Island Coast

Parting company with Jo and Ted again, we continued southward to Bowling Green Bay National Park. Despite the name and the coastal location, the accessible portion of the park consists of a 17 km hike to Alligator Creek Falls. The middle half of the hike is along an access track under power lines, which is a little disappointing, but the falls are nice. On a sunny day, a dip in the cool rockpools at either end of the hike would be welcome.

The campground is small and nice, but overrun, possibly due to its close proximity to the highway and the warm showers. Many of the campers are on long term stays, and one has made a home of the place. The rather strange booking system used in some Queensland National Parks ensured there was a place for us to pitch the tent. Our campsite was next to a couple we'd met at Lawn Hill a couple of months ago. We enjoyed a heated political discussion with them on our first night there, and then next day they declined to speak with us again. Such closed minds are always a worry.

A stop for lunch near the beach turned into another recovery, dragging a camper 50 metres so the owner could clutch start it on a nearby hill. After a beach camp just south of Home Hill, we walked the beaches and headlands of Cape Edgecumbe, then played hide and seek with the murals in Bowen. The continuing rain tempted us to take an onsite van in South Bowen. It was huge and moderately clean, a chance to stretch out and relax. As we sat about catching up with email and other business tasks, the new Compaq turned up it's heals. Another dead laptop. Argh! The only saving grace is that it is still under warranty, but repairs might have to wait until we reach Sydney.

From there we headed into Proserpine to take care of those jobs on the cruiser that still needed doing after the pitiful service in Cairns. With that out of the way, we headed over to Conway National Park. The Coral Beach hike is another pleasant stroll in the rainforest, with views of the islands of the Whitsunday passage along the way. On a sunny day, they'd be spectacular.

Access to Conway National Park is through Airlie Beach, another of the many coastal towns we'd heard of but not seen. It's as if someone has transplanted a high density suburb onto an otherwise pleasant rainforest lined beach, destroying the lot in the process. It's another Byron Bay. Not quite our style. We took another cheap onsite van on the outskirts, but alas the nice surprise of the last one was not to be repeated.

From there we headed up to Eungella (young-galah) National Park. With the rain still dogging us, we set up camp for a couple of days. Armed with our wet-weather gear, we explored Eungella's rainforest trails. We saw more palms than we'd seen in forests further north. At the platypus viewing platform on Broken River, we actually saw platypus in the early afternoon. Our wildlife experiences didn't end there, with a brush tail possum visiting our camp, a wompoo fruit dove sighting on one hike, and leeches attacking us with a vengeance on another. The rain and mist ensured that there were no views to be seen at any of the lookouts, and the mist made flash photography of the rainforest almost impossible.

After packing a rather soggy camp, we headed out of the park. Clearing skies tempted us back to one of the lookouts, where we could see that we were on a ridge of rainforest above the cane farms of the Pioneer Valley. Finch Hatton Gorge is inside Eungella, but accessed from the Pioneer Valley. There is an excellent hike through the rainforest up the gorge, with waterfalls and cascades all the way up.

Back down to the coast again to spend a couple of nights at Cape Hillsborough National Park. There is a lovely small beachside campground in the National Park, but alas it was full of long term stayers again highlighting the need for better campground management. Instead we stayed at the commercial campground, which is closer to the excellent hiking trails around headland. In the rainforest we spotted the rose crowned fruit dove, while on the lookout hike we had great views of the southernmost Whitsunday Islands.

On the way back out to the highway, we stopped in Seaforth to visit Col and Marge who were staying there a while. After camping the night in an excellent state forest campground near Byfield, we drove the sandy track through Byfield National Park to Stockyard Point. At the transition from bush to coastal heath, there was a magical patch of paperbarks with a thick short understorey of grass trees. It would be easy to spend a few days in one of the campgrounds, but all we managed was a cuppa on the point as we watched the pleasure boats cruising past. A night in Rockhampton gave us time for the usual restocking, and to get the rear wheel carrier rewelded. Alas, the corrugations on the cape had cracked along the edge of our recent repair job. Rockhampton offers a wide range of industry tours, and while tempted, we are now travelling to a schedule.

Heading out on what would be our longest foray inland on this journey south, we stopped a couple of days at Blackdown Tableland National Park. Like Canunda NP earlier this year, the land lacks nutrients so early grazing attempts were intermittent and short lived. A road was cut up to the tableland in the early seventies so it could be logged. The regrowth continues today, with abundant evidence of recent fires. Several different species of wattle were among the wildflowers in bloom during our visit. The campground was large, and the sites well spaced. It is clear that substantial monies have recently been spent on this park.

The park has several different hiking trails. Rainbow Falls was only a trickle, but the icy waterholes below looked inviting. Above the falls, deep circular holes in the sandstone are reminiscent of Barramundi Gorge in Kakadu. The cultural trail near the excellent campground was notable mostly for the admission of how much local aboriginal culture has been lost. A four wheel drive loop track leads to a nice lookout, and provides a look at more of the park.

Continuing west we made our way to Carnarvon Gorge National Park, one of Queensland's most popular parks. The sandstone walls of the gorge stand high over the main trail that criss-crosses the creek. Cycads merge with the wattle in the understorey, while palms compete with eucalypts in the canopy. Trails lead up narrow side gorges to unique ecosystems, unusual rock formations, and interesting aboriginal art. There are also steep climbs up the escarpment for an overview of the area. Jo and Ted caught up with us again at Carnarvon Gorge. The repairs kept them in Townsville for two weeks, and they were now way behind schedule.

In yet another bizarre twist of bureaucracy, the campground at Carnarvon Gorge is only open in school holidays. With no alternative, we were forced into the hugely overpriced Takarakka campground just outside the park. Not only does the campground suffer from all the usual bad design problems, they were also doing hazard reduction burns around the campground. For three days our eyes were watering due to the acrid smoke in the air. It ought to be illegal for them to so deliberately damage the health of their patrons.

This part of the country was at one time heavily infested with prickly pear. Historical displays in nearby towns describe massive, dense thickets that once blighted the landscape. Still today there is lots of pear about, with plenty of large mature stands, even in the national parks.

On the way back out to the coast, we stopped at Kroombit Tops National Park. Much of the accessible part of the mountaintop is forest reserve. In many ways it is very similar to Blackdown Tableland, but it is yet to receive the influx of development money. There are great lookouts, and some excellent bush camps. In addition to the main track in, there is an alternate 4WD track out that leads into the Boyne Valley.

Back on the coast, we stopped at Erimbula National Park, the first of a series of beach camps. The nice, well-spaced campground is immediately behind a very sheltered beach, with views to (the oddly named town of) Seventeen Seventy (think: Captain Cook, again). The park brochures forbid 4WD access to the beach, but that doesn't stop local tourist operators driving their pink army ducks back and forth along the beach incessantly. The noise of these monsters disrupts an otherwise peaceful setting.

After a quick exploration of 1770 and Agnes Waters, we continued south to Deepwater National Park. The heart of the park is 4WD access, with campsites set well back behind the high dunes of the exposed beach. Rocky outcrops break up an otherwise long straight beach. Like several of the beaches we've seen in Queensland, there is a surprising amount of pumice at the high tide mark.

We headed into Bundaberg for the mandatory stop at the rum distillery. Although there is not actually that much to see on the tour, the free samples at the end make it very good value for money. It was disappointing to discover that this Aussie icon is just one more in the litany that have passed into foreign ownership.

Our next beach camp was in Burrum Coast National Park. Poorly signposted roads lead to a confusing network of tracks that cover the dunes behind the beach. The park service needs to curtail visitor driving if the dunes are to survive the continuing onslaught of the sea. Camping is possible almost anywhere, the only challenge is finding a space that offers protection from the onshore breeze. Like many of the beaches in the area, that shelter is provided by stunted casuarinas. By now we are far enough south that the coastline is no longer protected by the Great Barrier Reef, and there is surf on the beach.

Yet further along the coast is the (mainland portion of) Great Sandy National Park. Here we did battle with the worst of the Queensland National Park camping system. The ranger office in the northern section of the park is completely unable to provide any information about camping in the southern section of the park. The only way to make a campsite booking is to ring (or visit) the southern park office, which is unattended most of the time. Add to that the fact that this office administers the utterly asinine Fraser Island permit system, and it's easy to see why there are signs all over the office declaring zero-tolerance for abuse. If they did their jobs properly, they wouldn't need the signs.

Not wanting to drive 30km over a rough dirt road just to find out IF we could camp, we camped instead at Freshwater. The road in is 4WD only through loose sand, and leads to a well set up campground with full facilities. The next day, we drove up the beach past the rusting hull of the Cherry Venture to Double Island Point. Sitting on the headland, we spotted migrating humpback whales and even a large sea turtle. Driving out along Rainbow Beach to the town of Rainbow Beach, we headed into Gympie.

After the usual round of chores, we were restocked and ready to meet up with Fred and Jenny for the barge trip across to Fraser Island. Getting around on Fraser involves a lot of beach driving. The internal roads on the island are all through soft sand, making them a second choice (except at high tide). We spent some time exploring the crystal clear freshwater lakes, and fabulous forests of satinay and hoop pine. Along the east coast, tailor were committing suicide on our fishing lines, while on the west coast flathead and whiting were a little more challenging to land (and the sandflies feasted on us). The dingos for which the island is famous were near constant companions. A pre-dawn trip to the Maheno Wreck provided an excellent sunrise photo opportunity.

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