Month: August 2021

Leaving Cairns Northbound – Mount Molloy

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This morning we head out of the Big4 caravan park which has been great but we prefer to be in farms and remote stays.  Today we will do just that as we head north on our way to Cooktown Far North Queensland.  

First we head to a farm stay called Birds On Barron in Biboorha where we meet back up with our bus mates.  We will stay here for a couple of nights as we need to make solid plans for the next few weeks.  The property is huge with lots of wildlife roaming around there is also an Emu which thinks it’s a horse.  It also has a stream running through it to cool off in.  The farm is just 7k from Mareeba so is an easy drive should we need anything and just as well.  Whilst we were walking with Max he had a run then yelped then couldn’t walk on one of his back legs.  Kaz called a couple of local Vets in Mareeba and we took him in to the one with the earliest appointment.  In the consultation it was suggested that we should x-ray his leg to make sure there was no break.  She also said that he had inflammation in the lower part of the leg.  We left him there and headed to The Coffee Works in Mareeba to treat ourselves to a great coffee with a bite to eat whilst we wait on the completion of the X-ray. 


So back to the vet and $350.00 for the x-ray and a total Bill of $450.00 later he has no break instead he has severe arthritis in the knuckle joints.  We have to give him oral injections now and apparently his arthritis will only worsen as he ages.

Later both groups take some time to organise the gear for Cape York as we will leave the caravan and bus then continue with both Land Cruisers.  We will have quite a bit more room as Max will be going in to kennels in Cooktown till we make our way up then down.  We can’t risk him being taken by a crocodile due to his love of water.  The O’Neills with do the same with little Meeko their terrier.

Next morning having spent a couple of nights here it’s time to leave.  We head out and on the way drop our cash for the stay in the honesty box then hit the road for the short drive via Mount Malloy to Mary Creek Camp Grounds which is another huge farm property backing on to a lovely stream again.  We both arrive without drama then get set up on a level site among the trees.  The place is not too busy but it is so big it would take a lot to make so.  The owner meets us and we pay him the $20.00 per night due.  We reckon we will stay another night as we are making good time now although Cooktown will be a bit of a longer drive.

We spend the day reading, planning and relaxing before we suffer the onslaught of corrugations whilst in the Cape.  There is also a little stream which allows us to cool of as the temperature rises to around 30 degrees as the sun gets higher.

Later it’s over to the bus where Richo has a new satellite dish for the big tv and tonight is Friday night footy night as Geelong takes on Port Adelaide in the finals series.  Although a good game if you are an Adelaide fan but since me and Kaz are Geelong supporters it was not great.  It was as always magic to sit out in the warm night before retiring to bed after another amazing day on the road.

Cairns Then On To Biboohra, Queensland

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So up really early this morning and arrive at Bob Janes, Cairns to have the stock Land Cruiser tyres replaced by BF Goodrich KAo2 all terrains.  These will be better for the rough roads as we drive in to Cape York.  With this done it was then off to Pacific Toyota for the service to be done.  I managed to drop it off early and get a courtesy drive back to the park where Kaz and Max were waiting on me having stalked me online as I travelled.  

After a quick bite to eat we walked over to the pool and got straight in.  The outside temperature is around 30 degrees so perfect for a dip.  There are also two slides which we had a go at before getting in to the hot spa for some rejuvenating.


In what seemed a very short time I was picked up by Toyota where I returned to collect and pay for the service.  Good thing is the car was given a clean Bill of health including brakes which have had a hard time with the van attached.  

Having again returned to the camp we headed for the bar where every day there is a happy hour between 4pm and 5pm.  There are also a wide range of bar snacks including small plates to graze on.  We enjoyed a couple of drinks then headed back to the van to eat.  I should say the site we are on is about 30 steps from the bar.

We then sat outside to tune in to the latest Survivor Australia episode before enjoying a rare early night.

After a long night where Max was up and down drinking water due to it being warm then understandably needing to go out, it was good to see morning arrive.

Today we don’t mess about enjoy some breakfast with sourdough rolls from the local baker.  Washed down with tea and coffee.  It was then off to to the pool for a nice swim, slide and spa before we headed in to Cairns.  

Due to tomorrow being one of the last days we will be in a place this size with all the amenities you would expect we thought it wise to get in to the big supermarkets to stock up on supplies of mostly pasta’s, rice and an assortment of tins.  We also grabbed 3 x 10 litres of water for the trip which we will add to the 15 litre container we already have.

Tomorrow we will hook up leave camp to go back up and over Kuranda, in and through Mareeba to meet back up with our bus mates at Biboohra.  We will then work out a semi concrete plan together as we motor on with our journey to the top of Cape York.

Our Wee Journey – More North Queensland

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Today we took the shortish drive in to the town of Atherton.  We went there just to grab some supplies and have a look around.  This didn’t take too long as we found there was not much there to interest us.  On the way there however we did spot a strawberry farm and as we returned made a b-line for it and we both grabbed an ice cream each which were delicious.  While out and about we drove on to the little town of Yungaburra to fuel up and were really surprised by the place.  It had a fantastic original hotel which looks as if it was new.  It also had a bucks do going on and outside was pretty noisy as the revellers partied whilst boarding their bus to the next watering hole.  The town also had a Platypus viewing bridge over the river and as usual we never seen even one of them.  The town also has a board walk in to a Forrest and in there is an amazing curtain Fig tree.  This thing is huge and very very old, it was well worth the walk.

Next up we went to the Innot hot springs.  These are free although you could book in to a fancy spa type place if wanted.  We didn’t bother and instead headed in to the free part.  When they say “Hot Springs” they are not kidding.  It would be quite easy to scold yourself just walking in.  Luckily for us there were several people warning us of the correct way to get in to avoid the boiling parts.  Having navigated to a safe spot we dropped in to the warm part to enjoy a bit of r and r as if we needed it.  There was a story where a mother had walked to the springs then proceeded to drop her child in without feeling the heat first and so the poor little one had their feet scolded, yep, you can’t fix stupid.

We then visited a few of the famous waterfalls around the area.  Each one outdoing the other in its own particular way.  One of them we visited a guy had crashed his drone in to and it sat on a big rock with your man trying to work out a way to rescue it.

Sad to say we had to leave Bonadio Farm as we need to make tracks to get up to Cooktown and Cape York b4 school holiday madness takes over.

So Sunday morning just before ten we headed out having said “see you later” to our bus mates who will stay on for a few more days.

Saturday night we had watched an epic game of AFL Geelong v Melbourne with a last quarter collapse by Geelong Cats who had the game wrapped up or it looked that way till the last 30 seconds when they snatched a loss from the jaws of victory.

An interesting drive today as we will drive to Cairns via Kuranda, a place we visited 27 years ago whilst on holiday when we still resided in Scotland.

We did quite a bit of touring up there including the Kuranda train, the sky rail and not to forget my mental fart where I talked myself in to doing a bungee jump.

This time however we will just take the extremely winding road south in to Cairns.  The driving is semi scary as we can feel the electronic brakes of the caravan pinching on and off.  This of course is a good thing as we don’t want it pushing the car down or off the hill as we descend.  

The road is only about 15k and we complete it effortlessly and make our way through Cairns to the Big4 Cairns Coconut resort.  

We are staying here primarily to have the Land Cruiser serviced and add new all terrain BFG KAo2 tyres fitted.  Driving in you can see immediately that the place is very good and looks spotlessly clean.  We booked online and have a grass and slab combination in a good spot away from the screaming pillows which there are two of.

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Our Wee Journey – North Queensland

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Having settled in at Forrest Beach for the maximum allowed of two nights we spend those two nights enjoying beach walks although Kaz did do some trash collection whilst walking along which was carried to the nearest bin.

Forrest Beach, Qld

Our bus mates had family visiting them who were returning form Cape York.  Both couples had taken four wheel drives complete with caravans which were covered in the capes red dust.  They provided us with lots of information for when we get up to the cape ourselves although we won’t be taking our caravan and the bus will not be going up either.

Cape Dusted

We did travel in to the town of Ingham to refill one of our gas bottles and delver our Weber BBQ complete with gas bottle to a woman who bought it via Marketplace.  We have been on the road for some time now and have used the thing twice.  We decided we could not only use the room but also lose a touch more weight.  There wasn’t anything more to the town which much like a lot of the area survives on the local sugar cane industry.

Already it was another moving day.  This time we are on our way north again with a two hour drive to the town of Mena Creek.  Here we stayed close to the famous Paronella Castle at the RV Park.  We were supposed to go down to the bottom of the camp but there had been quite a lot of rain in the weeks before and we were allowed to park on a spot that isn’t a site usually which suited us as the bottom end looked pretty muddy.  Next door is also the local hotel where we later had some food which wasn’t that great but hunger makes good kitchen.

Our booking for the RV Park included two visits to Paronella Park, once during daylight that included a tour guide.  The second visit was made as darkness arrived and the place is lit up and we had a talk by the current owner followed by music and an amazing light show projected on to the main castle structure.  The place is certainly worth a visit if you find yourself in the area.  The story of the original person who constructed the place Jose Paronella, originally from Spain is quite a story.

Paronella Park, Qld

Later we made it back to camp sat outside and watch the latest Survivor episode on tv.

We left the following morning headed north as usual to the Bonadio RV park in the Atherton Tablelands.  This great spot sits within a working farm and we will be here for four days.  On the way we stop in the town of Tully which is 140k south of Cairns.  It has the dubious claim to fame as the wettest place in Australia and is a cane sugar and banana growing area.  We have a walk around then spot a cafe which allows dogs and we grab some lunch before getting back on the road to Bonadio.  

The Tiny Town Of Tully

This is one of the few occasions where we arrive first, get set up and greet the O’Neills as they arrive a short time later.  

We continually benefit from travelling with our bus mates as we tend to be given a huge area, this time is no different and we get a nice green grass area at the top of the site.  The farm has lots of people staying but in no way does it feel cramped or squashed in like a few of the big chains feel.  

In front is a massive paddock filled with dried corn which later was harvested and the smell this produced was amazing.


We also score great neighbours and as usual the bus provides great entertainment and is a bit of a magnet for people taking photos whilst asking the usual questions.  The bus is always our hub as Richo lights a fire and the big screen tv is great for the footy.  We also project the footy via Kayo when it’s not on poverty tv.

Within the farm is a river walk where apparently you can see Platypus but we never seen any when we went down a couple of times.  There is a great spot though for feeding pademelons.  We were advised to keep our banana skins as these little guys who look like a rat crossed with a kangaroo love them, there is also a container full of nuts which they grab and chew.  There are also heaps of bush chickens (scrub Turkeys) kicking about.  We will do a lot more touring in this area in the next few days so stay tuned for more.


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Queensland Update.

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Having spent an amazing time in Halliday Bay Resort, Queensland playing golf, swimming in the ocean, sunning ourselves, walking Max along the beach and meeting some great people who we will stay in touch with, it was time to move on.  We will definitely return to this spot for an extended stay.

Good bye to Halliday Bay

We hooked up and got on the highway heading north as usual on our way to the little town of Proserpine which is close to the renowned town of Airlie Beach.  This drive was one of our shorter trips.  We left pretty early as the free camp in Proserpine is quite a small one that can fill up by early afternoon.  Arriving sharp we have no issues finding a spot in the camp helped by several people giving us the tip that they would be leaving soon, leaving us their space.

We also had our bus mates arriving soon so we asked a couple to take their time leaving to allow the BIG bus to grab the spot which worked perfectly.  

We then took a drive to Airlie Beach which was nice enough but it felt a bit of a yacht club kind of town.  There was however lot’s of back packer accomodation complimented by heaps of bars.  The walk round the lagoon in town was ok but lot’s of “prohibited signs” no doing this or that and we had to follow dog paws painted on the ground so didn’t get to see quite a bit of it.  We considered taking a trip to one of the many islands but decided against it as it would be just a bit rich for us.  

After deciding we had enough it was back to Proserpine. We also managed to get our second COVID injection done here having failed in Mackay.

Later that night we headed in to the prince of Wales Hotel which we read about online.   Lot’s of folks had recommended this place as the place in town for food.

We got in early having booked a table so as not to miss out.  The menu had all our personal favourites.  We started with oysters which were huge, fresh and just a treat.  These were followed up by duck pancakes then it was time for the mains.  I had to have the beef Wellington, Kaz ordered the rack of lamb.  Richo the mixed grill and Rachael the rib eye steak.  If you are ever in this town then I would recommend you get in to this place.  

We had intended to stay for a couple of nights here but decided we would move.  Early  next morning we hooked up heading for the town of Bowen where we stayed in a cheap place just outside of town.  This was free camping so using our own onboard water and solar power.  There was not much to the place although it did have a small camp kitchen a swimming pool but both were pretty old we didn’t use either.We took a drive in to town then toured a few of the many beaches around all had warnings against swimming due to crocodiles and singers.  The towns claim to fame is the very long boardwalk and local hotel both which featured in the movie Australia. We also visited the local fish shop where grabbed some beautiful prawns.

Having purchased a second solar panel for the caravan from Jayco, our bus mates offered to fit it for us which is amazing.  Richo got on to the job and expertly installed the new panel linking them together and we now have 9 Amps pumping in.  We also have our solar blanket which we can add but don’t see us needing it much.

We had a couple of incidents in camp.  Ones was a couple of the local kids in 4×4 utes driving along the bush tracks around.  What they didn’t know was that these tracks are owned by the guy who owns the park.  So as they tried to leave the owner stopped them providing them with an education in driving then demonstrated how they would be dealt with if they return. 

The second was incident was a little less funny as the couple who were camping close to us had a couple kids one seemed to be sick with lots of coughing and crying.  This continued in to and carried on in to the night.  Sadly in the early morning with the poor kid still hysterically crying the parents were busy having a full on domestic argument until the mother got in their car and drove off.  As we left we could only hope they got it together for the poor kids.

A bit of a bonus was that we were up early and having filled our water tanks we hit the road with a three hour drive through Townsville to Balgal Beach and the Mystic Sands Golf and Country Club.   Having called we were told that they don’t take bookings as they have so much room.  

After a three and a half hour drive we arrived to find the place pretty tight with minimal spaces available.  To give them their due some people were parking in a very selfish way taking up more room then needed and not thinking of anyone else.

After our bus mates arrived we spent a stupid amount of time trying to make the place suit us but in the end we decided to admit defeat and motor on to Forrest Beach RV site another 50k north where it seems we arrived at a good time with several good areas to set up.  

There’s not much here site wise but it’s a great base to tour around.  It also has an amazing wild beach across the way which ensures we fall asleep to the sound of the ocean.

Queensland, Australia Travels

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Having moved on from Yeppoon where we stayed longer than expected we arrived at the tiny town of Flaggy Rock where we will stay at the community centre park.  The drive took us longer than expected, something we try to avoid but gets us further north.  The place itself doesn’t have much but is really spacious with an excellent cafe close by.  The caretaker is a real friendly man and provides us a huge area to park which was very welcomed after our long day.

With COVID now in Queensland and lockdowns happening we stay here for only two days.  This has the bonus of getting away from the COVID in the south east whilst also moving us north.

Small Pool
Never ending sand
Big Toad in Sarina

Having left sharp on the second day our next stop is the beautiful Halliday Bay Resort.  Again a bit of a drive for us as on the way we drop in to the city of Mackay to stock up on supplies, having first tried in the tiny town of Sarina without success.

When we do arrive we are not disappointed as the park although smallish includes a bar/restaurant, ocean frontage complete with stinger nets and amazingly a golf course.  Included in our stay is a round of golf everyday day we are here.

We waste no time in getting set up then make a dash over to the beach where the water temperature is perfect and there are no huge rough currents to fight off, not to mention sharks and of course crocodiles.

We had intended to stay here for a couple of days but increased it immediately to seven nights at $20 a night which is a bargain although we are free camping.  So using our own power and water.  This being Wednesday we have booked a table for the restaurant on Friday night, that will be a small treat as we haven’t been doing much of that due to us being FTT’s.

After the seven nights we will move north as usual, this time to the fantastic Airlie Beach area which promises to be another amazing stop to explore.

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Beach Drive on Sandy Point, Queensland.

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A few pic’s of another beautiful beach drive at Byfield National Parks, Sandy Point. Dropped tyre pressures to about 20 psi. With new powerful spotlights fitted. We need to get moving further north to make Cape York before heading south again then west. Follow us at our Facebook Group – our wee journey, just send a request to join as the group is private.