Overland Australia

Last night was another cold night and climbing out of the swag was very hard, when we did emerge we were treated to a beautiful thick fog which burned off slowly as the sun rose. We weren’t in too much of a hurry today so we milled around camp waiting for the heavy dew on the roof top tent to dry off. Eventually we hit the road and made our way south on the Bruce Highway. Lunch stop fro today was Tiaro and from here it was a couple of hours drive and we were home. This trip was fantastic and we are so glad we had this opportunity. We love heading out west into the deserts and were surprised at how much we enjoyed this trip. The 4wd tracks through the Creb, OTT and Frenchman's tracks were brilliant and our little Triton emerged relatively unscathed with some new pin stripes, rattles, bucket fulls of dust and some paint off the side steps and bash plates. Nothing a good clean/polish and touch up won't fix. I'm so glad we took our time and prepared properly, we saw heaps o

Another transit today, on previous trips we had camped at the free camp on the Calliope River so this was our destination for the day. Anna was craving another proper coffee and wanted to show the girls where her family used to stay in Mackay, so we took a detour off the highway and had a coffee and morning tea at the Mackay Marina. The park Anna used to play in as a kid was still there... We stopped in at Claireview for lunch and Anna and I think we could retire here one day, a very beautiful little spot. We started to hit the road works today but otherwise we made good time and had an uneventful drive south. Late in the arvo we pulled off the highway into Calliope River, this place is very popular with camping on both sides of the river. The area is huge and we managed to find a nice pot looking down over the river. Distance travelled = 541km

Today we started the dash home, so we packed up early so we had enough time for a quick look around Paronella Park before hitting the road. The other advantage of staying overnight is that you have access to the gardens before it opens for the day and can wonder around and have the place almost to yourselves. Not much to report from today, it really was a transit day... . Late in the arvo we reached Bowen where we filled up with diesel and literally hit the dead zone for free camping. We checked Wiki Camps and there were no free camp options along our route between Bowen and Mackay so we continued south and pulled into the O'Connell River Caravan park. Here we had the un-powered section to ourselves and had a nice view over the river, unfortunately the highway was quite close and we had a restless night due to the traffic noise. Distance travelled = 541km Its getting cold, almost home....

Last night was much cooler and I'm glad we had the doona in our swag… This morning we explored the nature park and the kids held some snakes and birds before we grabbed some Wallaby food and headed down to Wallaby rock. Here we spent almost an hour feeding the Wallabies and the kids had a great time, they are very friendly and keen to get a feed. Our tip would be to feed them in the mornings like we did, apparently they get a little full by the arvo and aren't so keen later in the day. Next stop was the Coffee Works in Mareeba, it was great to have a look around again and taste some of the chocolate and yummy liqueurs. After picking up some of our favourite liqueurs and some gifts for family and friends we had another proper coffee before hitting the road again. Our route took us through Atherton and then Malanda and Milla Milla where we stopped for a look at each of the falls which were quite spectacular. This drive through the rain forests and over the ranges was really s

We packed up fairly early as we had a dry night but it looked like it was going to rain and we din't fancy a wet pack up, on the way out of Elim we tried to drive to the coloured sands but unfortunately it was high tide and there was no access to the beach, ah well next time... Anna was very keen to stop in at Mareeba so we could visit the Coffee Works and the Golden Drop Mango winery so this was our destination for tonight. We got chatting to another family at The Bend and they recommended the Granite Gorge Nature Park so we phoned ahead and booked in for the night. From Elim Beach we made our way into Cooktown where we stocked up on supplies and diesel and then found the bakery for morning tea and a proper coffee.... We were back on the blacktop now and it was strange to drive along on smooth roads and not have the rattles and squeaks from the car. We pulled into Mcleods River which is a beautiful little free camp that we found on our 6 month trip and had lunch by the river.

Before sunrise its started to rain quite heavily and when we got out of the swag we had lots of standing water around camp and threatening skies. Luckily the weather cleared and we had a nice clear day albeit windy... After yesterdays long day in the car it was nice to just relax in camp and explore the surrounds. After morning tea we decided to try and walk to the coloured Sands, most people drive but we couldn't be bothered packing up the roof top tent. In hindsight we should have packed up camp as walking along the beach involved us trying to walk across the mud flats to avoid the dense sections of mangroves. Unfortunately we were stopped by very soft knee deep mud and after lots of laughing at each other we managed to extract ourselves and return back to camp. On the way we found a nice little fresh water creek/spring and we washed off the mud. The rest of the day was spent hanging around camp and taking care of a few little maintenance items on the car. Elim Beach is very

We had a fair way to travel today but we were not too keen on travelling on the PDR all the way to Laura, so we back tracked over the road we took on the way up from Musgrave Station that travels through Lily Vale and Running Creek. This track from Coen was still in great condition and we only passed a handful of vehicles on this route and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery (again). To keep off the PDR we turned left and continued south through the Lakefiled National Park, here the roads deteriorated a fair bit and we were slowed down a little and had more traffic coming the other way but better than the PDR. We stopped at Saltwater Creek for lunch and then continued south through the NP, there is heaps to see here and plenty of different places to camp, its definitely on our list of places to come back to on our next trip to the Cape. By mid arvo we had reached New Laura and then Old Laura before we turned onto Battle camp Road, this road was in pretty good condition with long section

After a quick breakfast and our usual pack up routine we left Chilli Beach, not sure we will come back here again…. On our way out we stopped in at the local seafood guy and picked up some delicious prawns. From here we made our way out to Portland Roads and had a look around the small town and read up on the history. Portland Roads is very beautiful and is protected from the South East winds, we couldn't help but think it would be much nice to camp here unfortunately there is no camping in this area. We had morning tea at the one and only cafe and enjoyed the spectacular views out over the protected bay before making our way back to the PDR. Anna has been wanting to try a roadhouse burger for a little while now and we pulled into the Archer River Roadhouse and each had a massive burger with the lot which was delicious. Our camp for tonight was the free stop at "The Bend" just north of Coen, we arrived mid afternoon and most of the spots between the river and the road

Our camp here on the Wenlock is my favourite of the trip so far, last night the skies cleared and we were treated to a brilliant sky full of stars and this place has a very peaceful relaxed feel about it. Future trips to this part of the world will definitely include a stop over here. After packing up we continued on the Frenchman's Track, the exit out of the Wenlock was straight forward and we then had 30 odd kms of rough and rutted tracks with a few small creek crossings and washouts to negotiate. Just after midday we came across a large group of 4wds who had just crossed the Pascoe in the opposite direction to us and on the exit one of them had rolled a tyre off the rim. After chatting to them we started our descent down the into the river. I really probably should have walked this first section as it was several hundred metres of steep rutted track with washouts and wombat holes. At times I couldn't see the track over the bonnet and with no spotter or prior look at the

We were on the road just after 9am today and took a drive trough Weipa to drive the single lane bridge and check out Red Beach. On our way back through town we stocked up on a few last minute supplies then back tracked to the start of the Frenchmans track and our next serious set of adventure. The first 12kms of track isn't difficult and was completed in 2wd just rough in sections with bad corrugations, erosion and ruts. After 12km we got to the Wenlock River which is the first of the 2 major crossings and our camp for the night. The entry into the creek was quite steep and a bit of a challenge but our time on the CREB and the OTT had prepared us well and we had no trouble. After an easy shallow crossing we located a beautiful little campsite on a small island in the creek and proceeded to kick back and relax for the afternoon. The girls spent the arvo swimming in the crystal clear shallow water and Anna and I kept an eye on them while making sure the beers all got a rotation i