Easter Camping Trip

What a difference the weather can make to holiday plans. We were all set to head to Elanda Point on Lake Cootharaba... until we watched the news and saw that the upper Noosa River had flooded. A quick phone call confirmed our worst fears - the campsite was closed due to flood damage and we had less than a week to find another destination.

Naturally, on the Monday before Easter there are not a lot of vacancies left anywhere, but I phoned campsites on the northern side of Brisbane, and our friends who were going with us phoned campsites to the south. On a recommendation from some other friends, I finally got onto Island Reach campgrounds at Imbil. Their advice - "It'll be chockers, but since you're coming up on the Thursday morning you should still be able to have your pick of the spots." When I phoned back later to confirm, I spoke to the lady owner, who said she'd been telling everyone it was fully booked ! When I explained that in my earlier phone call one of the men had said we'd be ok, she said "Oh, it's alright love, we won't turn you away!" Geez, I hope not, since we can't get in anywhere else!

It was overcast when we left home Thursday morning and it drizzled on the way up the highway, but at least the rain held off until later that evening - thankfully, after we'd set up our campsite!
Just as well we didn't arrive any later than we did, since there weren't many large areas left when we got there. Plenty of spots for single tents, but not a lot for larger groups. We found a large, shady, flat area on the second terrace down - nicely placed about halfway between the creek and the amenities block. Plenty of room for our two family tents and our tarp. The area was probably only vacant due to the large concentrations of green ant nests (!), but the rain seemed to keep them subdued and there were only a handful of bites suffered during the course of the whole weekend.

We'd borrowed a pair of ocean kayaks from our friend Mick, and although it rained on and off throughout the weekend, we still had fun paddling them up and down Yabba Creek. Up around the bend to the left of the campsite, as far as the road and railway bridges, and to the right of the campsite, down as far as the weir.

While paddling down near the weir, we had seen people swimming and fishing on the other side, so one afternoon we decided to go for a walk to check it out. We climbed down some muddy steps, waded through a knee deep narrow creek (the guys carried the kids), followed a cow path up and over a hill, through a pasture and eventually came to the weir. There were a surprising number of people there - swimming and fishing. It was very picturesque... just a shame that it was still overcast and the surrounding rocks were still too wet to sit on. It'd make a fantastic picnic spot on a sunny day, with the sunlight sparkling off the rapids. Wayne had brought fishing rods for his kids and they were keen to try their luck, but the fish clearly weren't fussed on the bread we were using for bait. The kids still had a ball.

Sunday night we had a campfire and toasted marshmallows under a sky full of stars. This naturally fooled us into thinking that we'd actually get some sunshine to dry out our gear before we had to pack up to leave. How wrong we were! Late Sunday night it started to rain heavily and it just didn't stop. In fact it seemed to get progressively heavier the closer it came to the time we were going to leave. There were even a few flashes of lightning and ominous rumbles of thunder! The gullies became puddles for the kids to play in, the ground became squelchy with oozy mud and there was no chance of packing the tents up dry. Dripping wet and soaked to the skin, we gave up trying, and just jammed it all in the trailer, tied it down and left for the long drive home in holiday traffic.

Two days later and the tent is still spread out in our garage, the fly slung over the clothesline. At least all the washing is done and the wet towels smell fresh again!

We had a great time despite the weather, although I'm not sure the Perry family will be so keen to come camping with us again. Twice they've been camping with us - the first time, at Straddie, we got caught in a hail storm, and this time it rained all weekend. Oh well, if they can survive that, they can survive any camping situation, I reckon!

Hope everyone else had a great Easter - regardless of the weather!