Going to the Gulf: Heading Inland

Having now had disappointment three times with getting tyres for our van the decision was made to venture away from the coast. The school holidays had begun and understandably the coastal areas are quite popular and busy. From Townsville we travelled west over Herveys Range to intersect the Gregory Development Road where we turned south for our next stop at Fletcher Creek approximately 42 Km north of Charters Towers. This is a large and open camping area stretching along the creek on both sides of the road with a third area on the other side of the creek where the amenities, with showers and toilets, are located. Fletcher Creek was very popular at the time of our visit, presumably because of the school holidays, but it was never what you would call crowded. During our stay of two nights we visited the adjacent Dalrymple National Park along the banks of the Burdekin River. On the morning of our departure I decided to have a walk around the entire camping area just to count how many sets of campers there were – would you believe the total was 99? Camps ranged from small hatchbacks with tiny tents, right up to the largest motorhome but, the majority, of course were caravans of every make, model and size. It seems many people have caught the free camping bug!

A Misty Morning - Fletcher Creek

It's not crowded

Enjoying the Campfire at Fletcher Creek

Around 22 Km east of Charters Towers is Macrossan Park, another great free camping area. Situated on the upper banks of the Burdekin River the camping area lies between the road and rail bridges across the river, however from the centre of the area it is about 1 Km to either. The two rail bridges (one old, one new) dominate the scenery, with the old bridge (disused since the 1960’s) very photogenic, particularly in the late afternoon light. Macrossan Park was nowhere near as popular with between 30 and 40 campers on each of the two nights we spent there. Back into Charters Towers to stock up on some provisions, and yet another (futile) attempt to locate tyres for the van, before heading southward on the Gregory Development Road for an overnight stop at the small Cape River rest area.