Week 1 – Brisbane, Bundaberg and Cooktown
Tuesday 1st
After a late night on Monday – some 2.30am we managed to get off about 10am. After some thought and a 
recommendation from Ian & Luey we decided on “Sexie Coffee”. Coffee was great! Then we decided to start looking for a spot to sleep. It was decided the National Park 20kms south of Bundaberg looked promising. We were not disappointed. Looking up the beach you could just make civilisation out which was Bundaberg. To the south was Woodgate. Sleep was great but was interrupted by a couple of young dudes at 11pm who decided dune storming would be great. Funny how karma works. We woke to find themselves hopelessly wedged between going up a dune and a tree behind them. On snapping something in the front they decided to sleep the night. We took pity on them and woke them at 9am & pulled them out with the Maverick.
Wednesday 2nd
Today we decided to head for somewhere around Rockhampton. Not far BUT! we decided the Bundaberg Rum factory needed some investigation before we left the area. The tour took an hour and it was surprising how small the over all operation was. I guess when you grew up with such an icon you tend to have a so called big view of it.
While we were in Bundaberg there were many vehicles in town from the Variety Bash which also created some interest.
From the Rum factory it was on the Rocky. We decided a little state forest on the north side of Rocky looked a good place & arrived there on dusk.
Thursday 3rd
This is the beautiful site we woke up to.
Today we moved on the Murdering Point. Getting here was interesting as we had originally decided on camping on the coast just below Townsville near Bald Rock. Arriving at bald rock we found ourselves traversing a track which at high tide gets submerged. The mud that was also present proved we were a little less able to 4wd than we thought. On Saturday in Cairns we have decided to buy a set of Polyair springs to help with the clearance in the rear of the vehicle.
Murdering Point was much more affected by the recent cyclone than we expected with many houses damaged and much of the locals trees gone. The local caravan park manager Les looked much thinner than when we saw him 2 years ago.
Friday 4th
Today we decided a rest day was in order and slept in. We found we had camped next to another couple, Simon & Lisa. They have been on the road for 2 years. We shared some stories and learned some interesting facts from them. It was really wonderful meeting them both so early on our trip.
Saturday 5th
Today we packed up early and headed for Cairns. Arrived 8.30 and did some chores, including checking our Evakool fridge as it was playing up. Steve had made plans to meet up with Paul @ 10.30. They decided to leave early so we took the time to fuel up. Alison text Janelle in an effort to meet up at the Lions Den Hotel. We took the inland route & arrived @ 3pm. They arrived @ 4.30pm allot slower than we thought & left little time to catch up. That night was a bought about the 1st rule of our trip. BE IN CAMP BY 3pm. Our usual spot on the beach at Archer Point, just south of Cooktown was full of garbage. We decided to head further into the bush towards Walker Point. 6pm at night we became stuck in a small patch of mud and had to winch ourselves out. At this point we decided Walkers point was not worth it and we headed to a clearing on the top of a hill we had passed earlier.
Sunday 6th
Another great night sleep. Today was another rest day so we stripped the load from the 
Maverick & reorganised the lot. We also installed the shower pump that needed replacement. We both felt allot more organised from the day of rest. Luey called us on the satellite phone and it was really great to hear her voice. We also rang our house sitter Ellie to check up on how it was going and if Tia (our cat) was settling in OK. As we are packing up for the night a strange noise like a mad bull could be heard close by. We found a scrub bull eating the small trees near by. Our torch chased him off.
Monday 7th
We headed to Cooktown this morning to organise the fitting of the new Polyair Springs. The local garage gave us their first available booking of Wednesday 8am. This gives a couple of days to kill, so we have headed off to Battle camp range to explore. Isabella falls were very pretty and we spent an hour or so there having lunch and washing the 4WD . Then it was onwards to the Normanby River to camp the night. The picture below is the creek crossing near where we camped.
To be continued ……