About 30 minutes north of Toowoomba is the 5th generation farm called Bannock Brae. We met 3/5 of the generations. Set up in a paddock with no other guests we had a marvelous farm stay experience. This included mustering and a farm tour by “Pop”.
Returning to Caloundra gave us the opportunity to visit Mum, Brian & Jenny, to have the car/caravan weighed, to do some laundry (big items which would easily fit in our washing machine) and for the caravan’s 1st service. We stayed about 20 minutes west of Caloundra on a rural property… very peaceful.
Mum is much stronger and confident as she moves about with her walker. She is happily participating in many activities offered at Little Mountain. Looking pretty in her new dress.
Very flash machines!
Both the car and caravan were weighed. Pleasingly both passed!
This is a beautiful, peaceful place but not on weekends, with the Mary River meandering past 100’s of camping acres. Originally and still operating as a dairy farm sometime ago a section of the farm was made available for camping. All guests must be self contained except for a toilet. I made the rookie mistake of underestimating how popular this region is. I am guessing but on Friday & Saturday there would have been 40-50 camp sites with an average of 3-4 people. At $20/person/night that works out to be a tidy sum for very little expense.
Visited Kenilworth early Saturday to get a coffee and have a look around the town. Very busy including market stalls. We were astonished at how over occupied the showground was. Every available space was taken by a caravan, motorhome or tents! The town title “RV Friendly” seemed appropriate.
Such a sunny day, we drove a short distance to Mapleton National Park, took in the view, did a short 1.5km walk, had a prepared lunch and then moved onto to for a bigger and more challenging walk to view Gheerulla Falls… unfortunately there was only a small volume of water flowing.
Maleny Botanic Gardens is a unique, privately owned garden, consisting of nearly 23 acres of gardens, set on a 110 acre property. Overlooking a backdrop of the iconic Glass House Mountains and surrounded by magnificent rainforest. Layered and terraced gardens interspersed with a multitude of stunning waterfalls and lakes only add to the majestic nature of this unique attraction that sits high on the escarpment.
It’s not quite the same shopping “experience” when travelling in a caravan compared to shopping at home. Often it is difficult to find a parking spot close to the shops. This walk wasn’t too bad with 4 shopping bags and a 200 metre walk.
We continue in a southerly direction…
One of the points of interest for Gayndah was supposedly it being the oldest Qld town. We also stayed a few nights to take a tour of the rail carriages, sightseeing and more.
Gayndah Rail Tour…
Couldn’t resist a visit to a nearby quirky bridge…
We could see our 90 year old neighbour having difficulty getting the tv aerial up so with a wrench, some olive oil for lubrication (no silicon spray available) & a car roof rack to act as a ladder the problem was resolved.
A quirky and interesting site. Owned and operated by a man I’ll guess is in his mid 80’s, this overnight stay allows travellers to set up if self contained for the night; view the farm animals which include Clydesdale horses; walk through multiple buildings (called a museum) containing farm and early Australian memorabilia… all for a small donation. It was a wet and windy place being exposed at the top of a ridge.
Our base for a short 2 day stay (due to impending wet weather) was “Take A Break” farm stay. A small 60 acre cattle farm about 20 minutes south east of Rockhampton. On the following day after arriving, we headed for Yeppoon for a coffee and beach walk and then to Byfield National Park.
BYFIELD NATIONAL PARK… a walk to Stony Creek
… we will definitely return and stay in this National Park!
As we travel further north we continue to look for off grid sites which cater for a small number of campers set in peaceful surroundings… Collie Farm did not disappoint. Approx. 4 km from Miriam Vale on the road towards 1770/ Agnes Water is the 1.3km sand access road to the camp site.
You could be mistaken for thinking that you were in an aviary! I was sitting in the shade at the back of the caravan. Press the play button to hear these amazing sounds…
One of the many advantages of staying “off grid” rather than in a caravan park is to have a camp fire with wood supplied by the camp host. So the first order of things was to prepare a slow cook meal.
Our host has made a huge effort to create access to natural beauty that a bush camp has to offer, including walking trails.
With no allocated sites or defined tracks other than the main entrance and exit roads, it was a little tricky navigating our departure.
