Hi All,
     We are leaving at the end of May making our way along the Leichhardt Highway into Rockhampton and then onto Mackay and then Townsville, we have the bible, camps 5 but was wondering if anyone knows of any other free camps or low cost showgrounds on this route. We have to be careful where we park as we have a Toyota Corolla Ascent towing an A`Van sportsliner both being very low to the ground. Thanks for your help in advance Helena.

Caravan Park....Possum Park, 20km north of Miles, is on the site of an old WWII munitions dump. Not free but not expensive either. CP in Taroom is a cheapie, but when I stayed there about a year and a half ago was ok. Theodore has a freebie in town but when I looked in there it was rather crowded. CP at Banana, don't know much about it. Moonie (nth of Goondi) looked rather crappy and would be noisy being at the junction of two highways. Marlborough, Bruce Hwy north of Rocky, has a paddock suitable for camping behind the pub. Pub charges $5 to use their facilities. Located in village about 1km off highway so noise not a problem

How far west are you Joining the Capricorn? There is a nice free camp at Duaringa (2 nights max) with hot showers. Between Rocky and Mackay you have an excellent stop at St Lawrence, a couple of km off the highway, located in the sports ground. Showers are $1. Don't think of stopping in the Whitsunday Shire (Proserpine - Bowen,) they would be the most anti free camping shire. We all boycott them. Don't forget Home Hill. They allow 2 nights behind the main street along the railway line. Hot showers at the coach terminal (free.) Don't park behind the wood working shop - they leave their air compressor running all night. If you get there at morning tea time or lunch time the place will be crowded with short stoppers having a break.

I think Whitsunday is overrated anyway, well from a Grey Nomads point of view, as is Bowen. In contrast Home Hill appears to go all out to welcome travellers. Last year I patronised an old style cafe in the main street. They did a "mean" salad wrap and the service was friendly. (note to self...don't choke on your halo Jim, you usually have a sausage roll!)

Thanks guys you have certainly helped us we have only been to Queensland once before and really enjoyed it. Bill likes the idea of the old style cafe Jim bang goes the diet again. Jim notice you have a tool box on the back of your rig does it upset the balance as we are thinking of putting a carrier on the back of ours to carry a ten litre water container. Once again thanks all. Helena.

Sorry Peter didn`t mean to leave you out in my reply we are not sure how far we are going just heading in the diredction of Townsville we are planning on being away for about 4 to 5 months so it is anyones guess where we land up trouble is we get sidetracked as so many things to see and do. Thanks for your help Helena.

Helena wrote:

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Jim notice you have a tool box on the back of your rig does it upset the balance as we are thinking of putting a carrier on the back of ours to carry a ten litre water container. Once again thanks all. Helena.

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Helena - adding weight to the ends of vans is not really a good move. There is a good paper written by Collyn Rivers on the subject - see this link

Before anyone comments on this paper - remember Collyn was a design engineer at General Motors UK. I hope anyone wishing to comment negatively on the paper has suitable qualifications behind their reply. There is likely to be a more comprehensive paper by Collyn published in Caravan World June issue.

Hi Helena,

Re the tool box, it seems ok, there's still plenty of weight on the drawbar. I mainly only carry a few wooden chocks and a couple of power cords and a few other bits and pieces, no heavy tools, I carry my tools in the vehicle. The rear bar was (factory) set up to carry bicycles and has two jerrycan holders that I don't use. I think two full jerrycans would have a greater moment arm than the tool box. The axle(s) is(are) set well aft on the rig.... well that's the theory anyway!  The rig has independent trailing arm suspension and shockies and it tows quite stably.

Please note that my comments are quite specific to my rig and don't negate anything in PeterD's post above.

Jim

PS: I'm heading for Gladstone via the Leichhardt Hwy in a week or so, returning probably the same way at the end of the month.... short trip to attend a wedding. Back on the same track again early July for a winter escape to FNQ.

-- Edited by jimricho on Wednesday 7th of April 2010 08:34:50 PM

Hi Peter and Jim, Thanks for the info we were a bit concerned about adding weight to the back of the van Have a safe trip to Galdstone Jim hope the wedding goes well and who knows we may meet on the road somewhere. We will have to try to get a photo of our rig on the forum. Helena.

I just read the article about load distribution that Peter D put the link up to. I'm astounded that it is so important to load the trailer / van so carefully to avoid the pitching, snaking that is described in the article. Thanks for sharing this Peter

The way things are going for me, medically speaking, I'll still be here in the season Jim. I'll have to fly back to SA for my birthday, and come back here, waiting again. Safe travels everyone.