Author Archives: Dearne and Rod

We had our usual slow start on departing Bundaberg on Saturday.  We have discovered that since starting our Australian journey, we are not very good at getting up early. ‘Wakey Wakey’ is usually between 8am and 8.30am then it’s a coffee in bed and a healthy breakfast to follow before we decide how the day is going to go. Saturday was no different – up at 8.30am, breakfast, a bit of idle chatter with other travellers and we finally hit the road at about 10.30am.

As we said in the last update we really didn’t have a plan for this leg of the journey but thought it would be good if we could at least get to Gladstone. On the way north we passed through a little place called Gin Gin. It so happens that our drive by coincided with the town’s Saturday market. It was a ‘we must stop’ and 30 minutes later we departed with a very tasty jar of macadamia honey. We absolutely love the country markets here.

Calliope River free camping area

As we got closer to Gladstone we read in our Australia Camp 7 book that there was a freedom camping spot about 26km out of Gladstone that was directly beside the Calliope River. The information said there was room for about 50 motorhomes or caravans so we decided to make that our stop. We are lucky with the motorhome that we carry plenty of water (hot and cold) and power so freedom camping is no problem. We arrived at the site at about 3pm and lucked in with a nice flat spot. Once arrived, we decided the spot was perfect so decided to stay there for two nights. Once we get further north and away from the main centres, freedom camping becomes much more of an option. More photographs HERE .

Our camping spot is directly below the Calliope River Historical Village.  We had a stroll around there this morning and it was most interesting.  Early living in the Australian outback was very primitive. To have a look around the village click HERE .

This sort of put us having a swim at the Sands

On Sunday we unhitched the little Suzuki and spent the day touring the region. We went into Gladstone itself and drove around the main city, the marina and port area. We then headed off around the coast to Tannum Sands, Boyne Island on the Boyne River and Canoe Point. We had heard there were heaps of ‘midgees’ in the area but luckily they were not around on our visit. The temperature was around 25C so it was a lovely drive around.

We departed the Calliope River this morning round ‘10ish’ and headed north.  We made a small detour to drop into Mt. Larcom for breakfast. Our goal this leg was to get to Rockhampton and we just about made it. We are now in are small Park at Gracemere, about 7km west of Rockhampton.  We liked the sound of it as it was really cheap, a short walk to the town and was spread over about 10 acres. Our plan is to base ourselves here for a couple of days and have a look around the area before heading further north. Will keep you updated.

Another two and a half day stopover and each day has been frantic. We are still in that frame of mind where we acknowledge, that relatively speaking, our visit to Australia is only for a short time and we feel we must see everything in that time.  I feel a ‘strategy meeting’ coming on so as a realistic slant can be put on our journey.

Rod at the Rum Distillery and still upright

We did the visit to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery yesterday.  It was a very interesting morning that ended at the Distillery’s bar.  As you know I am not a huge fan of Bundy rum however I did take a fancy to their new Dark Oak rum. It tasted very much like Navy rum but at A$90 per bottle it remained on the shelf. We came away with a delicious bottle of Bundy Rum Liqueur.

A couple of interesting facts for you

1.  The Distillery has been producing rum products since 1888.

2. Australia consumes 96 percent of the Distillery’s production. 3 percent is consumed by New Zealand and the other 1 percent by the rest of the world.

3. The Distillery produces 22 million litres of rum annually. It is matured at 78% ALC/VOL in 75,000 litre Oak vats.

Rod with the ‘birds’

We decided to do a ‘roady’ today and visit some of the areas ‘top spots’. We ended up this morning just north of Childers at the Flying High Bird Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is Australia’s largest walk through aviary covering nearly two acres and with a height of over seven metres. There is approximately half a kilometre of walking track and the aviary houses over 3000 birds.  While a majority of the birds fly free, there are some species that are incompatible with other birds (and tourists) and they are housed separately.  Many of the birds land on you at will. More photos of our visit can be seen HERE .

From the Sanctuary we head back north and visited Burnett Heads and the port area. Rod said he had visited Bundaberg on one of the ships he was on many years ago but he did not remember ‘any’ of the scenery around the port. His explanation was that fog must have set in that day. We were going to head over the Mon Repos Beach to have a look at the turtle rookery but unfortunately it’s the wrong time of year so we gave that a miss. We visited are few other local attractions such as the Bundaberg Ginger Beer Distillery and the sugar cane farms.

For the cooks amongst you, we did our fruit and vege shopping today for next week at one of the roadside stalls. Our purchases cost us the princely sum of $6.50. Eating healthily over here is very easy and cheap.

Dearne on her new electric bike

Many of the motorhomers and caravaners over here either carry the standard bicycle or a battery-powered bicycle to get around local shops etc.  You guessed it – Dearne is now in possession of a battery-powered bicycle. Top speed of 26kph with a maximum range of approximately 40km. What could possibly go wrong!!

We are heading further north tomorrow but again we have no firm plan of where we will stop for the night.  Our current thinking is that we may have to start getting as far north as we can over the next month so that when we do the turn around to head back south into NSW and Victoria for the summer, we will have more time to take in the country.  Our return trip is going to be inland rather than coastal.

We have been in Australia one month yesterday and all is going well.

The New Palace, Childers, Queensland

It was an uneventful drive from Hervey Bay to Bundaberg today although we did spend some time on the journey to visit Childers – another place we had on our ‘must see’ list.  Childers is the town where on 23 June 2000, an arsonist (he received a 25 year prison sentence for deliberately setting the fire) set fire to the Palace Backpackers Hostel that took the lives of 15 backpackers sleeping in the hostel.

Since the fire, the Palace has been rebuilt and the upstairs is now a memorial to the backpackers who lost their lives.  The memorial consists of a glass wall, 7.7 metres long and 2.7 metres high. Within the wall are 15 separate ‘3D memory boxes’ that contain photographs that reveal the story of each of the deceased persons life with latest photographs in the front and early or childhood pictures in the rear. It is a sombre place but a fitting memorial to the tragedy. We are glad we took the time.

A new 115 bed backpacker hostel has been constructed directly behind the new Palace.  There is always plenty of work in the Bundaberg area agricultural industry for travellers.

We are now tucked into our spot in Bundaberg and just about to have a wee Pino before cranking up the bar b que for dinner. The weather is not that smart but it’s good enough. It is 5pm, cloudy but the thermometer in the van is saying 23 degs.

Our big visit tomorrow is to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery – but you all knew ‘we’ would end up there. Rod’s not to keen on Bundy Rum but apparently they do a great Bundy Liqueur. I am sure you will be informed.

It has been an eventful few days at Hervey Bay – not all of them memorable.  We never expected to travel without any drama’s but we had our first big hiccup on Saturday.

Awaiting our coffee at Toogoon

We were out having a look around the area and at around mid afternoon a strong southeasterly wind came up accompanied by driving rain. We did not give it too much thought as we had settled ourselves in the Hervey Bay RSL for an hour or so while it blew over. However on our arrival back to the motorhome, we found that the rain had driven up underneath the slideout cover (the slideout was out) and had leaked into the motorhome. While we have experienced similar weather in New Zealand, a leak was a new situation. Unfortunately for us the water leaked over the slideout, under the rubber seal and onto the table where the laptop computer was sitting. No explanation is really necessary suffice to say there was as much water in the laptop as there was on the table and on the ground outside.

Our first reaction was to try the cheap trick – put the laptop into a bag of kitty litter for 24 hours to try and dry it out – the trick did not work. The laptop was officially dead. On Monday we took it to a local Apple expert who was brilliant and managed to extract all our photographs and data from the sodden harddrive and transfer them to a ‘new’ laptop.  A costly exercise !!!!  We have introduced a new ‘risk management’ programme where we back up every two days now rather than weekly. We will also be a little more observant about weather from now on.

We have been very surprised at the number of Kiwi’s who are doing exactly the same as us over here. Last night we had 5 o’clockers with a couple from Auckland and another couple from Taupo. We are all heading in different directions this week but our paths will cross again sometime further north.

Part of the Burrum Heads population

This is our last day in Hervey Bay today so it was out this morning in the jeep to explore the outer areas. We visited small coastal areas such Toogoom and the Burrum Heads. A couple of things we noticed – quite a few new subdivisions in the area with every second house being brand new and for sale. You can buy a very large four bedroom home with pool, two or three bathrooms, Balanise style gardens, covered ‘summer’ area and your own private walk to the beach for A$500K.  A standard four beddy, two bathroom in a new subdivision is around A$300K. It is very evident that the financial crisis has had a real impact on this area of Australia.

We are off to dinner with friends at the Hervey Bay Boat Club this evening. It’s great that most of the Clubs (Surf, RSL’s and Bowling) have their own courtesy buses.  Its just a matter of giving them a call to let them know you are coming to dinner and about what time you want to be picked up. The drop home is usually on the hour every hour until midnight.

We are carrying on north tomorrow to Bundaberg and plan to stay there for about three days. We are awaiting a couple of courier packages which we hope will arrive over the next couple of days.

Just to quick update to let you know that it was an uneventful journey from Sunshine Beach to Hervey Bay, arriving here late yesterday afternoon. We did however experience our first encounter with the RED DUST. Part way through the trip we had light rain and unfortunately the road that we were on was also the favourite for logging trucks working the area. With the rain, the passing trucks and the red dust on the road from the forests, both the motorhome and the jeep had a change of colour. Even Dearne couldn’t stand the state of both vehicles so as soon as we were parked up, she washed both down.  More of this to come I think.

Dearne tending her new herb garden

One of the things that Dearne has missed in the short time we have been away is her potted plants and garden. As you can imagine it’s an issue not easily resolved travelling in a motorhome.  However, problems are only problems when you do nothing about them so I went out and purchased her a ‘hanging herb garden’. She loves it. The herb pots are stored in the stairwell when we travel so all is now good.

We are here now until next Wednesday so will update the blog again when we have experienced some of the region.

We finally departed Maroochydore at about midday on Monday.  It took us that long to get packed up as the people we had met at the Park kept popping in to say goodbye.  If we get one thing out of the next 18 months or so it will be all the great people we have met on our journey.

We ended up on Monday night at little seaside town called Rainbow Beach. It was an easy drive of about two hours up the coast. One of the main reasons we settled on the location is that it was beachside and was also the closed point to Fraser Island – a place on our ‘must see’ list.

Rainbow Beach is a very small place – a dozen or so shops, a population of about 1000 and of course a local Surf Club and Bowling Club. The first parking spot we tried to get into in the centre of town could not take motorhomes our size. The next option was a Park about 3km outside of town but it was also directly alongside a beach.  The Park is at least 15 hectares and we were able to pick wherever we liked. We picked a nice little flat site amongst the gum trees and about 50m from the shore. Very nice! Once we were all settled in we unhitched the jeep and took a quick look around the immediate area ending up in the Surf Club for a relaxing beer and Pino Gris.

Rod beside our Fraser Island Transport

Tuesday we headed over the Fraser Island for the day. Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island – 123km long and 15km wide. We were going to take the jeep across but were advised that unless we were experienced four wheel drivers, we should give it a miss.  The cost to take a vehicle onto the island is quite expensive as well – A$100 for the site license and A$80 return for the barge ride. As it turns out that it was the best advice we received all day. We ended up taking a day tour with one of the local operators (A$160) and from the moment we hit the beach we understood the advice.  It was very difficult terrain with even some local operators having ‘traction’ problems.

Dearne beside the wreck of the Stirling Castle

We had a great day on the island.  Managed to see a couple of dingo in the wild, the wreck of the Stirling Castle (an old WW1 Hospital ship of New Zealand origin) and numerous fresh water lakes  – very similar to the Kai Iwi Lakes north of Dargaville.  Our ‘learn something new’ for the day – there are stands of kauri forest growing very well on the island. Many are well over a 100 years old and growing entirely in sand.  After all the reverence layed at the kauri’s doorstep at home, we thought Kauri was only grown in New Zealand.  Not so it seems.  We finished up back at the motorhome at about 5pm. More photographs of our Fraser Island visit HERE. Another ‘must do’ thing ticked off the bucket list.

Today was a quiet day exploring all around the area in the jeep.  We doubt that we will be coming back this way so it was important we see what we can while we are here.  We drove back down as far as Eumundie and came back north through Gympie, Cooroy and the Cooloola region.  To be honest, while the beaches here are beautiful, we have as beautiful at home.

Tomorrow we head up to Hervey Bay and will be staying at the Australaina (that’s really how you spell it) Holiday Park. We plan to be there for six days as the area is reporting very good fishing at the moment. We are also meeting up with our friends from Orewa in New Zealand who are  travelling the east coast of Australia in their motorhome and will be staying at the same Park.

Will update again from Hervey Bay.

It is our last day in Maroochydore today as we are taking the next step north tomorrow. We are not quite sure where we will stop but we are just enjoying our life of ‘no plan’.

Rod relaxing at Noosa, Queensland

Our week on the Sunshine Coast has been very social. We have met some great people at the Cotton Tree Park all of whom have a similar philosophy to life as ourselves. While we are heading north tomorrow, most are following over the next few weeks so we hope to catch up with most of them again in the near future.

As indicated in our last blog update, we headed a little north yesterday and went to the Eumundi Markets.  It was only a 40 minute drive but a very pleasant way to spend a morning.  The market had a lot of ‘must haves’ but we managed to keep spending to a minimum. Because we have limited space in the motorhome, every time we buy something new, we have to throw something old away.  Serious thought goes into every new purchase!

After the markets we headed up to Noosa for lunch them drove back down the coast road through Coolum Beach and to Maroochydore. Stunning views, stunning weather and stunning company!

Coolum Beach, Sunshine Coast, Queensland

When we arrived back at the Park mid afternoon, a 5pm ‘pot luck’ bar-b-que had been arranged at one of the communal cooking sites. We shuffled along to the event and again met new people and participated in interesting traveller conversations. After the bar-b-que a few of us walked along to the Maroochydore Surf Club to watch the Lions vs Australia game.  A lovely day with lovely people.

Today was a ‘restock of the motorhome’ day just in case we end up tomorrow in a place with no shopping facilities.  We took a wee break at lunch time and went down to the Mooloolaba wharf and had a delicious meal of fresh prawns.

We are not quite sure what time we will get away in the morning but hope to be on the road by about midday. No pressure.

The View from our Motorhome at Cottonwood Holiday Park

Since our last blog update on the 1 July, the weather has done a complete 360 degrees and it has been brilliantly fine and very warm. The shorts, T shirts and jandals came out of the wardrobe and one could be fooled into thinking it was mid summer.

We are starting to appreciate the sheer size of Australia and what we hope to ‘get in’ in the two years we are here. We have given up travelling in weeks or months and are now planning our travel in seasons whether that be in the North, South, East or West of Australia. Every ‘traveller’ we have meet has advice or suggestions on where we should go and when. We are listening to all local advice but will have to make our own minds up at the end of the day.

We made our visit to the Australian Zoo on Tuesday and were totally impressed. If Steve Irwin was still with us, we are sure he would be very happy with what has been achieved in his name. The Zoo has been made as natural as possible but still giving visitors a ‘close up’ interaction with Australia’s ‘most dangerous’. We would highly recommend a visit to the Zoo should you visit here. Please find a few photographs of our visit HERE .

Dearne at the Ettamogah Pub

On our way back to Maroochydore we called in to the Ettamogah Pub and had a couple. We did not realize until we read the Pub’s history that this was not the original Ettamorgah Pub. The first one, based on the cartoon “Ned and his Neddy” written by Ken Maynard,  was opened in Albury, New South Wales in 1987.  The Queensland version did not open until November 1989.  Oh well – another visit on another day.

One of the most noticeable things about the Sunshine Coast at the moment is the impact that weather and sea conditions have had on the coastline. In some places there is no beach – just a solid rock base. Work has recently commenced to pump sand through a pipeline from a barge in the Maroochy River to the Maroochydore and Alexandra Headland beaches. It is estimated that approximately 175,000 cubic metres of sand will be pumped over the next two months at a cost of $2.4M.

It’s all about tourism and jobs here.  In Australia both local Councils and Government have recognised the spending power of the national and international baby boomer community and are encouraging them to be part of Australia’s growth. The ‘grey nomad’ movement is particularly strong in Australia – at a guess, 85% of the motorhomers and caravaners we have met are in that category. Caravan and Motorhome parks abound with more opportunities opening all the time. In New Zealand the Auckland ‘Super City Council’ for whatever reason has recently made a decision to close the very popular Takapuna Beach Motorcamp. Go figure!!! Travel where you are made to feel welcome we reckon.

We had a lovely visit today from our good friends Graham and Karen Anderson from Howick in Auckland. Graham and Karen are taking a three month break on the Gold Coast to escape the New Zealand winter. Graham and Rod’s friendship goes back some 30 years when they were on the same Ten Pin Bowling team at West Auckland. A pleasant dinner at a local Maroochydore Thai restaurant ended our day.

We have a ‘lay’ day tomorrow (Friday) then on Saturday taking the jeep and heading north to the Eumundi Markets and Noosa for a bit of a poke around. We have both been there in the distant past so decided just to do a day visit

Will update the blog again on the weekend.

Just a quick update on our whereabouts. We vacated our Brisbane ‘residence’ yesterday and headed north to Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. It was not an overly strenuous drive but it felt good to be heading north. We are staying at the Cotton Tree Holiday Park and are about 50 metres from the beach. We were always led to believe the Sunshine Coast was exactly that but since leaving Brisbane it has been ‘bucketing’ down and showing no signs of letting up. Still – no worries – its all part of the experience.

Weather permitting we intend a visit to Steve Irwin’s zoo tomorrow and plan to finish the day with a quiet couple at the Ettamogah Pub at Aussie World.

We received some very sad news today that our friend and shipmate, Denis Kean, passed away yesterday. Denis was a Committee member of the Royal New Zealand Navy Communications Association and a stalwart of the Association itself. Rest in peace Denis – you will always be remembered.

The best news this week. We received a call from Customs and Quarantine at about 11am on Wednesday morning to say the motorhome was ready to be picked up from the wharf in Brisbane.  We would have to say that since putting the motorhome on the boat in Auckland, the Australian Customs and Quarantine have been brilliant.  We experienced no Customs or Quarantine issues at all. There was no recleaning required and even the feathered cloak got through.

Jim and Rod sorting the new satellite system

Since getting the motorhome back to our temporary accommodation at Narangba, we have been packing in readiness for our journey north. Before leaving New Zealand we had to empty the motorhome of all food so it has meant a complete restock. We have only had one minor hiccup. We were hoping that our television satellite dish on the roof of the motorhome would be sufficient to receive satellite in Australia. Unfortunately it has proved not to be the case. In New Zealand we can get away with a 35cm dish where in Australia an 80 – 85cm dish is required for reception all around Australia.  The new dish is in the jeep, the VAST decoder is fitted and a minor cabling job on the motorhome was completed this afternoon. Many thanks Jim of Brisbane Satellite for helping us with this.

Our last day of house minding is today, Saturday.  We have been super fortunate in being able to stay at Wayne and Deb’s home while they are holidaying in the USA. Again many thanks guys – your generosity was really appreciated. We will miss your cats but look forward to catching up with you should you head north with your caravan on your return.

We start our trip north on Sunday by going as far as Maroochydore. We know its not far but we are meeting friends who hail from Orewa in Auckland and who are travelling the East Coast of Australia in their motorhome. As we have no fixed plan we are not quite sure how long we will stay. We also have other friends on the Sunshine Coast who we would like to catch up with.

We took a trip over to Bridie Island the other day. Bribie Island is a 31 kilometre long island and just 70km north of Brisbane. It is Queensland’s only offshore island linked by bridge and is separated from the mainland by Pumicestone Passage. The water around the island is home to more than 350 species of birdlife, dugongs, turtles and dolphins. The fishing is excellent and the good part is that housing can only be built on a small part of the island. The remainder is National Park.  We visited the best place of course – some things don’t change!!

It’s worth a visit when you are next over this way.

Keep well everyone – ’til next time.