Interstate adventure – Flying high to hit the road
A YEARNING TO SEE AUSTRALIA WHILE THEY ARE STILL FIT AND HEALTHY WAS ALL THAT WAS NEEDED FOR TERRY BOWLES AND ROSALIE CAMPBELL, OF GEMLIFE WOODEND IN VICTORIA, TO FLY TO QUEENSLAND FOR A TWO-WEEK ROAD ADVENTURE IN AN EXPLORE BY GEMLIFE MOTORHOME.
“It was all part of our travel experience to fly to Brisbane to pick up the motorhome and we are so glad we did because it was a fabulous trip,” said Terry, 71.
Rosalie and Terry have both been married before but were on their own when they met at a gym in Woodend a few years ago. They hit it off straight away, but it wasn’t until 18 months ago that Terry joined his new partner at GemLife Woodend.
As far as travelling goes, Rosalie is more experienced than Terry, who admits he still has many places he would like to see.
“Rosalie has had a lot of experience touring in caravans but I’m not a big fan of them which is why we talked about hiring the GemLife motorhome. It was a good rate, and we jumped at the chance to give it a try for a couple of weeks,” said Terry.
He was delighted when Explore by GemLife Coordinator Andrew Dover gave them an informative induction which Terry said, “made driving and using the motorhome so easy”.
The intrepid explorers began their trip by spending a night at nearby Sandstone Point on Bribie Island before hitting the road in earnest to travel to Childers where they stayed at the Childers Tourist Park and Camp, set on 63 acres of bushland.
The next day, they travelled up to Bundaberg to visit its famous rum distillery before heading further up the road to Emu Park, near Rockhampton, where they got a great view of Keppel Island.
“I used to go there every year for about 20 years. It’s such a beautiful spot,” said Terry.
Blackwater, Moura and Eidsvold followed, with the latter being a real highlight having been home to Australian icon R.M. Williams who was buried on the large property he owned there.
“We visited a wonderful museum featuring the history of R.M. Williams, which was fascinating,” said Rosalie.
“Another highlight was the bakery at Goomeri. It is very popular and there were people everywhere when we went in. They had 24 different types of pies – Terry had a curry pie, and I had a cherry ripe tart, both delicious.”
Terry and Rosalie said they cruised from town to town in utter comfort, saying the motorhome was a dream to drive on the 2000 km journey.
“We loved it so much that we are already thinking about our next trip in the Explore motorhome. Although, rather than fly up, we might drive and make it a three-day, two-night trip to get to where the motorhomes are kept. We’ve definitely got the bug now to see more of Australia and the Explore by GemLife motorhome is the way to go.”