So, it’s been a few months since the last camp. We had the Christmas holidays to contend with and work was massively busy for 3 months. It’s also seemed like the hottest summer on record and my swag doesn’t have AC. I’ve been waiting for my Christmas present to arrive in full……Still. The new Triton arrived in January but the slide on alloy canopy with a roof top tent is still coming. It’s a long story. Anyway, we decided it was time to get back into it. Like Fraser, we chose somewhere not actually in Gladstone but this one is close. Upper Stony Creek in Byfield just north of Yeppoon. The main reason for this choice was the swimming. We packed and prepared Thursday night. This included fitting a set of roof bars to the Triton because I didn’t have the camper to attach the awning to. We headed out Friday morning. The trip takes between 2 ½ to 3 hours and the last 10k’s of dirt in was nearly the worst road I’ve seen. Corrugations and potholes from the timber trucks shook the hell out of us. I hadn’t been here for 40 years, so I didn’t know what to expect. The camping area was well set up. The reasonably large and flat dirt sites were surrounded by large trees and situated along the bank of the creek. The water was flowing and sounded wonderful as it cascaded over the rocks and boulders that make up 99.9% of the creek bed. It wasn’t very busy when we got there around 2pm but we were the start. The camp filled steadily throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Anyway, we set up. Kel had his Hard Korr camper trailer and myself, a stretcher under the awning. Geez it was hot and muggy. Luckily we were in the right place. So we grabbed a beer and headed for the water. Slide in slowly or dive right in? It was a bit shallow down from our camp so the diving was out of the question. It was cold. After a few quiet swear words and some heavy breathing, we settled in. Beautiful once you get used to it. So we sat and enjoyed a couple before taking a look around. There are two sides set up on the creek. A day use area one side, and the camping area on the other. The camping area consists of 14 varying sized sites that range from caravan, motor home size to one car one tent size. Each site also has a steel fire ring with barbie plate attached. There’s non-potable water available on tap and a set of clean and well serviced composting dunnys. The day use side has a large open flat area with another set of dunnys and a few gas BBQ’s and tables. There isn’t any shade over the tables and most people brought their own gazebos. The swimming hole in between is quite large and deep with plenty of room for everyone. There’s a sign warning of the presence of Bullrouts but no one seemed to be too worried. The whole stretch of creek up to 200m upstream was being well utilised by families floating, kayaking and rock crawling from dawn to dusk. Speaking of rock crawling, they were unbelievably slippery. I didn’t see any serious injuries but there were plenty of people walking back to camp with bruises welts and scrapes. Being in the bush, you’re bound to see some wildlife. Within the first hour we were confronted with a baby Red Belly Black snake swimming in the creek. We made ourselves look big and he decided to swim away. We also had a kangaroo rat visit us during the evening and more birds than you could poke a stick at. Oh, and mosquito’s. Plenty of mosquito’s. So that was us for the weekend. Two days of pruning up in the running waters of Stony Creek. Sunday saw us pack up and head for one last dip before we left. Here’s a tip. If you head out around lunch time, take a left and head to Byfield Store and Café for lunch. Well worth the extra 20K’s or so.