The Lake District in Australia

Today we are still in the hills and concentrated on lakes instead of waterfalls!  The two lakes we visited are volcanic craters filled with water - there are no crocs but plenty of fish, eels and turtles.  Both are surrounded by rainforest which we saw by taking a 3km walk around one of the lakes - fascinating even for me - and luckily devoid of wildlife. We also visited this curtain fig tree which was gigantic.  Tomorrow we hope to head for the coast and some slightly warmer weather. 

Into the Hills - 26th May

The hills / mountains behind Cairns are called the Atherton Tablelands and are cooler and wetter than the coast. Some of the scenery is rainforest and lakes but much of this has been cleared to grow pasture for cows in a thriving 'tropical' dairy industry.

Today we visited several waterfalls - the most well visited is Milla Milla made famous in a shampoo (can't remember which one) advert.  Each of the falls were a bit different - judge for yourself ...  I have to say we were a little disappointed with standard of the tourist facilities - some are very quaint and old fashioned and I didn't take kindly to ants in the cookie jar at one coffee stop.  

PS - internet is poor so photos may be small / less defined?

It's time for some tourism! - 25th May

We are now within striking distance of Cairns where we give the van back next Tuesday and we are going to take advantage of the tourist areas that are within easy reach of Cairns.  The scenery has changed quite a bit - still loads of sugar cane, bananas and vegetables but now fringed by (misty) mountains which line the coast. We cross the cane railways constantly and even drove down one for a short while! There has been quite a lot of rain in the area so the rivers are in flood which will be good for the waterfalls later in the week since the winter so far has been very dry.  

We decided the visit Paronella Park today - a slightly bizarre house built by a Jose Paronella - a Spanish immigrant in the 1920's.  He built the house and pleasure grounds as entertainment for the local population and since it was right by Mena Falls - it was - and still is powered by hydroelectric.  Unfortunately after several cyclones and floods - and the early death of Jose  - the house is now in ruins - but nevertheless the gardens were lovely and it made a slightly quirky place to visit. 

Townsville 24th May

Still travelling north at quite a pace and today saw us visiting Townsville. Although this is a very large city someone had told me about a natural sea-pool on the Esplanade or Strand as it was called. I managed to navigate us around the city and we found a perfect parking spot.  The esplanade had been very well landscaped and we walked along it to the natural pool.  There were also several beaches with red flags due to the Stingers although it tends to be too cold for them in June - September and we watched a stinger net being winched in and cleaned in one place.  The decision was did we swim in the sea in a stinger net (photo 1) or in the natural pool that had a small chance of stingers (photo 2) - the Australians have more warning notices than any where I know.  I chose the natural pool and had no problems - it was quite chilly but refreshing - and we followed the swim with fish and chips (again).

Art Deco in the Tropics - 23rd May

The highlight of today was a visit to Mackay which has several Art Deco buildings that have been painted and restored as well as a lot of street art.  Several of the towns in this area have been destroyed at various times by cyclones and the rebuilt from wood in the 1920's in Art Deco style concrete.  Mackay has really promoted itself and whilst Rob was taking photos he was stopped by one of the council employees who had worked on the restorations to ask if we were enjoying his work.  A little way down the road we were stopped again by someone originally from Bradford who took our photo by one of the pieces of art (on Rob's camera).

Tonight we stayed in Bowen - a less than impressive fishing port !

Over the Tropic again - a non event - 22nd May

Not much to blog today - we covered 400k as quickly as possible passing over the Tropic of Capricorn once again.  This time - about 6 weeks later - it co-incided with a Tourist Information Point in Rockhampton;  a large city we decided to bypass and the weather is far less hot.  We had lunch at the first point in 500k in which the ocean can be seen from the A1 road - or so the PR people said.  

Rob found a lovely site at Cape Palmerston which was a short walk from a deserted beach and the owner gave us some passion fruit straight his garden for breakfast.  Unfortunately although the beaches no long have surf waves (due to the Great Barrier Reef off the coast) they do now have poisonous jelly fish (or stingers) so swimming is not encouraged. 

The sugar cane continues so see photo below - a lot of it is now made into fuel rather than rum!!  Rockhampton is also famous for beef cattle and so we have seen several trucks containing cattle on the road

Driving in Queensland - 21st May

I thought the blog should have a break from beautiful beaches - although we are staying at another at Tannum Sands!! and we did have some fab crab sandwiches for lunch from a small town called Gin Gin! 

We have headed past Bundaburg today - famous for rum and consequently we have seen lots of sugar cane fields - see photo.  Tropical fruit seems strangely lacking in the supermarkets although there are also plenty of mangoes and pineapples being grown and we stopped for a lychee ice cream today!  

What about driving in Aus??  It goes without saying that distances are huge - we are driving about 250k per day but that is tiny for an Australian!  The main A1 road is now single carriageway (in each direction) with regular overtaking lanes but traffic is light.  Driver fatigue is a big problem and so there are many graphic slogans and warnings about resting as well as free coffee provided in peak season - not that we have actually seen any open!   In addition 'fatigue zones' have trivia quizzes posted on signs - we now know that a collection of toads is a knot and that the biggest natural object on earth is the Great Barrier Reef. 

Still on a transport note, I had to take a photo of these 'sleeping turtles' on a crossing in Tannum Sands!

Noosa and meeting friends - 20th May

We left Coolum Beach early in the morning so that we could beat the rush into Noosa and this proved to be a really good move and we found somewhere to park reasonably easily within easy reach of Hastings Street which has designer shops and cafes.  I can see why Noosa is popular for holidaymakers - it has beaches and riverfront as well as shady walks through the forest that comes down to the shoreline in places. We spent a very enjoyable few hours walking around before we had a picnic lunch just yards from the motorhome.  All the photos are of Noosa!

We had a relatively short drive to our next stop in Hervey Bay where we had arranged to meet a couple we had previously met in Broome - they were still in the same van having driven across the centre of Aus via Katherine Gorge and were now driving south down the east coast towards Sydney.  It was great to catch up and swap tales / advice and we also met a couple from NZ at the same site who had relatives in Southwater and who had played cricket in Barns Green before emigrating.  

North of Brisbane - 19th May - Coolum Bay

The coast north of Brisbane is quite built up with residential and holiday dwellings and apartments although nothing more than about 2-3 storey.  There is also a motorway all the way to Noosa - the most fashionable of all the resorts which is about 150km north of Brisbane so easily achievable for a weekend.  We had heard that Noosa was very busy and so decided, on the spur of the moment to stop at Coolum Beach about 15km short.  This was a lovely council run site on the back of the beach and we were there early enough to watch the kids surfing, take a dip - but not a swim due to the surf waves and generally enjoy the beach.  Gaby had stayed on the site when relocating a van during her gap year.  I think you are probably pretty bored of seeing photos of beaches now and so have added a photo from the site into the hills. 

Brisbane - 17th & 18th May

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We drove over the Queensland border on Tuesday and learnt it is illegal to keep pet rabbits in Queensland (in case they escape) - penalty is 25,000$.  We carried on to Brisbane to stay on a site within easy reach of the city and our local friends.  For the centre of the city, the Internet access was dreadful - hence no blogging for a while.  We generally chilled out,  explored the city via the river and a catamaran and had two lovely meals out.  As you can see the centre of Brisbane is very modern and they have created a great open air swimming pool and recreation area on the South Bank. Imagine that by the Thames in London! 

Chilling out in Brunswick Heads - 16th May

Today we had a chilled out day meeting an ex-colleague and partner with his new baby for coffee in Brunswick Heads, just north of Byron.  It was very nice to catch up and meet some new faces after 10 days together in the van!  Brunswick Heads is a great small resort town on the river and beach and was certainly bustling.  There was a lovely small bay on the river where I had a quick dip since it was so calm compared to the surf although it was pretty chilly too.  After the dip it was time for lunch and siesta before returning to Byron Bay for our last evening before Brisbane. 

With the surf dudes of Byron Bay - 14th & 15th May

We're moving on up the coast towards Brisbane now and have stopped at Byron Bay for 3 nights - it is a very popular beach and surf destination for Aussies and tourists alike which is shown by the 3 day minimum stay required. We are on a council run site and have paid extra for the sea view - photograph taken from our pitch just after sun down.   The town is very much a holiday resort and I did have a dip in the sea today although I can't say I swam since the breakers were too large for me.  We spent the morning walking the 3k (uphill) to the light house and the most easterly point on the Australian mainland.  The view was spectacular and the calf muscles well exercised. Apologies for the slightly dodgy new hat - the motorhome seems to have swallowed the previous one!

Meeting the wildlife - 13th May

The days are warm and sunny now - about 24C but it chills off at night - unfortunately we are heading towards winter and therefore it is dark by 5.30pm meaning sitting outside during the evening is not really an option at the moment.

We have decided that finding sites in a large and busy town at the end of a long drive is best avoided so today headed for Coff's Harbour for lunch and then headed for a rural site during the afternoon. We did a nice walk around the harbour and up a headland in Coff's Harbour before having fish (battered prawns in my case) and chips. Our site tonight is very 'Eco' friendly and so we are sharing it with some very noisy birds and lots of kangaroos!! It is between the motorway and a surf beach both of which are pretty noisy too.

On we go ... Up the Freeway - 12th May

We reluctantly left our lakes side site and continued on towards Port Macquarie - there is a Freeway that runs up the East coast to Brisbane but in parts you would not recognise it as a motorway since it has cyclists (very few) and right turns (lots). Sometimes we venture down a 'tourist route' but these roads can be quite variable and sometimes resemble English country lanes (even though they seem to be a major road on the map!). It does mean we can visit some surfing beaches and smaller towns though although so far the coast is quite built up with some sizeable cities which can be challenging to navigate - both due to the navigator and the size of the van!! We came across our first full site today so stayed somewhere less salubrious - the bonus was a magnificent sunset over the river.

Sydney and beyond - 11th May

We started the day by driving to Kiama which turned out to be really nice and we wish we had stayed there. It is famous for a blowhole - which wasn't that spectacular but the natural swimming pool looked tempting although I think it would have been very cold!  Afterwards we decided to drive around Sydney in one go and I navigated us successfully via the motorway system !!  We really do not have time to visit Sydney this time although were keen to see the Olympic Park - maybe in the future.  We carried on a further 100k north of Sydney but ended up at a fabulous site again on another inland salt water lake - this time with palm trees - it's gradually getting warmer!  

Old Australia - 10th May

The first visit of the day was to Central Tilba; a National Trust village which is a large number of wooden buildings preserved / restored from the 1870's (approx). It was slightly commercialised since each building had been converted into a shop selling to the tourists but as this is the winter season if was quite quiet which was a blessing.  Continuing up the coast there is once again a mix of beaches, commercial fishing and lakes and we finished the night in Ulladulla which turned out to be a slightly disappointing port where we could only be served a glass of wine with food in the only place open at 5pm!   We succumbed!

We've turned North again - 9th May

We had quite an easy day today meandering along the beach resorts and fishing villages of New South Wales and have now stopped going east and have turned north. Most fishing here is for sea food - mussels, prawns and oysters. So obviously we had to purchase some for lunch!  Once again there are a number of salt water lakes along the coast which means that sometimes the roads run along both the edge of the lake and the sea.  We arrived quite early (for us) at a site and chose a beautiful lakeside pitch and were able sit in the sun before it got dark (at 5.30pm) - the picture is taken the next morning!  The other picture is of an old wooden steam ship wharf.

It's raining cats and dogs in the rain forest - 8th May

I suppose this is our first truly wet day and we spent most of it driving through a magnificent temperate rain forest - it's only a pity we could only appreciate it from the van since it was too wet to get out and a lot of the time we were very close to the clouds! Occasionally we turned off of the main road and headed for the sea (or a series of lakes behind a sand spit) and it did stay dry for a few minutes as we explored Metung - see photos. It was quite a busy place with everyone out having lunch for Mothers Day! We finally ended up at another small beach resort further up the coast and treated ourself to a take away. Luckily the air conditioner doubles up as quite an efficient heater and I am looking a bit like Michellin man with two sweat shirts on whilst I write this! 

We're on the road again (and back to the blog) 7th May

Today we collected another 'van' from Melbourne to start another long drive north to Cairns via Brisbane. For the first few days we will be driving east along the coast of Victoria before turning North on the New South Wales border. (I am not clever enough to load a map for reference!) We drove out of Melbourne which seemed to take ages in the traffic and headed for Stratford (on Avon!). We passed through lots of small towns and villages and once again traffic became quite scarce by UK standards although the roads are far less straight than Western Australia!  Only about 50km back from the coast are mountain resorts which are snow covered in winter and we detoured into the mountains to visit an old gold rush town - Walhalla - see bandstand in the pictures. 

Unfortunately the good weather has deserted us and it has started to rain - by the time we arrived (in the dark) we could not park the motorhome by the river since we were told 'the whole of Australia was on flood watch!'