If ever you find yourself driving up the Queensland coast, somewhere a bit south of Mackay, and from the passenger seat, your significant other says, ‘let’s go camp at Notch Point’, take my advice, and don’t just go, ‘yeah OK then’.
As I write this, I am sitting in the van (Humfrey), in a howling gale and it has barely stopped raining all day. I do have an unobstructed view of waving palm trees and the Coral Sea out the window, but getting here was no easy task, and getting out may turn out to be impossible for a few more days yet.
In fairness, when Ali said, ‘let’s go to Notch Point’, she did send me some info to read. Had I actually read it I would have found out that getting there involved some pretty dodgy tracks, large pot holes, steep inclines and water hazards, all of which should be avoided in wet weather, especially if you are crazy enough to bring a caravan in here. Did I mention that it’s raining?
Now, Ali did mention that the track in might be a bit rough, but last time she said that, it turned out to be no big deal. From our previous camp at Upper Stony Creek we took a side trip into Byfield National Park. Apparently we had to ‘conquer’ Big Sandy, which is a very large and quite steep sand dune to get into the park. I was advised to let the tyres down to 15psi to get over this challenging obstacle. As it turned out, it was a bit of an anticlimax. Not Byfield itself, that was stunning, but Big Sandy was a bit of a pushover really and didn’t require much in the way of conquering.
Unlike Notch Point, the weather at Byfield was stunning. We had an awesome day driving the sand tracks and nine mile beach, climbing the Orange Bowl sandblow, swimming in the clear waters of Freshwater Creek and exploring the headland at Stockyard Point. The campsite we had at Upper Stony Creek was also well worth the effort of getting there, and having the beautiful swimming hole there all to ourselves was a bonus.
But, back to Notch Point. When we arrived it wasn’t actually raining but the track in was quite wet. We negotiated some fairly large sections of water with no problem, until we came to one that looked fairly deep, but more of an issue, was the fact that it was pretty soft and slushy at the bottom. As it happens, there was a way around it, but I just had to back the van up a bush track for a little way to get around. No problem!
Once we started to see some other campers we parked up and took a bit of a walk to find a good spot. There are creek side spots that are apparently frequented by mozzies and crocs. Not keen on being bitten by either of those so we went looking for a beach front spot. The main disadvantage of the beach front spots though is that there is no shelter from the wind if it gets up, and oh my did it get up! As we walked over the hill to get to the beach side spots, the track in took a nosedive over the brow of the hill. Call me soft, but there was no way I was driving over that towing a van, and more to the point, I thought there was no way we would get back up it to get out. But, there were a couple of other caravans down there by the beach, so I asked someone with a bigger van than ours how they managed to get in there. Turns out there was another easier track that skirted around the edge of the hill. Easier is a relative term here though.
We did get in, found a lovely spot and set up camp. Only damage was a busted step into the van (an upturned milk crate was a suitable substitute), and a busted (but still working) trailer plug.
So, then on night one, the heavens opened and it rained, and rained pretty hard too. Next morning, the one useable track looked pretty soft and slushy, and the first caravan to try and leave didn’t make it. The van slid off the side of the track and got properly bogged. It took a winch, half a dozen blokes and twice as many spectators to eventually get them out. With more rain forecast over the coming days it seemed that was enough to scare most people off and after that there was a mass exodus up the slippery track and away.
As the sun was out by this time, we decided to stay, and the fact that the couple we had asked about the track in the previous day were also staying sealed the deal for us. Safety in numbers, as they say, and also knowing that if we got stuck until things dried out we would at least have some company.
Day one then turned out to be pretty nice. Day two, not so much, in fact it rained all day and then the Gail force winds set in. And that’s where we were when I started writing this post, and now a day later things are very different. No wind, no rain, and no longer at Notch Point. Yep, we got out, but it was an experience.
This morning, after surviving what felt like a cyclone – ok, maybe an exaggeration but it was pretty full on, the van was rocking all night and anything outside that wasn’t tied down was gone – the decision was made to get out before it got any worse. Our new friends Corey and Lisa (bigger van, safety in numbers), had an even worse night than us and they were all for attempting the slippery road to salvation rather that going through another night of that. So, by 10am we were packed up and ready to roll. A camper trailer left just before us and I made the mistake of watching them go up the track. I think would have rather not seen it. They were towing a fraction of the weight we have and they were sliding all over the place and barely made it, and Corey and Lisa were towing even more weight than us. I made the sensible decision not to share my thoughts on what I had just seen.
So, for the four wheel drive savvy, we let the tyres down a bit, engaged low range, engaged the diff locks, turned off the traction control and headed up the hill that claimed a caravan two days previously before it had been chewed up by the mass exodus and had another day and nights worth of rain dumped on it. Ali was too chicken to get in the vehicle, so she walked it.
I went first, safely negotiated the section where the unlucky traveller had ended up in the ditch two days earlier, but nearly came unstuck (literally) further up the hill. The wheels were spinning, mud flying, and forward momentum wasn’t happening any more. After rolling back a few feet to find a patch that was a bit firmer I had another go. Engine revving and wheels spinning the good old Mitzi crawled its way over the brow of the hill…..just. Relief. Now Corey’s turn, and I reckon I made it harder for him by churning up the track even more than it was before. But, he made it too after some slipping and sliding.
Now, here I am, warm, dry, showered, fed and had a cold beer with just a small patch of grass to negotiate tomorrow morning before getting onto a proper bitumen road. Everyone made it out alive and a quick trip to Bunnings in Mackay to get some bits and the step is fixed, but, next time Ali picks a bush camping spot in wet weather I will be sure to do my own research first. Either that or say, ok, no worries, but you can drive in and out.
Take The Leap 