North Then South

By Jon Peasey

How does a camping road trip to Tropical North Queensland sound to you? For my wife and me it would be a good opportunity to try out our new OZTENT instant tent. The alluring North Queensland warm, tropical climate is hard to resist when the weather down south is cold. We wanted to revisit familiar places and to enjoy the warmth of the tropics in Australia's winter season.
Our camping trip would see us driving from Toowoomba QLD in the Darling Downs up to the Atherton Tableland in the Cairns QLD hinterland, approximately 1,720 km away. The trip would be along the Bruce Highway driving up the east coast of QLD. Moving from the sub tropics of South East Qld we would cross the Tropic of Capricorn at Rockhampton Qld and continue north to Far North QLD.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jon Peasey
• Release date: Jun 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9780994150868

Jon Peasey

I am a retired male nurse, married with three grown up sons, who have all left home to pursue their own interests in life. My wife and I moved from Toowoomba in south east Queensland in October 2015 to Brookfield a suburb in Brisbane Queensland (QLD). We made the move to be closer to family. In December 2018 we moved to Nundah Queensland to move even closer to family. Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland. Queensland is famous for the Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef. Brisbane is situated on the Brisbane River and is known as the 'River City'. It is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city. I am a Christian and I fellowship with like minded Christians. I enjoy writing, reading my Bible and Christian books. I tend to read non-fiction books in my spare time. My interests are my family, writing, bible study, beach walking, car touring, gospel preaching and bible teaching.

Book preview

North Then South

By Jon Peasey

Published by Peasey Publications

at Smashwords

Copyright 2016 Jon Peasey

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ISBN: 978-0-9941508-6-8

[Cover photo: Sunrise at Lake Tinaroo - Atherton Tableland

Far North Queensland, Australia]

Table of Contents

Preamble

Heading North

Day One (A): Toowoomba QLD to Forest Glen QLD

Day Two (A): Forest Glen QLD

Day Three (A): Forest Glen QLD to Bundaberg QLD

Day Four (A): Bundaberg QLD to Rockhampton QLD

Day Five (A): Rockhampton QLD to Mackay QLD

Day Six (A): Mackay QLD to Airlie Beach QLD

Day Seven (A): Airlie Beach QLD

Day Eight (A): Airlie Beach QLD to Rollingstone Beach QLD

Day Nine (A): Rollingstone Beach QLD to South Mission Beach QLD

Day Ten (A): South Mission Beach QLD

Day Eleven (A): South Mission Beach QLD

Day Twelve (A): South Mission Beach QLD

Day Thirteen (A): South Mission Beach QLD to Lake Tinaroo QLD

Day Fourteen (A): Lake Tinaroo QLD

Day Fifteen (A): Lake Tinaroo QLD

Day Sixteen (A): Lake Tinaroo QLD

Day Seventeen (A): Lake Tinaroo QLD

Day Eighteen (A): Lake Tinaroo QLD to Bowen QLD

Day Nineteen (A): Bowen QLD to Mount Morgan QLD

Day Twenty (A): Mount Morgan QLD to Toowoomba QLD

In Between

Heading South

Day One (B): Toowoomba QLD to Tamworth NSW

Day Two (B): Tamworth NSW to Forbes NSW

Day Three (B): Forbes NSW to Torrumbarry Weir VIC

Day Four (B): Torrumbarry Weir VIC

Day Five (B): Torrumbarry Weir VIC

Day Six (B): Torrumbarry Weir VIC

Day Seven (B): Torrumbarry Weir VIC to Lorne VIC

Day Eight (B): Lorne VIC

Day Nine (B): Lorne VIC

Day Ten (B): Lorne VIC

Day Eleven (B): Lorne VIC

Day Twelve (B): Lorne VIC Forbes NSW

Day Thirteen (B): Forbes NSW to Toowoomba QLD

Epilogue

About the Author

Ebooks by Jon Peasey

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Preamble

I enjoy road trip holidays with my wife Rachel. In 2009 we were thinking about planning a camping holiday to Far North Queensland (FNQ); so I dug out our Australian road atlas. The road trip would be from Toowoomba QLD to the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, using the Bruce Highway route. By Saturday, 04-Jul-2009 I had drafted out some likely trip itineraries. I was now ready to book accommodation for powered tent sites along the route. This was to be our first major road trip since I had been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) back in 2006. As a consequence of the CFS I needed to plan shorter daily driving distances to ensure I had sufficient energy each day.

We planned to leave Toowoomba on Sunday, 12-Jul-2009; accordingly I booked accommodation at the following places:

2 nights at Big 4 Forest Glen Holiday Park - Forest Glen QLD

1 night at Big 4 Cane Village Holiday Park - Bundaberg QLD

1 night at Discovery Holiday Park - North Rockhampton QLD

1 night at Andergrove Top Tourist Holiday Park - Mackay QLD

2 nights at Big 4 Airlie Cove Holiday Park - Airlie Beach QLD

1 night at Big 4 Rollingstone Beach Holiday Park - Rollingstone Beach QLD

4 nights at Big 4 Beachcomber Coconuts Holiday Park - South Mission Beach QLD

7 nights at Discovery Top Tourist Holiday Park - Lake Tinaroo QLD

On Thursday, 09-Jul-2009 we began sorting out what camping gear to take with us up north. Rachel was on her second last day at work. I booked the car in for a service next day, plus new brake pads for the brakes. On Friday morning, Rachel's last day at work, I dropped the car off for a service and for new brake pads to be fitted. I then ordered a taxi to drive me home; where I sorted out the camping gear that we were taking with us. In the afternoon I ordered another taxi and went to pick up our car. When I returned I fitted our roof racks to the car. They were needed as our OZTENT is too long to fit inside