Hervey Bay to Sydney

Hervey Bay to Sydney

We had a great week relaxing in Hervey Bay with the family, even though son David and granddaughter Rebekah went off to a school camp at the weekend. The first day or so was a bit wet (our first real rain for a couple of months), but then it fined up and we were able to enjoy the sunshine again, and the sunsets. Enjoyed the foreshore area, the harbour and the drive to Port Vernon. We didn’t make the trip over to Fraser Island this time, but did take a trip out on the whale watch boat. The weather was perfect for a very smooth trip and we heard there were many whales in the bay. On the way out we were accompanied by some dolphins, swimming just in front of the boat. Heinz also saw a sea turtle. Our guides had told us whales perform better in choppy conditions and on “still days” they tend to sleep and loll around. However, we were rewarded with several pods, each one performing a little differently. A couple just seemed to want to come close to the boat and stay still, looking a bit like upturned boats. Others were a bit more adventurous and breached nearby. Getting photos was interesting because just when you expected a whale to appear on one side, it suddenly appeared on the other. The boats are not allowed to move while there are whales within 100 metres so we spent some two hours just watching the different pods. A whale research boat was also nearby and recording all the movements.

From Hervey Bay we were heading for Boonah, in the Fassifern Valley in south eastern Queensland, where Jean’s sister & brother-in-law has an 80 acre property. We avoided the coastal highway and instead drove inland through the rich cattle and timber country. The area around Boonah is described as part of the “Scenic Rim”, and the property looks out over the valley to the Great Dividing Range, with the McPherson Ranges behind. It is a very fertile region, with many national parks which offer stunning scenery, rain forests, water falls and walks, both easy and very challenging. Small wineries are also springing up in the area.

The second day we drove over to the Queen Mary Falls, about an hour away. The first section takes you past mainly dairy farms with a backdrop of mountains. Then we started to climb up to the top of the range and stopped at the Teviot Falls Lookout. We then went on to Spring Creek for a Devonshire morning tea, the restaurant overlooking the Condamine Valley. From there we drove to the Queen Mary Falls picnic ground and walked down to see the falls. The water from here is the origin of one of Australia’s longest river systems, flowing into the Condamine River, then winding its way through western Queensland, into the Murray-Darling River and finally reaching the sea at Goolwa in South Australia. While watching the water tumble over the falls, we hoped it would eventually make it to South Australia. The area is very rich in bird life, with King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas lining up for daily feeding at the nearby café.

From Boonah our next stop was the Broadwater at Southport, about an hour and a half’s drive. This time we drove through Beaudesert and over the Tambourine Mountain road, a very scenic, steep and winding road. From lookouts you can see the ocean. It was a bit of a shock when we hit the Gold Coast Freeway with 8 lanes of traffic travelling at 100km/hr plus. Fortunately we only had to travel a short distance and reached our apartment around midday. The apartment on the 4th floor of the Atrium Resort looked over the Broadwater to South Stradbroke Island so we were again treated to lovely sunrises and the moon shining over the water. The Broadwater is very busy during the weekend with all types of boats, yachts and jet skis (very noisy). It is a little different to the 50’s and 60’s when Jean spent holidays there, but still a special place and not as developed as Surfers Paradise, thank goodness.

We were able to catch up with friends Jan Bennett and Margaret Roache and Heinz’s niece Maria and family. One day we drove down the coast to Currumbin where there was a sculpture exhibition along the foreshore, and while we had lunch at the Surf Club, schools were having kite flying lessons, so the skyline was full of little kites in the breeze. The tides were right for morning walks on the beach and one morning we walked down to where Jean’s Dad had built a weekender in the 50’s. It is still standing and appears to be in good condition. Heinz managed to get a game of golf with Margaret at the lovely Emerald Lakes Golf Course the afternoon before we left.

Regretfully we left after five nights to make our way back to Sydney. We travelled down the coast road through northern NSW, another beautiful area. As there has been a lot of rain in the past months the countryside is very green. Our stop for the night was Woolgoolga, 25 km north of Coffs Harbour. This time we caught up with Gloria, another of Jean’s sisters. As we hadn’t seen each other for some time and she doesn’t have a computer, there was a lot to catch up on. From there we drove into Port Macquarie for lunch and spent a couple of hours there. The coastal towns have a lot to offer and although they are developing rapidly they still have a relaxed feel about them. Our stop for the night was at Raymond Terrace and at dinner at the local tavern, we won a meat tray. Our one and only! Stopped off at Gosford to visit Jean’s third sister Desley and her husband Alan and catch up on news of their trip to Canada and Alaska. They also do a bit of travelling in their A line caravan so we were able to swap “caravan park” stories.

After lunch at Brooklyn – we were in no hurry to get home – we joined the rat race which is Sydney again. After over five months on the road it will take a bit of adjusting, but we were looking forward to seeing the family again and to see how the grandchildren have grown.

A few observations –

1. We travelled 22,051 km from door to door over many different types of roads, on sealed, unsealed, 4 WD tracks, through many river crossings and were very fortunate to have only one puncture and a damaged muffler. The puncture was fixed at the time and we were able to make temporary repairs to the muffler which was then welded up at our next stop at El Questro. We had travelled on standard street highway tyres so this was very pleasing. I guess the advice “drive to the conditions” was well heeded.

2. The Toyota Kluger averaged from 16 l/100 km on very rough 4 WD tracks to 9.6 l/100 km with a tailwind from Hughenden to Winton. At times we had 150 kg+ on the roof rack (when we had to carry 70 litres of fuel in preparation for the Gibb River Road and Savannah Highway).

3. The Gunyah awning attached to the Rhino Rack was a godsend. It was up in 2 minutes and gave us shade on beaches, picnic areas and added shade when we camped in the tent.

4. The tent was very comfortable when we couldn’t get other accommodation (yes, some of you will be amazed I’ve said that as I hadn’t camped before). The stars at night made up for any discomforts.

5. Australia is a very vast place with many beautiful areas. In five months we only touched the surface but it leaves us with many ideas for future trips.

6. We were very fortunate to enjoy good health, very little rain and best of all, WE’RE STILL TALKING!!!

We hope you have all enjoyed reading of our journey and thank you for your emails. Great when you think you are in the “middle of nowhere”.

Winton to Hervey Bay

Winton to Hervey Bay

The town of Winton is now famous in several different ways. The first public performance of “Waltzing Matilda”, written by Banjo Patterson while at a nearby Station in 1895 happened at the North Gregory Hotel. Secondly the Australian airline Qantas had its first official board meeting at The Winton Club. Again there are a few “historic” pubs established in the late 1890’s.

About 110 km from Winton, the site of the Lark Quarry is the world’s only recorded evidence of a Dinosaur stampede that is thought to have occurred 95 million years ago. These footprints were the inspiration behind the stampede scene in the movie “Jurassic Park”. The surrounding area is also famous for large opal finds, and fossicking expeditions can be arranged

The Waltzing Matilda Centre celebrates the song through high-tech interactive displays and exhibitions. One room houses paintings by the “Brushmen of the Bush”, including Pro Hart. The Centre also incorporates a museum with some wonderful exhibits, highlighting the hardships of early pioneers. There was so much to see we had to do it in two trips. Several monuments and sculptures of Banjo Patterson are a feature of the Matilda centre and the main street. There is also a building which displays plaster casts of the dinosaur footprints found at Lark Quarry.

The orange and blue colours in the outback sky at sunrise and sunset are very strong and quite stunning. One evening after sunset we were entertained by a bush poet. The Banjo Patterson influence is very strong in the area. As in most places we have been there were many more things we could have done, but you would need a lot more time to appreciate what is on offer. Our last night in Winton was spent with our friends Chris and Wendy as they were going on to spend time in Emerald fossicking and we were making our way over to Hervey Bay. Once again, lots of fun and many laughs made a good night.

From Winton we started our trek across to the east coast, entering the Lake Eyre Basin, formed by the catchment of Australia’s inland rivers. The surrounding area is very flat and dry. Our first stop was Longreach to visit The Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre, opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1988, Australia’s Bicentenary This is a marvelous tribute to the men, women, children, companies and many facets influential in the development of Australian’s outback. The displays are very comprehensive and it is recommended that you allow six hours to visit the centre and this can be done over a couple of days. We didn’t have that much time as we were driving through to the little town of Alpha but would certainly recommend anyone going out to Longreach takes the time to appreciate the displays and the museum.

The next day our travels took us east through the towns of Emerald, Blackwater – the International Coal Centre and we arrived in Rockhampton late afternoon. Many coal mines are in the area and there are some huge power stations. We passed several coal trains which seemed to be several kilometers in length with two engines up front and two engines in the centre. We started to pass through some more fertile areas where lots of crops are grown, including experimental crops of new varieties of wheat and corn where good yields are obtained in a much shorter time. The areas around Rockhampton are large beef producing areas. By the time we had arrived light rain had set in and this continued overnight.

The showers continued next day as we headed south to Hervey Bay through some heavily forested country and had lunch in the delightful little town of Gin Gin. From Gin Gin we headed through cane farms and forests via Childers. Timber, dairy, orchards and sugar cane are the main industries. Arrived late afternoon at Jean’s family who have a house in Dundowran Beach, just north of Hervey Bay. The house is situated on a hill and has a view of the Bay from many rooms. We haven’t seen the family since Christmas so there was a lot of news to catch up on. We planned to stay a week which was great after being on the road for no more than two nights for a couple of weeks.