I think we have gotten into the caravan routine as we are both sleeping well. As each day passes, the temperature is slowly rising and the nights are spent initially a sheet over us and as we approach dawn, a light blanket is required.
The alarm sounded at 6:30am and with a planned departure of 9:00am, we didn’t have to hurry too much to get ready.
Our departure process was halted a couple of times when other members of our group called to say hello or to ask for information.
All that aside, we had the caravan prepared for departure by 9:00am and it was, 9:01am when we pulled away from our camp site.
We had to wait for the two other members of our travelling group who had their exit blocked by another caravan.
The route chosen for today (Tablelands Road) avoided 100 kilometers of travel on the busy Bruce (A1) Highway and was a little quicker.
We followed the GPS through Bundaberg, crossed the river and turned onto our planned route. About 60 kilometers down the road, our leader today turned from the main road at Rosedale and stated that his GPS was selecting the correct route. Reluctantly, we followed only to end up on a gravel road several kilometers later. All indication was that we would return to the highway in 30 or so kilometers so we agreed to proceed and enjoy the countryside. Our progress came to a sudden stop with water across the road and rather than try to go through the water with an unknown depth, we decided to turn around and head back to Rosedale and turn left onto the road we had left. Later we discovered that had we continued the road (Diamond Hill Road), we would have rejoined the Bruce Highway just to the north of Gin Gin which was the start of an alternate route to Rockhampton.
After returning to the main road, we continued north until arriving at a small town called Miriam Vale where we stopped for a drink and an early lunch.
We continued our trip north on the Bruce Highway “playing with the impatient trucks” who wanted to pass. We arrived in Rockhampton close to 2:30pm and located our overnight stop, the Riverside Caravan Park which was located on the eastern side of Rockhampton on the Fitzroy River.
By the time we setup it was close to 3:30pm so we started an early happy hour. Other members of our group slowly joined us after 4:00pm. We had a discussion on activities that we could enjoy on the next day.
We had an early tea and then joined our friends and played cards until about 9:45pm when we returned to the caravan and used the on-board shower. We went to bed not long after with the air conditioning fan running for the entire night.