Sunday, September 11. 2011
Well this is the end of our journey and the end of the blog for today we will be home. We'd like to leave you with some photos that didn't make the blog. We hope you have enjoyed following our trip as much as we have enjoyed sharing it with you. Until our next adventure .......... goodbye from the blog.
Getting off our site at The Entrance
Sunday, September 11. 2011
Sunday, September 11. 2011
Today was a day spent exploring the Central Coast. We started with The Entrance and then moved down to Terrigal and on to Avoca. We had lunch at Avoca before finishing our tour and then returned to The Entrance in time for the pelican feeding at 3:30. Pelican feeding began more than 20 years ago when a fish shop began giving its scraps to pelicans. Today it is a tourist attraction and the pelicans are checked for injuries when they are fed by a group of volunteers. There can be as many as 300 pelicans at a feeding. After the pelican feeding we returned to our vans to enjoy the view and sunset before going out to Diggers at The Entrance for a celebratory final dinner.
Looking south from The Skillion, Terrigal, towards Avoca Beach
Pelican feeding at The Entrance
Saturday, September 10. 2011
Very short trip to The Entrance only 80 km but in pouring rain. This is the first time we have had to pack up and set up in the rain. We were surprised when they asked us to unhitch the vans at the reception office. It was explained to us that as we had waterfront sites and they needed to position our vans with the tractor. It was a nervious experience to watch as the vans were positioned. The view across the entrance to The Entrance is spectacular. Due to the poor weather we decided to explore Bateau Bay, about 5 km away. Later in the afternoon the sun began to shine. We returned to the caravan park to enjoy our view, the sunset and dinner. Tomorrow (Saturday) is last day of our adventure as we travel home on Sunday.
Our waterfront sites
Our vans are 3rd and 4th from the end
The view across the entrance to The Entrance from outside our van
Sunset from outside our van
Thursday, September 8. 2011
The Hunter Valley Gardens were graced with our presence today and what a beatiful day it was to wander around the various gardens. The day started out not looking too promisimg with light showers until around 9:00 am and then they cleared away to a fine sunny day with light cloud cover. We spent the whole day at the gardens and late in the afternoon we drove around the main wineries around Pokolbin. We were all wined out and decided not to go wine tasting. We headed back to the caravan park with a detour to the supermarket in Cessnock to pick up a couple of items for tea. Around 7:00 pm the heavens opened and it has been quite heavy rain since.
The Border Garden, Hunter Valley Gardens
Posing with Humpty Dumpty in the Story Book Garden, Hunter Valley Gardens
Four extra people for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, Hunter Valley Gardens
Trying the BIG chair for size Reaching for the bottle at the end of the day!
Thursday, September 8. 2011
Nothing exciting for our readers today! As our adventure draws to a close we are slowing down. As you can see from the heading we travelled from Tamworth to Cessnock stopping in Muswellbrook for some lunch. On arrival at the Vine Valley Big4 Caravan Park we set up and had a very lazy afternoon.
Vine Valley Caravan park Cessnock
Tuesday, September 6. 2011
First on the list today was the Oxley Lookout. Here we had panoramic views over Tamworth. After enjoying the views for a while we returned to Peel Street, the main shopping street of Tamworth, where we spent the rest of the day. Late in the afternoon we returned to the caravan for a relaxing time before having tea.
Tuesday, September 6. 2011
Our journey south continued today as we travelled to Tamworth with a stop in Armidale for morning tea with David, a friend of Eleanor and Phil, who we had caught up with in Hervey Bay. Arriving in Tamworth we set up our vans and had a late lunch before setting off to the Golden Guitar Complex. The complex houses the country music wax museum and alongside each figure is a brief history of their country music career. The complex is about 5 km south of Tamworth and on our return journey we took a drive through the business centre of Tamworth before returning to the caravan park.
The Golden Guitar Complex ...... added by special request from one of our readers.
Sunday, September 4. 2011
Celebrations today with two fathers and one birthday girl. We eventually got started after phone calls from family and headed for the TIC. We drove around several points of interest before heading out on Scenic Route 9 a 38 km loop which would take us past a number of rocky outcrops of granite rocks with names like Doctor's Nose, Bald Rock, Draining Rock and MacKenzie Lookout amongst a few other sites. On our return to Tenterfield we had lunch at the Courtyard Cafe before taking a self guided walking tour to look at a number of historically significant buildings. Late afternoon saw us back at the caravan park for a brief rest. Tea tonight? Well it looks like the Bowling Club might have the highest number of votes.
Well we're back from tea now and the bowling club is highly recommended. Excellent meal and service.
A blogger caught in the act of taking his pictures
Bald Rock
Tenterfield from Mackenzie Lookout
Saturday, September 3. 2011
Away from the coast today heading inland. We took the scenic route to Tenterfield travelling via the Tweed Valley Way to Murwillumbah past Mt Warning on to Uki and Kyogle where we had morning tea at the Box and Dice Cafe. Getting back on the road we headed for Casino and on to Tenterfield. Arriving at Craig's Caravan park at around 3:00 pm we set up our vans, had some afternoon tea and then headed out to have a look around Tenterfield. We checked out the railway station and noted it would be flood lit at night. Near the railway station is an old hotel which is now the office for a caravan park. There are many old building in Tenterfield, it is the oldest town in the New England region and dates from 1851.
We returned to the caravan park just on dark to have a BBQ tea. After tea Lorraine and I took a quick drive out to the railway staion to take a couple of photos of it under flood lights.
Mt Warning
Tenterfield Railway Station
Friday, September 2. 2011
Public holiday today for the Gold Coast Council area due to the Gold Coast Show so we decide to head for the hills! Mount Tamborine has quite a lot to see and do. We chose the Glow worms at the Cedar Creek Winery where the glow worms are bred in a man made tunnel and when numbers build up will be used to repopulate areas in the wild. No we didn't taste any wine here but we did head for The Distillery on the advice of another couple we met. They have 80 different liquers, schnapps and vodkas. We tasted some and bought some. The Wattle Toffee Liquer and the Chocolate Chilli Liquer might last until we get home. We then headed for Mt Tamborine for some lunch at the Mt Tamborine micro Brewery and the cheese factory. Following lunch we needed a long walk around Mt Tamborine village. There are some very interesting shops there for both the girls and for Phil and myself. When the shops closed we had afternoon tea and then headed home for tea.
The Distillery, Mt Tamborine
Part of the offering at The Distillery. Bottles on the top shelf are hand painted!
Friday, September 2. 2011
Today we drove up to Surfers Paradise to wander around Surfers, check out the beach and meet up with Brooke. After a tour of Brooke's offices we wandered around Surfers Paradise before finding somewhere to have some lunch. During lunch we decided what we were going to do in the afternoon. Pacific Fair at Broadbeach got the vote so we headed south. The girls found a few bargains and we visited Coles for some groceries before going home for tea.
Aunt, Niece and Uncle
Oh the joys of a massage at the end of a long shopping day :-)
Wednesday, August 31. 2011
A pretty boring two and a bit hour drive today south down the motorway to Burleigh Heads. Checked into Burleigh Beach Tourist Park just in time to have some lunch and a little rest before setting off exploring. We chose Coolangatta as our target some 15 km south and just on the Qld/NSW border. After wandering around there for a while we went for a sunset walk along the beach before heading home for tea and a discussion on what we would do in the next few days. Oh forgot to mention that we extended our original 2 night booking to 3 nights so that gives us two and a half days to have more fun. We contacted our (John and Lorraine) neice who lives in Surfers Paradise and we are catching up with her tomorrow afternoon.
Sunset from Coolangatta Beach.
Tuesday, August 30. 2011
Today the girls chose to walk the aisles of Sunshine Plaza, reputedly the largest shopping centre in Queensland while Phil and I went to play 18 holes at Horton Park Golf Club. We played the first 9 holes with the threat of rain and a few spinkles which were of no concern. However the second 9 was a different story. We got to 14 and the heavens opened and before we could tee off on 16 all players were called off the course due to thunder storms. Soaked we returned to pick up the girls who had seen much of the Sunshine Plaza as was evidenced by their clutch of bags and drove out to Mooloolaba to browse The Wharf.
After wandering around there for a while we headed home to await the delivery of our preordered home delivered dinner of bangers, mash, vegetables and gravy.
Fun with mirrors at The Wharf Mooloolaba.
Tuesday, August 30. 2011
Leaving Hervey Bay late in the morning and 199 km saw us checking into the Maroochy Palms Caravan Park. We set up our vans and had some lunch. After lunch we went for a drive to find the TIC and see what attracted our attention. A trip to Buderim to the Buderim Ginger Shoppe. Since it was afternoon tea time we had a coffee at Gloria Jeans in Buderim and then headed home via the scenic route.
Tea had been preordered as we thought it a pretty good deal. Quiche, salad and chips for $9.50 delivered to your caravan. The serving size would have satisfied a sumo wrestler and was quite tasty too.
Maroochy Palms Caravan Park
The lake in the caravan park.
Sunday, August 28. 2011
Late start this morning, it's Sunday, and breakfast was arranged for 9:00 am with a group of other park guests. It was a big affair with people turning up with their tables and chairs, BBQ's and food. It looked more like a scene from Master Chef than a group of grey nomads making breakfast. By the time we consumed our feast and had a chat it was just about time for lunch ...... no skip that we were too full. The girls put on loads of washing and headed to the pool as the sun was shining for the first time in three days. Phil and I plotted our course for the next couple of days and made appropriate reservations. Tea tonight will be at Hervey Bay RSL Club with David, Margaret and Darryl, friends of Eleanor and Phil.
Sunday, August 28. 2011
A very early start this morning for what promised to be an exciting day. We were to be out the front of the caravan park at 7:35 am to be picked up for our half day whale watching tour. The inclement weather of the last couple of days seemed to be breaking with patches of blue sky. The bus dropped us at the Urangan Marina where we boarded the Spirit of Hervey Bay to head to Platypus Bay which is within Hervey Bay on the north west coast of Fraser Island. There were plenty of whales around and it didn't take very long before we were rewarded with 3 humpback whales swimming around and under the boat. This was repeated with 3 more pods of whales at various places in Platypus Bay during our trip and all up we saw some 12 or more whales not counting the ones we saw performing in the distance. The weather held and with the aid of radar the Captain was able to avoid the showers so we had maximum time on deck observing. The whales stay in Hervey Bay unlike other places where they are observed as they are migrating up or down the coast so it is a whale watching paradise. They are huge, gentle and inquisitive creatures, a pleasure to observe. After the cruise the bus dropped us back at the caravan park where we had lunch and then we headed to the local Stockland Shopping Centre to catch up with some grocery shopping.
A good omen for fair weather.
A whale caught in the middle of a tail slap.
Friday, August 26. 2011
Left Bundaberg and headed south for Hervey Bay. Arrived at the Australiana Top Tourist Park just after 12:30. We checked in to find that between us there was The Pizza Truck. So no prizes for guessing what we had for lunch. The Pizza Truck is from Melbourne and the owners are on a working holiday making wood fired pizzas at events and in caravan parks where they stay. The photo below was posed as the caravan park owners wanted a photo to put on their web site.
After lunch, and posing for photos, we caught up with David, a friend of Eleanor and Phil who is also staying here.
Later in the afternoon we went for a drive around when we found a shop called Pirates Cave. It wasn't as good as it looked. They sold mostly cheap souvenirs and cheap kids toys. We then went to the Urangan Marina Twilight Markets. Unfortunately the inclement weather kept many of the regular stall holders away. The next to be ticked off our list was the Urangan Pier. Originally built in 1917 only the first 868 m of the original 1124 m has been preserved. When we set out to walk the length of the pier the weather didn't look very promising and by the time we reached the end there was steady rain. Needless to say that on the return walk we got drenched.
The Pizza Truck.
Our sites at Australiana Top Tourist Park.
Pirates Cave, Torquay.
Urangan Pier.
Thursday, August 25. 2011
A late start today. We first visited Schmeider's Cooperage Complex. Here we viewed demonstrations of barrel making and glass blowing as well as viewing art by local artists. Various wines were available for tasting but we resisted the temtation. Afterwards headed out to Baragara, a beach side suburb 15 km east of Bundaberg to see if we could find Kelly's Beach Resort where Lorraine and I with our 3 boys had spent Christmas 1992. We found it. It looks rather tired, run down and the gardens overgrown. They say you should not revisit the past and we were disappointed in what we saw.
Lunch was at a cafe in Baragara followed by a wander around the town and the waterfront. Later we drove 9 km further north to Burnett Heads at the mouth of the Burnett River. This is also where the Port of BUndaberg is located. There is a marina, docking facilities for Barrier Reef cruises and a sugar loader for sugar exports.
We then headed home for a lazy late afternoon followed by a BBQ tea.
Phil and I vie for the Baragara Blonde!!
Thursday, August 25. 2011
Well today started with the reason for Bundaberg! A visit to the Bundaberg Distilling Company, the makers of the famous Bundaberg Rum. We arrived in time for the 11:00 am tour and after viewing a display of the history of Bundaberg Rum from its beginnings in 1887 to today we were shown around the distillery and the rum making process was explained. Rum is made from molasses a byproduct of extracting sugar from sugar cane. The tour included a taste of two of their products. Why only two? Well that's because Bundy Rum are responsible and only permit people to have two standard drinks!! What a shame as their Rum Liquer is exquisite. After purchasing appropriate products from their gift shop we had some lunch.
After lunch the girls went shopping at Sugarland Shopping Centre while Phil and I went to play as many holes as we could at Bundaberg Golf Club. We had picked up a flyer at a TIC (do you remember what that is? if not refer previous entries) which said they offered $8.00 all you can play after 3:00 pm. We discovered that the price had risen to $15.00 but after chatting to the nice man in the pro shop we managed to start playing after departing with $7.00. We palyed 11 holes before light made playing questionable.
Bundaberg Distilling Company Visitor Centre.
After the tasting etc .......
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