The Long Road West Starts HERE // Caravanning Australia

[00:00:00]We're leaving the East Coast behind and heading west.

[00:00:05]There's a couple of stops along the way.

[00:00:10]Some epic free and low-cost camps.

[00:00:12]>> This looks like a nice spot.

[00:00:20]>> And yeah, not everything goes to plan.

[00:00:23]>> Can't go in.

[00:00:25]There is a green pass.

[00:00:27]Surely you don't think it's even 8:00 yet.

[00:00:33]>> There's a lot to cover, so buckle up.

[00:00:35]Let's go.

[00:00:45]>> We're finally leaving Brisbane behind and saying [music] goodbye to the East Coast.

[00:00:57]First stop, Kilcoy, home of the Yowie, Australia's very own Bigfoot.

[00:01:16]>> Well, we've had enough of the highway.

[00:01:18]So, we're taking a shortcut suggested by Google Maps.

[00:01:33]>> That was another cracking Google shortcut. Thank you. Road ends, so turn around and go back to the highway.

[00:01:45]>> [music] >> Just over 200 km today, so we're keeping dinner easy. These pre-cooked meals are a game-changer. Just add coleslaw and fresh rolls, done.

[00:02:23]Good morning.

[00:02:25]We spent a very pleasant night at Goomeri Showgrounds. $25 powered. If you have power, you can also hook up to water and fill your tanks. $20 unpowered, but you will have to pay $10 to fill your tank, so that's a no-brainer. If you're passing through, it will be $10 to fill your tanks and $5 to use the dump points. Surprisingly quiet cuz there is a service station and it's quite a busy road during the day, but quietens down at night, so we had a very peaceful night.

[00:02:58]Let's go.

[00:02:59]>> Right, you ready?

[00:03:00]>> I am ready.

[00:03:06]>> When we arrived today, this place was packed.

[00:03:09]But by morning, almost empty.

[00:03:21]>> Bring down all the lights, let me hold you close.

[00:03:30]I'm full of loose ends, will you be my road?

[00:03:36]>> Goomeri's got a good vibe. Definitely one for a future stop.

[00:03:41]>> And now I know.

[00:03:52]My [singing] love won't budge.

[00:03:58]My love won't fade. [music and singing] I'll take the preview.

[00:04:07]We only get one life.

[00:04:14]I won't live [music] mine without you. Come on.

[00:04:20]Stormy, [music] I'll stay solid.

[00:04:26]When you're tested, I'll keep falling.

[00:04:35]My love won't fall through.

[00:05:02]I thought I was done, but you never [music] are.

[00:05:11]There's always a chance.

[00:05:13]>> We've arrived at the free camp. It's 12:30.

[00:05:17]Let's see if there's a spot for us.

[00:05:22]It doesn't seem there's anyone else here, look.

[00:05:25]At the moment.

[00:05:26]>> It looks good. It goes around to the left.

[00:05:31]Well, this is the start, but I think that's the end. That's a road. It just keeps going around.

[00:05:35]>> Yeah.

[00:05:37]>> We're going to get out, have a look, see where the best spot is. There's no one here at the moment. Yippee.

[00:05:48]Got toilets.

[00:06:00]This looks like a nice little spot.

[00:06:23]Level?

[00:06:28]>> Just off a little down in one.

[00:06:30]That way a little bit.

[00:06:33]Nailed it.

[00:06:36]Good morning.

[00:06:38]We're here at the Ben Jo free stop.

[00:06:40]It's just an overnight setup. And it's as you can see, really nice view.

[00:06:45]And yeah, we're just about to head off.

[00:06:47]It was really nice, quiet.

[00:06:49]Uh you got the road noise with the trucks coming up the hill, but we only heard one during the night and that's it. So, very nice, peaceful place.

[00:06:58]However, last night the wind come up and yeah, woke us up a little bit with the going on and a few little leaves go hit landing on the roof.

[00:07:07]Other than that, really nice.

[00:07:51]>> [music] >> Some diesel. And it's locked.

[00:08:07]>> It's not working.

[00:08:08]>> Not working. They're locked up.

[00:08:22]It goes. If it goes >> A few moments later.

[00:08:26]>> That one's not locked.

[00:08:27]>> Not going. Oh well, 251.9.

[00:08:31]>> Was. Could have been. Could have been.

[00:08:39]>> Show on all day today.

[00:08:41]>> So, if you didn't hear that, it's closed because the show's on. Awesome.

[00:08:47]At least there's something worth stopping for.

[00:08:49]The Mundubbera Pump [music] Station was painted by Reinhardt back in 1997, making it one of the oldest places on the Australian Silo Art Trail.

[00:09:01]>> [music] [music] [singing] [music] [music] >> It's right who did an absolute shocker.

[00:09:40]It's so up and down and lumps and bumps.

[00:09:43]You having fun, Jamie?

[00:09:44]>> Yeah.

[00:09:46]No. No, it's good.

[00:09:48]>> It's like a roller coaster.

[00:09:50]Anyway, I think we're only about 10 minutes away from the town and hopefully camp.

[00:10:01]>> [music and singing] [music] >> Some people have parked in right across rather than backing in, so there isn't room for us. So, we're going to try the showgrounds. The show is on on Monday, so hopefully they haven't started setting up yet. Fingers crossed.

[00:10:36]Stop laughing, Jamie.

[00:10:38]Just pulling into the showgrounds. The caretakers are around. They do have a spot for us, so that's lucky and she'll come and collect the money later. It's $20 unpowered, that's what we're going for. 25 if you need power.

[00:10:50]Looks pretty good and a bit nicer than where we started off, so happy.

[00:10:56]>> Two days later.

[00:10:58]>> After a night in Theodore, we moved about 40 km down the road and found an absolute gem.

[00:11:03]>> A donation camp. $25 a night. Toilets, water, dump point.

[00:11:08]Just drop your donation in at the Mitre 10 next door.

[00:11:12]>> Well, it's early. I don't think it's even 8:00 yet, and Jamie's popped to the Mitre 10 to get a new kettle. We're going to give this a go, so we have to spend a bit of money in the town.

[00:11:22]That's what you do when you have these cheap camps. Go and spend some money.

[00:11:25]So, we bought a kettle and Jamie splashed out on some more super glue yesterday, as well. So, let's get Get on, Jamie.

[00:11:31]>> Yeah.

[00:11:33]>> And put the kettle on, as well.

[00:11:35]>> Haha.

[00:11:37]>> Well, it works, so you pee cups of tea are back on.

[00:11:41]While Jamie tops up the water tanks, I go exploring. We're deep in coal country. Old relics everywhere. A massive cog, a giant bucket.

[00:11:52]And this thing, no idea what it does. If you know, tell us in the comments.

[00:11:58]There's even a mural on the water tower.

[00:12:02]But now, it's time to move on, and tonight's camp promises to be [music] something special.

[00:12:44]What a view.

[00:12:46]>> Virgin Rock Lines Park, a free camp with one of the best views we've seen in ages. At night, the rock lights up, and it is absolutely stunning.

[00:12:57]Plenty of space, toilets on site.

[00:13:02]And vans line the road in. Just don't camp right at the base.

[00:13:14]>> Jamie's popped into the library. He's got some documents he needs to print, sign, scan, and email back. So, that's a good tip if you need to do those sorts of things while you're on the road.

[00:13:24]Check out local libraries, or even community resource centers some towns have them. It's usually only a couple of dollars and yeah, easy as.

[00:13:34]Well, we got all the chores done in Emerald.

[00:13:37]Um, we're now on the Capricorn Highway heading to tonight's camp. I'm not sure, I can't remember if it was a free camp or donation, but we'll see you when we get there.

[00:13:51]>> [music] >> Just going to have a look, find where we want to set up.

[00:14:36]Looks like we're going to set up pretty much where we are, just pull it off the road a little bit.

[00:14:44]Yeah.

[00:14:49]It's toilets just over there.

[00:14:52]Not too far.

[00:14:54]Just on the railway line. Not sure how busy it'll get, so that'll be interesting. I quite like being near the trains, so >> And that will do us.

[00:15:28]>> Well, hello.

[00:15:31]>> Now, this I've never seen before. On the back of the toilet door, there's a full list of camps and rest stops in the region. What a brilliant idea.

[00:15:39]>> Next time, we hit the outback.

[00:15:42]More epic free camps.

[00:15:44]>> Jamie cooks up a storm.

[00:15:47]>> And we visit the site of a mass panic that happened 95 million years ago.

[00:15:52]>> Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it. If you enjoyed this one, like, comment, and share. We'll see you there, and until then, safe travels.