13.7.2009

Since leaving Mission Beach we have been ‘free camping’ down the Bruce

Highway in Queensland and have found some nice spots to stop.

The first night was spent at a place called Rollingstone, just 5km from

Balgal Beach and about 60ks out of Townsville. This was a big shady campsite

just off the main highway, but also far enough away not to be noisy. There

were toilets and cold showers as well as a river and plenty of space to

spread out.

It was our first night of noticeable rain – and also one of the nights when

I chose not to put up the flies… oops… At 11.30 it started and it lasted

around an hour – enough to make everything wet and soggy but not enough to

cause the camper roof to drip on us… thankfully… We woke to soggy ground

and a few wet clothes and shoes, but it could have been a heap worse!

The next day we went thru Townsville and Ayr and finished up at a little

spot called Home Hill. We pulled in for lunch and Ellie complained of a sore

tummy so we took her to the hospital where a RN saw her and suggested we

came back at 3.00pm to see a Doc. We booked the appointment, but of course

by 3 oclock she was as good as gold…

However we stopped at the Home Hill ‘Comfort Stop’ for the night. This was a

different kind of ‘campspot’ in that it was a street – a street that ran

parallel with the main drag and the railway. If you can imagine being

sandwiched between the busiest street in town and the railway line on the

other side then you could imagine it was quite noisy.

With trains pumping their horns every 60 mins or so it was a case of sleep –

wake – sleep – wake and so on…

Noise aside it was a decent spot. There was an ablution area with hot

showers and barbecues and power – a well set up little area and something

that would add to the economy of a town where plenty of businesses were

showing for sale signs.

Then we headed further south and finished up at St Helen’s beach campground.

It shows up in the Camps 4 book as costing $$, but it turns out no one has

been collecting for the last few years so it is actually a freebie. It is a

nice spot about 15km off the main drag with large campgrounds, big shady

trees and ablutions with cold showers.

The midges were biting and we were forced indoors but they disappeared with

the colder evening. Although we were right on the beach it was actually a

mangrove swampy type of area so it didn’t have the vibe you hope a beach

might have.

Free camping works fine so long as you can get a shower of some kind

somewhere! It’s when we don’t get a shower and start to feel grungy that we

know its time to check into a caravan park and ‘re-charge’. The only other

drawback is the absence of coffee.

Tonight (Saturday) we are at Seaforth, a whole 14km from St Helens… We

didn’t get far at all today, but when we arrived we saw a campsite right on

the beach with huge sites and at $17.00/night it seems pretty good value. H

We managed to find a powerpoint at the picnic area and have been giving the

coffee machine a bit of work. A few grey nomads have noticed and commented

lustfully, so I am thinking we might crank out a few coffees for the locals

tomorrow afternoon.

I reckon BYO milk, cup and sugar and then a gold coin donation ought to be

fair enough so we’ll see how it goes…