Ulysses 25th Anniversary AGM.

Monday morning Gail drove me into town where we first went to the Ulysses registration point, then on to the showgrounds, the venue for the coming week's AGM events. Fortunately we were permitted to take the Landcruiser into the grounds (under the guidance of an escort). This greatly simplified the task of conveying my tent, chair and misc. camping gear to a camp site.
I was able to get a very good green grass spot, close to power, water, toilets and showers. After erecting the tent I went for a walk around the confines of the showgrounds to check things out. There are already hundreds of other Ulyssian's set up here with tents, motor cycle trailer/campers and every imaginable type of minimilist camping gear. It seems that every second person has a motor cycle trailer, some extremely flash (and costly) and others home made from such things as a decorated forty-four gallon drum mounted on a small trailer. All of these people are able to carry far more of the essentials which a solo rider is limited to carrying. However on this occassion I have everything that I need to make my camping experience comfortable. Limited food outlets are on-site, however a major shopping centre is only a 5 minute walk away.
I did a test ride on a radical new style of motor bike, called a Spyder. This "bike" has independant front suspension with two wheels and a single very wide rear wheel. Powered by a 1,000cc V Twin motor it is effectively a "3 wheel trike" in reverse. An entirely different concept and riding experience, but one which is very exciting. Possibly more suited to older riders with limited mobility. Gail came and picked me up on Wednesday afternoon and we went for a drive to "The Strand", where we had a coffee overlooking the ocean, with Magnetic Island on the horizon. We then went to Jupiter's Casino for dinner. When Gail dropped me back at the showgrounds (she is not registered, so cannot enter due to security requirements) I felt a little like a geriatric "out-patient" who had been allowed out for the afternoon.
As luck would have it, I discovered that another Hornsby branch member Alex is camped with several of his Internet Forum friends, just across the road from me. Alex plays guitar and had entered the daily talent quest, qualifying for the finals on Friday afternoon. We all sat and talked and sang to his music until well past the 10pm nightly noise curfew. Met quite a lot of very nice friendly people from all over Australia.
My second test ride was on another new brand of motor cycle from America, called a Victory. This bike is in direct competition with Harley Davidson, with a range of loud V twin cruiser style bikes. My interest in the Victory was purely to gauge if they vibrate as much as the Harley. Not quite as bad but still detectable. Test riding is a way of getting out to see the surrounding country-side when your own bike is two thousand kilometres away. I may do one or two more test rides on differnt makes if possible.
At the moment I am trying to setup a ride as a pillion in the grand parade on Saturday morning. In excess of 3,000 motor cycles will take part in this spectacular organised ride through the CBD area prior to the actual AGM to be held at the Casino.

Kevin
"Growing Old Disgracefully" at the AGM.

Townsville on the horizon.

We departed Airlie Beach with Ayr as our destination for overnight where there is a very large off-road park.
As it was only 2pm when we arrived at Ayr, being totally flexible we decided to press on to Townsville and camp overnight about 30km north at Bluewater Park, which is a fantastic camping facilty and only about 5km from the Bluewater Caravan Park where we are booked into from Saturday for 10 days. The local junior football club run a kiosk at the park, so Friday night we bought dinner from them - BBQ sausage in bread for $1. They also are allowed to sell beer etc there as it is about 25km to the nearest pub, consequently there were lots of locals there. We had a leisurely Saturday morning before departing this great free camping area and driving the 5km to the caravan park.
We have set up the annex as this will give Gail plenty of room during my absence at the Ulysses AGM in Townsville, which starts on Monday. I will be camping at the Showgrounds until next Saturday. Sunday we did a full load of washing in the laundry then went for a drive to a couple of the beaches in the vicinity.
Kevin and Gail.

Onwards to Airlie Beach.

I have been having some electrical problems with the 12 volt cigarette lighter in the Landcruiser, consequently the Engel freezer and other 12V accessories have been intermitently cutting out. Emerald being a fair sized town allowed me the opportunity to buy a double 12V socket, which I wired directly to the auxillary battery via an inline fuse. This appears to have resolved the previous problems. On the road again, northbound. We have decided to now head north-east towards the coast,joining up with the Bruce Hwy at Mackay. On the way we stopped mid-afternoon at a great rest area beside the Isaac River. Shortly after we were joined by two other couples in caravans for the overnight stop. As the State Of Origin Rugbby league match is on tonight between NSW and QLD, we set up our satelite dish to ensure god TV reception. As it turned out we were the only ones to get a picture, so we invited the other couples (both Queenslanders) to join us to watch the game in our van. As luck!
would have it, NSW won, so we did not have to suffer the ridicule of our guests. Les and Kim, one of the other couples had supper with us and in return for our hospitality, Les who is an auto-electrician, gave me a hand next morning to completely rewire the 12V accesory outlet in the Landcruiser with the recommended connectors, which he had with him. After morning tea we all departed on our seperate ways. This sort of friendship and mutual help is what makes roadside rest area overnight camping so enjoyable. A lunch stop at Bowen, then on to Airlie Beach for our next overnight - this time in the Gateway Caravan Park and the promise of dinner at the best seafood cafe in Australia. Wrong, the cafe has closed since our last visit in 2004, possibly because they were too cheap. We consoled ourselves with fish and chips from a take-away, eaten at their kerbside tables. Still very nice though.
Airlie Beach has changed completely, high rise everywhere and prices elevated to match this development. This is most unfortunate as we feel the casual back-packer atmosphere has gone. The caravan park has quite small sites now, having sacrificed quite a number in favour of cabins.

Kevin and Gail.

The Clean Skins.

Stay more than 3 days in Mitchell, have a hot artesian spa twice a day every day and you can't help but be pristine clean. Well that's exactly what we did. A number of factors contributed towards Gail and I deciding to stay on in Mitchell for an additional 3 days, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Over a conversation with fellow travellers while in the hot spa we heard about a free camping area on the outskirts of Mitchell, at the Neil Turner Weir.
So, we decided a nice little walk to check it out would be a relaxing Saturday afternoon activity. The route took us via the local cemetery and the racecourse. The weir is a very nice grassy location, with plenty of shade and town water - keep it in mind for the future. We took a shortcut back to town via the railway line where there were hundreds of rail spikes lying beside the line, which I made a mental note to come back later and collect some. By the time we got back into town we had walked just on 10km. A visit to one of the pubs fo a refreshing drink, then back to the van park.
Little to report on during the rest of our time at Mitchell, other than to say we did a lot of nothing... and some reading and craft work. While Gail did her crochet, I tried my hand at Pyrography - wood burning drawing to the un-initiated.
Departed Mitchell Monday morning, after a last early morning spa. We returned east to Roma, then north via the Carnarvon Development Road to Injune then Rolleston where we stayed overnight. Continuing north via the Dawson Hwy we pased through Springsure, a lovely well looked after town, then onto the Gregory Hwy to Emerald. There is a lovely free overnight camping area adjacent to the Botanic Gardens in Emerald, so this was our planned overnight stop. Arriving prior to lunch we parked to secure a good level spot, then spent time walking around town and some food shopping.
Kevin and Gail.

Great Artesian Basin country.

Reluctantly we departed Chinchilla area and pressed on further to the west. A stop in Miles to check for an expected letter awaiting us there, but it had not arrived yet. As we intend to continue further west through Roma then on a further 90km to Mitchell for 3 or 4 days, we will backtrack to Roma before heading north. Consequently the Post Office in Miles has agreed to forward the expected letter onto Roma when it arrives, saving us the additional 280km return trip. Our purpose in spending the time in Mitchell is purely to soak up as much of the beautiful artesian basin
hot water as we can. Mitchell has a magnificent public spa facility, which for a mere $7.50 gives us a 3 day pass. It is located a short walk from the caravan park, across the Maranoa River. The statistics of the Great Artesian Basin for those not aware are staggering.
Estimated 65,000 million megalitres of water stored in the Great Artesian Basin. It covers 22% of the Australian continent, the maximum depth that the water comes from is 3,000 metres and covers 1,711,000 sq kms. The basin extends 2,400km north-south and 1,800km east-west at the widest point. The water temperature averages 30-50 degrees C. The approximate age of the water is 2 million years old. Thought you would be enthralled by all that.
We visited the spa upon arrival for about an hour, then walked around town, which takes every bit of 10 minutes. Mitchell is a very typical outback Queensland town. They do however have 5 pubs. As it is their annual Show Day here, all the shops are closed. We appear to be following the annual show circuit at the present. Wednesday - another visit to the spa in the morning, a bit of food shopping, then a visit to the Mitchell railway station where there is a travelling roadshow (in a train) put on by the Queensland University Of Technology.
This is primarily for school students to see, feel and hear what the Q.U.T is doing in the field of research into all manner of things. The displays, many of which are inter-active, take up 6 specially built carriages. The educators travel with the train and are housed in sleeping carriages. There is also a dining/kitchen carriage, making the whole train totally self contained. The "SMART TRAIN" normally spends one day in each whistle stop town, then moves on to the next stop overnight. School kids atend in groups through-out the day under the control of their teachers. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and also learned something.

Kevin and Gail.

The Darling Downs.

Our campsite beside the Condamine River comes with a couple of added bonuses. We discovered that we can get normal TV reception, with good picture quality on four channels, plus we have a reasonable mobile signal and therefore have been able to update this blog via my mobile in "free time" between 7 and 8 pm.
I took a torch and went to check the shrimp and yabbie traps, only to discover that the shrimp trap had wedged itself under a submerged log. Must have been dragged under by an oversized cod.... ha ha. The tethering string broke as I tried to drag it free, net result, one lost shrimp trap.
We had a very quiet and restful night, awoke Monday morning to the various birdcalls as they all went about getting a drink from the river. I put on bathers after breakfast and ventured into the river. Luck was on my side as I was able to recover the lost shrimp trap - complete with shrimps captured overnight. Rods were re-assembled, baited up and placed in the river directly below us. As you will have gathered by now, we are staying another night at least at this great camp site. Ran the generator for a few hours to give the car batteries a break from the Engel freezer and also run the caravan fridge on 240 volts in lieu of gas, as well as charging other essential items such as the PC batteries, iPod etc. The weather continues to be beautiful, clear skies, lovely sunshine and about 25-27 degrees each day.

Kevin H.

Bye-Bye bright lights.

Thursday through Saturday was spent lazing in the sun, combined with a walk through the National Park, around the Burleigh headland into Burleigh Heads. This walk is absolutely fabulous as the pathway follows the ocean, providing some magnificent views. Once in Burleigh Heads, the compulsory breakfast overlooking the beach was in order. We managed to get in some more fishing in between a visit to the South Tweed Heads shopping plaza.
Saturday afternoon was spent packing up the boat and misc. gear in preparation for our departure Sunday morning. We watched the AFL Tribute match between a Victorian team and the "Dream Team", comprised of the best of the rest.
The Vics won, with Brendan Fevola kicking six goals and winning the E.J.Whitten medal and the commentators best on the ground. It was a very good match.
Sunday morning we departed Tallebudgera and followed the Pacific Motorway north to the Ipswich toll road. From there we travelled west via Ipswich to Toowoomba, continuing on the Warrego Hwy. via Dalby to a great camp site about nine kilometres east of Chinchilla. This camp spot is on the banks of the Condamine River, about fourten km's off the Warrego Hwy. Arrived here around 4pm after travelling 360km today. Time to bait up the shrimp trap and the yabbie net. Local fisherman who came into the boat ramp at our camp spot gave us a nice yellow belly and some dry dog food which they claim is the best bait for the shrimp trap. Hopefully we will get some shrimp bait and then a big yellow belly. Gail tells me that the home of the yellow belly is in fact "The Brigalow", which by coincidence is a small town just down the road from where we are at present.
Despite the fact that we thought we were stopping in a nice quiet spot tonight, the deafening sound of dozens of cockatoos, kookaburras and misc. other noisy birds is almost distracting us from our "nibbles and drinks" time.
Kevin and Gail on "The Darlin Downs".

Sunny Tallebudgera

Monday kicked off another clear blue, cloudless day. As I was planning to go and pick up some beach wheels for the Zodiac, it seemed sensible to drop-off Gail at the Twin Towns club for her day at the CWA conference. We had overlooked one very key point however - it was a public holiday in Queensland. When you're away like this every day seems lke a public holiday, with one exception - everything is closed, so no wheels today. Our satellite TV card has been zapped again by Optus, so an email to Johnny in Katherine resulted in a return phone call from him and his agreement to provide a new one, free of charge, if we post the original back to him. Not bad "after sales service", four years on.
Although at present we have no need for the satellite TV, next week when we head west into remote areas is when it is great to get crystal clear reception. Gail's return bus trip in the afternoon however was apparently a real trip from hell as the female bus driver had a real issue with every other driver on the road.
I have been doing a fair bit of fishing and yabbie pumping (with limited success) while Gail is at the conference.
Wednesday night we went to dinner at Broadbeach with two other CWA ladies from Somersby and their husbands, so I am not the only male here in the midst of all these scone cooking ladies. The population of the caravan park has diminished incredibly since the end of the long weekend. Camper trailers certainly have a very strong hold on the scene now, with around 50% of those here last weekend in them as opposed to caravans. Most have very large canvas annexes and extensions which makes them very roomy and practical for young families. They certainly outweigh tents now.
Going Fishin' now.

Nimbin drive-thru (cont'd.)

It seems as though the last blog chopped off in the middle of a sentence - so continuing on....
After Nimbin we climbed up through Nightcap National Park, rejoining the Pacific Hwy at Murwillumbah, then on to a great overnight rest area beside the Richmond River, known as Stotts Island. An early arrival here enabled us to sit in the warm sunshine and watch the rest of the world hurry by. Several other overnighter's joined us here as darkness approached.
As we are only 30 or so kilometres from Tallebudgera where we are booked in for a week, we took the opportunity to re-arrange cupboards etc in the van before moving on about 11:00am.
Arrived a day earlier than originally planned at Tallebudgera, however our waterfront site was available so in we went. Most of the afternon was spent getting settled in and putting up the annex. Mid afternon we went for a walk along the waterfront then out to the surf breakwater and along the beach past the Surf Lifesaving Club. As this weekend is a long weekend in Queensland, the park is packed with families and hundreds of ankle biters on little bikes and scooters. It is really lovely to see families out enjoying this beautiful water-side playground.
As Gail intends to catch the bus from here to Tweed Heads each day of the CWA conference, we decided to catch the bus on Saturday to Pacific Fair to check timetables etc. The Gold Coast public transport service is very good with buses passing the front of the park every half hour in both directions.
The conference kicked off on Sunday afternoon with a combined Church Service, held in the main auditorium of Twin Towns Leagues Club. After that we went to The Northumberland Group Dinner - also held at the club.
The weather has been fantastic since our arrival here and the forecast is for continuing sunny days until next Sunday. bye for now...
Love to all,
Kevin and Gail.

On The Road - at last.

After a very hectic few weeks of getting everything in order at home in addition to a few last minute problems with batteries on the Landcruiser, we finally managed to depart Mangrove Mountain around 1:00pm on Monday 28th April.
It did not take long to discover that the Turbo/LPG conversion has made an incredible difference to the pulling power of the Landcruiser. The additional horsepower means that far less gear changes are required in order to maintain a constant speed. On the F3 freeway the improvement was particularly noticeable, even in in 5th gear, allowing us to cruise quite comfortably with a fully loaded caravan and roof-rack.
A fairly uneventfull trip north via Raymond Terrace, a late lunch break at the 12 Mile Creek rest area between Heatherbrae and Karua, then on to Taree. Incidentally the latter two locations are now by-passed by the Pacific highway. Our planned overnight stop was Swan's Crossing, which is 15km west of Kew, via Kendell.
Darkness closed in very quickly around 5:30pm, resulting in us not quite making Swan's Crossing in daylighsing one turn-off we were able to do a 5 point U-turn with the assistance of a farmers driveway only a short distance after the missed turn. Not being absolutely sure of the road we stopped momentarily to check our directions when an old motor home pulled up beside us. They were also heading for Swan's Crossing and knew the way so suggested we follow them in. This we glady did and they were able to show us a very good camping area away from the main camp area. It was quite cool by this time so we were happy to retreat into the caravan and start preparing dinner. As we have not yet connected the TV etc. we spent the evening listing to ABC radio while playing a few games of Rummy.
Turned in relatively early (for us) around 9:30pm.

Tuesday 29th April.
We decided overnight to stay here for an extra night which will give us the opportunity to sort things out in the van after a hurried last few days, and to have a fairly relaxing day in this picturesque location. There is a lovely creek running beside our camp which has very good running water should we need it.
Another very cool night.

Exploring new ground.

Time to move on - so we headed back into Kew on the Pacific Hwy. then turned north again. I lovely day so it wasn't long before shorts and T-shirts were the order of the day. A brief stop in Kempsey, then on to Coffs Harbour where we detoured via The Jetty area to check out a possible overnight stop freebie. Not suitable, so after some grocery shopping in town we continued on. We next checked out another potential overnight rest area in Woolgoolga, but agreed it was too noisy so again moved on. We eventually chose a nice rest area between Coffs and Grafton to rest our heads tonight.
It was much warmer last night than the cold nights we have previously experienced.
On the road again at 9:30am, then a detour near Ballina onto the Bruxner Hwy. to Lismore, then on to Nimbin. We have never been to Nimbin before hence this detour. Parking was impossible in the main street of Nimbin, which is pretty much built on the side of a hill. We did a slow pass down the main street which enabled us to get the general feel of the place. It is still very much a "hippy hide-out