The time had finally come to head back home to from our Outback Queensland Road Trip and make the drive from Townsville to Biloela.
What a road trip it has been too!
Just over two weeks of travelling the round trip from Biloela to Townsville and staying in these destinations and exploring the areas around them.
We had to be packed up and driving out of Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park before 10am so the morning was going to be a standard pack up.
We had a little bit of a sleep in after our night in the Cowboys Leagues Club having dinner and seeing the NRL Trophy.
Then it was time for action.
Getting the kids into breakfast and then out of our hair so we can pack up the Jayco.
Our caravan site was situated across the road from the kitchen and also handily a TV in that area.
So the kids were content watching ABC Kids for an hour or so while we packed up.
The drive home according to Google Maps will only take us just under 10 hours.
Again, this doesn’t take into account towing a camper trailer and also having to stop for breaks for the kids and meals.
There’s no denying, this is going to be a long day!
We drove out of the caravan park bang on 10am and started the drive out of Townsville.
The drive out of Townsville took us past the CBD and also the turn off to the ferry for Magnetic Island.
This coupled with the other sights on the way out of town certainly made us reflective about our time in Townsville and how good it was.
The plan from here was to hug the East Coast until we get to Rockhampton and then head to Biloela after there.
We are taking the main roads home to keep it simple for toilet stops and also the ease of filling up with petrol when needed.
And also the roads are a little better on the main routes, so this was a reason too.
The trip was split roughly into 3 hour blocks with us looking at stopping at Proserpine, Koumala, and Rockhampton.
Lunch for us was at Proserpine at Pioneer Park.
This park has picnic tables, toilets and is just behind the BP petrol station as you come into town.
So you can fill up and have a break too.
If you have a caravan it’s easy to head down the road, turn around, and come back and park in front of the park.
With full bellies and empty bladders we drove off and said goodbye to Proserpine.
I was estimating only having one more petrol stop, a few more toilet stops, and a dinner break before getting home.
And that is pretty much the way it panned out.
There was a quick stop in Koumala for a stretch and afternoon tea.
Koumala is a small town that was named by a sugar grower around 1884, the word is the Fijian word for sweet potato.
This shows you how close some languages are as the Maori word for see potato is kumara which is very similar.
After this quick stop in Koulmala we stopped for petrol at the Marlborough Puma.
There are plenty of Puma petrol stations on this drive, so pretty much if you are getting close to empty one will pop up.
Dinner and last stop is at Rockhampton.
We ate at a Thai restaurant we have been to many times when visiting there.
The food is fresh and good value, we can feed our whole family for half the price or less than going to a major chain restaurant.
And it is healthy too!
This restaurant is on the road side in a little shopping centre that has Foodworks in it directly across from the Puma petrol station.
Their sign says Thai Noodle Bar, so make sure to drop in and say Hello!
Now we were on the home stretch with just under two hours to drive before getting home.
The road up until this point from Townsville to Rockhampton is a pretty good drive and by this point I can’t wait to say that the drive from Townsville to Biloela is a good one too!
I have been travelling this route for over a decade now and it has had its fair share of road works on it over the years.
It isn’t too bad now but you still have to watch your speed in places (It can drop down to 90 km an hour) and keep an eye out for the men in blue too.
They frequent quite a few black spots in certain areas, but if you are like me and stick to the limit, you will have no problems.
There also are many trucks on the road as this is the main road to head up north, but there are enough overtaking lanes and straights to get past trucks and other caravans if you need or want to.
We finally drove up our driveway just after 10pm.
So it took us about 12 hours to drive from Townsville to Biloela.
As I have said before, towing a caravan or camper trailer makes the drive much longer than what Google Maps will tell you, and the drive from Townsville to Biloela is no different.
Then it was time for business again, like post any road trip, it was time to unpack as much as we can tonight to make tomorrow easier.
Getting the kids into bed was the first priority and then unpacking the car fully, putting our gear away, and putting the Jayco camper trailer back into its spot.
We finally crawled into bed at 1.30pm.
What a day, what an amazing experience, what a trip!
There were only a few things we would have done differently if we had our time again.
But you think that after any big adventure really.
Overall, the family and I were happy with the whole experience, what we had done, and what we had seen too.
We had seen so many places we hadn’t been to and experienced so much in the time we were away.
Also there were so many places on this trip that have plans on making the experiences so much bigger and better.
I could not recommend enough heading out to Outback Queensland and experiencing everything we did.
That’s another family adventure out of the way with plenty more to come.
Liked reading this?
You can head back to the start of our trip here, Outback Queensland Road Trip.
What did we do or see today?
The drive from Townsville to Biloela
What distance did we drive today?
Townsville to Biloela
Total travelled = 868 km
Final tally of Roadkills for Outback Queensland Road Trip = 235
Again, if you want to look through the photos and see what we have done for this trip you can head back to the start here, Outback Queensland Road Trip.
Travel safe, enjoy, and keep an eye out for our next adventure as its pretty big!
