Gold Coast to Noosa

(Janice’s additional comments in red)

Following on from our last blog on the Gold Coast, we spent another couple of days with Kirsty and Jon during which time Jon was offered an IT job with the Queensland Education Department staring the following Monday which he is very pleased about. We all went for an evening of Putt Putt Golf which was very enjoyable (Jon won) and we were soon on our way to Brisbane. Photo: The ball must be in here somewhere. Kirsty on all 4’s looking. Photo of Surfers from Mt Tambourine.

 

  I loved it in Kirsty’s apartment as we were on the 16^th floor & at night it was so pretty with all the coloured lights, plus we had a storm one night which was great. Sunset from Kirsty and Jon’s apartment.

 

We were staying at the BP Park Scout Training Centre at Samford, a few kms north west of Brisbane and just a couple of minutes from the very pleasant Samford Village. The first day we had to re-stock our fridge and toured around the local area and we met another couple who were in their caravan.  It was nice to have a cuppa & chat with someone else staying there. That night was the coldest we have experienced so far on our trip – it got down to 1 deg C. It seems all of Brisbane was in shock as they are not used to these low temps. As happens with these cold nights, it led to a glorious day after and we went into Brisbane for the day spending most of the time in a large shopping centre with Janice trying on numerous items of clothing and buying some I might add !

The following day we travelled to the character villages of Montville and Maleny where we had lunch and then dropped down into Maroochydore and Twin Waters meeting up with John and Ann Breeze who moved from Tassie about 12 years ago. I was in the Tasmania police with John in the early 70’s. We spent an enjoyable afternoon and evening with them before heading back to Samford.

The following morning we were woken early by the arrival of dozens of Sea Cadets who were to be in camp for 5 days. We moved our caravan to a quieter area of the site but they were all very well behaved.

We put through a load of washing before lunching in Samford Village with Alan Sherlock (ex Chief Commissioner of Queensland Scouts) and his wife Glenda. An enjoyable time was had reminiscing over past scouting events, particularly the 1977 Fiji Jamboree where we were both on the admin team. On returning to camp I noticed that the Memorabilia Centre was open and spent about an hour looking through various scouting memorabilia, including records of the Rover Crew that operated in Changi Prison during the Second Word War.

It rained during the night and the following morning we headed off to Noosa. We are staying at the campsite owned by Noosa Sea Scouts called “Badger’s Wood” does that remind anyone of Midsomer Murders which was originally a country area but suburbia has built up around it. We are 200 metres from the foreshore of Noosaville and 10 minutes from Noosa Main Beach. Photo: Noosa Beach. Photo of Ibis bird, one of many around our campsite for our UK readers.

 

After a quick tour around, we relaxed at the campsite. Today we caught up with some grocery shopping then headed out to Noosa National Park from where we walked to Noosa Main Beach and had a look around. The temperature only reached 19 degrees but we managed to get a bit sunburnt.  Tonight we will dine out on Noosaville foreshore and tomorrow we head for Hervey Bay.  It’s very pretty on the foreshore and I am amazed how warm it seems during the day & how cold it gets at night/morning.

Hunter Valley to Gold Coast

The trip to Newcastle was uneventful and we parked the caravan at a community centre in the village of Seaham where it would be safe and made our way to Phil’s house in Raymond Terrace. It was great to see him and catch up with Kristy and Sophie over the weekend. The weather was cool with some showers but we managed to get out and about a bit.

On the Monday we headed for Port Macquarie, stopping for a cuppa on the way at Tom Cat Creek. The weather was glorious and warmed up as we travelled north. It was 19 deg when we arrived and not a cloud in the sky - first chance to get into the shorts. Used our on-board washing machine for the first time and it really does a good job. 

A cool night but another fabulous day after. We visited the township of Port Macquarie which is very impressive.

Janice and I think we could live here - in the winter. We walked through a tropical rain forest with a wide variety of trees and bushes and even spotted some native turkeys. What was particularly fascinating was the Strangling Fig which starts as a seed probably dropped by a bird in the foliage of the tree. It gradually grows downwards until it hits the grounds where it develops roots and over time completely envelops the tree, eventually killing it.

We travelled south along the coastal road past some magnificent beaches and rivers. Visited Kew and Kendall and then travelled north to Kempsey. The map showed a coastal road back to Port Macquarie so we set off and found ourselves on yet another gravel road but at least this one was in reasonably good condition. We found ourselves on the North Shore and travelled by car ferry back into Port Macquarie township. After a good look around the city centre we headed back to camp.

The next day it was off to Coffs Harbour. Another beautiful day getting up to 21 degrees. We set up camp at the NSW Regional Scout Training Centre just outside Coffs Harbour which is very peaceful.

The following day we explored Coffs Harbour and made our way to Grafton passing the Big Banana and climbing a hill to a viewing platform. Coffs Harbour photo.

The following day it was off to the Gold Coast and the longest leg so far, compounded by the experience of getting stuck behind a very long load escorted by 6 support vehicles and 2 police cars for about 30kms. There were a large number of B Doubles on the road and when you are being overtaken by one of those, the caravan sways from side to side from the air pressure created these travelling hulks. We parked the caravan at the Burleigh Heads Scouting Complex and headed off to Southport to catch up with Kirsty and Jon where we will stay for 4 days. They live on the 16^th floor of an apartment block and have fabulous views. Views from their apartment over Surfers Paradise.

Today it was a very pleasant 24 degrees and we toured around, had coffee at Crystal Cottage in the Currumbin Valley,

lunched by the beach and walked around Surfers. Going to Sky Point Tower for breaky tomorrow, the highest building on the Gold Coast.

Batemans Bay to Hunter Valley

Janice – what we didn’t mention in last blog was that the drive to Batemans Bay was the loveliest so far.  It is a lovely area with many, many beaches.

Our last night at Batemans Bay we had a disrupted sleep. The beautiful day turned into fine drizzle by evening and steady rain as we went to bed. It steadily got worse and we were kept awake with torrential rain pounding on the roof. It would ease for while and then thunder down again. By morning, the campsite was awash and it was still raining. Our journey to Cataract Park Scout Camp near Appen was another wet trip and we set up camp between showers. After a trip to the local shop for supplies we stayed indoors.

It rained all night and the following morning. Janice said she wanted to visit the Blue Mountains again so we set off hoping the weather would improve. It didn’t. What do you do in the Blue Mountains in the rain? We saw a sign to the Wombeyan Caves - one way to get out of the rain. After a few kms the road turned to gravel and deteriorated. We travelled for 35k on a narrow gravel road winding its way through the mountains with steep terrain on one side and almost sheer drops on the other. Picture of rock formations prior to gravel road.

 

If the road can’t go over, go through.

 

 Hairpin bend after hairpin bend with fallen rocks littering the roadway. Just as well we had a 4WD. This section of the road took almost an hour to travel but the visit was worth it. Photo below.

 Note from Janice – every now & then I would make a squeaking noise as we precariously drove around a corner hoping no-one was coming the other way – you were supposed to sound your horn in these instances!

On arrival at the caves we discovered that the correct access road was via Goulburn on the other side of the Blue Mountains and was only a few kms off the bitumen road. Life is a learning experience. On our way back to camp the Satnav warned that the Appin Road had been closed due to a fatal accident. It diverted us but by now it was almost dark. The Satnav tried to send us via a road that was closed for roadworks and we got totally lost. We tried various ways without success and eventually found ourselves at the roadblock on the other side of Appin and the guys there took pity on us and let us through as the accident was just past the turnoff to the camp. Very frustrating.

A beautiful drive the next day into the Hunter Valley. The drive through the suburbs of Sydney was a bit challenging with the caravan on the back but Sydney drivers were very considerate. On the motorway from Sydney towards Newcastle we came across an accident where a caravan had overturned at the bottom of a steep slope. It had obviously taken control of the van towing it and pushed it around so the van was facing the opposite way and up against the barrier. Very sobering thoughts. 

It was quite warm when we arrived at the campsite in Cessnock so after setting up it was off to the vineyards. We only visited 2 and managed to load the car with 3 dozen bottles - there’s no stopping some people. We will have to be a bit more selective from now on.

Today we toured the Hunter Valley visiting a few more vineyards but only buying 14 bottles. Picture of us in the middle of the finest wine growing area in the country drinking …. COFFEE?

 Brian at the “bar’ at Pepper Tree wines.

 Off to Newcastle to stay with Phil and Kristy tomorrow.

Lakes Entrance to Batemans Bay

Another wet day travelling to Eden. After setting up camp at the Garden of Eden caravan park, we stayed out of the rain for the remainder of the day. The following day started cold but sunny so we visited Ben Boyd’s tower. Boyd was a rich land owner, shipping entrepreneur and owner of a whaling fleet. He built the tower in 1846 from stone transported all the way from Sydney and used it for whale watching.

He also built a town he named Boydtown in the same area but only the church remains. Saw a sign to the Green Cape Lighthouse 22km, so took off down quite a good gravel road only to find that it deteriorated quite rapidly with numerous potholes and many washouts, good fun like driving on an obstacle course. The old lighthouse is still there but a new electric one now warns shipping, powered by batteries charged by solar panels. Picture shows old lighthouse and solar bank with new lighthouse between and a view of Disaster Bay taken along the road in.

 

The following day we woke up to a frost on the roof of the caravan but clear blue skies and sunshine. After

packing up we were on our way to Batemans Bay. This was the first fine travelling day since Tassie.

The caravan park in Batemans Bay is very crowded, probably due to the long weekend. After setting up camp we visited the old village of Mogo and the rugged Guerrilla Bay (didn't see any guerrillas).

Guerilla Bay below.

As we drove through the town of Batemans Bay we noticed that the “Bee Gees” were appearing at one of the service clubs that evening (obviously a tribute to the real Bee Gees). We were lucky to get in and thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Today we headed off to the historic village of Central Tilba with many quaint little shops and cafes. The weather was fine but the wind a little cool. After lunch we visited beautiful Mystery Bay and toured the northern beaches.

Janice at Mystery Bay. 

Off to Cataract Park Scout Camp at Appin tomorrow. 

Blackmans Bay to Lakes Entrance

Well, we’re off again on another adventure. In January we bought a caravan and have been busy fitting it up with solar panels, reversing camera and other features ready for our trip. We were booked on the ferry over Bass Strait on Monday but our plans were put in doubt when Janice woke up on Sunday morning with one side of her face all blown up like a balloon. We contacted after hours doctor and he advised us to go to Hobart Private Hospital. After 5 hours of excellent service in the hospital including the bringing in of a facial surgeon, the swelling was diagnosed as an abscess behind a tooth which, if left unattended, could have spread to the brain with potentially fatal consequences. They arranged for a dentist to remove the tooth and drain the abscess early on Monday morning. They gave her 2 antibiotics and by later on Sunday afternoon the swelling was going down. Janice visited the dentist on the Monday morning, had the tooth removed and said she was still happy for us to travel just after lunch.

We left Blackmans Bay just before 2pm on a beautiful sunny winter’s day and headed for Devonport to catch the ferry. As we approached Devonport we were treated to a magnificent sunset (photo below but doesn't really do it justice) and it was almost dark when we lined up for boarding. The ship departed at 7.30pm and we had a very calm trip over. We had dinner, met up with friends Dennis and Natalie Rudge who just happened to be on the same sailing and as we had to be up at 5.30am, we had an early night.

 We disembarked in Melbourne at 6.35am to a dark and drizzly morning. Our trip to Lakes Entrance where we were to spend our first night was very wet with heavy rain or drizzle almost all the way. We set up camp in the dry but soon after it started raining again so after a quick trip into town to buy some groceries, we stayed in the van for the rest of the day. Wednesday morning is bright and sunny so after a leisurely start, we walked along the beach into town (a one hour trip), to buy a few things from the Op Shop, supermarket and have a coffee al fresco. Photo of the waterway at Lakes Entrance with cormorants on a jetty. The temperature got up to a balmy 19 degrees so loaded up with extras; it took us a little longer than an hour to get back to the van.

After lunch we headed off to a Winery (typical you might say but Janice is still on antibiotics and can’t have any alcohol so I was forced to have her share). The owner was very friendly and we had quite a few laughs. We stayed for Devonshire tea (or Devonshire coffee for me), and departed with a bottle of port.

Back at the campsite we sat out in the sun and read for a while before heading indoors when the sun disappeared.

What Brian didn’t mention was that we walked via the beach in to town & the same on the way back.  Trouble is, the tide had come in a bit & I had to do some climbing over wire fences, but my jeans got caught on one, so now I have holey jeans (quite modern really). 

Off to Eden tomorrow.   

Munich, Singapore, Home

We’re back!! Following on from our last blog, we had a very pleasant rail trip from Vienna to Munich with some magnificent scenery along the way. Photo of river crossed over en-route.

Our hotel was located near the airport so we spent some time at the station scanning railway timetables printed in German to find where to go to connect with the airport train. Janice accosted two policemen who were extremely helpful and escorted us all the way down to our platform. We then realised we had no ticket so they directed me back up to the ticket machines leaving Janice on the platform with the entire luggage. Whilst watching other people I attempted to enter the details. After 3 tries I got it right only to find it would not take 50 Euro notes and I did not have sufficient in smaller currency. A trip up to the shopping precinct to buy a small bottle of orange juice and back down to try again. This time with success. At last returned to Janice who had wondered where on earth I had gone to.

The airport is quite a long way out of the city. The rail journey was 45 minutes. We then picked up a shuttle bus which travels between the hotels and airport terminals. A very nice hotel with extremely pleasant staff.

The following day we were going to explore Munich which involved shuttle bus to the airport and train again into the city. The day was very foggy and didn't improve much as the day went on. The tour buses were directly opposite the station which was very convenient. There were two tours on offer, a quick city centre tour and a longer, more extensive tour. We elected to do both. It seems that Monday is not a good day to see things in Munich. Many of the tourist attractions including museums are all closed which was a bit disappointing. Photo of character building.Don't know what it was though.

I was particularly disappointed that the BMW museum was closed. Anyway we had an enjoyable day. One rather strange thing we found was city centre surfing. They have built a canal joining two parts of the river and the water is very fast flowing. Under the water they built a small wall which creates a back wave effect and local surfers take advantage of this.

The following morning it was packing (again) and shuttle off to the airport. We left Munich at 1.30pm local time and arrived in Singapore 7.10am local time the following day but in fact by our internal time clock it was only about midnight. Needless to say we weren’t very tired and didn’t get much sleep.

We arrived at our hotel just after 8am and luckily they let us have our room early. After a quick change we walked to China town only to discover that most of China town does not open until 11am or later. Anyway, we found some shops open and Janice bought what she was looking for. Back to the hotel for lunch and a siesta. Relaxed, had dinner and an early night. Lift system in Singapore hotel.

The following day we were not flying out until midnight so we met Jon Potter for lunch. (Jon and Kirsty were meeting in Singapore on the way to Vietnam and Cambodia for a holiday and Jon had arrived a couple of days earlier to stay with his brother. Kirsty was not arriving from Australia until the Saturday so we unfortunately did not meet up with her.)

Our flight to Melbourne was not condusive to sleep. The 6.5 hour flight was interrupted by dinner after 2 hours and breakfast 2 hours later. We arrived in Melbourne at 10.15am but our flight to Hobart was not until 4.30pm so Peter and Paula Murphy (friends from Hobart who are now living in Melbourne) picked us up and took us to their house for lunch which was great.

We were met at Hobart by Tammy, Adele, Xavier and Eamon. On arrival back at our house we opened the door to see a big “Welcome home” sign made by Xavier and Eamon. Jamey joined us all for dinner prepared by Adele and Tammy and all had lots to talk about.

We had a fabulous 4.5 months away but now glad to be home.

Last 10 days in UK and Vienna

That Yorkshire cold was no ordinary cold. Had me out of action for 4 days on antibiotics. Fine now.

Our first trip out was to Derby. Janice had wanted to visit an auction since we have been over here but we had not been in the right place at the right time. The Bamfords auction rooms in Derby feature on Bargain Hunt on TV quite regularly so we drove over for the day. A very interesting experience and just as well we are not driving a semi-trailer back to Aus because Janice would have had it full to overflowing. We were amazed at the prices solid mahogany, walnut and rosewood furniture were selling for. Full Denbigh, Royal Worcester, and Crown Derby dinner services were selling for about 20 pounds. Fortunately Janice’s options were limited to jewellery but she still managed to come away with 2 diamond rings to add to the three she has already bought.

Janice’s cousin David and his wife Jean travelled up to Chester and spent two days with us looking around the city. On the Saturday evening we met Geoff and Jill Osborne at Shrewsbury where we had a delightful meal.

The following day was Dad’s 90^th birthday celebration held at the Red Lion in Doddleston, near Chester. Twenty four of us sat down to lunch and he had a fabulous time. One of his school mates was there and they have been friends for over 80 years. Photo of dad and mum with dad’s school friend in the background.

The following day was his actual birthday so we Skyped Tammy, Jamey and the boys and also Kirsty in the morning. After lunch we went out for a drive to visit some of mum and dad’s old stomping grounds calling in to see mum’s sister and husband in Mold and a cousin in Loggerheads.

The following day we visited some cousins in Northop before I drove down to Birmingham to catch up with some of my ex-venturer scouts for a re-union. Of the 9 scouts I took on a trip around Europe in an old army truck in 1969, I have been able to locate 7 of them. One is Paul who lives on a Scottish island (we visited him in July) and the other six I got together with for a very enjoyable evening. We have agreed to maintain regular contact.

An early start next morning to drive back to Chester for my sister’s birthday lunch. My great niece had come up from Uckfield to join in the celebrations and had a great time. Photo below.

 While I had been in Birmingham, Janice had done a test pack and it is obvious we will need another bag. A quick trip into Chester to purchase a cheap holdall.

The next morning we were up early and packing. A quick trip down to say goodbye to mum and dad which was very difficult after such a long stay, and then off to the airport. The trip to London was uneventful but our connection to Vienna was delayed due to the late arrival of the aircraft. Anyway we were soon on our way, or so we thought. At the end of the runway apparently a warning light came on in the cockpit and we had to return to the terminal. We sat on the plane while engineers tried to rectify the problem but it was decided the job was too big so British Airways had to find another plane for us. This took some time so we eventually changed planes and were on our way 4 hours late, arriving in Vienna at 1am and booking into our hotel after 2am.

GOODBYE ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & WALES

Vienna is decidedly colder than Chester. It is only mid autumn but everyone here is walking around in heavy coats with hats, scarves and gloves. The daytime temperatures have been about 11 or 12 degrees but the wind has been icy. (so much so that I had to borrow Brian’s hoody as I was getting a headache from the cold wind). Luckily both days have been clear blue skies and sunshine as we have toured places of interest around the centre of Vienna and today we had a trip into the Vienna Woods visiting an old abbey where nuns of a silent order still practise their religion, plus a  monastery and an underground lake which was fascinating.

Photo below of Austrian Parliament building

Tourist transport

Underground lake

Tomorrow we are off by train to Munich where we spend a couple of days before  boarding our Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore.