Overland Australia

This trip is our final trip for 2015 and our annual Christmas camping trip with our extended group of friends to our kids favourite destination Cobb and Co 9 Mile . We were joined by 5 families on this trip and it was great camping together in such a large group. Cobb and Co 9 Mile is a great destination located south of Gympie, the owners Sean and Katherine are very friendly people who welcome you with open arms. Sean is constantly making upgrades to the  camp ground  and the facilities and there is always plenty for the kids to do which is great as they are kept out of the adults hair… We camped in our usual spot which allows us to keep an eye on the kids while they play in the playground and use the flying foxes. We spent most of our time relaxing around camp and swimming in the billabong, the kids took advantage of the activities that Sean and Katherine put on each day. On Saturday it was a train ride on Sean’s  home-made  train and on Sunday morning it was pony rides with Kat

The weather has really started to warm up and we had decided to stay a couple of nights at the Cedar Grove camp ground in the Amamoor State Forest. We left home after school on Friday afternoon and it didn't take long to travel north to the camp ground where we found a nice spot with enough room for our camper and Bron and Steve who joined us on the Saturday morning. As we were staying for 2 nights and the weather forecast was for hot days we set up the full awning to provide us with some extra shade. We worked up a bit of a sweat and after setting up we all enjoyed a nice swim in the creek before returning to camp for an awesome curry dinner that Anna had prepared. After a warm night we woke to a beautiful day on Saturday, we had breakfast then spent the morning keeping cool in the creek. Just after mid-morning we were joined by Bron and Steve and their daughter Alana. The warm weather had brought the campers out and the camp ground was filling up pretty quickly. Most of

The weather forecast for this weekend looked a little dodgy with storms forecast for most of the weekend. We woke up on Saturday morning to blue skies and decided a weekend away camping would be better than staying at home even if it may be wet. We hit the road just after 8am and we followed our familiar route up the range to Jimna. After arriving we quickly selected a spot that wasn't directly under any large trees and set up for the day.It was a warm day and we hadn't set up the awning on the camper as we were staying for one night so we set up the car awning to provide a bit of shade. The girls rode their bikes around camp and Anna and I settled in relaxing and chatting. Soon after lunch the storm clouds started rolling in and a large storm cell passed to the south of us.Luckily we only caught the edge of it but the thunder and lightning show was spectacular. We didn't get much rain but it was enough to be annoying and showers came and went throughout the afternoon. Lat

As most of the regular readers of the blog will know, our favourite thing to do is get away from suburbia and spend some quality time together as a family free from life’s distractions. Unfortunately we are going to have a few commitments that keep us away from camping for a few weeks so we thought it best to go camping again this weekend.  This trip was just an overnight camp to the Amamoor Creek Camping area in the Amamoor State Forest. We hitched up the camper and headed north just after 8am on Saturday morning and it didn’t take long to arrive at the camp ground. We selected a nice little spot and quickly finished our overnight setup. Shortly after that the kettle was on and morning tea was served, the kids took off on their bikes and Anna and I relaxed in camp. Just before lunch we decided to test out the travel Monopoly that Anna had found a few weeks before, we had a great time playing together and I was surprised how ruthless the girls could be. We broke play for lunch and t

This trip was a quick overnighter back to the Emu Creek Camping area in the Benarkin State Forest. We have been here a few times before but hadn’t visited for a while as the access road that follows Emu Creek just after Clancy’s camp ground is often wiped out after heavy rain and flooding. The Emu Creek camp ground opened a few months ago and now that the weather was warming up (a previous trip had a morning of -4) we decided to return. We left home on Saturday morning and made our way out to the camp ground, we arrived just after Bron and Steve and together we agreed on a spot down the end away from the handful of other campers. It was a beautiful sunny day and after a quick set up it was time for some morning tea. Morning tea rolled into lunch and soon after preparing a beautiful lunch Anna had a run in with one of the flexible fibreglass poles and came off second best… She took a nasty blow to the forehead right between her eyes  which resulted in some decent swelling and bruis

  

Our original plan was to head south to Tiaro and stay at another free camp that we had heard good reports of called Petrie Park on the Mary River. After a quick pack up we hit the road and stopped in at Gin Gin to refuel. It didn't take long for us to reach Tiaro and we thought that we would have been early enough to grab a spot at Petrie Park given that it has a 24 hour limit on stays. Unfortunately we arrived to find most of the spots taken by our old mates the grey nomads that appeared to have been set up for sometime.. . Petrie Park is a beautiful little spot and we could have squeezed in if we really wanted too but we prefer our space and the current occupants didn't seem too thrilled with our arrival. We ate lunch down by the river then jumped back into the car for the last couple of hours south on the Bruce Highway home. Our trip was over a little earlier than expected but we had a great time away together and got to explore another beautiful part of Queensland. We&#

We woke up to another cracking day, unfortunately we have to pack up and head home today. I got the fire going and Anna cooked another awesome feed of pancakes while I slowly started to pack up.  Once the breakfast clean up was done we finished packing up all our gear and the camper and were soon hitched up ready to hit the road. We took our time navigating the steep descent out of the National Park and fortunately we didn't meet anyone coming up the range on our way down. Once back on the flat we made good time and stopped for a quick toilet and lunch break at Westwood before continuing on to Gracemere where Anna grabbed a few more supplies and we re-fuelled the car. After Gracemere we hit the Bruce Highway and the busy road conditions, I certainly do prefer the quieter back roads.  Just after 2pm we arrived at our overnight destination which was the free stop on the Calliope River at River Ranch. This is a very popular spot with free camps on both the South and North banks