It was January in hot sunny Queensland Australia when myself and eight of my close mates decide to go on a little adventure, little did we know this would be a trip we would laugh about for years to come. So myself, Josh, Nick, Dave, Sean, John, Max, Lewis and Liam and took a week of work and we come to the final conclusion that’s we’d go on a road trip from Brisbane where we all lived to Townville in upper north Queensland. This is a 1332 kilometer drive so if you did it straight with no stops it work out to be roughly a 15 hour drive, so it was quite the trek we had planned for ourselves but we were up for the adventure.

To share the load before the trip we had each dived up what camping gear each of us was in charge of bringing. Max was in charge of cooking gear, so he’d brought along a portable BBQ.  The initial ripple in the trip was the gas bottle he’d brought was empty, so our first stop not even 20 minutes out from Brisbane was to get gas. We’d gotten up early that morning to get in solid days’ worth of travel. I myself am not a morning person so I wasn’t exactly a happy chappy we were wasting time getting gas. Then to make matters worse the bottle he’s brought along wasn’t your stranded swappable bottle, it was in fact one that had to be refilled. So, after half an hour wasted we were final back on the road.

First stop was Hervey Bay, renowned for its awesome whale watching sights Hervey Bay is a natural bay between the mainland and World Heritage-listed Fraser Island. It’s a beautiful little town built around whale watching tours, the picturesque beaches extend for around 13 kilometers along the Bay’s shore.  It’s about a three hour drive from Brisbane so by this time we where well and truly ready for lunch. So, to make the most of the beautiful beaches we decided to crack out the Picnic Set Josh had brought along and have some fish and chips on the beach. To help set the vibes I grabbed my Bluetooth Speaker so we could chill to some Jack Jonson as we enjoyed the view.

 After three more hours of driving, it was time to setup camp for the first time on the trip. And what better place than none other than Seventeen Seventy. This beautiful little town is the second landing site of James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour in May 1770, hence the name. It’s a tiny coastal town situated in the region of Gladstone. The town is on a headland and is surrounded by beautiful coral seas and small sand islands . John’s job for the trip was to pre book a beautiful camp site right on the water front, he’d unfortunately had forgotten. Luckily there was one spot left however it was relatively small. But it was the last one left, so it was either camp a row back from the water or squeeze into this spot. So, course we decided to squeeze. Thankfully the boys with vehicles all had roof top tents so that saved us some much need space, and the rest of us had swags which are also nice and compact. So, in the end we just manage make it work.  Once we’d finished setting up, we were well and truly starving and ready for a big feed. But you won’t believe it when Max went to setup his portable BBQ he realised the gas bottle he’d brought along didn’t fit the hose attachment. So, as you can probably imagine the boys weren’t to please. Thank God, he redeemed himself and crack out the camp oven stove he’d also brought along. So, we chucked the cast iron skillet straight on top and sizzled up some beautifully juicy steaks.

We may have enjoyed ourselves a little bit too much that night because the next morning we we’re feeling a little second best. So rather than hitting the road early we decided to hang out for around for a while.  Sean set up a couple of Hammocks he’d brought along, the gentle swinging in the breeze enjoying the view was just what I needed. However, it was too much for poor old Dave, he’d suddenly become extremely nauseous. Rather then re-setting up his swag he decided to open the brand knew stretcher bed he’d purchased the day before. Still in the box Dave eagerly brought it down to the beach where the rest us we’re hanging. Ripping open the box he come to the shattering realisation that he’d accidently brought a Pet Bed stretcher instead. The seven of us boys broke into absolute hysterics, I was legitimately crying with laughter. To make it even more funny Dave is six foot eight, so he well and truly did not fit the tiny pet bed. After about nearly half and hour of laughing we decide it was probably time to hit the road.

Capricorn was our next destination located 23 kilometers north of Rocky it was only a short three hour drive. When I was doing research for the trip, I’d discovered online a place called Capricorn Caves which is a vast limestone cave system that is one of the largest privately owned cave systems in Australia. They not only offered cave tours but also had a campsite, so it was a great next destination for us to setup our swags and rooftop tents. It was first discovered in 1881 by a Norwegian migrant john Olsen. He went on to claim the land under a lease hold title and open the attraction publicly in 1884. What I didn’t tell the boys was they offer two types of tours. One of the tours is a leisurely walk around tourer suited for everyone the other tour is a cave crawling adventure tour. So, knowing this I made sure I packed a portable Shower and Shower Tent. The adventure tour came with warnings about being extremely scary, difficult and claustrophobic. So naturally I booked everyone in for that tour and didn’t mention to them about the warning part.   

To find out how the boys went with the tour and read the rest of the story, look out for Brisbane to Townsville Road-trip Part 2 which will be posted tomorrow.