ROCKY POINT RETREAT, YEPPOON & NEBO

I left Hervey Bay early afternoon Friday 12th June. As I packed up I noticed a drip coming from under the van at the rear of the hot water service. Hmmm....hope it's nothing ominous. The hot water had been working fine on electricity at Marie and Ross's  so fingers crossed.

With many of the free camps in Queensland still apparently closed due to Covid I pre-booked one night on a private property on Baffle Creek between Bundaberg and Agnes Water. It was a three hour trip north. I stopped for a break at Childers, a gorgeous little town very popular with tourists. Classified a National Trust town the main street is full of historical colonial buildings and is lined with big shady Leopard Trees. It's very pretty with lots of coffee shops and the Palace Backpackers Memorial. The Palace hotel, which had been converted to a hostel, was deliberately set fire to in 2000 resulting in 15 deaths. The perpetrator of the crime is still in prison.

Baffle Creek is a bit out of the way and the minor roads between Childers and my destination, Rocky Point Retreat, provided a really interesting drive. It's always nice to get off the highways, particularly the Bruce! It was late afternoon by the time I arrived to the open camp area by the river. There were tinnies everywhere so clearly this spot is a fisherman's haven. Each site was huge and had its own fire pit. I was impressed from the get go.  On checking in l asked if I could extend my stay to three nights. I would have to move camps but that was ok. The sites were large and completely flat so staying hitched would not be a problem. As I pulled into my spot a bloke from the van next door came over. Steve was very friendly and invited me to join him at Ian's campfire a few sites along.

After walking James I headed over to a group of two women and four men sitting around a beautiful big fire. Ian was cooking a huge mud crab he'd caught that day. It looked delicious. We all introduced ourselves. It was a really friendly group and as usual James made sure to mingle getting pats and plenty of attention from all.

Saturday morning I shifted to my new site, this time disconnecting the van. With rain forecast l figured l would go for a drive and explore the area. Around midday, in drizzle, we jumped in the Jeep and headed off. The owner of the place, Darren, had told me about a pub up the road that also had a camp area, so I figured I would go check it out.

The Rosedale pub was a 15 km drive up the road. It was fantastic to be able to order a drink and not have to eat, a Covid restriction that had just been lifted in Queensland. James and I sat out on the balcony, making sure to maintain social distancing, and enjoyed the countryside view.

Back at camp I tried to fire up the hot water service but despite several attempts I found no joy. Bugger...looks like the drip I had discovered at Hervey Bay could be ominous. I jumped onto YouTube and watched a couple of videos on trouble shooting why my Suburban HWS would not fire. It stepped me through pulling the unit apart, which I did, but was not able to rectify the problem. As it turned out Ian, one of my new campfire mates, happened to be a plumber and gas fitter. He had a look at it and found one of the prongs on the igniter was broken. That could be easily replaced, but that was not the worst of it. There was a leak. That was a major issue. If the storage tank had rusted out I would need a complete new unit...at a cost of $2K plus....shit, shit, shit! I made a few phone calls and it seemed getting a replacement would not be a simple matter. Maybe I would just have to make do  with cold showers. Ugh!

I left Rocky Point Retreat Monday morning bound for Yeppoon 300 km further north on Queensland's coast. With extended family living there it was a place I had spent a lot of time at and a truly beautiful part of Oz. It is situated on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef and looks out over Keppel Island, among others. I booked in at Coolwaters, my usual park of choice, opting for an unpowered site on the large grassland area out the back and abutting the lake. I was surprised to see how few travelers were there. Normally at this time of year it would be packed. The Covid border closures have had a devastating impact on the tourist industry.

The first thing I did was get on the phone to local caravan repairers. They were all really busy due to a hail storm a couple of months back that had damaged heaps of vans. I struck it lucky however when Moti (from The Full Moti Mobile Caravan Repairs), took pity on my plight and slotted me into his busy schedule. He was amazing. An old, gruff bloke of European origin, he arrived with his mate Michael and set to work. He was so bloody good! He replaced the igniter on the spot and, to my great relief, advised that the leak was from a fitting, not the tank itself. He also found the computer board had gotten wet from the leak and had burnt out. He came back the next day and replaced both and voila...it worked! You beauty. And he only charged $250. Bargain!

Unfortunately the weather at Yeppoon was awful. It blew an absolute gale. The temperatures were only low 20's so it was not pleasant and certainly not nice on the beach. I stayed pretty much in the van aside from an overdue trip to the hairdresser and a lovely night of fish and chips with Nat, Scott and Halle. It was great to catch up and have some company. Friday morning I packed up, and with more strong winds plus rain forecast, I decided on a destination further north but inland, on the western side of the Great Dividing Range.

I had read some reviews in WikiCamps about a little town called Nebo, inland from Mackay. It was a hefty 450 km north but given the weather I might as well be in the car. The town offered a caravan park that cost only $10 per night including power and water. More importantly there was a great pub just a short walk up the road. It was quite a long day on the road and we arrived around 4. I was pretty happy with my reversing in place at the somewhat shabby little park. Even the bloke in the caravan opposite came over and congratulated me. As it turned out I didn't pay anything to stay at Nebo. There was no office, no-one came and collected my money and there wasn't any sort of honesty box.

NEBO STAY A WHILE CARAVAN PARK gets a 2 from me. Yes it cheap/free, it has power, water and amenities, it is a short stroll to the pub and is quiet. BUT it's a dump!

I stayed attached, hooked up to power and water, and James and I hightailed it for the pub.

BACK ON THE ROAD - CANUNGRA, BLI BLI & HERVEY BAY

As of midday Monday June 1st restrictions on travel in Queensland were lifted. Bloody beauty! That meant I could get back to my travels. Given I had been planning to leave on June 12th , the forecast date for intrastate movement to be allowed, I needed a few days to get ready to go.

Monday 1st. I had my fortnightly plasma donation taking place and I was still doing a few things to the van that I needed to complete. The stove lid had a nasty burn mark on it that I wanted to fix. My initial plan was to cover it with a sheet of black gloss Melamine or the like, but after speaking to a couple of cabinet makers it appeared I would need to purchase a whole sheet for one small piece....way too expensive. One of the blokes I spoke to did offer me a sheet of thin stainless steel for $20, which he cut to size. Excellent, that might just work. I would need to sand back the lid to get rid of the burn mark. I started to do so before discovering that the burn was actually on layer of plastic sheeting that was glued to the lid. I was able to slowly peel the entire layer off and after cleaning off the sticky residue with solvent I ended up with a gleaming black lid that looked like new....yay! Way better than the stainless steel sheet. I'm guessing it is now, however, far more fragile so will need to be careful with how I use the surface.

Another problem I had was at the front of the van. The vinyl behind the draw bar and gas bottles had started to pull away from where it tucked under the metal cladding above it. Shelley had a can of contact adhesive she used in her saddlery business and with her expertise we were able to glue the whole think back in place...woohoo!

By Wednesday I had cleaned the solar panels, skylight hatches, fly screens, windows and awning, which got rolled away. Tyre pressures on the van were checked and I used my pump to inflate all four to 45psi. They all needed a fair bit of air! It was a beautiful afternoon so Shell and I hit the golf course on Tamborine Mountain. It was Shelley's very first nine holes of golf. Armed with her new clubs she hit a pretty bloody good ball! Then Thursday afternoon we spent an hour or so at The Hills driving range...I think she's getting hooked.

I decided Friday would be D-Day. With lots of freecamp areas still closed I booked a site on YouCamp for three nights. Thursday I readied the car for travel - fuel fill, tyre pressures, oil check, tow mirrors attached and rear of the Jeep packed. That night Shelley, Adam, Lachy and myself shared a farewell dinner at the local Canungra Pub, making sure to arrive exactly at 7pm, as booked, and leave at 8pm as required, so the third 20 person dinner sitting could come inside the huge dining room. Covid - ugh!

Friday morning I said my goodbyes to Lachlan as he headed off to school. That was sad. I will miss him. With a fairly short run north to get to Bli Bli Valley Camp, I took my time getting ready - housework, water fill, van hook up and final pack up. By mid morning I was ready to go. It felt weird. It was like starting all over again and I must admit to feeling somewhat apprehensive. 11 weeks and 3 days of enjoying the relative luxury of living at Shell and Adam's (power, water, security, company etc) might have made me a bit soft. Did I remember how to tow? I did multiple walk rounds of the car/van checking connections, lights, brakes etc before bidding my final farewells. I hugged Shelley for ages. Thanks to my beautiful family for an amazing time in Covid-19 lockdown.

Once out on the road it wasn't long before I started to feel comfortable back behind the wheel. In perfect weather I made my way north, bypassing Brisbane on the M1 towards the Sunshine Coast. By early afternoon I had arrived at my destination, Bli Bli Valley Camp, some 190 km from Canungra.

Bli Bli is a rural town situated between Nambour which is located at the foot of the Blackall Range and beachside Maroochydore. The Maroochydore River and it's Petrie Creek tributary run through a subtropical wetland valley that used to be a sugar cane area. It's now open, lush, green farm land. Bli Bli Valley Camp is in the middle of the valley and has five huge, flat sites situated right on the edge of Petrie Creek as well as a large camping area adjacent. I had a spot right on the creek. It was so expansive I could have shared it with another 3 or 4 vans. The property owner, Darren, had sent me a message telling me to set up anywhere on the site and he would catch up with me later. It wasn't long before James and I had settled in. It was lovely!

Over the next few days I explored the area, doing a spot of grocery shopping, grabbing a coffee or two and checking out the local golf courses. One day we did a drive up through the picturesque Blackall Range to Baroon Pocket Dam. it was quite pretty. Most of the time though I was quite happy to chill beside the fire, throw a line in the creek and catch up with the other campers. Darren dropped in a few times for a chat. What a top bloke! I felt really comfortable on his farm.

After a leisurely pack up Monday we left Bli Bli and headed north once again on the Bruce Highway to our next destination, Harvey Bay. My friends, Marie and Ross, have a lovely home on a huge block of land very close to the beach at Point Vernon. I've camped on their front lawn on a few occasions. We arrived mid afternoon, backed the van in place, hooked up to water and power and set up. I discovered whilst connecting to power that one of my leads (the one that had been 'adapted' to convert from 10 amp to 15 amp) had a melted plug. It must have happened at Shelley's. Luckily Ross had a spare lead, so I borrowed that. I would need one of my own however, so put it on my 'to do' list before leaving.

It had been almost 12 months since our last visit, but James settled in immediately, remembering his mate Milo and the space. He was one happy puppy. The weather was not great, but each day we managed a walk or two with the fur babies. The beach that looks across to Fraser Island is a couple of hundred meters from Ross and Marie's and the dogs just love it there. It has fascinating rock formations and the views out over the turquoise bay to the island are stunning.

Ross, Marie and I took it in turns to cook each night and we shared yummy meals, nice wine and
good conversation. Our last night we went out to Chinese. It's something of a novelty to eat out now that Coronavirus restrictions are being lifted. The meal was delicious! One rainy afternoon we watched the movie The Invisible Man. If you ever get the chance to watch  it...don't bother! And I did manage, with Ross's guidance, to make up a new power lead to plug from the normal household 10 amp power point to the caravan's 15 amp lead. Not quite legal but I was rather impressed with myself!

Harvey Bay is a great spot and normally at this time of year is absolutely chockers with southern tourists. It's impossible to get a spot in a caravan park if you don't book well ahead. But sadly, Covid-19 has really stuffed up the local tourism industry at this time. The beachfront caravan parks were empty. I really hope that state borders are opened up soon so that lives and incomes can get back on track. Bloody Coronavirus!

CANUNGRA - MAY - A SLOW EMERGENCE FROM CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS

Another month has passed in this new world of Covid-19. I'm still living in my van at my daughter's property in SE Qld some 10 weeks since my hasty arrival to beat border closures back in March. We are all well and life is pretty bloody good!

The past month has seen the easing of some restrictions in all states, albeit in varied ways between states and territories. Whilst social distancing, frequent hand sanitation and self-isolation/Covid testing if unwell are a requirement nationally, in Queensland the kids are all back at school, 10 people can dine in at a restaurant, most shops are open and we are all free to be out and about within 150 km of home base. We still can't go off caravanning, however. At least, not just yet in this neck of the woods.

The weather has cooled significantly through May. Once the sun starts to go down it's definitely time for jeans and long sleeves, though the days tend to sit in the mid 20's and are delightful. My nightly fires are now a necessity beyond that of my mental well-being alone. The daily routine is as follows:  heater on, onesie on, kettle on between 6 and 7AM; coffee, computer, ABC TV news and knitting in bed till 9ish; housework and exercise till lunchtime; then out and about for golf, shopping, blood bank etc; pick up Lachy from school at 2.40, to the shops for food for him then home by 3.30; change into warm clothes, split the wood and make the fire; 5ish, pour a wine and sit in front of the fire before retreating to the van for dinner around 7.

Picking Lachy up each day is a highlight. With adolescence looming and the desire to grunt rather than converse being something of a norm, the relief of escaping from school combined with the anticipation of food leads to animated conversation. It's a joy to my ears to listen to his excited  chatter.

Golf is yet another joy. Most days I either go to the driving range at Jimboomba Hills golf course or get nine holes in at Tamborine Mountain course on the way to getting Lachlan. I treated myself to a lesson a couple of weeks back and it has made a huge difference to how cleanly I'm hitting the ball. Shelley and Lachy came to the range with me one Sunday prompting Shell to buy herself a set of second-hand clubs on Gumtree. That was a great day's outing. We went over to the Gold Coast to pick up the clubs then checked out a couple of the big golf retail outlets buying a new bag, putter and balls. From there we drove up to Clancy's Irish Pub on Tamborine Mountain (where we had pre-booked to meet the 10 person seating rule) and enjoyed a delicious sit-down restaurant meal and wine. It was excellent!

One stunning day Shell took me for a drive to a place called Lost World, a short drive south of Beaudesert. The surrounding mountains and geographic formations look like something out of prehistoric times. Really stunning scenery. We stopped to walk the dogs at a camping spot by a river called Darlington Park. It was closed off to campers due to restrictions, but open for day trippers. Definitely one to keep in mind when I hit the road.

Saturday just gone we enjoyed a family outing to the quaint little town of Boonah for lunch then up into the Koreelah National Park where we stopped to enjoy the amazing views at The Head. We ended up doing a 6 hour loop that took us via the beautiful Queen Mary Falls to Killarney on the south-western side of the range. The quickest way home meant we had to go across the border into NSW. With border restrictions that meant we could get into NSW but would be stopped at the checkpoint crossing back into Qld. Shell phoned a friend who just happened to be a cop and he talked her through doing an online application to get border passes downloaded to her phone. That did the trick and the drive home past stunning Mount Lindsay where our permits were checked by police as we returned to Queensland was very scenic.

Throughout May, with much help from Adam, I did some work on the van. The ceiling lights, one of which had actually fallen out and the other two of which were not working, needed replacing. I picked up 3 much more modern and very pretty new ones from Jayco. Adam put them in and they look amazing!

My bathroom/toilet cubicle had been giving me the shits for ages as the molded plastic had gone from white to a disgusting dirty brownish color, one of the mirror doors to the cabinet had smashed long ago so was missing and the other door was looking manky and rusty. One day when I was out walking I got talking to a neighbour who was a painter. I quizzed him about painting over the surface and he gave me details of the products that would do the job. A trip to Bunnings provided me with all the stuff I would need, and I set about the week-long task of prepping, priming and double spraying. It was messy to say the least as it was oil-based paint and airborne paint specs got everywhere...ugh! I eventually got it all done and with Adam's help one again, also installed two new mirror doors that I had made at a local glazier's. I was very happy with the end result!

MAY 2020 COVID-19 STATISTICS & SITUATION

1/3/20

Global Infections:  86,604              Australian Infections:  25

Global Deaths:   2977                  Australian Deaths:   0   

1/4/20

Global Infections:  871,371            Australian Infections:  4763

Global Deaths:   42,107         Australian Deaths:  20

1/5/20

Global Infections:  3,322,966            Australian Infections:  6766

Global Deaths:  234,408         Australian Deaths:  93

1/6/20

Global Infections:  6,259,224            Australian Infections:  7,195

Global Deaths:  373,691         Australian Deaths:  103

I think we are very lucky here in Australia. So many countries in the world have been hit incredibly hard by Covid-19, the USA alone approaching two million cases and over 100,000 deaths. Europe, UK and Brazil have also been hammered. The official global death toll and number of cases is most certainly well below the actual.

As restrictions lift in Australia there is a growing sense of relief but there is also growing concern over our future. Relations with China have deteriorated, the USA is a mess and our confidence in their role as the world super power is crumbling. The stability of our economy, as well as that of every other country is a an unknown, and while our internal and external borders remain closed and restrictions on numbers of people who can gather is limited, it's difficult to see how life will ever return to normal.