Escape 2 Aus.: Overnight camping spots- 2016 Qld trip

We left home after a fairly quick decision to go away. The weather here in Adelaide had been pretty awful with a lot of rain and cold and windy days, certainly not like our normal October weather and we were definitely looking for some warm weather, so decided to head north to Queensland. We started out with the weather being warm but overcast. As we continued on, the weather became a bit more windy and later in the afternoon we had some light rain, and mid afternoon we decided to look for a place to stop. We got to Olary but the Rest Area there was quite boggy and the rain was now much heavier and looked like it was settling in. We arrived at Mingary, which is only an old railway siding with a large water tank, so we decided to stop as it was on a side road up above the highway and near the railway track but we had solid bittumen so knew we could stay there without getting bogged.

I am not going to give a lot of comment about the trip but the photos will show our overnight stops, some are "free" and others are in caravan parks, depending on what was available as we generally don't book ahead. We really like to bush camp but I do like to know that there are others camping nearby, not right on top of us though!

The rain kept getting heavier

Mingary water tank

Day 1 overnight stop - Mingary, Sth Aus.

Darling River, Wilcannia

Wilcannia

Day 2 - Overnight stop at Cobar Caravan Park

Nyngan

Water, water, everywhere... near Nyngan

Flooding near Nyngan

Hickey Falls

Hickey Falls - Ron had a walk up closer while I stayed safely back on the rocks

Enjoying a drink before dinner

Day 3 overnight stop at Hicke Falls - a really good free camp to stay the night

And a campfire too!

Wednesday 5th October - Day 4

We left our camp spot at Hickey Falls and were on the road by 8.45 am, pretty early for us, but no point in hanging around as we want to get to Noosa to catch up with our daughter and her family who are holidaying there. We were planning to stop at Coonabarrabran but we couldn't get any parking for the van unless we wanted to have a long walk, so we kept going. The scenery was lovely around here with cattle grazing and wattles in flower. We got to Gunnedah and stoed for fuel and a bit of shopping and also a coffee break here in town at a nice friendly coffee shop. Back on the road, heading for Tamworth. We drove through Tamworth trying to decide which caravan park to stay at and found the Big 4 and thought it was easier to stay there rather than drive around too much, so we booked in and got set up. The sites are pretty close together, but we are used to bush camping and now we know why we love to be in the bush! We got back in the car and drove to the Oxley lookout, walked in the park in town and saw all the scultpures of the country music singers. We found a pizza place and decided we'd go back there for takeaway for tea.

Reg Lindsay

The Big Guitar

Thursday - Day 5
We left the Big 4 at Tamworth at about 9.15 am, sun is shining but it is a bit chilly but should warm up later. Our next stop was meant to be Armidale, but again the parking was a problem so we kept going, stopping at Guyra for lunch, and then on to Glencoe for a coffee break at a little Antique shop. We were a bit disappointed at this little shop as it looked so inviting on the outside but the coffee was no better than we could have made ourselves, and we are not coffee snobs, but do like to get value for money. We should have waited until we got to Glen Innes, about 15 mins away. This was a lovely town with some beautiful old buildings. I browsed around the Art gallery while Ron had a look in the antique book shop. Back on the road and decided to stop the night at Bluff Rock Rest Area. This was a good stop but we were there on our own which is something I don't really like and we were hoping someone else would come in, but most people only came to use the facilities and then went on their way. During the night we heard a car pull in near us but couldn't see them, but they were gone by morning. Needless to say I didn't sleep all that well.

Overnight stop at Bluff Rock rest area

Lovely old buildings in Glen Innes

Tenterfield Saddler

Friday - Day 6

We arrived at Tenterfied at 9.15 am and headed for the Info Centre as we wanted to look at the town without wasting too much time getting lost! We found the Tenterfield Saddler, one of the touristy places on our list, and one of our favourite songs too, so it was good to get a photo there although it is just a shopfront and not open to go inside, we might have been too early. We then drove around and found the Cork tree, something we have never seen before.

Cork tree in Tenterfield

Back on the road to Casino where we stopped for lunch. Again no parking for caravans near the town centre but we were able to park out of town and not far on our walk into town we came across KFCand although we don't usually buy this type of food we decided it was an easy option and we found a "healthy" choice which was quite nice for a change.

Mullumbimby Showgrounds

After lunch we drove onto Lismore, again no easy parking for caravans so kept going onto Ballina and folloowed the Tourist drive up the coast and got to Mullumbimby where we stayed the night at the Showgrounds. The coast drive was stunning with beautiful beaches and scenery, so we will come back without the van to have a good look around.

We stayed a couple of nights here at the Showgrounds, $25/night. It was a great spot to stay and unhook so we could do some day trips.