Rockhampton to Moffatt Beach QLD to Grafton NSW

Wednesday 27th, Thursday 28th to Friday 29th October 2021
We have travelled some miles is the last few days as it is time to make our way home

We left Rockhampton and had a little detour to the CQUniversity Covid testing centre as David had a sore throat since Wednesday and thought he should get tested as we were hoping to catch up with some friends in Caloundra on Thursday afternoon/Friday morning. We spent the whole day driving south. Unfortunately David’s result didn’t come through until late on Thursday afternoon, posing a quandary for how we checked in to a hotel for the night. This was solved at about 5.30pm when he received a negative result. We checked in to the Moffatt Beach Hotel for the night.

On Thursday morning I met Glen and Jen for breakfast as David wasn’t very well to join us and didn’t want to share his germs. We then drove the long way—avoiding the Gold Coast—to Grafton as we were planning on camping with Shaz and Richard at The Gorge Clarence River. This was a very scenic drive through lovely countryside via Beaudesert, the Scenic Rim and finally crossing the QLD/NSW border. We went through the Covid checkpoint without stopping as only cars going north were stopped. It was a long drive for me this afternoon (about 3 hours) along very winding roads and on and off dirt roads. I handled pretty well thankfully as day was pretty shattered. Unfortunately later in the day David was feeling even worse and thunderstorms were forecast so we decided to stay in a motel at Grafton. The lightning wasn’t as severe as we thought it would be but there were a few decent strikes ad some heavy rain overnight.

On Friday morning David was still feeling pretty crook so we extended our stay at Grafton and he stayed in the Motel for the day. After some technical training on the SatPhone, some 4WD training and some map checking, I gathered my courage and drove myself to The Gorge campground on the Clarence River. This was only a 68km and a 1 hour 17min drive but it was very winding, along narrow wet dirt/gravel roads. A big challenge for me. I arrived about 12.20pm but took about an hour to find Shaz and Richard on the farm property. I then enjoyed a lovely few hours with them before leaving at about 5pm. My map failed me as I didn’t have the offline maps downloaded so I had to read maps normal style and navigate my way back manually. I survived it all and got back to the mote before dark.

we will see how David’s health is tomorrow before we decided whether we stay here a bit longer or head further south.

Hoping everyone is well. Take care and stay safe.

: Mt Barney on the Scenic Rim – another area full of places and trails for us to explore another time..

: ..Mt Lindsay – looks like our kind of mountain climb but unfortunately we couldn’t see any tracks on the map.

: At Mt Lindsay we had many warnings as we approached the QLD/NSW border, maybe if they enforced the big fine less people would have broken the rules..

: ..as you can see heading south is clear sailing but not so on the other side of the road..

: The road on the way to the Gorge..

: ..was in all sorts of condition..

: ..a good challenge for me..

: ..looking towards the gorge..

: ..Richard was keen for David to come back and share dinner with them, we will see what tomorrow brings, maybe or maybe we won’t get back there..

: ..as I head home at 5pm the jacarandas along the trail were beautiful..

: ..as was this little shack – I would have like to style this photo a little better but there were only limited spots to stop where the approaching traffic could see you – not that I passed many cars but the corners were very blind should one come along..