Hervey Bay to Gladstone

Last night Werner and his wife Carol invited me (how nice of them) to join them for dinner in their Caravan. I shared a bottle of "Red" with Werner, as we had been drinking his home-brew beer which was not bad at all. I don't think either of us was feeling a lot of pain by the time I hit the sack.

Left Hervey Bay around 10.30 this morning after picking up a couple of things from Aldi. The drive was uneventful, not much to see hardly any traffic, well spaced out vehicles, often Trailers in tow. Some of the signs are outrageously funny, like the one below.

"Don't Sleep AND drive" - indeed!

The landscape mostly stands of eucalypts but also closer to Hervey Bay grasslands in shades of pink with wide open spaces to view into the distance.


Closer to Gladstone a mountain range inland. It’s a bit warmer here then at my last stop but a hazy blue sky after the bright blue of the previous 2 days looking out over the waters to Fraser Island on the horizon.

Gladstone looks like it has grown since my last visit back in 1989. I don't intend to explore as I want to move on further north tomorrow instead.
The town itself is an industrial town, providing employment with giant Aluminium smelters, as there are large Bauxite deposits in this area.

Brunswick Heads via Slacks Creek and Maleny to Hervey Bay

Had to pick up cusion at "Motorhome Conversion Co." and to also fix pull-out sun shade on van. Turned out that a screw holding the vertical support bar on the left had come undone, the screw and washer rattling inside the roll-up aluminium bar. Dennis at MHC repaired it for me. Good work. From there I headed to Malaney to say hello to my friends Babs and Klaus at the "King Ludwigs" - naturally a German lunch was very much on the agenda and a couple of Franziskaner Weissbiers to keep things lubricated.


The fabulous views from "King Ludwigs" to the Glasshouse Mountains.


Looks like I will be spending the night with my van in their parking lot. Maleny being about 450m above sea level it is also several degrees cooler up here than near the ocean, may well turn out to be a cool night?? Anyway, tomorrow off again going north.

Famous last words… well, it WAS cold last night at Maleny! Went to bed about 10.30pm, rolled up in my 2 doonas and snug as a bug… I was not cold and very glad I brought an extra doona cover. Had a shower at Bab's house and was invited to join them for breakfast on their verandah. Definetely a great way to start a day! I said Good Bye just after 10, then heading back down the hills and was on my way. Today was fairly cool all the way up to Hervey Bay, but bright blue sky all the way. I booked into a campsite right on the beach where I want to stay for 2 days.


View from my campsite across to Fraser Island.


Met the guy next door, Werner, who is Latvian born with his lovely Phillipina wife Carol. We spent the afternoon in the sun talking. The seafood shop across the road on the Esplanade looked good, so I ordered F & C which turned out to be very good - a glass or two of the White in my fridge to round it all off. Life is GOOD!

Sydney to Brunswick Heads

Ok, the temperatures are rising, the skies are predominantly blue at Brunswick Heads and, well, I better start at the beginning...

Quite a bit of traffic from Sydney to Forster last Tuesday. Although it started out dry I began to experience a bit of rain, on and off, but mostly on, even though the skies ahead looked mostly blue. It wasn't until the turn-off to Forster that I had finally run ahead of those rain clouds which had been following me out of Sydney. When I arrived at Forster, the sun was out, everything looking so much brighter, also a bit warmer too.

I did wake up during the night feeling rather cool, pulled out my second doona, back to sleep warm as toast. It did get rather fresh though and the following morning was glad to be on a powered site so I could turn on my electric heater for a little while.

On Wednesday morning I left Forster for Coffs Harbour which was an uneventful drive, except I noticed one Holden pulling a caravan, rather a large one too. The car had no extension mirrors and I am sure he would not have a clue as to what was happening behind him. Pretty dangerous I think - what is he going to do if he needs to change lanes?? An accident waiting to happen. I drove through parts of Coffs to refresh my memory, as I had last been there together with Britta, Thomas and Philip. The Caravan Park I found there turned out to be a bit expensive an so decided to keep going a little further to Woolgoolga, a town with a large Indian population. Needless to say, I ate "Indian" there last night. Hot too!!

Today, I left Woolgoolga around 9.30 am, general direction "Byron Bay" although I had no intention to actually stay there.

North of Grafton the lay of the land is flat country, driving close to waterways most of the time. Driving into the sun was no problem as the sun stood very high in the early hours of the morning. It did create a particular light that I thought I should record taking a picture through my windscreen.

Around 12.30 I decided to pull off the highway and discovered Ballina, went to my Bank ATM to top-up my finances. I came away very impressed, a modern small town, great facilities and most of all, friendly and helpful people walk the street, sit in roadside Cafes. Very colourful and clean.


From Balina I drove to Bangalow, a quaint small town with lots of Galleries, art shops and great eateries. I treated myself to what turned out a giant lunch. Excellent. My final stop for today is Brunswick Heads where I rented a space right on the river. Quiet. Just right as I finally took off the woolens, now running around in T-shirt only!! Hey, this is the life!

The Rain is gone out to sea. Leaving next Tuesday.

Looks like final checkout by Suki and it appears that I am getting the Thumbs-up. Go.



As it turns out, this is a long-weekend with lots of people traveling out of Sydney, the decision to wait a few days was good in hind sight - had I left Thursday (yesterday) I would have to contend with all the associated heavy traffic as well.





Saw Eckhard and Suki today and Eck took a shot with Suki and me standing in front of my mobile abode.



Starting to really get excited, now that its finally happening... Some higher temperatures I am particularly looking forward to.

Blue skies are also re-appearing with more than a suggestion of warmth. Sunny and somewhat warmer even in Sydney. All back to 'normal' thank you. Don't like driving in rain.

Short delay due to wild weather and Flooding in Southern Queensland

Its raining and its foggy in Sydney and all the way up the East Coast into Brisbane. Here an excerpt from Brisbane News:

....As homeowners count the cost, weather experts are busy tallying the totals after yesterday's low pressure system dumped nearly 200mm of rain on parts of South-East Queensland.
It is hoped the latest falls will push the region's combined dam levels past 40 per cent - the figure required for a relaxation of water restrictions.
Yesterday's highest falls were recorded on the Gold Coast hinterland, where up to 179mm fell at Upper Springbrook from 9am.
Closer to the city, Brisbane's northside received the biggest drenching, recording 97mm at Murumba Downs.
Mount Glorious, in the north west, received 124mm, while 62mm was recorded in the city itself.


I have decided to wait until next Monday for the weather to clear and than head out of Sydney.