Blogs from Caloundra, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

9 December to 18 December 2018. In the last few weeks I have been zooming along the East Coast of Australia starting in Queensland , the Sunshine Coast , Gold Coast , then NSW and Port Macquarie and Forster and finally Sydney to finish. When flying in to Brisbane and needing to get to Sunshine Coast there is a great bus company ConneXion which will pick you up at the airport in a big bus , takes all the punters to Aussie World on the highway and then decants you into a mini bus which then drops you at the door of your destination ....all for a reasonable amount ! Perfect. So here I was with Vikki,who I met with her friend Bobbie ( visiting her later on the Gold Coast ), when we were in ... read more

Etant de repos, je me suis dis que j'allais explorer un peu les alentours. Dail nous avait parlé de la petite ville de Caloundra pas loin d'ici près de l'océan. Je n'avais pas réaliser que j'étais si près de la côte. Je suis donc partie avec mon collègue Zach qui était aussi en repos. Après 1h de train et bus, nous voilà arrivés à Caloundra. Il faisait beau mais beaucoup de vent donc pas de baignade pour nous car il faisait trop froid! On a seulement marché sur la plage et ça nous à suffit. On était surtout venu pour changer d'air et voir autre chose. On a quand même vu un "Sea Eagle" (aigle de mer ! Je ne sais pas la traduction exacte) et des perroquets. Les paysages étaient magnifiques avec l'eau turquoise et ... read more

Revisited one of our favourite East Coast hangouts, Coochin Creek, Beerburrum State forest, 20 k south of Caloundra on the sunny coast of QLD. We love it for the creek,, the creek is more of an Estuarine river that flows through a bushland riparian zone. We love the fish and the muddies, but on this visit, we met some absolutely wonderfully inspiring people. Those of you, who know us well, know that we are not big social butterflies, we like to be chameleons and blend insignificantly amongst the camping populous. First up meet Steve and Talitha, who rocked up in a homemade customized camper trailer, they had been high renting a house for years, had enough, time to hit the road and for them, this was camp one. Steve the pragmatic one, had everything set up ... read more

.Just west of Caloundra, nestled alongside a majestic sub tropical National Park is Landsborough rest area. We have stayed here a few times and are often intrigued by the diversity of vehicles and their inhabitants, all taking a break from their long journeys up or down the green coastal fringe of this wide brown land. Luxury Winnebagos roll in, with everything including the kitchen sink, upmarket back packers in their juicy lucy / wicked /space campervans, 4wd's with fold down tents mounted on the roof, and every other conglomerate of freedom machines converging at this rest area, bed down for the nights rest. Nestled between the sub tropical rainforest National Park and the busy 4 lane madness of the Steve Irwin Way, ( I feel the "way" is a bit busier than Steves way). However we ... read more

To follow my new rule of not blogging in retrospect, I will not cover these days in great detail. However I will make a wee note on Walking tours. If you have ever been skeptical of walking tours, so was I. But let me convince you of their worth... On my second day in Brisbane I decided to do the walking tour of Brisbane detailed in the 2009 Australia Lonely Planet guidebook. It took me eight hours all up, and that was without spending time at the Queensland Museum or Gallery of Modern Art. Even on a grey and rainy day, it was a great way to see the city. Walking tours allow you to take a back seat and mosey your way through a city. Take your time, talk to people along the way, ... read more