23 August 2012 - Ban Ban Springs Rest Area, North Burnett, Queensland

As I start this, it is still a warm 30 degrees and there is no sign of the forecasted rain. It is a joy to be once more out in the country, free camping beside the road. Or, in the local lingo, to be bush camping out in the bush. We are beside the Burnett Highway so there will be a little road noise as indicated in Camps 6, however it is bound to diminish as the afternoon turns to evening.

We left Yandina about 9 am, a noteworthy achievement after having been a whole week established in the one camp, however we should be organised enough to do so by now. The Bruce Highway was busy and much of it toward Gympie still undergoing massive reconstruction. In Gympie, we paused only long enough to stock up on fresh produce and bread for lunch, and then pressed on once more, turning west just north of Gympie and travelling across toward Kilkivan. We stopped just short of Kilkivan, at the Fat Hen Creek Rest Area where we first free camped alone last year.

The country passed through was much drier than last year but still quite lovely. The gold of the grass, growing in many places long enough to hide our growing grandchildren if they were here, contrasts well with the green eucalypts, and the motley collection of beef cattle add to the colour scheme. The toilets at Fat Hen Creek have now been repaired; last year they were closed after massive flood damage. The creek was more attractive than last year when it had still been a muddy swollen flow through flattened vegetation. We parked where we had last year, read the paper and then feasted on our delicious sourdough rolls.

At Kilkivan, we turned north east, taking a short cut across to the Burnett Highway, across more lovely farmland, open woodlands over rolling hills, some steeper than others, until we came down to Tansy on the main highway. On the shortcut we had almost cut short our trip when we and a large logging truck carrying its trailer both approached a narrow bridge at speed, neither giving way to the other. In truth, the bridge was wide enough for two vehicles to pass with caution. We hit the bridge before the truck, but the caravan, according to Chris, was still on the bridge as the truck arrived. I rely on Chris to tell this part of the story because it was one of those OMG and eyes shut moments; mine that is, not either of the drivers. No harm came of the moment, however I suspect the truck driver is still cursing caravan touring nomads. 

It was soon after 2 pm that we arrived here at Ban Ban Springs, having covered just less than 200 kilometres, however this had been the spot on the map we had pinpointed this morning, so here we will stay overnight before heading further north. There were already over half a dozen campers here when we arrived and about as many more have since arrived and set up camp. There is a twenty hour limit to one’s stay here however I suspect some of those caravans we saw on arrival have been here all of that and more. The springs have been here for yonks, as you would expect, and were an important meeting place for the aboriginal people as they travelled this way and that. Great volumes of clear water bubbles up out of the ground marked with little but a few stones around the perimeter. Across the road is a roadhouse where one can top up with fuel and maybe buy a beer. This will serve us well for the night.