Leak-free travels in the Marybell!

Monday 5 January 2015

The three of us having fun on the East Coast no matter what the weather!

Dolphin feeding, swimming and cycling at Cotton Tree.

Terrific days at Australia Zoo and Underwater World!

The Spirit House

Lady Elliott Island and the Sand Blow at Rainbow Beach.

It's a while since I did this so there's a lot to catch up on! We're going away back to early November when Annette arrived from Scotland and Angie had time out for Liam's engagement and time with the grandchildren in Brisbane. For the first time in a while Angie's bike had a workout! Annette and I flew to Lady Elliott Island which was fantastic - the colours when snorkelling were amazing and the turtle life was abundant. we even saw what we were told was a two hundred year old one up close and personal, watching it for about ten minutes as it just drifted above the coral apparently washing itself! Sadly we have no photographic evidence so you'll just have to take our word for it. We also went to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world and one of the few places where rainforest grows in sand. Lake Mackenzie was glorious - clear blue crystal water and sand that supposedly refreshes your skin if rubbed onto it. We did a lot of rubbing with less than spectacular results! The roads on the island are only for 4 wheel drive cars and the ride on them is very hard on the old body. We were in a small bus that ended up pulling several cars out of the sand! Much of the travel takes place along the beach and the speed that we went at was hairy as we were passing cars on both left and right depending on what the driver thought best! I was in the front seat so got a bird's eye view of the proceedings!

We cycled in Hervey Bay, Tin Can Bay and along the Sunshine Coast - a really beautiful way to explore the coastline. Annette also loved the hinterland - Theebine, the old bridge at Munna Creek, Imbil where we received a very hospitable welcome from Janet and Rod, Maleny, Eumundi where the market didn't disappoint and Montville.

Angie rejoined the van in Cotton Tree and we had sonme great walks along the coast, visited Underwater World where we were transfixed by the sharks, groper and turtles swimming all around us! Then followed four days at Noosa and again a beautiful coastal walk from Noosa to Sunshine Beach. This is when we encountered our first rainy day but luckily it was broken up with sunny patches and made for a cooler walk than we might have had so was actually well received by us all! We then travelled to NSW so that Annette could have some time at Byron Bay which she loved, especially at Clarke's Beach We went to a restaurant called Rae's on Watego's where the food was absolutely scrumptious, even better than the Spirit House at Yandina which was also a special experience. Highly recommend both for special dining nights out if you're in the areas!

Enough from me. The photos are better!

Beautiful jacarandas in Maryborough

Fun in Rod's car at Imbil

The old bridge John King's cousins in Maleney

Sunday 9 November 2014

Animals on the road between Barcaldine, Sapphire and Emu Park on the coast.

It's weeks since our last blog as I have been in Tassie and didn't get around to putting the final photos in of the trip to the drought-stricken hinterland. From Longreach, we went to Barcaldine which has a strong Scottish connection and is the birthplace of the Labour Party and unionism with the shearers strike starting there in 1891. It's a fascinating place with the Tree of Knowledge which sadly was poisoned in 2006 but a huge structure has been built which, at first glance, is rather clumsy looking but at night it is beautiful and when studied is clearly an architectural tour de force! The sounds, as the wind whips through, are supposed to echo the voices of the shearers. Anyway, it's certainly worth a look, as is Sapphire with its prospecting. Angie and Annie went back into this region when I went back to Tasmania to see Patrick so they can tell you much more someday! We also loved the coast around Emu Park and Tannum Sands.

The Tree of Knowledge