Well we are finally on the move once more and will be meandering north for our Cape York trip mid May; we have plenty of time in our migration to Cairns so the below post may have some stops we have made in the past.
SCARBOROUGH
Firstly congratulations to Digger & Sara on the birth of their second son, Hunter a baby brother for Chase.
We seemed to have made the Scarborough Holiday Village (Link Here) our home for the Christmas breaks each year; it is ideal for us as we have our kids and grandkids in the area around Brisbane & the Sunshine Coast. The park is still good value at $30 per night or $180 per week; the Christmas period is a little more but it only rises to $200 per week and only for a 4 week period (Mid Dec to Mid Jan); this is not bad if you consider most parks in this type of location (coastal) are significantly dearer and stay elevated for most of the school holidays.
Peter & Pauline intend to pave or concrete most of the annex areas over time, we were lucky enough to get one during our stay; this means the drive through sites will be staggered slabs, this will be better as they are then all weather suitable. The park is still pet friendly for those with dogs etc.
Australia Day at Scarborough with (L – R), Karly, Ruth & Shandelle.
MUDJIMBA
Yes this was a big trip; Scarborough to Mudjimba was 2 stops, 2 pies, a little nap; all this in a space of 90 minutes (just kidding – only one pie). We spent a week here so we could spend some time with our daughter Bec and partner Nick. Whilst there Nick made up a support frame for the drawers in the back of the car (thanks mate).
The park is a council owned so no pets allowed here; most of the sites are slabs but they do have grass sites for tents, camper trailers and vans (if you like grass). Most of the sites have plenty of shade of which I am no big fan if the trees are overhanging the van. The park has 2 amenities blocks, one a fair bit older than the other. The facilities were clean and I would class them as average plus; during the peak season it seems they would barely cope. The park has a swimming pool but you would struggle to find room in it come holiday periods; TV reception can be a bit hard to come by on some sites, even satellite my be a problem given the abundance of trees.
There is some small shops within a few hundred meters and a Bi-Lo about 3kms away; the bigger shops are at Maroochydore. Plenty of bike/walking tracks and the park is only 300m from the beach.
Price is a little high at $225 per week ($37 per night).
Our site at Mudjimba; one of the few without trees.
PIALBA
We went to Pialba again to catch up with friends we met at Scarborough (Phil & Marg) so we stayed at the usual haunt (Pialba Beach C/P); not much changed here other than a bloody big water park next door (and its free). The caravan park is $186 a week but if you stay on the beach-front sites (shown just in front of us) they are $216 a week; Linda called me a tight arse for not paying the $30 more; me – I just prayed no one parked on the sites in front or “her indoors” would have given me heaps.
Our site above; I did have several poo’s around the sites in front of us to keep other caravaner's at bay. Cheap my arse – thats another carton.
This is the water park next to the Pialba caravan park and it is totally free; some of the Hervey Bay residents are not so happy about it as they believe the money could have been better spent on health care etc. My understanding is $8 million of tax payer funds built the park.
The above is part of the park where a bucket fills and tips water on to a corrugated roof.
The kids get a great waterfall on the bucket emptying. There are no swimming pools here as such, just water features for kids to play in.
Part of the water park is a wave pool for the body boarders; the whole complex is supervised by about 6 council workers.
EIDSVOLD
On our way to Cania Gorge we decided to stay over at Eidsvold; a small country town with plenty of hospitality. On getting to Eidsvold the first place we came across was the showgrounds The service station told us vans park there); it had just been mowed and plenty of power boxes and taps available so we pulled in and set up.
We thought we had better check with the council if it was okay so walked a few hundred meters in to town; the lady at the council advised us there was a van park (council owned) in town that charges $15 per night. She then advised us that it was okay to stay at the showgrounds for a donation ($5); we paid our $5 and the council offered to come down and open the locked shower block and turn on the hot water. We declined and said the toilet facilities that were open would be fine and we would use our own shower. We had a couple of beers at the pub on our way back to the van and had a great nights sleep. Stay at least one night if you are passing through.
Set up on the showgrounds; it was as good if not better than the caravan park.
CANIA GORGE
After leaving Eidsvold our next planned stop was Cania Gorge (on our way to Emerald) but we did do an overnight stay at Dululu (in the camps “x” book). Heading north the Cania road is about 10km from Monto; there are 2 parks with the first one being a Top Tourist (about 12km in on the Cania Road), the second is a Big 4 (20km in).
We did end up staying at the big 4 for 3 nights; price difference was $27 at the Top Tourist vs. $32 at the Big 4. The Big 4 has 3G mobile and wireless internet (Telstra only – other service providers do not work here), the Top Tourist does not. You take your pick; we could not comment on the T.T. park as we did not stop to look.
The amenities were well maintained and had good sized showers; be aware that water is supplied via tanks and bores on the property so if you want to keep bore water contaminants out of the van then it is best to have a filter between the tap connection and your van. The park has swimming pools and a massive jumping pillow for kids so it does lean Heavily on the family side of things. This is a great bush park and we would go again. we were parked next to a lovely local couple (Brian & Ann) who invited us to their farm for afternoon tea. It’s amazing how many friendly locals we have met so far in our short time on the road.
This is a great stop for a few days or longer; it gets fairly busy on weekends and holiday periods are fully booked so in these times (holiday periods) ring ahead or your drive may be wasted.
Our site at Cania Gorge.
Shamrock Mine is between the caravan park and Cania Dam; a hilly walk up the track and if you stop make sure you keep your feet stomping as the ants here are quite big and don’t mind a chomp on your leg for a quick feed. Linda was winding the rope up; I offered to tie it round her waist and lower her down for a closer look and wind her back up, she flatly refused; no trust in our relationship lately!!!!! can’t think what she thought my intentions were.
Shot of the rocks at Cania; the picture does not capture the colours and beauty of the area.
The Kangaroos are all over the park; they seem to co-exist with all the visitors and you can get quite close to them. The above is not an uncommon sight.
King parrots are fed at the park on a daily basis near the office; from that they tend to move from van site to van site.
Well thats about it for now; we did get to Emerald and caught up with our son John. There was a lot of flooding in the area; we are now in Rockhampton and leaving here on Sunday 14th March.
The next post will have Emerald, Rockhampton and a couple more; until then stay safe and well
Warm regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig
