The Sunshine Coast

Another early morning.  They don't do Daylight Saving time here in Queensland, so I suppose we're keeping Victorian time when we're up at 5:30 or 6 am every morning...

First up, as usual, and having a cup of tea at 5 am.

We didn't have very far to go today, so we had a leisurely breakfast and the children had time to play while we got the caravan ready for travel. They really enjoyed an amazing native hibiscus tree at this caravan park. It was a tangle of branches, perfect for climbing. and was even parked as a "playground" on the park map!

We drove south for about three hours, into the "Sunshine Coast"... under a stormy grey sky!  It even rained a little, but by the time we reached Maroochydore the sun was breaking through the clouds.  The caravan park we'll be staying at for three nights is exactly the kind of place I would normally want to avoid!  It's very tidy and right at the mouth of the Maroochy River, with lovely beaches and shallow areas for the children... but there are thousands of people here, all packed together in rows like sardines.  Maroochydore itself, like most of the places along the coast from her down, caters very strongly for the tourist population, with resorts and holiday apartments lining the foreshore.

It took the children about five minutes to make friends with a boy in the next caravan. He is a charming five year old, with an American accent and a confident swagger. I thought our two were good at talking, but Kai hardly gives them a chance to get a word in!  He came down to the beach with us this afternoon, and, being a local, gave us a guided tour of all the best spots to find sand worms, where to catch flathead and which was the best spot for boogie boarding! 

Flying!

A beach wedding... with people fishing right in the middle!

Tomorrow Hannah is coming to meet us for lunch and we'll visit her for dinner,  Hopefully there will be some time to play on the beach, too.  Meanwhile, I think I need an early night!

Caliope to Bundaberg

When I woke this morning there were hundreds of birds chattering, chirping, whistling and calling in the trees and bushes around the van.  In the first light before dawn everything was soft and misty, but the air was warm.  As I sipped a cup of tea, sitting on the step of the caravan, the first rays of the sun appeared in the east and the mist vanished quickly.  A pair of tiny red-backed fairy wrens flitted among the branches of a native fig just beside me.  The hen was a plain brown colour but her partner was handsomely dressed in his spring plumage- glossy black with a red cape.  A little later a flock of small birds flew down into the tall grasses opposite, silhouetted against the early morning light.  at first I thought it was a flock of sparrows, but when I looked more closely I saw that they were not. I think I have identified them, but I'll let Tim see if he can find them in his bird book to see if I'm right.  (Look under finches, I think, Tim.)  After breakfst we walked down to the river before heading off on the last stretch of the road to Bundaberg.  We spotted a white bellied fish eagle overhead as we walked bak to the car.

About five minutes from the camping ground, a car suddenly shot straight across an intersection, failing to give way.  Philip slammed on his brakes but couldn't slow down enough to avoid hitting the other car.  Fortunately the driver was not hurt, but her car suffered a fair amount of damage.  Our car has some minor damage, but nothing serious.  A police officer who was on his way to work (in a ute with a whole lot of young trees in the tray!) stopped to help push the car off the road and a friend who happened to be passing stopped with the driver until her husband came.  As there was nothing else we could do, we drove on, thankful to God for keeping us safe once again!

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  We left the Bruce Highway to follow country roads through woodland and canefields, arriving at Bundaberg and checking on to a beachside caravan park at nearby Bagara just before lunchtime.  It's not Ellis Beach, with the waves almost lapping at the door of the caravan, but a five minute walk gets us to a lovely little beach... and we can swim!!!  Which we did this afternoon, of course.  The children thoroughly enjoyed playing in the surf and so did we.  The water is warm and so clean and clear!

Bridge over the Burnett River at Bundaberg

We'll probably spend most of the day on the beach tomorrow, and in the evening we want to visit the turtle rookery,  We may not see any turtles as the egg-laying season has only just begun, but we will certainly hear some interesting information and get to walk on the beach at night!

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Friday 4th November
As predicted, we spent a good part of the day at the beach, where we had a lot of fun with the boogie board.  Yesterday we watched some people parasurfing and the children begged us to "buy one of those"!  They were very happy with the boogie board, though, and were really getting the hang of catching the waves and riding them all the way in.
We rang this morning to book a tour at the Turtle Rookery, but were told that tours didn't start until tomorrow night. Instead, we went for a moonlight walk along the sand here at Bagara.  We didn't see any turtles, but it was really nice just to walk at the water's edge with the moon's reflection at our feet, and then to sit on the warm sand and watch the moonlit waves as they broke on the shore.
I haven't got any photos today- it's a bit hard when you're playing in the surf!
Tomorrow we plan to head for Maroochydore, where we will stay a few days and visit Hannah.

A Long Day...

Hoping to cover a fair distance today, we left Home Hill at a few minutes after six this morning. On the map the road follows the coast quite closely for most of the way and road signs point to well known holiday destinations such as the Whitsunday Islands,  but in reality most of the scenery along the way consists of dry tropical savannah country, with only the occasional glimpse of the sea.  The Great Dividing Range could still be seen to our right, but more distantly as the road curved towards south east.  Once again we were held up repeatedly by roadworks, and several of the service stations we stopped at turned out to have pumps "out of order" or no fuel in stock, making it necessary to drive around to find an alternative.  This was frustrating for the driver, as you can imagine and made it a long, trying day for the children! 

There was one delay that caused a bit of excitement: when we had to wait for a cane train to cross the road.  It was travelling at walking pace- so slowly that the driver was able to jump down, run ahead to change the points and jump on again before it started to round the bend.  We didn't count how many trucks full of cut cane there were behind the little diesel engine, but the train was at leasy half a kilometre long!  The cane is harvested and loaded onto these trains, which then transport it to one of the many local sugar mills where it is crushed to extract the juice and processed to make raw sugar and molasses.  You can see the smokestacks of these mills scattered among the canefields. Apparently the fibre left after crushing is used to fuel the furnaces.

It has been said that queensland is twenty years behind in many things...

Sugar mill at Proserpine

At every petrol stop I would jump out and grab a snack from the caravan or buy coffee at the service station while Philip refuelled, and we would drive on, trying to make up for lost time.   At lunchtime we got to Clairview.  We had to leave the highway to get to the rest area there, but we all needed a proper break by then.  The children, especially, needed a chance to run around and stretch their legs!  It was a lovely picnic spot with free camping facilities, right on the beach! 

A mural on the wall of the camp kitchen.  The children were able to name all the animals depicted, and ssay exactly where they had seen one...  "Yes, we did see a bilby.  Remember the nocturnal house at Alice Springs?"

 

  

It was tempting to call it a day and camp there for the night, but that would have meant a long drive tomorrow, which we hoped to avoid.  So, after a sandwich, a cup of tea and a quick walk on the beach, we hit the road once more.  There are so many places it would be nice to stop and explore further.  Rockhampton, for example, looked very interesting.  The botanical gardens- seen only from the car as we drove past- were absolutely beautiful, and there are many lovely historical buildings in the main street.  As we plan to be home at the end of the month, however, we are started to be limited by time and need to choose which things we still want to do.

Finally, at 5:20 pm, we arrived at Caliope River, where we are camped for the night at another free camping spot.  We had already eaten on the way (buying a meal at McDonalds in Rockhampton had seemed like one way of keeping the kids happy for a while) so after a walk down to the river, with the promise that we could do it again in the morning, the children have been tucked into bed.

Tomorrow we hope to cover the two hundred-odd kilometers to Bundaberg, where the turtles come ashore at this time of year to lay their eggs.  We'd like to spend at least one full day there...

On the Road Again

As we waved goodbye to Ellis Beach this morning Esther asked, "Please can we come back here again one day?" We told her we couldn't promise, but we wouldn't rule out the possibility altogether...

Driving in this part of the country is so enjoyable!  Along the first part of the journey the Great Dividing Range (including Queensland's highest peak, Mt Bartle Frere) form a stunning backdrop to the green fields of cane and the lush tropical rainforest vegetation. Even Arthur, looking quietly out of the window, commented, "This is so much fun, isn't it? It's just beautiful here."
After a while we came into areas where there was evidence of cyclone damage everywhere.   We stopped for lunch at Bilyana, about 20 km north of Cardwell, at a rest area which would have been surrounded by beautiful tropical forest, but like so much of the country we had passed through the forest here was littered with fallen trees and branches, while those left standing were pushing out new growth, giving them strange and distorted shapes.  It was a big surprise to see a cassowary wandering along the edge of the grassed area, very close to where we were parked.  It feels like such a privelege to catch a glimpse of wildlife, especially when it is on the "endangered" list and rarely seen.

After our break we continued our journey- past Cardwell, with views of Hinchinbrook Island and the coast; through the dry savannah in the rainshadow around Townsville; along forested mountain roads and through agricultural communities. (There were several pauses where the road was reduced to a single lane due to roadworks. We have encountered more roadworks in Queensland than anywhere else on our journey so far, and like everything in Queensland, they seem in no particular hurry!)

Shortly after 5 we arrived at Home Hill, where there is a free overnight camping area.  On one side of the road there is a view across a railway line towards the canefields beyond, but all the parking places on that side were already occupied by the time we arrived.  Our side of the road overlooks the back of a row of shops.  The actual site isn't what you would call picturesque and there is no power, but there is a very clean amenities block and it's free of charge!  As it was still too early to send the children to bed, we took a little stroll down the main street of town.  To the children's joy, there was a pet show being held in the park!  There were even sausages for sale and when we asked if we could buy one the lady said, "Should you desire to partake of a susage in bread you would be more than welcome to do so!" Which saved me the trouble of heating a can of baked beans for dinner!

Thee bridge over the Burdekin River, just before Home Hill

Entries for the "Best Behaved Dog" category.
 I think the winner was chosen at random, as none of the dogs were particularly co-operative!

These two were itching to get down among all those dogs...

...and finally did get to meet one of the dogs up close and personal!

Home Hill at night.

It's very hot and sticky here, and without power we can't use the airconditioning.  Fortunately, that hasn't stopped the children from falling asleep as quickly as usual but I'll miss the sea breeze tonight!