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Published: November 30th 2010
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We woke up on Thursday morning feeling a bit tired to say the least after our fabulous excursion of the previous night. Fortunately, because of the blustery wind, we didn’t have the awning and other bits of kit that we normally keep out so we were able to pack up fairly swiftly. We were on the road by 8.30 and as we were heading south we were able to by-pass Bundaberg which would have been busy at that time of day. We hadn’t been on the road long when it started to rain and it continued on and off for much of the journey. We had thought about staying in Hervey Bay for a couple of days but now we wanted to get a bit further south so, as with our last trip eight years ago, Hervey Bay was shelved for another time. At the right time of year it’s a spectacular place for whale-watching so I’m sure we’ll visit Hervey Bay one day.
But today we tootled on and stopped for a tea-break in Tiaro which looked a pleasant village. What we thought was a picnic area was in fact a free camp site on land behind the village
hotel. Actually it would have been fine for an overnight stop if we had needed it but as it was only 11am we carried on. Unusually, we hadn’t made any decision about where to head for but suddenly the Noosa area seemed the ideal place. We had been there once many years ago when we came for the day with my brother David and my Mum. My Mum always loved to paddle in the sea and she did that there at a lovely, quiet beach. I remember we sat on some huge boulders on the wonderful white sand and had a picnic! But since then Noosa has developed hugely and has a bit of a ‘yuppie’ reputation – not normally the sort of place we would head for - so it would be interesting to see the changes for ourselves.
There was a ‘Top Tourist’ caravan park in Tewantin – the original town from which Noosa has evolved - and they had plenty of room so we booked in for a couple of nights. The chap from the park guided Graham as he reversed Sweetie alongside a block – he made it seem so easy – I’ll have to
remember the directions he gave: left hand down a bit, right hand sharp up and so on – he was just brilliant. As he said “it’s no good having couples on holiday falling out before they even get set up” – how true! Why can’t all caravan parks provide this facility? So we were all sorted out very quickly and ready to try out the huge swimming pool – probably the best we’ve seen so far. The water was warm and it wasn’t too busy so we had a good swim and on our way back to the caravan we stopped to have a game of table tennis. We used their basic hard bats – much different to what we’re used to - but we soon got into the swing of things – it’s a while since we last played but we had a bit of fun. We have our own bats with us so no doubt we’ll play again!
The road past the CP led to where the river ferry crosses to North Shore giving access to remote beaches, cycle, horse and camel trails and also, in specific places, vehicular access directly onto the beach where it’s possible
to drive more than 40 miles on sand. So we visited the Information Centre near the ferry to collect details of wildlife and bird reserves etc Later on that evening we nipped into Tewantin and went into the local RSL club to have a meal but it was so busy - there were no empty tables and a long wait so we got a Chinese take-away instead which was pretty good.
The following day, Friday, we decided to do a bit of exploring on our bikes. We cycled along to the river and caught the ferry to North Shore – it cost us $1 each return – bargain! We cycled for 3 or 4 kms along a quiet road before, off to the right, we saw the entrance to the beach. There were lots of teenagers, about 50, coming off the beach with surf boards – they’d been having lessons. We asked a young girl who was straggling along at the back how she got on and she said rather dispiritedly: “alright I suppose”! Oh dear, never mind. Actually, she looked as though she couldn’t surf to save her life – what a shame we missed the lesson as
it would have been fun to see. A few minutes later a big 4WD coach came hurtling down the slipway, on to the beach and disappeared from view – I wouldn’t have liked to have been in its way. It wasn’t going to stop for anyone but I guess it needed some momentum to go through the soft sand to get onto the harder stuff. The tide was coming in very rapidly and it was quite a rough sea so it wouldn’t have time to stay on the beach for long. A few minutes later two 4WD cars came on to the soft sand and one instantly got stuck. There was some consultation between the driver and passengers followed by a couple of failed attempts to move on. Then with a bit of extra oomph it got free but the tide was just too high for them to continue and with only soft sand to drive on they rapidly turned round and exited the beach at speed. It’s an exciting and popular pastime here in Aus and there are plenty of beaches where it takes place but because of the damage being caused you usually have to pay quite a
lot for the privilege.
By now, with the tide crashing onto what little bit of sand there was still showing, the beach was virtually deserted but an hour earlier it must have been a hive of activity. High tide times are well publicized here and it shows how important it is to be fully aware of them. We cycled on along the road for a while but as it was a seemingly endless road we eventually turned round and whizzed back towards the river (stopping for an ice-cream on the way) to catch the ferry back. By this time, early Friday afternoon, the road was busy and the on-coming ferry was full of weekend campers making their way to the remote campsite at the far end of North Shore. For the remainder of the day we swam, played table tennis (this time using our own bats with familiar pimples and rubbers!! – much better) and relaxed. It’s a hard life being a ‘Pootling Possum’ but someone has to do it!
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Darryl and Sarah
Wallaby Wanderers
Pootling Possum life style!
The bikes look in very good nick!! They must be new, ha ha!!!