Aussirose Travel and Photography: Gumlu, Home Hill, Rollingstone & Crystal Creek

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ROLLINGSTONE

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Nice beach. No swimming.

We have officially entered Croc country. The scene is quickly changing to the tropics of Northern Queensland. A quarter of an hour north of Townsville is the little seaside village of Rollingstone. We didn't get to see Townsville, but I imagine it is just another city like the rest. We are more interested in finding off the beaten path places with no crowds.

There is not much at Rollingstone. Just Tasman Holiday Park, a petrol station back on the Bruce Highway and the Rollingstone Pub next door to that. So luckily, we were stocked up with food.

When we arrived at Tasman Holiday Park, we were happy with our surroundings. For $45 a night it looked more like a resort than a caravan park. Located right on the beach with no swimming due to crocs, it also had beautiful big lagoons with fish and daily fish feeding, a stunning pool with waterslide, all of the usual facilities and a licenced cafe that opened at certain times along with entertainment. Everything was nice and green after all that rain.

Our first impressions swiftly changed though.

This place turned out to be midgie infested. Yep, we both got bites on top of bites. We could not wait to get out of here. They were so itchy that I changed our plans for the next caravan park from Flying Fish Point to a Caravan Park near Innisfail and not on the beach or near any water. It was also very sad seeing young children crying because they were itching so much. Poor things.

PLAYING WITH SUNRISE REFLECTIONS IN THE WATER

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PARADISE WATERHOLE

CRYSTAL CREEK

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What do you do when you can't swim at the beach?

Find a good water hole.

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Paradise Waterhole at Big Crystal Creek was gorgeous and yes, the water here is crystal clear. There were fish and even an eel. Unfortunately we couldn't check out the small water hole as the road was closed due to flooding landslides.

My phone battery was flat so I had to do a video from my big DSLR, so sorry that it is a bit disjointed. See below. What I did manage to do though, was to put my DSLR on continuous speed shots for hubby's jump from the rocks into the water and make a video of it on my video software. Plug for the free Wondershare Filmora video making program that I use to make videos. It pretty much does everything and also includes free music to use as well.

So you will see the Hubby bomb dive at the end of my video below.

Anyway, I think hubby should not do those bomb dives off the rocks any more. He really thinks he is still 25. Not a good look when everyone around is sniggering. Not to mention it is dangerous.

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ROLLINGSTONE PUB

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I had a particularly bad day at work with so many complainers, and it wasn't even a full moon.

So as we had not hammered the budget here, hubby suggested that we have dinner at the pub instead of me having to cook.

Great idea! ✨

As far as out back pubs, this one is just another one. But the food was real good. We shared a chicken snitty and the crumbs were just crispy and perfect, chicken cooked to perfection. The pepper gravy was nice and thick and tasty and the chips were cooked nice. Even the salad had a light tasty sauce over it. I liked the way they put the salad in its own separate bowl and the same for the gravy.

5 Star Google review from me.

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BIG THINGS AT GUMLU & HOME HILL

AND DRIVING SCENERY

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The Big Pumpkin and Big Watermelon are located at a Fruit Stall at Gumlu on the way to Rollingstone.

Unfortunately the fruit stall was closed when we arrived. That's a bit sad because I was looking forward to buying some fresh fruit, especially a new season pineapple.

Anyway, doesn't matter because I bought a pineapple at the caravan park and it was so sweet. In fact I was thinking that it could do with just a bit on tanginess. Oh an btw, on that note, we bought fresh limes, bananas, grapefruit, avos & a fruit that we had not tasted before on the way to Crystal Creek at a little roadside store for just $10. Total bargain!

Anyway, up the road from Gumlu we encountered the Big Sardine Can at Home Hill. No stopping here, but I was ready with my camera and snapped off a couple as we drove past.

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Just on the other side of Rollingstone, we drove past the Frosty Mango with a cute character out the front.

And the other photos show the changing scenery to finally now in the tropics.