Hervey Bay to Noosa

Where have we been, you may have been wondering?

Well unfortunately we had some issues with our laptop and with all our photos stored there, we were unable to update the blog. We're back in Sydney now but don't want to leave anyone hanging, so I will be updating the last part of our trip.

We left off in Hervey Bay in Queensland. We were keen to do a whale watching cruise and were very lucky to get on one as the season was just coming to a close and many tours were no longer operating. We managed to get aboard "Shayla", a smaller catamaran, for her last journey of the season.

Unfortunately it was a bit of a choppy day and in the smaller vessel it took us three hours to get out to the northern end of the bay where the whales had been spotted. Being the end of the season we only managed to spot one whale and her calf and spent a couple of hours following them around. We got reasonably close but they were obvously feeling pretty lazy and didn't feel like doing any exciting acrobatics for us. We were only able to get a few photos - nothing too great unfortunately:

No modern search equipment needed to find the whales, just look for the spouts!

Relaxing in the sunshine:

On the way back in, the skipper Brent chucked out a line and lo and behold, something took!

And whaddaya know: not one but two mackerels!

We took one of the fillets home with us for dinner and it was yum!

The next day it was time to head for our 2-day, 1-night Fraser island Tour. Fraser Island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1840 km².

We were picked up from the YHA at 7:45am to catch the ferry across. We almost didn't make it onto the ferry as we had left our ticket back in the car and we were told by the nasty lady on reception that we couldn't travel without it but luckily the (much nicer) bus drivers snuck us on.

Ferry to Fraser Island:

Once on Fraser we joined a bus with about 30 other people (not our favourite way to see things but sometimes it must be done!)

Our first stop was Lake Wabby - a freshwater lake about 2.4kms in from the shorelines. A bit of a trudge through all the sand but very impressive:

And the lake itself was just beautiful. We came down to it from a huge sandhill. A wonderful place for a nice swim:

After a mexican buffet lunch at the Eurong Resort, the next stop was Lake McKenzie. This is a real drawcard for the island - the photos all show this crystal clear, still lake surrounded by sand but it was rather windy and cloudy when we got there and there were SO MANY people that it really wasn't like the brochure at all! Seemed quite strange swimming in fresh water at a beach like area though!

We then headed to Central Station which used to house the loggers that worked on the island up until 1990. We had a walk around the rainforest and Wanggoolba Creek:

Then it was back to our accommodation at the resort for dinner and bed.

After our buffet breakfast (Phew, enough with the food already!) we headed off to 75 Mile beach to the top part of the Island. We stopped briefly to have a squiz at a fishing trawler which had run aground during the night. The trawler was very aptly named "Impact":

75 Mile Beach (The highways of the Island):

There was the option of a scenic flight but we didn't bother:

We drove to Indian Head, which is the only rock to be found on the island. It gave us a great view of the surrounds:

Here you can see the long stretch of sand that buses and 4WD's drive up and down:

Throughout our trips we came upon various vehicles stuck in the sand (mainly the hire vehicles filled with young backpackers!) Our bus driver was awesome and managed to drive some of the more tricky terrain to the Champagne Pools:

So called because the water comes bubbling over like champagne:

One of the tourist buses that got stuck (obviously didn't have a driver as good as ours!):

After morning tea we called briefly past the "coloured sands" and then on to the Maheno shipwreck. This ship was stranded on its way from Melbourne in 1935 and has remained on the beach ever since, slowly sinking lower and lower into the sand with almost 3 and a half stories buried below:

We then drove to Eli Creek for a picnic lunch and swim. This is another crystal clear spring-fed creek, moving at quite a fast speed (over 1.4 million litres/day). We walked up the creek and then floated back down in the very cold water:

Then it was time to head to the ferry to take us back to Hervey Bay. An awsome trip - highly recommend it - the island is very unique and not at all what I expected. The only sealed roads are found around the resorts - the rest of the island's roads are all sand, sand, sand!

The following day - our last in Hervey Bay - we hired some (rather old-school!) bikes from the YHA for a very reasonable $10/day. We headed off on the 12km bike track along the Esplanade.

We checked out the beaches, jetties, shops and cafes. We rode right to the end and then returned slowly back. We had a little rain and stopped at the most AWESOME french bakery for some pastries and a milkshake. We stopped at the Vic Hislop Shark Show. This place looked like it was opened in the 80's and hasn't had a thing done to it since. Vic has hunted, captured and studied sharks for the last 30 years. There were walls covered with newspaper clippings of shark attacks throughout the world - rather confronting!

He even had a real Great White Shark in the refrigerator which was a bit gross frankly:

Then it was time to head back to the YHA - a great last few days!

ADVENTURES IN NOOSA

We had a very important place to be at the end of November: In Noosa to watch Leroy compete in the Triathlon.

We checked in at the Noosa River Caravan park which we were very impressed with - had a spot right by the river's edge:

Noosa itself was absolutely packed out with people - with close to 10,000 competitors and many support people heading to the area.

We caught up with Leroy at the surf club - and were a little overshelmed by the packed pub - more people than Dave and i had seen in a long time!

The next day Lee had some things to organise such as checking in his bike.... alongside the thousands of others:

On the day of the triathlon, Dave and I headed out to show our support (and yell some abuse) for Lee.

Some spidermen:

Lee on the bicycle...

...Running (does my bum look big in this?)...

And of course, the all important nipple shot as he comes up to the finish line:

After the race, we went back with Lee and his fellow mates from his triathlon club to their accomodation, before we headed out for some food:

Later that night we headed to the Festival Village for the after party and a lovely sunset:

And if you're wondering what a bunch of athletes do after a big race? Re-fuel of course!

It was a great chance to see Noosa and catch up with Lee - good times!

It was then time to head down to Brissie to see Snowy, Di and little Jezza. I'll save that for the next post but will leave you with a pic of Dave at a place we just had to stop at for him to reminisce about his childhood: The Big Pineapple! (Not so big once you're an adult.....)

Cairns to Bundaberg

Time to head towards Cairns!




It was a nice drive from Port Douglas towards Cairns, winding along the coast:







We stopped at a number of beaches along the way, including Palm Cove which is a popular holiday destination and quite touristy.




We managed to pick up a little friend along the way:




We drove to a town called Kuranda which was a detour about 12km off the main highway. Its a cute town nestled amongst the rainforest and famous for a variety of markets but these were all packing up by the time we arrived.





We headed for Barron Falls which were pretty cool:








We then continued on to Cairns and caught this view as we drove in:

We headed to the visitor centre and then checked in to a caravan park for the night. It appears there isn't a lot to do in Cairns - most of the activities and sights are further out from the city.

The next morning we headed to the Esplanade, passing some giant jelly babies along the way (Dr Who would have been mightily impressed!)

The Esplanade is quite nice to walk along with a nice marina:

However the city is "just another city" - nothing to hold us here so we got back in the car after lunch and continued south. We took a little detour towards a sign pointing to "The Boulders". We passed through a pleasant wee town called Babinda and arrived at The Boulders. This was one of those unexpected little treasures that are often stumbled upon. We had heard nothing about it but it was just beautiful - and there was a free campsite there too which we would most definately have stayed at if we were planning on hanging around.

We first went for a short stroll along a river which flowed along interesting rock formations:

And following this we went for a lovely swim in the river. A great spot definately recommended for anyone visiting the area.

We decided to continue on past Innisfail and veered off to the Old Bruce Highway and the Canecutter Way - a 50km or so tourist drive. We were heading for Paronella Park. This was voted No. 1 thing to do in Queensland and we were keen to check it out.

Jose Paronella arrived in Australia from Spain in 1913. He bought land in 1929 to build buildings and gardens for the public to enjoy. The buildings were all made from concrete and were a very impressive effort. He built a grand staircase, movie theatre, hall for balls and parties, tennis courts, fountains, and a refreshment room. He also built a hydro electric generating plant, powered by the waterfall in 1933. This provided the first electricity in North Queensland. The ground suffered many disasters from wet season floods, through to fires. Mark and Judy Evans purchased the land in 1993 and have done a magnificent job of restoring it. They aim to maintain it in its current state rather than try and recreate it as it was in its former days.

It costs about $30pp to enter the park but you can make this worth every penny if you stay at the caravan park for the night (included in cost), go on both the daytime and nightime tours and also give yourself a chance to explore the park at your own leisure.

We did the 4pm tour which took about 45 mins. We had a wonderful woman called Karen showing us around and there were only 4 people in the group, unlike the tours earlier in the day.

Fish and Turtle Feeding:

A couple of turtles just hanging out:

Refreshment Area:

The Grand Staircase next to the Picnic Area:

Aerial View of Picnic Area:

Later that night we met back for the night tour. This ended with a lighting up of the refreshment room with accompanying music:

In the morning we walked to the waterfall picnic area and cooked pancakes. What a great spot to start the day!

There were plenty of Brush Turkeys around:

The Theatre Room by daylight:

What is left of the great ballroom after a few floods and a fire:

Refreshment Room and Fountain:

"Kauri Avenue":

Fountains:

We most definately recommend this as a place to visit - if you do come, try and stay for at least a night to get the chance to fully explore. It is an incredible place built by a man with an amazing dream.

After our explorations we hopped back in the car and continued South. It was extremely smoky due to the bushfires around the place. We passed through Bingil Bay and Mission Beach. These look to be great places to relax for a couple of weeks but not so much what we were after in terms of sight-seeing. We briefly stopped at Hull Heads and Tully Heads but not much there. We drove down to Balgal Beach - a free spot recommended by someone. This was a beautiful spot - right on the beach. A great spot for fishing so we decided to hang there for two nights. There was a great, very popular small kiosk that did great, cheap hamburgers and fish and chips:

We spent the next day fishing and reading. It was great fun until the day we left and I realised I was covered head to toe in pesky sandfly bites. For some reason they seem to be drawn to me and I come up with big welts. Not pleasant and I spent the next couple of days driven crazy with the itching they caused. Of course Dave escaped unscathed.

The next morning we headed to Craig and Sharon's in Townsville who had kindly agreed to put us up for the night. (Craig is Dave's sister's husband's brother - phew!) We headed to their beautiful new home - very much a luxury after the van! After catching up for a bit we drove to the Castle Hill Lookout for a view over Townsville:

We were both amazed at the size of Townsville - much bigger than we'd expected and a lovely city too. We headed to the Esplanade for a walk along the beachfront. It was extremely windy which was a bit unfortunate but we were still able to see what a nice place it was.

Of course, where there's exercise equipment, Dave must have a go:

Just a tad windy:

There was a great free waterpark for the kids with a huge bucket that filled and tipped over everyone. Looked great!

That afternoon we headed back to Craig and Sharons for a swim, fantastic pasta dinner (thanks Sharon!) and a sleep in a real bed in air conditioned comfort. And not a sandfly in sight.

The next morning we headed for a lovely spot not far from their house by the river for breakfast. There was another great huge FREE swimming pool here - not something you'd see in Sydney! There was a big pool, lap pool and babies pool.

After a nice relaxing morning we headed back to the house to say goodbye. A Big thanks to Craig, Sharon, Cameron, Brendan and Nate for having us!

We continued on a journey South towards Bowen. The next morning we had a drive around the beaches surrounding Bowen, including Queen's Beach, Grays Bay, Horseshoe Bsy and Rose Bay. We drove up Flagstaff Hill to the Interpretive Centre:

It was pretty windy and we retreated inside for a coffee and great views of the beginning of the Whitsunday Islands:

We passed the giant mango:

(Apparently this caused a bit of a stir when it was erected as it is upside down).

We continued on to Airlie Beach to catch up with old footy friends of Dave's - Darren (Crozzer) and Michelle and their two kids - Ella and Jackson.

We had a quick catch up at their place and then headed into town with Michelle where we had a bit of a tour and booked into an Ocean Rafting tour. We had a few drinks and a BBQ for dinner and a good chance to catch up as it had been about 7 or 8 years since Dave had last seen them.

The next day Dave and I drove to Dingo Beach which was really lovely (although still windy!)

There was a great little pub which we had lunch at:

We spent the day exploring, checking out both Hydaway Bay and Cape Gloucester. We headed back to Darren and Michelle's for dinner watched Twilight (not as good as the book we thought!)

The next day was our Ocean Rafting Tour out to the Whitsundays. This was recommended to us by Michelle and it was a fantastic day out. It was a good alternative to a sailing trip which we had already done out to the Great Barrier Reef.

We left from Airlie Beach:

Our vessel for the day:

It's a pretty bumpy jet boat style ride and this was made even more so by the swell we had on the day! Our first stop after about an hours ride was Mantaray Bay on Hook Island for some snorkelling.

The water was a bit murkey due to the weather but it was still great. There was plenty of coral near the beach and we found ourselves surrounded by schools of fish. The highlight was the HUGE Maori Wrasse called Fat Albert which comes right up to the boat. He was a big boy!

The photo below shows the size of a Maori Wrasse - but unfortunately its not our picture as we didn't have an underwatercamera this time so I had to find one on the internet!

It is named a Maori Wrasse due to the tattoo-like markings on it face (not its big lips!)

After about an hour of snorkelling we headed to the Hill Inlet Lookout over Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island. The views were spectacular:

Unfortunately I cracked my toe as I was walking to the lookout - it wasn't too sore to start with but I was paying for it the next day!

We then jetted off to Whitehaven Beach for lunch. The sand is pure white and so fine. You can give your jewellery a good polish too! the water was crystal clear and just gorgeous:

After lazing on the beach and haveing a swim we headed back to the marina. A great day - thoroughly recommend it.

We met back up with the Crozzers and headed out to Mexican for dinner.

Dave found a spot next to a typical Airlie beach parker:

The happy Family - Michelle and Darren with Ella and Jackson:

The next morning my toe was a bit more painful:

Before seeing Michelle and Darren off we wer lucky enough to be able to visit the new home they'd just bought - they had only just been handed the keys that morning and needless to say, they were very excited! Look at their view!

We headed off for Dave's free haircut by a trainee stylist, transforming him back into some semblance of normality.

We drove out of Airlie through Proserpine and West of Mackay to Eungalla National Park. We headed to Finch Hatton Gorge but passed on the walk due to my manky toe. We then drove to Eungalla which was a really nice drive:

We drove up a really steep road to get to Eungella and a great view below:

We continued on to a free stop South of Mackay at Carmila Beach just on dark.

The next day we drove on, stopping just north of Rockhampton at "The Caves". We decided not to do the tour however we were entertained by a big kangaroo (with big something else!):

We drove out to Yepoon for a brief stop.

The Whistling Ship:

We drove to Rockhampton where there had been some serious fires not long before. We drove up Mount Archer and saw how close the fires had come to many of the houses. We continued on our merry way and stopped at a rest stop in Calliope.

The following morning we woke early and drove to 1770 - a place recommended by a number of people. We drove to the lookout and did a short walk. We had a bit of a drive around and walked down by the water:

We went for a swim at Agnes Water and headed off before lunch to Bundaberg. We checked into a caravan park and then headed to the Bundaberg Ginger Beer Brewery - yummy! We both love our ginger beer so stocked up on a couple of cheap cases!

Ginger Beer Centre:

We called past the Rum Factory but neither of us is a fan of Bundy Rum so we didn't mind that it was closed. we did have to take a photo though of course!

The lovely Rum Factory sending off a bit of pollution:

Then it was back to the caravan park ready to head to Hervey Bay for a few days of whale watching and a trip to Fraser Island. Next Blog folks!