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