The Great Northern Getaway

 ...taking a break from the layout for an epic Queensland road trip, featuring cocktails, crocodiles, cyclones and the odd train or two.

Me, shortly after photographing this Aurizon/Linfox freight on the Fitzroy River at Rockhampton.

Well, I'm back from an epic road trip along the Queensland coast. What was supposed to be some 'down-time' before a busy year ahead, turned out to be quite the adventure indeed. Three weeks on the road, and a cyclone to chase us all the way home from Port Douglas to the Sunshine Coast!

Now that were back into our routine, it's hard to believe that January is almost gone, and here we are in the year 2021 with COVID-19 still hanging around like a bad smell. Frankly, it was what led me to leave the laptop, the internet and Facebook behind, turn off the news and escape to the clear headspace that only North Queensland can seem to offer. Even though the world's problems were still waiting when we returned, I did manage to forget about them for a while and shoot over 2200 photos, 1500 which were of trains and railway stations!

Only now that we are back, do my wife and I realise how lucky we were to be able to do a holiday such as this. Until we see all this Covid uncertainty disappear in Australia, I've got a feeling that it will be at least a couple of years before we dare dream about planning our next holiday. Its not just state borders that can shut with less than a days' notice, but as we learnt while returning home, regions and cities can declare a lockdown at any time. It might be a better option this year to holiday at home, and do a heap of work on the layout. But anyways... here are some highlights of our trip.

Still wearing QR Broncos colours, this 2300 and 1720 class were sitting idle at Rockhampton Railway Station, December 2020.

Rockhampton was our first stop heading north, and it was hot! Thirty-seven degrees of pure summer heat without the hint of a breeze. The city is quite large, and home to a few historic buildings, but in the twilight of 2020 it looked like a city on its knees, with plenty of closed down showrooms, restaurants and hotels. Covid hasn't been kind to this central Queensland city and on a hot afternoon the only place to escape the heat seemed to be the shade beneath the long railway station platform. For once my wife didn't seem to mind how long I took to photograph some idle locomotives sitting in the adjacent yard using a long camera lens. The next morning we stopped briefly at the railway bridge that crosses the Fitzroy River, and happened to time it with the approaching freight train you see in the background of the top photo. The trains were the only highlight of our overnight stop in Rocky.

On the way to our next stop at Airlie Beach, we caught up to a northbound Linfox freight near Carmila, only to have to stop for fuel. We got in front of it again to photograph it passing through the station at Sarina with the imposing sugar mill serving as the backdrop which was pretty cool. Then an hour or so after stopping for lunch, purely by chance we caught up to the same train again at Bloomsbury where the Bruce Highway parallels the railway line for some 15 to 20 kilometres. I took plenty of images from the window of our moving car.

Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, was like a party town for oldies our age when we made our next stop for the night. And in a world away from COVID-19, masks and crowd limitations, it was awesome to arrive late in the afternoon and slip into an evening at Airlie's iconic hotel known simply as The Pub. It was nice to remember what it is like to talk loudly over a 7 piece band belting out 80's and 90's pop and rock. A late night swim in the hotel pool under the stars, and I found myself forgetting about the world, and strangely even the trains I had seen that day, or my own model railway layout back home.

The next night we stayed at Cardwell right on the beachfront, and sighting the once every 800 years Bethlehem Star, (the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn) was the highlight of the evening looking out over the Hinchinbrook Passage from our motel balcony while sharing a bottle of bubbles. I was now deep in holiday mode.

Cardwell was a good stopping place for the last leg of our trip north, planned so that we could visit the famous Spanish ruins of Paronella Park and Mena Creek Falls, which is a little inland from the Bruce Highway. It had always been a dream of Denise's to see the gardens since she was a little girl, and after doing a 90 minute guided tour of the ruins, we ventured further inland and up through the Atherton Tableland via Milla Milla Falls, Malanda, the Curtain Fig Tree, Atherton and Mareeba before descending the range near Mossman and turning south back towards our destination of Port Douglas. It made for a very full day of sightseeing.

With my wife Denise at Paronella Park, Mena Creek Falls in far north Queensland.

It had been five years since Denise and I were last in Port Douglas, and although we had our own car to explore the area, for the large part, once we were there we were just happy to stay around the pool and only venture into the main street of Port to do a little shopping or eat out. We joined our Son and new Daughter-in-law who had already been up there for 10 nights on their honeymoon, and they stayed-on for another 2 weeks with us. The heat of December and January is normally the quiet time in Port Douglas, but it seemed the town was full of tourists. Maybe it is simply too hot for Coronavirus up there?

What made the situation odd, was that despite the Port Douglas Marina looking a little sad and empty, (I counted only 4 shops that were still open at the Marina), the restaurants in town were booked out for weeks in advance. With our 28th Wedding Anniversary and Denise's 29th Birthday only a day apart... (she still turns 29 every year), I had to book our tables at some swanky restaurants in town a week in advance.

The Bally-Hooley Railway is no longer running, (a local told me that insurance companies had requested the group spend somewhere in the order of $1.2 million dollars in track and crossing improvements to provide cover of title), and the Ironbar in town wasn't allowed to do their Cane Toad Races on account of COVID-19 restrictions. Despite the effect 2020 has had on our country, every resort, hotel and backpackers lodge had the No Vacancy sign displayed out front, and there were plenty of Victorian and New South Wales number plates and enough foreign accents about town to realise that whoever was up here, had intended to stay awhile!

Hartley's Crocodile Adventures, Wangetti south of Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia.

This was our fourth trip north to Port Douglas, and as my wife gets terribly sea-sick we gave the snorkelling tours out on the reef a miss. Perhaps it was just as well as they could only operate with limited capacity, and whether it was on account of Covid or not, the prices seemed a lot higher than last time we were here. I measure everything with the price of a new HO model locomotive, and it would have cost the best part of 2 locos for us to have a day on the reef! We also gave the Kuranda Railway a miss this time. We've done the train trip each and every time we've come to North Queensland, and it too seemed more expensive than I'd remembered. So we just drove to Kuranda instead one day when it was raining, and walked down to see the station for free after I'd taken Denise to see the Butterfly Sanctuary.

What we did do that was different to previous visits, was the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas, and Hartley's Crocodile Adventures a little south of Port Douglas at Wangetti, (above photo). I've got to say, it was like nothing I'd ever done before. At Hartley's, they stick you in a little tin cruise boat, and take you around a huge lagoon while the boat's operator slaps a dead chicken dangling from a rope on a stick on the murky water. Eventually a huge saltwater crocodile jumps up beside you to snap at it! Then back on land, you sit around a timber seat ampitheatre to watch a park guide step into an enclosure full of angry crocodiles to do the same thing! The whole time I was watching some young lady who must have thought she was Mick Dundee's grand daughter casually throwing the angry reptilians some meat, I was thinking 'where does workplace health and safety fit into all of this?' It was nuts! And true story, I've had nightmares of crocodiles since returning home.

For the large part I just needed some time away after a stressful year keeping our business operating in the face of a Covid-ravaged economy. So I used the time to turn off everything, and not even think about the world's problems, clients, stalled writing projects or anything else that I had been obsessing over throughout the course of 2020. Instead, I read 3 novels, spent a lot of time in the resort pool and each day tried a different restaurant, bakery or cafe in town. When the two weeks of cocktails by the pool finally came to an end, we found ourselves following the weather updates the night before we were due to drive back south. Cyclone Imogen had crossed from the Gulf of Carpentaria, and although no longer classified as a cyclone it sure dumped a lot of rain up north, right up to the morning we were due to check out.

We made it to our first planned stopped at Townsville just as the Bruce Highway behind us flooded in three different places south of Cairns. While ahead of us, our Son and his wife had texted to say they had only just made it through on the approach to the Burdekin River Bridge near the town of Ayr, as it looked like there were signs being set up to close the highway south. Being in front of the worst of it, they decided to just keep driving. As we were four and a half hours behind them, we had no choice but to stop. They sent a text at 2.30 am the next morning to say they had made it safely home to the Sunshine Coast.

Townsville made for a wet evening tucked away inside an old pub before getting drowned hurrying back to our motel. Early the next morning we checked the RACQ road updates on our mobile and the highway south was open once more. We quickly packed, left, and 45 minutes later made it across the Burdekin River with rising water on the northern approach threatening to close the highway again.

It explained why we hadn't seen any trains the day before. There had even been a few small bridges on the adjacent sugar cane lines that were covered in tree branches and debris that had washed right over the bridge decks. Nearing Bowen however, the coal line from the Newlands system crosses over the Bruce Highway at Merinda, and it must take more than a small cyclone to grind the coal trains to a halt. We were able to stop the car safely so that I could photograph a slow moving coalie that was passing over the highway. Just south of the rail bridge was the small intermodal yard at Merinda, where a northbound Pacific National freight was shut down waiting until the line was clear to the north. I can see now how I may have worn my wife's patience thin by wanting to stop to photograph a train, given how bad the driving conditions were. So after a few quick photos, we pushed on south to Mackay where we'd booked our next nights stay.

Merinda on the outskirts of Bowen, Queensland. January 2021. These coal trains from the Newlands line unload a little to the north at Abbott Point Coal Terminal.

And just south of the Newlands line overpass is Merinda yard. This intermodal was holed up waiting for a clear run north. January 2021.

We reached Mackay mid afternoon just as the sky started clearing. That gave us the afternoon to take a little look around town and drive out to the harbour. I thought I could find some train action around Mackay Harbour, but just as is the case everywhere else thesedays, the entrance to the rail and harbour precinct is gated-off. I don't think we'll ever see a return to the days of being able to wander around a rail yard with a camera again. So we drove out onto the public viewing area along the south breakwater before heading back to the motel with some takeaway food. That night the rain bucketed down once more. If ever there was a moment that we should have made the call to head straight for home... it would have been before we got to Mackay.

A quick check of the RACQ site on our phone early the next morning showed the highway south was still open, but there was water over the northbound lanes near Sarina and Carmila. We left in attrocious conditions and made it safely through both troublespots. Mackay to Rockhampton may be the stretch of the Bruce Highway that everyone complains has nothing to see, but we couldn't tell through the blinding rain! By the time we'd reached Rockhampton the worst of it was behind us once more. It was overcast, but still hot and 35 degrees.

Between Rocky and Gladstone however, we passed trains on the adjacent triple track main every 5 minutes! After a driver change at Rockhampton, my wife wasn't going to stop until we reached our final destination of Gladstone. As the line was right beside the passenger window, that suited me just fine. I simply wound the window down and snapped away.

We reached Gladstone having left all the rain behind us, and I told my wife that that was it as far as train chasing went. Tomorrow would be straight home to the Sunshine Coast with our only stop being the Bundaberg Rum factory. Then we checked into our water view room at the Rydges Gladstone, and I had to stop from laughing. There were impressive water views alright. You just had to look out past the railway yard to see them! Gladstone is like the Port Kembla of the north, and its a city of 180 degree industry views! Still, I thought this view of the grain silos would make a cool model railway layout given that it is surrounded by a complete 4 track circle. We had an afternoon swim in the pool and dinner at the pub before getting a much needed night's rest.

Gladstone South grain terminal. This would make a cool model railway layout! January 2021.

We checked out for our final leg home to the news that Brisbane was going into lockdown at 6pm that night because of an outbreak of the UK strain of COVID-19. Given that the Sunshine Coast is just north of the Brisbane region, it was a deflating end to a few weeks away from reality. Our Son phoned us during our final leg home to say that the supermarkets in Caloundra had been stripped bare again due to panic buying, and we thought 'great, we'll be going home to empty cupboards and have to somehow do the food shop.'

Setting off in scattered sunshine, we did a Cooks' Tour via 1770 (pun intended) and drove via Bundaberg for a quick visit to the rum factory. Only due to Covid, the tours were all booked out for the day due to limited numbers and there were no tastings available on account of COVID-19 safe practises. The rum factory ended up being disappointing. Inside was little more than what you'd expect your local bottleshop to be like if they only sold Bundaberg Rum. To make it worse, the rain was back. So we ran to and from the car for all of five minutes looking inside their outlet store.

By the time we hit Maryborough West, we'd had enough of driving in the rain. Only now we had a steady stream of traffic passing us heading north, which only grew as we reached Gympie. It seemed that anyone who had a trailer or camper van in Brisbane was in a mad scramble to head north before the city went into lockdown at 6pm. I remember thinking 'you idiots, we've just spent three days outrunning a cyclone and you think that freedom is going to be found cramped inside your tents or caravans with the kids for the weekend, in the rain, instead of just staying at home?'

We finally made it home at half past six that evening. Tired, but safe and knowing that we'd just had an adventure to remember. We can now say that we've seen all that the Queensland coast has to offer. Every city or town that we wanted to know what it looked like, we now do. And in my opinion, what was the best place we saw? That answer came the next weekend as we drove down to Bulcock Beach for a sunny Saturday arvo swim. Caloundra. I now realise that I live in paradise.

And what was it like to return home and look at the bookshelf layout I am building again? Well, at the first opportunity I had to work on it, I took the cement plant scene out near my Philden Road overpass. If I want to capture the look and feel of a generic harbourside station, I really need to make the layout feel like I'm immersed in the scene. I now have another weekend ahead of me to get some major work done on the layout, and after an adventure like this I'm all recharged to do so. I'll let everyone get over this usually long blog post, and be back next week for a much overdue update of everything that has happened on the layout.