Imbil, QLD - Shakedown Trip 13-15 August, 2021
- Ken Fredric
- Aug 13, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 29, 2023
Day One Scarborough - Imbil
On Friday morning, after a fitful sleep, we set out from home to pick up Matariki from National Storage in Rothwell, where she lives when we're not exploring.
The Mazda was full of all the things we had been buying recently, and with enough provisions to last us for a long weekend. We decided to put everything in Matariki and sort it out once we got to Imbil.
We headed up the Bruce Highway towards Imbil, but wanted to check our weight to make sure we were within the 3,500 kg limit for the vehicle, so we stopped off at the Caboolture Public Weighbridge. See Don't Mention the Weight! for more about our weightiness.
With all that done, we carried on up the highway to exit 253, which took about 1.5 hours. Matariki handled very well on the highway and had no trouble sitting at the 110 km/h speed limit.
By that time we were hungry, it was nearly lunchtime, and we were close to Kandanga, so we stopped at the Kandanga Hotel. We were pleasantly surprised by the hotel because we had fairly low expectations of a small town hotel. Meg had her usual fish and chips and I had a huge steak sandwich that I struggled to eat, both washed down with a beer.
After lunch we drove the last 9 km to the Imbil Camping Retreat campground, where we’d booked an unpowered site. Meg used to camp here with family and friends, around 1985, when it was just a paddock. The staff at the campground were extremely friendly and helpful when we checked in, and they indicated where we could park.
The campground cost around $30 per night, has a single dump point and several fresh water points.
We chose a grassy spot not too far from Yabba Creek, and under a Jacaranda tree that we thought would be good for shade (little did we know!).
We spent the first hour or so finding homes for everything we’d loaded in at Rothwell, setting up the tarpaulin, table & chairs etc. outside, and doing the many small tasks that are required before opening that beer.
We were thankful to have an arrival checklist to refer to for our first outing for all the little chores you need to perform setting up at a site, like turning on the gas and removing the gas vent cover.
Despite the checklist, when the time came to turn some lights on in Matriki, none of the lights would work! It took some time to figure out that there is a master switch for the lights just inside the door that was turned off.
One other “issue” we had when attempting to boil the kettle on the gas cooktop for a cuppa, was that the gas lighter wouldn’t work. After some investigation we discovered that the rangehood switch on the main control panel has to be switched on for the gas lighters to work.
It had been a fairly exhausting day for us with lots to learn, and after an average sleep the night before, so we chilled for the rest of the day.
At wine o’clock we opened the bottle of Moet that came with Matariki and savoured our new life.
When we finally hit the sack for the first time in our new home, we were surprised how warm and comfortable the beds were.
Day Two - Imbil
Everything is a learning experience on our second day, from cooking toast on the gas cooktop to washing dishes in a small sink. In a short-sighted move we’d bought a toaster that only cooks one piece of toast at a time, so the cooking time was doubled when it involved toast (take a note Ms Moneypenny - buy another toaster that cooks more than one piece of toast at a time)!
Imbil lies in the Mary Valley, which used to be, and still is, a timber growing area. A restored train, the Mary Valley Rattler, still runs along part of the original train line between Amamoor and Gympie, north of Imbil. Another part of the train line used to run south from Imbil to Brooloo. The train tracks have been removed from this section of line and it is now a scenic walk, which we had planned to do on Saturday morning with the intention of stopping in Brooloo for coffee or lunch, depending on what was available. We’d read the walk was about 8-9 km return. Ha! The best laid plans....
We set out from Imbil about 9 a.m. and first walked about 1 km to the start of the Mary Valley Rail Trail (MVRT) section that runs from Imbil to Brooloo. The walk to Brooloo took us through native bush that included a dedicated section that was designated the Brooloo Bellbird Habitat. The small bellbirds are quite hard to see and have a very distinct song.
The walk to Brooloo took about 1.5 hours, and we passed other walkers, cyclists and horse riders along the way, but mostly had the trail to ourselves.
Turns out that Brooloo is a very small town that has a Rural Fire Brigade and some houses, but nothing else! No coffee, no lunch, no water to top up our empty water bottles. What was that about the best laid plans?
We sat at a park bench for a short time to eat the snacks we’d brought with us, thankfully, then turned around and started walking back the way we’d come, to Imbil. By the time we got back to Imbil we’d walked around 13 kms according to our Strava fitness app.
Two very tired, hot people then stumbled into the Imbil Railway Hotel for a lovely cool beer and a nice lunch.
Back at the campground we had a cuppa while waiting for the gas hot water to heat up for showers, which only took about 20 minutes. The shower was excellent, and nice and hot.
Rest up was the order of the afternoon after the morning’s strenuous activities.
Day Three - Imbil - Scarborough
There was a heavy fog overnight, that had mostly dissipated by the time we’d had our morning cuppas and toast for breakfast.
The next hour or so was spent packing up for the journey home, which included refilling the fresh water tank and emptying the toilet cassette (mmm, don't remember signing up for this task!) and grey water tank for the first time.
This time was also spent paying the price for parking under a Jacaranda tree that was shedding its small leaves - they were everywhere - inside, outside, in our clothes, on the awning, everywhere! Over the previous day and a half, when sitting outside, whenever there was a gust of wind the leaves would blow into our drinks and food and all over us. (Take a note Ms Moneypenny - don’t park Matariki under trees that are shedding leaves!)
After finishing packing up and leaving the campground we drove up to Imbil Lookout for an impressive view of the surrounding area, before starting the journey home via Kenilworth for morning tea.
However, when we got to Kenilworth, the whole town was heaving with like-minded people and there were mile-long queues outside any half-respectable establishment that sold coffee.
Without bothering to stop we continued the drive home and stopped in a small town called Conondale that had a coffee sign outside the general store. There was a small park across the road from the general store where we sat to consume our coffees and sticky buns.
Then drove back to storage at Rothwell, and after unloading and locking up we drove home, arriving about 3 p.m.
Rude! Are you calling me the Rattler?