Melbourne to Yeppoon and return, May to Aug 2023

Days 96, Nights 95.

Distance travelled: 7812kms

Accommodation: $2883.19, average $30.35 per night…a little more than normal due to rising prices at coastal caravan parks. At $49.52 our rate at Mulambin with our NRMA member discount was much better than most.

Fuel $1799.54 average $18.75 per day and 23cents per km. Fuel prices were high this year but even inland prices were cheaper than those prices we were greeted with in Melbourne when we got home.

Surprisingly good places worth revisiting:

Inverell, NSW, and nearby Cranky Rock Nature Reserve, near Inverell.

Highlights:

Pete Denahy the musician who entertained us in the camp kitchen at Yackandandah. Pete plays guitar and fiddle, writes his own songs, and delivers a very funny show.

The Margaret Olley installation at Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW.

Maryborough Qld’s Cistern Chapel, after all, the Sistine Chapel doesn’t have toilets.

VeeWee’s friend Vee suggested we visit the art gallery in Grenfell. We were entranced by a quilt created by the community which takes up a whole wall. The quilt is called the “Grenfell Community Curtain” and depicts the town, its flora, and fauna.

The town of Gravesend, NSW and it’s friendly residents.

Beautiful Inverell, NSW

Gunnedah, NSW won us over with its character and poetry.

Goovigen, Qld wowed us yet again and put on a great BBQ.

Griffith, NSW, both heading up and back, good Italian food, and great bargain-priced wine.

The washed-out bridge near Dunedoo, NSW certainly gave us some laughs…after we’d made it across safely.

The QLD quilters exhibition in Childers, Qld.

Lowlights:

The so-called ‘bush camp’ that provided us with free wood, along with free smoke for days, free traffic noise, and free mice.

The inedible ‘road kill’ lunch.

Painted Silos:

At Lockhart, Weethalle, Grenfell, Dunedoo, and Gunnedah, and I reckon I’ve missed a few.

Clubs and Pubs:

The Star, Yackandandah

Post Office Hotel, Mullaley (backyard camping)

The Gravo, Gravesend with the motto “you walk in and we’ll carry you out”, we didn’t expect they’d be carrying the publican out the following week!

The Union Bar, Inverell

Murwillumbah Rissole (RSL)

Howard Hotel

Isis Club, Childers

Miriam Vale Hotel

Hebel Hotel (camping)

Royal Hotel, Mt Hope (Camping)

Jerilderie Sports Club

Firsts:

The beautiful mandala sand drawing at Mulambin, Qld

Finding a dead groper (fish) at Lammermoor, Qld. It’s not every day that you come across a dead fish that is way larger than yourself.

The CSIRO Australian Telescope Compact Array, radio telescope outside of Narrabri, NSW.

The largest pecan orchard in the Southern Hemisphere, between Moree and Gravesend.

Learning about horse ‘hotels’ in Gin Gin.

Sketching with a kookaburra in Howard.

For Elle, learning how to paint pour in Bundaberg.

Camping with the army in Gin Gin.

Dining on the best Steak Sandwiches, with a cattle musterer and a stock & station agent in Goovigen.

Watching kookaburras feed on termites, daily.

Ordering a pub meal then walking across a State Highway to eat it at the pub. Hebel, Qld.

A concrete bar in Mt Hope, NSW.

Spooky surprises & catch-ups:

Finding VeeWee’s friend Vee camped near us and then we caught her again later on in Narrabri.

Gosh, we caught up with a lot of friends and relatives this year.

Musings:

In the cotton growing areas, the birds must have very soft nests.

I’m surprised at how many horses we end up chatting to on our trips.

Breakages:

The winder thing on the TV aerial.

VeeWee’s tyre valve.

The cover on the outside 240v socket.

The water valve, which turned out to just be blocked with grass.

Elle’s tooth.

The caravan wheel trim/spat.

I’m sure we had more than that.

For putting up with us for another Winter:

Thanks to all our travel mates, VeeWee, Mrs. Have a Chat, Elle, Double or Nuthin’, Shirley Temple, and the rest of the crew at Yeppoon who haven’t earned nicknames, yet.