The Bay

Cape Byron being the most easterly point of Australia, is the first place to see the sun in the morning. Byron Bay township is still a hippie haven full of alternative lifestylers but an interesting spot to visit if you are into soul food, crystals, windchimes and possibly, dope.

Byron Bay

A pleasant round trip from the Gold Coast is to Byron Bay via the scenic coastal road taking in towns such as Kingscliffe and Pottsville and returning via Mulumbimby and Murwillumbah (love those place names). The drive through the Tweed Valley is breathtaking travelling around the steep roads of the Mt Warning Shield Volcano. It's no wonder the valley is so fertile, lots of fruit and vegetable stalls along the way.
Our trip was to check out possible places to settle for a while as well as sightsee. So far, Coombabah, a few kms north of the Gold Coast, seems to be the spot but we will continue to "suss" out the area. The weather is as good as it gets now, sunny days and cool evenings.

Dreamworld

 

Annie and I had a good day at Dreamworld.

I guess maybe I'm hard to please but Dreamworld didn't do it for me.

Annie was ecstatic upon seeing the tigers and that made for a happy trip and made it worthwhile.

Annie's tiger show rating 9/10

 

As far as the rest of the place goes? Here's my opinion:

 

For little kids     7/10

For teenagers    2/10

For tiger lovers   9/10

For older people who are not tiger lovers 1/10

 

The park is very commercialised, with lots of retail shops inside,a bit like buying a ticket into K Mart.

The park map showing ride locations? No, retail locations!   

The park has a run down look about it ( how long has it been there 100 yrs? ) with some defunct attractions.

The park has only two really good rides which means lining up - like I nearly did, for 40 minutes ( off peak ).

 

Got little kids - give it a go.

 

If you like tigers -  Annie say's '' Yes"

 

A teenager looking for thrills - No Way Man!

 

Older people - Stay home and do the gardening.

 

My advice really? - unless you like tigers - DON'T BOTHER!  

 

 

 

 

  

Taj

 

 

 

Fw: Tiger Island, Dreamworld

 

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Subject: Tiger Island, Dreamworld

Tuesday morning dawned bright and sunny, a good day for the long awaited visit to Dreamworld to see the tigers at Tiger Island. Twice a day the handlers put on a show, no tricks, just a display of natural behaviour such as tree climbing and jumping over logs and into the pool. Revenue from Tiger Island supports tiger conservation around the globe. In just a decade, numbers in the wild have fallen 96% to just around 4000.

The two female cubs born a year ago will go to other zoos for breeding, one to New Zealand, the other to Canberra.

The Rainmakers

We have done it again! Nothing but steady to heavy rain for the last few days. Too wet to take photos. Even the Gold Coast looks dreary when saturated with rain. Yesterday we drove down to Tweed Heads to cross the border into NSW. We popped into the Twin Towns huge club for a drink and discovered that on Mondays they have trivia afternoons. If all else fails, we will go and check it out. Tiger Island at Dreamworld has been out of the question until fairer weather.

Burleigh Beach

 

Burleigh Beach

No deserted beaches here on the Gold Coast. Burleigh is a delightful place and we are staying in a very pleasant park just a few metres from the glorious beach. Steve is away for a few days so I am spending my days out and about exploring the area using the excellent bus system and my feet. The park is within walking distance to shops, restaurants and clubs. I have found three Op shops which I did the rounds of today. It's a great way to waste time and whilst I didn't find any treasures, I replenished the book stocks.( must have plenty of reading matter) I called into thr Bowls club for a drink and found the place buzzing. An old chap asked me what was going on. I didn't know but found out later that a wake was being held, some old bowler had gone to the great rinks in the sky.

Sunny Bloody Queensland

Sunny bloody Queensland. Blowing one day raining  the next.

Annie and I arrived mid morning amid heavy rain after spending the night at the Sleezyville van park in Nerang.

We actually arrived yesterday but decided on Nerang, ( bad move ) after checking out the Garbagetip van park here on the strip. 

No sand castle builders welcome here ( see previous blog ) just the young at heart ( or the fat of wallet ).

We do have a couple of attractions picked out to look forward to. Annie wants to see the tigers at Dream World, ( yawn ) and I want to see the Haunted House. According to all reports guaranteed to scare the pants off you. I will try to get in line behind some Swedish backpackers.

At the time of writing we are still stuck in the van and it is still raining. Maybe we have hooked up a rain cloud on the van and are towing it around.

Stay tuned.

 

 

Caloundra

Not much happening in the good ol' Caloundra. We didn't expect too much and weren't disappointed. Another over-commercialised money pit.

Annie and I ventured to the seaside and found it beautiful,  but unfortunately it was pretty windy and we had to retreat to the car.

A lot of these coastal towns offer a feast of activities to those with money.

It goes something like this;

Beautiful Caloundra, experience skydiving, windsurfing, kitesurfing, boat cruises, joy flights, water slides and animal parks. You can even build a sand castle!

Sand castle building must be an option  reserved for the money challenged.

Frustrated again at the '' info'' centre. As Annie and I are not into skydiving we enquired about the Regiona Art Gallery, but the guy didn't know where it was, and had to ask it's whereabouts from a more experienced member of the staff.  Annie and I arrived to find it closed Monday and Tuesday. The guy then brought out a map and began pointing out routes and attractions on our way north, until we mentionrd we happened to be travelling south. 

Our last experience with the ''Info'' centre was just as bad, probably worse.

At Rainbow Beach we inquired about 4 wheel driving Fraser Island and were told it can only be traversed between tides.( for a day trip tides are critical ) When we asked the tide times they didn't know. 

I'm glad the country's not run by ''Info'' centres. Maybe we'd be better off if they left a stand full of brochures out the front and stayed home.  

 

Caloundra via "The Scenic Route"

Surprise Surprise! We are in Caloundra not the Mary Valley as forecast.

Didn't feel like being stuck in the Mary Valley like a couple of lost jews, as beautiful as it is, so decided to push on.

Annie as navigator, juggling maps and listening to Tim our electronic guide, decided as guide, we should push on to Mapleton. 

Nothing wrong with that except a sign at the turnoff to Mapleton exclaiming TRUCKS AND CARAVANS PROHIBITED TURN BACK NOW.

'' I didn't see it '' I said to Annie which was quite true. Probably blinded by old age or more likely watching the van follow me around the corner as you get used to doing when you've spent years pulling trailers.

Anyway, reassured Annie like a true Aussie truckie with a '' she'll be right ''  and '' I don't think that means us'' and '' what could stop us, look at the road''.

So in my wisdom decided to push on. After all, what could stop us, mud, floods, low bridge?

Well after about sixteen kilometres we found out.The road narrowed and began to twist and rise steeply all at once.

Another sign warning us to turn back!

I said to Annie we've come too far to turn back so up we went. The road became steeper ( 10 in 100 ) and narrower  with no chance of turning around and the car struggling to pull us up.

I could feel it running out of puff so pulled it right back to low gear on a little flat stretch and reving it flat out and with our hearts in our mouths pulled us over the top.

Had the car had more power we would have not really been taking a chance, but as it was we came close to not getting it over, and on top of that it started to rain.

After all that we found Mapleton to be a one horse town, rainy and misty, so pushed on to Nambour and not being able to find a suitable park there, picked up the freeway and continued on to Caloundra.

All was not lost though as we got to photograph the BIG PINEAPPLE '' Yeah right on''   

 

 

   

Woooooo Wooooo

All aboard!

The Mary River Rattler runs day and half day trips through the Mary Valley from Gympie.

Annie and I took the half day trip down as far as Amamoor.

We originally bought cattle class tickets on the net, but changed our minds at the station when we realised we'd be travelling with about one hundred screaming brats.

After all, this was the object of coming away from the coast to get away from the little buggers!

Anyway we upsized to the club car. Not exactly the orient express but at least it was quiet and we were served tea and bickies.

The engine was one of over 900 built by Walker and Company in Maryborough in 1950. The last one ran in 1963. It stood for some time in a park in Caloundra before being resurrected.

The line was built in 1911. In the lare 1920s there was a banana boom and the railway was a godsend for the farmers of the Mary Valley. The industry collapsed one or two years later when disease spread and imported Fijian bananas cornered the market.

The Mary Valley is very picturesque with it's rolling hills and lush valleys. It is the site for the controversial Traveston Dam, the subject of much heated debate.

One only has to travel through the Valley to see why people are distressed.

 

Gympie

It's goodbye to the coast for awhile. We are now in Gympie. We decided to retreat inland for the school holidays.

Our plans at this stage are to hold out here for two or three days and then head back to the coast through the Mary valley.

The caravan park we are in at present is a bit rough but we have positioned ourselves in a quiet corner.

The small size of our van has it's advantages especially finding sites in parks.

It's good to be hooked up to phone and net and be able to communicate once again but may be incommunicado while going through the valley.

Looking forward to hitting the southeast coast and civilization. Our travels so far have led us to the conclusion that we are not intrepid adventurers.

 

   

Carlo's Sandblow

Carlo's sandblow, named by Capt Cook after one of his crew.

A gap in the cliffs together with strong south east winds have resulted in a march of sand inland.

This sandblow is enormous, literally millions of tons of sand blown back over the cliff.

Note   

If you enlarge one of the photos you can make out a red speck, slightly left of centre. This is a person standing at the cliff  face and will give you an idea of the size of this natural wonder.   

One of Those Days ( April Fools Day)

Tuesday April 1 dawned bright and sunny. We pulled up stakes and headed for Rainbow Beach. We decided to stay at Rainbow Waters Van Park, a large park of 23 acres. Our site is near the water where there may be a fish or two lurking. Here's hoping!

When booking in Steve, asked the manager about the merits of obtaining a permit and going to Fraser Island by Barge. He thought that it was a bit chancy driving on the roads (sand) due to the tides and recent collapses of dunes. He referred us to Parks and Wildlife who issue permits and have an information centre. The young lass at Parks and Wildlife was no help. She said don't drive 2 hours before high tide and don't return until 2 hours after high tide. She could not tell us when high tide occurred. One thing we have learnt is that it is rare to gain any information from Information Centres. Steve asked some campers in the park who said "forget about it"

Next stop was the Supermarket. After recovering from the shock of inflated prices we selected our groceries and proceeded to the checkout. No eftpos facilities so we had to go to an ATM to withdraw cash to pay.

We also needed to replenish the beer supplies so Steve went to Bottle shop, asked for a carton of Tooheys New and was told to get it himself. When he couldn't find it and asked it's location, the woman serving pushed past him, shoved a few cartons aside and dumped it on the counter. Again, no eftpos so the beer was left on the counter. Steve was told by a passerby that he could get beer at the Bowling Club so he went there but alas, not a member, no sales. Forget the beer!

In one of those "cheap" shops we noticed a pack of Uno cards which we bought as there is no TV  or Mobile Phone reception. When we opened the pack to have a game, we noticed that the box did not have any instructions. We could not remember how to play, so no game.

Tomorrow is another day!  Plenty of sights to see if we don't make it to Fraser