Wrap-up and Reflections

The main thing we learned on this trip was to stay flexible. Bad weather interrupted us 25 days into the trip, meaning we had to spend three weeks at home waiting for it to pass. Then, all that rain meant we had to re-start our trip in an anti-clock wise direction in the hope that the far South-West part of QLD dried up in time for us to visit that on our way back. Once on the road again, we had some van failures, and these coupled with school holidays, meant that a trip to The Tip would not be feasible. So, another change of plans and we quickly adjusted the itinerary. Halfway through, we realised that we were supposed to be doing the roads not yet travelled, so another change of plans. It was at this stage that we abandoned any chance of getting to Birdsville as the roads were still cut in places, and others would have been very sloppy. We settled on a more familiar route, with a view of stopping (overnighting or more) at places not yet stayed at. We are pleased we did this as the places we did stop at had more to offer than first meets the eye. A slogan on a coffee cup at the Blackall Pharmacy summed it up pretty nicely, "There's more than F---all to do in Blackall" and indeed there was.

We did manage to travel on 19 bits of roads not yet travelled, and camped at 33 (of 45) new places.

Funs facts and statistics:

Total distance travelled since owning a van: 78 635km

Total travelled this trip: 11,218km

Total towed this trip: 10,332km

Days on the road: 92 (does not include the 3 weeks we were at home)

Nights on the road: 90

Number of off-grid nights: 35 (includes free, donation and paid)

Av $/night: $23.60

Litres of diesel purchased: 2,035.40 litres at a cost of $ 4,550.55

L/100km: 18.14

Most expensive fuel: $2.77 @ Burke & Wills Roadhouse

Cheapest fuel: $1.837 @ Toowoomba

Day 92: Mon 8 Aug - Nanango to Home, 206km; total towed: 10 332km; total driven: 11 218km

1(feels like -0.6) - 22 (feels like 18), frost on the grass during our short walk, another beautiful sunny day in Queensland

We were on the road after our morning coffee at 7:10am heading for home. We've discovered that once we point the Cruiser towards home it just wants to go; no mucking about. The worms were starting to bite just before we arrived at Kilkivan, so we stopped at Weier Oval (it's also been turned into a nice free camp) and had breakfast. We are enjoying the coffee and go idea on our drive days as it's nice to get on the road early and then stop for brekky later. 

The only real item of interest today was the outer reaches of Bjelke-Petersen Dam.  We could see the water from the road, which hasn't been the case for many, many years.

Normally we use the Wide Bay and Bruce Hwys to get home from here, but this time we took the turnoff to Woolooga and came out at Tiaro, cutting out a big section of roadworks on the Bruce. It was pretty good for a back road. There was one more stop, to refuel at Puma Maryborough South and then home by 10:30am. We had mornos in the van and then began the unpacking and cleaning process. The van was unpacked by midday, and the washing machine got its first workout in two months, with many more to follow. The Cruiser got a wash and was put away. 

The Hippo Farm looks pretty good, although the grass has gone a tad feral, nothing that a mow won't fix.  Although it may be a while before we can do that in a couple of places as it is still a bit boggy from the last lot of good rain we had. 

No pre-dinner drink tonight as we walked to to T&L's to collect our mail. It is so nice to have amazing neighbours to keep an eye on the place and collect the mail. Dinner was had, then we relaxed in front of the big box for our one and only favourite TV Show.

It was an amazing trip, even though we did not get to the Tip as initially planned; as they say 'there's always next time'.  Even though we visited some places we had been to quite recently, (last year) we still enjoyed them too. Many were unavoidable as we had to go through them to get to the new places we wanted to visit. There were certainly many roads we hadn't driven before. It was unfortunate that K&J had to abandon the trip due to caravan issues. We all certainly missed their company. Although it was great to have B&N along for all but the last two weeks. We certainly covered some territory together and really enjoyed their company.  

Not sure where the next trip will take us but we have a few options: Tasmania, South-West Western Australia, Cape York, North-West and coastal WA, to name a few. There's one thing for sure, it'll be interesting.  

Bit of a foggy start to the day

Outer reaches of B-P Dam

Breakfast Stop

Not a bad sunset at the Hippo Farm, but not as speccy as the ones in the Outback

Day 91: Sun 7 Aug - Millmerran to Nanango, 227km; total towed: 10 126km

1.6 (feels like -1.4) - 19 (feels like 15) deg C, another bright and sunny, but cool day

When we saw it is -1.4 deg C outside, we turned the heater on, put all our clothes in the bed, then climbed back in with them. About 30 minutes later we were up and about and it was still very fresh outside (2, feels like 0). But we did our walks, had a coffee and were on the road by 7:45am. This is another new road for us and we know why we have not yet driven it with the van in tow; it was a shocker in the main. With such a small population it's a big ask to expect good roads everywhere when there's so many of them. All that money that the govt missed out on when they halved fuel excise only made a bad situation worse. 

About 45 minutes later we stopped at Pittsworth for brekky before taking a walk around this neat little town. Back to the van for a coffee. It was then a short drive to the main road where we had seen a wall full of murals. After Wendy had photographed every one of the 20 murals, we headed to Toowoomba to visit Greg's brother Bob, and sister-in-law Prudy. We had a nice cuppa tea with them and Prudy's brother and partner, before resuming our journey.

The plan was to camp at Yarraman, however half way up the road to the free camp, Wendy re-read Wikicamps and saw that it was only suitable for tents. Not to worry, we pulled over near a large open grassy area that would be perfect for a free camp for RVs. We backed into the space and had lunch.

Plan B was Nanango, only another 22km which we covered before 2:30pm, and called it a day. After setting up shop at the Nanango Free Camp we donned the Lycra and went for a ride around some old haunts. It had been far too long since we'd been on the bikes due to weather and / or unsuitable location. After returning to the van, we settled in, blogged, and dined. The last time we were here was June 2020, and we had power issues in the van. The batteries were just not holding their charge and we were unable to enjoy the van to its full potential. We have subsequently fixed that; replaced the AGM batteries with 2 x 100AH lithium batteries. End of power issues!

As it was our last night on the road, we had pre-dinner drinks outside the van, but we rugged up. There was not much to see, so we were soon inside, having our dinner.

One of the many young green grain crops on our route today

This building was constructed in 1953 and housed the first bore intended to supply water to Pittsworth

Eternal Flame

Three Art Deco buildings at Pittsworth

Pittsworth Post Office

instead of a Tree of Knowledge, Pittsworth has a Seat of Knowledge

Arthur Postle, the Crimson Flash

Pittsworth mural

Pittsworth footpath mosaics

Excluding the mural above, following are the 20 murals Wendy JUST had to photograph

The last of the 20 murals

Our lunch stop

Nanango murals

Nanango War Memorial

Two of Nanango's pubs

Nanango Court House

Old Nanango Post & Telegraph Office

Old Nanango Dairy office

The BIG Bucket at Nanango

Now they wouldn't steal your bike with this chain!

Us at the Nanango Free Camp