Camping with Jen

After leaving Hervey Bay we headed up the Bruce Highway, stopping for a coffee at a café called Insane, before turning off to take a back route to Agnes Waters further up the coast.  Here we were pleasantly surprised there was a beach where we could walk out to a depth that we could swim.  Jen and I being West Australians are quite surprised when Queenslanders rave about their beautiful beaches.  We being from WA of course think of a beach being white sands, clear deep waters with a few waves and which are usually safe for swimming.  Queensland beaches on the other hand don’t often have white sand. It ranges from dark yellowy brown to brown or it’s pebbly or rocky or there are just plain mangrove swamps and because it’s very tidal here, you need to know when the tide is in or be prepared to walk quite a way out before you reach water that is knee deep!  The tide must have been in at Agnes Waters as we didn’t have to walk too far out when we visited to frolic in the waves. Around the Sunshine Coast and south there are some beautiful beaches (which is what most people think of when they think of Queensland beaches); here the waves are high, crashing dangerously along the coast, which again isn’t pleasant for those wanting a gentle dip in the ocean.

While at Agnes Waters we took advantage of the cold showers before driving further north to ‘Seventeen Seventy‘, named after James Cook’s second landing in Australia in May 1770.  After a quick look around we headed back towards Agnes Waters to find our camp site which Jen had booked at The Kangaroo Sanctuary.  We arrived around 4pm, giving us time to set up our swags, cooking and eating our dinner before dark.  One of the drawbacks with camping is the biting bugs.  My major dislike with camping! This site had mosquitoes in large numbers and they love me even if I slather myself in insect repellent which I did and wore long sleeves and pants. The next day my ankles were covered in bites. Not a good start to our camping trip.

Still it was an interesting place, providing hot showers and toilets, a camp kitchen with power and an area for a campfire. Entertainment around the campfire that night was a bit of a surprise.  Earlier in the evening we met a young single mum from WA traveling around the country with her 3yr old son.  Later while we were preparing for bed, a group of male youth arrived. After lighting the campfire they sat around drinking and smoking dope talking about exploits, their girlfriends and very intimate boy talk that I can’t mention here.  I did wonder if they realised the two old ladies in the swags could hear everything they were saying.  It was quite enlightening, knowing what young worldly men talk about but call me a prude, I must admit I’d much rather have had the noises of the night bush creatures.  As you can imagine it took quite some time before things settled down and we could sleep in peace.

I was surprised sleeping in a swag made me quite claustrophobic. The only other time I felt like that was in China, sleeping on the top three-tiered bunk on a train from Beijing.  My friend Jeannette prayed for me, encouraging me to think of wide open spaces. The feeling eventually subsided and I could sleep.  Although I could see out of the swag through the mosquito net, I felt very hemmed in.  I closed my eyes, prayed and imagined I was in wide open spaces.  Praise God, during the night, although I tossed and turned, the feeling never returned.  I woke to sounds near my swag and when I peered out I saw two sets of fluffy ears.  A mother and young kangaroo.  I took several photo’s as they hopped up the slope, sniffing around mine and then Jen’s swag

With another big day ahead of us we packed up, breakfasted then hit the road again, this time going inland to Kroobit Tops National Park  It was just before 10am and although it was Sunday, there were a few things we wanted to buy before going any further north, so headed back into Agnes Waters.  On entering the town, we were caught up in an Anzac Day parade put on by the local school children, closing the main road into Agnes Waters for about 20mins. We had forgotten it was Anzac Day and a long weekend where everything would be closed, so instead we headed back to the beach for possibly the last swim in the ocean, as beaches further north were known to have deadly box jellyfish and further north, crocodiles!

There were several ways to get to Kroobit Tops; Jen who had been there before said we wouldn’t be taking the razorback track which was very steep. Jen had booked our State National Park camping campsite at Griffith’s Creek on line before leaving Agnes Waters as we knew we would be out of phone and internet range once we left the town.  Many of the places we hoped to stay needed to be booked on line which meant we needed to remember to book them before getting out of range.  Jen had downloaded the Wikicamps app which was a great way to find the cheapest and best sites.  National Parks are very cheap and often great places to stay.  There were quite a few freebies too, which were ok, but you had to get in early and definitely not on a long holiday weekend.

It was quite a track into the park on a gravel road but the forest was amazing.  There was plenty of room at the campsite in the forest to be well away from everyone else.  We chose to stay at the farthest end of the track, which was fenced and gated.  We found a level spot under the trees to make camp, this time I put the swag mattress in a small two man tent, which was much better.  The forest looked like a mowed meadow as the grasses and undergrowth were more like groundcover.  Once again we had an early dinner, then went for a bit of a walk to get our bearings. On the other side of the fence were wild brumbies which we could hear racing around calling to each other during the night.  The sky was so lit up with the full moon I was pleased I had brought my eye mask for sleeping. More mosquitoes!

The following morning I tried to go for a jog but the terrain was not only hilly but also quite rocky, so I didn’t get far for fear of stumbling. Jen and I later walked about half an hour down the track to a ridge where we were able to look out across the range which dropped suddenly in front of us.  Jen was saying on a clear day you could see the coast.

Returning to camp we packed up and drove to another look out for another spectacular view before heading north back to the Bruce Highway then turned east towards the coast and Yappoon.  We turned off just before Yappoon to camp at Byfield Nation Park at Water Park Creek.  This site had the basics: flushing toilets and tapped water, but not for drinking, and of course more mosquitoes.  After setting up camp and dinner we walked to the water crossing which we had crossed before entering the park camp area.  People were pumping their 4wheel drive tires having come back from fishing along the beach.  We walked some of the way down this track too, but decided we were not interested in taking the ute 4-wheel-driving in soft sand.

That night we were entertained by the bush turkeys, who we heard rushing around the campsite. They too were quite inquisitive and by morning light were looking into Jen’s swag, although quickly scurrying off at any movement.

I didn’t sleep well and got up around 6am.  Jen hadn’t slept much either; we were quite on edge, which led to angry words about things I thought had been going extremely well thus far. We work well as a team but my self-talk, getting angry at myself, upset Jen. I realise it’s a bad habit and had been working on not doing it.  The Bible says “Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14   So often when my memory lets me down and I have to do things more than once it really annoys me and I scold myself. I apologised to Jen and have since been careful not to reprimand myself out aloud.

I was also feeling stressed, as I had received a call from NSW health.  They had left a message for me to call them.  I knew it was about Covid, as Perth had had another outbreak from one of the quarantine hotels.  I prayed it wasn’t going to affect my travel or those I had been around since leaving Perth.

Having not showered for two days, we headed into Yappoon, after packing up camp, to look for free showers at the Royal Life Saving Club.  Once refreshed, we found the information centre where we were given lots of information on the areas we wanted to visit, including a suggestion to camp at Clairview Caravan Park, which we were told had a beautiful beach.  Jen then dropped me off in town for a coffee, while she headed back to the beach for her lunch snack.  During this time I called NSW health; they asked if I had been in any of the latest hotspots before leaving Perth and fortunately I hadn’t, so was clear to continue my travels. While in Yappoon we stopped to buy a few things for the ute from Bunnings and a camping store before heading towards Clairview, just over two hours north.

We pulled into Clairview and chose our camp site before wandering down to what was supposed to be a beautiful beach.  Jen and I laughed.  The tide was about two kilometres out leaving a rocky shore and a strip of dark brownie yellow sand. We should have realised it wasn’t going to be what we thought a ‘beautiful beach‘ should look like.  Still, we were here, so we’d stay a night.  There were hot showers, toilets and power at the communal kitchen where I charged my tablet, as I am unable to do this on the USB plugs in the car.  We had a good site well away from everyone else and due to the wind there weren’t any mosquitoes, but unfortunately I was bitten by ants, leaving large welts on my calves, which first burned, then itched terribly for days. That evening we were loudly serenaded by the blue winged kookaburras in a tree directly above us. They were so noisy!  Praise God they didn’t wake us up the next morning although we did hear the sugarcane and coal trains rattling through several times during the night tooting as they went.  Jen was a bit concerned about the wind which had picked up, so she dismantled the awning before we turned in that night, just to be on the safe side.  Praise the Lord it didn’t rain.

The next morning I was up early, so went for a good long jog, returning to camp to put a load of washing on before breakfast.  The Lord was gracious to us, as all our washing dried from both the wind and sun before we left. This morning we had planned to head inland again back into the forest. We bypassed Mackay heading to the Eungella National Park, to a small campsite called Platypus Bush Retreat within the rainforest.  Just before we turned off to the campsite we went through our first water crossing. Then were pleasantly surprised as we entered the camp to find a tranquil, very basic park right beside a river, rushing over large rocks boulders.  This site was privately owned and when Jen handed over some cash he took it without offering us change.  We took it as a sign that we might be staying two nights. We set up camp, changed into our bathers and took the plunge. We were both delighted the water wasn’t as cold as we thought. In fact it was very pleasant.  No need for a shower that night. We made dinner, then walked further up the road, paddling through another river crossing before returning to camp, where we were informed the showers were now hot.  There was a guy who was working for his board by stoking the fires for hot water and generally keeping the place clean.  Once we had set up our swags we were able to sit and read in the communal kitchen where there were lights powered by solar. All water was pumped from the stream and then gravity fed into the toilets, showers and taps.

There were a few sprinkles of rain during the night but nothing serious. I was up early again for a jog, trying to avoid the water crossings so as not to get my runners wet, then back to camp for my stretch exercises before breakfast.  We had planned to walk the 3km to the Finch Hatten Cascades. It was a lovely walk along a gravel road with rainforest on either side. We walked to both rock pools marked on the map. To reach the furthest pool, we needed to wade through the stream, which was quite difficult due to the slippery boulders.  I decided to cross using a large fallen log, which was also a bit slippery, so on the way back I followed Jen through the water.  It was quite a walk and mostly uphill but well worth it as the waterfall and pool were lovely.  We were the first to arrive, followed by two couples and a chubby fellow who went in swimming with his boots on!  As we were leaving, more people arrived.

Just as we were getting back to the start of the trail the rain come bucketing down.  We were soaked through to the skin.  Unfortunately I had left a small flap open on my little tent and my sleeping bag had got wet.  Thank God it hadn’t rained as heavily at the camp as it had on our walk.  It rained off and on for the rest of the day which meant our clothes didn’t dry out.  I put my damp sleeping bag over the table at the campsite communal kitchen, which was sufficient to dry it out in the breeze. We decided to stay another night as our awning was wet and the kitchen area was dry.  With this as the only sheltered spot, we commandeered it for the swag and tent and were very glad the other vacationers had enough shelter provided by their campers.

Most nights including this one, we dipped into our frozen food supply, which Jen had prepared before we left Eumundi. Vegetable soup, curried chicken, lasagna and the like.  We also bought fresh vegies along the way and on two occasions, lamb chops, frozen salmon and a cooked chook.

Wanting to leave early the next morning, we had packed most things away that night, leaving the awning up to hopefully dry out a bit before we left. It was quite pleasant sleeping with the sound of the running water (like white-noise) although it was hard to distinguish between the river and the rain.  Here in Queensland, they call rivers, streams.  I think its because they have so many of them, whereas in WA, even a dry riverbed is called a river and a stream is just a trickle of water, mostly in the south west of WA.

I woke early again which gave me time to go for a morning run. I carried my running shoes across the water crossing, which was higher due to the recent rain, drying my feet before putting them back on.  The air was so fresh and invigorating at this time of the day and at this higher altitude in the rainforest.  Jen and I went for another swim before we left; it felt colder too, possibly due to the rain. The awning still wasn’t dry so leaving it until last, we finished breakfast, then stowed it away, hoping the day would bring us a bit of sunshine.  Both of us commented that although we enjoyed visiting the rainforest where everything was lush and green, neither of us would like to live constantly in the dampness.

Photos:  1. Native hibiscus    2. Inquisitive Joey    3. Map of our journey   4. Brumbies Kroombit Tops    5. Kroombit Tops campsite    6. Clairview Campsite    7. River crossing Finch Hatten    8. Platypus bush retreat

Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord I was not affected by the Perth lockdowns and that our journey up the coast has been without incident.

I give thanks to the Lord for Jen’s amazing work of coordinating our campsites and stops and for the amazing weather the Lord has provided along the way.

Please pray for my stay in Cairns, that it will be an enjoyable time catching up with sisters and friends here.