patevans

The focus of this trip was to attend a 95th birthday party, attend an Explorer Motorhome(MH) Rally, visit friends and get the Lestervan serviced at its birthplace in Brisbane. We also wanted to enjoy the scenery/drive there and back. Keeping in sync with our ‘be flexible’ mantra we didn’t make detailed plans for the drive. The way up turned out to be a celebration of beautiful NSW beaches and reminded us what a nice coastline and great National Parks (NP) we have in NSW.

Started with a night in Port Macquarie so we could visit Anne and then overnighted in the Trial Bay Goal campground. A tour of the goal (jail) gave us some local and WWl history as it initially housed public works prisoners in the 1880’s. They were attempting to build a breakwater to provide a safe refuge for ships going between Sydney and Brisbane. In WWl it housed Germans who were rounded up for being German or having German ancestry. (Lucky Dick wasn’t living in Australia then!)

Of course we did a lovely coastal walk before heading to Yuragir NP and camping next to another beautiful beach, where we had a long beach walk in the morning. The next two nights saw us in Ballina in a tent campground next to another beautiful beach, where we had another long beach/bush walk but also enjoyed being near a town with nice cafes for lunch and even attended an amateur theatre production of ‘The Wonderettes Dream On’ (could also be known as a walk down memory lane for ‘1970’s music’). It was well done and well sung.

Since we needed to leave the Lestervan overnight for its service we booked into an AirBNB on Bribie Island as we hadn’t been there before and it sounded nice. It was a very pleasant place to visit and we enjoyed a 7km beach walk, ending up at a surf club for lunch. After we collected the Lestervan we headed for Maleny and checked into the Explorer MH Rally in the showground. This is a totally new experience – parked side by side with another 40 vans that all look the same as us. People say to lock your doors as you never know who will wander in by mistake. We have met at least a dozen fellow Explorers on the road during our travels and all have been nice and quite like-minded. That continued with the people at the Rally and included a number we had previously met on the road.

The Rally itself was quite informal; from the sausage sizzle on the first night to the women’s and men’s discussion groups, and the catered Rally dinner and dance. The Band played lots of ‘Baby Boomer’ music which suited the crowd perfectly. We went to a brewery tour and lunch while others went walking and in the free time I had a successful shopping trip in a very nice dress shop in the little town of Maleny.

From there we drove to Noosaville to stay with our friends, Pamela and Rod. As always we enjoyed a lovely lunch out at one of their many favorite restaurants. It was a pleasant, relaxing visit. Then we met other friends, Janice and John, for coffee and a chat before heading down to Mooloolaba to join my first Australian friend, Lesley at her father, Allan’s place. We and the Lestervan have stayed in that driveway a few times now, so we feel a bit like part of the family. Lesley’s sister, Barbara, also joined us for dinner and the next day the five of us went together to Allan’s 95th birthday party at the Buderim Golf Club. About 45 people attended and we all enjoyed a great view and lovely lunch. It was special to celebrate with Allan. He is impressive and inspiring – gave a nice speech and walked around and spoke to every table at the lunch. Many of his friends and colleagues from Bowls and Legacy were there, which highlights how active and involved he is in the community.

Our drive home took three nights so we could enjoy a few new places along the way. Stayed in a free camp on the NSW/Queensland border before doing some hiking/climbing in Girraween NP. Both of us felt pretty good after making the challenging climb to the top of the Pyramid, which was 250 m high and at least 200m up an exposed rock face. Then we headed for the Waterfall Way, a scenic, narrow road which winds down an escarpment towards the coast; and not surprisingly features a lot of waterfalls and national parks. We camped in Cathedral NP before viewing Ebor and Danger waterfalls in our drive to the coast. We met Kathie, a friend from the Rally, in another NP camp on the coast. Enjoyed a nice dinner together and a long beach walk in the morning, before our drive back to Sydney.

This was a 2633 km trip over 16 days and certainly very social, lots of fun and no corrugations in sight!!!

The view from the tower of the goal — The view from the lookout tower of Trial Bay Goal. We did spot some whales from here.

Our camping spot in front of the goal and on the bay

The bay and the breakwater. This was what they unsuccessfully tried to get the prisoners to build build — The bay and the breakwater. The breakwater was what they unsuccessfully tried to get the prisoners to build.

Another beachside camp in a NP along the coast — Another beachside camp in Yuraygir NP along the coast

And a walk along the beach when we got up in the morning

A 7 km walk along Red Beach at Bribie Island. Someone had made these driftwood structures along the beach.

An ‘expedition of explorers’ at the Explorer Motorhome Rally at Maleny. Our first experience at a rally. The Lestervan made lots of new friends, and we did too!

Dick doing some male bonding at the rally

Lesley, Barbara and Allan on the way to Allan’s 95th birthday party (with his two daughters)

Allan making a speech at his party. Very impressive man. He spent time going around and speaking to all of the tables.

Lesley and I with the birthday boy just before we left

The Pyramid in Girraween NP - we climbed to the top of this mountain. — The Pyramid in the background in Girraween NP – we climbed to the top of this mountain.

Some of the exposed rockface we walked along (carefully!)

Balancing Rock at the top and overlooking the second pyramid

Dangar Falls, near Dorrigo on Waterfall Way

Our last night’s camp in Delicate Campground with Kathie who we met at the Rally (or Lestervan and Dean side by side – everyone seems to have a name for their Explorer MH)

We were so happy to leave Alice on 26th July, 22 days after we broke down, that we didn’t even think about stopping when we noticed a 12 inch crack in the windscreen two hours out of Alice. It was a hectic departure; picking up the Lestervan at 10am, going back to the cabin at the Big 4 CP (caravan park) packing up the van (including washing out a smelly fridge), dumping the toilet cassette, filling the water, getting LPG and diesel. A five hour drive north got us to Devils Marbles just on dusk. We camped at the pub and enjoyed a pub dinner to celebrate our escape from Alice and Toyota!

Flexibility is our new mantra and in keeping with that we changed our previous plans and decided to head for the coast and relax in some warm weather before returning to Sydney. Alice was near freezing every night. We also decided to give the Lestervan and one of its passengers a break by driving home on paved roads. Passing through Tennant Creek we met another Explorer motor home so stopped, chatted and went for a 3 hour lunch. They had just come the way we were heading so got lots of tips on places to stay/visit. Enjoyed a free camp along the Barkly Hwy before we got to Mt Isa. At Julia Creek we chose to stay in the CP with artesian baths nicely set up for their guests. An interesting stop along our route was Porcupine Gorge NP, where we arrived in time to do the hike down to the gorge and have a swim in the gorge. It was a lovely gorge and a nice campground.

Townsville did not disappoint in terms of sun and relaxation. We stayed in a nice CP with tropical gardens around a heated pool and very warm spa (hot tub), which we enjoyed most nights. Explored around town, socialized with two other couples who have Explorer motor homes, enjoyed fresh seafood and spent a full day on Magnetic Island. Neither of us knew much about the WWII history on Magnetic Island, but we learned a lot about it as we did the Fort walk. We also saw three koalas during that walk. I got in a quick swim there at Horseshoe Bay. The island was pretty and it was a nice change having such pleasant warm weather.

Next stop was Bowen and it was even better – beautiful beaches across the road from our CP, a fabulous cliff walk along the coast, a pleasant swim and a whole day to relax without driving anywhere! Then the drive home began in earnest and we did almost an 8 hour drive to Mt Morgan south of Rockhampton. Picked a friendly sounding caravan park with generous hosts who gave us four eggs on check-in and supplied lots of free nibbles at the happy hour campfire. Interesting how the hosts can make such a difference to the success of a place.

Then we pushed on south and made it the 564 kms to Bunya Mountains NP just at dusk, via a series of back roads found by Google Maps. The attraction is the Bunya Pines and the Hoop Pines, not true pines at all but members of the Araucariaceae family. These were dominant at the time of dinosaurs (about 200 million years ago). Today they grow naturally in only a few places and the largest stand on earth is in the Bunya Mtns. Signs warn to beware of the ‘drop zone’ – where the soccer-ball sized bunya cones drop and would cause injury. Each cone contains 50-100 nuts surrounded by a thick outer casing. The nuts are edible and we bought some bunya nut fudge. The park used to be a ceremonial/gathering place for aboriginal people from many places, every three years when there is a large bunya crop. We did a 2 hour/6km walk through the rainforest admiring the bunya pines, hoop pines, strangler figs and lots of large buttressed roots.

Next stop was Bald Rock NP in NSW. Getting colder each day. Bald Rock is the largest granite dome in the southern hemisphere and we walked part way up the rock face before leaving the park in the morning. Lots of good walks here for another visit. We met a nice couple during our walk, and again a bit later. About 10 minutes after we left the park we had a flat tyre, seemingly for no reason. Dick started changing it and our new friends drove up, stopped and helped change the tyre. We drove to Tenterfield to check on a tyre repair, but the tyre was ripped all around just above the bead. The Cooper dealer gave us a good explanation and then sold us a $50 spare to get us back to Sydney. Decided that was a sign and we should go straight home, so we drove to Tamworth arriving just as it got dark. Selected a nice CP as part of our reconaissance for the Music Festival in January 2019 and also collected more festival information from the Tourist Info Centre. Drove home to Sydney via Stroud and a lunch with our friends, Jenny and Kevin.

Finishing up the photos with a map of our actual trip which turned out to be quite different from the original plan. Not surprisingly as this trip was full of unexpected mechanical issues, but again all part of the experience. Thanks to all for your comments and your interest, as you travelled vicariously with us for the past three months.

Love and best wishes to all,

Pat and Dick