At Gracemere, Rockhampton

We had our usual slow start on departing Bundaberg on Saturday.  We have discovered that since starting our Australian journey, we are not very good at getting up early. ‘Wakey Wakey’ is usually between 8am and 8.30am then it’s a coffee in bed and a healthy breakfast to follow before we decide how the day is going to go. Saturday was no different – up at 8.30am, breakfast, a bit of idle chatter with other travellers and we finally hit the road at about 10.30am.

As we said in the last update we really didn’t have a plan for this leg of the journey but thought it would be good if we could at least get to Gladstone. On the way north we passed through a little place called Gin Gin. It so happens that our drive by coincided with the town’s Saturday market. It was a ‘we must stop’ and 30 minutes later we departed with a very tasty jar of macadamia honey. We absolutely love the country markets here.

Calliope River free camping area

As we got closer to Gladstone we read in our Australia Camp 7 book that there was a freedom camping spot about 26km out of Gladstone that was directly beside the Calliope River. The information said there was room for about 50 motorhomes or caravans so we decided to make that our stop. We are lucky with the motorhome that we carry plenty of water (hot and cold) and power so freedom camping is no problem. We arrived at the site at about 3pm and lucked in with a nice flat spot. Once arrived, we decided the spot was perfect so decided to stay there for two nights. Once we get further north and away from the main centres, freedom camping becomes much more of an option. More photographs HERE .

Our camping spot is directly below the Calliope River Historical Village.  We had a stroll around there this morning and it was most interesting.  Early living in the Australian outback was very primitive. To have a look around the village click HERE .

This sort of put us having a swim at the Sands

On Sunday we unhitched the little Suzuki and spent the day touring the region. We went into Gladstone itself and drove around the main city, the marina and port area. We then headed off around the coast to Tannum Sands, Boyne Island on the Boyne River and Canoe Point. We had heard there were heaps of ‘midgees’ in the area but luckily they were not around on our visit. The temperature was around 25C so it was a lovely drive around.

We departed the Calliope River this morning round ‘10ish’ and headed north.  We made a small detour to drop into Mt. Larcom for breakfast. Our goal this leg was to get to Rockhampton and we just about made it. We are now in are small Park at Gracemere, about 7km west of Rockhampton.  We liked the sound of it as it was really cheap, a short walk to the town and was spread over about 10 acres. Our plan is to base ourselves here for a couple of days and have a look around the area before heading further north. Will keep you updated.