24th November 2011
We finally packed up and left Mark and Jeane to the peace and quiet that we had enjoyed during our stay and headed southwards with the intention of joining Richard in Hervey on the 29th. We stopped overnight at a free campsite beside the Bruce Highway at Yaamba which turned out to be the worst overnight stop we have had from the noise point of view, and the temperature was high so sleeping without the air conditioner was not easy. The morning chorus at around 4.00am from a multitude of Rainbow Lorikeets was not appreciated.
25th November 2011
We moved on reasonably early in the morning thanks to the early wake-up call and continued to a cheap campground with power for air conditioning to ensure a decent night’s sleep. The campsite is actually on a private property and nowhere near a town or main road of any kind and was therefore should be quiet except for the morning chorus. Tomorrow will be a relatively short journey as we are only a bit over a hundred kilometres from our destination.
26th November 2011
We departed from the peace and quiet of the campsite quite early due to Queensland not having day light saving so it gets light about 4.30am so we had two coffee breaks on the way, one in a roadside bay and the second in a Park by Apple Tree Creek, plus we also stopped at the Hervey Bay visitor centre on the way. It was very hot when we arrived at Lazy Acres Caravan Park so we only set up the van and had lunch and settled for putting up the annex when it cooled down. Later in the afternoon we drove to a camping store that happens to be a Coleman agent and arranged to have a broken chair replaced under the 5 year warrantee. Basically this went well but we have to go back on Monday for the final result as we are hoping to have it exchanged for a different preferred model chair.
27th November 2011
This was a fairly hot day, around 32 degrees, so we watched the golf on the TV in the air conditioning until late afternoon when we took Foxy for a walk to the local beach, which happens to be Torquay beach. On the way there we crossed a road that also happens to be the road in which a friend of Richard lives, and he arrives there in a couple of days.
28th November 2011
The camping shop called to say that they Coleman wouldn’t let us exchange the broken chair for a different, but cheaper model, and that we needed to go to BCF who have the same model. However , at BCF, as they where exchanging it for the same model we mentioned that the other shop was not able to let us exchange it for a different model but they said they could so we changed it for a more expensive model and paid the difference. When we bought the original model 3 years ago it cost $109 but is now $139 so we only had to pay an extra $30 for the $169 model which now has a fresh 3 year warranty.
Later in the afternoon after doing some shopping we drove along the length of the bay side road checking out the various beaches to determine which allow dogs on them and those that don’t. Torquay seems to be the No Dogs’ beach as it is the only stretch of beach that anyone would want to be on. The others that allow dogs on leash are very rough and rocky, whilst the dogs off leash beaches are diabolical. The bay side road has residential or shops on the non-beach side and the other side has stretches of parkland and playgrounds between the road and the beach so very few of the residences, if any, offer ocean views. There are several caravan parks along this strip as well and fortunately we chose the one we are currently in based on price and dog friendly, but apparently the others suffer from people wandering off the beach and helping themselves to anything that takes their fancy. Our park is a good 10 minutes walk from the beach, is fenced and has a remote operated security gate so we avoid those problems, but being further from the beach also means it is not too busy as beach parks are most peoples’ preference. We are not beach people and most half decent beaches are not dog friendly so do not need to pay the extra for ocean views.
30th November 2011
Richard has arrived and he and his friend Sally came for dinner. As we will not be with any of our family for Christmas we made this opportunity our Christmas dinner with Turkey and all the trimmings.
1st December 2011-12
We drove out of town to a property owned by the parents of Mel who was Richard’s friend in Perth but she is now in Hervey Bay with her parents. Richard was also there as he was sorting through his belongings that where there in storage from when he moved to this side of the country chasing jobs. We spent the afternoon and evening there enjoying a BBQ with them.
4th December 2011
Nothing of interest has happened over the last few days as we are watching the test match on TV.
