Suzanne & Nic Outback Caravan Trip 2025

 11th July 2026: left Hervey Bay heading for Maroochydore via Maryborough. We drove past the airport, much as I remember it as a field with a small shed, where I landed in a Piper Cherokee, one of 5 passengers and a pilot going to Proserpine for a Melbourne University Underwater Club diving holiday out of Shute Harbour. We had to make an unscheduled landing because suddenly we had limited visibility through the windscreen. This turned out to be due to a faulty grease nipple, and I was dispatched to walk to the nearest petrol station to try to get a new one, which I was able to do! We camped that night on the airfield. Maryborough is a very spread out town full of old run down  high rise on stilts weatherboard houses. The Bruce was once again stressful driving due to the single lane status. Finally we hit dual carriageway! We stopped about 3/4 hour short of Maroochydore at a huge new service G’s where we had crab sushi and a coffee, We got to the Maroochy River Caravan Park at ...

 10th July 2026: rained all night but actually the day didn't turn out to be too bad! We went out for coffee at Salt, after searching for the units on the Esplanade we stayed in in 1995. We were even contemplating investing in one, but decided against it then, but there was no evidence left of them so perhaps they were pulled down in the intervening 30 years or else modified beyond recognition! We then did a grocery shop. Nic attended to matters relating to Tilba AGM and I thoroughly cleaned the refrigerator and bathroom! We then walked to the Botanic gardens, the long way around as we found! There  was a wetlands area and a small lake with turtles, and at least 80 memorial plaques attached to trees celebrating Hervey Bayite’s 100th birthdays!  We circumnavigated the gardens and came home to find more Cotton Pygmy Geese near the caravan! Strange when I’ve never seen them before to see them in two different habitats! We are off to Sangrini’s for dinner as it’s too bleak to...

 9th July 2026:We awoke to sunshine! Left. Mt Larcom and drove to Auckland Hill, Gladstone walking up 120 steps to a viewing point over 2 coal shipping terminals: Wiggins Island and RG Tanna terminals, and over to Curtis  Is where there are 3 LNG terminals- Santos, Australian Pacific LNG, Queensland Curtis LNG, and over the grain silos, the petrol and the diesel storage tanks, and the alumina terminal- Queensland Alumina 85% owned by RioTinto. We then proceed down the Bruce Highway- single laned with lots of roadworks happening with intermittent overtaking lanes. The speed limit was 100 km/hr but only safe to drive a caravan at about 80 to 85 km/ hr so Nic was constantly having to let trucks in particular pass us.. We stopped for a coffee at Gin Gin then proceeded over the Burchell River and travelled the next 60 km into Hervey Bay, hugely developed since our visit in 1995, and to the Hervey Bay Caravan Park, where we chose the far more private unpowered site over the cramped ...

 8th July 2026: those Cotton Pygmy-Geese were promenading around the campground this morning strutting their stuff of deep green iridescent capes with dark red patches tied onto their white chests with a black band across their white chests! My bird book says they should have black bills, but these 2 ? Males definitely both had white bills! Cape Palmerston Holiday park had great facilities with the unpowered area offering privacy and not many occupants! We set off back along the Bruce Highway once again a narrow single lane in each direction, with so many traffic light controlled single lane roadworks along the way! Fortunately along the way there were overtaking lanes,  but nevertheless it was stressful driving for Nic as the majority of vehicles wanted to travel at the ridiculous 110 km/hr speed limit whereas we preferred 85 km/ hour! Most of the countryside was dry grass and melaleucas. We stopped at Grandma’s Groceries and Coffee shop in Marlborough, the only show in a tim...

 7th July 2026: awoke in Airlie beach caravan park to gentle steady rain. The curlews stood very still all around our van, unperturbed by the rain. We set off to head to Proserpine-much more as I remembered it when I spent the night on Proserpine railway station some 50 years ago! Queensland weatherboard simple housing still prevails. We then continued down the Bruce Highway - single lane with overtaking lanes at regular intervals-to Mackay where we drove into the city and walked around to get the feel of the place.  Nic then wanted to visit the Hay Point lookout to see the huge coal loading facility operated by the Qld government The road up to the viewing are had a > 20% gradient so we were forbidden from taking the caravan up, so we walked! There were 2 wharves one is 1.8 km out to sea and the other is 3.85km long!!this is the largest metallurgical quality iron ore facility in the world ( suitable for steel making) We then drove as close as we could get to the facility b...

6th July 2026: Left Forrest Beach after a brief look at the beach for me, a site for green turtle nesting. We left via backroads through cane fields until we eventually rejoined the Bruce Highway. Driving was quite stressful for Nic because the Bruce was single lanes albeit with overtaking lanes at intervals. This didn’t stop many vehicles trying to overtake us anyway! We bypassed Townsville travelled through Ayr and refueled at Bowen. We then headed for Shute Harbour and Airlie Beach unrecognisable from the tiny places they were in 1975 when I was last here! The development has been extraordinary, but not unexpected for such a beautiful place. There were just so many boats anchored in the harbour and moored at the Marina! We ended up at the Tasman Caravan park, surrounded by bush stone curlews. We shopped locally and ate at the Pub. Tomorrow we head for Cape Palmerston.