The first -

An early morning fishing expedition provided 30 whiting!

Clairview

We took the Bruce Highway, which passes through Rockhampton and stopped further north at Clairview, one of the few places where the highway meets the coast. Clairview is described as a “pleasant fishing and crabbing town with unspoiled beaches” - it is an accurate description, and apart from the caravan park and holiday houses there is not much else here, but the caravan park is fairly crowded and is popular with Queenslanders.

As we were running low on alcohol and other supplies we drove 20km or so to the nearest town with a pub and shop. We bought the pub’s only cask of red wine and the choice in the shop (which doubled up as the post office) was pretty meagre, but enough to keep us happy. The sugar cane harvest is in progress and the roads are busy with trucks transporting the cut cane, there are miles and miles of cane plantations so it must still be a profitable crop.

We stopped en route at the Exotic Fruit Garden and Ice Creamery at Flaggy Rock, a tropical fruit orchard run by a Danish man who makes his own ice cream from the tropical fruit he grows, think mango, coconut, ginger, and lychee. Unfortunately some of the more exotic fruits are not in season.

Nobby, a Viet Nam vet who has a camper trailer across the way, has given us some of his catch of whiting for tea and Laurie is getting the rods ready hoping for a further catch. I don’t know whether or the not the statement that a saltwater croc has been seen in the creek nearby is true or not but I won’t be going!


Monday was a very wet day in Tin Can Bay, but we had books to read and a sudoku or two so a day inside passed quickly and then dinner at the local pub. Thankfully when it was time to pack up and leave the rain had stopped and since then it has been sunny.

We have found on our travels that people are very friendly and happy to share their experiences. For example when we said we were headed for Tattum Sands, several people said that there were problems with sand flies there and so we changed our minds and here we are in Seventeen Seventy - a funny name for a town but it is named in honour of the year Captain Cook came ashore here from his barque Endeavour. The town is on Bustard Bay which reputedly refers to Cook and his crew’s dinner of an Australian bustard which they surprised and shot on the beach. The story goes that given that Cook and his men were the first Europeans ever to set foot on the Queensland coast this was definitely one unlucky bustard!

Seventeen Seventy has very much the feel of a resort/holiday town with cruises to Lady Musgrave Island, scuba diving excursions and reef fishing etc etc on offer and lots of young people and backpackers about. We are noticing that most people are in shorts, T-shirts and thongs or bare feet - we are still finding it too cold to strip off but it won’t be long as it is slowly getting warmer. More people about too, but school holidays here next week and we are leaving here Sunday heading further north for Mackay.

The surrounding countryside is very lush, although we have seen large areas planted with sugar cane, macadamia trees and pineapples, there are also huge stretches of dense bushland with tall trees and the creeks and rivers are much larger compared to those we see in South Australia. Some of the so called “creeks” we have passed over are about the size of our River Torrens!!

When in Bundy ...

On the coast - Tin Can Bay

It’s 4 weeks today since we left Adelaide and we are in now in Tin Can Bay - we picked it off the map because it was about the right distance from Brisbane and we liked the sound of the name! It turns out to be a pretty little fishing and holiday village on a coastal inlet -Fraser Island is just off the coast nearby.
Our drive up from Brisbane took us past Buderim and Yandina which are well known for ginger and macadamia nut production. We stopped and did a tour of a ginger processing plant and had a look at a nut packing factory. Needless to say there is a bounty of products to purchase and taste. We had ginger and macadamia ice cream for lunch and today it was ginger spread on our breakfast bread. It rained most of the time we were driving, it stopped long enough for us to set up camp, then started again during the night but this morning there is blue sky, albeit with heavy clouds and more rain forecast.
We got up early to go to see the wild dolphin feeding which happens every morning - the alpha male of the pod came in for some fish, the girls don’t make an appearance at this time of the year and there is another younger male who usually comes for a feed but we didn’t see him this morning. The rangers stand in knee deep water and the humpback dolphins come in and are hand fed - standing on the edge of the wharf you can have a very close up and personal view.
This area is renowned for its wild life and fishing - we are off to try our luck!

Farewell to Brisbane

It’s goodbye to Brisbane, we have had a good overview, everything from fishing off the Sandgate shore, dinner at the local RSL club, a train trip to the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise, visits to the museum and a Tao temple, lunch in Chinatown, a drive through Barry’s local area etc etc, there are plenty of places of interest to enjoy. The weather has treated us kindly, blue skies and mild days and we have had the wonderful hospitality and the local knowledge of the Smith family and young James. So it’s farewell and off to see what towns further north have to offer!

Brisbane - time with James

Sunday in Brisbane, a stroll along the riverside, lunch with James at Groove Train and then a ferry ride in the sunshine - people out walking and cycling along the river bank, enjoying the markets, coffee shops - a relaxed way to spend a Sunday.
Then Monday off early to the Australia Zoo and CRIKEY it’s big! We saw the big crocs being fed in the Crocoseum, the Australian section with kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, the Asian section with elephants, tigers and red pandas, cheetas and lots more!

Arriving in Brisbane

The drive from Ballina to Brisbane took us along the Pacific Highway and went very smoothly thanks to the SatNav which took us directly to cousin Barry’s house which is in the suburb of Deagon. The family have been looking after us very well and we are enjoying our stay - here is a photo of Barry and his daughters Brenda and Nathalie with her 2 children. Brenda is holding Skye aged 4 1/2 and Nathalie is holding Isabelle aged 1 year and 2 months. Nigel and Neale were both at work. The photo is taken in Barry’s back garden which is an oasis of tropical plants including palms, orchids and ginger plants.

East Coast

We stayed in Ballina for 3 days and used one of them to explore the surrounding area. We drove up to Byron Bay and visited the light house which is on the eastern most point of Australia. Apart from the historical aspect of the light house, you can look through the fully restored,100 year old light house keeper’s quarters. A big thrill for me was my first sight of a whale pod (5 hump backs) heading past on their way north and then there was a pod of 15 dolphins frolicking in the surf - a wonderful sight.
We then drove out to have a look at Nimbin. Having grown up in the hippie era the name of Nimbin and its surrounds is iconic. We found the countryside on the drive there very beautiful, lots of large trees but the town and its inhabitants are looking a little tired and a bit sad. Flower power seems to be fading away.
We are now in Brisbane, more later.

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Ballina

Had breakfast this morning sitting in the sunshine - lovely blue sky, palm trees, lorikeets - a bit cool but pleasant - sunshine at last!!
Yes we are in Ballina, talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous, Tuesday night we spent in Glen Innes, our overnight stop between Ballina and Moree, where it was so cold there was light snow.
We had become very comfortable in Moree, friendly with the people next door who had recommended that the best drive to Ballina was through Glen Innes but to beware, it could get very cold there, and they weren’t wrong. We had decided that as we were only staying one night and because of the weather we would stay in a cabin, and we are so glad we did, there was light snow and so we enjoyed a night with warm electric blanket heated bed and room heater.
Glen Innes is known as the Celtic capital of Australia, the landscape is very rocky and the early settlers planted lots of deciduous trees which had their colourful autumn leaves. The first settlers were mainly from Scotland and there are aspects of the landscape which would have reminded them of home. Major Archibald Clunes Innes, one of the original settlers, gave his name to the town which was gazetted in 1852. There is a Celtic festival each year, a ring of standing stones (installed in 1988 a la Stonehenge!**!) and the area is also popular for fossicking for sapphires.
The drive from Glen Innes goes through the heavily wooded World Heritage Gibraltar National Park, quite steep in places and then drops down near the coast and runs through sugar cane plantations and past the Clarence River which at present is running fast and a chocolate brown colour, due to the recent flooding rains. We leave here Saturday for Brisbane via Byron Bay.

Birthday in Moree

Yesterday was my birthday - 67 - and I had a lovely day, thanks for the texts, emails and good wishes. The morning dawned overcast so we had a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs - a bit of a luxury for us, then off to the shops for a birthday present, I had asked for a new lamp, we have two but somehow they are not very bright, probably because they were el cheapo, and I have been getting frustrated trying to cook etc in the gloom. The new one is just great and I know I will enjoy using it every day.
There is a Chinese restaurant in town advertising it has won several awards for regional NSW so we decided to go there for dinner. It is quite a large establishment and to our surprise was very nearly full, everyone seemed to know everyone else and there was a lot of across table chats and waves.
The menu was a little disappointing, but then we have been spoilt with Adelaide’s fantastic Asian restaurants, and although we found the dishes a little bit bland the serves were fresh and plentiful and the staff very friendly. We had bought a bottle of Yellowglen earlier so came back to our rig and had a glass or two. A lovely end to a very good day.

Birthday in Moree

Update from Moree

Moree is in NSW close to the Queensland border and until a few weeks ago we had never heard of it! but we have been here 4 days and plan to stay until next Tuesday morning, we have found it to be a restful place and a good opportunity to stop and take stock. We are also happy to avoid the busy roads as this weekend is a holiday for their Queen’s birthday, plus my birthday and that of child 1 and several other friends as well, you will know who you are so happy birthday, - so all in all a time of celebration, perhaps a chance to try the local champers if there is such a thing and there are several Thai restaurants in town.

Moree’s main attraction is artesian springs and there are 4 hot pools in this caravan park - all occupied by those of a similar age, hardly a young one in sight. It is a strange sight in the morning to see shadowy shapes of all sizes wrapped in towels or clad in dressing gowns, feet in Crocs (the footwear of choice!) shuffling off to ease their rheumatics in the hot water - the pools are open between 7am and 10 pm and are popular at all times, needless to say we watch the early morning parade from our bedroom window and tend to be late starters. However we have found that the minerals in the water have eased our aches and pains and are great for skin condition.

Last night we had barramundi which we bought and cooked for our evening meal (with garlic, chilli, coriander, lime juice and snow peas) - today L bought a bucket of worms - the fishing around here is supposed to be pretty good so who knows!

Moree

We are in Moree and will stay here 4 days = there are artesian springs here and in the camp site there are 4 pools with heats of 35, 36, 37 and 39 degrees, so lovely warm swims. The weather is still quite cool and some rain and more forecast. We will also catch up on domestics, we have had a visit to the local Woolies and this morning plan some time in the laundry. L has also for the first time put up our canvas annexe which gives a verandah over the door and a cover when we want to sit outside, unfortunately not yet for the sun. Another bonus is there is a good free WiFi connection so I am making the most of that with this blog. I have found up loading photos takes ages so will have a try this morning with one from the Warrumbungles with two blokes having a sit in the sun.