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Published: October 25th 2008
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Camped at Inskip
Full canvas out as rain threatened Oct 22
Our stay at Clarissa’s at Tamborine was extended to the Saturday as the onboard compressor we have decided not to work on the morning we intended to leave.
After a trip into ARB to get that sorted (It turned out to be a $50 power inverter we bought to power the laptop that was blowing fuses) we finally had all our loose ends tidied up and there was nothing to stop us. So Sat 11th Oct we left Brisbane and headed for Inskip. Pleasantly surprised to see very few people camping there we had the pick of the spots and managed to find a beachside plot out of sight of all the other campers. It was the big cars first real test off road and it pulled the trailer across the sand like it was blacktop. It certainly was a lot easier than the last time we attempted to tow the trailer with the old pajero!
Inskip was just the tonic we needed to begin thinking about our on the road routine. The weather was nice, although it was a bit windy from the South East which ruled out any surf. I did a little fishing (and caught a
couple little whiting - they went back in for next year) but no catches to write home about. We also did some exploring of the surrounding areas, south down to Double Island point was well worth the drive, I was excited to see what was supposed to be the ‘longest surf break in Australia’. The point was protected from the prevailing SE wind but there was hardly and swell and no surf. There were quite a few people fishing and relaxing in the lee of the wind but it was a National Parks area so we didn’t linger.
We trekked North a little and checked out Tin Can Bay, Tinanbar and Poona, all sleepy little towns on mangrove lined tidal flats. We extended our stay at Inskip another couple of nights and then on the Wednesday prepared for an early morning departure headed for Agnes Waters. This involved packing away all our annexe canvas - which turned out to be a blessing because about 4am we were awoken by a scared little black dog jumping on the bed and massive thunderclaps overhead. The storm persisted into the morning giving us the opportunity of our first wet packdown! What fun =)
Leisha track
on the way to Double Island point Heading to Agnes waters we drove through the same storm that awoke us the night before, to arrive in Agnes Waters skies sunny and warm conditions. We managed to set up just in time as the storm caught us up for the third time in that day and dumped 60mm of rain in about 45 mins! The ground became a river but the canvas held up and nothing important got wet.
Agnes is a rather touristy destination, with backpackers everywhere and lots of new units being developed. Most of them are unoccupied and every 2nd one for sale, it looked a little like a ghost town in the new areas. Info from some locals was that a lot of the developments have gone bust leaving a lot of places half built.
As a poke in the eye with the sharp end of a tent pole would see me on antibiotics and not allowed in the water for a week surfing was ruled out, much to my dismay as Agnes is the last known place to receive rideable swell on the Qld coast heading north. The day after we arrived we just relaxed and dried out. Over the next couple
of days we explored the national parks to the north and the south, with the track heading north the most interesting through the Eurimbilla National Park towards a town called Turkey Creek. This track turned out to be full of washouts, deep ruts and lots of stinky black mud pits! Having not used a 4wd much in mud the drive was a lot of fun, with Kym helping me pick the right lines through the wallows, checking water depths and opening & closing stock gates (yes there is cattle in the National Park - apparently they aren’t domestic animals!!).
The last night in Agnes we shared a meal with a Perth couple who had just travelled across the top and were heading south, we had a few shandy’s and picked up some good spots to stay as they were travelling with a dog too - valuable information!
From Agnes our next stop was (by recommendation) the causeway caravan park a few km’s south of Yepoon, to get there we had to go through Rockhampton which has a large roundabout near its entrance with a big statue of a cow proclaiming “Welcome to Rockhampton”. 4 cars back from the roundabout was
where we stayed for 2 hours as a truck carrying cattle had overturned on the roundabout and the operation to clear the wreck and reclaim the cattle involved many police, firemen, farmers on horseback and cattledogs. Quite ironic really.
Oct 25
The Causeway caravan park was grubby and small but located right next to large a tidal lake. We took our little boat for a run and tried again to catch some fish with no joy, but it was nice to spend a few hours on the water. We have modified a beach umbrella to give the girls some shade while on the boat which worked a treat as the sun was out in force! We only stayed there for 2 nights before heading to Roslynn bay, on recommendation by my ex-work mate Daniel and picked up some local prawns, squid and some frozen fish before dropping in to Woody’s supermarket in Yepoon for a coffee with Daniels parents in law. They were lovely people and told us that Keppel Island resort had gone bust as well as a lot of developers in Yepoon going the same way. Jim owns the supermarket there and it was interesting to hear him
speak on the whims and gameplay of competing with the likes of Coles and Woollies in a small town.
We stocked up on supplies in Yepoon, fuelled up and washed the caked mud of the underside of the car before heading north to a free camp spot called Carmila, about 90 mins south of Mackay. We scored a spot away from everyone just metres from the beach. The weather fined up and it is here that we feel we are beginning to truly unwind and slow down. Last night I tried my hand catching dinner again, with high tide coinciding with dusk and very little moon. 3 hours later still no fish! Oh well, lucky we have a freezer full of goodies =) Kym cooked a magnificent creamy dish with the prawns and squid we got from Rosslyn bay which took my mind of my fishing prowess...
From here we will head to Mackay to collect our first mail drop, and then on to Hinchinbrook to see our friend Tony there.
Hope you’re all well and happy, till next update take care.
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Stew
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