Sunshine Coast - Road Trip Part Two!

Our trip out of Brisbane brought us along the Sunshine Coast, we had heard good things about this stretch of coastline but before we got that far we had one or two things to tick off the list first.

We headed towards the Glass House Mountains. These are about five large mountains that rise up from what is a rather flat surrounding landscape. It's as a result of erosion from millions of years ago where the surrounding countryside was once higher but got whittled away while the hard rock of these mountains remained. The result is an unusal landscape with beautiful scenery. We climbed one of them that first day out of Brisbane. It's called Ngungen, it was only a short climb but when we reached the summit the views were fantastic and so we stayed there awhile taking it in and enjoying the breeze!

We camped in Caloundra that night just behind Dickie Beach. The beach is named after the ship that ran aground there, the wreck is still on the shore which is pretty cool. It's a beautiful little place. We were up pretty early the next morning, about 7am and as we were walking over to the beach I was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes thinking we'd have the beach all to ourselves. Silly me! It was still holiday season here so all the families were out in force. There's no better way to wake up in morning than having a small wave crash over your head!

We visited Australia Zoo that morning, the famous one run by the late Steve Irwin. His father originally set up the zoo. His father was in fact and still is the original crocodile hunter! It costs about 50 bucks to get in but well worth it. It was very like the Lone Pines Koala Sanctuary except for the crocaseum! This is where they hold the croc show, which in itself is worth the entrance fee! The show is not just about crocodiles though, they bring all manner of animals into the arena for display and even have a few staff members bravely wander about with snakes etc throughout the crowd! They lure the giant crocodile up a few feet into the air by dangling meat above the water! The poor guy who has this job said half-way through the show 'If I appear nervous it's because I am!'

They had a big bird show too, where a massive Jindabye bird flew clumsily into the arena, as well as many colourful parrots and lorikeets - it was super! The rest of the zoo is quite interactive, you can wander amongst the kangaroos. They have an African section too with lots of elephants and tigers. It' a fabulous place and very much orientated at educating about the animals.

We drove to Noosa that evening and camped near Peregian Beach where we had a quick dip before dinner. Being able to have a swim at least once a day is divine. The weather on this stretch of coast is particularly stifling and with no air-con. in the car it can be a bit unbearable at times. So being able to pull into a beach and jump in the water for a cool down is pretty sweet.

The following day we decided to catch a ferry across to the Great Sandy National Park, of which Fraser Island is a part of. The section we travelled across to is a separate island. As it is national park the whole island is a nature reserve and so wildlife was abundant. We caught our first glimpse of kangaroos in the wild that evening. We arrived and pitched the tent and were strolling over to the swimming pool when right in front of us were three male kangaroos, having heard us the three of them turned their heads to have a look at us. Once they were satisfied that we were no harm they kept munching away on the grass beside the pool. It was brilliant just to see them like that.

That night we woke to a noise outside our tent and when we peered out to see what it was, there was a few more kangaroos gathered around having a feed. They tend to feed in the evenings/ night times. We had an encounter with a cheeky Kookaburra that evening when we were eating too, it kept landing on James's shoulder when we he was eating, and flying towards my face, it was ridiculous! Anyway having had our fill with Australian wildlife we caught the ferry back to the mainland the following morning and headed north to Hervey Bay.

Brisbane, Queensland - State no. 2!

We arrived in Brisbane the last weekend in November. Our first port of call was Carmel and Paraic's house in the suburb of Birkdale. They very kindly put us up. After alot of camping a real bed and a few home comforts were bliss!

The first afternoon we arrived they were having a BBQ with a group of friends so we settled in fairly quickly, glad of the social interaction! We strolled up to Wellington Point with Carmel that evening and caught a beautiful sunset. They live about an hour from the city centre but it was great for us to visit a few things on the outskirts before heading into the CBD a few days later.

I have to admit we became a little lazy having such a comfortable place to stay and Carmel's cooking meant I had to pull J away. Me too if I'm to be really honest. She was hostess of the mostess!

At this point the deadline for buying and posting Christmas presents was looming so we did some much needed shopping and wrapping the next day much to Jim's delight . It was strange doing all that kind of thing when the sun is shining, I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing Christmas decorations up when the sun is shining, and shopping in air-conditioned shopping centres for presents - bizarre.

We ventured back down the freeway one of the days to a water park. The weather had been stifling so we couldn't think of a better way to spend our day. It was great, I think the last time I had been to one of them was when I was fifteen. We were like two big kids for the day lining up for every single ride. It was great fun.

Another day we headed in towards the city to a spot called Lone Pines Koala Sanctuary. We hadn't seen any native wildlife yet, bar some roadkill. We had even been driving in fear of hitting a 'roo! Koala Pines was like the best zoo ever! We strolled around and saw all the weird and wonderful wildlife Australia has to offer. Wombats, koalas, kangaroo's, dingoes, crocodiles, lorikeets and more. The fact they are all so different to what we know make them so much more interesting to visit and watch. I got the opportunity to hold a koala, they are just as soft and cuddly as you imagine. I wanted to squeeze it but was mindful of the fact it's very large claw were gripping my skin! Australia has a huge variety of parrots, they are probably the one animal we've come across the most. We left Lone Pines to the goodbyes being squawked by the parrots near the exit, it was hilarious. Before heading home that evening we drove up Mt Cootha to a lookout point over the city which was fantastic.

That week amongst other things we visited the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium where we watched a 40 minute programme called 'Passport to the Universe', it was brilliant. It was in a dome shaped room, so when we lay back in our chairs the whole universe enveloped us! We also checked out Queen St Mall in the city, the main pedestrianised street, it was all very Christmassy yet roasting hot!

We also stayed with Dane (a native Queenslander, who James met in Copenhagen a few years ago) in Red Hills near the city centre. Our sight-seeing with him consisted mainly of the pub variety. Great guy, and it was nice to meet Aussies for a change!

We headed back out to Carmel and Paraic's again for a tropical themed house-warming with a bunch of paddies before finally extracting ourselves from their lovely home and hitting the road again.

Road Trip Part One - finished!

The next morning after a quick dip in Hallidays happy pool we hit the road again heading north towards a small town called South West Rocks. En route we stopped in Frederickton for a few pies in Fredo's Pies, a pretty infamous pie place with a large Marilyn Monroe statue on top of a pole, what that has to do with pies is beyond me, but it certainly catches the truckers attention. We arrived to a very bustly pie shop and sufficiently stuffed ourselves before continuing on our way.

South West Rocks is a beautiful little village nestled right on the coastline. The caravan park we stayed in was great called Horseshoe Caravan Park and like its' namesake it swung right around an enclosed beach, and the views out over the ocean were fantastic. We visited nearby Trial Bay Gaol. During World War 2 anyone whose nationality was German or one of its' allies that lived in Australia was imprisoned. This gaol we visited imprisoned the upper class of such people. Many were teachers, poets, writers, and they were allowed alot of freedom. This even involved beach-time included as part of their daily routine at one point! It was an interesting place.

We drove over to Smoky Cape to see the lighthouse and the views from Captain Cooks lookout, both spectacular. That night the weather turned on us again, so after dinner in the tent we escaped to a nearby bar for a drink and to check out the craic in the town. Not much to be had, another bar filled with pokies and a few labourers still in work clothes sitting at the bar.

The following day much to our shock it was still raining! I know we will get zero sympathy from our readers on this one, but camping in the rain is no fun. So on arriving in Coffs Harbour later that day we checked into a hostel!! Non-stop rain in Coffs meant we sheltered in the cinema for the night and saw the epic Australia which I loved. A quick trip to the Big Banana to see what all the fuss is about and then home to a nice warm, dry leaba!

This Big Banana is what put Coffs Harbour on the map. In 1964 it was erected and started the Big Things craze in Oz. Some coastal towns erected something in their town to attract the tourists. So Ballina has a giant prawn, Coffs a big banana, I think there's a big buffalo somewhere and so on. It's pretty ridiculous looking and even though we thought it was stupid we still went to see it. It wasn't as big as we thought it would be!

The rain pushed us out of Coffs Harbour early the next day onwards to Byron Bay. This hippy town was just the ticket after days of crappy weather, we rolled into town to find the sun shining and that our campsite was right behind the beach. Clarkes beach was massive so we chilled out there for the afternoon. I actually got into the ocean for the first time since arriving in Australia. I know that may seem crazy but the ocean baths had been sufficient till then, and unwilling to lose a limb to a Great White or any other variety of those menacing creatures I chose not to dip my fat little toes into the sea till that point. For some reason I felt the water looked ok in Byron Bay?!! So in I went, bodyboard in tow and the water was divine. We cooked up a storm that evening, consumed a delicious bottle of wine and headed into town.

'Schoolies' were on tour this week, so the town was taken over with teenagers running riot after finishing school and majority of them turning eighteen. There was a queue into one pub whilst the bouncers checked ID, they practically plucked J and I out from the line as we were about a foot taller than most around us. Getting in the spirit of things we had a few there before heading up the street to the Beach Front Hotel bar for a few more. There was a good atmosphere in Byron, partly down to all the schoolie chaos but in general the town has a lovely vibe.

The next day was very much a repeat of the day before, beach, food, wine, more food, some more wine, bed. I really, really liked Byron and I hope we get back there. However I since found out that someone was taken by a Great White in Byron last July!!!!! Clearly my ability to sense whether the water is ok leaves alot to be desired........