SUNSHINE COAST AND SUNSHINE

We haven’t really moved very far since my last blog; only from Brisbane to Cotton Tree in Mooloolaba with a 12 day break in Dicky Beach, Caloundra. Our campsite in Dicky Beach, which is a northern suburb of Caloundra, was right on the beach. We just walked over a bridge and we were on the sand. It was a lovely beach with walkways along beside it. That is one thing about this country, there are great walkways everywhere and they are very well maintained with seats and lookouts in prominent places and lots of clean toilets. It certainly makes walking a pleasure when you can see blue skies and blue seas. We sat on the beach most days and caught up with our reading and watched the surfers and swimmers. We haven’t ventured into the surf yet but I have got as far as putting my togs on. Lots of you will know this part of Australia really well but for those who don’t, it is a very popular holiday spot for New Zealanders as well as Australians and we have met lots of Kiwis up here. Some of them are doing the same as us and some just over for the annual 2 week holiday.

We drove up into the hinterland one day to the 3 Ms; Maleny, Montville and Mapleton. This is a beautiful drive up into the Blackall Range with fantastic views over the Sunshine Coast and the Glasshouse Mountains. These 3 little towns are full of craft shops, antique shops, cafes, restaurants and bars and the most amazing cuckoo clock shop. They are very busy, especially at the weekends. We visited Lake Barroon where the dam, which supplies all the Sunshine Coat with water, is located. There we saw “Secrets by the Lake” a motel accommodation where all the units are tree houses up high in the rain forest. They looked great. We met a family there who have just returned from a four year trip around the whole of Australia in a huge caravan with a 1 year old baby (when they started the trip) , 2 staffordshire bull terriers, some gold fish and a bird. The now 5 year old is so used to having camp fires, damper and marshmallows, that her parents light one in the back yard for her.

The availability of van sites has not got any better even with the school holidays finishing. We drove up to Maroochydore and Mooloolaba from Caloundra to book into our next stop over and had to visit 6 parks before we could get a decent spot. We heard of one park where people are parked outside at 6.30 in the morning so that they can get a good site. That park doesn’t even bother with bookings. We are now booked up to 4th August.

We are now at Cotton Tree which is on the banks of the Maroochy River and also on the beach. It is a huge park with 453 sites. Cotton Tree is just north of Mooloolaba and Alexander Headland. Again we are only a few metres from the water and the last few nights we have sat out with our bottle of wine and deck chairs on the river bank and watched the sun set. It really is a very tough life!! Erica & Bill Young, friends from Waikanae, arrive up here tomorrow morning for an overnight stay. They are staying in the Gold Coast for a few days after a trip to Singapore and it will be great to catch up with them.

We weren’t too sure what sort of wireless internet coverage we would get while on this holiday but it has been great. Most caravan parks have wireless internet and it is free in some of them. I have had to go to the internet room to get a hot spot in some places but most of the time it works just fine in the caravan. It may be a different story when we start heading back inland though.
The weather has been getting warmer with the nights being round the 12 – 17C mark and the day time temperature in the mid 20s. This may be all changing in the next few days though as the forecast is for “cyclonic conditions” (whatever that means) later in the week. I sincerely hope not as I have got quite used to these summer temperatures in the middle of winter.

We should be up by the Fraser Coast when I do my next blog and hopefully some whale watching.

HALF WAY THROUGH OUR HOLIDAY

We are now mid way through our trip and how the time has flown. It’s hard to believe such a lot has happened in 3 months. We have seen and done so much; had a great family sadness; met some wonderful people and Jim and I are still speaking to each other!!

We are now in Brisbane and tomorrow we move onto Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. We had planned to go to either Maroochydore or Mooloolaba but all camps in those areas are booked up and we only managed to get the second to last site at Caloundra. There are at least 6 camps in those areas so that gives you some indication of how popular caravanning is at this time of the year. Admittedly it is school holiday time but lots of people aren’t travelling this year because of the high cost of fuel.

We had a great time in Southport on the Gold Coast. We met up with some people who we’d met in Ballina and they had another 4 friends they’d met through going to the same spot for the last few years. It reminded us of our days at Foxton Beach with drinks every night before dinner, everyone picking on each other in a jocular way; loads of laughs and no one able to get a word in edgeways. We went out for $5 and $8 lunches at local bowling and league clubs and a special night and dinner out just before we left. We were threatened with all sorts of practical jokes, either to us, or the van, before we left on Monday morning and I don’t think Jim was too sure what to expect, but we managed to get away unscathed. We hadn’t been to Surfers for over 18 years so we noticed quite a few changes but some things never change; the traffic is as bad as ever or worse; the shops are still full of t-shirts and bikinis; they are still building more and more malls and apartments are still growing taller and taller. We played some golf and went to Sea World where we hadn’t been to for over 21 years. Last time we were there all we wanted to do was to go on the roller coaster, flume rides etc. but this time we were more interested in the shows. We must be getting older. We had a lovely day there watching the dolphins, seals and polar bears. The best part was a 4D movie we saw on the warming of the planet. I know it was all an illusion but I screamed my head off as snakes, bears, crocodiles, monkeys and storms bore down on me. The weather was just the best in Surfers and temperatures were in the mid 20s. This at the same time NZ is having snow and freezing temperatures.

On to Brisbane next and although we had been there for day trips over the years, we had never stayed there. Our camp was only 4 kms. from the centre of the city so we just used public transport all the time. Brisbane is a very pretty city with lots of green parks and a lovely river where we had a day cruise. We drove up to Mount Coot-tha to the look out and then went for a walk around the Botanical Gardens. It was very peaceful and the Japanese Garden was lovely. The photo doesn’t do it justice. South Bank where the Expo was held in 1988 was very busy with cafes and ferries going to and fro. We travelled up to Nudgee Beach and Sandgate on the northern side of Brisbane where we saw some lovely old Queenslander houses with some beautiful gardens.

I have mentioned before how we meet up with people and then move on like ships passing in the night but sometimes we meet the same ones further on in our travels and this happened when we drove into the camp in Brisbane. The couple we met in Stockton drove in to the park in front of us. This was the guy who is a magician and it was great to catch up with then. It’s nice to see some familiar faces occasionally. We had planned to go for a drive up to Mount Coot-tha with them but the rain set in so we spent the afternoon playing Trivial Pursuits, the Australian version. Lots of laughs. We also went to the Broncos Club for dinner on the night of the final State of Origin. The atmosphere was great, Almost like being there.

As I said, on to Caloundra tomorrow and some more beaches with holiday atmosphere and crowds of swimmers and hopefully some more friends to catch up with.