Lake Elphinstone - 22nd to 24th February

Lake Elphinstone is surrounded by coal mines, that means the road that passes the lake is fairly busy with trucks and utes that are travelling between Mackay and the mines. Monday night/tuesday morning was a bit of a struggle. There was a b-double pantech parked out on the truck stop for the night with the refrigeration engines running right through the night. Other than this minor inconvenience the stay here was relaxed and pleasant. We had to set up camp in a rush as a large black cloud approached quickly and dumped a very heavy shower on us. Luckily we had the roof up before the rain came over but we had to wait till after the rain to set up the awning. A similar scenario confronted us on the morning we were leaving. We had planned a leisurely departure as we only had about an 2 hour drive to Mackay. But we woke to threatening black skies over the ranges, this meant a quick brekky and a quick pack up before things got wet. We left camp dry but got dumped on further down the road.

After setting up camp in the rain, the sky over the ranges was still threatening.

Our campsite by the lake. This lake is very full now but has been pumped dry by the coal mines on a couple of occasions.

The camp area is well equipped with shelters and free gas BBQs. There are free showers too, the hot water is provided by a 'donkey' if someone lights it! We, like everyone else, had cold showers. The water is in above ground tanks so the temperature is quite tepid. The only real problem here is the lack of drinking water, one must bring in your own requirements. There has been some large functions held here in the past, that's the reason for the large pavillion.