Reset search
Australia All Over
  • The Gypsies
  • The Gypsies

Australia All Over

An open-ended adventure by The Gypsies Read more
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarPhotosPhotosShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Trip start
    August 20, 2019
  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies

    Trip to Cape York

    July 7, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Up to cape York
    With Bess being back in Perth helping with her two new grandies my best mate Richard came over from NZ to tick another place off the bucket list.
    Cape York!!
    I pick Richard up at cairns airport on the 7 July and we went straight to the shops to get our supplies. All topped up with food and fuel we headed out north to the cape. We decided to go to the cape first and then with what time we had left would spend at different places on the way back. Night one was spent in a small clearing a couple of 100 ks north at Mt Carbine. A beautiful quiet spot with a lot of catching up done around the fire that night!! Pushed on the next day to Coen, some 400ks further on, and stayed by a beautiful clean flowing river there. Another early start ( well our early 9am ) and pushed on to a gravel pit at a place called Mapoon. From there we crossed the Jardine river on a barge and into a town called Bamaga and onto the cape. We walked out to the sign on the cape and took the obligatory photos !!! After spending a bit of time walking around there we choofed off to the eastern side to a place called Somerset. Stayed two nights here on a very exposed part of the coast but great spot for fishing. Richard caught a queenie, which we filleted and ate, and used to carcass for bait to temp a shark 🦈 which worked to well. It was huge I reckon about 5m Richard was more conservative at a metre and a half I think his glasses were foggy!! but lots of fun. We then headed back down to Bramwell roadhouses and to a place on the old telegraph track where they cross the Palm river.
    We had a look at the crossing that arvo and thought it was impossible. We stayed the night to watch the antics the next day and we weren’t disappointed. They are mad, they not only went through what we thought impossible but some were towing boats and camper trailers to boot. No one got through under their own steam they either were winched or snatch strapped out. Not surprising as it was a 3 to 4 metre vertical drop in and the same to climb out. A great days entertainment watching from our deck chairs with a beer in hand!!🍺🍺
    We left there the next day and went out to Weipa and on up to a beach called Penny Father. What a magnificent place. Spent 2 days/3 nights here enjoying the fishing , weather and a camp fire 🔥 every night. From there we headed towards Cooktown. Made it only as far as just north of Musgrave at Kirby’s camp. Oh by the way the reason our ks are quite low at times is that the roads are so corrugated and the dips can be savage our average speed can be as low as 30k an hour!! Going up wasn’t as bad but on the way back the roads were terrible!!! From Kirby’s south to Musgrave then we turned east into Rinyirru national park which is a back road in to Cooktown. The park roads were excellent,the different country we saw and the old settlements now abandoned, were all fascinating. Went in to Cooktown , beautiful quaint little town, and on to a camp on the Annan river. From here we went down the coast road called the Bloomfield track, and a hairy track it was with ascents and descents between 22 and 31 percent. Truck did it no worries!!
    This took us to the Daintree rain forest at cape Tribulation a stunningly beautiful place with bugger all to do. Richard found a trip up one of the local rivers to see some croc’s. They were there all right in all their glory and a few gory stories to go with it. Next we headed back to cairns for our last night, sadly, but we had a great last night reminiscing our trip, and a beauty it was!! Thanks mate 👍👍😎😎    Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies

    Back to Brisbane to pick up Bess

    July 23, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Well Bess doesn’t arrive until the 12th of August so there’s a bit of time for fishing 🎣 on my trip to Brisbane. I have been recommended this place called middle Creek out towards the town of 1770. The photos you will see how beautiful it is. The fishing was magic and the amb was so beautiful. The only problem was I was on my own 😢. Had a few days there and then on to Brisbane and a little more fishing with a good mate from travel trucks Grant ( Grunter ). He took me to a place in between Bribie island and the mainland. Had a ball and caught heaps of fish. Well must find time to do some washing as I will be picking up Bess and heading out to Fraser IslandIsland next. It’s tuff but someone got to do it!!!Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies

    Birdsville races

    August 6, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    More photos in Birdsville

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies
    Central Station campsite. Among huge trees
    Eli Creek. Freshwater flowing into the sea.eli CreekLake McKenzieLake MckenzieLake Mckenzie

    Fraser Island

    August 24, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We visited Eli Creek, on the way to Central Station campground, where we stayed overnight, then drove to Lake McKenzie before returning to the beach for our last night. The sand tracks into Central and the Lake were very rough and we averaged about 10 to 15 k an hour. It took a very long time to travel a short way. But it was worth it just to see how diverse this island is.Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies
    Maheno ship wreck 1935
    Champagne PoolsLooking towards Indian Head1Dingo mates1Our beachside campsite"The Fisherman' trying his luckThe shark catching guyThis shark was very curious. Almost beached itself.Arriving on the island this was the line up waiting to leave on the ferryWe are about to drive on to return to the mainland.

    Fraser Island Qld

    August 25, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We spent a week camping on Fraser Island.The island is the largest sand island in the world and is about 120 kilometres long. We drove up the Eastern side on the beach for about 100 K to our beachside campsite. The view was magic! The whales put on a show for us, quite a long way out though. A fisherman's paradise if you're lucky enough to catch them. Caught a dart, which we ate and some flathead that were too small and released.
    Watched a local guy playing around on the beach one day trying to attract a shark in close so he could catch it on his fishing line. He was dragging a big bag of fish berley in and out of the surf. A few sharks eventually turned up but wouldn't be caught. See the video.
    Dingoes were common as they are native to the island. They were no problem as long as you did not approach them and kept all rubbish out of reach.
    We drove into the interior and stayed a night at Central Station, a National Park campsite. We were camped among magnificent tall trees and rainforest. There is a number of fresh water lakes and creeks on the island, the largest one is Lake Mackenzie which we drove Quite impressive considering where it is.    Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies
    On our way to Charlotte plains1

    Brisbane to the Birdsville races

    August 28, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We left Brisbane ,for the Birdsville races stopping at a few nice places on the way. Our first stop was just an overnighter at a little town called Cecil Plains. Next day its on to St George to stock up with supplies and on to a station called Charlotte Plains. Here they have a free flowing hot water from a bore they put down in the late 1800s. This bore when first done put out over 3000 litres a day but is down to 700 odd litres a day now but it has never ever been turned off !!! The water temperature as it gets to the surface is about 42 degrees so they ran it through open channels across the station to cool it down as the water is very drinkable. Today they have put in a lot of cast iron baths 🛀 which you can fill when you want as many times as you want to enjoy a beautiful hot artesian bath which we did with a cheese board and red wine in hand !!! The station is pretty run down these days but the lady who owns and runs it these days still has her grandfathers 1920s soft top Rolls Royce which they have had since new. I am guessing but I reckon it’s worth more than the station these days. They have had 15mm of rain in the last 3 years and that was 3 months ago. Poor buggers!!Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies
    Parked Cunnamulla1

    Charlotte Plains to Birdsville

    August 31, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Left Charlotte Plains and headed for Birdsville via Quilpie and Cunnamulla. Stayed in a free camp just out of Quilpie which we went and had a look at the next day. Bought some beautiful local meats from the butcher there at a good price. Moved on to Cunnamulla where the famous statue of the “Cunnamulla man” is. Brilliant statue if you don’t know about it goggle it !! From Cunnamulla to Windorah and on towards Birdsville. Stopped at Dions lookout where we took some photos and a video of the view. Quite impressive considering the normal view is flat almost treeless land. We camped in a dry river bed 100 odd ks out of Birdsville.
    Next morning on to Birdsville and get set for the races!!    Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies
    Bloodsuckers! 😉 Selling memorabilia, haha ywe we bought a cap and tshirt🤔At the racesThis is the line going into the racesMore heading into the racesBess at Sat nights entertainment

    Birdsville and the races

    September 5, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    Got to Birdsville on the 3rd of September, racers are on the 6 and 7th so time to check the place out where normally 140 people live but swells to between 6 and 8 thousand for the races. A month ago they had the big red bash ( a music festival ) which is capped at 10,000 people ( at 400 bucks a ticket ) and is held out at Big Red, a massive sand dune 40k east of Birdsville ,so they are use to crowds! There were blood suckers everywhere, after your money, and that’s before they let the horses 🐎 have a go at your pocket!! The atmosphere was fantastic and everyone seemed to get into it. It was very well run, plenty of free camping as well as paying sites, lots of toilets and water points throughout the sites. Shuttle buses ran between the races and Birdsville for a gold coin donation to the RFD ( royal flying doctors ) which were well patronised, both the buses and the doctors, as the demographics of people were definitely favouring the old ( we looked positively young!! ) The first day of the races we killed it, came out 50 bucks up. Went back the next day to finish them off but they must have rigged it as we couldn’t pick one to save our selves!! Ah well back into town for the festivities for the evening and it was just fantastic. Comedians kicked it off followed by a country rock singer and she was great ( Tammy Moxon ) After a long day and a big night, well for us anyhow, we walked home regaling a great day and fun had by all. We stayed a couple more days so they could clean the town up and we could see what Birdsville actually looks like naturally and we wanted to go out to see Big Red!! Big Red is the last sand dune you have to cross when you come across the Simpson desert from Alice Springs. We actually got our truck up this side of it but I wouldn’t try going down and back up the other side as it was a lot steeper and very soft so probably would have needed a tow. Another time maybe!! Also went out and saw one of only 3 stands left of the Waddi tree. This wood is so hard and dense it will blunten your axe, it virtually won’t burn and white ants don’t eat it. Because it doesn’t burn it just smoulders the aboriginals would take a smouldering piece with them on their desert crossing for fire lighting. These trees are millions of years old, good luck mans here!!Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies
    The Marree Man from the air
    Washing while camped at Clayton StationCamped at Clayton StationNightfall - campfire at ClaytonThe mighty metropolis of MarreeThe pub campground empty, except for us, waiting for the postiesThe postie bikes have arrived

    Birdsville to Marree

    September 11, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After a brilliant few days in Birdsville we met a few couples heading to Marree as we were, so we said “ see you there “. Unbeknown to us the Birdsville track was a tyre eater!! We had a night at Coopers creek ( a dry river bed ) and one night at Clayton station which had another hot mineral bath ( beautiful ). Did some washing there and lounged in the hot bath for the day. On to Marree the next day only to find none of our friends there. They started limping in later in the day with stories of not one but 3 to 4 flat, sometimes destroyed , tyres. By the end of the next day they were all in, but faced with having to wait a week or so for replacements or risk it on what they had left to a bigger town 60 or 70 ks away. As for us , so far so good, so we had a couple of days in Marree waiting for a fight over lake Eyre and the Marree man.
    We were in a free camp behind the pub, big mistake 🍻🍻. If you don’t know anything about the Marree man goggle it, it’s fascinating. A magic flight with a wealth of information.
    While parked behind the pub some 80 odd postie bikes came in for a night and believe it or not they had traveled down the Birdsville track, and they were buggered!!    Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies

    Photos of lake Eyre

    September 15, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    The flight was really good but very difficult to get good photos through the windows of the little 6 seater plane. They were badly scratched Perspex.

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies
    Strangeways Springs ruins - this was the water tank!
    Camped at abandoned sidingMore ruinsOutbof the many natural springs that used to work, only these remain active.

    On towards William creek and Oodandatta

    September 16, 2019 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    After our flight over lake Eyre we headed north up the Oodnadatta track wondering what this road holds for us. The first night was at one the many old Ghan railway sidings, which were put in for water because they were all steam trains back then. The history at these sites was really interesting but after 10 or more, all the same, we stopped looking. The Ghan today follows the Stuart highway because for one they don’t need the water, and with the water came the floods which took the line out most years.
    Called in to an abandoned sheep station, Strangeways Springs, just before William Creek. Settled in the late 1800s , it was abandoned by the early 1900s , but time enough to build houses, sheds, water tanks, sheep yards and shearing shed. It was built where there were natural springs not flowing any more , so water wasn’t the problem, it was just the heat and lack of rain. They lost half their sheep in the first drought but soldiered on for quite a few more droughts until till they just walked away.
    The next stop was one of the springs that still is flowing and it’s in the middle of nowhere, desert all around. Some great photos of that. The springs have basically stopped flowing because of mans greed for water. Ask BHP! They have a bore that takes 300 litres a second for its Olympic dam mine, a few hundred ks south of Marree.
    On to William Creek pub for lunch and a coffee instead of a beer. (Believe it or not but these roads deserve a lot of respect so sadly no beers for me ) Once again heaps of history and plenty to see before pushing on to Oodnadatta. All this country is so fascinating, sometimes flat with trees then no trees then hilly with some great views. All the stock we saw were in good condition amazingly. Once again Oodnadatta, like the other little towns, a pub and general store with a few houses scattered around but very friendly people. Have a look at the campground, ( next page ). Just stunning! 😜 but the beer was nice and cold and the food was great in the pub. It’s called supporting the town!!    Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies

    Oodnadatta to Coober Pedy

    September 18, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    From Oodnadatta we headed west to a cattle station called Arkaringa. On their station they have what is known as the painted desert. They are hills that are truly spectacular and we don’t think the photos do them justice. We spent the night there, in a nice bush camp, and pushed on to Coober Pedy via the Breakaways the next day. Once again the hills , like the painted desert, were brightly coloured which shows the turmoil Australia went through being born and the erosion that has taken place since, leaving all the different coloured layers.Read more

  • The GypsiesAustralia All OverThe Gypsies
    1Serbian church built into the hill
    Entry to Fayes underground houseRooms carved out of the hill of rock

    Coober Pedy

    September 19, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Well it certainly is a different place to come into. It looks like a whole lot of giant gofers have been at work and nobody has cleaned up after them! The mounds start kilometres out of town and go right into town. They have dug thousands of holes in the search of opals, most of them abandoned, with a few are being mined while the rest of the miners just keep digging holes.
    We had a tour through The Old Timers Mine, now a museum, which was really interesting. The rock they had to dig through wasn’t what you would call soft but all that did was slow them down a bit. They follow water seams down till they find where the opal has formed and bingo there’s your reward. Usually not very big and not worth a lot, but chase it they do, not a lot of rich people in Coober Pedy. They made their money and left, but the rest keep digging.
    We also visited an underground house which in the winter, it gets very cold outside , inside 23 degrees and in the summer time 50 + outside but still 23 degrees inside. Also if they needed more room for whatever, they just dug through the wall and hey presto you have an additional room, hopefully the neighbor isn’t to close . This lady who owned the house had a mine as well and she did become rich , so much so she installed a indoor swimming pool which was unheard of , especially when your allocation of water was one 200 litre drum a fortnight per household. She had to buy the rest from Port Augusta and get it transported up to Coober Pedy. As a footnote she did sell her house and mine a few years later and bought the Exchange Hotel in Brisbane. They also had underground churches of which we visited the Serbian one. Very very beautiful but it did make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
    The only place of real note was the pizza joint , here they served a pizza they called the coat of arms, bloody huge. It’s called the coat of arms because it had kangaroo and emu ( road kill ) as the meats , delicious.    Read more

  • 2026© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice