4th May to 15th May 2011

4th May 2011

We moved out of Warburton and headed towards New South Wales and stopped overnight at Victoria Lake Caravan Park in Shepperton which had us parked with a view over the lake, which now has a reasonable amount of water in it. We are reliably informed that a year ago it was empty due to the drought conditions, but now it is a pleasant view both during the day and at night when the town lights are reflected in the water.

5th May 2011

We left Shepperton and moved on into New South Wales to an overnight rest area near a very small place called Beckom. It was free but close to the road which is the main road to Brisbane and carries numerous B double trucks and road trains and therefore very noisy, especially when they pull in late at night for their overnight stop.

6th May 2011

Our next stop was at Terramungamine Reserve which is a free camping spot that is really delightful, about 10kms north of Dubbo alongside the Macquarie River with no traffic noise, just peace and quiet with the exception of cockatoos, galahs and kookaburras. We were going to stay for one night but decided to stay for the weekend as well which has given us the opportunity to get a gas bottle re-filled, find a Jayco agent to buy a replacement non-return valve for our water inlet and find a Nissan agent to buy a new electronic key as Barry’s is useless. He has to be so close to the vehicle and press the open button so many times that it is quicker to use the physical key. In Melbourne this replacement exercise was going to take several days, but here in Dubbo was done in less than an hour, and was $20 cheaper.

7th May 2011

Today we fitted the new non-return valve which was much easier than expected and then drove through town to visit the Shoyoen Japanese Gardens which proved to be a pleasant, restful experience.

The gardens are currently being extended with more of the traditional Japanese garden style on one side and a rainforest effect on the other side, but it will be some time before completion. Since leaving Melbourne we have not had any rain and the day time temperatures have been pleasantly warm but have become much colder at night due to altitude (about 300 metres) and being inland. Last night was about 4 degrees.

8th May 2011

In the afternoon we drove into town and parked near the river and walked along as far as the unattractive walkway went and then turned into centre of town for a look at the town itself. Apart from the old Gaol which wasn’t open as it was after 4.00pm, the town didn’t really impress us. Despite the tree lined roads and occasional roundabouts that have had some attention from the local council it still had a scruffy working class look and feel to it, and needs a lot of paint. We heard several unimpressive comments about the caravan parks here so were pleased we weren’t using any of them.

9th May 2011

We packed up and continued north stopping for the night at a free roadside rest area 40kms north of Moree which was not as noisy as the others but littered with rubbish despite the availability of numerous bins. Merry passed half an hour collecting three garbage bags of rubbish and place looked very respectable and inviting again, but we still managed to keep the place to ourselves.

10th May 2011

We had intended to move on a relatively short distance to another free camping spot that was away from the main road and near a weir that was only about 100kms from Brisbane but decided to give it a miss and made it into a caravan park just of the city. Barry phoned Belinda for a birthday chat as that was our first contact with her and Stu since leaving St Helens in Tasmania.

12th May 2011

We drove into the city for a look around which cost $8 for two hours parking which just gave us time for a short walk to King George Square where we had lunch.  From there we had to detour around the pedestrian mall as dogs are not permitted, but because we wanted the visitors centre Barry carried Foxy down Queen Ann Street which didn’t announce a dog ban but one does exist apparently, and also applies to the Botanical Gardens and just about everywhere else in Brisbane. What we have experienced so far has not begged us to stay, or come back. On the back we stopped at the local Westfield’s shopping centre where there was a blood bank trailer set up for donations. Barry was rejected because he has to wait 4 months after an anaesthetic and Merry was rejected until she has 5 years elapsed since having her cancer removed. On that basis we returned to camp both dejected and rejected.

13th May 2011

We left Foxy at home and caught a bus just outside the caravan park which took us to the local shopping centre bus station and from there it joined a busway road that runs the remaining 10kms into Brisbane with a few stops on the way. The bus only road runs alongside the Pacific motoway into the city and has on ramps for buses from other areas to join this fast lane. It is similar to the Adelaide Obahn but the buses do not run in a recessed guidance groove in the road and when it gets to the city it dives underground into a rabbit warren and into the bus station. When you emerge from the bus station you are in a multi-storey shopping complex attached to the pedestrian mall. The bus system impressed us immensely. We emerged from the shopping complex and made our way along the mall to the river and took a 2.5 hour river cruise which initially went upstream and showed the devastation that the January flood caused.

It was worse upstream as the river is narrower and therefore the water level was higher, whereas on the downstream side of the city the damage was not so severe.

The recovery has been remarkably quick as far as the clean-up is concerned but the economic damage to the tourist trade is about 75% down for those that are able to operate but many businesses and individuals are down and out. There seems to be many excuses for the insurance companies not to pay out, one of which was the fact that the State Premier publicly referred to it as a natural disaster and insurance companies don’t pay out on natural disasters. The cruise was very informative and we highly recommend it.

Once back on land we checked out the Casino which is housed in the magnificent old Treasury Building which is on a 99 year lease and must be returned to its original condition when the time is up. We then headed down the road to the Parliament house and took a tour through the building which has a long and ongoing history with regard to battling termites. There is a multi-storey annex alongside the parliament house which provides offices and accommodation for the members when the house is sitting rather than paying out living out allowances that can be abused.

From parliament house we crossed the road and entered the botanical gardens, which still has a large area fenced off as it recovers from the flood, but the useable area was very pleasant with water features other than the unexpected one. Apparently the gardens suffered the same problem as many suburbs where the rainwater drains that take the water to the river became the means for the river to come back up and flood the suburbs. They are now looking at fitting non-return vavles in the storm water pipes. We had quite a long walk around the gardens and then went back to the mall and into the shopping complex for a cuppa before catching the bus home.

14th May 2011

We took a stroll along the road by the caravan park as the bus route that terminates a few minutes’ drive away supposedly leads to Wishart lookout. We walk for quite a long way but never found a lookout and we were getting lower rather than higher. We gave this idea away and checked the internet and found that Wishart lookout is purely an area name, but did discover that there is a lookout on Mount Gravatt, of which Wishart is a suburb. In the afternoon we drove to this lookout but unfortunately the afternoon sun is in the wrong direction to get the best view, or photograph, of Brisbane in the distance.

15th May 2011

We decide to drive down the motorway to the southern end of the Gold coast at Coolangatta where we strolled along the beachfront and then drove to a lookout with an attractive seating arrangement to have our lunch.

We then made our way back along the coast road to Burleigh Heads and then on to Surfers Paradise. We took a good stroll around this area including into the alfresco strip for a coffee, and then onto the river side of town.

We can understand the attraction of this strip of coast but the way it has been developed there is no way we could live there even if we could afford to. It is way too busy and this is the off season, and there is no way we would live in a multi-storey tower block of units no matter how luxurious it may be, or because it has a great view. We don’t surf and we don’t own a luxury yatch so we wouldn’t fit in too well.

We stopped briefly at Paradise Point for our final photos as the sun was going down, which added some extra colour, and then headed along the gold coast highway and rejoined the motorway to home.

21st April 2011

It rained in the night but cleared sufficiently in the morning for us to drive up into the Dandenong Hills but at one point the Navman instructions came too late for Barry to change lanes prior to a roundabout, so took the second exit instead of the third. The Navman gave it new instructions to our intended destination via very narrow dirt roads and being in the hills meant gravitational exits if you get it wrong. We obviously didn’t, and arrived at the National Rhododendron Gardens in tact but unfortunately

Foxy had to stay in the car whilst we took the walk through the extensive gardens which were very impressive. The autumn colours of the deciduous trees compensated for the Rhododendrons’ not being in flower and as an extra bonus we briefly saw a Lyre bird which we have looked for on several occasions without success and believed them to be purely mythical creatures. Now we know they actual exist but are not keen on posing for a camera.

23rd April 2011

This was supposed to be a warm sunny day so we drove up to Mount Macedon where we visited in 2005 when we stayed at Steve and Terry’s place in Woodend prior to moving to the Grampians.

We parked and walked to the war memorial cross and then on the way back down the mount we parked and took a 20 minute walk to the lookout on the Camel’s hump which provides views across to Hanging Rock.

We then drove to Hanging Rock which we also visited with Steve and Terry and spent the afternoon climbing and walking within this popular area, due to the mystery attached to it.

We then drove on to Woodend and checked out Steve and Terry’s house which they will be returning to in the not too distant future. We had intending going on to Trentham Falls but decided to head home as time had got away from us and will go there in a couple of weeks time when we move to Creswick.

25th April 2011

We had another final farewell lunch with Garon and Sue as we had not moved on to Warburton as they were fully booked for the Easter period, and Garon was back from his business trip in America. Unfortunately he had caught a cold, probably from the extended confinement of the plane trip back, so he wasn’t at his best but the lunch was great.

26th April 2011

We packed up the camp ready to move out tomorrow

27th April 2011

We moved on to Warburton which is a somewhat more attractive place than the Warburton in WA with real trees and grass rather than red dirt and spinifex. Barry has managed to catch a cold (where could that have come from) which is slowing him down a bit so we are hoping he gets over it quickly whilst we still have some good weather available to look around the area. The foliage in this area is very dense and they do not burn off the ground litter like WA does, so it is not surprising that the bushfires here are very intense.

 Merry has taken Foxy for a walk alongside the Yarra River and into town.

29th April 2011

Barry had a better night sleep and is feeling considerably better with the aid of Demazin day & night tablets so in the afternoon we took a walk along the Yarra to the swing bridge and cross and walked the 500 metres to the river lookout.

In theory one is supposed to return along the same path but there was a trace of a rough path that Merry checked out and deemed to be okay as a way back on this side of the river. It did eventually come out onto an old disused road the that led back to the main road not far from the caravan park entrance, but it involve tracking through muddy areas where water was making its way down the hill that we were having to go over, pushing through brambles and climbing up very slippery slopes in the process. We passed what appeared to be a kids’ hideaway in the middle of this tangled mess, but did make it out alive.

30th April 2011

We drove into the picturesque town and strolled beside more of the Yarra River then crossed the main road to the war memorial and visitor centre, which boasts a water wheel, and on to Boinga Bill’s unusual house before crossing the main road again and buying some homemade pepper/steak pies from the Three Sugars Cafe. After lunch, and having voting these pies to be equal to or possibly better than the Ross Bakery pies which we would have thought impossible, we drove up to the lookout on the top of 1250 metre Mount Donna Buang and climbed the 128 steps.

The views would have been better on a clear day but who knows when that is actually going to happen, especially at this time of the year when people still use wood burning fires. However, the views were still pretty good despite not being able to see the western bays which are supposed to be visible in the extreme distance. On the way up we had another mythical lyre bird run across the road ahead of us, but again it didn’t consider the need to stop and pose for us.

On the way back down we stopped at the rainforest Gallery which we thought was an art gallery but is in fact an air walk out to an observation platform 15 metres high to look down on the rainforest and steps beside it going down into the rain forest,  here is a circuit through the forest with an offshot to view Cement Creek and included another 100 steps or so, to get back out again.