🙂 Wine tasting. Scenic drives
🙁 Mosquitoes
17 Feb 1995
We left Sydney and did wine tasting in Hunter Valley.
Drove to Byron Bay and enjoyed the beach. Then drove on to Surfers Paradise the next day and stayed at with Loren – had a great evening with her and David and met Summer her daughter and went for dinner with her brother, Seth.
The next morning we headed to Lamington National Park which is in southeast Queensland, Australia. It’s known for its section of the ancient Gondwana Rainforests, home to the rare Albert’s lyrebird. Trails in the park’s 2 areas, Binna Burra and Green Mountains, criss-cross the McPherson Range. The Border Track offers mountain views. The Caves Circuit overlooks the Coomera Valley. The tumbling Moran’s Falls can be seen from the Python Rock lookout. We fed parrots and went on the treetop boardwalk.
The next day we visited Sea World – Bermuda Triangle was good!
The following day we visited Movie World which was excellent fun.
We had a Superman Video made. The next day we smooched around Surfers and did a bit of shopping and wine tasting. I had my palm read. Watched Seth surf in a competition in Burleigh Heads and he came 3rd. Said goodbye to Loren and David and Summer – so great to have caught up with them.
That night we drove to Coolum and caught up with John, which was lovely. Then onwards to Bribie Island.
02 March 1995:
Bade Jane in Gympie farewell and chatted to Chris & Karen until we were ready to leave.
Stopped at garage to get brakes fixed – had to wait until 1pm so headed to pool to swim – Trent’s swimming amazing! Collected van and wheel rods require attention. Drove to Harvey Bay and had a Chinese takeaway. Camped at local campsite. In the morning called Oupa who would not pay R100 for birth certificates! Aargh – called Loren who asked Henry to help. Loren said she’d contact Rudi for the letter of employment. We raced to the Post Office to collect the fax but we were stopped by the Police on our way as we still have not managed to pick up the tax disc. I was in such a state that I told them that we simply did not have time to address that particular issue, which was in progress but in the meantime we had to get to the Post Office within 10mins before it closed or else we couldn’t get married … the Police put on his lights and escorted us to the Post Office and wished us luck and told us not to forget about the tax disc! LOL!
Woke up early and left Harvey Bay to drive to Mackay. We went to the Big Pineapple, did the canopy walk and fed all the animals and had lunch.
We drove through Rockhampton to the Tropic of Capricorn and took pics before driving on to Mackay where we camped – millions of mosquitoes again!!
Up early and drove to Brumby Bobs – but he had moved to Cairns! We stopped of at Finch Hatton Gorge. There are many walking tracks which weave through sub-tropical rainforest. One of the most popular trails starts at the Finch Hatton picnic area and takes you on a 1.6 kilometre journey to the beautiful Araluen waterfall. Continue 1.4 kilometres to reach the Wheel of Fire Cascades, another beautiful waterfall with a large rock pool at its base, popular for swimming. This second part of the walk is more challenging, with uphill segments and stairs to climb, but the views are well worth it. Drove on to Airlie Beach – Paul made a curry while Trent did school work. Stopped in at Magnums for a quick drink.
After our stay at South Molle Island, we headed to Townsville / Dullsville. Camped where Paul had camped years ago – rainy, hot, humid, mosquitoes everywhere! Up at 08h00 – met a lovely couple called Linda & Mike from England. Swapped travelling stories and addresses. Poring with rain and $89 to take car ferry to Magnetic Island. Aquarium and museum a bit cheesy. Omnitheatre had Serengeti which was cool. Drove to Cardwell in rain. Next Hinchenbrook cruise not for a few days and weather forecast was dreadful so we gave up on that idea. Met a lovely Belgian couple who could speak six languages! (It was a fortuitous meeting, as the would pay a key tole in selling our campervan to a Spanish chap who could not speak English at the end of our stay in Oz!!).
Headed to Cairns and arrived at 10h30 for our next adventure…
Go to: Australia
