Wrap Up

Wrap Up

Our trip has had a lot of highlights:

• At the top of the list was the visit to Birdsville and the Big Red Bash.
• Then it was the country that we covered to get to Birdsville and come away, with particular mention of the road from Winton to Boulia.
• We must mention the Bedourie Camel & Pig races.  It was an amazing day.
• The "Silo Trail" drive through the Wimmera and the Mallee was a great way to start a trip.
• The Maleny Botanic Gardens and Bird Aviary was excellent.
• Chilling out at various places along the Queensland coast was a great tonic.
• We drove home, from the Gold Coast, via Sydney and spent most of the time on motorway. It was a good decision as we had not planned to do any sightseeing on the way home.  The road is very good and will be much better in a year or so - when duplication in northern NSW is complete.

Some statistics:

• 71 - The number of days that we were away
• 9660 - The number of kilometers that we travelled
• $30 - The average cost of diesel per day
• $29 - The average cost of accommodation per day
• 22  - The number of nights that we bush/free camped
• 1670 - The number of photos that I took
• 2 - The number of swims in the ocean.
• Many - the number of lovely people that we met.
• None - the number of major issues that we had.

The weather:

• Mostly cool to cold night - great caravan weather.
• Mostly lovely days - great for holidays.

I hope that you enjoyed the journey - we did.

Chapter 10 - Queensland - Sunshine Coast

Chapter 9 - Queensland - Sunshine Coast

Day 56 – Monday 7 August 2017 - Inskip Point to Maroochydore



The overnight rain had me up early and trying to accommodate wet mats and other moist items.  The (drowned) gas bottle BBQ needed a bit of a clean, but all was OK.

Shirley joined in the fun and we were on the road around 8am.  Our only stop along the route was Gympie, and that was for a walk around and a coffee.  Then we were soon on the Bruce Motorway and was a great road it is.

We booked into the Cotton Tree Tourist Park in Maroochydore and met up with great friends Leo and Judy before we were on our site.  Leo was happy with my backing effort on to a very tight site.

We had lunch and wandered about 250 metres to where Leo and Judy were staying a spent a pleasant couple of hours.

Stir fry and rice for dinner.


Day 57 – Tuesday 8 August 2017 - Maroochydore

The start of our nineth week away was relaxing with a few (sand removal) jobs being the key activity.

Shirley and I both had great afternoons, Shirley with some retail therapy, and me at bowls with mate Leo. Shirley spent more than I did, but I had more laughs.

I grilled a couple of steaks for dinner.

Day 58 – Wednesday 9 August 2017 - Maroochydore

The sun was up on time and providing plenty of solar energy.  We did some shopping then cooked scones for our key visitors, Leo and Judy.

Day 59 – Thursday 10 August 2017 - Maroochydore

It was another lovely day.  I had two loads of washing on the line by 8am, as Shirley headed to the shower.

We cruised down to Mooloolaba and had a one-hour cruise around the canels - to see how the other half live.  It is a different world.

Holiday Shack and Transport

Caravan Park of the Waves (Semi-permanent accommodation)

Pelicans Singing for their "Supper"

Steve Irwan's Boat from Which he took his Final Dive

We had lunch at a Tavern overlooking the above location and then drove around to check out a local mural.

Two Sides of the Mural on the Water Tower

Looking South from the Mooloolaba Water Tower

We wandered over to the Maroochydore Bowls club for an excellent chinese dinner, with Leo and Judy and another couple.


Day 60 – Friday 11 August 2017 - Maroochydore

We headed down to Caloundra and had an excellent few hours (over lunch) with good friends Bruce and Jill.


Day 61 – Saturday 12 August 2017 - Maroochydore

After five days in Maroochydore I decided to have a early morning walk on the beach.  It was a pleasant start to the day.

Pre-dawn

  

Post-dawn

Tibetan Momos

After breakfast we drove north to the famous Eumundi Markets.  It is a wonderful location to spend a few hours.  Shirley bought a couple of "tops", while I resisted the tempetation to buy a hessian hat.

However we could not resist the Tibetan Momos, sort of a cross between chinese dumplings and dim sims. They were superb.

Later on we went for a long walk on the surf beach, and checked out the restoration work being carried out.  In the last cyclone season the channel where the ocean meets the river became sand bound.  So they have a dredge "slushing" sand and water through a 600 mm pipe about 1.5 km away.  We watched the arrival of the "sand".

Sand and water arriving via the Black Pipe - from about 1.5 km away

Day 62 – Sunday 13 August 2017 - Maroochydore

We had a market about 200 metres from the caravan so that was the first action for the day - after breakfast.  We invested some funds into the local economy.

From there we moved about 5 km away to a much larger market and invested more funds in the local economy, particularly on fresh fruit and veges.  The macadamia biscuits proved to be an excellent buy - as is (hopefully) the fig & ginger jam.

Around 2pm we went for another long walk on the beach, this time with bathers on.  However we agreed that the cool breeze justified not going in to the water.


Day 63 – Monday 14 August 2017 - Maroochydore

We went for another long walk on the beach, this time we had a swim.  Once in it was great, not that we caught any waves.

We were so chuffed about the swim that we each had a mango smoothie.

A small leg of lamb became the victim for dinner in the BBQ.  It was superb.


Day 64 – Tuesday 15 August 2017 - Maroochydore

Shirley navigated us along a tourist route that took us through places like Bli Bli, Nambour, Mapleton, Montville and Maleny.  We were allowed to stop and have a coffee and a walk around Montville.  It is magic little town, with German roots, and well worth a visit.

The navigator then took us to the Maleny Botanic Gardens, which is a provately owned farm that has two key features.  The prime feature are the magnificent gardens - all over looking the Glasshouse Mountains.

Maleny Botanic Gardens looking the Glasshouse Mountains

The range of plants and flowers are jaw dropping. The photo below gives a small example.  Note the flower on the banana tree (bottom left).



The second feature of the place is the bird aviary - and it is just as impressive.  Over 400 birds across 60 species.  Again, the following are just a few examples. Note the galah who forgot to produce grey feathers. His feathers are so soft.

Broken Hearted Dove

We were advised not to wear earrings, hats or spectacles.  Those who did got lots of bird attention, and wished that they had followed the earlier recommendation.

The little guy to the right is a broken hearted dove, with red feathers on the chest that look like blood.

At the end of the long stroll Shirley and I took the opportunity to have a seat (photo below).

Happy Campers

Our 100 km drive was another highlght of the trip.




Day 65 – Wednesday 16 August 2017 - Maroochydore

It was a quiet day with a stroll into the Maroochydore shopping precinct being the main activity. 

Day 65 – Thursday 17 August 2017 - Maroochydore

A balmy night meant bacon and eggs on the BBQ for breakfast - a great way to start the day.

We drove down to Mooloolaba and had a walk around the shops - coffee being the only expenditure - until we got to the fresh fish place.

Dinner

One kg of large king prawns became the key menu item for dinner. I thought that a Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc would be Ok to go with the prawns.

After lunch we headed for the beach and spent some time in the walk. Today is probably our hottest day of the trip - or at least the hottest since we have been on the coast.

Day 66 – Friday 18 August 2017 - Maroochydore

It was a very windy and unpleasant day as we started to pack up for our departure.  Otherwise it was a quiet day.

Day 67 – Saturday 19 August 2017 - Maroochydore to Paradise Point

We drifted out of Maroochydore around 8am and headed south.  We arrived at my sister's place around 11am and enjoyed pumpkin soup and cripsy bread for lunch. 

Lots of chats for the afternoon were followed by magnificent corned beef for dinner.  It was accompanied by a superb 2011 Heathcote Estate Shiraz.

Day 68 – Sunday 20 August 2017 - Paradise Point

It was a relaxing day. Great roast lamb for dinner, accompanied by another superb Heathcote Estate Shiraz.  My sister is a great host.


Day 69 – Monday 21 August 2017 - Heading Home Day 1

We said goodbye to Lynn and departed Paradise Point around 7:20 am.  The traffic was pretty bad until we moved south of the Gold Coast and into NSW.

There were lots of road works but we did OK to reach a lovely free camp at Coopernook in the middle of a State Forest, around 50 km south of Port Macquarie. 

Coopernook State Forest

We were in bed early after a day of 571 km.  There was no road or other noises, apart from birds.


Day 70 – Tuesday 22 August 2017 - Heading Home Day 2

We departed our great overnight stop around 7:15 and were soon back on the motorway heading south. 

We spent the entire day on Motorways apart from a couple of short diversions for coffee stops, and a small part of Sydney.  The weather was again excellent for driving

Around 3:30 we arrived at Jugiong, a small town with an excellent free camp and a great pub.

Jugiong is famous for its part in the downfall of Ben Hall, the Bushranger.  Hall murdered a local policeman and subsequently he and his cohorts were the subject of a new NSW government law that allowed ANY citizen, or policeman, to shoot them on sight.  Although Hall tried to hide he was tracked down and shot (by about 15 bullets).

We were again in bed early after a 665 km day.


Day 71 – Wednesday 23 August 2017 - Heading Home Day 3

Today was like yesterday - on the motorway all day except for a fuel stop.  It was one degree when the woke and ice was eveywhere outside.  I stood on the caravan step and slipped off.

Fog at Jugiong

We drove just down the road and took some photos of metal sculptures by award winning artist Keith Simpson.

Metal sculpture by Keith Simpson

We arrived home around 3pm and soon had lots of cuddles from Riley and Matilda - our grandddaughters.

The rain started and it was too wet to unpack the car or caravan.

It was not a late night. We have drived 1751 km in three days.


This post in complete except for a couple of photos.
Last update 8 am Thursday 24 August




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