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?!