So I have ummd and ahhhd about
doing a blog on our travels since….
since I don’t know when. Well before we left anyway and today I finally
decided to fulfil this long awaited question ‘to blog or not to blog?’ not only
for myself but family and friends and any other followers who wish to read
about our maiden amateur adventure around our great land of Australia.
As some of you may or may not
know my wife, Ashlie and I, Sophie left Terrigal, Central Coast, NSW 10 weeks
and 1 day ago today (2nd April, 2013), so I’ve got a bit to cover
but will try not bore you too much and will try my best to keep a more
regularly updated blog when we can.
As a quick reference we name a
fair few of our belongings so I’ll give a brief rundown of some of the main
items names, so not to be confusing when I mention them like they are a living
person.
Gina: The car- 2007 4WD Nissan
Xtrail
Carmen: The trailer- 2012 GIC
Semi-Off Road Camper Trailer
Rhonda: The tent- 2013 2 man BCF
Wanderer
Gerry: Ash’s guitar
Sandra: Ash’s bike (aka Sandra
the slut)
Rebel: Soph’s guitar
Bella: Soph’s bike (aka Bella the
bitch)
That should do for now!
Okey dokey so we decided our trip
would take a rough anti-clockwise direction so north it was the day we left.
Our first stop after leaving home sweet home was a cute little Caravan Park at
Elizabeth Beach along The Lakes Way just south of Forster. Setting up camp was in no record breaking
time but the annex for the first time was a little hard. The next morning a
picturesque beach across the road invited us in for a swim and then by lunch
some dark stormy clouds rolled in. We thought we would get a quick shower in
but not to be as the 20 minutes we were gone Carmen’s annex had pooled a large
deal of water and bent one of her poles. The rain didn’t stop till we left the
next morning looking like drowned rats and a bit weary after minimal sleep
worried about more pooling on poor Carmen. Our fridge was also not performing
so well early in the trip and was certainly not reliable enough to keep the
milk, marg, meat or grog cold! We had to convert to using an esky until we
could get the fridge looked at, which started to leak the next day. The
forecast did not look or sound good so we said “Let’s go west today!”
We drove out through the
beautiful country side west of Taree and found a free camp called Tia Falls
40km east of Walcha (pronounced wol-ka, we personally liked saying it like its
spelt though). Carmen, Gina, the
raincoats and all of our towels got a good dry out here and we could finally
relax again. A nice easy 5km walk along the waterfalls ridge and our first
campfire which we cooked on took up most of the next day with only the sounds
of a few farm animals, nature and the waterfall.
Next stop was with Ash’s cousin
Lee and his partner Kel and their 3 kids at South West Rocks. A few afternoon
drinks on the back deck turned into 2 cases of beer, Lee getting his guitar
out for the first time in ages and a
10:30pm dinner because we were having so much fun. A few sore heads made for a
bit of a late start the next day and called for potato scollops on the beach.
Then we car convoyed to a hidden beach called Gap Road Beach which was our
first 4WD/off-road experience, and basically cured our hangovers with the swim.
We also had to visit the Riverside Tavern in memory of a Uni trip we did there
several years ago but kept it at just the one beverage with an awesome dinner!
While our next stop was going to
be Arrawarra just north of Coffs Harbour, we were contacted by some of our best
mates Bu and Brownie who were camping at Minnie Water (with friends Lulu and
Mauley) and twisted our arms into coming up to them and camping a few nights
(only an extra 1-1.5 hrs drive). The next 3 days we drank, we laughed, we
surfed, we drank, we fished, we made camp fires, we had mini Olympic competitions,
we drank and some things that happened at Minnie Water will just stay at Minnie
Water.
Just a short drive back inland to
Grafton was a stop in with Ash’s Uncle Greg and Aunty Debbie and two nights
with Nana Chaff! An unfortunate stroke
has left her partially paralysed down her left side but this doesn’t deter this
inspiring lady from much at all. A smile on her face every day and proud as
punch to show her granddaughter off to all the locals she’s known for 30+ years
in town. She took us to the local club to hopefully win some meat raffles too
but we had no luck. The next day it was tea and scones with Greg, Debbie and
nana, relaxing at home and her choice of McDonalds for dinner.
After Grafton bad weather drove
us straight to Evans Head (Ash’s old stomping ground) where we were very
appreciative of a bed with family friends who weren’t even home for the weekend,
Jeannie and John. A catch up with some old friends over a few cold ones and a
walk down to the RSL on our first night in town saw a rowdy night evolve
amongst the local crowd. We thought a surf may be on the cards for a hangover
cure the next day but the swell was about 6-8ft at main beach and halftide,
just slightly out of our league. Our hosts arrived home today and cooked us an
amazing dinner and taught us some new card games. It was then farewell to Evans
Head but not before a quick visit to Eddie’s Chinese for lunch with Donna, and then
onto Ballina.
Family friends David and Emma
welcomed us to their home while Emma’s parents were also there, Aunty Anne and Uncle
Bob, as a little baby was due that week. We were lucky enough to meet “Lexi
Anne Betteridge” and spend a few nights catching up, drinking, laughing,
playing pinball and electronic darts in the shed and also making a visit to
Nana Bruce! She spoilt us with half of her pantry making it into our food bags
and some downtown shopping in the day. We spoilt her back with a manicure,
having a sleep over and a glass of wine with a yummy dinner.
Off again and this time to a
regular north coast road trip stop, Byron Bay. We settled into the caravan park
just out of main town, relaxed a little and then to The Pass for an amazing sunset
and an early night. A surf at Wategos and then an over indulgent stop at
‘Twisted Sista’ (a must visit café in Byron) for morning tea/lunch was lovely.
We then got ready and headed into town to watch the A-League Grand Final on the
big screen, with a celebratory beer watching Central Coast Mariners taking down
the Western Sydney Wanderers. Special guest Lisa Hunt topped off our night with
a 2 hour live performance in the beer garden, epic! We spent the rest of our
time in Byron watching buskers including Bree Bullock (check her out- Facebook
and YouTube), getting hair wraps, more surfing, a lighthouse walk, taking
Sandra and Bella for a ride and camping it up in Carmen.
Our next port of call was at Kingscliff,
just shy of the QLD border, with Bu and Brownie. We settled in quite nicely
here for just over a week and really liked the vibe of this cute little town.
Close enough to the hustle and bustle of Coolangatta and the Gold Coast if you
want but far enough that you wouldn’t even know you’re that close. An early
bike ride to the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kingscliff Beach started the day
nicely. We then converged to a park nearby for the day with some of Alex and
Chris’ family and friends playing Frisbee, drinking frozen margaritas (Brownies
fave), having a bbq and just kicking back not taking it for granted how
fortunate and lucky we are to be able to spend a day like this in such good
company! Our time here also saw us go on dinner dates, be cheerleaders at Alex
and Chris’ soccer games and training, be invited to an engagement bbq, beach days, a day trip to Currumbin Creek, a
day trip to Mount Tamborine (including the brewery) and finally getting our
fridge sorted (which has nearly not skipped a beat since). Although we could
have stayed here a lot longer our trip was only getting started and we decided
it was time to move on……west!
Out west past Brisbane and into
unknown territory was very exciting. We were on our way to Chinchilla to see a
good friend of Ash’s, Sam (Donna’s daughter), but thought we’d break the trip
up and found a little free camp 20min off the Warrego Highway near Gatton.
Heifer Creek was her name and she was beautiful, setting up camp down the back
of the paddock near the creek. Although we spooked ourselves a little having
our back turned to the camps entry we made it through the night to make jaffles
on our fire the next morning and then headed back on the road west.
Over the Toowoomba Ranges and
then onto some of the longest straights of the Warrego Highway, like I’m
talking 15km without moving the steering wheel. We made it to Chinchilla by
late afternoon, perfect timing with Sam and Joe just finishing work. A quiet
night in with some awesome chicken burgers was nice. We did a girls road trip
the next day to the Bunya Mountains, which was beautiful. We didn’t really come
prepared for any hiking but did a small walk through one of the rainforests to
see the big tree. A nice scenic drive home took us through lots of country towns
where we picked up some cotton off the side of the road, nearly hit two
kangaroos (Gina kissed both their tails) and a beer at the Bell Hotel (just a
pot as we were driving, which is a middy for all you NSW peopleJ). More scenic driving
the next day to see Joe’s work, Kogan Creek Power Station, the Chinchilla Weir
and a feed at Condamine Pub. We were very grateful for our hosts to show us all
around town and its surrounds! We soaked up one more day in Chinchilla to get
some washing done, set up our internet, do some groceries and relax a little
more. From here we intended to head back towards the coast but we were told
Carnarvon Gorge was a must see, so we said why not?
We stopped at Roma overnight on
our way out to Carnarvon Gorge and met quite a few grey nomads. An early night
though and up early to make good tracks to our destination. We arrived at Takkarakka
Bush Camp by early afternoon and even snuck in a short nature walk and saw an
echidna and emu’s before sundown. Up bright and early the next day to hike into
the gorge, 14km return. There were four main stops on our route: The Gallery,
The Amphitheatre, Wards Canyon and Moss Gardens. We saw some amazing Aboriginal
art, waterfalls, climbed through small openings to hollowed out amphitheatre
like arenas, rock hopped across rivers and saw King Ferns (only ones in Central
QLD). We then got up the next morning to do another 7km up Boolimba Bluff, 998
steps! An amazing view into the gorge and out to the east into Central Qld. Our
feet finally gave in to all this walking (by ‘our’ I mainly mean mine), so we
relaxed by the communal fire pit that evening and chatted with some other
travellers and grey nomads over a bottle of red wine.
It was now time to head back to
the coast via many country towns with little to nothing but bush in between. We
made it to a tiny town called Theodore where we had to set up Carmen in what
felt like cement. We were a bit sore, tired and cranky by then so we decided to
just set up the tent without getting any of our other necessities out and just
ride the girls (Bella and Sandra) to the pub for dinner and watch the footy. Good
decision. An early and quick pack up allowed for a little more driving and we
got to a bush camp in Kilkivan. It came to our attention that many of these
small town’s shops don’t tend to be open on weekends. So yes we were running
low on food and some essentials but we improvised for the next few meals until
we could get to the shops. We lazed around our bush camp, visited an old 1800’s
coal chimney and successfully panned for gold.
We did some more scenic driving
for the next couple of days through Murgon, Kingaroy, Yarraman, Kilcoy, where
we stayed at the showground (also met a cute dog here we wanted to take with us
but unfortunately he had an owner), through Woodford, Caboolture and into
Redcliff (just north of Brisbane) to stay at Aunty Jude’s (Aunty Anne’s sister).
It was lovely to see the ocean
again even if it was like a lake. A must visit to Bunning’s, cause we’re such ‘capable’
girls was great and then to the club to see if Aunty Jude could win the members
draw. Unfortunately unsuccessful. A lovely sleep in on a rainy day was nice and
then to the movies in town. Driving around in the city was a bit surreal,
highways and roads 8 and 4 lanes wide respectively, were things we hadn’t seen
for nearly two weeks now. We were sharing 1 lane gravel roads with road trains,
not seeing other travellers for km’s and getting quite use to it. A narrated
tourist drive around the surrounding areas of Redcliffe from Aunty Jude was
amazing and a visit to Reece and Kristy, one of Aunty Jude’s sons, saw a nice
catch up and a good laugh around the table that night. It was then just up the
road to more family friends at Buddina on the Sunshine Coast to Bryan and
Lauren’s (Emma’s brother and Aunty Anne’s son), with their two little girls.
It was a week we gate crashed
these guys house for too, which we were very thankful for. Homemade sushi with
a work mate of Bryan’s was a lovely first night in. A coastal drive saw us find
some nice boardwalks and beaches as well as pretty decent fish n chips the next
day (not as good as Darron’s Seafood but). Sunday we had organised to see and
catch up with my mummy while she was close by at Marcoola with friends. We did
a drive up into the hinterland to see where we use to live in Maleny and a
great view of the Glasshouse Mountains. Next was a hot chocolate in Montville, a
stop at the Ginger Factory for lunch and special treats (1m long liquorice,
honey macadamia’s and made on site ginger beer) and through Coolum Beach to a
great lookout before dropping mum back to her hotel. It was then onto Lauren’s
youngest, Sophie, 1st Bday in the park. The rest of the week we did
some surfing, shopping, relaxing and visited Steve Irwin’s wildlife park-
Australia Zoo. On Friday we decided we would head on our way up north a bit
more and good timing with Ash’s new licence arriving that morning as it expired
in a weekJ
Just out of
Noosa a town called Tewantin is where we stayed in a caravan park for two
nights. Some cards, a beer and footy was a good way to end the week. With no
surf around we headed to the river for a fish where we both caught a bream
each. We then packed a cooler bag with drinks and snacks for a BYO sunset
cruise on Noosa River which was just beautiful. We decided to head off again,
with Noosa leaving us a little underwhelmed. A lovely place to visit, don’t get
me wrong, but maybe just not quite our scene at the time (high expectations
maybe?).
We got some
advice from the information centre at Gympie that Inskip Point is a great spot
to camp for $5.35 a night and is one of the gateways to Fraser Island. We were
sold and drove straight there to set up camp with a view of the ocean and
Fraser in the close distance, we were in heaven. We headed into town and booked
ourselves on a day tour to Fraser Island for Tuesday and then went on a short
walk to the Cooloola Sand Blow, which pictures can’t even do justice to. Up
early the next morning for a 7:30am pick up from Rainbow Beach to get on the
barge to Fraser Island. We took high tide tracks up in the dunes, morning tea
on the beach, Ash went for a dip in Lake Mackenzie, lunch and a walk in the
rainforest at Central Station, a visit to the Pinnacles and the shipwreck
Maheno and a final afternoon tea stop at Eli Creek with a swim. Not the best
weather but we had the best time over there and highly recommend a visit if
you’re around the area. We booked an extra night so we could relax in the
hammock for the first time and just take in the beauty of this wonderful place
for one more day. And lucky we did as our neighbour ‘Wayne’ who was a local
with plenty of stories, invited us over for nibbles and drinks, a great way to
end a perfect couple of days.
A short stay
in Hervey Bay was next which saw us have a Skype date with all the Chaffey’s
which brought a smile to us both to see everyone’s face. A trip into a nearby
town Maryborough and the Military and Colonial Memorial was a step back in
time. We then headed to the local Sailing Club back in Hervey Bay for a drink
after dinner and back into cosy Carmen for a good sleep.
Bundaberg was
next on the map and we picked a caravan park nice and close to the Bundaberg
Rum Distillery. We even had time to fit in the factory tour that afternoonJ We spent the next day
doing a bit of a coastal tour just east of Bundy (as the locals call it) from
Burnett Heads down to Elliot Heads and also visited the Bundaberg Barrel to get
some more ginger beer. That afternoon we collectively decided it would be great
to see a local football game before we left town and so we did, sitting in the
grand stand with all the locals. We were undecided on our next stop being Agnes
Water or 1770 but a popular/cheap camp spot at Agnes 100m from the beach and
finding out 1770 was only 5km’s made our mind up.
We set up camp
quite swiftly and tried a surf but ended up just swimming. Along the beach is
where we met Jude and Astrid, an extraordinary couple riding touring bikes from
Melbourne to Darwin and then boating to Indo and riding where they can all the
way to Europe (check out their blog too- foonsonbikes.wordpress.com). We
clicked right away and offered the girls to come watch the sunset at 1770 with
us, which is where, by chance, we ran into an old school friend Guy. He had
built a catamaran, sailed out of the Gold Coast and was on his way to the
Whitsundays. There was no other way than to all head across the road for a
couple of cold ones and trade some travelling stories. Astrid, Jude, Ash and I ended
up having dinner together back at camp and polishing a case of beer off, as you
do. A few dusty heads in the morning persuaded Jude and Astrid to stay another
day and night. We basically set up camp on the beach and lazed there all day,
catching up with Guy for a bit and eating burgers and chips. The girls bunked
in with us for their extra night and we ended up having a bbq with another
young traveller about to meet up with his girlfriend in a few days who was very
grateful for some ‘younger’ company. Gerry made an appearance that night, when
a local called ‘Tiny’ joined us for a jam. We dropped the girls back to the
roadhouse they’d left their bikes at in the morning, as they’d hitched into
town. We were on the road not much later, passing them with a smile, a wave and
a ‘see you soon’, to Byfield State Forrest just north of Yeppoon.
That day we
drove over the Tropic of Capricorn which runs through Rockhampton. We kind of
underestimated how long the drive was today and we didn’t actually get to the
camp until nearly 5pm. That’s when we decided we’d pull out Rhonda for her
debut experience. She basically goes up as quick as lightning strikes which
gave us plenty of time to drive back into Yeppoon for some dinner and to watch
the State of Origin in an Irish Pub. Yewww go the Blues! Some rain overnight
dampened Rhonda’s exterior but as soon as she dried out we packed up and made
more ground towards Mackay, staying at a free camp we spotted in our camps book
in a town called St. Lawrence.
We rounded the
corner to what looked like a Caravan Expo on this old horse/cattle farm (just a
mass of grey nomads really, all slotted in like a big Tetris game). We found a
bit of a grassy patch out of the way to set up and took a drive to the river
mouth where we saw croc signs for the first time. We were instantly drawn to go
for a swim in this river….. just kidding maybe next time! Another beautiful sunset
behind the hills of the farm and then in the morning a short drive up to Mackay
to visit Samara and Watty (Jude’s daughter).
That basically
brings us to where we are now, but I’ll leave the Mackay shenanigans till our
next post. I hope I haven’t rambled too much but I promise it won’t be this
long againJ
We are having the most amazing time on this journey and we just hope you can
get a little insight into what we’re doing and get a little inspiration to
maybe one day live your dream as well. Happy reading!
Soph and Ash
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