Campers Road Trips

[Camper]

Stopped in Millaa Millaa at the local for a beer and some take away's. Locals were nice, lovely little town, but, the town's representative seems rather odd...




Then it was time to find camp for the next 2 nights. South Johnstone campground on the banks of the South Johnstone River, which eventually turns into a large river and flows out at Innisfail.

Apparently just 12 Ks off the Palmerston Highway between Milla Milla and Innisfail it was a wonderful spot, but if your car is any lower than mine I would avoid it, I had some close calls getting in and out. Scraping over washouts and the like.

Really glad I did go though, it was the closest to solitude I got on this trip, I went a day and a half without seeing anyone, deep in the rain forest, the only noise was the river and the birds, no phone or radio reception.





The campground is an old logging/forestry site so has a brick hut and long drop toilets.
The actual campsites are on the low ground and about 15m from the car park, which didn't work for me, so I set up in front of the ranger station, hoping I wouldn't get kicked out.

[Camper]

I sat by this river, alone in the forest for hours, rum & coke and banging Bluetooth speaker by my side.











Eventually it was time for bed, was really comfy in the back, but I brought too much gear, next time I will pare down quite a bit and leave myself more room.

[Camper]

Next morning and I'm up with the birds, quite literally this time, fuckers were noisy



went for a bit of a walk in the forest














Found my way back just as the rain started, it got cold and grey and a little miserable





So I set up my little shelter, did some camp chores and started drinking again





I hadn't seen anyone for almost 36hrs at this point and was getting pretty loose, dancing around and singing along to the music.

Couple hours later and i fell asleep on the back of the car, music still going, woke up to a slammed door and found I had a neighbor, shut the music off and went quiet, read a book for a bit and drifted off to sleep, it was still raining.
Neighbor never did come to say hello, so I left him be, single guy in a converted Toyota minivan.

[Valencia]

You got way to much shit in the back of that van
who bring a rubbish bin camping ??

[Camper]

who bring a rubbish bin camping ??

It usually sits behind the passenger seat in the front, on top of my 120AMPH portable dual battery system (the main battery in this ute is on the floor behind the passenger, not under the bonnet, weird but worked out well for me). The bin doesn't take up much usable space and gets alot of use, but yes, waaaay too much shit.

Keep in mind I am still away from home now, it will be 11 weeks from when I left to when I go back home again, so I brought a lot of stuff.

Hell, I bought an inverter that I never even used this trip, as well as the tools and parts to change the connections to fit my electrical system (Repco had a sale while I was traveling), in case I wanted my laptop on the road, didn't need it, didn't even open it til I got to Melbourne. I will need it in the future though, for editing video.

This trip was always going to be a trial of a few different systems, to see which things I naturally wanted/gravitated towards and what was awkward or not used. For instance I found I am quite happy with just a 14L fridge and an esky, a bag of ice every 2nd day or so, fridge kept on minus 14 deg, to freeze water bottles and quick chill drinks. Top tip, I kept the fridge in the passenger footwell, which meant the compressor was kept cool by the aircon while driving and I could have a very short cable run from the battery, keeping the fridge very efficient.

I brought a lot of spares and different parts for the 3 new cameras I bought just before this trip, to try out which bits I wanted on a daily basis, straps/mounts/batteries/bags and packs etc.

Sooo many cords and different chargers, 12V, 240V, transformers for 3 cameras, 2 phones, laptop, a GPS and a fridge. Smaller back up battery banks, 1.2AMPH, 10,000MA and 6,000MA, one even has its own solar panel and 24 LEDS.

I bought my cooking setup which I didn't unpack, happy to eat cold stuff most nights and was out and about most days so had a hot lunch.

The lighting I brought worked out well, I found a 500ml 12V dimable led strip that fits my needs. I broke a favorite mini lantern, will need to replace that as it worked well for the little bit of night filming I did and to back fill some still shots. I used my key chain light more often than I would have thought, but did end up buying a powerful hand torch for spot lighting animals and fish (found some freshwater Glass Body Shrimp in Goldsborough Valley, very cool) and used it on a guided night walk through the jungle in Cape Trib.

The chair I brought is very comfy and worth the room it takes up, I will however hurry up and find some sort of cushion/upholstery for the the tail gate as it makes a great impromptu seat, right height, and will make getting in and out of bed softer on the knees.

The big green box has my fire tools and general camping equipment, wont always need this just depends on where I go, next trip I will be staying in Caravan parks/festival grounds, so wont need it.

The red box has my shoes/boots, lid keeps the smell down at night if I have to have it in with me.

I find I save a lot of money on my diet coke/spring water addiction if I buy in bulk, so the back of the car here has a 30pk coke and a slab of water bottles. This also accounts for the need of a bin in the cab.

The table worked well, it has 3 selectable heights and lays flat under the mattress when driving. The two halves mean I can keep 1 side dry enough for electrics and have my drink/s on the other.

I brought 3 types of day bags with different gear for different situations, long walks in the bush Vs day tours or wandering around town Vs car's on fire - 36 HR RUN/GO bag.

I brought a weekender type backpack that fits in airline overhead cabins for the trip to Melbourne.

Some basic tools, although I admit I wouldn't have much chance of repairing a modern engine. I do have roadside assist...

Clothes for varied climates, this trip saw me go from the dessert to the wet tropics to Melbourne in the winter, lots of layers, swimmers, hiking shorts, rain coat etc. I'm a sook in the cold these days.

Nearly forgot, some places I go you cant have a fire so I bought one of those big tin citronella candles to suffice, gives off lots of light and keeps the bugs at bay.

I think that's all... waaay too much.

[Robbo]

You have just about every possible situation covered Camper. Great photo's, really enjoying your adventures.

Cheers.

[Camper]

You have just about every possible situation covered Camper. Great photo's, really enjoying your adventures.

Cheers.

Thanks Robbo,

Happy to share them, lots more to come, we are at day 4 of a 12 day road trip.

[Camper]

Day 4 of the trip and I had no real plans for where I wanted to go or even really what I wanted to do.

First I had to get out of the forest and back on the road.





Back in civilisation and wasn't sure how to fill the day, had kinda planned on doing the waterfall circuit, there is something like 10 waterfalls in the area, but is was cool and raining.

So I went for a drive and checked out the other campground near by at Henrietta Creek, great surroundings but very close to the highway, you would definitely be able to hear cars all night.
I did find an awesome swimming spot, just a short walk past the toilets.








Real fantasy type spot, sun breaking through the clouds, jungle right up to the water, a little mist about and I had the place to myself.


Below you can see just how close I was to the highway, bridge in the background, swimming spot is about 800m from this photo, further from the road.






I also got what is possibly my favourite shot of the car up to this point, paint color really lives up to its name here.

#Jungle Green








Ended up driving down to Innisfail and back for supplies, also just to drive the range road, it's a great drive if you can snag a whole trip with out a truck/slow driver, bendy, drop offs and cliff sides, views through the forest to the coast and 100Kph most of the way. Palmerston Highway from Millaa Millaa to Innisfail, fun. I did this drive a few times.

[wbute]

Looks like you could live pretty comfortably! If your going to spend that much time you might as well do it like that.

[Camper]

Looks like you could live pretty comfortably! If your going to spend that much time you might as well do it like that.

I should probably qualify that, when I say I'm away from home for 11 weeks, 6 of those weeks are at work (1,000 odd Ks from home) I have a permanent room here in Blackwater where I mostly stay for work.

So 1 week on, 16 days off (9 days A/L), 2 weeks on, 5 days off (heading to Winton next week for the film festival), 2 weeks on, 1 week off (not sure yet, maybe Carnarvon George?), 2 weeks on and then home for a week, 2 weeks on etc. etc.