Judy & Brian Tour Oz

  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 fi...

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...

 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 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 thing...

  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 t...

  Sarina Qld 9th August 2924 We were supposed to stay at Mackay, to be close to Parkrun in the morning. We had booked into Bakers Creek Caravan Park, but it turns out to be out the back of the industrial area, looked filthy, full of permanent camps and totally uninviting. Even I wouldn’t feel comfortable staying there. Other parks in Mackay demand a two night minimum, so our options were Sarina, 30km south or Rockhampton, way too far south. Fortunately Sarina had a spot left, so we booked that and headed out of town. We have stayed here a few times now. The van park is pleasant with a big grassy site for us. After some lunch we wandered out to Sarina Beach, where there is a nice hotel and a good view out over the ocean. Still a bit windy though and hard to spot whales with all the whitecaps. The park has a sausage sizzle on Fridays, so we went over for a hour, had a snag and a bit of old chat. The oddity of this place is that it has weird animal statues throughout the park: ele...

 Bowen Qld. August 2nd 2024 Left Rollingstone a little reluctantly, because despite the incessant wind and the near frigid pool, it was a very pleasant place to stay. Here's what we left behind. Are we crazy? Tasman Caravan Park, Rollingstone Qld Tasman Caravan Park, Rollingstone Qld Anyhow, left it behind we did. Travelled south through Townsville, which seems to get bigger every time, something like an hour and a half to finally clear the city, and then an easy sort of run down through Ayr to Bowen. Road is rough in patches but a reasonable sort of run got us into Bowen at 1pm. We set up and went to get some groceries but got side tracked and had lunch at Horseshoe Bay in the cafe, which I have to say has really come on since last year. Nice food though, good coffee and some great rock and roll from the 60 and 70s playing. They know their target market. This year we lucked into a front row spot, which faces straight out onto the ocean: Guess we'll just have to tough it out fo...

Seven AM, best time of the day