Novices on the road

mei - december 2022
  • Jacqui Zuidema
  • Jamie Zuidema
Outback and east coast Australia Meer informatie
  • Jacqui Zuidema
  • Jamie Zuidema

Lijst met landen

  • Australië Australië
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Camper
  • 27,3kafgelegde kilometers
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  • Vlucht4.627kilometer
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  • 204dagen
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  • Walkabout hotel

    28 juni 2022, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We’ve been in Cloncurry since 26/6 and will leave tomorrow. An unexpected longer stay. In this busy town. We had someone look at our electrics in the caravan and they have done a temporary fix so that we can operate the awning and step. Not the worst things to be without in the van though. Jamie also had to put in some work hours, so I have enjoyed relaxing in Cloncurry. The caravan park is very busy but pretty enough. Today we drove to the Walkabout pub for lunch. The McKinlay pub permanently changed its name after it was used in Crocodile Dundee. We enjoyed a beer and burger whilst reading all the fun stuff inside.
    We were going to head to Adele’s Grove/Lawn Hill National Park but they are expecting quiet a lot of rain on Thursday. Thought we might put it off a few days and head up to Karumba first then go back to Lawn Hill as 20mls of rain, a wet camp ground and a little caravan doesn’t really hold a lot of appeal😂……and Jamie needs reception for a zoom on Thursday.
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  • Reaching the ocean

    29 juni 2022, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Arrived at Karumba, on the Gulf of Carpentaria this afternoon. It’s lovely to see the sea again. I definitely have an affinity with the ocean. Whilst the inland is vast and beautiful, the ocean is where I belong! We are at Karumba point where the river flows out to the gulf. It’s a bit different to Victoria though. Lots of Mangroves - the same, but only a little sand with rocks and dirt. Oh…. and there are also salt water crocs ! 🐊We watched the sunset from the tavern but it was a little cloudier than I would have liked. But still so relaxing to watch the interplay between the setting sun and the water. Great fisherman’s basket for dinner and a short stroll back to the caravan park to walk off the beers and the basket🤣……along the road not the mangrove/crocodile beach.
    Plenty of Brolgas along the way from Normanton to Karumba. It got to the stage that instead of getting excited I would just casually remark “there’s more Brolga’s.” Jamie is always so thrilled with bird talk!!!!
    It also appears that I like finding tyre swings!😀
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  • A trying day on the road

    1 juli 2022, Australië ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    We visited the Barra centre before leaving Karumba. It turns out this was very interesting. They have released thousands of baby Barra back into the creeks and lakes of the Gulf region. It is both a hatchery and an information centre.
    The day turned a bit ugly and we unexpectedly encountered very wet roads. This resulted in a very slow trip, very dirty car and some unplugged and damaged plugs from the car to the caravan. We are now on our third Andersen plug for the trip. We arrived at Burketown slightly before 3pm and after noticing the damaged plugs at our toilet stop, the first one where I encountered a road in the toilet bowl!🤣, we headed immediately to the mechanics. He was able to fix it but it wasn’t until after 5 that we had it all fixed. By then we had realised there was nowhere to stay in Burketown. We thought we’d head to the roadhouse about 20 mins down the road. Unfortunately a fairly matter of fact woman met us and told us her camp area was closed due to mud and we’d be best advised not to pull off the road as we would likely get bogged. So, breaking our pledge not to travel in the darkness we very slowly headed off to Gregory. The Darkness crept in quickly and we soon found ourselves on high alert with many cattle and Roos on or crossing the road. We were stared down by many a bull as we dared to interrupt their rest.
    Finally made it to Gregory roadhouse around 7:40. We joined about 20 other vans on the gravel by the pub, headed into the pub/roadhouse for a Parma and then went to bed.
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  • Gregory downs & Lawn Hill N.P.

    2 juli 2022, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We awoke to a clearer sky but heard that roads were still wet. So we decided on a day trip to Lawn Hill National Park/ Boodjamulla. We moved the van to a recognised free camp area on higher ground and headed into the park after chatting to a lady who had been staying at Gregory for a week and , as you do, she had been chatting to many who came out of Lawn Hill. The road was Wet and slippery which resulted in an even more filthy car☹️ But we made it in unscathed. Adele’s grove was very boggy so we just walked though it but decided it would be worth coming back to for a few days camping. we then spent the remainder of the day taking some walks around Lawn Hill. After a bit of a walk along a track that wasn’t really a track we then walked to Indarri falls and Duwardarri lookout. The middle Gorge is spectacular from above. Canoeing went on our list of things to do when we returned the next day. Well Jamie canoed from the back of the boat while I took photos from the front.
    The road was much dryer on the way out. When we arrived back in Gregory with a filthy car we found that we were the go to for information from all incoming travellers. We had such experience!!!😂
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  • Adels Grove

    3 juli 2022, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Beautiful, peaceful, relaxing. Sitting in our camp chairs facing Lawn Hill creek watching the birds, fish, and even a turtle sighting, is as soul refreshing as anything. Figs falling into the creek as birds eat them and fish swim up to finish the job. Jamie and I are sitting here at the end of a relaxing day with our G&T 🍹not even needing to reflect on life but just being present in the moment listening to the birds, water, wind and some chatter around us. We have met the neighbours for the evening, had our cold shower and enjoyed the early evening before cooking dinner. Add a campfire to the mix, a full tummy after a warm lamb and couscous salad, a 🍷 and ……… perfect! 😊 🔥
    As the weather has been unusually cool and wet there are very few campers around. Probably a real disappointment to the management as it’s school holiday time and probably one of the peek periods here- but a bonus for us!
    bird sightings around the area have included - sacred kingfisher, emus, Jabiru’s, Brolgas, sulphur crested and red tailed black cockatoos, shrike thrush, Willy wag tails and some others I’m yet to identify. I’m enjoying increasing my bird knowledge, using binoculars, camera, a bird book and an app.
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  • Leichhardt Lagoon

    6 juli 2022, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Along the way from Gregory to Normanton we stopped for lunch at the Burke and Wills roadhouse. A very busy place and of interest to me as I am reading an autobiography about the first owner of this roadhouse.
    Rather than staying in Normanton we just camped for 2 nights at Leichhardt Lagoon. This camping ground was part of a station and had a caretaker from Geelong there for the winter. This was a beautiful and peaceful spot with bird life galore, sunsets and bathrooms!
    Managed to see a couple of freshwater crocs and large salty at the Weir about 800 metres from the lagoon.
    It was exciting to see the difference in sunsets over the 2 nights. Day 1 was very yellow and orange but day 2 has a decided purple tinge to the sunset. Jamie drove 20 minutes into Normanton the second day for reception and a couple of hours of some much needed work calls. I on the other hand rested and bird watched. Read and chatted!
    There was also an outback car wash station so Jamie took the opportunity to give the car a basic clean. We met a lovely couple who we chatted to regularly throughout the stay. They were very informative about places to visit and about the car. They had a Ranger as well and he had been a mechanic prior to retirement. He let us know that our car actually has a 240v plug in the back to charge laptops, cameras and other electrical devices. Who knew!.
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  • Croydon

    7 juli 2022, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    A day of travelling on the Savannah Way from Near Normanton to Georgetown. Our first stop which turned out to be quite a long stop was in Croydon an old Gold mining town. The towns people and shire have done an amazing job or restoring some of the buildings, finding machinery and relics from the era and sharing their knowledge and stories of the past. We then had lunch and a beer in one of the oldest pubs in Qld before hitting the road again. We stopped at a couple of sites along the way but ended in Georgetown for the night. The main caravan park was full and we ended up staying in a basically closed park for the night. The owners were upgrading the septic facilities as it currently wasn’t coping! The park was ok but there was a decided smell! 👃Meer informatie

  • Ravenshoe

    9 juli 2022, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Once we set up camp at the tall timber roadhouse we set out to explore more waterfalls. Mill stream falls, Tully Gorge
    Koombaloomba Dam and Little Millstream falls. We are also lucky enough to have a beautiful creek running through the campsite with resident platypus. Who new I could sit still for so long, just watching and waiting for the little guy to put in his appearances. Very tricky to photograph as I was so busy watching him and then when I remembered he was just ducking back down. Early one morning, as I was forced out of the warm caravan so Jamie could work, I spotted some horses grazing across the other side of the creek. After a walk around, I discovered that the local pony club is across the creek. They have beautiful surrounds and are very well set up.
    We went on a trip to Herbeton and explores their Pioneer village. It was very well set up with stories of where the buildings were from and they all housed huge collections of things from tractors, to cameras, old grocery item packages, police uniforms and so it goes on. On the way back we stopped at mount Hypipamee crater. I was expecting a wide somewhat shallow hole but instead their was this really deep hole with water. It was created from some kind of gas explosion.
    Our neighbours for a few days were lovely. We had a Sunday lamb roast with Carol, Brian, Abbey and their dogs Audrey and Bella.
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  • Undara/ Mount Surprise

    16 juli 2022, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Mount surprise. We stayed the night at Bedrock caravan park which was a lovely grassed and well planted park in amongst the rock and savannah lands with great facilities. We booked a tour of Undara lava caves though them which proved to be very interesting and informative. Not just on the volcanos and geology of the area but a little of the history and farming of the Mount Surprise area.
    Undara lava tubes were amazing. The formation of these tubes were created when the volcano erupted and the lava flowed down the mountain. Over time the outer layers cooled and hardened, leaving the lava to flow internally.
    Where areas of the tubes had collapsed the ecosystem was very different to the surrounding plains.
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  • Cobbold Gorge

    18 juli 2022, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Cobbold Gorge was spectacular. We spent 2 nights in the camping area and did their guided tour. We also walked 2 of their trails and had drinks in the bar area overlooking their dam and pool. It was a beautiful outlook.
    Our tour guide, Graeme was very knowledgeable not only on the gorge but indigenous plants and history of the Terry family who own the property. Cobbold Gorge is very narrow in parts. They have built a glass bridge which Jamie actually walked over, this time! On our walk we encountered a horse who was very still the whole time, apart from when Jamie went back to say goodbye and startled him. . He looked old/ill/sad. Our campsite was on a rocky base which initially looked uninviting but we soon changed our mind when we had the best view of the sunset and night sky.
    On the second night Mark and Ange turned up in the site beside us. We had met them on the Undara tour and ended up having dinner and drinks around the camp fire with them. A very entertaining evening!😆
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