Road Trip, Part Deux

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We drove into Queensland via an inland road, up a very steep hill that the car didn't like (it resorted to blowing white smoke at us through the vents). We left the car to cool as we took pictures of the New South Wales and Queensland signs, and then headed on our way. Our goal was Lamington National Park, the Green Mountains Section.
We had in mind to do a big overnight hike, as I have yet to do one. One of Queensland's Great Walks went through Lamington and Springbrook National Parks, but the information hotline provided us with no more information, and the website was just as useless. So we planned to show up at Green Mountains and ask a ranger instead.

The drive to Green Mountains from Byron Bay was lovely, but long, along narrow, often one-way, winding roads. On the way, we stopped at a sight I had seen on a postcard: the Natural Bridge. We enjoyed the walk through the forest of strangler figs and other tropical plants, down to the waterfall. Apparently there is a colony of glowworms under the bridge too!

On up the winding, curving roads we continued, until we finally reached the Green Mountains section of Lamington National Park. We checked out the campsites, then went to see a ranger to ask about the walks. On the way, we passed by the O'Reilley's Visitor Centre, where a bird-feeding was in progress. Lots of colourful rosellas and king parrots, as well as a few scrub turkeys, were gorging themselves on birdseed to the squeals and shrieks of delighted and terrified children (and adults). It was highly entertaining, and we stayed awhile to watch.

Then we found a ranger and asked him about this Great Walk. He couldn't give us much information either, unfortunately. The walk goes from O'Reilley's to the Binna Burra section of Lamington, then onto private land and along roads until Springbrook National Park three days later. We had to buy the map not from the Parks office but from the O'Reilley's visitor centre, and there was the lack of any sort of car shuttles (which meant getting back to our car would be quite a hassle). The icing on the cake was that several tracks were closed. So we discussed our options and decided to do just a big day hike instead. The ranger told us if we hit the Border Track early enough, we would beat the trail crew and could get off the closed section of the trail before it officially closed the next morning. He swung by our campsite later to confirm what time to hit the trail.
That night we had a few good laughs with Chad, our American neighbour and his Aussie wife, and were amused by the red-necked pademelons that wandered all over the campsites.

The next morning, we were up before dawn and on the track by 6:30am. Hiking in the twilight of the early morning, we smashed out the first part of the trail by 8am, which is when the trail crew was meant to hit the trail. We were off the closed section by the time we heard the helicopters of the crew. But all that fast walking didn't mean we didn't enjoy the hike. The scenery in the rain forest was fantastic, with huge moss-covered trees, strangler figs and vines. We hiked to the Mount Merino lookout, where we had lunch with a view of the Gold Coast. But just as we finished lunch, the mist starting rolling in and we were soon hiking in the clouds!
We continued on, back towards our starting point, by doing a loop via the Toolona Creek circuit. This path had lots of long switchbacks, which made it feel as if we were getting nowhere. But we saw plenty of pretty waterfalls and were challenged by the numerous creek crossings. By the time we got back to the starting point, dusk was setting. We had hiked about 30km, and we managed to get a coffee just before the cafe closed. We spent the evening huddled underneath Chad's improvised lean-to, out of the rain and wind, trying to stay dry.

The next morning, we were packed up and off before our neighbours even got up. We had great fun hiking, but the nights were still cold and we were still searching for warmer weather (this seems much like our American road trip...common theme?)

We stopped for a pie in Canungra, drove through the strip of high-rises in Surfer's Paradise, drove through Brisbane, and popped into Caloundra to watch the wind-surfers. It was so terribly windy that I couldn't bother getting out of the car to take photos, but it looked like they had fun! Then we drove towards Maroochydore, missing Mooloolaba where we had wanted to stay the night (mostly because it's fun to say). So we decided to head for our next option, Noosa.

Noosa is like the Aussie version of Florida, where everyone from the south heads for warmer weather. What we didn't realize is that a town called "Noosa" didn't exist. There is Noosaville, Noosa Heads, Noosa Hill, Noosa Spring, Noosa North Shore, Noosa Sound, etc. Funny, because the website states, "There's only one Noosa".

But it was a lovely little resort town that reminded me a bit of some of the towns in southern France, with lots of fancy shops and really nice-looking places to stay. And while it may be overpriced, it sure looked nice without feeling too snobbish. We wandered up the boardwalk, went shopping on Hastings Street, and enjoyed the sunshine. We treated ourselves to a little cabin at a caravan park and finally enjoyed some warmer weather!

After a couple nights there, we decided to head up towards Fraser Island. We chose to drive to Rainbow Beach, which turned out to be a very odd looking town. There were some fantastic new buildings recently built, almost as if they were expecting Rainbow Beach to be another Noosa, but the tourists hadn't seemed to have heard about it, so many buildings stood empty. The pub at the hotel was lovely, with a big front porch with fans and nice beers on tap...and we were among the very few there. The beach itself was great! That was where we found the beached car...someone's road trip had ended pretty badly!
We also drove out to Inskip Point, where there was lots of camping in the park, and we had a view of Fraser Island. Unfortunately we were getting low on fuel and decided the drive back to town to pick up a camping permit, and the drive back out, would leave us stranded, so we decided against staying the night.

We drove back towards Gympie and stayed at a free campsite. And further south we headed, stopping at the Wild Horse Mountain lookout, where we had a fantastic view of the Glasshouse Mountains. Then onto Brisbane to see our mate Stu, who we hadn't seen since last summer in Montreal. In Brissie we wandered along South Bank and the river, had a pint at the Story Bridge Hotel pub under the namesake bridge, and exchanged laughs and stories over Thai take-out with Stu and his family. The next morning we were treated to a drive up Mt Coot-tha, which reminded me a bit of Mont Royal with its city views and forested paths. After coffee and a plate of lamingtons at the cafe on top, we hit the road again.

The weather was great in Brissie, but it was starting to get cooler. We reached Bogangar in the early afternoon, where we stayed with one of Dave's best friends and her mates. The next few hours remineded me: Australians can be completely incomprehensible. Between their mumbling and their odd expressions, I had no idea what Dave, Penny and Dean were saying! So instead, I spent the night playing with Elkie, who was 4 years old, and we danced to the Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown. I really like that there is a national youth radio station in Australia; but I do have to say I did not agree with most of the top 20 songs (Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine topping the list? Really?). My vote was for good old Jimi, but Dave won as Zepplin scored much higher on the countdown. Penny guessed the number one song, so she beat both of us.

Our last day on the road included photos of the Big Pineapple and the Big Banana, although we missed photo opportunities of the big bunch of bananas, the big ax and the big fake Uluru. We were going to have another free camp night, but we couldn't find a decent rest stop...either too much light, too close to the road or too dodgy, so we actually drove all the way back to Sydney. We couldn't get into Kat's place because we were a day early and the keys were unavailable, so in the end we had to drive all the way back to Jamberoo. We arrived in the wee hours of the morning and went straight to bed.

This time I did not keep track of the kilometers, but I do believe it was close to another 3,000km that Dave and I have done in road trips. I wonder on which continent the next road trip will be?

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Photos

Rosellas
These birds come out for feeding time at O'Reilly's in Lamington National Park

Natural Arch
The waterfall at Natural Arch outside Lamington National Park

Cute!
Red-necked pademelon in Lamington National Park

Falling water
One of the many beautiful waterfalls in Lamington National Park

Lamingtons!
After such a big hike, Aesop and Gulliver enjoy the namesake dessert in Brisbane

Sunset in the city
Sunset over Brisbane

Stranded!
An old abandoned clunker at Rainbow Beach