Back to Queensland

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We set off from Sydney & aimed for Newcastle about 100 kms North. We didn't see much of this place but it looks quite industrial. We called in on an old friend of Janets Mums in a retirement home there and she was really pleased to see us. She'd moved here about 25 years ago. Next stop was Forster/Tuncurry two towns either side of a very pretty inlet near Wallis lake. The place was ok but seemed a bit sleepy and retirementified, (if that's a word). Stayed overnight and because the Valentines day weather looked a bit iffy, we decided to drive inland to Tamworth in the mountains. It was a lovely run but unless you're heavily into Country & Western, there's not much to see. The drive down was very good as well but very winding and very foggy, so we had to go steady. Arrived at Wauchope, (timber town), outside Port Macquarie and stayed the night before going into P.M. for a bit of breakfast. Port Macquarie is a really nice place and worth visiting if you're thereabouts. The weather was dull again, (not what we came to Australia for), so we didn't stay long and carried on towards Brisbane. The next port of call was Nambucca Heads, which is a fantastic place with both river and sea views everywhere. We stayed in a cabin by the man made lake on the White Albatross campsite which was great and right on the sea front. Had fish & chips for tea and went for a walk along the sea front, which is very interesting. All the large rocks which have been piled up to form the sea defences had been painted by visitors. I don't know if this is encouraged by the local authorites or not, but it certainly looks very colourful and of all the messages etc on them, we didn't see one bit of smut or bad language, in the whole two hundred metre length. Slept through a massive rainstorm that night and debated whether to stay another night or not but decided on moving on in search of a bit of sunshine which we found in Byron Bay, a great place we'd stopped off at on the way down. We had a bit of lunch after driving through some very heavy rainstorms and found a nice motel, where we decided to spend a couple of nights. Went into town that night and got some provisions for a barby, which we had in the motel grounds. It was great and we had a couple of bevvies and went to bed, praying for the good weather to stay with us. It did and we went to the beach the next day for a few hours. (Not too long though as the sun was really strong, the waves were great though). Went for another walk and a drink and made our way back to the room at about tea time. I was just taking the beach things to the clothesline to dry them off, when I bumped into one of the locals. Walking down the driveway of the motel, I noticed what I thought was a small length of hose pipe. Funny thing was, it started wriggling its way accross the drive. Yes, it was a snake, so I did what any self respecting Pom visiting Australia would do and ran back to the room for the camera. When I got back, the snake had disappeared. I thought, oh well, this sort of thing must happen all the time in these parts but went and told the masnager anyway, just in case it didn't. He came out looking quite sceptical, but went and got a brush from the store and followed me to where I'd last seen the snake. Just as we were about to give up looking for him, hissing Sid appeared at the threshold of one of the appartments. When the Manager saw him, he told me to keep back, (I didn't need much pursuading) and went a bit closer himself. At this point he got a bit more serious about the discovery and informed me that the four feet long snake I'd "found", was in fact a brown snake whose bite can kill in 20 seconds. (This might have been a bit of an exageration but apparently they are very venomous). At this point he gave me the brush, told me if browny headed my way to run away and went to phone the local councils snake man. (Don't know why he gave me the brush, perhaps he thought I might sweep up while he was away, because I certainly wasn't going near the snake with it). His wife had joined the fray by this time and Sid decided to indeed, head right for us, so we took the managers advice and ran away. He came back out announcing that the snake man would be about 10 minutes, which he was. This was unfortunately 5 minutes too late, as browny had obviously thought better of trying to tackle a Yorkshireman and slithered away into the motel managers garden and probably through to next door. The snake man dug around, in the blockwork and gravel of the garden, (either very bravely or the most stupid thing ever, as he had shorts and a short sleeved shirt on) and announced that the snake had gone. Thanks for that mate. Anyway, Janet lost all the colour she'd managed to get over the last three months when I told her and all she kept on saying was, "what if the snake had come to visit last night while we were barbecuing". Well it didn't, I got some good pictures and nobody got hurt, so all's well etc. Went for a walk into town that night but ate in and awoke the next morning to a beautiful day. Went on the beach and had a drive around the locality. Byron Bay and its surrounds really is a gorgeous place and very popular with young people. (Lennox Heads is also very nice about 20kms South). So stop in if you're passing. We were now only a couple of hours away from Vikkys place on the Gold Coast, so there was no stress in getting there so we took the scenic route to Tweed Heads, the last "outpost" in New South Wales and were very pleasantly surprised by the beatiful New South Wales coastline, yet again. (It really is beautiful from top to bottom and deserves a good looking at). We passed through small places such as Kingscliff and Banora Point, which are lovely and Salt which is a brand new town being built in this beautiful part of Australia. Stopped off in Coolangatta for a drink at Kirra Surf Club, got some Pizza and motored up to Vikky & Rogers. Vikky & Rog were working the next day, so Janet & I went to Carara Market and bought yet more stuff to send home. Had a laze by the pool in the afternoon and went out to the Fermented Grape at Broadbeach for dinner and met some more of Vikky & Rogers friends. (Great place, food and company, what more can you want). The next day, Roger had arranged to borrow a helicopter, (he flies them for a living) and took us out for what must be one of the most memorable days ever. We drove up to Redcliff, just north of Brisbane and took off. He flew us south over the CBD of Brisbane and then down to and over the Gold coast, (and over their house there), via the Southern Queensland coastal area and then on and up the beach at Surfers Paradise, to Stradbroke Island where he'd arranged for us to be picked up and driven to the resort area at Courans Cove for lunch. We landed on a rugby pitch and waited about ten minutes for the buggy to collect us. As we drove, we saw Wallabies and when we got to the resort area, we were very pleasantly surprised to find that it was on the river, with lovely cabins for accomodation and nice restaurants and bars. (A great place to relax and while away a holiday, don't know what it costs though). After lunch, we were drien back to the helicopter and were greeted by a rugby pitch with one yellow helicopter at one end and about 20 wallabies around the rest of it. Got a couple of snaps but they didn't care much for the noise of take off and beat a hasty retreat to the adjacent sand dunes. Flew back to Redcliff and drove back to the Gold Coast having had a brilliant day out. (I could write a lot more about that day but could never do it justice, so I'll just say thanks for a great day Rog). I also managed not to be sick which is a first for me in helicopters. (I've only flown in them twice though). We had a rest Tuesday but set off North on the Wednesday and made for Hervey Bay. We'd stayed here 4 years ago and went to the same units, (Pine Lodge at Scarness beach), which are great and very reasonable. I had another brush with nature here as I was walking back from the bottle shop, (fetching Janets gin you know), I looked up to see that the sky had turned black. As I looked closer, I saw that what had blackened the sky was millions of bats. I couldn't see where they started or finished but the fly past went on for at least twenty minutes, with bigger bats marshalling the smaller ones. I spoke to the landlady, Lyn about this and she told me that it happened every night at dusk and that they were on their way to Fraser Island. Had a chinese meal that night and then drove up to Bunderberg and Bargara Beach, the next day. Bunderberg's Ok but just another town really, Bargara beach is good though and apparently, turtles come to this area to lay their eggs. (Not while we were there though and I don't know what time of the year this happens). We got back and had a very nice Thai meal, saw a rather nasty fight accross the road from the restaurant though and decided to turn in. The next day we had a couple of hours on the beach and then drove down to Noosa Heads where we had a walk around and lunch at the Surf Club. Noosa's great but we were on our way to see Jenny & Richard in Mooloolaba. (I used to work with Rich in England). We arrived at there lovely house in the Mountain Creek area and had a chat and a drink with Richard. He went to fetch the kids, Jessica & Jack from school and later, when Jenny had returned from work we had a great barbecue and a really good night. Their kids are great, and Jess had her friend over for the night and entertained us with "magic tricks" that didn't work but were very funny. The naext day was Saturday and Janet & I went into Mooloolaba and had a look around. This place looks as though it has been rebuilt recently and I must say, they seem to have made a great job of it. The sea front cafes & restaurants are really nice and the surf club is supurb. (As you might have gathered, surf clubs are quite big in this area). We went for a walk on the beach, which ended up being a lay on the beach and we watched the "nippers" surf carnival, a great event where the yougsters compete, in runnuing, swimming & boating etc races for their individual clubs. I went in the sea and was surprised to find the strongest waves I'd been in to date. I was told later that the waves here are notorious, for "dumping" from great height. (Not as bad as it sounds, the water's not brown but it does bowl you over if you're not prepared for it). We went to the Surf club for lunch and then went back to Jen & Rich's.

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