Karuah NSW September 1st 2024

 Karuah NSW September 1st 2024

Long day on the road gets us into Karuah, the only place we have ever found to stay at night, ready for a run down through Newcastle and Sydney and then - Home.

We got a bit of a surprise though, the service station is closed for renovations. Good job we are in the Beemer and not the Ford, because we had plenty in reserve. We went and found some 10km back ups the road though, just be sure.

The best place in Karuah is the jetty, with its attendant wonky old boardwalk. 

Karuah NSW

Karuah NSW

Karuah NSW

Karuah NSW

Yamba NSW August 27th 2024

Yamba NSW August 27th 2024

Easy run down to Yamba. Found our spot in the park and went up to town for lunch. Had a bit of a wander around to reacquaint ourselves with Yamba and the bits and pieces around the place.

Angourie Back Beach, Angourie NSW

Yamba main beach and pool, Yamba NSW

Fog rising over Yamba Marina, Yamba NSW

Did some stuff: ‘History’ Ferry Cruise - 4 hours of nothing, it would have been boring of you could have heard the commentary. Took 2 hours to cover about 5 nautical miles from the park to the highway bridge. And just a complete rip-off. You can't bring food or drink on board, but they will gladly sell you a sandwich in a plastic for $10 and a can of drink for five. Parkrun - great little run along the river front, pretty hot and humid though. Angourie Back Beach my favourite - 630 am deserted, heaven on earth, a run in the car out to Lawrence and Bushgrove, touched Grafton and came car through Maclean.

I wanted to go to Bushgrove mostly because it featured in a great pamphlet thing  marine chart we picked up which was about cruising on the Clarence River. It waxed lyrical about the wonder of having lunch on the deck overlooking the broad expanse of the river etc etc. The pub itself, including the covered patch of dirt on the river bank were ok, but far from the rhetoric of the glossy brochure. We did get to cross the river though, twice, on a vehicular ferry, which is a bit quaint these days.

Vehicular Ferry, Lawrence, Clarence River, NSW

Lunchtime viewing area, Bushgrove Hotel, NSW

The view from the said viewing platform 

Actually a highlight was lunch at Maclean where we ‘discovered’ the Botero Coffee Roasters and Cafe. Exellenent lunch, great coffee

Botero Roastery, Maclean NSW

The Caravan park was ‘nice’, until the 10,000 young persons with all their children and all their toys turned up n Friday. You can hear the kiddies starting to mumble and grumble from six am, then at 7 am sharp they throw all the van and cabin doors open and the kiddies erupt out onto their scooters and bikes, yelling and screaming at each other and moaning about this and that... and it doesn’t stop until 7 at night when thankfully they all go to sleep. 

And then there was the pool or pools, only one heated is the swim-up bar, and you can imagine what that was like! But the others, including the water play areas are decidedly cool. The main pool is really nice, just cold. Not frigid, just not a pleasant place to get in and splash around. Good for lap swimming though if you were brave enough to tough it out. One one or two brave souls, including me, used it as our own private pool all week... until Saturday. The temperature soared to 35° by 9 o’clock and a hot sweltering wind picked up. All of a sudden the “freezing” pool was the place to be! And then the power went off. Not just the van park, but all of Yamba. Came back on about three o’clock, so all the air-conditions could be brought back on-line.

Judy did some fishing from the end of the van park pier and caught all kinds of baby fish, biggest one was a 30cm flathead. All consigned back to their watery habitat for next year.

We will go back, we’ll just make sure it’s not on the weekend, especially a Fathers’ day one or the like.

Tweed Heads NSW August 23rd 2024

 Tweed Heads NSW August 23rd 2024

Koala. Kirra Beach Qld

Another 4 1/2 hours of highway hell. Tewantin to Tweed Heads, its just full-on motorised mayhem. Started badly when we very, very, nearly wiped out a bikie, who thought it was smart to swoop past us on the left while I was in the middle of getting back n that same lane after an overtaking move. He must have been doing 130 at least. Just how he didn’t hit us I really don't know. I swerved a bit, he severed a lot. Just plain good luck that I saw him in the side mirror in what would have been the last split second of his life.

One always expects the Bruce or whatever it is, “A1” I think is its proper name, to be busy with its four lanes but this year it has been taken to new heights of traffic all hell-bent on being somewhere else as fast as possible. That’s not so bad, I can handle that, but then they closed two lanes about halfway down to put in more lanes and so we were reduced to a crawl for half an hour or so before finally being freed of it at the NSW border. Northbound was just as bad. And the locals just accept it as the normal way to travel. Oddly, looking back through my blog and travel notes, I say the same thing every year. I think this may be our last, Id rather drive a few hundred kilometres further right out around the back of Brisbane than do this again.

anyhow, this year we are back at what used to called the Ben Boyd van park, owned an operated by the local council. Haven’t been here for 9 years as it turns out. I don't remember the old highway outside the fence being quite this noisey but it will have to do for this year.

Tewantin Qld August 16th 2024

Tewantin Qld August 16th 2024

We moved down to Tewantin, our hopes high that this was going to be the relaxing, satisfying, enjoyable part of the holiday that we have both been looking forward to. But no, despite a good trip down, including getting through Gympie way more easily than last year, we ran into a bun-fight at the van park. OK, so we’ve been here maybe 10 times and are quite fussy about our site. We now want, nay, almost demand, an en-suite in “Grevillea Street”, and it has to be an even numbered site. That’s because the en-suites are in pairs and the odd numbered ones are odd (sorry), in that they are on the wrong side off the van. Which means that instead of stepping put of the van, two steps into your own private facility, you have to step out and then walk around the back or front of the van to get to that bathroom door. Ok so that’s not such a big deal, but that’s what we have come to like over the years. And as we had booked in many months ago, we were not surprised to be allocated Number 30, the one we had requested. Full of joy we drove around to the spot, only to find someone else firmly ensconced in it. Judy, with steam coming-out her ears, charged of to reception, with the lady from the interloping van close on her heels. Sadly, it was never going to be anything else than a “Sorry, we can't promise anything”, which was pretty lame seeing as we had been give the site minutes ago. It seems that the incumbents had already been moved once and had been put there only this morning. And there’s nothing you can do. They gave as Site 31 right next door and so we just had to take it or leave it. We took it of course and as it turns out, on this particular site, it's not so bad, just duck out the back, between our van and a shrub and into the bathroom. But it's that initial letdown that sticks.

The park is great however and we are very comfortable here, and all around town. I just feels like home. My only complaint is that the pool is too hot! Even hotter than last year. The thermostat is set to 32°C can you believe?

We went to the Noosa Heads farmer’s markets which turns out to now be basically a pop-up cafe precinct for the beautiful people. So, that was disappointing as well. Anyhow, I had seen an old bloke in the servo with a Model T Ford in the morning and he said that he was on his way to a car run at Cooroy, which is 13km away up in the hills. So up we went, chasing rainbows, but settled for a nice coffee shop and a wander around the small but lovely little town.

Tuesday is Shopping Day, and we took ourselves to Maroochydore to sample the delights of the Sunshine Plaza Shopping Emporium, probably bigger than some of the towns we have stayed in! We found the few things that we needed and returned to the coffee shop, overlooking the creeks that flows under the mall. Gazing out the window, I was inspired to imagine that I was in Venice.... No harm in dreaming.

Could this be the Venice of Qld? Hardly, but a bit of fun anyway.
Sunshine Plaza, Maroochydore Qld

From Maroochydore we travelled the scenic route back along the coast, our destination being Peregian Beach, where we have had lunch "a few times" in the past. And so we did again this year, before heading home via the obligatory lap of Hastings Street in Noosa proper, flooded by a stroll along the river at Noosaville.

Sunset over the Noosa river at Noosaville Qld

Wednesday is of course Eumundi Market day, which is a must-do on the JB schedule. I retired to the Berkelouw’s Book shop and later to a .... coffee shop. 

Eumundi Qld

From Eumundi we drove down to Yandina where the Nut Factory and the Ginger Factory are. Had a quick look around tasted a few of the ware, bought some gingerbread persons and headed back to Tewantin.

Maryborough Qld August 15 2024

 Maryborough Qld August 15 2024

Didn't stay in Maryborough, just went down for the day, mainly to get away from Hervey Bay.

Sun is shining for a change, rather a pleasant day out. Went to the weekly markets held every Thursday in one of the streets, before going see what all the fuss was about at the Cistern Chapel.

I'll let the photos do the talking:

Also of note is that Maryborough is where Pamela Lyndon Travers OBE was born. She is best know for creating Mary Poppins and is honoured in town with these colourful traffic lights.

Mary Poppins pedestrian lights. Maryborough Qld

Mary Poppins pedestrian lights. Maryborough Qld

Hervey Bay Qld August 12th 2024

 Hervey Bay Qld August 12th 2024

Rained lightly all night, eased off while we packed our proverbial tent and left Rockhampton for Hervey Bay. Drizzled all the way down to Miriam Vale, where we pulled in for a break. Back on the road, and I have to say that its not been too bad, we hit heavy patches of rain and just kept ploughing on through to Hervey Bay. Van park is one we stayed in years again, and doesn’t look like anythings changed in that time, except that the now more numerous potholes are deeper. Or site was built for small rig, we only just managed to get it in and even so we are hanging over the back of their slab by a metre, just so the drawbar isn’t sticking out onto the road. These old van parks are all in trouble now that all the clever people are now driving Chevrolet Silverados or Rams and towing 20metre long palaces on wheels.

Went out for some lunch. Settled for a bacon and egg roll and some chips from a choke ’n puke. Found the supermarket, grabbed some things and retreated to the van. It's now officially pouring. Supposed to be ready to go whale watching at 8 in the morning....

As a matter of interest we have been here several times in our life: 2004, 2006, 2013, 2016 and 2018.

Up at 6:30, time for a shower and breakfast. Its bucketing down rain, the wind isn't quite howling but trying hard; and today is our whale watching cruise day.

Apart from rain and wind, once we made it out from the lee of the marina we had to content with waves and swell. The boat was Ok though, had a decent cabin lounge area to sit out the hour ride to the area known as Platypus Bay. The whales are all around and we had a great old time watching them. Photography is total rubbish, what with the heaving seas and the zero light and the wind swept rain... and the lunatic with the expensive camera. Anyhow, there are a couple that will remind us of the boat ride.

Hervey Bay Qld

Urangan Pier. Hervey Bay Qld

Judy & whale. Hervey Bay Qld

Whale, pointy end. Hervey Bay Qld

Whale, tail wagging end, Hervey Bay Qld

Finally stopped raining, not that you can tell the difference between the rain and thick fog. One pointer is that the pothole puddles are staring to shrink. Went for a walk today along the beach, couldn't tell the difference between sea, horizon and sky. Slowly though the fog started to lift a bit. Came across this highly venomous Elegant Sea snake. Seemed to be dazed. Apparently this is not uncommon as they get caught in the trawler nets and are basically nearly drowned when they are thrown back, left to sink or swim, they often get washed up on the beach.

Hervey Bay beach

Elegant Sea-snake, Hervey Bay

Rockhampton Qld August 10, 2024

 Rockhampton Qld August 10, 2024

Before we left Sarina, we drove back up to Mackay so I could do a Parkrun. Actually the third time I've done this, although the course has been changed this year, and for the better I’d say. Didn’t beat my PB from 2021 but came mighty close.

After breakfast we packed and headed to Rockhampton, some 300km away. As opposed to previous years, the Mighty Bruce is in pretty good condition. I think we saw one roadwork in the entire length. Bit bumpy in some areas but basically not so bad.

Bit of a surprise at the caravan park, we’ve been shuffled up to the other end, which we didn’t even know existed. Its OK though, just different from our previous visits. Mind you, the main train line is about 10 metres on the other side of the back fence and the big long freight trains are a wee bit noisy as first the engines roar and groan past and then the hundred or so carriages clunk and clank over the gaps in the rails. Oh, here’s one now, you can tell from the mighty fog-horn blast as they come over the railway crossing. Every time. Surprising how often that is!

Tropic of Capricorn. Rockhampton Qld

Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and wandered downtown, or at least to the old central part of town, which in its hay day was a bustling sea port. The wharves went in 1967 and the whole area fell into decay, but has now been tarted up and is quite a pleasant place to stroll around. We came across this grand old stone building, once the home of the Queensland National Bank, back in 1880, but now a really delightful cafe called the Riveston Tea Rooms. Naturally we had to sample the fare just to make sure it was OK. Which it was, I'm pleased to say.

Riveston Tea Rooms. Rockhampton Qld

Riveston Tea Rooms. Rockhampton Qld

One time bustling Port of Rockhampton on the Fitzroy River

Customs House. Rockhampton Qld

OMG it's an Art Work. Rockhampton Qld