Chinderah to Maryborough

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Left Grafton on Thursday 9 March, driving along the Summerland Highway, passing through Casino and Lismore. We had stayed at Lismore 9 years ago when travelling around Australia and we enjoyed our time there. This time round, Lismore appeared to be bigger and busier, and Casino was more interesting for us. This trip has highlighted to us what was of interest to us 9 years ago, has changed this time round. Yes, we have changed also.



Reached Ballina and travelled along the coast passing through Lennox Head, and Byron Bay. Impressions of Byron Bay was, old, hippyish, new, touristy, yuppyish. We didn't quite make it to Tweed Heads. A small town called Chinderah caught our eye. It is between Kingscliff and Tweed Heads, although there isn't a distinct beginning and end for the towns along the Northern Rivers coastline. The Tweed River runs along the esplanade where the caravan park is.



Friday 10 March, we decided to stay another night (3 nights in all). It's a very well maintained esplanade along the Tweed River, with inviting areas to have a picnic, walk, or just watch the people fishing in the river or on the riverbank. We enjoyed our time at Chinderah.



Sunday 11 March we left and headed for Brisbane. We caught up with friends of Mum (which are now friends of ours) in Brisbane and stayed at a caravan park on the foreshore of Scarborough which is just north of Redcliffe. Just like Chinderah, the foreshore at Scarborough is well maintained with areas for sitting, picnicing, walking, watching the passing parade, while looking at out Moreton Bay. An addition to Scarborough is the number of restaurants on the foreshore. We had dinner with friends on Sunday evening, just 50 metres from the caravan park. On Monday we spent the afternoon punting with other friends with nibbles to keep our strength up, and Tuesday we had a wonderful lunch at our friends place. This was our first stay at a capital city on our travels. Being an ex-Queenslander and having lived for a number of years in Brisbane, I will always have a soft spot for Brisbane.



By Wednesday 15 March, we were ready to keep heading north. Once again, our aim was Gympie, but as we got there earlier than expected, we decided to continue on to Maryborough. The caravan park is next to the Mary River and by evening we were attacked by mosquitoes. Whether it was because we were near the river, or the recent rain, we don't know. The weather has surprised us. As soon as we crossed the Queensland border, it became hot and humid. We'd forgotten what that weather feels like.

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Photos

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Foreshore of Tweed River

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Holly and Jayme at Scarborough

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Fishing on the Tweed River bank at sunset

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Van site at Chinderah, NSW

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Sunset on the Tweed River

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Approaching storm at Scarborough