19th Sept., 2013 - a day out in Maroochydore & Coolum Beach

Bob & I took a drive out to Maroochydore with Rob, where we did a little shopping & enjoyed views alongside the river, before returning to Coolum for lunch opposite the beach.



Pelicans on the Maroochy River




Overlooking the beach at Coolum



14th Sept., 2013 - Ruby's 13th birthday celebration

Although Ruby's actual birthday was two days ago, on 12th, we had a simple family dinner on that day & she waited until the weekend to celebrate with her friends.  The following few pictures show her with Sam, Gus, some of her friends & the birthday cake:

8 Sept - 7 Oct (approx.) - A stay in Coolum Beach, Queensland, with the family

Rob lives in Warrack St., on a steep hill & it is a real test of a driver's ability to try & back a caravan into the front drive at No.107!  If it were ever left up to me, I would simply telephone for the RAC.  However, Bob is made of sterner stuff &, although it proved to be far more difficult than last time, he was successful on his second attempt, even though three of us (plus the children) had to push the van for a metre or so, into its final position.  It sure is a tight fit & a difficult feat - not something you'd want to do too often!

The two-storey house sits at the top of the hill, amongst some lush vegetation.  There are ferns, palms, eucalypts & a wealth of plants that would only be grown indoors, in the UK.  We saw a little ring-tailed possum in the trees one evening & a dear little green tree-frog on another occasion, sitting on the outside staircase.  There are also numerous kookaburras in the vicinity, which are often very vocal, both during the day & at night!  We've seen a few huge butterflies, too, so there is plenty of wild life close by.

We will be 'camping' here until about 3rd Oct. & so I will only record a few of our activities, as this is intended as a travel-log, rather a diary.

The weather is gorgeous - warm, sunny & free from humidity; would that it could always be like this!

7th Sept., 2013

As we left Bell, we noticed that we were just over 30km from the Bunya Mountains, which form a National Park, & would probably have been an interesting area to explore.  The drive to Kaimkillenbun & Quinalow was a scenic one, but the countryside was extremely dry!  At Kaimkillenbun, "The Bun Pub's" name made us smile & we could see evidence of earlier inhabitants as we passed a few small deserted homes.  A herd of cows, along our route, were eating hay rather than grass, so brown was their pasture.

We were in an area of small country towns, hills & pasture land &, at one point, we crossed the Dividing Range (I guessed that we were on the drier side of it).  However, things soon turned green again, indicating that we might have crossed the Divide again.  We became 'lost' in the Yarraman State Forest area for a short time but doubled back on ourselves & soon found the road that we wanted.

Blackbutt was a lovely little town with an avenue of lush green trees & a wide main street.  There was a large lake just outside the town & camping areas were dotted amonst a forest of tall gum trees.

In another attractive town, Moore, we saw several lovely Queenslander-style homes before we climbed back out of it into the surrounding hills.

At Kilcoy, a sign post indicated that we were 75km from the Sunshine Coast.  Some rainbow lorikeets greeted us as we parked the caravan & a passer-by directed us to a place for lunch.  We knew that we were in Queensland by the terms in which he described a bakery that he obviously couldn't recommend!

We set off into the hills again, passing wineries & entering the Moreton Bay Region, where more brilliant bougainvilleas cropped up from time to time along the verges.  We drove through Peachester & saw the Glass House Mountains on our right.  Through gaps in the trees, we could see the coast, far away in the distance.  We passed the "Australia Zoo" on our right as we travelled through Beerwah & there were directions to mountain ranges on both sides.  Finally, we saw signs to the Ginger Factory & the Ettamogah Pub & knew that we were very close to Coolum, where we would catch up with our family!

6th September, 2013

It was almost 9am when we set out from Moree on our way to Goondiwindi.  We passed through an area where cattle were walking along the verges, on both sides - it is always my nightmare that a large animal will run into us but, this time, all was well.

At Goondiwindi, we crossed the border from New South Wales into Queensland, having had quite a bumpy ride on the road's very uneven surface.  When we stopped for coffee, we saw that a small mirror, inside the caravan, was lying on the floor, broken.

Several more dead kangaroos & a few smaller animals appeared on the verges & continued to do so as we travelled towards Moonie.  Another kookaburra surveyed the landscape from above.

"Tiger Bay Blues" still entertained us & caused me to listen rather than write (the story was excellent & illustrated how dangerous the Bute Street area of Cardiff would have been during the harsh days of the 1930's, when depression gripped the country.

I seemed to recognise the Crossroads Motel at Moonie, where we stopped for fuel, & could almost have believed that the people sitting outside it had been there since we called a year or so ago!  It was on of those deja-vu experiences.

We left the Newell Highway & turned east toward Dalby & the Sunshine Coast on the final leg of our journey.  When we stopped & went into the caravan to make rolls for lunch, we found that the pepper mill had come apart & there were peppercorns everywhere.  Two of the drawers, below the sink, had become jammed because the contents had moved about & Bob had quite a job opening them.  This really was a rough road!

As we continued, two cows & a calf suddenly crossed the road infront of us - fortunately, we had sufficient time to stop.

We took the wrong road out of Dalby & ended up in a small place called Bell.  It looked so pleasant that we decided to stay there for the night, as it was already 3.15pm.

Our little park at Bell, though far less sophisticated than the larger ones, was a pleasure to stay at - it was bordered by a variety of brilliantly coloured bougainvilleas, was well spaced out & had adequate shade trees dotted around.  Some of the occupants appeared to be permanent, whilst the family in a cabin near to us, were visiting the area to attend a wedding.

5th Sept., 2013

Although I am definitely not a morning person, we did manage to leave Peak Hill by 8.30am.  It was another glorious day & more flowers were appearing all the time - we guessed that a lovely purple one along the verges might be the farmers' dreaded Patterson's Curse!

As we drove out of a small place called Tomingley, half a dozen bikers suddenly roared past our caravan, seeming alarmingly close!  It wasn't the weekend yet, so why weren't they at work?  We thought that priority on the roads, on weekdays, was given to truck drivers & grey nomads.

We were passing a lot of caravans on the opposite side of the road - probably Victorians returning home having escaped the winter.

We were now in a thickly wooded area, with a mixture of gums, firs & the occasional wattle.  Any cleared land appeared to be used for grazing.

As we entered Dubbo, which was a very big place,  we passed a golf club on our left & a sign to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo on our right.  Bob offered me a McDonald's for breakfast, but I declined!

We crossed a river into the city centre, then turned out of Dubbo towards Gilgandra.  More bikers appeared on the road ahead of us, suggesting that perhaps they might all be meeting up somewhere (not at our next caravan park, we hoped!)

Beyond Dubbo, the countryside lost the fresh green colour to which we'd become accustomed & looked generally drier.  We saw a couple of amusing postboxes, one "wearing a hat" & another made in the form of a cow.  We loved these humorous touches & regretted that we, in England, are often more formal & serious-minded.  I guess life can be tough in this harsh climate & one would need a sense of humour to survive.


We were shocked at the amount of empty bottles lying on the verges, glistening in the sun - thrown from passing cars & trucks no doubt & posing both fire risks & litter problems.  Sad, that such careless attitudes prevail.

Next, we arrived at Gilgandra, "town of windmills & home of the Coo-ees" (an aboriginal tribe, perhaps?). I thought of my brother-in-law as we passed a Speedway venue.

We stopped for breakfast at a lovely little coffee shop & gallery, where we had a delicious drink & scrambled eggs.  The proprietor made all his own bread, which was so superior to the 'plastic' stuff sold at supermarkets.  I bought an attractive necklace from the gallery, where some classy items were on display.

A call came through from our conveyancer, Ken, who reported that settlement on Kadumba Avenue will take place tomorrow (our original settlement date) - hallelujah!

As we set off again, Bob put a "talking book" into the CD player for us to listen to - they are very entertaining.

In the direction of Coonabarabran, some mountains appeared in the distance, creating an interesting horizon of pointed peaks & rounded domes, some of them quite dramatic.  The undulating road stretched endlessly ahead, bordered by trees, wattle bushes & a mixture of cultivated fields and pasture land.  Fairly isolated farmhouses appeared occasionally & I thought of how heavily the inhabitants must rely on the telephone & the motor car.  

By this time, we had climbed to a fairly high point in the hills & had an over-sized vehicle infront of us, which we were unable to pass for some time.  It was a relief to reach an overtaking lane.

Suddenly, we could see for miles on all sides as a vast panorama opened up around us!  Once again, we were reminded of the immensity of this enormous country. 

Another large group of bikers rode towards us as we neared Coonabarabran.  Motels & caravan parks appeared as we entered the town, which seemed to be a large one.  Just before 1pm., we drove into a Shell garage to fill up with diesel &, there they were - some of the bikers, called "Rebels Australia" - sporting leathers, long hair & beards (frequently grey).

We crossed the Castlereagh River on our way out of Coonabarabran, towards Narrabri &, as we followed the road around to the left, we noticed that the route straight ahead would have taken us to Gunnedah (home of Judy & Tom, the friends whom we met on the French River Trip & with whom we stayed last year).

Somewhere between Coonabarabran & Narrabri, we stopped for lunch in a rest area.  After ham rolls, coffee & fruit, we set off again just before 2.30pm., noticing how large & noisy the trucks were, that thundered by us on the highway.  Fortunately, there weren't too many of them.

Our talking book, "Tiger Bay Blues", which dealt with the problems of coloureds, like Shirley Bassey, in 1950's Britain, continued to entertain us, the narrator's South Walean accent recalling happy days in Barry & Llantwit Major.

A massively over-sized vehicle, preceded by warning cars, came towards us & we pulled as far over to the left as possible to let it pass.  I couldn't resist imagining the situation had we been in one of Devon's diminutive country lanes!  (Which caused me to wonder how they actually do manage to transport similar large loads, there - by airlifting them, maybe?)

We passed an enormous dead kangaroo, one of only very few that we'd come across, thank goodness - unlike on our last trip, when they had littered the verges in large numbers.

Narrabri, on the Namoi River, was an attractive town with plenty of wide open green spaces.  However, we merely glanced at it & continued on toward Wee Waa & Moree - it would take about another hour to reach the latter, where we were to stay for the night.  To my delight, I spotted two kookaburras perched on telephone wires.

Moree is in Artesian Water Country & it would have been good to relax in one of the spas but we were only travelling through.  Our caravan park was situated on the banks of the Mehi River & we both suffered from a few mozzie bites.  In fact, it was our most restless night yet & we were glad to move on the next morning.