Episode 5
Sunday 18th June 2023
We had a big drive today. We came from Biloela to Rainbow Beach. It was just over 500 kms.
We were looking for somewhere to eat lunch, but none of the little towns we went through had cafes open. Eddie got very cross as he wanted a hot meal and not just a sandwich. We eventually found a pub open in a town called Gayndah. It claims to be the oldest town in Queensland, so of course the pub was the oldest pub. We did wonder why people came so far inland to set up a town. It was settled in 1849. Brisbane was settled about 10 years earlier, so the claim is a bit of a mystery to me. It is a nice little town and our pub lunch was very nice. I had beef stroganoff and Eddie had prawn spring rolls.
At some place on the road, we passed a huge solar panel farm. It was quite impressive.
We got to Rainbow Beach at 3:30pm. We can’t get the tv here and the free wifi is very slow and drops out all the time.
I saw a flock of emus on the way today. There was a lot of cropping in places. Lots of bright green paddocks with lucerne growing in them.
There are a lot of streams that we cross. They are usually dry with lots of vegetation growing on the stream bed. Some have pools of water and others are actually flowing. The stream beds are 1 to 2 metres deep. There are usually flood markers nearby which are mostly 1 to 2 metres deep, but we have seen some up to 8 metres. That would be one awful flood. They all have names. We have seen a lot of 6, 7, 8 etc mile creeks. So far, to my surprise, only 1 kangaroo creek.
Monday 19th June 2023
We left Rainbow Beach camp and went to look at the coloured cliffs. They were quite a long way from where we were, so it wasn’t as impressive as it might have been.
We came to Noosa and had a bit of trouble getting a place to stay for the night. We came to the camp by the river first, but they had nothing for tonight. We went to one other place and they rang a place at Landsborough. Then Eddie realized it was inland, so we cancelled that and found a place called Boreen Point. It is on Lake Cootharaba, which the Noosa river flows through. It is very pretty with lots of trees.
We didn’t realize that there was no water, only power. We didn’t have a lot of water on board, but the kitchen was handy, so we filled up the kettle from there and did the dishes there.
Our site wasn’t very level. We don’t have any chocks to level us on, but the man next door lent us a couple. It made it a bit better, but we were still sloping forward a bit.
This camp is owned by the same people who own the Noosa River camp, so the girl here booked us into Noosa for 3 nights. We have to move to a different site each morning, but it was the only way we could be there for 3 nights.
Tuesday 20th June 2023
We left Boreen Point at 10 and dawdled our way to Noosa. It wasn’t a very long trip. We fueled up at Tewantin. We got some cash out and a few groceries we forgot yesterday. The car park was very small with not a lot of maneuvering room, but we didn’t hit anything so all was well.
It is very pretty here at the Noosa River.
Eddie did a bit of fishing, but there were only lots of nibbles that ate all the bait. Later we saw a man catch a bream, but they are very boney and not good for eating, so he threw it back
We went to the river to watch the sunset. It seems to be the place to go. Lots of people were there in their camp chairs with their drinks.
We saw a little stingray swimming along the edge of the water. A couple were fishing beside us and the lady was feeding it with her husband’s prawn bait. Little fishes were also eating them. When the sting ray came by, the little fishes whizzed away. It was quite neat to watch nature at work.
Wednesday 21st June 2023
This morning we went on the ferry from Noosaville ( where we are staying) to Tewantin. We had a lovely pizza for lunch at the marina there. Then, sticking to the Italian theme, we had a gelato.
We were going to take the ferry to the other end of its run and come back to our stop, but we had not taken a jersey with us and the wind was a bit cool. We elected to get off at our stop instead.
We had a cuppa and a nap, then Eddie went fishing. While he was up getting a beer, a fish got on the line. With a bit of help from a man sitting nearby, I wound it in. It fell off at the edge of the water. The next thing he caught was a little sting ray that got off at the edge too. There were 2 pelicans watching him. They seemed to know he was pulling something in and took a great interest in what he was doing. It looked quite funny.
The couple we spoke to last night were there again. He didn’t get a fish either.
A wood fire pizza man set up in the camping ground this afternoon. If we had known we wouldn’t have had pizza for lunch.
Thursday 22nd June 2023
It is the shortest day of the year today. Hooray.
We moved on to site 69 this morning. The man over the road from us was moving on to our site. I wondered why he didn’t move to site 69 and we stayed where we were. Eddie said he had been asked if he would do that, but he said no. They have been coming here for 20 years. We have noticed that people who have been coming to a campsite for a long time think they have privileges that other mortals don’t have. We noticed it a lot at Treasure Island.
This morning we went for a walk to find an ATM machine and hopefully a post office to send Mum and Dad another card. I haven’t sent as many as I had planned to do. As luck would have it we found both. That pretty much filled up our morning. We bought some sushi for our lunch and came home. By the time we got back we had walked nearly 4 ks.
I was reading after lunch and kept falling asleep, so I had a nap. Eddie had one too. After a cuppa, we went to the beach and Eddie pretended to catch fish. He caught a bream, which he put back. He also caught a stingray, which took all his tackle, so that was the end of fishing.
Friday 23rd June 2023
We went and had a look at Noosa Heads on the way out this morning, but we didn’t find it. We did find Sunshine Beach, which was very pretty. There were lots of surfers out, but there wasn’t
a lot of surf for them.
There was a pod of dolphins swimming just behind the breakers. We were talking to a surfer who said they had been there yesterday when he was out surfing. They gave him a fright when he first saw them, as he thought they were sharks.
We had a few raindrops on the way this morning. It didn’t last long.
We came down the coast road to Caloundra. We got here at lunch time. We had some shopping to do, so we found a mall and had lunch before doing the shopping.
The camping ground here is quite small and nearly full. We aren’t on the beach, but it is only a short walk out the back gate.
Tristan came to see us on his way home from work and stayed for about an hour.
Saturday 24th June 2023
We went and had lunch with Alison, Noah and Asher today at Montville. It is a lovely little town and very popular at the weekend for lunch with a lot of people. We had a bit of trouble finding a
place to park. We ended up parking in the spot where the mobile library goes on a Wednesday. When we went back to the van, the little area was full of parked cars. We are such fashion setters.
There was a lot of chatting of course. They had live music playing which was a bit annoying when we were trying to talk and he was quite loud.
We went for a walk to the beach when we got home. The beach has been changed completely since Bribie Island was broken in two. We can see the gap really clearly from Golden Beach. The Pumicestone Passage is now full of sandbars at the break. It changes everyday too to make it tricky for navigation. Tristan said there is a lot of sand in the middle now than when the break first happened.
Katrina and Craig came up from Brisbane today and Tristan arrived just after them. We had a cuppa and then we all went out to lunch. There was a lovely restaurant within walking distance, so we went there. It was very busy and we didn’t have a booking, so I was a bit worried we wouldn’t get in, but they had room, so that was good.
It was a dog friendly restaurant and there was a table with 2 dogs. I do not understand taking your dog to a restaurant. It just seems such an odd thing to do.
When we got back to the camp we had another cuppa and sat and talked until it was time for Katrina and Craig to go home.
Monday 26th June 2023
We came to Toorbul today for one night. It is on the landward side of the Pumicestone Passage. On the other side is Bribie Island. Toorbul is a bigger place than we thought it might be. It isn’t far from Brisbane, so maybe people commute from here. There are lovely homes here.
After lunch we went for a walk in one direction and then after afternoon tea, we went the other way. The walkway goes beside the sea front and is very new concrete. It would be nice to do a bike ride on. The tide was out when we got here and all the mudflats were exposed. Eddie was going to do a bit of fishing, but he didn’t fancy standing in the mud. At one point we could see large indents where stingrays sit. There were a few crab remains in the mud, that we think were put there by people throwing away their scraps. They were a good size.
Monday 26th June 2023
We came to Toorbul today for one night. It is on the landward side of the Pumicestone Passage. On the other side is Bribie Island. Toorbul is a bigger place than we thought it might be. It isn’t far from Brisbane, so maybe people commute from here. There are lovely homes here.
After lunch we went for a walk in one direction and then after afternoon tea, we went the other way. The walkway goes beside the sea front and is very new concrete. It would be nice to do a bike ride on. The tide was out when we got here and all the mudflats were exposed. Eddie was going to do a bit of fishing, but he didn’t fancy standing in the mud. At one point we could see large indents where stingrays sit. There were a few crab remains in the mud, that we think were put there by people throwing away their scraps. They were a good size.
On our first walk, we actually saw a kangaroo. He was feeding on the grass at the side of the walkway. He was unfazed by us looking at him. A lady walking her dog said, there are a lot of
around Toorbul. They have koalas too. She said they run over her roof in the night. We should have asked for her address, so we could have gone to see them tonight. Ha ha.
Tuesday 27th June 2023
We left Toorbul at 9:30, but we didn’t have to have the van back until 1:30, so we had a bit of time to fill in this morning.
We went to Bribie Island to have morning tea. We had seen the sign to Bribie on our way yesterday and we thought we knew where we were going. We set off with great confidence and missed the turn. We found ourselves on a dead end road, by the water and mangroves. Eddie put on the GPS so we didn’t get lost again.
At Bribie we found a little cafe and had some morning tea. We were sitting outside and the wind
was quite fresh. We were glad when someone moved and we were able to get a chair in the sunshine.
We were still early when we arrived at the depot to drop off the van, but it didn’t seem to matter.
Thursday 29th June 2023
Back to reality today. Our flight was at nine and we had to check in at about 6. We got there about 6: 30 and it wasn’t busy. We got rid of our bags and then we had breakfast.
We said goodbye to Katrina and Craig and went through the gate. We wandered around the duty free shops, but didn’t find anything we wanted.
We went to upgrade our seats. There were 2 available but they cost $1300 each. We decided not to worry about that. We didn’t have that much holiday money left over!
As luck would have it, we were 1 row back from the seats at the emergency exit, which were empty. Eddie asked the hostess if we could move there and she said yes once we were in the air. We were able to stretch out and Eddie had no hip pain this trip. And we saved $2600. Win win.
The plane arrived about ½ an hour early, so that was great. We lost the time we saved, when we got on to the wrong bus to go to get the truck. We got on one, which turned out to be the
right one in the end. Eddie asked if this went to car park D and the driver said no you want the blue bus. I was sure we had gone from the carpark on an orange and black bus. It turns out there is a blue bus that goes to car parks D and E. There is also Park and Fly, which has at least A to O car parks. The lovely driver who took us to the wrong one said it happens all the time. He took us back to the airport to catch the right bus. You guessed it. Park and Ride.
We stopped at Matamata on the way home to buy some tea, fuel and groceries. We went there because we know where they all are and we thought it would be quicker in the long run.
We got home at 8: 30. We only unpacked what we needed, had a shower and crashed.
Oh and we had rain when we landed and on and off all the way home. Nothing has changed. Sigh.
