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I note our last part of our travels as relayed to the group ended at Calliope where we stayed 2 nights. Continued
into Gladstone and found Battery World where we purchased 2 new Trojan 130 AH house batteries. We found Gladstone a
difficult place to park rig as the streets seemed quite congested .. thus we were forced to carry the new batteries a
distance to where we had parked. Fortunately, we were assisted by a member of the staff.
We departed Gladstone and travelled, via the southern entrance, to the Boyne River rest area just south of Banaraby.
People at Calliope had mentioned that they had stopped a few days previously at that rest area and the toilets were all
blocked and the area somewhat "on the nose". So, we parked a fair distance away and noted the men working around the toilet
block. I had the new batteries to install and proceeded with that exercise.
Continuing south along the busy Bruce Highway, we stoped at Miriam Vale for haircuts, some general shopping and a
gas cylinder refill. It was Melbourne Cup day so lots of activity around the pub and we noted some of the local "gals" in
their finery. We liked Miriam Vale and found it to be a nice friendly little town.
We took the opportunity to travel the back road, which was apparently the old highway, to Bundaberg. As of a couple
of years ago, it is now sealed all the way. Other travellers had told us it was possible to stay over night at the Rosedale
hotel. I parked in the rather rough eroded entrance road and walked up into the rather ancient caravan park. It too, had a
narrow, rough, eroded road system, but I sussed out a suitable spot for us. Went down to the hotel, which seemed to be in
the final stages of Melbourne Cup day, to book in. Fees were $5 unpowered, $10 powered, but when I mentioned we don't require
their showers and toilets, the barmaid said $5 would be OK and that we could park on the edge of the oval in front of the
laundry. I am not sure if this "fee reduction" is normal, as the barmaid had obviously been partaking in liquid refreshment,
no doubt part of the Melbourne Cup celebrations!
There was no CDMA mobile phone coverage at Rosedale, or we would have stayed longer in what may have proved to be a
rather pleasant spot. So we continued south, turning off the main road adjacent to Yandaran. One passed the Yandaran pub,
general store, cross the railway line and veer right towards Norvill Park. I learnt later, that it is possible to stay
overnight at the Yandaran pub. but it may be rather noisy being beside the main electrified north south railway.
At Norvill Park we parked in a pleasant spot, so with the awning erected, it was under shady trees. It's a short
walk of 100m to a deserted beach which disappears from view in each direction. We had a visit from Noel and Elaine Roth in
their motorhome and later the same day, VK4NEV, Nev and Lucy came from Mount Perry also to visit.
We stayed a total of 4 nights and headed to Bundaberg with, amongst other things, intention of visiting a doctors
surgery that Nev had recommended. We were pleasantly surprised that we could park our size rig in the street close to the
surgery. The doctors visit lead to a number of medical procedures spread over the best part of a month with, in most cases,
a few days to fill in, in between. We found that Bundaberg has nice wide streets allowing us to park at both shopping
centres, in a side street beside the Mater hospital which we used overnight on 3 occasions, and so on. Opportunities were
taken to visit/stay overnight at Alloway Country club, Sharon Nature Park, Smiths Crossing, Bucca, Darrarnil with the
Bundaberg motorhome chapter for their Christmas gathering, Nev at Mt. Perry and the Gin Gin rest areas with the latter two
on more than one occasion. We also overnighted at a couple of odd places in and around Bundaberg.
Fortunately, the medical results were satisfactory and we drove back to Gin Gin to pick up two fans we had ordered
for the motorhome. These, together with a new LCD TV and a DVD player bought in Bundaberg, had to be installed. After
checking out the Gin Gin Showgrounds and finding no one staying there, we decided to head south. The next stop was Tiaro
where we stayed 2 nights. This is a convenient spot within walking distance of the town.
From Tiaro we continued south along the Bruce Highway to just south of Gympie where we turned inland along the
"scenic" route which essentially follows the Mary River in the Mary Valley. This is the site of a controversial dam which
will flood a lot of the Mary Valley. There are numerous signs saying "no dam", derogatory comments about the State Premier
and Government. One can see their side of the argument as it is a truly beautiful area. One continues through Kenilworth
where we had ideas of shopping, but it is an old town with narrow congested streets, so no shopping there! The next town
was Montville which has ample parking opposite its general store. So, they got our business.
It was then on to Maleny where we had heard it was possible to stay in the Showgrounds. This is the case, probably
because, as we later learnt, the local caravan park had closed. We stayed 4 days, including Christmas Day, at this rather
pleasant spot. Bill, VK4XZ, and Dawn visited us and took us on a very nice drive around the area. Naturally, this took in
visits to some of the nice lookouts and mountain tops, thus good VHF radio sites! Apparently, a large group of caravans were
due for the New Year weekend so we elected to move on via a rather picturesque route south to Kilcoy. Towards the end of that
section, we passed the entrance to where the Woodford was being held. This is a popular even for many and we noted many
hundreds of vehicles parked up on the hill sides.
We had been to Kilcoy previously where there are overnight parking facilities just on the edge of town. On the last
visit we had enjoyed the local fish and chips plus the Chinese takeaway. Unfortunately, this time the Chinese shop was closed
for the Christmas - New Year break, so we missed out! We had a quiet New Year, though some of our neighbours didn't. Sue had
a perscirption filled at the local pharmacy Saturday morning and when she later looked it appeared the incorrect drug had
been supplied, but with the correct label. This meant we had to stay till the next working day after New Years Day and
revisit the pharmacy. The Pharmacist was all apologies, but there is a lesson there .. always check ASAP.
So, after that and some shopping we continued south via a road that skirts Somerset and Wivenhoe Dams. These are the
principal source of Brisbane's water supply and reported to be at around 30% capacity. We overnighted at Fernvale rest area,
then continued onto Lake Dyer/Bill Gunn Weir, just out of Laidley.
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