Final Push to Sydney

It was now the 21st February as we left Byron Bay and rejoined the Pacific Highway, heading south and eventually booked into a camp site in Grafton. I have to say that the camper sites in Australia are, on the whole, quite brilliant. Christine and I had travelled almost 4000 kms since leaving Alice Springs and had stayed at about 14 or 15 different camp sites. We had not made any advanced bookings but we were always accommodated and in most cases with everything on-site that we could need. We found it an excellent way to travel around the country allowing maximum freedom to travel at whatever pace we chose. I only hope that the choice and convenience remain as good during my longer tour later this year.

The following day saw us back on the road by about 08.20 and heading towards Coffs Harbour. A delightful seaside town where my younger sister had lived some years previously. The picture below shows Christine posing at the end of the jetty

While the next is a view towards the town from the jetty with one of the local inhabitants looking on.

Following a short visit to the local mall and a whizz around the botanical gardens we hit the road again at about 13.00 and headed for Port Macquarie, a further 160 kms down the road. However, we were in no hurry and didn't arrive until about 15.30 and got booked into the camper site at the mouth of the river Hastings. During the evening we visited the local 'Hogs Breath' pub but found it to not be as interesting as others in the chain so moved on to one of the other hostelries. Once again we were astounded by the myriad outlets for gambling and the variety of human life taking advantage of it.

The next morning, 23rd Feb saw us heading for Wauchope and TimberTown. This is a representative town dating to approximately 1900 and it was very interesting to see the old style buildings and the similarity to an old American western town, as frequently depicted in films.

Of particular interest to me was the steam powered saw mill where we watched enormous logs being split into planks, and of course, the narrow gauge railway. The engine in use on the day having been built in Leeds in 1953.

After going for a trip on said railway we hightailed it back to the Pacific Highway to continue towards Newcastle, which was to be our last stop before Sydney. Eventually made Newcastle and booked into the Ocean Breeze Tourist Park by about 16.00 where we spent a quiet evening.

24th Feb, and hard to believe that this was our last day on the road because we had elected to spend the last 4 days of our holiday in the Sydney area so that we could do just a few of the routine touristy things. Had a bit of a late start and didn't get on the road until 09.15. However, with only a relatively short distance to travel we were not in too much of a hurry. Hence we continued down the old Pacific Highway through Wyong and Ourimbah until we reached Gosford where we decided to join the Sydney Newcastle Freeway until just south of Hornsby. Back on the Pacific Highway, we followed the signs for the airport and then Rockdale until we finally arrived at our destination which was the Sheralee Caravan Park just a short distance from Botany Bay.

I will finish for now and let you know about our Sydney experience the next time. However, below is a map showing the area covered during this post.

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.

Tandem Sky-Dive Completed

Well as you can hopefully see from the above video clip I finally managed to get my tandem sky-dive experience completed. Sunday 2nd May, was a beautiful day at Cockerham airfield with the Black Knights Parachute Centre and following briefing and kitting up in a bright yellow coverall (yellow is not really my colour) we got airborne at about 09.30 and some 12 minutes later we were at 14,000 feet and that is were the video starts.
It was an exhilarating experience and if I were younger, I may have been tempted to take up the sport as a regular hobby as it is however, I think I will leave it to the younger generations. Should anyone be tempted to do a sky-dive I thoroughly recommend the experience.
That,s all for just now but will be back in the near future with more antipodean pictures.

East to Queensland and beyond

Continuing our journey north from the Devil's Marbles we eventually arrived at the Three Ways Roadhouse some 25Kms north of Tennant Creek where appropriately enough we turned right and headed for the coast some 1,500 kms away. A distance we covered in just 3 days, arriving at Townsville, on the Queensland coast on 10th February. As you can see below this is a beautiful place where Christine was to meet up with her penpal of some 40 years standing. It is also the place where we experienced our first ever true Aussie prawn barbie. Brilliant.

Departing Townsville on 12th Feb we headed towards Airlie Beach and a wildlife park run by Rob Bredl, the Barefoot Bushman (he had a series on UK TV in about 1999.) Below is Rob feeding one of his aligators and you can see evidence that Christine willingly handled a real live snake.

Although we don't have photographic evidence, we were fortunate, at this time, to be travelling about 2 days ahead of some severe weather. In fact almost every place we had been through suffered torrential rain and flooding approximately 48hrs after our leaving.

In the next couple of days while continuing to head south along the coastline we deviated slightly inland to Mount Morgan where we hoped to see, and perhaps ride on, the Dee River Railroad. Unfortunately, it was closed, undergoing renovation. However, we managed to have quite a good chat with the chap in the information office, an ex-Londoner, who had emigrated to Aus on a £10 passage in 1965 and who had now retired to Mount Morgan.

Before leaving, we had a wander around the small town and a visit to the local museum before I took my life into my hands by using a rather delapidated swing bridge, as shown on the left, which Christine flatly refused to go anywhere near.

 

Leaving Mount Morgan behind we headed back toward the coast over the gentle hills of the Dawson Range until we once again struck the Bruce Highway and turned South heading for Miriam Vale.

17th February, saw us passing through Gin Gin where we stumbled across a small museum and narrow gauge steam engine.

North from "The Alice"

This is a view of Alice Springs town centre where Christine and I stayed for a few days with Valerie and husband Nick during the first week of Feb 2000. [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 visited a number of places of interest whilst there including the Desert Park, the Telegraph Station, the Aviation Museum and the Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment.
We couldn't leave Alice without paying a visit to the Anzac memorial which is shown on the left with the view of Alice from the memorial shown below.
 Leaving Alice Springs, we travelled North on the Stuart Highway, passing over the Tropic of Capricorn . The road seemed to stretch on interminably into the distance with very little but scrubland to either side, until eventually we came across an unusual rock formation known as "the Devil's Marbles". (See below.) Naturally we had to stop for a photo call.
Time seems to be getting away from me just lately and I am aware that it is almost 3 weeks since my last posting so I thought I had better get this latest instalment out for you to see. With regard to the 2010 trip I have now confirmed bookings for the campervan requirements which will enable me to do the travelling I want. This is going to make a big hole in my wallet but I feel sure that it will be worth it. One other bit of news, not related to the Aus trip but, I was due to take a tandem Sky-Dive yesterday, (a 65th birthday present from Samantha- I told you she had designs on the house!!) however, the weather was not good enough so have had to re-shedule for Friday 16th April.