Western Qld - Fletcher Creek to Clermont

 Day 14 - Friday 19th September, 2025

We both need to stop in at Charters Towers this morning to pick up some refreshments and a few groceries.  Our mates headed in early and after we had a leisurely pack up, we popped over to the dump point and that's when our morning turned slightly to sh*t.  After empting said toilet cassette, got back into the car and well the mighty Hilux just didn't start  😮  what the!  Craig grabbed the jump pack out of the back of the Hilux and I jumped in and started her up, as we drove into Charters Towers we thought that was weird.

Found a park, I headed to the shops to grab some groceries and beer while Craig looked after Barney, got back packed the beer and food into the fridge and wouldn't you know it, Hilux no go again (well we were expecting it not to start but were hoping) LOL.  Jump pack out again, start her up and away we went straight over to Supercheap to buy a new battery.  Craig replaced the battery outside the store and they were happy to take the old battery, but Craig decided to keep it as it still had life in it and thought it may the run the tractor or something when we got home 🤷‍♀️  After that Hilux started first time, every time and no more delay when you press the start button and it actually firing up - yes I know, the signs were there!

Anyhoo, onwards to Clermont which is our overnight camp for tonight in a powered site with grass and we'll all be doing some washing.  Clermont I hear you say, well we had to stop somewhere for the night before reaching our desired destination that we are staying for a couple of nights at, so Clermont was it.  Around Belyando somewhere we had to get off the road for a wide load, which was a little challenging since there was not a lot of room for 2 caravans to pull off but luckily in the nick of time there was a small but big enough area for both of us to pull off.  She was a huge wide load with 2 pilots and 2 police escorts and they were going real slow.

Nice straight roads out here too isn't there.....

We stopped at Belyando Crossing for lunch and a break.  Boys had a beer and it was so hot, Craig had to carry Barney across the bitumen.

We arrived at Clermon Caravan Park late in the afternoon, so set up camp and then I went off to do some washing before it got late.  We were given the grassed powered sites down the bottom which was great beause we didn't really have anyone camping next to us.  

It's a tidy caravan park, quite a lot of the washing machines and dryers were out of order which was painful and the amenities were old but clean.  It looked like the park catered for the mine workers mostly. It cost us $50.00 for the night.

Barney enjoyed the grass to play on and roll around on.  It was rather hot so both vans had the air con on and Doreen spent most of her time inside in the cool.  We met a couple of lovely older ladies travelling around in their new smaller van, they both took quite a liking to Barney, so he got lots and pats from them.

We cooked sausage rolls in the camp oven on the gas cooktop, which turned out pretty good again and while they were cooking I tried taking some star shot on my phone, which were pretty average, I'll show you....

See what I mean 😆  Been a big day, so not a late night for any of us.

Western Qld - Pinnarendi Station to Fletcher Creek

 Day 13 - Thursday 18th September, 2025

Before heading off this morning Doreen grabbed some soudough and one of the pizzas leftover from last night's pizza night at the Bistro (unfortunately no dogs allowed at the Bistro for dinner service so we didn't go to pizza night).

We're headed to Fletcher Creek about 45klm north of Charters Towers, which is a free camp.  You have toilets, showers and a dump point and plenty of space to camp on both sides of the road.  We stopped at The Oasis Roadhouse for fuel and smoko and arrived about 1.30pm at Fletcher Creek.  You can camp right next to the creek or there is plenty of room back from the creek.  Toilets and dump point are on the north eastern camping area.

You can have a campfire and it's dog friendly, unfortunately it was still too windy for us to have a fire.  Fletcher Creek is a relaxing overnight camp, while we didn't camp on the creek it would be very pleasant doing so.  We did camp here donkeys years ago on our first trip up to Cape Yor and they have certainly cleaned up alot more area to camp then we were last here.

 

Western Qld - Cobbold Gorge to Pinnarendi Station

Day 12 - Wednesday 17th September, 2025

Packed up early this morning, chatting with Johno and Dave the Staffy along the way.  Johno, Julie and Dave are heading off today to the Oasis Roadhouse at The Lynd which is south and we are headed to Pinnarendi Station slightly north east.  A nice short day.

Arriving about 1pm, we booked in and Nadine the owner remembered us from when we stayed earlier in the year.  We found a spot in the unpowered section and waited for the Razzles to arrive (thankfully we told Nadine that we had friends on their way because she was nearly at full capacity.  We left before the Razzles this morning, stopped at Georgetown for fuel, fresh veges,  couple of grocery items and smoko and then carried on to Pinnarendi.

First call upon Doreen's arrival was lunch at the onsite Bistro, which we were happy to obilge since it was so yummy last time.  Nadine was alone in the kitchen and doing book ins as well, so lunch took way longer then expected and I needed to get back to camp to do the wages.  Grabbed some homemade Pinnarendi Jerky and a loaf of their Sourdough this time.

To be quite honest, nothing really happened after lunch that's worth mentioning - sleeping, reading, work, chatting.  We couldn't have a fire tonight because it was way too windy.

Again it is a pleasant stay at Pinnarendi Station, you have toilets, showers, powered sites, unpowered sites, laundry and onsite Bistro that does lunch and dinner.  Unpowered spot is $26.00 per night and they are dog friendly.

Western Qld - Croydon to Cobbold Gorge

 Day 10 & 11 - Monday 15th & Tuesday 16th September, 2025

Good morning 🌞  our destination today is a place I came across doing research for this trip on YouTube watching videos of people's travels in Western Qld.  So first stop this morning will be Georgetown for fuel and smoko.

Where are we heading I hear you ask...  Cobbold Gorge.

The road from Georgetown to Forsayth has been a mix of bitumen and well maintained dirt road, once we turned south at Forsayth, well let's just say the road got less maintained 😆.  We ended up pulling over and dropping  about 5lb out of the Hilux and van tyres, which did make it a lot more comfortable but we were still travelling between 30 - 60klm partially due to 2 caravans in front of us who kept coming to a complete stop right on a bend and in the middle of the road, so we had to keep pulling up quite quickly then dawdle along to get some space between them and us.  Thankfully they eventually pulled over and we were both able to get past them.  She was a rough old road into Cobbold.

We rolled into Cobbold Gorge around 12.40pm and it was a sight for sore eyes.  Good first impressions upon driving in the nice entrance, down past the lake, grassy area and infinity pool looking out over the lake area with it's own swim up pool bar and lets not forget the Bistro with lovely deck next to the pool area, so much too take in.  Pulled up at reception and while Doreen and I booked in the boys parked out of the way of the road and got Barney out.

Heaps of merch and some groceries in the reception, we pre-booked our powered sites next to each other for 2 nights and we also booked Craig, Razzle and Doreen for the Gorge tour tomorrow afternoon and I'll Barney sit and work at the van.

Parked up in our sites, which are tiered and a decent size, gravel, water, power, sullage and you stay hooked up.  There are also unpowered and unhook powered sites.  Good amenities.

Was just a relaxing afternoon after we set up, a quick swim while Razzle looked after Barney on the grass for us then back to camp.  

The pool and Bistro would be a lovely place to hang out for a drink while swimming and lunch or dinner, unfortunately neither are dog friendly and Barney doesn't like being left alone in the caravan sadly.

The next morning (Tuesday) we just hung around camp, chatted and mucked around until it was time to go on their Gorge Tour. Met our neighbours on the tier below Johno and Julie, who had a rescue Staffy (rescued from a fighting ring) named Dave, normally they muzzle him when meeting new dogs because he has some issues as you can imagine, but Dave was very keen to meet Barney and loved him, which Johno and Julie were so happy to see happen. 

It was very nice to meet them and Dave, such lovely people.

Once Craig, Razzle and Doreen left for their Gorge Tour, Barney and I went inside the van in the air conditioning so I could work.

The entrepid adventurers returned about 4.30pm and it sounds like it was quite spectacular

We headed up to the pool for a swim, Craig and I took turns sitting with the Barney, unfortunately for Craig the pool bar had closed by the time he went in for a paddle around in the pool.  Still nice to cool off.

We had another group discussion about tomorrow's destination after having dinner, then headed off to bed.

We enjoyed our stay here at Cobbold Gorge.  Powered Drive Through site was $48.00 per night and the Gorge Tour cost $120.00

Western Qld - Karumba to Croydon

Day 9 - Sunday 14th September, 2025

We had a group discussion yesterday about our first couple of destinations on our adventure home.  First stop today is Croydon, none of us have ever stopped there, we drove through Croydon donkeys years ago.  While packing up, the fellow camped behind us was chatting to Craig and asked where we were headed to today which he responded Croydon.  The fellow told Craig about the historical walk around Croydon and said it's worth doing.  We'll put that on our to do list.

Vacated Karumba Point about 8.00-8.30am, stopping in Normanton to top up fuel and pick up a couple of groceries at the Foodworks store, really good store, heaps of fresh fruit and vege at reasonable prices and all the other bakery and stores you'll need.

Pulling up at the caravan park about 2pm, we wandered in and booked into a couple of drive through sites which had some grass around, Barney was certainly happy to play on the grass.  After setting up, had a bit of lunch and then relaxed due to it being too hot to go on the historical walk just yet.  On the back of the caravan park map is the map for the historical walk with all the details on it.

About 3.40pm the decision was made to commence the historical walk.  Craig had to carry Barney across the road because the bitumen was way too hot for his little tooties.

Wow what an amazing Historical Precinct they have created and are still working on - Croydon what a little surprise package you are!  The streets even have old styped street lamps.  Within the precinct you have the Police Station and residence, jail cells complete with recording of a prisoners story (which Craig wasn't excepting and sh*t himself when it started up 😆  You've got the Courthouse and attached rooms filled with memoribilia of days gone by.  The old hall which is till used today as a picture theatre.  There are pathways winding through all the old building making it easy to get around.  Also the old Butcher shop which only closed in 1983!

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you look at it, the Croydon Pub is a part of the historical walk 🤔 so it would be rude not to go and have a look at this historical building would it not......  so we did, Barney got carried across the road again and we all went and partook in some refreshments, due to it being so hot and all.

Back at camp by say 5.30pm in time for afternoon drinks in the shade, while some of us had a nap 😴  Now, Croydon Caravan Park - a very pleasant place to stay, has plenty of powered sites, Cabins, 2 x Amenities Blocks, 2 x Camp Kitchens that are well equipped, a pool (which we enjoyed earlier in the afternoon), grass on some sites and it's quiet.  $35.00/per night power/water for 2 people, oh and dog friendly.

We considered dinner at the pub, but decided we all had enough food in our fridges and needed to eat it.  We have been pleasantly surprised by Croydon and happy we stopped here, we have all enjoyed our time in Croydon and would recommend to anyone travelling through to stop overnight and have a look around.