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.

We are now almost half way thru our time away and I did a ’12 week’ summary

of where our money has gone last night.

For those planning similar trips this may interest you. For the rest of

you… as you were…

So far we have spent a total of $8749.00 or an average of $729.00 / week. If

we add in our mobile phone bills then it comes to more like $760.00, so my

initial budget figure of $800.00/wk was pretty accurate.

What has been interesting is how the money has been distributed. Our main

items are:

Food: $157.00/wk (Budget $200.00) We are pretty careful to buy smart in

towns and to ‘eat in’ as much as we can. I think that’s a pretty fair

figure. If we added wine then it would go up by about another $13.00, but we

budgeted wine under miscellaneous as its easier to hide there…

Fuel: $212.00/week (Budget $200.00) This is encouraging as the most

expensive stretches are now over. The days of paying $1.00/litre for LPG are

gone and even though 70c isn’t cheap it is a 30% saving.

Accommodation: $125/week (Budget $200.00) This is where we have saved heaps

as we have been fortunate enough to stay with friends and relatives as well

as doing our fair share of free or ‘independent’ / cheap camping. The next

stretch also looks pretty good as we have friends and family all the way

thru and that will be nice.

Miscellaneous: $219.00/wk (Budget $200.00) This includes doing fun stuff,

eating out, buying parts for the camper, books and basically anything that

doesn’t come into the first 3! We have spent very little on eating out and

we tend not to spend money on tours and things like that. We simply don’t

have the $$ these things require.

With 14 weeks to go I think we can do the home straight on another $8K

making a total of nearly $17K for the 6 months.

That is cheap living and I doubt we could live as cheap at home, but now we

will be trying to. It has really impressed on us how simple life can be if

we choose it to be so. Admittedly the variety of things to do decreases

markedly once you hit suburbia, but keeping on eye on costs has been a

valuable part of the journey.

We met a couple recently who have been traveling on the pension – $500.00/wk

and doing it ok. If you are prepared to live cheap and do some research on

the free / cheap campsites then it is very possible to have an inexpensive

time away.

I think most people see 6 months of travel as unattainable because ‘it costs

too much’, however reality would show that it can be done very cheaply and

still enjoyed thoroughly. The challenge is to find a job where you can be

given the flexibility and then to save $20K to make it happen.

Its far from impossible.

As an aside we will be taking a ‘mid trip’ break in 2 weeks time and staying

in a flash Gold coast apartment for 7 nights. I have been scrooging around

on eBay the the last few weeks putting in low bids on these apartments in

the hope of getting lucky. Last week I managed to win 7 nights for $700.00.

I imagine it’ll be a nice change, especially as the weather is getting

colder and colder…

If any folks planning a similar trip would like a copy of my excel

spreadsheet that I have been using for record keeping then let me know and

I’ll send it thru to you.

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…

11.7.2009

Just a tip for you…

If you decide to go camping and take a generator, then make sure it is one

of the late model ones that tick over quietly.

We are sitting here on a beautiful night in St Helen’s Beach along with a

whole bunch of people listening to one inconsiderate moron running his

jackhammer like generator oblivious to the fact that everyone wants to

strangle him.

Don’t do it…

(As I finish writing this post he has finally shut it down and the cheering

and applause of the entire campsite is a fair indication of how people have

been feeling.)

13.7.2009

I have suffered a little from boredom over the last week or two as I alluded

to in my other post ‘Wearying’, and have been chewing on how to overcome it.

I began to ponder starting a little business enterprise while on the road. I

realize this isn’t what everyone would do with their holiday, but I do like

to experiment…

Given that good coffee is rare in these types of places (and good coffee is

what we do well), I figured I might set up a coffee stall for an hour or two

each day for the dual purpose of helping people connect and maybe even

making a few extra bucks.

I pondered it for a while (probably a good 4 or 5 hours in all…)and

decided there was nothing to lose except maybe a little pride (if no one

turned up) and yesterday gave it a whirl. I considered asking the camp

managers for permission but quickly decided that it might be best to fly

under the radar. It’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission, so I

decided to set up quietly in the picnic area and allow people to give a $2

donation if they wanted to – technically not a business, but a community

service…

A quick wander around the campground was the advertising and then I waited

to see what developed.

We finished up with 7 or 8 people who joined us at 3.00 and sat around till

5.30 starting with coffee and finishing with other kinds of drinks. On the

community building side it was a real win but obviously ‘day 1’ is not the

time to assess any business potential!

It has struck me that if I could get 80 customers a day then we would easily

cover our daily living expenses but the challenge is ‘getting known’ in a

transient market when we are also transients. There are some ideas

percolating for how we could make this a winner.

Anyway it’s a new adventure and we’ll see what develops…

13.7.2009

When we arrived here in Seaforth I picked up a few brochures from the shop

just to see what was happening around the place.

One of the best presented and most appealing was for The Old Station House –

advertising Devonshire teas and (more interestingly) wood fired pizzas at

Sunday lunchtime.

So we decided to take a drive out that way on Sunday to check out the rest

of this area and to enjoy some good food in what looked to be a pretty

special place.

The rest of this area is beautiful – Ball Bay, Smalley Beach (great secluded

campsite) and Cape Hillsborough were all worth the short drive and we

arrived back at the lunch venue ready to complete an enjoyable morning out

with some great food.

Sadly it was one of those places that exuded an unhappy vibe right from the

get go. The first waitress we bumped into (literally almost) told us that

‘you have to go around the back to order’ or if I interpreted her tone

correctly ‘you are in my way – get over there!’

So we wandered around the back and stood at the counter. I had checked out

the pizzas on the way in and was rather disappointed. The opportunity to

have some great gourmet pizzas was sitting in front of these folks but it

seems that their imagination stretched about as far as ham, tomato and

cheese. The menu certainly didn’t offer any hope that other toppings were

available. I hate bad pizza with a passion so I chose not to be disappointed

in that way.

So we decided on our ‘meals’ (3 cheesecakes and a Devonshire tea…) and

waited in line. As we waited we were privy to the conversations in the

kitchen and behind the counter and we came to realize that this was not a

happy place. It’d be safe to say that no one smiled the whole time we were

there and that customers were made to feel like an imposition. The staff

were clearly not happy with one another and you felt like you had walked in

on a family argument. It made you want to quietly creep away and come back

when everyone was in a better mood…

We waited 30 minutes for a relatively simple order and after 3 false starts

where various waitresses attempted to deliver other items to our table

(someone needs to work out their ordering system) the food finally arrived.

To be fair this waitress did apologise for it taking a little long.

Thankfully the food was great. The cheesecake was top notch and the scones –

tiny as they were also were enjoyable with some great home made raspberry

jam. Sadly the cream was the frothy kind out of a can, which is never as

nice as real cream. We didn’t risk coffee, but the tea was very good.

However the vibe was such that we finished our food and promptly got out of

there to escape the tension. The Old Station House is proof that good

advertising gets people in the door – but a reminder that bad service means

people will never return no matter how good your brochures are or how good

your food is.

11.7.2009

It’s been interesting observing how we have felt at different points in the

journey over the last 2 1/2 months. There’s no question we have had a

fantastic time and really enjoyed the journey but the last week could be

described by both of us as ‘a bit over it’. To those who are slogging away

in a hard job each day that might sound bizarre – that you could be on

holidays with 3 1/2 months to go and be a bit tired of it.

We are a little puzzled by it, and it was only when we both verbalized it to

one another that we realized we were feeling similar things.

I’ve been pondering why it is that we are feeling this way and I’m guessing

it’s a few factors.

– When we started everything was new and it was a huge challenge to figure

out how to do camping well. I think we have got it pretty well sorted now

and the ‘learning curve’ has plateaued. Now it’s a bit more routine and hum

drum. Not bad – just a little less interesting. Been there done that…

– Then there’s the absence of good friends. Both of us have at times longed

to just sit down with good friends and enjoy an evening of conversation and

laughter, but everyone we meet on the road is a ‘first time’ acquaintance

and we find ourselves going thru the same routine Q & A each time we bump

into people. This is all well and good, but there are times when I have

avoided people because I just can’t be bothered answering the same questions

over and over. It’s been good to get on the phone to friends occasionally

but it is still different.

– The colder weather has changed the vibe a little also. As much as I love

cooler weather I think the optimal temperature for camping is around the 32

mark. It’s warm enough to go swimming, not chilly at nights and in the

morning, but not so hot you feel stifled. We are currently having 23 – 25

degree days and swimming has dropped off the radar. I miss lazing around the

beach and have been tempted to pass up driving home across the Nullabor and

simply turn around and head back to NT and northern WA! Far north Queensland

is definitely cooler than northern WA and as nice as it is we have noticed

that change in climate.

– I am also someone who has a strong sense of accomplishment and I like to

be doing things and achieving things. That is not really the purpose of a

holiday… I definitely get the whole thing about resting well, but there

have been days when I have been genuinely bored and in need of something

more to do. Usually its been when we have stopped at a caravan park for a

while and haven’t got heaps to do in the town – and when the book I am

reading is a bit crap. (ie Mercy by Jodi Picoult)

I tend to think this feeling will pass, but if it doesn’t we won’t be

changing anything. I did contemplate coming home sooner and taking another 3

months next year over winter, but it’s just not that easy…

It has surprised me that we might get actually tired of the travelling life,

and I imagine some of my friends will be shaking their heads in disbelief,

but there you go – that’s been my experience of things…

Before we left the toss up was between a porta potti or the coffee gear.

The coffee gear won – no regrets… It has been great to have good coffee, but of course good coffee makes you want to wee…

As the colder weather sets in the toilet seems further and further away especially for the girls who can’t just find a secluded spot quite so easily as Sam and I. I was out walking on Friday night when I saw an ad for chemical toilet on one of the local Mission Beach notice boards.

It was brand new – never used – purchased for $180 and selling for $80.00. I consulted the females and they voted in favour, so after a little bit of haggling we got it for $60.00 and everyone is now a very

happy camper.

I was a little wary of having a toilet inside the camper especially seeing as it is right next to my bed, but it has been odourless so far (and there are far worse smells to contend with in our camper anyway!)

So now the night-time wee no longer involves walking out into the cold – in fact I could almost get it in without leaving the bed…

Danelle trying to figure out how to make it work…

We left Paluma and began heading north unsure of where we would get to. We stopped at Cardwell for lunch and a coffee, as well as a cold shower in the public toilets. Sam and I managed a shower, but the girls had no pressure so they missed out. Smelly girls…

We drove on and decided to check out Bingal Bay just 8km north of Mission Beach. It was in the Camps 4 book as a hot spot so we thought we’d try it. We only got as far as the end of town in Mission Beach before I saw the council run caravan park and dropped Danelle off to check out the prices.

At $18.00/night for a powered site right in the shade next to the beach we were stoked. You can’t book at this place so its simply a matter of getting lucky and rolling up at the right time. Today was our lucky day as a large shady site with power had just become available and we managed to snag it.

So we have been hanging around this beautiful spot for a few days just enjoying the beach and the laid back vibe. We originally booked for 2 nights but have added another 2. The water is warm and the beach itself looks like something out of a travel brochure. Its been really nice.

We went up to Bingal Bay for a look and it is a beautiful spot too. The difference is that there are only a handful of campsites with no power and no hot water for the same price – so staying here was a no brainer.

Tomorrow we will move on… somewhere…

We can’t decide whether to head north to Cairns, Port Douglas etc or to head south to see friends. Gavin and Helen are in the Sunshine Coast and if we were to move fast enough we might catch them. The attraction of the north is the warm weather while the detractor is that it is highly commercialised. The big detractor for going south is that we lose the last little bit of warmth and will hit rain… rain…

We haven’t seen rain for sooooo long and we don’t miss it.

Anyway that’s where we are today.