Campers Road Trips

[Camper]

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I sat and took a few shots of the next set of falls, just beautiful




















And finally to the main falls, I couldn't really get all of the falls properly into 1 picture so these don't really do it justice but there are plenty of others online if you are interested.

The story of Protester Falls is kinda cool, it was the first time people physically barred loggers from entering a forest in Australia and saved the habitat - not least for people like me to visit 30 years later, I give thanks to those that were there.

More Info - https://www.northernstar.com.au/news...-creek/275633/













There is a sneaky little turtle living under these rocks that seemed to know exactly when I was going to take a photo.

[Camper]

The walk out gave me a new perspective on some shots;











Truly beautiful spot

[Camper]

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I left in a bit of a haze and didn't really plan the next bit, still didn't know where I was going to stay that night, jumped in the car and went wandering.




The country opened up again, more houses started to appear




How tight are those tree's, Imagine the forest that was here way back












Saw a sign for Rocky Creek Dam and followed it




Promising car park




You know I love a park bench with a water view, lots of native birds around too, even 4G phone reception - wished I could camp here, but no








Arty shot

I sat here while deciding where to camp that night, discovered that I could not have a fire in the local national parks and booked a private campground back north on Mt Tambourine, which meant at least 2hrs drive








Decent size dam with none of the dead tree's I've come to associate with a country dam, there are a couple of walks around the dam




Apparently some Platypus in one section, no luck for me though




Would be a top spot to bring a group, showers and toilets available

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15000? Wow. They stretch them further and further. The amount of K's your doing it is probably ok. Imagine doing 15K around town over a year though! It's not going to end well no matter what the marketing gurus say.

Either 15,000 or 9 months is the log book service, I have mechanics in the family who are working on these new utes and reckon it should be good, especially as you say most of mine is cruising speed.

[Valencia]

Great pics Camper

[Kiwivan]

Beautiful just beautiful
Cheers Kiwivan

[Camper]

Great pics Camper

Thanks Mate

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Beautiful just beautiful
Cheers Kiwivan

Thanks Kiwivan

[Robbo]

Great photos, very professional.

[Camper]

Great photos, very professional.

Thanks Robbo, here's hoping I can turn my passion for sharing the Aussie bush into some sort of income one day, would love to be able to spend more time on the road. 311 national Parks in Queensland alone!

[Camper]

That night I stayed at a private campground called Thunderbird Park on Mt. Tambourine.

Thinking I could have a fire and maybe go look at natural arch the next morning, I paid $28.00 for a camp site, a bit steep but it was only one night, had showers/toilets and was close to where I wanted to be.

When I got there it turns out Thunderbird park is more of a adventure school/holiday camp, they have high ropes courses, laser skirmish, horse riding etc. even a restaurant, not what I had in mind but I had already paid.

Once I found reception it was explained that if I wanted a shower I would have to purchase $2.00 tokens, if I wanted a fire I must purchase their wood at $15.00 for a milk crate full.

I figured I would check out my site first, at the other end of the map, on the edge of the property. I got down to the site via a track that was just barely 2wd accessible, found they had booked me right next to another camper with kids and dogs in a site not much bigger than 2 carparks.

There were plenty of other sites free and it was getting on for sunset so I figured I would be right to switch to a site a bit further from my neighbour (6 carparks away) then realised I was probably 10 mins walk from the toilets assigned to me, I could not use the toilet block near by as you must have a code to get in the door.

I drove back up to reception - too late now to make it to another campground and set up before dark - I bought some fire wood and a shower token, should have twigged when the girl double checked that I only wanted the one token.




The blue line is from camp to toilet block

Back down to the camp site, set up and started a fire to find I had more neighbors in another direction within 6M, also with kids, 2 families worth. I was getting grumpy by this point but had no one to blame but myself. I booked it.

I made a bigger fire than normal, set on using all the wood I had paid for. I made dinner and stared at the flames.



Turned in for an early night and what turned out to be a bad sleep with all the noise of a busy campground.

Woke up early, went for a walk into the scrub to relieve myself and discovered a nice little creek.





I had my headphones with me so sat here for a bit as I woke up, angry at myself for not having checked out the place more before booking.

Walked back to camp, packed up and drove up to the toilet block for a shower, had forgotten the code and had to dig through my rubbish to find it, lucky I still had it. Jumped in the shower, nice hot water. All too quickly (within 3 minutes) the water stopped, my token had run out. That's why they suggested I buy more than 1 token...

I was in a black mood by then and decided to just get away from the place, I was able to empty my bin before leaving.



Drove off without knowing where I was going, not a great start to the day. It was Saturday morning and the usual weekend traffic was about on the mountain, I found a bakery and a lookout and settled in to figure out what I was going to do for the day.



You can just see the Surfers Paradise way in the distance, I had come much more north than planned.







Q1 again on the right with the spire.



I had already planned to be in Brisbane that afternoon for a podcast/stand up comedy gig at 3pm so wanted to be heading generally north and I was too tired for the walk into Natural Arch so figured I would head down into Surfers and park up at a beach for a nap.

On the way I recalled a mate in the area and pulled in for a visit, we hung out for a bit watching movies, which meant I was running late to get to the gig.

The Gold Coast Motorway can be a parking lot on the best day, today turned out be no different. Stuck in traffic when I hear an engine over revving behind me, a Toyota Supra came screaming up between cars, filtering lanes, squealing brakes.

Next thing 2 paddy wagons come racing up the outside shoulder, old mate is on the run.

He quickly pulls a 180 handbraky in no space at all and scoots back against the traffic on a 4 lane motor way, kinda between lanes, cars going everywhere. One cop cuts across all 4 lanes to the inside shoulder and chases him, the other does like a 5 point turn on the outside shoulder and heads back south as well.

Suddenly the way forward is open to all and we quickly get back to 110 heading north, nice, no damage and a story to tell. Never did find out what he did.

I book a parking space on the way and get into the city 10 minutes late for the gig, jump out the car, realise I am dressed in camping gear (shorts, T Shirt, no jocks/socks) and must change in the multi-story carpark, definitely some security camera footage some where with my butt out.

Anyhow I made it to the gig, had a great time (Little Dum Dum Club), jumped in the car and headed back to the Goldy for drinks with my mate.

4 boring, hung over, hours drive home next afternoon in Sunday motorway traffic.

Trip over, lesson learnt, double check where you are booking accommodation and don't run from the police. What a day.

[Kiwivan]

Had a bit of a chuckle at that story.
Went to a park ourselves and it turned out to be a place for the homeless.and meth heads.
Wow were they interested in the van.
We got changed and left and never went back.
Still laughing about how bad it was.
The worst thing was we actually got advice from the AA to stay there.
Gave them the feed back and they corrected their advice to other travelers

Cheers Kiwivan