low on a few things but we didn’t have a boat to get over to Ngukurr. I had never driven around and decided that I could see a bit of the country and get supplies at the same time. The 40kms back to the turnoff was a bit corrug*ted from the traffic since we’d come in but, without the caravan I could sit on 60kph and still avoid the bad bits. When I got to the turnoff I turned onto the bitumen to go across the Roper bridge and found to my delight that the road was fully sealed, even better than the Stuart Highway. I sat on 120kph and eventually went over the bridge at the Wilton River before hitting gravel about 8kms short of Ngukurr. The gravel track wound its way around the new road which was being constructed, and it looked like a super highway. As I drove around the town with its school and separate education centre, the swimming pool, new police station and aged care facilities I realised that the government was really setting it up as a major regional centre. Unfortunately the locals didn’t appear to care less. All of the houses I saw were untidy, with rubbish in the the yards, uncut lawns and generally run down. I know there are issues with the blacks, and that the government throws a lot of money at the problem, but surely the indigenous people need to do something. We’re all Australians, irrespective as to who was here first, no one is leaving, so it’s a joint problem and everybody should attempt to fix it. That’s my morning gripe. The supermarket was much the same. The necessities like fruit and vegetables and good food are subsidised by the Federal Government, who own the shop in partnership with Woolworths. Smokes and peanut paste apparently don’t come under the heading of good food, but generally the prices are pretty good, considering where we are. The quality’s not bad either and I was also able to fill up with diesel at $2.85/l so I guess that’s not subsidised. The way back was similar but in reverse, and upon arriving I setup the fire for the Friday night get together. It was cold as the sun set, and a few campers stayed on and kept warm around the fire, where they cooked steaks, potatoes and jaffle irons.

07/06/2024

And just a pic of Andy getting one

07/06/2024

2024
June 5th Wednesday: A slow morning after a good night and Ron and Deb are packing to leave tomorrow. The number of camps is always around 15 with people leaving and new vans coming in.

2024
June 6th Thursday; Went fishing this morning with Andy in his fibreglass tinnie with a four stroke Suzuki on the back. It was very stable and got along at a good pace. Took us an hour to get the Kangaroo Island , an island in the middle of the river almost half from here to the gulf. We left at 6:30am and the river was smooth and the air was cold. 16° and although I wore a jumper, I was shivering when we arrived. Bit of a unique situation here where temperatures during the day of 35° and during the night of about 20° are the norm. Night time temperatures of 9° are forecast for the next few nights so I guess it’s time for the doona. We dropped our lines over the side and it wasn’t long before the first Barra was in the boat. The beauty here of having a sandy bottom is that there’s no hurry. We had seven fish by 9am but we only kept a small 62cm for Bobbie and I. The small ones taste the best and are just the right size for the esky and our meal. The wind came up around 10am and raised white caps on the river so we moved around the other side of the island where Bruce uncut and a couple of his mates were fishing. This area wasn’t as productive but enough fish were caught to keep us interested and the wind couldn’t get to us. We had a bight to eat and then moved back to the bottom end of the island as the wind had calmed down. A few more fish were caught and we headed home. I was wondering whether this would be my last trip down the river as we headed past Mountain Creek, Twin Rocks, Mission Island and the Ngukurr boat ramp, all places that I had taken for granted over tte past 15 years. A croc was basking in the water by Andys’ holding pot but he moved away as we approached. The one fish we had was cleaned and we got back to our vans about 3:30pm for a but if a snooze. I was buggered and couldn’t believe how tiring it was to fish most of the day. It was an early night although I noticed that the Crows got beaten by Richmond so I guess that’s really brings their year to an end.

05/06/2024

2024
June 4th Tuesday; An armada of tinnies went down river today. Theres probably no more fish down there than there are up here, but if you fish around Kangaroo Island the bottom is sand with no snags. That means you’ve got more time to play the fish and it’s a lot less stressful and less loss of equipment. Bruce uncut took his boat with Ron, the fish whisperer and Kieth the host of the campsite. They did well after a slow start and caught about 40 Barra of which most were returned to the river. Of the other boats, most were unsuccessful around the island but they caught quite a few in the snags on the way back. That probably neg*tes going all the way down there but, the river is wonderful and catching fish is really a bonus. Back in camp we were presented with a couple of fillets and some wings and later we were given a couple of fish frames for me to cut out the wings. It meant a walk down to the cleaning table, then a walk to the hosts donga to get the pump working but it’s not too onerous. There were a couple, Kevin and Mirell who we had met in Mataranka, at the fish table trying to fill their water tanks. They’re camped about 40 kms further down and come up occasionally to do a dump run and get water. I suggested they use a tap in camp because the pressure is far greater. Tomorrow is state of origin so I spent sometime moving our TV outside. A couple of years ago I managed to change the polarity of the power plug causing the TV to die. The mother board was replaced under warranty but it was a pain to get it all done. The warranty has now expired so I was a bit concerned that I didn’t make the same mistake again. After a double and triple check that all was in order and with some trepidation I plugged it in, and all was good, what a relief. The circle was lively with everyone talking about their day on the river, the ones that got away and the gear lost, but they all had a good time. Bruce uncut was a no show, I think he just went straight to bed. It’s a big day if your health is a bit dodgy. Later we were treated to dinner with Ron and his wife Deb which included gramma pie and Icecream which I had bought in, and had spent some time ensuring it didn’t melt, which is no mean feat out here. The pie was delicious with a taste like apple, not like pumpkin.

03/06/2024

2024
JUNE 3rd Monday; A new week and last night got down to 15°. They’re forecasting 11° overnight later this week, it’ll be colder than home. I went over to the Cenotaph this morning and had a bit of a look around. No flags flying and the place is looking a bit dejected. Its construction began about 2007 and over the years it has evolved with the addition of various pieces of war memorabilia from tte Army. Air Force and Navy and it includes a facsimile of a rifle and slouch hat made by one of the rangers. All the material was obtained from the dump and the slouch g*t was made from an old gas bottle. The Anzac Day service held here is supported by all the services and a turn out of over 100 people is usual. The services are somber and the commemorations run by Big Bruce earlier on and Barry Bus more recently were extremely moving. Neither of those guys will ever come up here again but the work they put in, together with all the other helpers will never be forgotten. This service has such a standing that on most Anzac Days, the RAAF would arrange a fly over. If you’re up this way it’s an event you shouldn’t miss. Had a lot at the circle tonight and Wendy’s cockatoo gave a demonstration of how to drink beer with no hands. Back at the caravan Bobbie cooked chicken curry for dinner and it was scrumptious.

03/06/2024

2024
June 2nd Sunday; Glorious day and a bit cooler this morning after a night when the temperature probably didn’t get below 20°. I put the genny on to do some washing and recharge batteries which were down to 56% after watching TV last night. The batteries were fully charged when we stopped washing about 12:30. Met a guy at the circle that was involved raising the cannons of the Batavia wreck on the Abrolhos Islands off WA. The shipwreck of the Batavia has always interested me and the museum in Freo is terrific. He also did a couple of Sydney Hobarts and he’s 83, what an interesting guy. Dinner was chicken and rice with fancy herbs (but not like Kentucky fu**ed Duckey) and it was pretty good. Bobbie’s a great cook and I guess my appetite compliments it. We watched TV again and at about 9:15 we heard a car being driven around but we couldn’t see any lights. It hit the fence around the snake pit and I found Bruce uncut driving, and he said he was lost. Now Bruce had a stroke 18 months ago, and driving an old Toyota, which only works in first gear, at night with no lights working on the way home from dinner with a couple of mates across the way, was probably pushing his abilities. It’s the same Toyota he uses to move the fuel drums and there were a couple on the back but they didn’t move. Anyway I got him to back up to the road and off he went. No breathalysers here so no idea if he was over the limit. This is a great place.

02/06/2024

2024
JUNE 1st Saturday; Slow morning. Bobbie used the washing machine for about three hours yesterday and the batteries got down to only 50% so I’m hoping the sun will get them charged today. The whisperer came past and offered us a fish he had caught which was injured during the catching and couldn’t be returned. I went over to the cleaning table, carried out the pump starting procedure, and filleted the 88cm. Bobbie walked a lap of the camp site this morning, and she’s pretty chuffed that it wasn’t too hard. Around midday the wind came up and it’s blowing gusts of 35 knots, raising the dust and causing issues for skiers campers. Fortunately we’re protected to a large degree by the “snake pit” as it is called by some of the campers. It’s a fenced area in the middle of camp that has been left to nature and the trees and grass in that area stop a lot of the dust getting to us. The batteries were 81% when I turned the genny off before circle. Had a lot of people at the circle tonight and then we went back to camp and cooked Barra for dinner. Not the best fish in the sea, or river, as the case may be, but fresh wild caught Barra, that only recently was in the gulf, is pretty good.

01/06/2024

2024
MAY 30th Thursday; Big game tonight, Port playing Carlton. I’ll need to get the sat dish setup. Well it was easier said than done. I couldn’t get the signal until I changed the LNB (little k**b that receives the signal) and then I used the guy next doors signal finder. Moved the fridges under the shade cloth read my book and had a nap until the circle at 5pm

2024
MAY 31sr Friday: Went out on the river today with the fish whisperer. The river is beautiful although tts snags have by changed quite a bit after the heavy wet. Tried a few spots past the Hodgson and the skipper caught a couple. He kept the 58 for smoking and released the 62. Down the Hodgson is a newly fallen tree that almost blocks the river. A couple hadn’t caught any on one side so we went around the other into the leaves. The whisperer tossed in his line and caught a 70 which he released. Another cast and he brought up a 59 which we kept for Bobbie and I. While he was dealing with that fish he suggested I try the same spot. I did but no fish and then he dropped his line in next to mine and immediately brought up a 70. I accused him of putting lipstick n his bait to make them more appealing. Back down to tie up where the Roper and Hodgson meet. I finally got a 78 and was quite relieved. Friday nights are a get together for the camp so we needed to get back to light the fire. Down the river to Catalina Straight where, during the war they had a base for these flying boats, and gun placements on the surrounding hills. Past the Young Australian, or the boiler and engine block resting near an island where the paddle steamer tug sank in 1872. The telegraph line was being built through the centre and Roper Bar was a main depot. Materials were brought up the eastern coast from Adelaide around Cape York through the gulf and up the Roper. I guest the states didn’t cooperate too well then, but what’s new. Anyway this steamer was heading toward the coast at night in an uncharted river, and it ran aground. Some say the captain was in his cabin a bit under the weather. I understand that the Barra like to hang around there, but I’ve never caught any, although that doesn’t mean much. The pressure switch on the pump, supplying water to the cleaning table, won’t turn on when the pressure drops, so you need to turn on a tap at the table, go up to the caretakers donga a couple of hundred yards away and turn on the pump, and then go back to the cleaning table to clean your fish. When you turn the tap off the pump also stops. I’m sure this system was designed by some bureaucrat in Darwin and I guess they can’t work out why some people don’t turn the water on. Anyway we cleaned our two keepers and back to camp for lunch. Around 1pm we cut some wood and lit the fire for this evening and then a rest. About thirty people came to the circle where there was good old music playing and people cooked their potatoes, steak or jaffle irons and talked about all and sundry. The fish whisperer cooked a cherry ripe damper, which was made by his wife, for all and as usual it was a winner. He’s very versatile. He even disposed of the snake seeking warmth around the camp oven, although it’s still about 25° at that time. So tomorrow’s a test day, it’s all a bit much.

Rob's Caravanning Tips

13/07/2024

09/07/2024

08/06/2024

07/06/2024

07/06/2024

05/06/2024

03/06/2024

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