Travel Day 314 in Narrabeen, Australia: Ted

View towards Caloundra at Point Cartwright:How ya goin, mate? -from Narrabeen, outside Sydney

We are at the end of our camping excursion down the east coast of Australia. This has taken us 3000km from Cairns to Sydney in our ‘Jucy Campa’. Until now the weather has cooperated. Unfortunately, it’s raining as we head into their winter. The temperature is still bearable for the most part, at around 20 degrees during the day. It’s a little warmer when the sun is out. The days have been mostly sunny and spectacular along the varied coastline. The shore is rugged to sandy dunes.

This last night we pass the time indoors at our camp games rooms. We have access to the Internet and television with a bit of shelter from the cool, wet night air. I especially liked the northern Queensland area. It’s a little less congested and built up. Perhaps it was waking up to the spectacular sunrises in Yeppoon where we were guests of Kathi’s old pal from her working stint in Oz during her uni days. It could have been just the warmth of the sun with just the right temperatures and the views over the oceans. Of course, we didn’t experience it at its worst aspect with conditions of super unbearable humid heat. But I have great memories and loved it just the same having had the luxury of a great visit with new friends and the small experience of a place the way people who live there live it.

Our camper gave us accommodation and wheels again for a night as we progressed south toward the Sunshine Coast. Then it was Caloundra for three nights where we visited with the family of another old friend of Kathi’s. We enjoyed their company just the same and had a locals’ tour. The weather cooperated and we came away with more great memories of visiting the bluffs at Point Cartright with views back toward Mooloolaba and Maroochydore. These were once separate beachfront communities that dotted the Sunshine Coast. They are attracting more and more visitors and permanent residents. One community government has been created to manage the increasing pressures that these new demands place on the community. The need for more housing is just one of them.

Another highlight was a visit to the Eumundi Saturday morning market. Just one of the many markets we’ve visited along the way but this one was very large and unique in its own way with the marketing slogan “if you want it, they make it, bake it, grow it or sew it!”

Horseback riders on beach in Yeppoon:

Next we traveled to Brisbane. We enjoyed a stop in what was expected to be a large chaotic city. However, it was more pleasant than chaotic. We managed to negotiate the streets and traffic into town. There is a lot more to Brisbane than what our one day could afford. With time limited to a few hours, we concentrated on a stroll through the Botanic Gardens on the north shore of the Brisbane River. This leads to the Goodwill Bridge, a modernist pedestrian structure that connected us to the trendy and very nicely made up South Bank Parklands. Lunch at a riverside café was followed by a short visit to the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Museum, a natural history museum with an Australian focus.

Curtain fig tree in Brisbane's Botanic Gardens:

Goodwill Footbridge across Brisbane River:

South Bank Parklands in Brisbane:

Queensland Art Gallery:

The rest of the coast line has been a bit of a blur. There is just not enough time to do it justice. The southern route continued to Byron Bay known for it’s surfin’ waves and alternative lifestyle, (where we camped right next to the South Pacific ocean beach), Nambucca Heads, Southwest Rocks, Port Stephens/One Mile Beach -another beautiful surfing spot- and finally Narrabeen just on the outskirts of Sydney.

Byron Bay:

Byron Bay = the place to surf:

Byron Bay main street:

Nambucca Heads:

Southwest Rocks:

Our month in Australia, including 5 days in Sydney, has been a great adventure. There is one more day in store with a trip to the Sydney Aquarium. The next time we'll be back may be as SKIers (Spending The Kids’ Inheritance) like the greyheads we have met along the way. Auckland awaits.

TE

Feeding Dolphins & Finding More Friends

We're writing to you now from Caloundra, Queensland. Another fun trip down memory lane. I spent several months here as well, 25 years ago, as a young backpacker. Marit became a good friend and still lives here but now with her hubby Max and 10-year-old daughter Mia instead of various roommates from assorted countries. Marit has not changed much but I don't recognize a thing in Caloundra. Another Sunshine Coast town that has boomed into a city. I worked about three different jobs here, waitressing at a couple of places and looking after the children of a motel owner during the days. Of course, this has all changed completely. The motel is a dump that they tell me only "no hopers" stay at. The restaurant is now a cinema and the other restaurant has morphed into a new strip mall. We parked our campa on Marit & Max's 1/2 acre lot for a few days and had a fun visit.

Along the way to Caloundra, we stopped in a place called Tin Can Bay along the Fraser Coast. We had heard there was a wild Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin named Mystique who swims into the public marina every morning for free fish handouts. We got up early, headed down to the marina, bought some small fish and got ourselves ready to see if Mystique would show up:
Right on cue, there's Mystique! He has "raking" marks on his back from fights with other dolphins. He also had a mangled dorsal fin from an earlier shark attack:

Jackson feeding Mystique. We thought this smart dolphin might notice Jackson's shark swim-trunks and get spooked but he must've been too hungry:

Mitchell's turn. A volunteer stands by to oversee the feeding:

We now have a teenager in the family. Happy Birthday Mitchell! Mitchell spent his 13th birthday at the Big Pineapple and sightseeing in Caloundra:

The Big Pineapple - who knew pineapple could be this cheesy?

All aboard the pineapple express:

Pineapple fields forever . . . call it more homeschooling, we all learned a lot about the art and science of producing pineapples:

Just like the Big Apple in Cobourg, Ontario, the Big Pineapple has a small animal sanctuary. The boys have had several opportunities now to get up close and personal with kangaroos and koalas. No platypus sightings yet, though.

Mia, Marit & Max in Caloundra:

The Maroochy region of the Sunshine Coast (includes Maroochydore, Mooloolaba and Alexandra Headland). Susan if you're reading this, you would not believe how built-up it has become:

Beautiful coastline near Point Cartwright. We had some gorgeous sunny days to walk the beaches, climb on rocks and enjoy the views:

Next stop: Brisbane and the Gold Coast

Good Friends on the Capricorn Coast

Sunrise looking out the guest bedroom verandah of our friends' home in Yeppoon: Continuing our journey down the east coast of Queensland, we stopped for several days in the beautiful, quaint seaside town of Yeppoon. Yeppoon is the home of my good friend Julie, her husband John and their two great kids, Dylan and Brianna. Where is Yeppoon, you ask? Why, right next to your fork and knife of course. (Julie told me this joke). I mentioned in an earlier post that I met Julie when backpacking around Australia nearly 25 years ago. We have managed to keep in touch all these years and it was so good to re-connect.

The view from their home is absolutely incredible. They are on a sand dune rght on the beach of the South Pacific Ocean - stunning views!

Yeppoon is close to the beef capital of Australia, Rockhampton. There are large bull statues all over town. It's really incredi-bull:

At the zoo at Rockhampton Botanic Gardens, we spied a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch:

Cuddly koala bear, sleeping of course. Not sure I have ever seen a koala doing anything else:

Brianna and their dog Jaunty. Were the guys excited there was a dog at the home we were visiting? Just a little!

Dylan and Mitchell had a lot in common, including a love for computers, gaming, and Pokemon:

Jackson going wild on their backyard trampoline. Brianna is the sane person on the left:

A kangaroo in the wild, on the gorgeous grounds of the Yeppoon golf course:

Hmmm, Mitchell must be contemplating impending teenage-hood:

A black swan at the golf course. Maroochydore is the aboriginal name for "black swan" and is a beautiful town on the Sunshine Coast where my sister Susan used to live. Our next stop is the Sunshine Coast:

Rainbow lorikeets feasting on the remnants of Jackson's pancakes and maple syrup:

Scuba Diving the Great Barrier Reef: Mitchell

A big first for me on this trip: I had my first experience scuba diving and what better place than the Great Barrier Reef. When we got to Airlie Beach, we camped at the Big4 Adventure Whitsunday camping resort, and we all liked it a lot. At the camping resort, we had a pool, a mini-golf course that my brother and I liked, and these go-karts that you could rent for an hour and drive around the campsite.

A few days later we took a cruise through the Whitsunday Islands. We went to three different islands: Hook island, Whitsunday Island and Daydream Island. At Hook Island, we were supposed to go snorkeling, but my mom asked me if I wanted to go scuba diving and I said yes! When I went scuba diving, I had an instructor to help me, and his name was Jayden. I also had to wear a stinger suit, because there are box jellyfish and marine stingers that can kill you with their sting. They are mainly in the water between the months of November to end of May, so we are at the end of the stinger season. I enjoyed scuba diving because I got to go deep under water and feel the coral. I even got to hold a sea cucumber that Jayden passed to me. Jayden told me that I can continue to dive with a PADI-certified instructor until I am 15, then I can become certified myself. Before age 15, you can only take the Junior Diving Course.

Afterwards, we got back in the cruise ship and went to our next island, Whitsunday Island. But we weren’t there for the island; we were there for Whitehaven Beach, a nice beach that is famous for its pure white silica sand. We swam there for an hour or two, and then left for the final island - Daydream Island. Once we got there, we decided to swim at the pool. After that, we played bocce ball, and we happened to see some wallabies. The wallabies were very nice because they would let you come up close to them. Afterwards, we took the cruise ship home, but I had a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Getting ready to go snorkelling in our "stinger" suits:

Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island:

Wallaby on Daydream Island:

Whitehaven Beach (South Pacific Ocean):