South Past Brisbane

Having now got the excitement of the tandem sky-dive out of the way, you may recall that in our Australian travels, we had got to a little place called Gin Gin which had a small museum and narrow gauge steam engine. We soon pressed on however, heading through Maryborough and Gympie.

It was now the 18th February and we heard that Townsville, which we had left on the 12th February, had been subjected to very heavy rain with some flooding and the likelihood that the Bruce Highway would be closed. Thankfully, the flooding around the country still seemed to be behind us.

Soon we arrived at a place called Noosa Heads and experienced one of the delightful Australian beaches. This picture is of Christine enjoying a stroll along the beach. It was a beautiful sight, straight out of one of the Australian travelogues, with golden sands, blue sea and rolling breakers which stretched for miles.

[As ever, clicking on any of these images should bring up a larger image. Then clicking on your browser back button will return you to the blog]
We continued on down the coast for a time though, passing through such places as; Sunshine Beach, Sunrise Beach before stumbling across a delightful spot called Peregian Beach where we stopped over for a couple of days because it was so nice. I even ventured to get laid out on the beach, and have a swim. However, I was careful not to expose my delicate skin to too much of the harsh sunlight. As you can see below.

Shortly after leaving this idyll, we were once again heading South but decided to bypass Brisbane. We travelled on the motorway (M1) which took us over the toll-bridge to the East of Brisbane with lots of traffic on the road, almost like being back in the UK on the M25. We assumed that most of the traffic was families heading for a day out on the Gold Coast.

We diverted from the M1 onto the Gold Coast Highway and travelled through Southport where we photographed an old steam engine, labelled as the Southport Express. See below.

Shortly after leaving Southport, back on the M1, we soon crossed from Queensland into new South Wales, loosing an hour along the way with the difference in time zones.

Not long after crossing the border, approximately 10 miles south of Tweed Heads, we happened to notice some railway carriages just off the highway and stopped off at what turned out to be a preserved railway at

Melaleuca with a grand entrance and various rolling stock in stages of renovation, as well as an operational steam engine which was offering trips around a fairly small track.  

We had to assume that this railway station once served a local community but one that was no longer apparent.
The map below indicates the route travelled during this post and I will continue from here in a week or so.

By the way, just completed a half day 4x4 course, courtesy of Landrover, in a Freelander. I have to say that I was impressed with the vehicle and the course provided me with insight of some of the difficulties I may experience during my proposed tour of the Kimberleys in October.
See you soon.