Apple Tree Creek - Free Camping

20/10/2014

We left Elliot Heads Caravan Park after a nice few windy days but all the same nice. Like a lot of places around the Queensland Coast you need the Bushman's spray to protect from the sandflies. We met a lovely couple who parked next to us Mel and Jenifer, we had a great chat before we both moved on.

(Set up at Apple Tree Creek Community Park)

We headed out and thought we would drive the short distance of 67kms to Apple Tree Creek community reserve arriving reasonably early we had the choice of many places to park for the day and night after doing this and setting up we went for a walk and a look around the place. It is a free camp area it has clean toilets, free electric BBQ's to use and good size playgrounds for the kids.

In addition to this is has a pie van that sells pies, fish and chips, burgers and many other choices, it operates from 0700 hours to 1400 hours other tan early October and February she has holidays, prices are good and the food quality is good. There was also a veg and fruit man there selling his wares.

You are allowed to stay here for 20 hours only and it is interesting watching as the afternoon progresses the amount of people arriving to set up camp, there are large caravans, small campervans, people in tents, motorhomes like us and truckies. Just on dark we had a semi-trailer pull up alongside us, the truckie asked if we are leaving before 0630 hours and we said no, so he shut the engine down and said he was off to the pub for a feed. One thing that I have to chuckle about is some of the caravans that pull up, their first priority is setting up the satellite dish for the TV. I heard this hammering and wondered what it was, it was a bloke setting up the dish and hammering pegs in the ground to hold it in place.

(Kids playgrounds)

(Pie Van)

(Fruit stall)

(1st World War memorial, on the front it has the honours list of those that lost their lives and on the other three sides it has a list of all service men that went to war from Apple Tree Creek)

(Mid afternoon vehicles start arriving it was full by dark.)

(Sports area)

(The Story)

 (The Apple Tree Hotel)

Like most free camps there is road noise but in our unit with double glazing it is not annoying and one gets used to noise when you know what it is. I think that the good thing about the truckie parking next to us gave us a barrier between us and the road. We had a pretty good sleep anyway.

Tomorrow we are off to Tinnanbar which is right on the Great Sandy Straits so we will be dealing with more sandflies.

Cheers  

Agnes Waters to Elliot Heads

17/10/2014 - 20/10/2014

We left Agnes Waters camp site and headed for Elliot Heads via Bundaberg pulling up at Sugarland Shopping Centre to get some stores as there is not much at Elliot Heads other than some items that can be purchased at the Driftwood Cafe/Kiosk.

(Elliot Heads Caravan Park)

(The Driftwood Cafe/Kiosk across the road)

(Elliot Heads and Elliot River)

Arriving at Elliot Heads we realised what the Lifeguard had said to us at Bargara, he said it is his favourite place and we could see why it is very pretty. The caravan park is very clean and tidy and Les in the office was very accommodating, he gave us a map of the park high-lighting vacant sites that would suit our situation and said we could go for a walk and pick what site we wanted. He also stated that we could use two sites if we needed the space.

We selected our site and parked the trailer then the motorhome. Les had given us two keys for the toilets and said there is no deposit required, you only pay if you lose the key.

(Plenty of room for the unit and the trailer)

After setting up I thought I would go to the toilet and check out the showers, I found the toilet block and entered, when I got inside the set up had me wondering there was a large change room and two showers, cold water and this was open no doors at the entrance so I am wondering where the keys are for. I walked outside and could not see any other block so I went back in and heard someone coming out of the toilet so I thought I would ask them. Next thing this lovely young German girl comes out and I ask where the showers are where the key is used. She pointed to a locked door that has a sign with the cleaning times and states that this one is for the ladies next door is for the men this is the ladies area. I am a little puzzled as looking passed her shoulder I can see three urinals, I point to them and asked "are you sure?"  She said I will show you and we walk out together and she looks at the wall and embarrassed she says, "oh I am in the wrong side". We had a bit of a laugh and she went off. I was a bit surprised when we first met , I thought to myself if this is a bloke I might start batting with the other team.

What they have is a public toilet/shower area on the outer part of the building and the caravan park users area behind the locked doors.

It is quite a large caravan park and very nice and reasonable priced, $29 per day for powered site two adults.

 (Nancy taking photos from the high bank)

(One of the two Elliot River inlets, the main one is the other side of the sand spit, there are a few boats in the river that would only be able to go out on good tides and good weather)

 (Sea Eagle)

(Two labrador dogs, doing what gun dogs do play in the water)

 (Sunset fishing)

 (End of a day)

(Puddles at sunset)

Also when we first pulled up a young lady from the Driftwood Cafe/Kiosk came over and asked if we had just arrived, she then gave us a ticket which gave us a free coffee if we purchase one coffee. Very good marketing ploy, naturally we would go across for a coffee, by doing this we see what they have for sale there.  It is a take-away food outlet but they do have seating there if you wish to stay and eat.

For those that like the surf there is a good beach area and there is plenty of protected waters in the river inlets and plenty of beach areas as can be seen in the photos. This is a quiet area again similar to Bargara not the Gold Coast. A very nice place to stay.

Cheers 

Bargara to Agnes Waters and 1770

15/10/2014 - 17/10/2014

We left Bargara and headed for Agnes Waters Workman's Beach Camping Ground via Bundaberg as previously stated in the last scribbles. The Queensland coast does not have any legal free camping areas they are mainly inland, the site we are heading for is a campground run by the Gladstone Council and there is a small fee of $6 per head per night. There are designated campsites and they are the only places that you are permitted to park once they are full that is it. The sites start filling up by mid afternoon. Facilities are toilets and a cold water open shower in the park, it is a bare bones camp ground. You are permitted to stay up to 42 days and when you leave you cannot return for a 7 day period. The council ranger comes around 0700 hours in the morning to collect the fees, there are signs everywhere stating that skipping without paying is an offence.

(Campground areas, left, cold shower second post on left, right, looking into campground from shower and toilet areas) 

(toilet block, three toilets)

(Our campsite)

(Sun sets through the trees)

Alternatives are the choice of three caravan parks with prices that range from $33 to $50 per night for a powered site for 2 people. The 1770 caravan park being a waterfront park and naturally the highest cost.

We anchored at 1770 some four years ago and walked to Agnes Waters, the place then was very quiet and like a lot of coastal areas it was suffering from the economic downturn  and the high Australian dollar. Back then I mentioned that there was a  new estate and what looked like a motel or resort that had some structure started but the work had stopped with pallets of building materials rotting away in the yard, houses not complete up for sale. That estate now has grown along with a few more the resort is under construction once again with the front section near complete and the rest which is very large well under way. Agnes Waters itself now has a very large shopping complex which did not exist back when we visited before which includes a Woolworths.

 (1770 Harbour from marina area)

 (Marina cafe)

(Our rig on the waterfront)

The 1770 area has also grown some with a new resort  being built, the waterfront is basically the same . The Marina Cafe serves very nice meals and very friendly staff, the area has not change much here they have the Lady Musgrave Island boat tours and the old ex-Army duck that does tours.

Getting back to the campground where we stayed, here has many trees and we were blessed with the sight of a Frog Mouth Owl with its two young in a nest in one of the trees, there are bush turkeys wondering the campsites looking for anything to eat. The campground is dog friendly as long as the dogs are under control, unfortunately you will always get the one idiot that does not obey those rules and there was one such idiot but he was soon told by fellow campers.

 (Early bird gets the worm)

 (Frog Mouth Owl and two young)

There are an assortment of campers from caravans, motorhomes , tents and camper trailers. Many of the younger generation in tents but there are some families doing the same. It is a good campsite and everyone is friendly.

Nearby is the beach itself and is only a very short walk from the campsite, it is quite a nice beach with some rock formations in the one end.

(Track to the beach, photo from Nancy)

 (Photos of the beach from Nancy)

We basically had a relaxing time whilst we were here which was only two nights. I got talking to a couple in a caravan next door and he had some power problems with his fridge. I was able to help him a little with his problem, he had two 100 amp/hour  house batteries but he had them stand alone and the one battery was not lasting the distance. I suggested that he rewire the batteries in series so that he could have the draw of power on the two batteries at the same time. ( This is connecting the batteries earth to earth and positive to positive, this maintains the 12 volts and now has 200 amp/hour to draw from). The other problem was that he ran the generator for 90 minutes until his battery gauge indicated 13.5 volts then he shut the generator off thinking that the battery is fully charged. This is not always the case, having 100 amp/hour battery you need to ensure that it is charged so that all that amp/hour is stored. His battery charger has indicting lights and I looked up this charge on the internet and found out what the charge cycle was then explained that to him. After this he ran the generator to charge the battery and kept checking the light indicators on the charger it took 3 hours to fully charge the battery, so previously he only ran the generator half of this time so the battery was not fully charged. He went down town and was getting battery leads made to join the batteries in series. When he came back he said they had to be made and he would get them the next day, he spoke with the battery bloke and fortunately he confirmed what I had said about connecting and charging the batteries.

It was a good campsite and kept clean and tidy, you will get the occasional person that makes a mess and it is usually some fool leaving toilet paper shreds on the deck rather than putting it in the bin but you get those clowns in all places.

We enjoyed our short stay and we would come back again sometime, our next stop is Elliot Heads.

Cheers

Hervey Bay to Bargara

08/10/2014 to 15/10/2014

With no great rush we set off on the road heading to Bargara but first we made a couple of stops, first stop Bunning's to buy some timber for modifications to the trailer and then to Stockland's Shopping Centre to stock up on stores. This done we hit the highway and headed north. The highway was a lot quieter now school holidays are over and many of the grey nomads are heading south.

We stopped at Childers for lunch, they have signs up as you enter for long vehicle parking behind the Isis RSL Club, with our unit with trailer being 12 metres long we have to look for parking where we will fit. This was handy as the RSL has a back entrance so that is where we had lunch. It was a good friendly place and the meals are quite good.

After lunch it was back on the road and heading for Bargara, we had driven over to Bargara some years ago when we sailed into Bundaberg we hired a car and drove over to Bargara and found it to be a quiet and pretty place so this is one of the reasons we are going back to there for a week. We are still sorting things out in the transition from being on a large boat to that of a motorhome.

We arrived at Bargara via Bundaberg and went to the Absolute Ocean Front Tourist Park, this is a reasonably small park with colourful cabins about thirty plus caravan/camping sites. There are a few permanent people on the area and staff and locals are very friendly.

(Ocean View)

(Absolute Ocean Front Tourist Park)

(Our rig under the large tree)

The ocean front is just that and very beautiful although there is no beach here the shoreline is black rocks.

Nearby is a Chemist, take away food shop that has some grocery items magazines and papers and a hairdressers. Plus there is a post box for mailing out. About fifteen minutes in the other direction is Bargara Lakes Tavern the prices here are very reasonable in the catering and the bottle shop and the staff are friendly. The owner who also built this tavern is very friendly we went down there with our two wheel trolley to purchase a carton of beer and a couple of bottles of wine, which they had some great specials. When paying for them he asked if we wanted him to deliver the beer rather than us carting it back. I explained we had our trolley outside and thanked him. It was then he was telling us about the place and we decided to come back for dinner that evening, he said if we did he would make sure that we got a lift home.

(Bargara Lakes Tavern)

We did return that night for dinner and the meals were very nice, normal menu main courses around $25 - $30, very plentiful and well presented, they also have a specials board offering good meals for around $10 - $12.

Kelly's Beach

Kelly's Beach is about 10-15 minutes' walk from the tourist park and the most popular section is up towards the northern end of this beach near the lagoon and Moneys Creek. People can swim in the sea here or in the creek and lagoon with lifeguards at hand for safety. There are toilets and showers nearby plus a takeaway food caravan. Continuing northward either via the causeway or at lower tides take your shoes off you can walk through Moneys Creek onto the beach the other side and continue up to Bargara Beach and into Bargara itself.

(Moneys Creek entrance and Kellys Beach)

(Moneys Creek crossing, there is a causeway a short distance away that crosses the lagoon)

(Friendly swan on the lagoon)

(Bargara Beach)

As you approach Bargara along the beach you come to The Basin, this is a good protected swimming whole which was created by the South Sea Islanders (Kanakas)  in the 1800's when Blackbirding was rife, the islanders built the safe swimming area to protect against sharks.

(The Basin)

Bargara is a quiet place with lots of high rise apartments being built, real estate appears  to be picking up in these areas as prices are still reasonable, the waterfront centre of Bargara has cafes and restaurants and a few shops, hotel and motels. Down the road a little way is a Liberty fuel station, this is a great place it sells everything from plumbing fittings to bread and milk, it is a hardware, fishing gear, auto  store, there is not much he does not sell.

(Bargara Restaurants and cafes in the forefront)

(Liberty service station that sell many items)

A good walk down from there is a Woolworths shopping centre, this place as certainly gone ahead since the last time we were here but it is still the quiet type of place for a relaxing break away from it all. There are families that come here for holidays but it is probably the other end of the scale of places like the Gold Coast.

What we did.

08/10/2014 - Our day of arrival and after setting up we just rested, later we sat outside and watched the eclipse of the moon which was going well until cloud started to move in.

(Nancy set up with her camera)

(These were my photos not the best)

09/10/14 - I got out the timber that we bought and had cut to size at Bunning's, emptied the trailer and started to construct a forward compartment for the light weight equipment, this compartment is 450mm from the front panel and  has two levels. This will ensure the heavier gear like tools and the smaller generator plus other heavier items are over the axle and wheels being centre of the trailer, so it was a good days work. I also installed a small pull-out clothes line on the back of the trailer.

10/10/2014 - Bit of a rest day doing photos on the computer for this blog. We had a short walk along the waterfront.  I mentioned to Nancy last night that looking at the weather the next few days we have  N-NE winds, many of the yachties would be taking advantage of that to head south. Sure enough they have been sailing passed since early hours this morning. I see them sail by and I get the same feeling as I did when seeing a naval ship after I left the navy, yes I am going to miss it.

11/10/2014 - This is when we went to the Tavern to buy beer and wine all important stuff and later returned for dinner on the night, other than that a little cleaning.

(Sunrise at Bargara)

(These were right next to where we were sitting eating the new pollen on the leaves)

12/10/2014 - Went for the walk to Bargara along the beaches taking photos here and there which probably took around one hour. After checking the shops out and buying gear at the Liberty fuel station, items like hose fittings a sun hat for Nancy and some other small items we went back to one of the cafes and had a coffee. We then headed back slowly with Nancy taking numerous photos and got back to Kelly's Beach take-away food stand for lunch. We then returned to our home base.

13/10/2014 - Did a few jobs around the place, I had cut a board to sit on top of the galley sink so Nancy could use this as additional bench top space, I sanded and varnished this. I also modified the BBQ plate I purchased from Tent City for the Webber BBQ. A thing my mate Brian put me onto, a Webber BBQ plate for the Webber costs around $45 - $49, a generic brand from Tent City cost $27. We have the Baby Webber so the carry handle lugs on the sides of the plate had to be ground off a little to fit in the Webber.  We was going for a bike ride but the new pump I bought to pump up the tyres that I used once, the flexible tube leaked and would not allow me to get air in the tyres, in fact what air was in the tyre it let out.

(Three cans as the varnishing bench)

(Varnished and in place)

14/10/2014 - Not much happening the storms started at 0630 hours this morning, rain was predicted for the day, it did clear around lunch time and I went for my haircut appointment. A little later I walked to the Tavern to use the ATM machine, so to be sociable with the locals I had to stay for a couple of beers as you do, it wouldn't be Australian unless I did. Saying that reminds me of a time we were down at Lake Macquarie at friends Brian and Colleen's, we are having an unplanned BBQ lunch and as we men are at the BBQ cooking Brian said, "I haven't got a cold beer in the fridge" and I said, "I should have brought one from the boat if I knew we were staying for lunch". Then Brian said "the son-in-law across the road has some in his fridge, I could go and grab a couple", discussing it we said we would go without. Then Brian said "it would be un-Australian to cook a BBQ without a beer in your hand" and promptly took off to raid Michael's fridge.

The storms continued after dark but soon left, we had a quiet night, we will head off tomorrow.

15/10/2014 - Before leaving I have to give the motorhome a clean, the storm and winds along with being under this large tree we have dirt and leaves everywhere. I asked the manager if it was alright to move out to where there is open grass sites and give the vehicle, he had no objections and even asked if I needed a ladder. With the vehicle clean we headed into Bundaberg to the Bundy rum factory. I do not drink rum normally or abnormally, but I do like there Bundaberg Royal Rum Liqueur, it may have something to do with it being  coffee and chocolate flavoured, but mixed with a little cream and ice it is to die for. The problem is, is that it can only be bought at the Bundy Shop in Bundaberg. When we arrived it was a little early and the end of the road was closed off and marquees were being erected, this weekend is a Bundy festivity a big promotion of Bundaberg Rum releasing a new shaped bottle. These lovely items purchased we hit the road again.

Cheers.