East-coast to Sydney

9th August to 18th August
The last leg of our epic trip saw us traverse the east coast of Australia southward from Hervey Bay in QLD finally reaching Caringbah almost 5 months after first leaving home. Staying with friends and family on the way south, we enjoyed great days out at Hervey Bay, Broadbeach on the Gold Coast, Sawtell and Coffs Harbour. After months of camping we had to reintroduce ourselves to the luxuries of living in a house, indoor bathrooms and interacting with society.

Gunbarrel highway

 During our time away we covered just over 18,000km and averaged 13L/100km, paying between $1.47L and $2.50L for Diesel. The vast majority of the trip was on gravel roads, thankfully we only managed 2 flat tyres..... both on the camper not the Land Rover D3 which had Cooper ST Max tyres.
The camper trailer was a very comfortable home away from home, and it's kitchen, 2  fridges, outside shower and plenty of storage ensured the trip was easy, and the bed was as comfortable as any 5 star hotel... with real stars every night.

Camper-trailer set up

The camper could be set-up within 15minutes, and that included chairs, tables, ground mat and a drink in our hands. Thank-you automatic set up button! We often had an audience as the hydrolic arm got to work opening the camper out sideways, so that the roof became the hard floor, with canvas above.
The weather throughout the trip was perfect, it wasn't cold at night and the days were shorts and t-shirt weather. We only experienced rain twice, once at Uluru where we saw water cascading down the rock and then at Millstream national park in the dry Pilbera.

Yowie Bay, Caringbah

There are so many memorable experiences... traversing remote roads, camping alone in the outback, seeing the sun set over the ocean in the west, hiking in national parks, swapping stories with like minded travelers and simply enjoying the Australian outback.

Yet when we turned into our drive, came down the inclinator to our home and looked out across the bay we thought, ..... let's holiday at home for a while.

Jane and Kevin

Darwin to Hervey Bay

31st July to 9th August
From Darwin we headed south, and started our journey towards home. We took the Stuart Hwy to Three Ways NT, turned onto the Barkley Hwy to Mount Isa QLD, onto the Lansborough Hwy to Winton and Longreach and then the Capricorn Hwy to Rockhampton, finally reaching Hervey Bay 10 days later. A journey of over 3,000km.

Barkley campsite

Our first night on the road was spent camped behind the roadhouse at Dunmarra, where for less that $20 we had a campsite, with hot showers, plus a beer and glass of wine thrown in. Next night was a free camp along the Barkley where we were back to camping by an abandoned bore.

Bladensburg Shearing shed

Just out of Winton is Bladensburg National Park, where we camped for a few days beside Bough Shed water hole. It was originally a sheep station and many of the shearing sheds and buildings are still standing. Today it's reverted to natural grasses and spinifex, with plenty of bird-life including honey eaters, red winged parrots and Brolga.

Brolga at Bladensburg

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum is built on a jump up just out of Winton, and houses the largest collection of Australian dinosaur bones in the world. Numerous fossil bones have been dug up from the black soil plains of the area including Australia's biggest meat eating dinosaur (Australovenator wintonensis) nicknamed Banjo.

Banjo and Kevin

Longreach is home to the Stockman's Hall of Fame, where we spent a few hours looking at the history of the Australian outback. Before the motor vehicle, transport was slow hard work. Camels teams could  average distances of 1,000km a month, a bullock team 350km and a team of horses about 600km. Getting supplies to the outback was a long slow process.

Our last night on the road before arriving at Hervey Bay was a little town called Duringa, population 200,  about 150km west of Rockhampton. We set up on the town common, and explored the surrounds. The houses were mostly classic old queenslanders, on stilts with wide balconies to catch the breeze.

Packing up the camper-trailer the next morning it was a strange feeling as after almost 5 months living on the road, we'd had our last night in it for a while. It's been such a comfortable and reliable home. From here on it's a quick trip down the east coast, staying with family and friends, to Sydney and home.

Hope you've enjoyed sharing our travels. Jane and Kevin

Darwin

19th July to 30th July
Darwin in 'the dry season' is a fabulous place, it's warm without the summer humidity, and the evenings are pleasantly cool. We were lucky enough to stay with friends who have a glorious apartment overlooking Cullen Bay Marina, and who invited us sailing on their 37ft catamaran, Tiata. What great hosts!

Tiata

Darwin has a history intwined with WW2, and we spent time exploring the East Point military museum complex, and gun emplacements built to protect our northern frontier. Darwin was bombed 64 times during WW2, and the initial raid on 18 February 1942 was by the same Japanese force that bombed Pearl Harbour the previous December.

188 planes flew the initial raid, and dropped more bombs and destroyed more ships than at Pearl Harbour. For the rest of the war the Darwin residents were evacuated to Alice Springs, leaving only military personnel. The old airforce runways can still be seen beside the Stuart Hwy out of town.

Cullen Bay Marina

We toured town, went to the old wharf which had been fully restored, and now has bases for the Navy, boarder protection, customs and commercial vessels.

Stokes Hill wharf, Darwin

We explored the oil tunnels under the city which where hand dug into the sandstone during WW2. The tunnels were meant to store millions of litres of military and shipping oil. Like the gun emplacements they weren't completed before the war had finished, so never saw use.

Another great thing to see is the aircraft museum, you name it they have it, including a B52 bomber which was donated by the USA.

Fogg Dam Croc warning

Fogg Dam is a nature reserve  just out of town. The area is the remnants of a failed rice growing venture, which has made a great wetland for the birds. There's also a couple of salt water crocodiles  that have taken up residence, so consequently no walking the dam wall in case you get eaten.

Mindel beach markets are iconic, so of course we spent a Thursday evening there. Plenty of great Asian food stalls, and jewellery stalls on offer, so everyone was happy.

After our relaxing stay with Lyn & Rudy in the heart of the city, it's time to hit the road again and start heading towards the east coast. Outdoor showers and roadside camping here we come!