While we loved Seaforth, in hindsight we may have stayed there a little long as our journey between here and the Sunshine Coast is now cut considerably shorter.

We have resigned ourselves to the fact that there is much we will miss and that is simply unavoidable… All the more reason to do it again…

The last 3 nights have all been one night stands.

Firstly Yeppoon: While I was facebooking I happened to notice that my friend Jarrod McKenna was around the Rockhampton area trespassing on military bases and getting arrested along with several others. Jarrod’s a good mate and Simon Moyle I have met a couple of times, so I called to see if we could catch up on the way thru. As it turned out we finished up camping in their backyard, spending the evening with these guys and hearing about their activities. It was totally refreshing to have some more substantial conversation. Bonhoeffer’s ethics and the like haven’t been part of too many fireside chats on the road! I crashed early but felt refreshed from simply being with some like minded people and from being able to kick back in that environment. Thanks Jarrod & Simon!

We loved the look and feel of Yeppoon but one night wasn’t enough to see much of it.

Onto Calliope : It was a cool night in Yeppoon and we put the heater on for the first time in our trip this morning. I even donned a pair of shoes in preference to my thongs & socks… Thoughts of Broome filled my mind as we rugged up and imagined how it will be further south. I am seriously tempted to turn the whole show around and head back the way we came and get to NT as quickly as possible…

We drove to Calliope, a free riverside camp where there were plenty of people already parked up and picked a spot close to the river. We didn’t bother with a shower in the morning and regretted it. One of our golden rules has been ‘any time you are near a shower – especially a hot one – use it’ because you never know when you will hit one again. We arrived feeling pretty grotty and set up camp. Now instead of seeking shade we are positioning ourselves in direct sunlight! The river is way too cold to swim in and the air temp doesn’t tempt us either.

Ellie and I set off to find wood for the fire – an essential item at these types of spots. The afternoon rolled past with the highlight being another camper putting on a ‘country music festival’ for us. Distorted sound turned what was always going to be difficult into a rather sad event. Still she laboured on for a couple of hours much to the appreciation of some and the distress of others.

The cold came in quickly and we huddled by the fire eating dinner before rolling into bed at 8.00. I tried to read but kept on falling asleep so at 9.00 we called it a day and slept soundly until 7.00am the next day.

To 1770: This morning was the coldest we have had. Yeppoon started us shivering, but Calliope was freezing and with no power to hook into it was simply a case of rugging up and waiting for the sun to shine. By 9.00am it felt like a lovely spring day albeit a tad chilly, but this is a sign of what is to come and I am dreading it…

We headed across to the Calliope colonial fair – a great little historical gig. I found myself a bit weary with it all after about half an hour so I came home to pack up the camper while Danelle and kids checked out the rest of it. On the way home I stopped in at the loo to unload (so to speak) only to discover that after doing the business the place was clean out of dunny roll. Ah… not good… The 1km walk home was less pleasant than the walk to the fair…

The others got back in time to finish off the pack down and we hit the road for 1770. This place got some big raps from a lot of people and was on the must see list before leaving home, so we thought we should at least drop in for a day and check it out.

So we hit the road and 90 minutes later – feeling completely disgusting after not having showered for two days – we rolled into the Captain Cook Caravan Park. The $40.00 we got hit for one night suddenly felt like a barb, after so many cheap or free nights. We have to remind ourselves that this is simply what it costs… We quickly got the camper up and then rolled across to the shower to enjoy a good hose down. What a great feeling to come out clean… This is the one side of free camping that we have found a little tricky. We have one of those solar showers which we used in WA and NT, but the colder weather and the more heavily populated campsites over here have made it a little harder. If it weren’t for the need to wash we could free camp a lot more, but it simply isn’t enjoyable to traipse about with 2 or 3 days of sweat and scum building on your body. A ‘wash’ just isn’t the same as a really good soak.

1770 is a nice spot, but not ‘raveable’. I guess after you’ve seen so much it does tend to blend in. There was the hope of some surf, but sadly it didn’t eventuate. I am getting worried that when we do hit surf it will be covered in ice and I wont be able to get out anyway…

So tomorrow after we use the caravan park showers, we will head down to Tiara for an overnighter (apparently there are also hot showers there) before we lob in on our friends Steve & Felecity on the Sunshine Coast.

The plan for the next few weeks is:

– Steve & Felecity’s on the Sunshine Coast – somewhere between 4-7 days depending on what we find ourselves doing

– Maybe some free camping for a couple of days

– Jason & Willow’s in Murwhillhumbah for 4 days from the 29th

– Gold Coast apartment for 7 nights from the 2nd-9th

From there we will begin heading down the NSW coast and will eventually finish up at Muswellbrook where Danelle’s sister lives. I guess the length of time it takes to get there will be reflective of how much rain we encounter and how much surf we find along the way also.