Did I mention that it'd been dry for weeks? Well pretty much immediately after booking the forecast changed from sunshine to showers. And then to rain. I couldn't quite believe it, literally after weeks of sunshine, from nowhere a rain front moved in - unreal.

But what the hell, sometimes you just gotta go! So despite a grey start to the day, I got the bike loaded up and all set to leave around 11ish. I kid you not, it started spitting the moment I walked out the front door... By the time I got through Ferny Hills it was really raining and I drove out of Samford Village in a full downpour...

Luckily the rain eased up as I headed into Dayboro and I stopped for a minute to dry out my gloves. There seemed to be a lot of people in the village for a Friday and it was then I noticed the big yellow signs around the place with 'Cast and Crew' and 'Extras Meeting Point' written on them... What was going on?! I quickly found out as the next thing I knew I was being politely asked to move on from where I'd parked as there were cameras pointing straight at me! Apparently they were filming for a TV show and I was 'in the shot' and for some unbeknown reason they didn't want a DRZ400 in the background... Madness.

So I headed up the hills to Mount Mee in fog and mist but slightly drier than when I started out. Things were going great, I was loving the twisties and this route winding up the hills is defo one of my favourite rides around Brisbane. But just before the Dahmongah Lookout the heavens opened yet again and this time it absolutely binned it down... I didn't mess around and drove the bike right under one of the shelters at the lookout and parked up for twenty minutes. I just couldn't be bothered with riding in the pelting rain and decided it'd be a better bet to stop, dry out a little and completely bake the gloves on the exhaust pipe!

As I rode down the hill into Woodford the sun came out and to be honest, you'd never know that it'd been chucking it down 10 minutes ago... I fueled up and wasted no time heading up the hills towards the Peachester cafe to stop for a much needed sausage roll. Dropping down the hills towards the coast and flying along through the twisties was fantastic fun and then it was a short ride into Landsborough, past the Ewen Maddock Dam (I will be returning there one day to hunt down some more of the elusive bass..) and then a short hop on the highway to my final destination.

I really was racing the rain clouds at this point as even though I was riding into brilliant sunshine over the coast a quick glance in my mirrors showed a boiling black sky behind me! So it was with a sense of relief that I finally pulled off the gravel road into River Road Ranch to be greeted by the friendly owner Greg and his young son. The spot looked amazing! He quickly explained that they'd had a load of cancellations due to the rain and I had the pick of the 3 riverside spots to choose from. A bag of firewood was organised and I headed down the track to check out the spots.

One area in particular had a great 'swim' with perfect access to the river so I wasted no time getting the tent off, getting everything out of the bags and then heading to into Coolum Beach for supplies. Woolworths provided a steak, potatoes and mushrooms for dinner and the bottle shop had a good selection of beers to choose from (I settled on a 4 pack of Balter XPA which I've grown quite partial to...) and no camping trip would be complete without a Bundy and ginger beer. The question of ice was solved by a quick trip to the Coolum Beach Hotel who very kindly filled up my little folding eski for me and after a quick look at the sea (to make sure it was still there) I headed back to the campsite with an hour or so to go before sunset. Perfect.

The river was looking amazing and as luck would have it, the tide appeared to have gone out and the water level had dropped revealing some great looking mud flats - perfect flathead territory! I wasted no time and rigged up a rod and got to fishing. Now I only carry a very limited fishing kit with me: a 6ft telescopic rod and reel combo (a $20 Ghotda 1.8M special from AliExpress!) and a small plastic tub with hooks, leader and weights. After my recent fishing trip with Peter from PTP Fishing I thought it'd be a wise idea to bring some soft plastics and the only ones I had at home were some Fox Rage Shads that I'd brought from me UK so 4 years ago! I used these during the 'Jim's Lure Challenge' to catch pike on the Bristol Avon so the question is, would Queensland flathead like them?!

It didn't take long to find out... 3 casts was all it took! Hopping the lure across the sand in small jumps and bang, a flathead was on it instantly and a decent one at that. I was slightly in a state of shock, I couldn't quite believe that the pike targeted lure had worked but also that it'd attracted such a good fish! I guesstimated it at 45cm and quickly got it back to fight another day although if my fish filleting skills were up to anything it defo would've been a perfect accompaniment to my steak on the grill!

As that fish had trashed my leader I headed back to camp (literally 5 paces away from the bankside!) and while I was sorting out the rod the owner arrived on his quad bike with a big bag of firewood, some kindling, firelighters and... an axe! Far out, I'm not gonna lie, I really enjoyed using that axe... And to be honest, I think it may have been a real struggle to get the fire blazing without it as everything was really damp.

The firepits at River Ranch Road deserve a special mention here as they are absolutely amazing. I'm not sure if the owner makes them or they're a commision of some kind but they're pretty unique. Mine was in the shape of a 'ute' and the bonnet, cab and tray all doubled as grill areas. I chose to only use the tray area but I'm sure if you got the whole thing ablaze it'd be a family size grill. Very cool.

While the fire was getting going I got casting around again and instantly got another flathead. Not as big, defo the smaller relation of the first one but I was really stoked to be getting amongst some fish so quickly.

By this time it was completely dark and as the fishing slowed down as the tide turned I concentrated on getting the fire really going and turned my thoughts to dinner. It did rain a couple of times meaning I had to retreat to the tent but despite the showers efforts to put the fire out I soon had a good bed of coals to cook over. Steak, mushrooms and a baked potatoes are pretty much my staple dinner for motocamping trips and tonight's meal defo didn't disappoint. There's something about carving a hunk of steak off the grill and wrapping it in turkish bread whist drinking a beer that is just unbelievable good!

In-between dinner and a movie (I watched 'Margin Call' held great promise but was kinda... dull!) I kept chucking the lure around and as luck would have it, the fishing continued to produce bites and I got another load of flathead before I turned in for the night. The secret I found was to give it about half an hour between fish! Generally I'd get another one on the 3rd or so cast after 'resting' the swim which all in all was a real result.

I eventually crashed out around 11ish and instantly fell asleep. It rained heavily overnight a couple of times and I woke up around 6am to find the sun up and the tide out but try as I might I couldn't buy a bite which was weird given the previous evenings success. Ater a quick ride into town to use the 'facilities' (there's no toilet at River Road Ranch) I returned to camp and stoked up the fire to cook breakfast. Luckily I'd had the foresight to save two of the 4 firelighters my host had given me and after using the axe to break down some of the left over logs of hardiusfuckarius left over from the previous nights fire I had a respectable blaze going.

Breakfast was simple: a couple of boiled eggs, sliced avocado and freshly made bread! I don't know if you've watched any of The Outdoor Boys videos on YouTube but they get up to all sorts of camping and wilderness adventures but none of their videos are complete without 'bread in a bag' and honey butter.

The process is simple - get yourself a medium ziplock bag and add the following dry ingredients:

• 1 cup strong bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon of bread improver
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

Before you go to sleep, add water and give it a thorough mix in the bag, seal it up and put it somewhere warm and dry overnight (I put mine inside one of my pannier bags). In the morning, the yeast will have done it's thing and you'll have bread dough ready to bake on the fire! Just tear off a ball, shape it into a flatbread and place on the grill or coals. It takes around 7 minutes to bake, just keep turning it till you think it's cooked through. Seriously, fresh bread when camping is a bit special.

For the honey butter, I just melt a tablespoon of butter (or Nuttelex - the curse of being lactose intolerant!) and combine it with a tablespoon of honey. Once it's all mixed up, decant it to a container - I use these squeezy bottles that I picked up in a dollar shop, they're ideal for small amounts of liquid (I have one with washing up liquid, a second with olive oil and a third for honey butter, just the right amount for breakfast). For this trip, I added a sprinkling of dried rosemary and far out, it was a game changer. To melt it, I just place the bottle in some hot water (usually while I'm boiling my eggs) or just place it near to the fire. Too good.

Breakfast done, I did do a bit more fishing but as there just didn't seem to be anything around I called it around 11am, packed everything onto the bike and got back on the road. Nothing too fancy, I just decided to retrace my ride from the previous day heading along the highway, up to Peachester, down into Woodford and across the hills to Dayboro and then onto home.

The ride was pretty uneventful, the only blip being that the beautiful sunny day disappeared as I left Woodford. Having seen the rain clouds gathering, I Stopped to put my rain jacket on before heading up Mount Mee but it was all in vein as an absolutely biblical downpour started about a minute into my ascent! it was pretty hairy, the section of road is near vertical and there was defo no way I could stop. I just had to take it really slowly and inch my way up the hill!

As with the ride out, I had to stop again at Dahmongah Lookout to dry my gloves and wait for the rain to pass. One trick I remembered from my motorcycle training in the UK was to put a pair of latex gloves on underneath your riding gloves. Not only does it keep your hands dry, but it stops them getting quite so cold! Luckily for me I carry a couple of sets in my first aid kit so I broke them out before continuing on in the drizzle.

I finally got home around 3pm, exhausted, wet and stinking of woodsmoke - but very happy! I'd had a great trip and finally found a campsite with fishing - I'm already looking forward to heading back to River Road Ranch!

The main thing that attracted me to this campsite was the glowing reviews and close proximity to a river - according to the write up, you were on the bankside!

After a morning fishing at Lake Kurwongbah I got the bike loaded and headed out. Nothing too spectacular on the ride up, I just took it slow and steady and cruised over the hills and a bit of highway into Nambour and then down along the river to Rosemount.

The exact location was a bit tough to find but I got there in the end. Getting down to the spot was pretty easy, through a gate and then a muddy farmland track. If I'm completely honest, at first impressions I wasn't overwhelmed... My spot was at the end of a fenced off grass area next to a field of cows, a relatively flat area overlooking the creek. Sadly, the steep banks down to the water pretty much ruled out the planned fishing session - if I had hooked into anything it would've been a real struggle to get the fish on the bank.

It was at this point I discovered the 2nd problem: the host had indicated that I could 'Use any of the fire wood in the piles on your way in'. Trick was, there wasn't any! Any wood that was there looked decidedly ropey (think moldy old soaking wet pallets and garden cuttings.

So... what to do?! I needed food, beer and fire - pronto. I rapidly unloaded (it was beginning to get late now...), got the tent setup, dumped everything from the panniers inside and headed back to Nambour where the Coles and BWS supplied the first two items on the list. Now to firewood. I'd spotted a BP servo on the way in and much to the tellers amusement, I purchased a bag of firewood and somehow managed to get all of it into my saddle bags!

With problems solved, I headed back to camp for a much needed beer. It took ages to get the fire going as the wood was pretty damp but I got there in the end and got dinner on the go (steak and mushrooms).

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. It rained overnight. I was visited by the noisy cows a couple of times. The sun came up, I packed up and rode home. To say the campground was 'nothing special' is a bit of a understatement and I left slightly mystified at the glowing reviews on HipCamp. Maybe I'd just hit it on the bad day?!

So the search for a campground with fishing that lives up to expectations continues. There's gotta be one out there right?!

Even with it getting colder (well... cold for Queensland!) and being outside of the school holidays it was really tough to find a campground that met my requirements for a good night away, namely a toilet (I know right?!), firepit with a bag of wood and fishing. Bushywood at Woodfordskilake fits the bill and this was to be a return trip for me as this was the first place I ever motocamped.

After an excellent sesion Bass fishing up at Enoggera Reservoir in the morning I headed home, loaded up the bike and got on the road. The route is amazing, through Samford Village, onto Dayboro then up over the hills to woodford via Mnt Mee. One day I really want to do the trip offroad traveling through the forest but I'll save that for when I've a bit more confidence!

I got to Woodford around 4ish, headed to the campsite and dumped the gear before returning to the Woolies in town to get supplies for the evening. The plan was to do a steak and mushrooms on the new camping grill I'd picked up so a quick stomp around the supermarket and a trip to the bottle shop for some beers and I was back at my spot by the lake just in time to see the moon rise.

It was completely unplanned but my trip coincided with a full moon (maybe thats why the fishing had been so good earlier in the day?!) and it was stunning to see it rise behind the waterskiing lake. With the tent up and the bike sorted out, the only thing left was to get the fire going. Bushy had supplied a big bag of wood for $20 and my spot overlooking the lake had a perfect firepit ring already set up. I'd scanned the area before leaving for the shops and it looked like previous campers had nabbed all the pine cones... Luckily for me I'd spotted a heap of them on the driveway so I had 10 or so in my pannier.

Pine cones make the most amazing fire starters and in no time I had a decent blaze going. So I grabbed a beer, sat back in my camping chair and watched the moon gracefully travel up into the sky. Not bad, not bad at all.

After a couple of hours of constantly feeding the fire I had a good pile of glowing coles so it was time to break out the camping grill. I've been hunting for something to cook over the fire with for a while now as part of the motocamping experience for me is eating well. Noodles, pasta, tuna fish innacan all have their place but if I'm going to spend a night under the stars, I'd rather having something tasty and less carby! After investigating various different options I found a foldable camping grill on Amazon and decided to give it a go. It has two different levels and I decided to use the lower level, positioning it near to the fire and raking hot coles underneath.

Steak on and sizzling away, there was just enough room to fit a large mushroom on the side of the grill - it was looking good! As I wasn't entirely sure of the heat coming off the coles I gave it a couple of minutes each side and then sliced a corner off to check the 'doneness' and as it was looking bang on, I tore off a bit of turkish bread, popped the steak in between and... It was perfect, probably one of the best steaks I'd had in a long long time!

So the evening was spent working my way through steak, a couple of beers and a movie under the stars. It was chilly but I'd built the fire up to a good size and that kept me warm until around midnight when I decided to call it a night.

Even though its winter the sun was up by 5.30 and as my spot wasn't in the shade I was up and about early to investigate the fishing options. From what I've been told, there are plenty of tilapia in the lake and I'd come armed with corn and bread to target them. But it was quickly apparent that the weed had really come up since my last visit and after an hour or so of being wiped out I decided to give it a miss. There are two types of weed in the lake, one if which is the brown floating stuff and as the wind got up it was just moving back and forth up the lake making fishing virtually impossible...

I had a shower, packed down around 10ish and got back on the road home. Another fantastic night under the stars, the camping grill had worked a treat, all my gear had performed perfectly and I guess the only down point was the lack of fishing - but having caught loads of bass up at Enoggera in the morning, I wasn't grumbling!

I decided to get on the road at midday and headed out on my usual route through Dayboro, over Mount Mee and into Woodford for a quick fuel up and a sausage roll at CJ's Pastries (always worth it!). Then it was into the unknown... I headed through Woodford, took a right off to Stanmore and then up over the hills towards Maleny.

Up until now the weather had been great for riding, a little cooler than normal and greyish skies. But when I stopped at McCarthy's Lookout for a look down the valley I realised that all that might change... Within minutes of riding off down the hill the heavens absolutely opened! I spied some shelter at the Maleny Dairies and got in under the trees to get out of the worst of it. The downpour only lasted minutes but it was enough to soak me through and I drove on steaming as the sun came out again.

This was familiar territory again and I was having a blast winding through the twisties onto Montville and then Mapleton. It really is a beautiful part of South East Queensland, real 'diary country' with loads of farms, cows and stunning countryside. But all that was going to change pretty rapidly...

I'd clearly not studied my route closely enough as things got tricky as I headed out of Mapleton and onto Obi Obi. Alarm bells rang when I spied a big read sign by the side of the road stating 'very steep descent next 3km' and then a 2nd sign further on stating 'caravans prohibited beyond this point'... And then the road turned to gravel... Where the hell was I going?!

Pulling over to the side of the road I flagged down a passing ute and asked the driver what I was getting myself into. He took one look at my loaded bike and said 'yeah... you should be ok if you go really slowly'. Not exactly confidence inspiring?! Looking at the map, there was no other way and with time marching on it was time to put on my big boy pants and soldier on.

Initially it wasn't too bad... but then the road quickly got steeper and steeper until it was (in my mind!) near vertical. It was pretty hairraising but I limped the bike down the steep incline using a mixture of engine braking in first gear and a very light foot on the rear brake - the last thing I wanted to do was start a skid as I doubt I'd ever stop and would end up in the bushes! Luckily the road surface was heavily compacted gravel and despite the number of cars that'd whizzed past me while I was deliberating if I should set off down the hill, I managed to make it down to the bottom of 'the mountain' unscaved and without anyone on my tail giving me the hurry up.

It was with a sense of relief that I continued my journey through stunning countryside, first onto Kenilworth and then on and on and on to Kandanga. I really had underestimated how long the ride would take and it was almost 5pm by the time I pulled into town. A quick stop at the local bottle shop for some beers and then onto the campsite.

I'm not going to lie, first impressions were not that favourable. Initially I put it down to being slightly exhausted after my ride but I couldn't help feel a little disappointed by the location but I found the host, managed to buy a bag of firewood, got the tent set up and cracked a well earnt beer.

Although the site is secluded I quickly realised that the rest of the campers used my area to get down to the the creek! The fire pit did overlook the creek as advertised but it's was on a 'cliff', I imagine where the bank has caved in - it defo was not safe for small kids and to be honest I stayed away from the edge. The creek water was pretty slow moving and stagnant and the banks are crazy steep so getting down to the water side to fish wasn't really possible. Despite fancying a dip I defo wasn't going to be swimming as I spotted at least one snake (this is Australia though right?!). Its prettyish but kinda ruined by the massive electricity pylon right overhead.

And the less said about the 'amenities' the better... They were grim! The shower and toilet shed behind the 'Macadamia Camp' was damp, dirty and pretty foul... In the end, I headed to the excellent public toilet block at the park up the road which was really clean! I think there might've even been showers there as there was a 'public RV Park'.

But hey, gotta make the best of a bad situation. Yes it was disappointing that the campsite didn't live up to the reviews but I'd had an excellent ride getting here, I'd got some beers, some food, a new camp chair to try out and it wasn't raining!

As always in Australia, it got dark quick and after getting the fire started I got stuck into dinner which I'm ashamed to say was a very basic 'noodles and snacks' meal - the next time I head out I'm doing proper camping over the fire! I was pretty exhausted and crashed out early but two interesting things happened overnight.

The first was I was woken up by some croaking and got out of the tent to investigate. It turned out there was a cane toad under each tree, staring fixedly up into space and croaking... Really weird.

And the second was that I was visited at around 2am by a horse and her foal who were investigating the bike and my tent which terrified the life out of me!

Apart from that, the night passed pretty uneventfully and I was up bright and early to have breakfast (a slightly more civilised boiled egg wrap) and got up and out by 9.30am for the long trek home.

I had a loose plan to stop in at the Eumundi Markets but by the time I got there around 11ish it was absolutely heaving... So after a quick bite to eat and a drink I got back on the highway and just blasted for home. The weather was turning and I was knackered!

Somewhere between turning off to Landsborough and heading onto to Beerwah I began to notice a knocking coming from the bike and after stopping at a cafe for a drink I realised the bracket on my tail tidy had snapped and the number plate and light fitting had been bashing on the exhaust pipe and rear tyre! Far from ideal. But if you can't fix it with cable ties and gaffa tape it's unfixable right?! Ten minutes later I had everything botched back in place and thankfully the light still worked so I could continue my journey getting home at around 3pm.

So, my official review of Platypus Hollow, Creekside Farm in Kandanga: ok for a quick overnighter but defo nothing spesh! On one hand, I enjoyed my stay - after a long day on the motorbike, I just wanted to pitch the tent, light the fire, sink a few beers & crash out... and I did just that! It was cheap, cheerful and did the job. On the other hand, there were a number of things that were less than perfect and if like me you we're attracted by the write up of the site and reviews you might be disappointed...

The highlight of this trip was defo the ride out, the steep decent down to Obi Obi being the thing I'll always remember. But the search will continue for the perfect motocamping campsite!

I decided to keep it relatively local for my first trip, think of it as a 'shake down ride' before heading off somewhere remote, a chance to test my gear and decide if this motocamping malarke was for me. My thinking was to find somewhere that felt remote but was close enough to a town, was basic but preferably had at least a toilet (a shower would be a bonus!) and wasn't honkingly expensive.

After a lot of searching and asking around I finally found a website/app that appeared to offer what I was after. HipCamp appears to be a direct clone of the very popular AirBnb website (perhaps it's the same company?!) but tailored to camping. The ability to filter by amenities, location features (lake, river, farm, beach etc.) and activity was really great and I soon had a fairly extensive list of places that fitted the bill.

The clear winner was Bushywood at Woodfordskilake. Not only were the reviews excellent, the location was perfect in that (as the names suggests) the campsite is on a lake (with fish in it!), it had a toilet/shower block, was just outside Woodford (so perfect for supplies) and as an added bonus, the owner could supply firewood! It sounded amazing.

My extensive research had resulted in me forking out for some excellent Kriega OS-18 Adventure Pack bags complete with the Kriega OS Base Pannier Bag Mounting System to fit them to the bike and a Nelson-Rigg RG-HS Exhaust Shield to stop everything melting the plastics on the bike. I figured two of these bags plus the ROK-Straps already on the bike would give me enough storage space with the tent strapped in place on top. Complete the set up with a Denali Kakadu II Hike Tent, a Mountain Designs Airlite 5.5 sleeping mat​, an old zone 1 sleeping bag I still had kicking around from when we travelled around Australia in 2005 and a 360 Degrees Furno Stove & Pot Set and I had everything for a quick overnight camping trip off the bike.

Now for my first mistake: for some crazy reason I decided that leaving after work on Thursday afternoon was a good idea... And instead of opting for the cruisy ride to Dayboro and over Mount Mee I thought I'd just blast up the highway...

I was rolling by 4pm and of course instantly got stuck in traffic. The highway was solid and it took me ages to get into Woodford and pick up supplies, I was literally racing the sunset to the campground. Not ideal as I didn't really know where I was going and dusk is a terrible time to be hacking around tiny Australian roads as that's when the kangaroos love to hop out of the undergrowth and argue with vehicles.

But by some miracle I managed to get there unscathed just as the last rays of the sunset were leaving the sky! After a quick chat with the host, I picked up my bag of firewood, got down to my spot by the lake and set up camp in a cloud of mosquitoes (luckily I had Aeroguard otherwise I think I'dve been eaten alive...).

It was a beautiful spot, I wished I'd got there earlier to check it out in the daylight. But after wrestling with the tent for a bit (note to self: always set up new kit at home first. It's a lot easier to figure out when it's not dark!) I got all the kit off the bike and stowed away before getting the campfire going. Dinner on this occasion was going to be simple: noodles and beer! Nothing gourmet, just simple and filling.

By this time it was pushing 10ish and I was knackered... The heat, the rushed drive up and setting up in the dark had taken its toll and I was ready to crash out. The night was really quiet and I actually slept pretty well and awoke to an amazing sunrise over the water.

According to the host, the two lakes do have fish in them but I couldn't get them to bite! I got the distinct impression there are a lot of Tilapia present and I didn't have the right bait (well, that's my excuse!) but I'll defo be having another go at them on a return trip.

The day warmed up really quickly and after a quick shower I packed up the bike and got back on the road, this time taking the more scenic route up over the hills and home via Mount Mee and Dayboro.

The good news is that I loved the Motocamping experience and all my gear performed perfectly. Luckily I chose a great camping spot as Bushywood at Woodfordskilake really is a fantastic place - incredibly friendly hosts, amazing location (especially by the water), basic but good facilities and all at a reasonable price ($23.36 for the night and $20 for a big bag of firewood.

I'll definitely be back, next time with some worms to chase those Tilapia down!