Agnes Water

 Back on the road!

Fortunately the rain and wind had eased off slightly which helped with driving conditions (don’t forget Muriel’s a hi-top camper) so we were able to get out of Rockhampton of which we had seen the total sum of some ducks, a woolworths, an en-suite and a steakhouse in our 3 day visit! As we drove out of the town we could see how much rain had actually fallen as we passed waterlogged fields and flooded rivers. The friendly voice on the radio informed us that the rainfall had set the new record for most rain ever in July, nice!

We wanted to head for Hervy Bay which is where you can spot whales and also the jumping off point for Fraser Island, as it was some distance we decided to break the drive and stop in a place called Agnes Waters. I did a little research on our app and found a camp site which whilst it wasn’t on the beach, it was a Kangaroo Sanctuary so we headed for there.

The app we are using, Wikicamps is really good and well worth the £4 download fee. It provides star ratings and comments left by guests and along with campsites, it lists hostels, BBQ spots and all other POI’s. Only yesterday, it gave us an option for a campsite near Serena beach where clothing was optional! Whilst Glenn and I decided we weren’t quite ready to bare all, reading some of the comments left by visitors kept us amused for much of the drive.

As we approached the campsite, we knew we were in the right place as we started spotting loads of Kangaroos along the roadside. We made our ascent to what would be a stunning view (too cloudy) over Ages Waters. The campsite was tiny and there didn’t appear to be a reception so we parked up in a bay and was soon greeted by the Camp owner followed closely by a Kangaroo!

The kangaroo came right up to us sniffing and checking each of us out which I was a bit wary of (Shell not Glenn). Due to the recent rain, most campers had checked out and headed for the big towns (where we had just come from) so there was only us and a couple of lads there which was pretty cool.

Once we had set up camp and as there was nothing better to do (too wet) I decided to head to the camp kitchen and cook up a meal and left Glenn to the blogging. Arriving, I found the two lads, one from Finland and the other from Japan lazing around amongst the detritus of their own food prep. Spotting me, they jumped up and began to clean and I got chatting to them. Apparently, they both worked as fruit pickers in Oz, didn’t know each other prior to the trip but there are websites where you can advertise for a travel buddy and share the costs. We’d camped next to a similar group in Airlie Beach, these were 2 girls travelling together and 2 guys, in a van the same size as Muriel, with complete strangers, not sure I could do it!, packed in, loads of mess, tip toeing around each other,  nope!

Where we can and where the camp kitchen looks decent, we tend to do a bit of a cook up so we have something home cooked in the fridge for those occasions where you arrive late to a campsite or just can’t be bothered. Today, I was cooking lamb casserole with one of those packet mix things. Never again, very bland even after pimping it up with spices from our store cupboard. So a bit deflated I went back to the van where Glenn cheered me up with a glass of wine. We decided the casserole might taste better in a day or two and grabbed the wine and chilli and went back to the camp kitchen to eat.

The boys were still there taking respite from their small van. The Finnish guy eyed our bottle of wine greedily and I think I counted 4 or 5 hints before he outwardly asked for a glass, he was over the moon when we gave him the rest of the bottle.

Back to the van we decided to play some tunes (louder than usual as the camp was dead so we pumped the music through Muriel’s speakers) and had ourselves quite a party for the rest of the night. Hope the kangaroos liked Glenn’s rock collection.