18th July to 27th July 2011

18^th July 2011

Today was a day of blood test results and ultrasound scans which involved a trip to Proserpine so Richard and the kids were left to their own imagination but the beach has proved popular in most cases.  The blood test results for both of us turned out okay and Barry’s scan results all proved okay, so we shouldn’t have any unexpected health dramas.

19^th July 2011

We took Richard and the kids to Finch Hatton Gorge which took in the Cascade waterfall to which Barry accompanied them with Foxy who should not really have been there as it is in a National Park.

He then returned to the car with Foxy whilst the rest of the family walked on to the ‘Wheel of Fire’. Whilst here, Richard helped merry to get across to the other side to get a photo/video of the incoming waterfall and they all enjoyed this up until Jack brushed against a ‘Stinging Tree’ which immediately brought out some huge welts on his arm accompanied by severe pain.  After getting Merry back across the  pool at the 'Wheel of Fire', Richard, who also copped a dose helping Jack to get back past it, rushed Jack back to the car where Barry administered some cream in the hope of easing the pain..  Meanwhile Merry and Rory carried all of the bags back which involved getting them all across the river (the one that dumped Barry a few weeks ago).  Rory was the hero at this point by making several return trips for each bag and then helping Merry across. 

By the time everyone was back at the car the cream was easing the pain so we were able to go on to Broken River and as luck would have it the kids got to see the platypus immediately on arrival whilst Merry and Barry prepared the BBQ meal.  After the meal Richard took the kids for a short walk through the rain forest whilst Merry and Barry successfully checked out the Platypus for the third time. On the way home we called into the Proserpine Hospital and had both Richard and Jack checked out but other than supplying some pills to help them sleep there wasn’t anything they could do.  It is thought that the Aborigines would know what to rub on it to ease the pain but it doesn’t come in a bottle.  The stinging nettles in England usually have Dock leaves available in the same area to rub on the stings, and there is probably the same scenario applicable in this case but it doesn’t help if you don’t know what it is.  On arriving home Richard couldn’t find his camera and unfortunately it appears to have fallen out of the car unnoticed in the dark, whilst getting himself and Jack into the hospital.  We phoned the hospital, and police, in the hope that it had been handed in but we had no luck there.  They did manage to sleep alright and by morning things were looking much better, except for the loss of the camera.

20^th July 2011

Barry and Richard drove back to the hospital in the hope of finding the camera at the roadside parking spot used the previous night but still had no luck

Richard and Jack were both still suffering from the effects of the sting but they were easing with each application of our cream 'Rapid Aid'.

Later in the afternoon the stings were much improved either by the cream of time,so we drove up to Hydeaway Bay and Dingo Beach for a look and let the kids run amuck for a while.  The kids went to bed early tonight in order to have an early start in the morning.

21^st July 2011

We finally did the Three Island Cruise that had been put off several times because of the additional seaplane flight not happening because of maintenance problems.  The flight still didn’t happen because the spare part that comes from USA was lost in transit and had to be re-ordered and still hasn’t arrived.  Apparently the spare part is a mere door catch.  

However, the kids loved it and especially the snorkelling over the coral reef at Hook Island, although Rory didn’t exactly master it but made up for it by keeping the on-board professional photographer fully occupied with her posing.  The boat load had split into 2 groups for this island and after our group did the snorkelling we walked round to the jetty to do the semi-submersible glass bottomed boat trip that the other group had just finished.  This didn't really impress us as the view was very indistinct, and after snorkelling and seeing the real colours it left a lot to be desired.  It was also very crowded, and despite being asked to rotate to allow others the opportunity to share the experience, there is always an amazing number of ignorant individuals who suddenly don't understand the English language.  There is also always an elderly woman who has had a swim in a bottle of cheap perfume  that stinks the place out. 

However, on the bright side we did have a welcome visitor on the boat

We had lunch on-board on the way to Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island which is just a beach for interested parties to swim.   It claims pure white sand but the last cyclone supposedly washed tannins through the sand and discoloured it.  They obviously haven't seen the white sand of Esperance.  Barry stayed on board the boat whilst it was anchored off-shore once the beachgoers have disembarked.  This allowed him the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely after lunch glass of wine rather than sit on beach 1.5 hours.  

 There is nothing available on the island except trees and sand and Merry didn’t take any water with her so Richard entertained the crowd on beach, and boat, by successfully swimming out to get a her a bottle of water.

After boarding the boat, which involved the boarders getting wet bums wading through the water to get to the boarding ramp, we headed to Daydream Island where we were entertained feeding stingrays at the resort reef pool, and a walk across part of the island. 

We arrived home to an excited dog, although the neighbours had taken her for a couple of walks during the day and made a fuss over her at about 5.30pm.

22^nd July 2011

Barry took Richard and the kids into Airlie Beach to collect the onboard photographers photos and CD and then took them to a shop to buy a couple of small, cheap fishing rods and then on to Conway Beach for a final climb on the rocks and run on the beach and then returned to the rock wall near the Airlie Beach Yatch Club for a couple of hours fishing as the tide came in.  There was a certain amount of success with some small fish surrendering themselves briefly in the knowledge that they were too small to be eaten.

23^rd July 2011

Richard took the kids across to the local Shingley Beach and did a spot of fishing with them which was quite successful from the fun point-of view, but not much good for a fish breakfast.  After a real breakfast they packed all of their belongings and loaded the car ready to head for the airport and played cards until it was time to go.  The airport doesn’t have much in the way of facilities or parking and after a quick cuppa Richard and the kids went through to the boarding area and effectively ended their holiday, whilst we returned to the caravan park and packed up the tent, airbeds and sleeping bags, etc.  The evening was very quiet without the kids and will take a while to get used to them not being here.

27^th July 2011

After lunch we drove out to Shute harbour which is the working harbour for supplying the few islands that are inhabited either with permanent residents or tourist resorts.  We drove around the harbour and then up onto the cliffs for an overview of the whole area and then drove out to the end of the point and took a walking track across to the beach on the other side. 

 

The walk provided some great views and took us through an area that was alive with butterflies and then out onto the beach, complete with crocodile warnings.  

28th June to 15th July 2011

28^th June 2011

Mark drove to Mackay and collected the car parts which we fitted in the afternoon and finally, successfully completed the task.  Whilst we have been here Merry has made new covers for our caravan seats to replace the white ones she made whilst we were in Hobart, to protect the seats from dirty dog paws and messy eaters.  The white ones were not the ideal colour but the material had been given to us by the owner of the house that we were looking after.  The new ones are a darker colour and look quite professional.

30^th June 2011

We drove through the Mackay town and on to the Marina/marina village which at first appearances looks like, and probably is a rich kids’ playground with its high rise apartments lining the edge of the marina overlooking millions of dollars worth of yachts.  However, there are numerous apartments for sale and we were later informed that there is a high crime rate in the area.  When we got back to Mark and Jeane’s we had a final drink farewell drink with them as we leave tomorrow morning.  Like us, Foxy has had a great time here as there is so much room to move around and places to explore and loves going down the 100 metre driveway with Jeane to check the mail box because she invariably comes back via a different way along one of many tracks she has made through the bush.

 1^st July 2011

We departed from the peace and quiet of Mark and Jeane’s and made our way to Airlie Beach with one stop for lunch and arrived at about 2.00pm but then took us an age to juggle the van to a position in the allocated area that was level enough for the annex to reach the ground to be pegged down on all sides so that Foxy cannot escape if she is left in the annex whilst we go out.  We have yet to understand why caravan parks are not levelled before they set out the bays.  We could move to another area as this spot had been reserved for us so that we could also put up our tent for Richard, our younger son, and his kids Jack and Rory can stay with us for the school holidays.

3^rd July 2011

This started out as a rainy day but cleared in the afternoon so we drove through the actual town Airlie and on to Port Mandalay, but it was a dead end road although there was an area where it was possible to launch a boat. 

 

On the way back Barry suddenly stopped and turned around to return to a garden with a Bottlebrush shrub in the front garden and stopped to take a photo of a Blue-faced Honeyeater. He had spotted the bright blue patch around the bird’s eyes amongst the bright red of the Bottlebrush flowers as we drove past.  It is not often that birds wait around for you to return to take their photograph.  We continued on back into Airlie and parked near the man-made lagoon that is the town swimming pool which includes a couple of simulated beaches and several different depth areas.  It is not considered safe to swim in the ocean, which is only twenty metres away, because of the box jelly fish that like some areas of the tropical Queensland coast particularly in the summer months.  We also drove to the Whitsunday shopping centre to check it out as this is within a 5 minute walk from the caravan park.

4^th July 2011

Despite the original struggle to get the van in to a vaguely acceptable position, we pulled everything apart this afternoon and moved the van forward to the block in front of us as the previous occupants had left in morning.  This now gives us a level block with a concrete pad that the annex fits over perfectly and plenty of room behind us for the tent to fit when the relatives arrive.

5^th July 2011

We took a walk from the park and crossed road to the waterside path that heads into Airlie Beach shopping area and lagoon, but due to having a dog we can’t walk that far before the ‘No Dogs’ bit starts.  We walked with Foxy through this prohibited area a couple of days ago because the town map implies it is a dog-on-lead path, but we noticed the signs on the way back that we hadn’t notice before with a $1500 fine attached. 

We walked a reasonable distance taking in Abel Point Marina before turning round and managed to photograph a few birds to add to our bird file.

8^th July 2011

We spent the afternoon erecting the tent and preparing it inside for Richard, Rory and Jack’s arrival

9^th July 2011

We drove to Proserpine airport to collect Richard, Rory and Jack settled them into their new surroundings along with some shopping to ensure we had their preferences satisfied.  The three of them appear to really happy to be in each others’ company again.  The airport is undergoing renovations which has created parking problems and has very limited seating for people waiting for plane arrivals, which definitely needs attention in many other areas when you consider the numbers using the facility.  The kids had a swim in the park pool for a quick half hour as it seemed cold for them even though they had come up from Canberra.

10^th July 2011

We all went into Airlie Beach for the kids to swim in the lagoon, which lasted a bit longer this time because their dad and Merry went in with them.  That was followed by a walk through town to the other end and back along the beach front.  When we got home the kids unpacked the presents Rick had bought them, which where radio controlled helicopters, and went out to the vacant area of the caravan pack to become experienced pilots.

11^th July 2011

We all drove into Proserpine to see what it had to offer and came away disappointed, including the bought lunch, so on the way we turned off to Conway Beach. 

The tide was out by about 1.5kms but the sand was firm so the troupes where able to walk out to the sea and explore the crabs and jellyfish.  On their return they clambered around on the local outcrop of granite rocks for a while and generally enjoyed themselves, with he added attraction of an Ospey.  By the time we were ready to leave the tide had come back in about half way but the area they had walked out on was still high and dry and didn’t look like cutting that area off from behind.  Useful to know as there will probably be another trip to this beach in the near future.  When we arrived back at camp we were informed that the next days’ Three Island Cruise was unable to include the short seaplane flight over the Islands due to a maintenance problem and we had been put off until the next day (Wednesday).

12^th July 2011

The wind has got up today so the temporary postponement of the cruise and flight may be a blessing. 

Instead we drove out to Cedar Creek Falls but we knew there may not be much water as the last rain was about 6 weeks ago, and our guess proved correct.  However the area was nice and had a track that led up to the top of the falls and beyond which kept us all occupied for quite a while with the kids clambering across the rocks and building a boat with bark from a paperbark tree. 

There was no BBQ facility there so we continued on to Conway Beach again to use the BBQ facility there and enjoyed the company of several Blue-faced Honeyeaters whilst we ate.  After lunch the kids collected several coconuts from the palm trees along the beach front and then went for another clamber on the rocks until Jack head butted a tree and called it quits for the day.  Whilst we were out we received a phone call from the Three Island Cruise people to put us off for another day until Thursday.  We later discovered that the weather was deteriorating for Thursday and the next four days so rang them back and changed the arrangement to Tuesday as the forecast was good for then.

13th July 2011

Barry took Rick and the kids out to the local nursery that also has a mini golf course, which the kids love, but this one was a bit ordinary but kept them happy for a while.  When we got back to the park Rick took them for a walk through the town and bought them a Badminton racquet set, and lunch whilst they were out and about.

14th July 2011

We drove into Bowan which is not the tidiest of towns and went to the Lookout to see the 360 degree view but only the seaward views were of any note.  The Cafe attached to the lookout wouldn't let Foxy in to the al fresco area so we gave them the flick and found a fish and chip shop in town and took it down to the beach to eat.  The beach front area was presentable with BBQ facilities and seating for picnis,etc.  The only point of interest were Bowan is concerned is the fact that the Darwin scenes in the film 'Australia' were shot there.  Obviously Darwin would be considered far to modern with the rebuild after the war and later after cyclone Tracy, whereas Bowan needed little help to make it look like Darwin diring the wartime period.  However, it did provide a lot of financial income to the town and many residence who acted as 'extras' in the film, but it is hard to see where any of it was spent.

 After lunch the kids and Richard walked out the sea as the tide was out yet again, but not as far as Conway beach. 

15th July 2011

We drove to Farleigh and did the Sugar cane mill tour through a working mill rather than the miniature version in Sarina which used an outdated DVD introduction which showed the cane being burnt, which they don't do anymore unless the cane is diseased.  We then  walked through the plant decked out in  hard hats, glasses and  earplugs so the guide used a microphone with an amplifier and speaker attached to her belt.  Unless you stood within a metre of her you still couldn't hear anything she said.  Fortunately the kids managed to stick pretty close to her and gained all the information, and it was also them that asked most of the questions..  After the tour we drove into Mackay to show the kids the Blue Lagoon but it was closed due to technical problems so we headed on down to Sarina to visit Jeane and Mark as they had invited us for a BBQ.  This also gave us the opportunity to grab 76 litres of their rain tank water as the Airlie Beach town water leaves a lot to be desired with an overdosed chlorine taste and smell. 

Click on the location below for more information on the area. 

21st June to 28th June 2011

See NOTE at the bottom of this publishing.

21^st June 2011

Over a period of many days Barry has been assisting Mark to replace the clutch in Jeane’s car, which due its east/west engine configuration has been extremely awkward with little help from the manual.  However, the transaxle unit is now out and the clutch replaced, but they still have to refit the transaxle unit, drive shafts and exhaust system, etc. 

22^nd June 2011

The car had to go to Mackay to have the new dash board top fitted which meant we were stuck in Mackay for most of the day so we spent the time doing the Heritage Walk to see the old buildings of significance.

Some were quite interesting buildings from the architectural point of view whilst others only go a mention due to age, but it also took us through the attractive main street, and also out to the river side walk. 

We walked back from the river to Queens Park in order to be there for 10.00am for the opening of the Orchid Shed which proved to have a large number of orchids in bloom despite the time of year, plus the park was a pleasant setting. 

On arrival back in the centre of town we treated ourselves to a cuppa and then went to the visitors centre to find out about any more attractions within walking distance, but the only unhelpful suggestion was a taxi ride to the marina.  We don’t know which part of ‘within walking distance’ the woman didn’t understand, so we left and wandered through the main street again and had lunch at Hog’s Breathe Cafe which is something Merry has wanted to try for some time, despite the name.  It proved to be a very good meal with extremely tender meat and your choice of whatever you want with it. 

We then walked back to the river and along the walkway to the 3 tiered swimming pools which was not entirely open to the public yet as they are preparing it for the school holidays plus the temperature is down a bit; however, we were allowed to wander around for a look.  Entry to this pool complex is free as all rate payers contribute to the it although Barry is not in favour of that idea as he wouldn’t want to pay rates for something he would never use. The kids area is especially interesting with jets of water in all directions and huge suspended bucket that is slowly filled until it’s balance is upset enough to tip the contents out onto a roof top to make it splash out over anyone on the ground (not a direct hit with a heap of water that would flatten a child).  The top 2 tiered pools had an attractive water fall from one to the other and a lot of shade area was provided between the main pools and the kids section with the kids pool virtually completely covered with shade cloth. 

As we were leaving the pools we received the phone call to say the car was ready which was about 1.5 hours earlier than expected, so we collect the car and headed home with a brief stop off at a caravan parts shop to buy some LED replacement lights as we are gradually converting our lighting from halogen lights to LEDs.  This reduces the current draw from the battery when we are not connected to a power source, therefore prolonging the battery’s staying power before charging is necessary, plus it provides a whiter, brighter light. The 6 that we have installed so far use only slightly more current draw than one of the original halogen lights that we replaced.

23^rd June 2011

After relaxed morning, Mark and Barry had a monumental-all-afternoon struggle and finally managed to get the gearbox/transaxle unit back into Jeane’s car so now they can get on with the relatively easy part of refitting the exhaust system, sense wiring, battery mount and battery and a few other fiddly jobs.  All being well we might actually see the car on the road today.

24^th June 2011

The car is not on the road yet as Mark tried operating the clutch yesterday and didn’t achieve much, they bled the system to ensure no air had got in but that didn’t help so the master cylinder was removed and disassembled to find the internal return spring in 5 pieces.  Jeane could only have been days away from being stranded in the middle of nowhere, or a busy intersection, with no clutch at all. 

25^th June 2011

Mark attempted to buy both master and slave cylinders today but nowhere in Mackay has one so he had to order them, and they will not be here until Tuesday.  Until then the rest of the necessary rebuild will happen so that there is only the replacement of the cylinders left to do, subject to yet another disaster.

26^th June 2011

Merry and Jeane went into Sarina to the Sunday market and in the afternoon we were joined by the company of some of Jeane and Mark’s friends from Salonika Beach for a BBQ.

27^th June 2011

We drove out to Broken River again with a stop at Melba House in Marian that was lived in by Dame Nellie Melba for about a year when her husband was the manager of the local cane farm.  You are only allowed into thtree rooms, one room with photos and a few items that she once owned and the other rooms are the local visitor centre and a souvenir shop, so the visit only lasted about 10 minutes.  The next stop was at a sugar cane mill where we managed to sneak into the area where they unload the cane from the train with a rotary dumper that empties 2 cars at a time.  The cane drops onto a conveyor belt going into the factory on the other side of the road and probably straight into the crushers.  Apparently, they only have 16 hours from the time they harvest the cane to the time it is crushed before it starts to degrade.

This was followed by a roadside stop to film a cane train on its way to the mill, and then a stop by a creek for lunch. 

 After lunch we stopped at the small township of Finch Hatton for a look around the area and met a fellow that we met last week out at the gorge  who made the suggest that we drove round the Crediton Loop whilst out at Broken River as it is only a short distance out the other side of the river.  We did continue past Broken River and on to the Crediton Loop but it didn’t do a lot for us and were quite happy to return to the river. 

It was a bit early to go to the Platypus viewing area so we took off on a riverside loop walk with views of several cascades and through some very impressive rain forest.  This decision proved rather eventful as we met some people coming the other way who stopped to chat and recognized Barry who then acknowledged that the other guys face looked familiar and realized it was Frank and his wife Heather, who we shared a plane ride with over Lake Eyre 2 years ago, almost to the day.  We told them we were staying in Sarina and they told us they lived in Salonika Beach which made us comment that the people we were living with also had a place in Salonika Beach.  It turned out that they know Jeane and Mark and live across the road from Ankie who was at the BBQ on Sunday. 

They also knew that some people had stopped at Jeane and Marks Maloolah property to help with their clean up but they didn’t know it was us until we mentioned that we had stopped there for a week.  We then continued the walk in amazement at the coincidental meeting especially as we had been going to do this trip on Saturday but Barry had developed a slight knee problem, which happens from time to time since having keyhole surgery on it in Karratha.  We suspect the fly in/fly out surgeon (quack) left the key in and it turns occasionally. 
The other coincidence is the fact that we chose to do the loop walk in the clockwise direction.  If  we had gone the other way it would have meant following them at a considerable distance and would never have caught up to them, especially with the photo stops.

On returning to the car, we put on our jumpers as the temperature was dropping and went to the Platypus viewing platform and struck lucky immediately with platypus and an Azure kingfisher.  The platform gradually filled with other interested parties so having achieved our objective went to the car for a cuppa and returned later for a final platypus show by which time we had the platform almost to ourselves, and then headed home.

28th June 2011

Jeane's car is finally finished and on the road with a new clutch, master cylinder, slave cylinder and fresh hyraulic fluid.

NOTE:

We have just discovered that we can insert a 'Location' which is printed near the publishing date at the end of each publishing.  If you click on the location it will provide the Google Earth view of our location and in some case also offer photos (not ours) of the area.  It only took us 3 years to spot this nice addition.

10th to 17th June 2011

10^th June 2011

We packed up our lunch and headed into Mackay primarily for a visit to the Botanical gardens, but we also unsuccessfully tried to purchase a few items that we wanted.  Our search for these items took so long that we had our lunch in the park by the war memorials and then went on to the gardens. 

 As Botanical gardens go they left a lot to be desired with very few points of interest that begged for a photograph, but did give us and Foxy a 5km walk.



 One of the few highlights was some of the pathway in various area where one stretch of paving had an obvious aboriginal theme with embedded pebbles in the form of animals, and the other cement path had the imprint of branches from various flora that had been pressed into the surface when it was still slightly wet.  There is also a tribute to the South Sea Islanders who were brought in to cut cane in the early stages of the industry..

11^th June 2011

One of the main reasons for moving fairly rapidly (for us) from Melbourne to Queensland was to find some warm weather again after Tasmania and Melbourne but the cold seems to be following us.  We have had a few warm days and reasonable nights but it has now turned wet and cold again.

13^th June 2011

The weather is no longer wet but is still cold at night despite the warmish daytime temperature, around 21 degrees.

15^th June 2011

Barry and mark spent the day tearing Jeane’s car apart to replace the clutch, which is turning into a nightmare as it is quite old and doesn’t want to come apart.  It took 3 hour to get the exhaust pipe off and out of the way.

16^th June 2011

We drove out to Eungalla with a few distractions on the way. 

The first being a stop at the road side to watch some sugar cane harvesting in progress and also to watch the variety of birds hanging around hoping to grab a feast of mice/snakes, or whatever that emerges.



The second being a pub in the tiny township of Pinnacle to have a pepper/steak pie for lunch as they were highly recommended.

However, we have rated them as number 3 after Warburton and Ross.

The third distraction was a trip into Finch Hatton Gorge which included Areluen pool and the Wheel of Fire pool that took about three hours with the walking and photo stops. 

Areluen is a pleasant water hole fed by a small but attractive waterfall .  The trip to the Wheel of Fire involved an uphill walk along the side of the gorge following the water course mwith many cascades and included having to wade across it at one point.  If you happen to be young and agile it is possible to jump across rocks to achieve this crossing, but us not so young ones have to get our feet wet and wade across on the slippery rocks within the water.  This actually caught Barry out at one point and dumped him on his bum in the drink which didn’t initially impress him, and he gained no help from Merry who was too busy laughing.   The backpack camera case that Barry was carying stopped him actually landing on his back but was a concern as both cameras were in it for the crossing but the case is very water resistant apparently.  We were also pleased that the car feys didn't find their way out of his pocket.

The  Wheel of Fire exercise seemed to be a bit disappointing on arrival as it appears to be just a pool, but if you are prepared to venture along the cliff face at the edge of pool and risk another dumping in much deeper water, you can look around the corner of the cliff face to view the incoming waterfall at the left of the following pictureb but is still very difficult to gain a good view.



After a warming cuppa in the carpark we drove on to Eungella which involves a long steep uphill drive to the township and turned into the lookout which provides a view to the distant coast on a clear day.  At 4.00pm it wasn’t at all clear but still worth the look before driving on to Broken River with more lookouts on the way. 

We arrived at Broken River soon after 4.30pm and spent the next hour or so on the platypus viewing platform successfully watching platypus and turtles.  The only photo success was with video rather than still photos, so hopefully we can extract some stills from the video.

We left in time to descend from Eungella with a bit of daylight left for the steep twisty road. Meanwhile, Foxy spent the day with Jeane and Mark at their beach house in Salonika running on the beach with Patch and Zoë.

17^th June 2011

We visited the Sarina Sugar Cane Factory which claims to be the only working model sugar cane factory which we found to be a very disappointing visit.  It started with a DVD explaining all about the cane, the harvesting and the mill processing and then was taken outside to see some of the old equipment including the original inventions of one particular the farmer, attached to tractors to harvest the cane. 

These inventions were eventually sold to John Deer engineers who then developed them over the years to the current harvesters.  From there we entered the model factory where we were told what each piece of equipment did but only got to see one piece operate to crush some cane. All of the pieces of equipment had names, such as Derek the Dryer, to impress kids rather than adults and of the other equipment was started up, and even if it had been you watched it all from behind a barrier.  To see the whole process from beginning to end would take all day rather than the hour we were allocated, unless it is left running permanently.  With the aid of another DVD we were shown the different stages of the extracted fluid in small jars in the order that it would have passed through the various equipment.  This was followed by some rum based tasting and some sauces. So far a lot of Queensland has disappointed us which is rather surprising with the tourist trade being high on their agenda.   They could learn a lot from Tasmania. The cane mills burn all of the waste material after the cane is processed in there furnaces to produce electrical power for the mill and therefore self sufficient with some to supply the grid system for the six month processing period, and this mill in Sarina also produces ethanol from the molasses to add to petrol.

16th May to 6th June 2011

16^th May 2011

We took Foxy for a walk alongside the creek that passes through the parkland across the road from the caravan park.  This is a concrete pathway with several bridges over the creek to allow for varying length walks as the total length is quite long.  We met a cyclist who stopped to tell us that at the second bridge there were lots of blue wrens and red wren plus sun-baking lizards, however, by the time we arrived there the sun had hidden behind cloud so the lizards had gone, and we only briefly saw one so-called red wren.  We have never previously heard of red wrens and suspect it was a robin, and checking in our bird book didn’t help as there is a red backed wren.  The bird we saw was black with a very bright red breast like a robin but was about the size of a wren. We bailed out of the track at the next opportunity to head home via the housing estate as the clouds were quite threatening but at the end of the day it still hadn’t rained.

17^th May 2011

We left Foxy at home again in the late afternoon and took the bus into Brisbane to take some night time photos. 

We walked to the Botanical Gardens and out to the river facing the iconic steel Story Bridge to get the lit up photo, and then walked along towards the point to look across the river at the rock wall that we passed on the boat trip as it is also lit up.



This rock wall is used for rock climbing, abseiling and by emergency services for their rescue training.  We continued around the Botanical Gardens and rossed the river on the Goodwill Bridge which is a pedestrian/cycle bridge only and leads onto the South Bank.  It passes the Maritime Museum which currently houses the boat ‘Ella’s Pink Lady’ that Jessica Simpson sailed solo around the world, and then passes the restaurants/cafes and entertainment venues. 

The walk along the south bank meanders through pleasantly laid out gardens with great views of the city which at night are enhanced by the lights reflected in the river. 

It also passes the huge Ferris wheel (not the world’s biggest, but big enough) which we indulged for the benefit of our second childhood, and the night time views.  We crossed back over the river via the Victoria Bridge, with views to the Kurilpa Bridge, which delivers you back by the lit up Casino and into the mall where we had a coffee break before descending into the bus station and heading home.

22^nd May 2011

We drove up to Mooloolah Valley on the Sunshine Coast to pay a visit to Mark and Jeane who had come down from Mackay to clean up one of their properties in order to put it on the market.  We originally met them in Karratha as members of the four wheel drive club and they later accompanied us on our Canning Stock Route trip.  Mark was busy with his neighbour replacing the tiles in the kitchen so we only saw him for short spells during drink and lunch breaks but Jeanne gave us a tour of the very large house and garden. She then spent the day chatting with us, which considering the amount of work they have got to get through, may have been a nice rest for Jeane or maybe a lot of lost time but we did enjoy and appreciate her company, and will catch up with both of them when we reach Mackay and stay with them for a few weeks on their other property.

23^rd May 2011

Today’s weather report claimed to produce storms in the afternoon so we used the morning to drive to Mount Cool-tha to check out the Botanical gardens and the lookout which is much closer than the Mount Gravatt lookout. 

We went to the summit lookout first to take the mandatory photos and then decided to have lunch at the summit cafe which was an excellent meal.  As we ate we could see the storm approaching and it struck just as we finished our alfresco meal and made it to the car as the sky opened up.  We drove down to the Botanic gardens but the rain was not letting up enough to walk and the drive through was closed off so we drove around the circuit passed the TV towers and eventually found the car park for Slaughter Falls.  The rain had eased considerably but not completely but we still walk to the falls which was little more than a trickle of water despite the deluge we had just driven through.   We continued on to see several aborigine art sites along the trail which eventually brought us back to the falls track and back to the carpark.  This is the only time we have walked through the bush using umbrellas.   The rain had cleared by the time we arrived home.

24^th May 2011

We caught the bus outside the caravan park whilst Foxy stayed at home again, and went into Brisbane to see the South bank in daylight.  We got off the bus at the South bank station and walk to the riverside and started our trip with a coffee break near the Memorial Gardens and then went into the Maritime Museum. 

This was somewhat different to the Fremantle Maritime Museum but still good in its own way, with the highlight being the HMAS Diamantina which is the ship on which the Japanese surrendered from Nauru and Ocean islands in 1945. The other attraction as mentioned before,  is Jessica Simpson’s lone voyage yatch. 
We then walked through the gardens to the beach area of the South bank which is currently being rebuilt as the January floods wrecked a lot of this area. 

Continuing on we stopped for lunch at one of the many options available in the area and then moved on to the Nepalese Temple and the Ferris wheel.  We didn’t want to cross the river via the Victoria Bridge so caught the City Cat boat to part way along the river were we travelled a few days ago and then caught another City Cat back to the next stop after our start point which delivered us to the casino. 

We then caught a City Loop bus and did a lap round the city finishing by the War Memorial, from which we walked back to the Queen Street bus station and home.

We had some of the late afternoon left which we used to pack up some of the chairs, tables, etc ready to move northwards to the relatively close proximity of the Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo.

25^th May 2011

We finished the packing up and moved on to Seaview Caravan Park near Lansborough, so called because it is fairly high with a view to the coast, and about 6kms from the zoo.

26^th May 2011

We visited the zoo which was rather expensive even with our concession cards and food and drink is an expensive exercise as well but it is privately own and therefore has to be self supporting.  It is the most pleasant zoo to walk around and didn’t expect it to be a better day out than the Perth Zoo, but it is as a result of the layout and the entertainment provided. 

There is the usual display of animals and the usual feeding times to attract attention such as the public feeding the elephants by hand, but a great show is put on in the 9 million dollar Crocoseum which has crocodile feeding, free flight bird displays, snakes and elephants. 

Later in the day the Tigers are brought out to play with their keepers, both in and out of their pool, and is a great show. 

In most zoos you are lucky to glimpse any of the cat family as they laze around out of view most of the time but we got to see the tigers and also a cheetah being led by its keeper for a walk through the park. 

We were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time just after the tiger show as we had to walk past the red panda enclosure and one of the two decided to come down out its tree and wander around for us to see properly. 

We spent 7 hours at the zoo and saw everything they had although the turtles only showed us their heads.  At the moment they are not displaying their African animals as they are building a new display area for them which will open in September.  This zoo is an experience we can recommend if you happen to be in the area.

27^th May 2011

We visited Mark and Jeane again to help them clean up their property as Mark has to return to work soon and they still have a lot to do in the garden and house and we had held Jeane up a few days ago.  We cleared the two flower beds outside the back door of weeds ready for mulching with pine bark and then moved into the palm trees at the front of the property to remove the fallen and hanging fronds.  We then joined Jeane on the other side of the driveway to thin out the jungle in that area and then in the late afternoon moved to palm fronds from around the small dam which is currently covered with some small leaved stuff on the surface which gives the appearance of grass which Foxy thought she could walk on.  It didn’t work for her but she proved that she can swim, but she hates water so wasn’t impressed, and then had to suffer the indignity of being washed to warm her back up, as well as clean her.  The day was finished off with a barbecue in the evening before heading home again.

28^th May 2011

We returned to Mark and Jeane’s for another attack on the garden and have arranged to move the caravan to their property tomorrow for a couple of days to help them get everything finished, including getting rid of 2 monstrous piles of garden material.  We eliminated a huge amount of the garden material with a bonfire as there was no wind and threat of rain, and well clear of all other trees and house, which has greatly reduced the required number of trips to the tip.  We also built a pine log wall around a garden bed ready to fill with mulch, and happily Foxy didn’t go anywhere near the dam.  We didn’t stay for a barbecue as we wanted to dismantle our annex in order to stow it whilst it is dry as we will not be using it again until we reach Jeanne and Mark’s place in Mackay in about a week time.

29^th May 2011

We made move to Jeane and Marks and after setting up the van continued with the onslaught of the garden.  At the end of the day the two piles of garden refuse were eliminated including what was added throughout the day and 60% of the 2 beds at the rear of the house now have a brick edge around them.

30^th May 2011

It rained with thunder last night and the garden is once again turned into a virtual bog as the heavy clay soil doesn’t allow the water to drain away but the weather cleared by morning and allowed progress. The remaining brick edging round the rear bed has been completed, all beds mulched with bark chips and the path to shed topped up with blue metal chips.

31^st May 2011

Finalised the gravel pathways and loaded the trailer with the recyclable material and took it to the tip which included a visit to exchange a bud battery that was still inside its warranty, and Bunnings.  The trailer has been refilled with genuine rubbish ready for another trip to the tip and then Barry joined Mark on the roof to replace all of the screws in the house roof.  Barry is taking out the old screws whilst Mark puts the new ones in, which has sped the proceedings up quite significantly. The concrete path around the house under the eaves has been painted and the huge shed has been partially cleaned out, as has one of the three car garages.  

1^st June 2011

Mark and Barry took the general rubbish to the tip and then continued with some more replacement of the roofing screws.  After lunch they fitted some lattice fencing to the rear of the chicken run and then piped the third water tank into the existing two tank system. 

Meanwhile, Merry and Jeane cleaned out the chicken run whilst Foxy had the time of her life with so much room and so many places to explore, and although she has met the chickens and has decided to just treat them with respect, and prefers them cooked.

2^nd June 2011

Mark and Barry hung some new doors in the house and garage and then had a final attack on the roofing screws whilst the neighbour from the back block cut through some old tyres to put around the fruit trees. Barry then modified some of the water piping to various points and started to spread a cubic metre of sand over the lawn where the tractor and vehicles had chewed it up a bit, and also on the boggy patches where the heavy clay soil will not let the water soak away. Among other jobs, Mark fitted a new battery to the ride-on lawn mower ready for use tomorrow and for his father to use in the future until the property is sold.  Merry cleaned the caravan both inside and outside whilst Jeanne cleaned the garages out and the pool area.

3^rd June 2011

Barry finished spreading the sand and then mowed the extensive lawn asrea with the ride-on mower whilst Merry cleaned Mark’s father’s barbeque ready for him to collect on the weekend.  After lunch we packed up the van and headed towards Mackay and stopped overnight at a large, well used, free camp site just north of Gin Gin.  Menwhile Mark and Jeane will have left soon after us to go to some friends in Gympie for a couple of nights.  We will meet them in their Mackay home, which is actually in Sarina slightly south of Mackay, in a couple of day’s time. 

4^th June 2011

We continued our journey after a bit of a lazy start at about 9.00am and stopped off at our next free camp site at Waverley Creek, about 130 south of Mackay, so tomorrow will probably have an even later start as Mark and Jeane will not get home from Gympie until late afternoon although they don’t have to be home before we get there. 

5^th June 2011

The morning turned out to be quite interesting as a couple and teenage son in a converted bus came into spend the night but arrived in the dark so we didn’t see anything odd about it.  However, the bus was pulling a trailer carrying a Suzuki Jiminy for driving around in when settled in an established destination, but apparently this had partially fallen off the back of the trailer due to a failed turnbuckle and dragged the rear wheels along behind them with the hand brake on.  This had completely worn through both rear tyres.  We stopped and help them jack the back of the car up and get it back onto the trailer wand added some useful advice about securing it more effectively.  If one failed turnbuckle is sufficient to let the vehicle fall off then it isn’t exactly secure.  We continued our journey through what is obviously sugar cane country, although it is also a coal area, and arrived at Mark and Jeane’s at about 1.00pm and they arrived at about 5.30pm, so our camp was fully set up when they arrived.

6^th June 2011

We drove through to Mackay, but not as a tourist trip, it was to visit the Nissan agents to arrange for the top of our dashboard to be replaced with a new one as ours has blistered which it is not supposed to do.