September 12 & 13 Hervey Bay

A lazy couple of days to finish our holiday off. While we’ve still a few days to go until we get home it feels like this is the end of the trip. From tomorrow on we start the long trip south. The bit I’m not looking forward to is from Inverell on – we’ve done it so many times that the whole trip is deadly dull and boring. Driving at “caravan speed” will only make things worse. I think we’ll go via Bingara. We haven’t been that way for a few years so that’ll provide a bit of variety – plus I think it’ll be easier with the van than going across to Uralla. We’ve enjoyed Hervey Bay and despite there not being a lot to do, it’s a very relaxing place. I can understand why so many people come here. The climate is just delightful and I’m told just as pleasant, although a bit hotter, during summer. The waterfront area of the bay itself, the Esplanade and the beachside nature strip is just brilliant. So many people use the walkway for exercise. Through Torquay, a number of exercise stations have been set up, complete with some of the sort of equipment you’d see in a gym (see photo). Yesterday afternoon we caught up with Gollops and had a very enjoyable visit, stayed for tea and watched the Broncos-Roosters game before heading home. Both Chris and Mick have put on a bit of weight since we last saw them and had a few health issues but really like the lifestyle. Their daughter, Sharon and her family (husband Steve, sons Callum & ? and daughter Holly), only live a short distance away while their son Peter lives in Balgownie and runs the Kickstart fitness centre. Both Sharon and Chris have Asian students who attend the Anglican College in Hervey Bay – Sharon has a 12 yr girl and an older one while Chris has a boy about 15 or 16). Twelve seems terribly young to send your child overseas for an education! Sharon also home-schools her two eldest kids so she has a pretty hectic life. Today we went for a walk along the Esplanade and took a few photos after which mum got me to time her over 100 & 200m breaststroke (2 min 11 sec and 4 min 28 sec). She was pretty happy with the times and now has to change her entry times for the State AUSSI Masters at Gosford. All the training is paying off and she has improved a lot. This afternoon we went for a drive out to Dundowran Beach. When we were there yesterday with Gollops mum saw a lot of shells and knowing how she likes looking for that type of thing I suggested we go back today. Without much trouble she managed to fill an ice-cream container full. This will be my last post. Whenever we’ve travelled, I’ve always kept a paper diary and on this trip I decided to do it on the laptop. Just before leaving home I decided to put it online as a blog. This gave me a backup but also meant that as I was writing for an “audience,” I had to change my usual note-taking style and try and make it a bit more interesting. At times it’s been a bit of a chore – once you start something you just have to keep it going. I hope it’s worked and allowed me to let everyone know where we are and what we’ve been doing without having to send emails every few days. Depending on how I find Granny, I may have to ask everyone for a bit of support in keeping in touch with her more regularly. I’ve rung her on average twice a week and her mood’s been fluctuating a lot – I suspect boredom and depression! BTW any suggestions for mum’s 60th birthday on 15th October???

September 11 Hervey Bay

With only a little over 100 km to travel we had quite a leisurely start to the day. Again travelled through more sugar cane country and horticulture areas. On a couple of farms along the way tomato picking was in progress.

We were quite amazed at the size of Harvey Bay – spreads out for kilometres along the coastline. The guy at the Visitor Information Centre described it as the biggest retirement village in Australia and judging by the locals we’ve seen, probably not far wrong. We’ve seen lots of elderly citizens (mum and I certainly wouldn’t look out of place) and quite a few on bikes. There’s a footpath runs alongside The Esplanade and waterfront and using by people cycling, walking and jogging. All very pleasant.

Despite the retirement aspect of the place there are still lots of schools and kids and even a number of backpackers.

Before lunch we walked along Urangan Pier, about 1.8 km out and back. Mum and I were fascinated with the (Soldier?) crabs we saw on the sand – it was a huge mass of moving crabs everywhere.

We decided, mainly for financial reasons, that we would give whale watching and Fraser Island a miss on this trip. After these two activities, there isn’t a lot else to do or see – just laze around and let the world pass by. I think mum and I would be quite bored if we had to stay here more than a few days.

We gave Gollops a ring and will catch up with them tomorrow afternoon. They were involved in softball years ago when I coached their daughter, Sharon. They moved up here from Dapto 5 years ago.

We found the local Aquatic Centre this afternoon so mum checked it out and had a training swim.

September 9 & 10 Bundaberg

Yesterday I got sick of fiddling with the computer - every other time I went to start it up it would freeze or applications would stop responding – so I put it in for repairs. It turned out the problem was the antivirus software and each time something was plugged into a USB port the antivirus software decided it wanted 100% of the computer’s power and to hell with everything else. The cost of repairs was $75 which I didn’t consider too bad. He also installed some freeware antivirus stuff so hopefully that will be the end of all the issues. As a result there was no Blog updated yesterday and I now have a bit of catching up to do. Yesterday morning we went out to visit Renee’s Aunty Elaine and Uncle Bill who live in north Bundaberg. It was a pleasant visit and finished up with morning tea. They suggested we make a visit to the Hummock Lookout. It’s only 96 m high but does give a good view over Bundaberg to the west and the coastal villages to the east. It’s apparently the remnant of an extinct volcano. We were impressed with the land use pattern – lots of sugar cane but also lots of vegetable crops. Horticulture is very big in this area – from that point of view it would be a nice area to live in. Lots of fresh farm vegetables from roadside stalls. According to Elaine and Bill there’s a very good farmer’s market but we won’t be here for that. This is the only lookout over Bundaberg because all the surrounding countryside is pretty flat. From here we went to Bargara (pronounced B-gah-ra), one of the coastal villages. On the way we stopped at Bargara Berries for lunch – pancakes with strawberries, whipped cream and ice cream. Beautiful! We also bought a 1 kg container of 1st quality strawberries for $10. Sorry we can’t bring any home but they were the biggest and most delicious we’ve ever eaten. Bargara is not really the place to surf as the beach consists largely of rocks and boulders from The Hummock. It’s still a nice place however with lots of expensive looking apartment buildings. Today we began with a visit to Baldwin’s Swamp wetland – an extensive wetland area more or less in the centre of Bundaberg. It was exceptional and we found lots of water birds as well as getting some good exercise. Excellent picnic/BBQ and play facilities surrounded the park. We came across a school group on an excursion and that took my memory back a few years. No more, thank you! The Botanic Gardens were on the itinerary after lunch and we felt they were a very poor show, in comparison to Baldwin’s Swamp and the Botanic Gardens we had seen in Townsville and Rockhampton. Petrol here was the same price as Rockhampton – 149.9 minus the 4c from Woolies. Yet the price of oil has dropped $40 a barrel – figure that out! Off to Hervey Bay tomorrow for three nights – then Toowoomba (1 night), Inverell (3 nights), Singleton or Maitland (1 night) and then home on 19th. That’s the plan at the moment.

September 8 Rockhampton

A busy, busy day! The Bundaberg Rum Distillery was our first stop. On getting out of the car the smell of molasses wafted through the air. A guided tour explained the process involved with turning molasses into rum. This was interesting but there was more to come. Our tour price included two “free” drinks so mum and I opted for a Bundy & Cola. Expecting to get thimble-sized samples we were amazed to find that we were given full size glasses. As a result one drink was all we could manage. Two and we would have been walking or taking a taxi. Bit of a bugger because one free drink ticket went unused, perhaps we could go back tomorrow.

The restrictions before taking part in the tour were a bit overwhelming – nothing with a battery (no mobile phone, no watch, no hearing aids etc). Pockets had to be emptied of wallets, keys, coins etc. Free lockers were provided for storage so it wasn’t too big a drama. The whole set-up was very much safety conscious.

How valuable was the rum? We were shown a Bond Store with 30 vats of rum, each worth six million dollars. The rum has to be kept in the wooden vats/kegs for two years to mature. The vats are made from an American timber and the Bond Stores surrounded by a two metre high electric fence.

The guides who took us around had a good sense of humour and made the whole thing very entertaining. My only complete was that they were pushing the joys and delights of drinking Bundaberg Rum too much – part of the sales pitch I suppose! We did however contribute a fair bit to Bundaberg Rum’s profits with the clothing and souvenirs we bought. Mum also bought a bottle of Bundaberg Rum liqueur which can only be purchased from the Distillery. We might let people have a taste for mum’s 60^th birthday.

Just down the road was a cooperage where kegs were made. As it was lunch time when we arrived we missed out on seeing the actual process.

Next stop was the Bundaberg Keg. This is the place where Bundaberg Ginger Beer is brewed. Our admission price here included a tasting of all their drinks – a little larger than a thimble in size but quite adequate. We left here with some more samples – not ginger beer, because we can get that from Woolies, but some of the other drinks which were very nice. Be good, and there may be a tasting down the track.

The forecast for the next couple of days is possible showers so we decided to go and gave a look at the Mystery Craters which were about 30 km out on the Gin Gin road. They were interesting as there are a total of 35 craters which were uncovered some years ago when a farmer wanted to extend his horticulture area. Scientists have apparently not been able to provide an explanation for them. Some contain water of different colours, some don’t hold any, some have mystery markings on them, most are not connected. They were certainly worth a look!

After returning to Bundaberg we flitted around and took a few photos and visited Sugarland Shopping Centre. Mackay had a shopping centre called Caneland – certainly topical.

To finish the day off mum went to the local pool used by the AUSSI Bundaberg Rum club for a training session. No free samples, bugger!

September 7 Bundaberg

Ian McNamara’s concert last night was thoroughly enjoyable – we had a great time and going by his comments on the radio this morning, he and the cast did too. It was a mixture of singing, instrumental items and story-telling. Author, Hugh Lunn, was one of the performers and he entertained us with some humorous tales. One of Maccas accompanying band members was a part of Slim Dusty’s “Travelling Country Band” and he and Ian did a banjo/guitar duel which was just brilliant. Macca provided an opportunity for a blind guitarist to present a couple of items but for me the highlight was the songs sung by Digger Revell. Lord knows how old he is (60++?) but his voice and energy were exceptional. I was impressed by Macca himself too. All in all a great night! We succeeded in getting away from Rocky a bit earlier than our usual departure time because we wanted to do a detour and have at look at Agnes Water and Town of 1770 on the way to Bundaberg. Both places were worth a look but I don’t think either would attract me back for any length of time. Nice places to visit if you wanted to do nothing, unless of course you’re into fishing. The Town of 1770 got its name from the fact that Cook landed there. Certainly an original name for a town! It was an enjoyable and pleasant drive from Rockhampton through quite hilly and attractive country. As we travelled along a back-road the bitumen was quite rough in places and things in the van got tossed around a bit. Even allowing for the detour, we made pretty good time getting here. About 30 km out the sugar cane fields reappeared along with mango and macadamia trees. Other types of horticulture (eg strawberries and tomatoes) were evident along the road. I really find it hard to understand the lack of Sunday trading in Queensland. The CBD in every place we’ve been is as dead as a dodo on Sundays. Even cafes and coffee shops are closed.

September 6 Rockhampton

What a great day - cloudless sky, cool breeze – perfect for a drive!

We’d set today aside for a drive along the Capricorn Coast, so set out for Yeppoon. Yeppoon is a popular holiday destination in itself and is also the “jumping-off point” for Great Keppel Island. We were very impressed with the town, the beaches and the surrounding area.

While it’s only a reasonably small place it had all the facilities holidaymakers would require and Rockhampton is only 36 km away if anything more substantial is needed. We had a look at a caravan park with beach frontage and decided that if we were ever back this way we could quite easily fill in a week or two lazing around there.

Stretching along the coast south of Yeppoon are a number of small villages all with their own appeal. Emu Park is home to the “Singing Ship.” It was built as a memorial to Captain Cook who named Keppel Bay in 1770 and consists of a number of tubes which produce a variety of sounds when the wind blows, hence the name “Singing Ship.” The stronger the wind blows, the louder and more variable the sounds.

We were astounded by the number of islands visible along the coast. The two larger ones were Great Keppel and North Keppel but there were lots and lots of others.

We’ve been pestered by small black ants while we’ve been in this park and regular ant hunts have kept mum busy. We can’t find where they’re attacking us from and are bit suspicious they might be coming from an overhanging tree.

We’ve enjoyed Rockhampton, even with the couple of wet days. Of the coastal cities/towns it rates number two behind Townsville.

September 5 Rockhampton

We were woken this morning about 3.00 am by torrential rain. There’s no way you can sleep with rain on the roof of the caravan however it eased a bit later in the morning. Today was cattle sales day at the Gracemere saleyards so we decided to go and have a look. The bull sales ring, which wasn’t in use, wouldn’t be out of place as an entertainment venue. It was very impressive. The actual saleyards however were a bit primitive in comparison. As we’d never been to sales before we found the process interesting. We saw both steers and heifers being sold but apparently the numbers were down because of the wet weather. Fortunately we didn’t come away as owners of a pen of cattle as we were very cautious about any actions we made. Mum had her last training swim here and has done really well. Even though we’re staying one more day she’s opted to have a rest day tomorrow. After lunch we went to have a look inside the Great Western Hotel. In particular we were curious about the indoor rodeo arena. The hotel is very much into country and western music with a female group performing there tonight. The entertainment area/rodeo arena is actually under a large “shed” at the back of the pub. The rodeo ring had four chutes with drafting yards at the back. While driving around we also found another bull sculpture near the airport – that makes a total of five scattered around the city in addition to those perched on roofs and awnings. We returned “home” to wait around until we heard from Graeme and were both becoming more anxious as the hours passed. Needless to say we were delighted and relieved to get the news that both Nayte and Renee were well. Mum shouted me dinner at Sizzlers for Fathers’ Day and we toasted our new grandson (with softdrink).

September 4 Rockhampton

Another wet day, except that it didn’t clear up for long before it came down again. Not to worry, we had a low activity lay-day.

We decided to stay one more night so we’ll now leave here for Bundaberg early on Sunday. One of the things we want to do is head out to Yeppoon and do a round trip along the coast. The forecast is for good weather on Saturday. Ian McNamara is also putting on a concert here on Saturday night and we’d like to attend that as well. Maccas, “Australia All Over” program on ABC radio on Sunday mornings is an institution and one we always try to listen to. Two good reasons for hanging around a bit longer.

We went to the theatre to book two seats for the concert and ran into the man himself. Talk about a coincidence. We were able to have a chat with him for a few minutes.

Another shopping expedition after lunch and we found a couple of things to send to Jack. His favourite lollies are soft grubs and ice-creams and we left a supply behind when we came away but that’s disappeared. Hopefully he’ll like the substitutes we found.

Tomorrow’s a big day for Renee and Graeme so our thoughts will be with them. Hopefully everything will go well.