Tweed Heads NSW August 23rd 2024

 Tweed Heads NSW August 23rd 2024

Koala. Kirra Beach Qld

Another 4 1/2 hours of highway hell. Tewantin to Tweed Heads, its just full-on motorised mayhem. Started badly when we very, very, nearly wiped out a bikie, who thought it was smart to swoop past us on the left while I was in the middle of getting back n that same lane after an overtaking move. He must have been doing 130 at least. Just how he didn’t hit us I really don't know. I swerved a bit, he severed a lot. Just plain good luck that I saw him in the side mirror in what would have been the last split second of his life.

One always expects the Bruce or whatever it is, “A1” I think is its proper name, to be busy with its four lanes but this year it has been taken to new heights of traffic all hell-bent on being somewhere else as fast as possible. That’s not so bad, I can handle that, but then they closed two lanes about halfway down to put in more lanes and so we were reduced to a crawl for half an hour or so before finally being freed of it at the NSW border. Northbound was just as bad. And the locals just accept it as the normal way to travel. Oddly, looking back through my blog and travel notes, I say the same thing every year. I think this may be our last, Id rather drive a few hundred kilometres further right out around the back of Brisbane than do this again.

anyhow, this year we are back at what used to called the Ben Boyd van park, owned an operated by the local council. Haven’t been here for 9 years as it turns out. I don't remember the old highway outside the fence being quite this noisey but it will have to do for this year.

Tewantin Qld August 20th 2023

 Tewantin Qld August 20th 2023

Sunset over the Noosa River. Noosaville Qld

Another totally exhausting day crashing our way down the Bruce.

And, just when you thought it was tolerably bad and not far to go, it all turns to the “real mccoy”as my father was wont to say in polite company. You can almost see the end in sight, just 20km into Gympie, a quick sandwich by the park and ponds, then onto the Bruce Proper and sail down to the Noosa turnoff.

But no, this last twenty kilometres were the worst we have seen this trip. The road is atrocious, that’s the best I can say. It looks like bits and pieces have been patched up, there are one or two signs that big things may have been planned but have now been forgot. Its just awful.

Perhaps there is light at the end of that tunnel. Down near Gympie itself, off to the east you can see a massive bridge / overpass and road works. Then the penny drops: they are building the Gympie bypass and the rest of the roads are a minimal maintenance regime. Think: Pacific Highway for the last 20 years. Its going to be fantastic - one day.

Gympie itself was hosting a market and traffic jam. We were lucky to get out alive. An alternative to the park is Golden Arches, but they just aren’t accessible Gympie. We did see one sigh on our way in suggesting there was another MCDonalds at a place called Traveston some 25 odd kilometres past Gympie. Neither of us had ever heard of it. There being no alternative for lunch in Gympie we pressed on and finally reached the Bruce Proper and the travel smoothed out and we started to relax. Two big lanes, divided road.  Everyone is happy. Hammer time. 

But what’s this? A new exit - and it goes to a place called Traveston and promises to have a big roadhouse complete with a McDonalds. Of course we just had to take it and see for ourselves. Turns out its a brand-new huge service centre with plenty of RV parking (when you find it) and with a what has become the norm for thees places: an attached superseded pig-pen.

We bought Maccas coffee and a sticky bun from Dingos Bakery or somewhere, sat out in the sunshine and pontificated on the ills of the world.

Traveston Qld Service Centre. Image: borrowed from 'net

Finally strolled into our normal van park and lucked into what we think is the best site in the place. The pool is heated to 30°C, there are no yobbos with fire-pits and all is right with the world.

Took our usual stroll down Gympie Terrace (in Noosaville - not Gympie!) along the river, went into Noosa proper for a look-see and an ice cream, and finished the day with dinner at he Royal Mail Hotel in Tewantin, one of the nicest places to eat in the area I reckon.

Sunset over the Noosa River. Noosaville Qld

Rockhampton Qld August 18th 2023

Rockhampton Qld August 18th 2023

No, not a time warp, more like Ground Hog Day. All the things I've written about this stretch of the Bruce are still true, The road surface is just OK, but the road is windy and undulating and narrow. No roadworks to talk about, just hundreds of caravans that think doing 82 1/2 kph on a 110 stretch of road is OK. It’s not. It’s just very frustrating and when the very rare overtaking lane appears, I find myself ‘going for it’ instead of letting the stream cars and trucks past, because the snails all speed up to 105 because it’s a nice straight road... 

I incurred the wrath of one truck driving cowboy because I passed a van instead of letting the truck go around both of us first. He then proceeded to tailgate me, attempting, and finally overtaking in the most dangerous of manners. Not happy with that, he then proceeded to do the same thing with all the other vans in front of him. Too bad if you were coming the other way, or that there wasn’t room in between the two vehicles in front, he just rammed his way through. We could see the taillights of the vans come on and the swerve to the left to let him back in each time. Idiotic driving.

Now, an hour later and we rolled into Rockhampton, and guess what? we pulled up next to him at the traffic lights.....

Bull, image borrowed from internet. Rockhampton Qld

 

Innisfail, Qld 1Aug2022 385km

 Innisfail, Qld 1Aug2022 385km

Up early and away! On the road at 07:45 and heading to Innisfail via Townsville. Road east and across to the coast is good and a drama free run, except for a bunch of roadworks, some of which seem to be only signage, the road work looks to have been completed long ago. One disappointment is that the fabulous dual carriageway they build around the back of Townsville is now just a suburban road and you can't help but wonder if they looked at any other big sprawling city to see what was going to happen. Fortunately it leads onto the Motorway, which is great, except that its not finished yet, but it will be, one day, and then it will be world class. After the excitement of the motorway, you are of course returned to the Mighty Bruce, which continues to be everything that it reputation claims: narrow, no overtaking, congested and basically a pain. The only overtaking lane between Townsville and Ingham was blocked of - doing roadworks of course.

We finally stopped at Cardwell, about 50km north of Ingham, for a cuppa and a rest. At Cardwell the highway is right on the ocean and apart from a must-stop place for travellers looking for a coffee and food, its the home to my favourite Parkrun, which runs right along the ocean front.

We were sitting admiring the scenery and counting the zillion or so vans going in both directions, when we noticed the Army on the move, heading north. Thought nothing much of it really, untill we finally caught up to the traffic jam they were causing as they tootled along at 80kph. We tried to change our plan and go straight through to Cairns, but they were fully booked and couldn’t fit us in for the extra night. So we pulled into the park we had booked at Innisfail, the August Moon Caravan Park. Far too many daggy old permanent vans and workers truck for my liking. Has the oddest pool however, its claim being that it is ‘tri-level’, which I assume means it has three depths. It is clean and maybe even warm enough to swim, but the tiles are falling off, the concrete surrounds are uneven and weedy and like the rest of the park, nay, the entire town, looks unloved and neglected.

Water Tower, Innisfail Qld

Rockhampton to Agnes Water Qld 27 Aug 2107

Finally, we had to leave the Big4 Adventure Airlie Beach and head down to Rockhampton. We weren't looking forward to this drive as apart from Mackay, about 140 km from Airlie Beach, there’s not much else on this 480km run down the coast. First there is Sarina, which is 20km south of Mackay, but its too soon to stop and we don't need fuel yet. So we push on through a raft of places that are not on the map and barely exist in the flesh; they are mostly off the road toward the coast. 

Last year we stopped at Camila for fuel and a cuppa, but forwent it this time and pushed on. After 300km I was starting to get a bit weary and hungry, so the signs for an up coming roadhouse looked enticing, but, it was closed and has been replaced with two self-help pumps attached to a container which I suppose holds the tanks. We didn't stop and headed for St Lawrence 20km further on, except it’s 6km off the road and once you get there its not a much to look at. It had a campground on the outskirts, which was surprising full, and a tired and mostly dead-looking swimming pool and toilets on the other side of town. We parked under a tree and had a drink and rest. We did one lap of the one street and were impressed by just how run down building could be and still be used, such as the pub, which might have once been a shearing shed or some other farm type building.

Back on the road we headed for Marlborough which itself is off the road somewhere, but did have a fuel stop, so we did just that, stopped and fuelled, the car, not us, we could wait until Rockhampton rolled around.

Which it did in due course, just 6 hours or so after we left Airlie Beach. I have to say, having reread previous things I’ve said about this trip that today was fairly pleasant by comparison; not one roadwork to be seen almost no traffic, probably because it’s Sunday.

I had another look at our dodgy van brakes, and finally found the broken wire that just had to be there; right in the exact middle of the van and hidden behind the chassis member. I tossed the connector away and soldered the three wires together, let’s hope that helps things in the braking department.

A park on the south side of Rockhampton, right near the van park. Rockhampton Qld

No rush to get going this morning, but soon enough we are back out on the Bruce and right into roadworks! The traffic was heavy as can be and we crawled along. We resigned ourselves to a long day to cover the 200 odd kilometres and just drove with the flow. Surprisingly, the roadworks only went for about 20km, but the traffic got worse if anything. The problem turned out to be this pair of clowns taking a load of new caravans from the recent show in Rockhampton back to wherever they had come from. One was a truck with van on the tray and another hooked on the back, the second vehicle was another smaller truck towing a medium sized van, but they were doing 80kph flat out except up the hills, and they left exactly no space between them. Needless to say, the string of six other caravanners behind them had no chance to overtake and the few cars showed no inclination either.

Finally I let it rip up one of the overtaking lanes, no more Mr Nice Guy and letting cars passed - we finally got clear of these two idiots and frankly they should be ashamed of themselves. Later on even their mates from the show were talking about them on the radio...

Anyhow, we turned off and stopped for a cuppa at Miriamvale as does everyone, before heading down to Agnes Water proper. We were a bit nervous about what to expect, even though you book, you never know. But or fears were unfounded and here we are settled in. *Sigh* It's tough, but someone has to do it.

Our spot. Agnes Water, Qld

Tweed Heads NSW August 21, 2015

Tweed Heads NSW August 21, 2015

Another day, another state. Time to move on again today, and so, in-between showers of rain, we packed up and hit the road. Back out through Eumundi to the Bruce once more, heading south. The rain persisted and made for a more uncomfortable drive than it should be. Somewhat south of Eumundi, just north of Beerburrum we started picking up 2-way radio chat about a truck crash ahead of us and how the road was blocked for 5km or more. As we got closer we understood that only the left lane was getting through but it may as well be completely blocked. Armed with this warning Judy hit the atlas to find us a way round, via Beerburrum and Caboolture, a detour confirmed by the trucks as they too made other arrangements. Just as we came to a halt, the exit appeared and so we along with anyone else with a radio, left the mighty Bruce and headed for the hills. It turns out to be a pleasant drive, and as we like roads less travelled, it suited us fine.

We came back out onto the highway at Caboolture and even though we knew that the road was still blocked up north, you would never know from the amount of traffic. You just have to pick a lane and stay in it: for us that’s not the fast lane nor the lefthand lane but one in the middle. We just kept our heads down until we were down past Brisbane airport when we decided after two hours and 120km that a break would be nice. Taking the service exit we found a huge, and i’m talking massive Shell servo, which also housed a whole range of eateries and a dedicated truckers lounge. Mind you we couldn't find the way in to the car and maybe van parking, so after circling once by driving through all the huge trucks, we abandoned the rig out in the street and walked in.

Back out on the road, we soon came to that marvel of engineering, the Gateway bridge over the Brisbane river.  These silly blighters running over it were not there when we roared over! 

Gateway Bridge, Brisbane Qld
Image : Courier Mail

From here on, it’s a 95km melee of 4, 5, 6 lanes of traffic until well past the Gold Coast. The traffic never lets up and you need to be right on it to survive.

Finally we made it into Tweed Heads and the van park, unscathed. Miracle. And it’s stopped raining!

Tewantin Qld August 14,2015

Tewantin Qld August 14 2016

Sadly, we really did have to leave Agnes Water this morning. We headed out toward the Bruce and decided to take the back way down to Bundaberg. Mistake, big mistake. The road is even worse than the Bruce, narrow, twisting, rough and being used by vans doing 73 -87 1/2 for the entire 90km. Finally made it though onto the highway proper, but from Bundaberg down to Maryborough, its not a lot better! 

Stopped at Childers for a break, drank coffee and had a snack - too late for morning tea, too early for lunch, although the hot chicken roll and gravy for $6 looked very tempting.

But no, we returned to the circus and travelled another 2 hours or so through roadworks and rubbish roads and even some really good bits. The traffic is heavy and its a full-on job towing the van and staying out of trouble (and the way of trucks and speedy cars and policemen)

No stopping us now, straight through to Tewantin, arriving here at 3, for a fashionably late lunch.