Day 105 / 2016 - Brisbane to Mission Beach

Our last few days in Brisbane and just enough time to do a few more activities and attractions before we head off. There was nothing on the job front so there is nothing to hold us here.

The Brisbane Maritime Museum is located in Southbank and its central piece is the Frigate Diamantina the only River Class Frigate preserved in a museum. She was originally commision in 1943 and saw active duty for the last year of the war. Her rear deck was the setting for the final surrender of the Japanese at the end of World War 2. After decommisioning from the RAN in 1959 she was recommisioned as a survey ship untill 1980 where she was paid off. Originally bound for the scrap yard she was handed over to the Queenslan Maritime museum for preservation and now sits in the Southbank dry dock.

Round the World solo sailor Jessica Watson's boat Pink Lady is also housed at the museum. Next to it is a mockup of the boats main cabin where you can experience the confines of her accomodation for her 210 day trip around the world. There are many other exibits there and we were suprised how much time we spent there just looking around. If your personality is to read every scrap of information then I would dare say you could be in there for days.

We took the bus which stops outside the caravan park into town. Generally we prefer to take the train as it avoids the start stop traffic buses usually endure but we were suprised how quickly the bus gets into town. There is a bus stop outside the park where the bus uses the normal road network but once you reach 8 Mile Plains bus station the bus then traverses along specially designed busways which is a completely separate road network from general traffic. You can get off the Bus at specially designated bus stations along the Busway such as at shopping centres. I guess the setup is much like the train but without rails and the bus can use the normal road network when ever it needs to.

After 3 weeks in Brisbane it was time to head off. We packed up the day before hoping it wouldn't rain before we finished. There was a forecast for showers in the middle of the day but fortunately they didn't materialised and everything stayed dry. That evening a couple pulled in the vacant site next to us. Towing a brand spanking new Retreat Spinaker they had just picked it up from the showroom down the road they plan to spend a few days in a park to iron out the bugs. We wanted to stay and chat but though better to leave them to discover the wonder of their new van.

Next morning we took our time to hook up then pulled out onto the main highway and headed north. We planned to stop that night at the low cost camp in Eumundi as the markets were on again the following day. They Highway traffic flowed fairly smoothly all the way to Eumundi. The camp had a small number of vans where we all parked against the tree lined fence as the area was going to be busy with cars for the markets next morning.

While Anne was viewing the Retreat Facebook page she read a comment that someone had just moved into site 18 at Brisbane Gateway Resort and there is a brand spanking new Retreat Spinaker next door. We had a laugh as we had just left site 18 not an hour earlier the Retreats are taking over the world. That night we were treated to a Sausage Sizzle and music played by some of the local musicians.

Market day and after breakfast we watched as all the cars started to come into the carpark area. Filling very quickly it wasn't log before the cars were parking next to us. We mad sure our solar panel and chairs were out the way then walked up to the markets. Strolling around there were lots of items to choose from. Clothes, Art, Food produce, ect... We bought German sausage in a bun and Dutch pancakes for lunch and Anne purchased a hat for Blake. 

Next day we headed off north once again our next planned stop was Gin Gin Showgrounds. We had to make a brief stop in Gympie to pick up a new battery for the caravan. Last night the battery died through the night even though we had spent all day recharging it. Recently the battery's ability to hold a full charge was getting less and less and after some testing we determined it was starting to fail. It wasn't to much of a surprise as it was over 4 years old pretty much at the end of its life.

Picking up our new battery and $365.00 lighter we headed to Gin Gin where we made camp for the night. Originally we were going to use the free camp in Gin Gin but with fitting a new battery I wan't to make sure it was fully charged before we used it. We need power for that so opted for the showgrounds. Anne also caught up on some washing and cooked meals for the next few nights. While rolling out our awning a mini tornado decided to touch down next to us and seem to circle around the van a few times forcing us to hang on untill it passed.

Next day hitting the road again this time we did not know where our next stop will be. We decided for the next few days to just keep driving, stopping when we had enough for the day. Our next destination was Mission Beach as we did not stopped there last year as the weather was to wet and windy. Passing through Rockhampton late in the afternoon we stopped at a small town called Marlbrough. The Puma Petrol station allowed free camping out the back so we found ourselves a spot and setup for the night.

Next morning while packing up to leave a white wicked van came in and stopped for breakfast. We said hello they seemed like a friendly enough couple. When they left for some unexplained reason they decided to do donuts in the middle of the camping area spray us all with dust and stones.

Back on the highway we passed through Mackay only stopping in Proserpine for fuel. The end of that day saw us at the Homehill comfort stop where you parrallel park along a street. They have created a public kitchen area plus a shower toilet block which you can use all for free. There was only a small number of travellers stopping over this evening but durring the peak travel season you could see as many as 30-40 recreational vehicles all lined up for the night.

Next day were were off again this time we were planning to either stop at the towns of Ingham or Tully as both offer free camping sites. Margaret and Malcolm a couple we had met in Tasmania were travelling in the opposite direction to us and somehow we had managed us both be in Ingham on the same day. They had spent the summer months in Northern Queensland and were on their way back south again. We both spent the night at the Brothers sporting club which allow camping on their grounds for a gold coin donation. It was good to catch up and talk to Malcolm and Margaret about past travels over the last year. They had planed to go from Queensland over the top end to WA but had some unexpected car exspense so decided to return home to top their travel fund up before heading off again.

On our second day there a couple from NSW called in for a cuppa and notice that we all had Nissan Patrols towing caravans they stopped for a chat but ended up stopping for the night. We enoyed a lively happy hour talking untill late in the evening. They had not long purchased their brand new Sunderland Patriot and were off on there first big adventure with it. We swap contact details and may see them on the road again.

Next day we said our goodbyes and left Ingham heading for Tully and Mission Beach. Last year it was so wet and windy when we passed through we decided it wasn't worth stopping but this year the weather looked marginally better so decided to give it a try. We booked into the Big 4 at South Mission Beach.

The Big 4 caravan Park is located right on the beach they gave us a map of the park with a list of sites available. A lot of sites are fairly small but a row of sites across the back were large enough for us. Although we didn't have a beach front site you could still see the ocean and Dunk Island from the one we chose. Mission Beach is a group of seaside tourist villages with most of the attractions revolving around the beach and ocean. You can hire a boat or sea kayak and explore the rivers or offshore islands. Mostly we just did long walks along the beach as the weather was not the best. Technically they are still in the wet season and there was plenty of rain still falling.

The caravan park is surrounded by rainforest and is a area where cassowary's live. After cooking toast outside we were siting inside eating breakfast when we heard rustling noises. Stepping outside we were confronted by this imposing cassowary eating what was left of our loaf. The cassowary's are wild and seem to be comfortable around people but I think it would be unwise to try to force it to do something it didn't want to do especially by the size of its beak and talons.