Brunswick Heads NSW / Karuah NSW / Canberra ACT September 2017

Sorry been a bit slack.

We moved from Biggara Waters to Brunswick Heads, which is only 100km away and just up the road from Byron Bay. The park is an older park which runs alongside Simpsons Creek. We went for a riverside spot even at $70+ a night, but it was delightful. River chock-full of fish right at the back door, beach about 200m away, nice range of cafes and shops and of course the Brunswick Hotel even closer than that. Judy caught fish, I beach-walked, we wandered down to Byron and then back up through the hinterland and Mullumbimby. Pretty relaxing all round

The people in the van next to us were friendly, I even socialised and fixed his battery charger for him as a bonus. The last night we went to the Hotel, where they Rock and Roll Bingo, which is a set of bingo like cards with song names on them, and as they play the songs you cross them off your card, five in a row and you win $50! We had a meal of oysters and antipasto and chips and a 'few' glasses of wine, to oil our vocal chords, of course.

That's them. The actual Brunswick Heads, which is just two breakwater walls really. Brunswick Heads NSW

Byron Bay is over crowded to blazes and I can't imagine what anyone sees in it. Pay parking everywhere and the Lighthouse wants $8 just to drive through! But we found an overlooked gem in a beach called The Pass, where we had a pretty cheap and delicious lunch. There is a big rock at the end of the beach, up which they have built a staircase and a lookout on top. A must do, really.

The Pass beach. Byron Bay NSW

Other side of The Pass beach. Byron Bay NSW

From Brunswick Heads, we had a very long day in the car driving down to Karuah: Eight hours and fifteen minutes to cover 580 km. We ran into the longest stretch of roadwork in Australia, runs from Ballina to Woolgoolga and is costing 4.3 billion bucks, something like 150km of it, maximum speed 80kph

Oh well, it will be fabulous when its done.

Karuah is just an over-nighter but very pleasant as always, Judy had a last go at fishing and pulled in a whiting and a flathead, but only babies and back they went.

Another transport day, leaving at 8am and into the top of Sydney in 2 hours, another hour before you pop out the bottom of the M7 and then 2 hours to Sutton Forrest, which apart from Pheasants Nest, is the first place to stop and get a feed and relax for a while. another 1 and-a-half hours sees us backing up the driveway and wondering where the two months had gone!

See you next time - big one being planned!

Currumbin Beach Qld 15 September 2017

And now for a bit of kulture....

Down the road at Currumbin Beach, the arty types have put on  a show for us called the Swell Sculpture Festival. You can make of them what you will...

Giant crab.  Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Moonshot.  Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Q

Made from old bicycle bits, it span around in the breeze. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Rather cute glass tree which I fancied was in the style of Lalique. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

A sea-monster. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Sorry, no idea. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Future transport? Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

You grabbed a blue plastic tag from the box and wrote your own Pearl-of-wisdom on it and attached it to the  rest. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Horses head? Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Conversation. Two swimmers, one sitting on the side of the pool, one hanging . Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

No idea. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Billy carts or rat race? Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

A suggestion was that it was a metal pig going surfing. Most gawpers never got past the fluid release mechanism. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld 

Two-faced, as all art should be. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Light house? Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Ugg boot in the shape of a bottlebrush. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Given that it looked like a bunch of gelignite sticks with a timer on the side, it could only be a time-bomb. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Who knows. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Bird with head in sand. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

I give in. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

A water wheel of red chairs in the sand. Swell Sculpture Festival. Currumbin Qld

Tewantin Qld 11 September 2017

So, a whole week seems to have slipped by..... Where does the time go?

Fishing / loafing around on a boat. Noosa River Qld

 Noosa River Qld

Orchid spectacular - not. Caloundra Qld

Our old apartment, still looking good. Caloundra Qld

But not as goos as good old Gemini Twin Towers. Caloundra Qld

Chilling on Kings Beach, Caloundra Qld

Getting all enervated and doing Parkrun at 7am. Noosa (Tewanting actually) Qld

Wandering around the Blackall Ranges. Montville Qld

Relaxing at Noosa Qld

Doing the big walk at Noosa Heads

Paperbarks at Tea tree Bay, Noosa headland

Sandy beach at Granite Bay, Noosa Headland 

Doing the farmers market thing on a Sunday morning, Noosaville, Qld

Watching a wannabe doing his stuff at Noosaville markets

Dreaming about boats, Noosa Marina, Tewantin

Making ourselves beautiful. Coolum Beach Qld

Exploring Boreen Point, Qld

Reading the signs, Apollonian Hotel, Boreen Point Qld

Taking snaps, eating lunch, chasing birds (feathered) at Apollonian Hotel, Boreen Point Qld

That, is what we were doing. Off tomorrow for the Gold Coast

Agnes Water Qld 4 September 2017

There are some very noticeable changes and money is obviously being spent inside 'our' park at Agnes Water: the toilets are being fully renovated and a new prefabricated office building is due in soon. They have set up shop in a new ‘demountable’ on the other side of the entry road and are waiting for the workers to come and remove the old office.

New temporary office... Agnes Water Beach Caravan Park

...and out with the old. Agnes Water Beach Caravan Park

It took them two attempts to get this small office out. The first time they gave up for some reason and went away, including the crane, for a few hours, the second time they managed to struggle it out into the street, but were oblivious to the overhead power lines. The moment they took some notice of a caravan park full of people yelling at them, they decided that enough was enough and instead of taking it down along the road a hundred metres and then up into someone's back yard, it was dumped on the front lawn of the nearest house. The cowboys haven't been seen since. I'm pretty sure that the park manager lives in the house and can only hope his cars were out of the garage. The new fully prefabricated office is due in anytime, promising more fun and entertainment, but we wont see it until we come back next year.

Just down the road from the town is Chinaman's Beach and despite it being close and easily accessible, its mostly near-desserted. As a point of interest, right down the far end is a whale's head skull, complete with some do-gooder's hand written sign warning the would-be souvenir hunter of the dire consequences of interfering with an animal of a protected species, even if it is dead and reeking to high heaven.

Chinaman's Beach, Agnes Water Qld

Whale's head skull. Chinaman's Beach, Agnes Water Qld

Also down Springs road is the paperbark forest, which has a short track leading through a wetland and these fabulous paperbarks and climbing maiden hair ferns. Sadly, the wetland is bone dry, as is everything up here in Queensland. After we left here we drove a small bit further down and turned around, only to spy a pair of Rainbow Bee Eaters. And then another pair, and another.

Rainbow Bee Eater. Agnes Water Qld

Back at the van, we had a very unusual visitor come sniffing about before passing under the back of the van.

Goanna. Agnes Water Qld

One of the nice things to do here is to drive the 7km down to the Town of Seventeen Seventy and perch up at the bar of the pub and sip a nice glass of cold bubbles and watch the sunset. Actually , you can't see the sunset anymore due to the vegetation, but a very short walk across the road gives a decent view,

Sunset. 1770, Qld

We had dinner at the restaurant at the pub, called 'The Tree' and it was magnificent. We were kept amused by the couple next to us who seemed to have a plan to get out of paying. It started with them moaning about not having their order taken quickly enough, and then waiting 'an hour' for food (it was only 35 minutes) and ended with her having a hissy fit about the scallops which she pronounced as dry, hard and inedible. I was expecting her to find a cockroach in the salad at anytime. I don't know how her claim that she wasn't going to pay for one meal, even though she ate the lot, was handled, but we we glad to see them go. We heard the staff breath a collective sigh of relief as they walked off into the darkness. 

Further around from the hotel is Round Hill, which has a nice little walk through what was once a butterfly infested forest to a whale watching platform and back via another viewing platform over a small but pristine cove. Again we saw that the vegetation is really suffering form lack of rain and we can only hope they get some soon. We also saw a whole flock of Rainbow Bee Eaters cavorting around in the top branches of a near dead Casuarina tree.

Small Cove. Round Hill, 1770 Qld

Small Cove. Round Hill, 1770 Qld

Sadly, we cannot stay past our 8 day allocation and we'll just have to content ourselves with memories of beach walks, swimming in the ocean, sight-seeing, coffee drinking and generally relaxing. Here's one last look at the view from our spot in the van park.

View to beach from our van. Agnes Water Beach Caravan Park Qld