The Pink Pub - the last pub before the Outback

 

The Pink Pub at Dulacca was a find by Sippy. An hour west from Chinchilla, in the middle of nowhere really, is a bright pink pub that served an awesome Chicken Schnitty and happy hour beers from 5pm. We enjoyed hot showers and ample room to leave the car attached to the BT overnight. We were served by two British back packers who thought the 28 degree day was an absolute scorcher!! LOL

At $15 bucks a night to camp behind the pub which gets you a $10 voucher towards dinner - it's a winner in our books.

Bunya Mountains National Park

 

Trekking through the majestic rainforest under ancient Bunya Pines

Our first stop on the drive west was a planned visit to Goomeri Bakery. This was a highlight of our last trip through the QLD Hinterland – so we had high expectations. It appeared so did everyone else passing through as the queue for the bakery was out the door! The Lamb Pie was a winner, as was Cathy’s chosen dessert of Passionfruit Meringue, but Sippy’s choice of Chocolate, Cherry Pie fell far short unfortunately, with most of it left uneaten. Sippy didn’t take up his wife’s suggestion of the Strawberry Cheesecake (which looked delicious). Bad luck Sippy.

After heading through Maidenwell we were greeted with a sign on the side of the road saying 'narrow, winding road ahead unsuitable for caravans'. After a quick chat with some locals, they assured us we would be fine and so on we ploughed. The road into Bunya Mountain was extremely pretty and extremely steep in some spots (after all we were heading up a mountain). The car was certainly put under a bit of pressure, but Sippy seemed okay and dropped to first gear for a few of the inclines – and we made it! The views on the way up were very impressive.

After setting up in Dandabah Campground in the National Park, we grabbed a trail map and prepared for the next two days of hiking.

Day one we hiked 15kms on the Barker Creek Circuit, including the Barker Creek and Big Falls Lookout. We also added on the Westcliff Lookout walk on our return. Trekking through the rainforest under giant Bunya Pines, Hoop Pines and Strangler Figs was amazing. The green, coolness of the rainforest was a welcome relief from the 28 degrees as we admired ferns, fungi and birds, including blue, yellow and orange winged wrens, along with the odd goanna.

Day two we hiked 12kms to Bottle Tree Bluff. This walk afforded us views towards Bell, Dalby and the open plains below as we zigzagged through shady rainforest and open, sunny sections of track. We finished the day with a 5km walk to Festoon Falls and Pine Gorge Lookout. This was the most beautiful section of the Bunya Mountains and we were very happy to linger on the trail and admire the impressive, grand old giants of the forest.

Sippy deserved a beer (or two) upon our return to camp. 32 kms in two days was pretty good going. We shared a few stories of travels ahead with some other campers (some saying the Gibb River Road is just another dirt road and others saying it is a disaster for cars and vans), ate a yummy dinner of red curry chicken and headed to bed.

Mooloolaba and Noosa Heads

 Beautiful One Day - Perfect the Next

With the BT in for service before our long trip, we took advantage of spending the day on Mooloolaba Beach. Mooloolaba is a Sip favourite family holiday spot and the day was magical with blue skies all round and 30 degrees. We took advantage of the April Sun and swam in the crystal clear water.

The next day we spent at Noosa Heads. It was busy as usual - corresponding with both the QLD and NSW school holidays. We avoided the crowds by hiking to the headland in the Noosa National Park, and Sippy convinced me to have lunch at Betty's Burgers afterwards (had to send a photo to my work colleagues). Our chicken burgers and fries washed down with a Corona were pretty darn good. 

We spent the afternoon relaxing under the Cool Cabana on Noosa Main Beach.

We camped for two nights at Lake Weyba. Not cheap at $65 a night to camp - but hey that's Noosa for you - and a whole lot cheaper than an apartment. We were right on the lake, had kangaroos hopping around the BT and peace and quiet, with only two other campers in sight. Just the way we like it.

Burringbah NSW to Kunda Park QLD

Today the bikes came off the BT for the first time as we hit the newly opened Rail Trail in the Tweed Valley. What a great added tourist attraction for the area. The trail was awesome and was being well used by both locals and visitors to the area. We joined the trail at Burringbah, directly across the road from where we camped for the night and headed west to Stokers Siding. This involved riding through an old railway tunnel which is now home to bats and glow worms. It was a great try-out for our newly purchased wizz-bang head torches (which didn't disappoint). After a breakfast stop 12 km's in, we turned around and rode to Mooball, the tiny town East of Burringbah which is decorated with cow motives including cow patterned telegraph poles - go figure. The 25km ride was a great start to the day - and enough for Sippy's back side for ride #1. After purchasing some of the local feta and labna that we sampled last night, and some freshly home made gelato, we said good-bye to NSW and crossed the border into QLD. So much road work going on, all the way to Caloundra. Roads were very busy for midday. Glad we weren't travelling through in peak hour!

Tonight we are camped right on the water at Marshall Ski Lake. Great quiet spot just off the highway and nice and close to Bush Tracker Headquarters where the BT is getting serviced tomorrow - ready to head west to explore some Hinterland National Parks.

Telegraph Point to Burringbar (Tweed Valley)

 

After a great night sleep due to the cooler weather of Autumn finally arriving, and a pleasant morning walk, we headed back onto the M1 Pacific Highway to head further north. We journeyed past the first of the 'BIGS' in Aus - this one a Sip family favourite, the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, bypassing Grafton, Yamba, Ballina and Byron Bay, to arrive at our camp in the beautiful Tweed Valley in the late afternoon.

We are camped at Tweed Valley Darmhouse Cheese, a little find of Sippy's via Hipcamp on his last trip north. You can set up camp behind the Cheese factory and shop and they bring you an awesome cheese and antipasto platter upon request. So we opened a museum 2015 Logan's Chardonnay and enjoyed the serenity. To top it off we even had access to timber for our first camp fire of the trip. Rob, the manager, joined us for a beer and shared a few local stories. We then tilted back the chairs and stared up at the Milky Way.

Day two was pretty good :) We like this travelling.

And the Lap Begins!!

Sippy has experienced his 'pinch me' moment as we headed off this morning. Many years of wishful thinking and wistful planning has come to fruition. The 6 month lap of this beautiful country in the BT has commenced.

We hope we have packed well - not too many clothes (was more of a struggle for Cathy), the hiking boots are in, along with a few pairs of cosies, shorts and singlets. Yes we are hoping for an endless summer with many a swim in pristine water holes and WA beaches. We have also packed the Ugg's and puffer jackets, for cool desert nights while staring up at the Milky Way stars. 

Today was a 5 hour drive - destination Telegraph Point along the Wilson River (just past Port Macquarie).

We have spent our first afternoon sitting beside the van in front of a beautiful lagoon filled with masses of mauve water lilies and celebrated the beginning of our journey with a cold beer, cheese and crackers. We both leaned back in our chairs and thought 'how good is this!'

We hope you come along for the journey :)

Thanks to our beautiful sister Jen for sending us the following poem this morning as we began our journey

The time has come to hit the road

Packed the BT and sorted the load

Onward and upward the Sips will travel

Stretches of road over the gravel

Not looking back exploring terrain

Nothing to lose everything to gain

May the wind blow just right

May the stars shine real bright

May the map make good sense

And may things not get too tense

Along your adventurous journey

Travel well Sippy's XXXX