Garry and Carols Van Trip: Brisbane to Stanthorpe

The Van and Car have been given the once over and are now ready for the highway again. We are happy with the standard of both services and the price of one. While in Brisbane we caught up with our daughter and son in law and managed to coincide a visit to their city unit with the visit to South Bank by the Queen – she gets around pretty well and was remarkably popular. Personally I was more interested in seeing my two grand-daughters and had some fun with them. We also learned that our son purchased a house in Mudgee for his family when they move in December to take a job in a new mine opening up nearby – same company as where he works now in CQ. They are excited and it will be a wonderful experience for them. We look forward to visiting them early next year.

We were grateful for spending a few days with friends in the Bayside. Their business is going well and their delightful young son was very entertaining. Of course we needed some hardware while we there and were updated on all the latest industry goss.

We picked up the vehicles, shelled out heaps of hard earned, and pulled into Caboolture 15 km’s up the road for a rest. After some net searching the next morning we purchased a satellite dish from a business 2 minutes the other side of the motorway from the van park. They offered a very good deal on the latest gear and were very helpful and pleasant. SATPLUS at Caboolture – they also sell solar panels and inverters for hundreds less than the chain stores. We signed up on line and now have free to air digital channels anywhere in Australia.

A slow drive out through Woodford, along the dam and through Sommerset township to Esk. We elected to camp beside Wivenhoe Dam and were pleased we did. Lumley Hill Camp is about 30 minutes out of Esk and is on a hilly point overlooking the lake. Very quiet and peaceful; no traffic at all, plenty of pelicans, kookaburras, and roos. Excellent facilities with easy sites, large clean amenities and power and water for a low camp fee ($21 / night). We went back into Esk and stocked up on meat and fresh fruit and veges from a real butcher and green grocer. There are 2 antique shops in Esk and one is closing down, 50% off everything. He had a huge amount of old stuff but non suitable for a van, thank goodness!! We headed off towards Stanthorpe via Fernvale (stocking up on the best pies ever), Rosewood, Aratula (cheapest diesel for a while at 142.9), Cunninghams Gap and Warwick. As we climbed the hill the country changed dramatically and the rich dark soils are full of veges and fruit trees or thick green grass. The rose plants in Warwick grow like weeds and are covered in blooms at the moment. There is a major Campdraft and Rodeo on this week so everything booked out and on to Stanthorpe it was. We have booked in for a week at the Top of the Town park. It is really well presented, new amenities, lovely gardens and green, large sites – recommended.