Heading for Home

Since we have been here at Cowes, Phillip Island the weather has not been very kind. Yesterday we filled part of our day by going to the Panny's Chocolate Factory at Newhaven where they produce Belgium style chocolate. They offered us one measly sample as we entered the shop, just enough to wet our taste buds, so hence we left with quiet a large amount to sample later. We then returned to Cowes for a fish and chip fix and went down to the foreshore to eat. After lunch we went back to the van and watched a DVD from Caravan and Motor Home on Phillip Island to Wilson Promontory which helped us in deciding where to go today, which was to the Coal Creek Village at Korumburra. The village consists of old buildings, that have been replicated or relocated from around the district to give a small town atmosphere. The village is run by volunteers and the entry is free which is a big change, everything in the village has been donated and well worth a visit. The trip took us past some spectacular coastal scenery and the return trip through some beautiful farming land with very hilly county side.

Tomorrow it is our last pack up before our return journey back to Melbourne, where we will catch the Spirit of Tasmanian to take us home until our adventures next year.

Melbourne - Phillip Island

Before we left Echuca on Tuesday we went down to check out the height of the Murray again, to find a large gum tree had fallen into the river right across a jetty where they usually tie up a paddle steamer, lucky it was further down the river. The river was up a few feet on what it had been the day before, they were only expecting it to flood a couple of local farms and that the town would be ok when it reached it's peak on Wednesday.
We arrived at Craigiburn after an uneventful trip and settled in for a couple of days. Wednesday Bazza had my breakfast ready by 6.30am in anticipation of our trip across the outer Melbourne suburbs to Box Hill, where I was to see the specialist. We did not have to leave until 8.30am to get there well and truly by my appointment time of 10am. Looks like I will be having my op in Hobart as Mr Bedi was of the same opinion as the Hobart guy and that is to fuse the joint, as the alignment of my ankle bones are not straight enough for an ankle replacement to last. It was worth getting the second opinion as he made me feel more confident of having it fused sometime in the future.
Today we left Craigiburn and travelled further south to Phillip Island, the day was blustery with a few heavy showers of rain and cold ! After setting up at the caravan park we went out to the Nobbies where you can view the seals on a good day, it was so windy that I had trouble standing still to take the photo, and looking out to Bass Straight made our stomachs churn thinking it maybe a rough trip across Sunday night ! Before heading back to the van we set off to find the Grand Prix Circuit and check it out, as the V8's had been racing there last weekend. We will stay here until Sunday then it's just a couple hours back to Melbourne to catch the ferry.


 

Echuca

Today we had an easy drive from Narrandera to Echuca travelling through lush grazing land, it has certainly changed from our trip four months ago when the gum trees were dying from lack of water and the paddocks were very dry with very little feed.
We arrived in Echuca to find a lot of interest in the rising waters of the Murray River, it is due to peak on Wednesday after the recent rains further north. Due to strong currents and debris being washed down the river the river has been closed to any river traffic, so all the Paddle Steamers are tied up along the river and all the operators are disgruntled at not being able to get and make a dollar.
I have posted some comparison photos of the Murray when we were here in May, to the photos that I have taken today after the river has risen around 23 feet.

Jetty in May

Jetty in Sept

Foreshore in May

Foreshore in Sept

Foreshore in Sept

Tonight we had a visit from a mother and baby possum in the gum tree beside the van, they were very cute !

Newell Hwy

After a four day gastronomical visit to Alison & David on the Gold Coast, where we wined and dined either out and about or at their unit at Emerald Lakes, we are now on our quick trip down the New England and Newell Highways to Melbourne.

We left Southport bright and early Friday heading West through Beaudesert to Warwick, where we connected onto the New England Highway and travelled through Stanthorpe, Tenterfield and arriving at Glen Innes. When we left the Gold Coast the day was warm and overcast, but once we had travelled inland we had rain and wind so it was unnerving travelling in such inclement conditions as we negotiated the windy mountainous terrain before reaching the New England Highway. There were quiet heavy rain falls and when we arrived at Glen Innes we heard that they had 61mls before 9am, so all the rivers and creeks were swollen and overflowing.

After a very chilly night at Glen Innes we awoke to frost on our car ! The weather Saturday was totally different to the previous day, lovely sun shine and blue skies NO RAIN ! We travelled via Armidale, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Coonabarabran then onto the Newell Highway to Dubbo. The New England Highway was scenic travelling through countryside & farm lands not unlike Tasmania in places.

Our night at Dubbo was not as chilly, so it was back on the road today to get as many kilometers behind us as we could. During the journey today we travelled through thousands of acres of canola crops where you would see the occasional tree ankle deep. Today we had to pull over and clean the windscreen after hitting a swarm of bees at 100klm per hour, it was had to see through the windscreen and I was given good advise not to use the wipers as I would have a bigger problem. We stopped for lunch at West Wyalong after passing through Parkes, Forbes and finally stopping at Narrandera for the night.

We have heard that there has been flooding further south as the rivers peek, so we are hopeful we can get through to Echuca tomorrow.

Gold Coast

Early Saturday morning we had quiet a few sky divers dropping in just across from the caravan park at Scarborough. We spent some time by the foreshore watching them land and listening to their excited chatter about their first experience at sky diving.

We went in to visit Sue and Tony Saturday afternoon and then went out for a lovely Thai meal with them that night. We ended up staying the night and spending Father's Day with them, and after a BBQ lunch we returned late afternoon to pack up the van in preparation to leave the next day. We were heading down to Southport where we will stay until Friday, then we will have our skates on to get to Melbourne by the 14th September. as I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to get a second opinion on my ankle.

Since being here on the Gold Coast we have spent the last couple of days visiting our friends Alison and David and enjoying our last few days of warm weather before we head down to the colder states, just hope all that rain has cleared. We were totally p...ed off this morning to find that some of our washing had been stolen off the line here at the caravan park, it was my stupid fault as we did not get back to the park until late and I thought it should be ok, but I was wrong ! The park has a great location right on the beach at Southport but leaves it open for intruders from outside of the park to be able to access it from the foreshore.

The Cheesecake Critic has now been sampling the wares here on the Gold Coast, after a visit today to a little French Patisserie that Alison had read about in a magazine. It was very yummy !!! Then it was back to their apartment at Emerald Lakes for a wine or two before another enjoyable meal. I hope we don't get charged for excess weight on the return trip home !

Scarborough

We have spent the last couple of days here at Scarborough after travelling 286klm from Hervey Bay. We have already been to Morgan's seafood for our fix of large Tiger Prawns, we made sure we disposed of the bodies well away from our caravan !

Today was a hot and hazy day and we went for a very pleasant bike ride around the foreshore to Redcliffe. Bazza has just said that he thought it was the most enjoyable yet, when the next thing I could hear swearing and cursing coming from behind me, Bazza was being attacked by a dive bombing Magpie. Upon returning to the caravan it was into the tool box to produce some cable ties, only to find that the ones we have on hand are only small ones, not long enough to deter another attack ! Have seen quiet a lot of cyclist supporting cable ties on our travels not expecting we would have to succumb to the same tactics.

A lovely new Cafe has opened up just outside the gates to the park and Bazza has become their chief cheese cake critic, it was a good thing we had had some exercise before today's tasting.

Hervey Bay

After spending a pleasant 8 days at Bargara where we enjoyed a couple of games of bowls, one out at Elliot Heads on Sunday and then on Monday at Bargara. It was also a great place for riding our bikes and spending time at the beach. We will defiantly be going back there next time we travel the east coast and hopefully be able to spend a couple of weeks.
Today we left Bargarga and travelled 130klm to Hervey Bay, where our friends Carlene and Rex are staying at the Big 4 Fraser Lodge Caravan Park. We had an enjoyable happy hour and evening with them & their group of friends, they seem a very social lot !
We are only here at Hervey Bay for the one night and then it is off further south to Redcliffe where we have booked in at Scarborough Caravan Park for four nights. We thought it will be a good location to stay so we can visit our friends Sue and Tony at the weekend.

Bargara Beach,,,,,cont

While Carlene and Rex were here with us at Bargara we rang Maxine and Henry whom we had met at the bowls club back home, and caught up with them for a drink. They have a beautiful unit on the Esplanade over looking the water. Maxine has organised for Bazza and myself to play bowls on Sunday at Elliot Heads bowls club, it will be an early start for us as we are meeting them outside their unit at 8.10 am ! Bazza thinks he may have trouble getting rigamortis there on time. Monday we are playing in the Turkey Triples here at Bargara, that is a later start after lunch, so should not be such a problem.

We have been into the Bundy factory and stocked up on our supply of their Royal Liqueur to take home, another six bottles.

This morning we thought we would go for a 6klm ride on our bikes out past Mon Repos Turtle Rookery, we must have been nearly there when I thought it is getting very hard to keep up with Bazza, only to find I had a puncture ! Lucky we had a pump with us so after a few choice words from the old boy I was told to peddle as quick as I could back to the caravan park, before it went flat again. Will have to try that ride again now my puncture is fixed as it was an interesting track.

This afternoon we went for a drive out to Elliot Heads and on the way drove up to the lookout, where there was a panoramic view over cane fields across to Bargara.

Bunderberg/Bagara Beach

We left Callopie Tuesday travelling to Bargara Beach Caravan Park, after spending 2 nights at Callopie free camp. We only passed 2 wide loads on the 288 km trip, one donga (6.5m wide), and a mine truck (5.5m wide). The weather was overcast but warm, but since we been here at

Bargara we have had continuous rain and a big bit cooler, only 16 deg yesterday!! As the weather was not the best thought we would go and have a look at the Hinkler Hall of Aviation, which is dedicated to Bert Hinkler who was a pioneer pilot from Bunderberg who flew from England to Australia solo in 1928. Also next to the Hall is Hinkler House (Mon Repos) which was dismantled in England and relocated and reassembled in Bert's birth place of Bunderberg.

We had a surprise visit from Carlene and Rex who are staying here at Bargara for two nights before heading down to Hervey Bay.

Callopie

Yesterday we left Rockhampton heading a little further south, diverting into Gladstone and seeing the coal loading wharf area and just a short drive around the town before heading off to the free camp out at Callopie. We had planned only to stay here the one night, but as it is such a clean green area have decided to spend a second night before we travel onto Bundaberg, where we are booked in at a caravan park out at Bargara Beach. Yesterday when we arrived there was a market being held at the Heritage Village just above where we are camped. so it was left to Bazza to set up while I went for a look at lots of handcrafted wares. We also had another surprise as just after pulling in Bridget & Don who we had met at Seaforth pulled in along side of us. We have said goodbye to them four time already, but we keep coming across each other along the way after Seaforth it was Theresa Creek Dam, Emerald, Bedford Weir and now again here at Callopie. It is not even because we are travelling the same route as they have been going a different way to us, just ending up in the same places, tonight I am cooking a roast of pork as a farewell dinner.

This morning we had a ride around on our bikes to check out the area, we are camping on the northern side of the river so we went for a ride over to the other side and have decided that we are in the better spot. On the way back to the van we cycled up the hill and enjoyed a coffee and hot chocolate at the little kiosk at the Heritage Village. Last night one of our fellow campers counted the vans and motor homes here and there was 87 just on this side of the river.

Rockhampton

We left Bedford Weir to drive appox 300klm to Rockhampton, the country side changed from Coal Mines to Beef grazing land. Upon arrival at Rockhampton it is evident that it is beef country due to the many statues of cattle that you see around the town. We are staying at the Big 4 Discovery Holiday Park on the Bruce Hwy as we are meeting up with Alan & Fay who we met 2yrs ago when we were crossing the Savana Develepmental Hwy. Since we have been here we have been out with them for the last couple of nights, and last night we went to see the Bull Riding that is held every Friday night at an indoor arena attached to the Great Western Hotel which Lee Kenaghan used to own. The Bull Riding is very entertaining especially when the big bulls come out, they average in weight between 700 - 1000 kilograms. I am sure some of those cowboys are very sore today after being bucked off, stomped on and kicked. There were many young children there with their big cowboy hats on and some were even wearing spurs.

Today we had a look around the town and then went to the Botanical Gardens which has a Zoo within the grounds, with many animals, birds and reptiles to view.

Emerald - Bedford Weir

Our second day at Emerald we took a drive out to Fairbairn Dam, it is huge and a very popular spot for camping and fishing. On the way into the dam the roadway takes you over the spillway, I would not like to be going along it when they open the gates. We then decided we would go back out to Sapphire & Rubyvale to check out around the townships a little more and get an opinion on the Sapphire that Bazza acquired. After speaking with a couple of gemologist's it seems the stone is worth around $200 as it is a little cloudy, if it was a clear stone, then it's value would have been around $2,000. We also visited the Heritage Mine and watched while some tourist did some fossicking from the buckets of wash they buy for $10, they didn't seem to be having a lot of luck. We think next time we came out this way we will stay out at Gemfield which is close to gemfield's when you can fossick for yourself. While we were in Emerald we went out for an Indian meal at the Golf Club, where we had a very friendly cat rubbing around our legs while we were eating, good thing it was not "Chinese", as we became quiet attached to the cat by the time we left.
We left Emerald on Wednesday and travelled out as far as Bedford Weir which is about 20klm's in from Blackwell. We met up with some friends there that we had met at Seaforth and had a lovely happy hour with them. Don dropped his pots that night but only caught a couple of small Red Claw.

The extent of the coal mining in this area that we have travelled through is massive, evident by huge dump piles that we could see in the distance. We passed many coal trains which were on an average 1.5klms long also on the road we often had to pull over for over width mining machinery of up to 5 mtrs wide.

Emerald

We left Seaforth last Thursday after a days delay due to rain, we had about 90mm overnight so thought it best to delay our departure some of the tents had water running through them during the night. Heading inland from Mackay to Clermont we left the sugar canes behind to then travel into Coal Mining country, we also saw many coal trains that were so long they had to have a second engine in the middle of the train. We stayed 4 nights out at the Theresa Creek Dam which is about 20klms out from Clermont. We had great weather while we were there and Bazza was even able to put his pots in and get a feed of Red Claw. It is a very pretty spot to camp and only $10 per night, no power but there are good amenities and access to water. The caretakers there run a karaoke night and sausage sizzle on Sunday nights, a prize is given for the best singer, joke teller or bush poet a fun time had by all. Camping in the park was a gem fossicker who sold jewelry and cut stones, we bought a nice green Sapphire from him. Later in the day we helped him look for a stone that he had dropped on the ground but did not have any luck, he was lucky enough to find it the next day when the morning sun made it sparkle. That night all the campers were seated around the fire pit for the karaoke when the gem guy decided he would toss the Sapphire that he had found that morning amongst them, Bazza was alert enough to see where it landed, and after crawling around on his hands and knees for some minutes he found it. Most of the other campers did not realise what he had thrown, so only a couple were looking for the stone, Bazza thinks it is alright getting something for nothing.
We left Theresa Creek Dam this morning and headed for Rubyvale and Sapphire stopping at Rubyvale to check out the gems and have morning tea. We decided we would go on a further 45klm to Emerald, where we are staying at caravan park to catch up with all the washing and charge all our rechargeable items as we have been existing without power for the last month.

Seaforth.......cont

We are having a lovely relaxing time here at Seaforth, have now been here for two weeks. The days are slipping by very quickly, we have less than a week left before we leave and go inland again heading for Emerald. We have been into Mackay a couple of times for supplies and to use the Laundromat as there are not any washing machines here at the campground, my hand washing skills do not include sheets and towels ! Tuesday we went for a day trip to the Eungella National Park and Broken River where you can view Platypus in the river, unfortunately we did not spot any but did see lots of Turtles. We went through acres and acres of cane fields and some lovely little towns on the way, then the last part of the road going up to Eungella was very steep with a gradient of 12 degrees in parts, was not looking forward to coming back down but it did not seem as bad on the descent.
Tomorrow we are off to bowls again, lets hope they pull the shade covers across as we played last Sunday with the covers on and it was quiet pleasant. We have been making good use of our bikes here as it is lovely and flat and very easy riding, so the car has been having a well earned rest. Bazza has even been to the beach to get a little sand between his toes !

Seaforth

After leaving paradise at Airlie Beach we continued a little further south to our next destination of Seaforth, it is a little seaside town that we found 2 years ago when we were passing this way. We have now been here for six days and have already spent two days at bowls. The last couple of days have been overcast so not so good for the solar panels to recharge our Battery, and as you are not allowed to use a generator here at the campground looks like my TV & computer days are severely limited. I am currently up in the laundry area where there are a couple of power points so I am making use of the 240V, thought I would also catch up on the blog. Today I had a very nice massage from one of the local bowlers, it was very good value 1hr massage $30 I have booked another one for next Monday. We hope to stay here until about the 11th August then it will be moving south heading for home in September.

Airlie Beach

We arrived here at Airlie Beach on Sunday by 10am, after getting away nice and early from Home Hill. The caravan park that we picked is truly lovely with lush tropical gardens, concrete slab and green grass, the pool area is beautiful it is a lagoon pool and has water slides and spa areas, just a little cool when you first get in but once your body temp drops down it is very refreshing.
Today we had to be at Marina by 7.30am as we were going sailing on an 85ft Catamaran out to Whitehaven Beach and around the Whitsunday Islands. Bazza as usual does not like to rush so he set the alarm for 5.30am just to make sure we had plenty of time to get ready and drive 5 mins down the road to the marina, Denise didn't get out of bed until 6.30am and was still ready on time ! The weather was just great a little early fog but cleared to a beautiful blue sky and very little wind to start with, so we had to motor for a while until the breeze picked up. We arrived at Whitehave Beach a little before 12 and were taken ashore in the tender, where there was a good supply of balls and Frisbee's for the young energetic ones. I had an exhilarating swim in the beautiful clear aqua water while Bazza exercised his eyes feasting on the lush little bodies in their bikinis. The sand on Whitehaven is brilliant white and so very fine, just like course powder, the beach and surroundings are magnificent. While we were relaxing on the beach the crew were preparing a delicious BBQ on board for when we returned, and then we were on our way again heading towards Hook Island where we dropped anchor and again loaded into the tender and taken to the reef where we were able to snorkel and see the coral and beautiful tropical fish. Once again Bazza did not get salty elected to stay on board, with a few other pikers. The wind had picked up nicely for the return trip home so we sailed back at around 11knot's, it was truly an exceptional day out on the water.