Home Again ..... But For How Long?

What an adventure. 

We were away for 183 days, or two days short of 6 months. 

We travelled 25,636 kms across four states, doing two of the states twice.

We started planning way back in 2017 for 2018, but was delayed by the birth of beautiful granddaughter number 4, so we went on a central Australia trip mid year instead. 2019 was our planned Tasmania trip, and we all know what happened in 2020! No one went anywhere, and we had  four cruises cancelled!

We are lucky to live in Queensland, with the border closures to keep Queenslanders safe from the pandemic in the southern states. We were free to travel Australia from May 2020 - and we did, well we did a few Queensland trips while we waited to see what was happening in the rest of Australia. Life was pretty much normal.

Feeling it was safe to travel further afield, we decided to leave in March. Best decision ever, before the tourist season!

So what we found:- 

(briefly, with more details in the individual blogs)

Border Passes: we had no trouble getting border passes for any of the state borders we crossed. All came with in 15 minutes of us applying. NT, WA, SA, NT again, QLD. No problems what so ever.

Roads:- the WA roads are pretty good, although we had one windscreen cracked and replaced, and four chips in the windscreen, which we replaced once  we were home. All on good sealed roads. Although the roads were good, they were often narrow, hence the loose stones that flew up in our direction. We also had two flat tyres that Peter repaired.

 

Caravan Parks: most caravan parks in WA are expensive and very cramped. We did find a couple that were reasonable at $30-$35 a night, and at some places we needed to stay at a caravan park either for location or security for the van while doing day trips. The most we paid in a caravan park in WA was $65 a night for 3 of us - $50 for 2 and $15 per extra person.

 

National Parks Pass: we knew what National Parks we wanted to go to and thought it would be better to get a pass. For us, that was the wrong choice. If you enjoy hiking and long hours walking through the bush, it might be worth the money, but we don't do long walks. Some of the parks we wanted to visit were free, and we didn't realise that as the information on the website didn't list 'free' parks as it does now. We only found this out once we purchased the park pass and received a booklet. For us, we would have been better off paying as we go, although we probably would not have camped in the National Parks due to the high cost of camping without the pass - not a big problem as there were low cost or free camping nearby. We got a seniors annual pass $75 plus $10 processing, a total of $85. Entry to some parks is $15 per car or $8 concession. 

National Park Camping: we stayed at a few National Parks and they were great. Toilets, more space than a caravan park, and the nature - not to mention the peace and quiet. Cost wise it was ok, but I struggle to see how a family of four (2A 2C) would stay at a cost of $60 the first night park entry and overnight fees, and $45 per night after - no water or power. A caravan park would be better.

Free Camps:- We found some lovely free camps along the main highway north of Perth up to the Kimberley's, many provided by the WA main roads. The only issue was the long distance one needs to travel between some of the free camps.

 

Low Cost Camps:- there were a few, but not as many as on the East Coast. We were surprised that not many showgrounds provided camping facilities. Fees ranged from a donation to a set $15 per night. Some provided water, and some provided water, power, and amenities. Some were in perfect locations.

Water and fuel:- we were mindful of the locations, some far afield, and we never ran out of water or fuel. Water - We did have to pay for some water, and we did boil the water for filling up our water bottles. We did end up buying some bottled water towards the end of the trip, the first time we have ever done this, as we were just over the boiled water taste. Fuel - fuel prices varied a great deal, from the usual 135c to 199c depending where we were. It was expensive crossing the Nullarbor, but most other places we were able to use the fuel app to work out the best and cheapest place to get fuel. We did have to drive great distances in some places between fuel stops, and we did keep topping up when we found cheaper fuel. We spent $6,893 in fuel, our biggest expense.

Experiences:- Western Australia being so far away we don't know when we will be back so we chose experiences that were special, once in a lifetime experience. Yes, they were expensive and we are glad we did them, but probably won't do them again because of the coast. The best experience for us was the Kimberley Air Tours and our flight over Lake Argyle.

Bits and Pieces:- 

- such beautiful beaches along the coast;

- beautiful and different scenery in the Kimberleys and the Pillbara;

- discovered Dome cafes sadly late in the WA part of our trip;

- so much WW2 history we never knew about;

- some many unique places, both natural and man made;

- National Parks expensive;

- Kalbarri National Park was our favourite park;

- many museums free;

- learnt a lot about the mining industry;   

- didn't find a lot of good fish and chips shops until way down south of the state (and $35 for one piece of fish and some chips at Kalbarri was never going to be purchased!).

Now to plan our next adventure.

Monto Queensland

On our last trip we drove through Monto to stay at Mulgildie Pub - which was great - but this trip we wanted to spend a few days in Monto looking at the town, and then do side trips to the Mulgildie Bunyip Hole and the Cania Gorge.
We stayed at the old railway station right in the centre of the town, although the town is not very big, at $5 per night. There is a caretaker on site and toilets, bbq's and tables in the main street adjacent. The railway arrived in 1928. The main street has many historic buildings. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon, and most shops were closed or closing, so walking up and down the main street was good as we could enjoy the architecture of the buildings without other people walking around. We also didn't realise it was a long weekend - for the Brisbane Show!!!! Go figure! We did run into an elderly couple who were complaining about where to get food 'in this bloody place' - we sent them to the pub LOL.

Monto apparently translates from the Aboriginal word meaning 'plains with ridges'. The Monto area was first settled in the 1840's as exploration from Brisbane headed north and west. The Archer Brothers helped open up the area in 1848 with sheep stations. It wasn't until 1870's, when gold was discovered at Three Moon Creek that the population increased. After the gold finds dwindled, the settlers in the area turned to logging and farming. What started as sheep station became cattle and dairy properties. Monto township was not formally recognised until 1924 when the Post Office opened and became the first town in Queensland to be planned by town planners. Along the railway are art works depicting the history of the area.

 

Coal and limestone deposits have been discovered in the area. After setting up we had a lovely walk up and down the main street. We went to the local IGA grocer to stock up for the last few days of this trip. Sadly the quilt shop was closed.

We then decided to drive to the Mulgildie Bunyip Hole and to have a look at Wuruma Dam and Lake. When we stayed at Mulgildie Pub earlier this year but as we were not comfortable leaving the van to look at the surrounding area, so this trip was ideal. The legend of the Mulgildie Bunyip came about during the gold mining days, when cattle would drink at the hole and then disappear.

The waterhole feeds into a small section of Three Moon Creek, and a small weir has been put in place. We did see a caravan not far away from the water hole free camping. Think I would be a little scared with the isolation and bunyip around :)

 

We then took some back dirt roads heading to Wuruma Dam. This is a day use area and very well presented. There are rangers quarters and picnic tables and heaps of kangaroos.

We had read a lot about Wurumba Lake free camp, so we were keen to have a look. We were impressed. We drove along each road to look at each camp area. The caravan would have got there easily, slowly, but easily. There were so many great sites. We may come for a few days.

After our 4 hour excursion to Mulgildie Bunyip Hole and Wuruma Lake, we decided to have dinner at the Monto Grand Hotel, just across the road from the camp.

Many travellers told us about how good the food was at the pub, so we had to try it. Only half the dining room was open and most of the tables were already taken. The food was ok. The chips and salad were great. The white mayo sauce was perfect. Peter ordered a surf and turf with steak and calamari. The calamari was good. I ordered barramundi and chips with tartare sauce. The barmaid asked if we wanted Australian Barra, as it was better (and more expensive) - Peter said Barra is Australian, overseas it is Bass :)

So anyway, both meals came with sweet chilli sauce, Peter ordered pepper sauce ($2) and I ordered garlic sauce ($2) extra. Neither were much good. BUT ... the mayo sauce (maybe it was suppose to be tartare) was perfect, as were the chips. Peter left most of the steak as it was very tough and difficult to eat. I ate one of the Barra fillets and it was very dry. Peter ate one also, as he didn't eat much of his steak. That left one on the plate. We would eat here again, but probably just have the chips, salad and that wonderful sauce. I sort of wish I had tried the honey chicken.  

 

We did enjoy staying at Monto, and will probably stay again another time. Oh, by the way, actor Michael Caton was born in Monto in 1943, and artist Gil Jamieson was born here in 1934 and died here in 1992. Tomorrow we are going to Cania Gorge.