NQ Floods - Burnett Heads & Other Stuff

Well here I am back at it again trying desperately to catch up (and I seem to be getting closer) ; following this post the next one will cover our trip down to Melbourne down the inland highway and the stops on the way so I'm nearly there.

 

PROSERPINE & BOWEN FLOODS

 

After “Yasi” and our stint at Kurrimine it was time to head back south; sounds easy enough and would have been if not for the floods at Bowen & Proserpine. To give you an idea of how the trip was we left Ayr to get to Mackay, a total of 306km. It took us 10 hours to do the trip and the time taken was because of the floods not because I drive a Nissan!!!. 

 

 

The above was the queue of traffic waiting to run the gauntlet at Proserpine. The only chance to get across was at low tide when the waters would be at the lowest; main roads came out at low tide to check the situation and refused to take down the “road closed” barriers as they believed it still to deep to cross. After they left the scene a number of trucks and 4 x 4's decided to go; we were the tail end (last vehicle) to take the plunge.

 

 

As we were approaching the food waters we heard on the two way radio from those that did not go that a highway patrol car out of Proserpine was chasing us for not obeying the “road closed” sign ($300 fine); fortunately we made it into the water well before the police arrived; a radio call later confirmed they had turned back (too deep for their car}.

 

 

 

Must admit it was deeper than expected and the distance from entry to exit of the water was approximately 8km. Don't think I would do this again as it was difficult to define where the road was.

 

After the usual overnighters we ended up in Scarborough for Easter; caught up with all our family & friends in the area. Our daughters partner, Nick had his parents coming over from New Zealand so we spent some time on the sunshine coast telling Kiwi jokes (not really).

 

AGNESS WATER / 1770

 

We were offered to do a shared management role at the park at 1770; this would be a three month on, three month off share with the current managers. We decided to give it a try as it would give us all the experience of front & back office (wages, banking and invoicing). We did learn an awful lot but we decided against this as we have not finished our travels; it would have been a good position to be in if we were another couple of years down the track.

 

 

The parks booking system; it looks a bit like an excel spreadsheet but it is way more complex than that.

 

 

Linda on mail sorting after Australia post drop off the daily delivery of boxes, letters & parcels.

 

 

Cabin keys; to explain, the keys you see at the back of the cabinet are the cleaners keys, there are normally the guest keys hanging in front when they a vacant; as you can see by this shot all 28 cabins were booked out, the park does get very busy at times.

 

BURNETT HEADS

 

The Lighthouse Caravan Park –  This is a great little park and we would definitely stay again; the park is run by the son & daughter in law of the managers of the Elliott Heads park, both are council owned, we went and had a look at the Elliott Heads park but location wise we found this to be the best. The sites are a mix of grass and slab so if you want a specific type best you book.

 

Rates for the park were $144 per week so a great price; the amenities were keyed and kept fairly good, new cisterns were being installed so some mess and noise during this was unavoidable. Burnett Heads has a new IGA, yacht club, chemist, bakery, newsagent come post office and a very good pub which does not look like much from the outside but is very nice inside. Major shopping should you need it is at Bundaberg which is only about 12km away.

 

This is a good spot to sit and relax for a few nights or a week plus; the park is more set up for the older traveller as there is no pool, jumping pillow, mini golf, peddle carts and the like, suits us as you are only paying for what you need, not the things you don't use. 

 

 

Our site, we had plenty of room and the grounds are kept clean & tidy.

 

 

This is the historical Burnett Heads lighthouse which stands next to the caravan park; it was relocated to South Head from Morton Island in 1873. It was moved to it's current location under the ownership of the Bundaberg Historical Society in 1972; it is now under the control of Bundaberg Council, they spent $17k in 2002 refurbishing the building.

 

BEC'S 30TH –  FATHERS DAY & THE TEN TENORS

 

We had to make sure we were back around south east Queensland for these events; our daughter, Rebecca had her 30th birthday bash and it was one we wanted to make sure we were at.

 

Linda & I are not late nighters but we managed to hang in until it got well under way; there was plenty of food and even more in the way of drinks. I am a little more wiser these days and just stay on my beers; no spirits or mixers for me and just the odd glass of wine or Bundy & Coke for Lin.

 

 

Linda with our daughter Bec and her partner Nick; the night was a blast.

 

 

The above is what's known as a beer bong (half a plastic coke bottle with a pipe attached) although it does not seem to matter what concoction you mix up or pour in it.

 

The way you use it is pick your poison, put the pipe in your mouth blocking the outlet with your tongue, get someone to hold the contraption as high as the pipe will allow then remove the blockage.

 

The result is 500ml of alcohol going down your throat in about 4 seconds; this brings on a lot of burping but can also lead to alcohol coming out your eyes and nose and may even cause you to throw up. You will also get the added benefit of hearing fits of laughter from all your mates, this could be followed up the next day by an embarrassing picture of yourself being put on Facebook. Anyone want a go??? certainly not me!!!  

 

 

Our two boys; Jay on the left and John

 

 

The grandkids on Fathers day; left to right (excluding the old fart) are Shandelle, Karly, Ruth, Cayle, Healy & Jaxon.

 

Much to my surprise (and horror) whilst we were at 1770 “her indoors” had booked 2 tickets for the Ten Tenors at Queensland Performing Arts in Brisbane; seems I was about to be introduced to a cultural evening so no ruggers and thongs for this do.

 

To top of this night of nights I booked a hotel at Southbank (Rydges) on the internet; the package on the web site offered an upgraded room, valet parking & a full breakfast for 2 at $170, quite good deal considering a standard room here is normally the same price with no breaky or parking, the hotel was only a 5 minute walk from QPAC

 

 

We near died when we got in the room; it had a separate lounge which was huge. I discussed it with Lin and we thought about giving the van a miss for a while and squatting here for a week or two

 

 

The bedroom; better known as the “den of iniquity”

 

 

Dion Molinas; one of the Ten Tenors.

 

 

Stewart Morris; Linda's favourite (after me that is).

 

This was a great night and not what I expected as they do a lot of the modern songs in an operatic way, if you get a chance to see them it is well worth the money.

 

Hope you all enjoyed the read; the next one will be our southerly trek to Melbourne and Canberra and a heap of other places as we went. Should have another post done in a few weeks (prior to Christmas).

 

Love and warm regards to all our family and friends; until next time stay well and travel safely.

 

David & Linda –  The DavLin Rig

 

 

The A/C Saga & Cyclone "Yasi"

Well I'm back again still doing my best to catch up with the site; only got me to blame for being so lazy and disconnected from keeping things up to date

 

Okay, let's start with the A/C saga or as referred to in a recent post “the shuffle & chase”. After the bloody thing broke down again at 1770 and several calls to Dometic they advised me that in travelling north if I stop at Rockhampton they had a service agent in town who would evaluate the problem and fix or replace as required. So off we went happy that we could get something done, never drive away happy based on Dometic saying “we will help you”.

 

We arrived in Rockhampton and proceeded to the address we were given which was in some back street where it was even difficult to park; considering this guy is an agent for Dometic and services A/C's on vans it was tight to even park on the street. The service technician came out to see us mainly because we were blocking his driveway; we explained our problem and he advised us he would get a ladder but also said he was not sure what he could do for us as he was only an agent for Waeco fridge's (Dometic own Waeco). Keeping this part short we checked in to a caravan park to sort out the mess with Dometic in Brisbane

 

 

 

Above is our site at the Discovery park just north of Rocky; I have put this on the site in a past post but it is one of the better parks and in a good location. I believe at the time it was under the $30 mark; amenities were good and always clean, sites had plenty of room and they asked if you would like them to put the van on the site, good marriage saver if you need help.

 

Okay, back on to the A/C problem; after a few call to Dometic they assured me that they had a very good agent in Mackay, as we were north bound we set off after spending a couple of nights in Rocky. we arrived at Andergrove van park (previously blogged) and were told to call Patrick from the A/C company on arrival.

 

He came out to the park which was good for us; his first question to me was “have you got a ladder” and “i need a pen and paper”; I thought here we go again what sort of tradesman for air conditioners does not have a ladder. He proceed (up my ladder) and took the top off the A/C; he advised me the compressor had lost all the oil and was buggered. The unit was not repairable and another new roof section was needed.

 

Patrick filled in all the warranty paperwork and sent it to Dometic, they approved a new roof top section under warranty and would arrange for it to be sent from Brisbane. Patrick told Dometic that if the despatched it Wednesday to Mackay he could fit it no problem on the Friday, any later and he could not do the job for another week, Dometic advised Patrick “no problems”, another non trustable statement as they did not despatch it till Thursday.

 

I contacted Dometic to let them know the A/C (already despatched) would now need to go to Townsville; TNT Transport were contacted and we were assured it would not go to Mackay but head further north to Townsville. When we arrived in Townsville we contacted the new agent that was to fit the new unit; he in turn advised me that he had contacted TNT Transport and they had lost it (a 2ft x 4ft 50kg package had been lost).

 

The final outcome it was found, it was fitted and it is still working.

 

 

One of the parks on our way to Townsville was the Burdekin Cascades park in Ayr; this park is council owned but leased by the current managers from council. This is a great little park and I would recommend it over the others in the area. The amenities block you can see on the left was new and each is like an on-suite, inside each of the doors is a shower, toilet and vanity. Some areas of the park can be quite ground sodden during heavy rain so best staying to the higher ground. The park is just about in town so it is easy to access all of the shopping by foot if you like. Would stay again here as it is great value and a good location; the park managers are very helpful and friendly.

 

 

One of the parks at Ayr has a large snake; bigger than my pet python or more commonly known as the one eyed trouser snake. 

 

 

On the road but the police make sure you get off when one of these big buggers comes along; this was just outside Ayr.

 

KURRIMINE BEACH & SILKWOOD Vs. CYCLONE “YASI”

 

I must thank Troy & Abby for these photos as when we arrived the cleanup had been underway for some weeks; even so when we did get into town it was a totally different place. Linda & I love Kurrimine Beach and the surrounding area so if you do head through these places think of stopping for a few nights; the parks at Mission and especially Kurrimine are great places to stay and unwind.

 

 

A bus stop at Kurrimine Beach with someone's roof sheets wrapped around it.

 

 

The boat survived but the shed it is housed in could not stand up to the cyclone.

 

 

A caravan on it's side; it is hard to comprehend the force that can upend something this heavy.

 

 

The front reception at Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park

 

 

Some of the tree damage within the park at Kurrimine Beach

 

 

A tractor mower that was upended and blown to the back of a shed.

 

 

Garage roller doors were no match for “Yasi” with all within the town being either blown in or sucked out of their frames.

 

 

The structure you can see poking out of the water is a picnic area; normally this is a creek and a nice place for a BBQ, not so during “Yasi”

 

 

This is not a partially constructed house but a partially deconstructed house; the roof has gone and the windows have been ripped out by the force of “Yasi”

 

 

Another house which was damaged but it could have been worse; note the power pole laying over.

 

 

Expensive bananas!!; the above shows what was done to most of the banana plantations in the area, absolutely flattened.

 

 

The above is the swimming pool (25mt) following the cyclone; it had to be drained, refilled, pumps and filters replace and repainted. This was a very big job and very expensive for Marcus & Kay (the owners of the park).

 

 

The scope of work involved in getting the pool back to normal; Bob (Abby's Dad) did the sand blasting and repainting of the whole interior of the pool, the size of this thing can be seen when you consider Abby & Linda were standing at the deep end.

 

 

Abby doing the fishes and other features of the pool; she did a magnificent job in getting it looking aquarium like.

 

 

Linda (right) getting involved; more so with advise and encouragement than actual painting. 

 

 

One of the pictures by Abby.

 

 

Linda helping with paints and the odd brush stroke on the pool artwork.

 

 

Abby and husband, Troy with son Zac; everyone was involved in getting things back to as close to normal as possible.

 

 

Alan (left) who was also helping in getting things back to normal had a birthday in March; it was later we all celebrated as our birthdays all fell in the same week. The huge camp kitchen at Kurrimine Beach came in handy for the celebrations.

 

Well that's about it for this post; still plenty to do to catch up. We are currently at Hallidays Point (just below Taree) after leaving Victoria and heading north stopping at another couple of places before reaching home for Christmas (Scarborough Holiday Village).

 

Hoping you, your family and friends are all well and if your on the road, travelling safely. The next post should be on the airwaves in about another week or so but as always you will get an email to confirm. Hope to see some or all of you in the near future.

 

Love & warm regards to all our family & friends.

 

David & Linda –  The DavLin Rig

 

 

 

Mission Beach to Scarborough & Then 1770 for Work (only a bit)

Well I'm back to doing another catch up post in an effort to get back to the normality of only being a few weeks behind, not several months behind.

 

MISSION BEACH

 

After leaving the Tablelands we headed of to Mission Beach for Linda's Birthday and the AFL Grand Final (last years) before heading in to Kurrimine Beach to help out at Marcus & Kay's van park (Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park).

 

Linda put up all Collingwood gear and I put up a timber fence to stop the rocks hitting the van; they did win so her indoors was happy. The park we stayed at was Dunk Island View and it is one of the cheaper (if not the cheapest) parks at Mission Beach; I may have blogged this previously but just to clarify the rates are good and they offer seniors and the 7 for 6 nights deal, it does have a pool but no other equipment kids wise. Amenities are clean and plenty of shower/toilet cubicles. The park is opposite the beach (one road to cross) and is approximately 2km from the small shopping centre that has a Woolies.

 

 

 

Above: Lin's Collingwood gear out and just before I built the fence.

 

KURRIMINE BEACH

 

Post Mission Beach we headed into Kurrimine Beach; Marcus & Kay needed a break and we offered to manage the park for them for a few weeks. This is a great little park situated between Mission Beach & Innisfail, it has around 50 sites and 10 cabins and is great if you want to fish or just relax without the hustle & bustle.

 

Kurrimine has a few shops but the majors are either Mission or Innisfail. I have blogged this park previously.

 

 

Lots of palm trees within the park so it is a constant battle keeping it neat and tidy.

 

 

Linda in the office checking site availability (or playing solitaire).

 

 

When it comes to the shed Marcus keeps a lot of his gear in it is definitely a mission to find anything; Marcus had a knack of finding what he wanted but for me it took quite some time.

 

Whilst we were in Kurrimine the A/C in the van decided to die in the backside; after a lengthy battle with Dometic the best they would offer was to replace the complete rooftop section for $1000 plus I would also have to pay the $200 labour. Admittedly the unit was out of warranty but given the low usage it to me was a bit off. Following Marcus & Kay's return we headed to Townsville to get the new A/C fitted before heading further south

 

On our way back to Brisbane we stayed at a few overnighters (no pictures, sorry) they were Home Hill (after the A/C was fitted), Kutabul & Malborough. All of these were okay for overnight stays which is what they are on the main highway for; any longer and you would go nuts.

 

CALLIOPE

 

We made it into Calliope to stay with our Niece Tara, hubby Shannon and their daughter Sarina. 

 

 

I just love these free stays; gypsy trash in a new housing estate, who cares; not I.

 

AGNES WATER / 1770

 

After leaving Calliope we headed into Agnes Water / 1770 as we were contacted by them to see if we wanted a few weeks work following Christmas. We agreed to this so further on you will see more on our time at Captain Cook.

 

The park is Captain Cook Holiday Village and it is situated between Agnes Water & 1770; the park is very rural and is well treed so if you are not fond of the bush and a heavily treed environment then it is not for you. The park is very peaceful and quiet so is more suited to the mature generation. It has a pool which good but no other kids equipment (suits me); the amenities (2 blocks) are first class and kept in an immaculate condition and maintenance within the park is always up to date. Prices here at the time were $32 per night; it is a Top Tourist park so 10% discount applies but if you are not TT the you can still get a week and pay for 6 nights.

 

The main shopping is at Agnes Water with an IGA and Foodworks; there are several smaller shops, cafe's, eateries etc. The town does have a pub and service station. As far as major shopping goes it is either Bundaberg or Gladstone which are about 130km away; it is best to stock up on food lines as the IGA & Foodworks are not the best place to be doing a major shop for food as they can be quite expensive.

 

If you are intending to visit I would check availability as coming in all this way off the highway to find all the parks are fully booked can be quite upsetting; there are 4 parks in the area so plan ahead to avoid disappointment.  

 

 

One of the sites at Captain Cook; as I said most are under trees.

 

 

View from the back of the park; as you can see there are lots of trees (you know my thought on trees).

 

MUDJIMBA

 

Decided to stay at our Daughter Rebecca & Nick's place in Mudjimba for the Christmas week; we could fit up the driveway and get the awning out but to do that I had to drive the car into the garage with the van so as still to leave room in the driveway. It fitted perfectly with the only downside being we could not use our car once in and set up; Bec & Nick had cars so no big deal as we used their's when needed.

 

Made for a great Christmas with all the family turning up over a three days (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day & Boxing Day). It was good times for all with Kid's, Grandkids, Nieces & Nephews all turning up.

 

 

Above is our van tucked neatly into Bec's driveway; the car was in front and stayed there for the duration (1 week).

 

 

One of the many gut filling meals we all ate over Christmas; there was never any shortage of food.

 

After the main Christmas week we headed off to our usual Christmas place of residence, Scarborough to catch up with a lot of our friends for a few weeks. I have not bothered to blog this as it is always where we will be if we are back in Brisbane for Christmas.

 

1770

 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's of to work we go; yes we did agree to do 4 –  5 weeks managing Captain Cook Holiday Village in February whilst Tim & Vanessa (the usual managers) took time off.

 

All up we were at the park 6 weeks doing hand over on the first week; we used our van on this occasion although we could have used one of the cabins, as all our stuff was in the van we opted to stay on one of the sites. On the 3^rd week of us being at 1770 our new A/C unit died again (3 months use); bit of  story to follow about this but I'll leave that for the next post, I call it the “A/C Shuffle & Chase”.

 

To give you an idea the park has 28 cabins of various sizes from basic bungalows to 2 bedroom villas; there are about 70 sites, most powered. The park has a general store, incoming mail boxes for 1770's mail and a restaurant & take away. There are approximately 12 staff which alternate on cleaning duties (depending cabin usage), office relief and a cook a waiting staff. There is also 2 grounds staff that assist throughout the park.

 

 

Above shows the general store and check in area; the managers residence is above the shop.

 

 

Above shows part of the general store and the shop counter.

 

 

After the mail was delivered each morning it was sorted and put in the relevant pigeon holes behind the counter for collection by 1770 town residents.

 

 

Front of the Deck restaurant; it was closed when this photo was take as some renovations were taking place. Must admit the food is very good here and well priced, it is also fully licensed.

 

 

Above was Linda at the till which at times seemed to be a little possessed; the bloody thing would sometimes lock up and not open. When it happened it would drive you nuts especially when the shop and check in area was busy.

 

If anyone tells you that managing/working a caravan park is easy or “it's a doddle” don't believe them as it is not so much hard as continuous and pretty much seven days a week. Just because the office says hours of 8.00am to 6.30pm be assured the hours are much longer than that.

 

Whilst we were here it was during the period that cyclone “Yasi” hit far north Queensland; it did not affect us directly but it did cause serious damage the Marcus & Kay's park at Kurrimine Beach.

 

After we handed Captain Cook back to Tim & Vanessa we headed north to Kurrimine to see what had happened and also give them another break. This was also where the A/C Shuffle & Chase began.

 

That will be in the next post along with some photos of the outright destruction caused by “Yasi” and why the sudden jump in banana prices.

 

Hope to do another catch up run and have it up in a week or so but will always email to let you know about the update.

 

Until then stay well and travel safe; our love & warm regards goes to all our family & friends.

 

David & Linda –  The DavLin Rig