Rockhampton 16th - 23rd July

It was good to see Bruce and Elaine with Josh and Jess as we passed on the road. Jess is often in my thoughts as I write up the blog. Jess showed me a report of the cruise the kids did with their parents earlier this year. Unfortunately her teacher had provided some quite positive feedback in the margins so I am consciously trying not to overdo phrases like ‘the next day’ etc....

Lots of Bulls at Rocky, the Tourist Bureau maps out the venues of six statues to Bulls and does not include the blue one outside, the two just up the road at the ‘Blue Heeler Motel’ or any of the many others.  Anne here... The meat we have purchased since arriving in Rockhampton has been absolutely mouth watering tender-just Woolies, but bet they would not be game to sell tough meat to the residents who claim to live in the beef capital of Australia.

Interesting big wide streets and some very narrow ones with parallel and median centre parking – one street has a working train line right along the centre of it. The shirt and shorts racks outside the menswear stores had lots of 3X, 4X and 5X large sizes unlike the normal fare down south where you get little choice in those sizes, if they are even available. The botanic gardens and zoo is free so one can get close to some native fauna and flora.

Our Rockhampton caravan park was quite good but very close to the railway line where we had some shunting activity one night. Anne here...Good job he sleeps like a log – the trains passed all night some times 40 coal trucks then a loco then another 40 trucks on their way to Gladstone. The planes stopped at a reasonable hour, but the highway didn’t.  I was complaining about same to someone at this caravan park and his only comment was ’sounds like Townsville!’   We are hanging out for a quiet caravan park... Incidentally our Coromal Caravan Club of NSW features in the Caravan and Motorhome Magazine Number 160 out this month at the Kiama rally we attended last December. We have a subscription so will read it with interest when we get home.

Our car, van and annex set up amidst blue skies and palm trees at the Southside Holiday Village Rockhampton

Anne again... We missed Gladstone on the way through as we wanted to meet up with the Aitchisons.  So Monday saw us back there.  The tourist bureau told us the industry tours were booked out and we weren’t sorry as felt our lungs could do without the extra pollution, although it isn’t bad really. The lookouts round the town have information boards that let one work out the process of bauxite to alumina to aluminium and watch it being loaded onto large ships. 

The bauxite stockpile on the left and the plant in which it is processed into alumina

The alumina stockpile at Gladstone

I have wanted to visit Gladstone since I worked as a photographic librarian for the Australian News and Information Bureau (ANIB and later the Australian Information Service) in the late 60s and saw pictures of the port being built and the huge trucks being built at Blair Athol mine I think. It is easy to see why they picked Gladstone – the surrounding large islands protect the port very well.  We also had a look at Boyne Island and Tannum sands – encountered our first ‘Beware of crocodiles’ sign here.

Locals enjoying Tannum Sands Beach

So, Day three Jim visits a doctor, who passed him as fit but needing some rest and recuperation time. We reckoned the same would apply to Anne so have decided to see the Botanic Gardens and zoo. For a change we took the guided walk with the ranger and an apprentice. It was very cosy as we were the only ones on the tour. The ranger is a former gardener who started as a gardener some 12 years ago, loves the place and is in awe of the history and the earlier curators – interesting combination to have as a guide. The apprentice is an interesting woman of islander descent who quietly contributed to the tour especially when we were at the tropical fruit tree area 9 where we were given a few star fruit. We got to see, and name, a number of the tropical plants we have been seeing on the way here and were given additional information on growth patterns and ageing processes. Some of these plants are remarkable for their shade and for the way they support their enormous weighty branches by sending down aerial roots that then form stems under particularly heavy branches, while others buttress their trunks like the figs.  One of the oldest trees there forms almost a natural chapel, which is used often for local weddings.

The zoo was a bit of an anticlimax as we missed the feeding times and the whole area is in need of some financial assistance. Still the native wildlife was there and very accessible to the visitors.

Crocodile at Rockhampton zoo

One of a pair of cassowaries at the zoo

There is no doubt that we like driving through the seaside villages and looking at seascapes. Our day doing the tourist route to Yeppoon, Capricorn Resort, Rosslyn Bay and down to Zilzie brought our first sighting of lot of whistling ducks and the first of the brolgas. We were blown away by the scenery at Yeppoon and thereabouts. Anne had a plot picked out in Zilzie for her future house with something like 300 degrees of views from the distant ranges to wide views of the ocean in glorious blues and greens.  Anne again... As we came down over the hill into Yeppoon and saw our first glimpse of the ocean I thought ‘It is true, tropical seascapes do look like that’ - sand, blue-green shallow water and then the deeper true blue as the continental shelf falls away.

our luncheon views of Yeppoon

rutile colours the sand black

Marina from which ferry to islands leaves

brolgas on the golf course at the Capricorn Waters Resort

Tiny crabs make these marbles in the sand - looks like a quilting pattern!

Singing ship at Emu Park - sounds like an orchestra tuning up.

One of the views from the site for Anne's new house 

Friday 21 July saw us at Mount Hope looking through a great collection of rocks of the lapidary and thunder-egg types. These are volcanic rocks that have contained minerals which solidified on cooling, sometimes leaving hollow cavities within the stone and sometimes simply filling the stone with another colourful substance or substances. On our first camper holiday in 1974 we went rock hounding to a few places, including Nundle, where we searched unsuccessfully for the elusive thunder-eggs. Just about every time I have mentioned the Nundle experience to someone they have suggested that I go to Mount Hope – “because that’s where they really are!”  For $20.00 I got the hammer, bucket of water and scrubbing brush and plastic bag some directions to the ‘dump’ and how to find thunder-eggs. After some time we knocked off for lunch and then after a bit more rummaging we dumped the lot on the counter in the workshop where the woman quickly sorted them out and told me she would cut two of them for me. Part of the $20 deal was that she would cut one – but she wanted to see what was in the other one too so I got the extra one cut. We have some smaller uncut ones packed away.

The prospector

The last day in Rocky saw us doing the usual stuff, taking down the annex, cooking and washing.  We have also been doing a lot of reading and computer stuff, but not much else as crossing the Tropic of Capricorn seems to have induced the ‘Manyana’ factor – so if we owe you an email, please don’t sweat on an answer as it may be a long time getting there. 

Rainbow beach to Bundaberg

The trip to Bundaberg was not all fun as the Army had a convoy ahead of us that was travelling slower than the majority of the traffic but not letting the faster traffic make use of the few passing opportunities presented on the Bruce Highway. Fortunately by about half way through the convoy and well past my point of tolerance for thoughtless drivers we were able to take a secondary road for the last 50k into town. Still we are this far north after leaving home in early May – the couple next to us made it from Melbourne in three and a half days....

Bundaberg was promising rain and our first choice caravan park was full so we had to settle for one with ensuites for all sites. It was near the Sugar Mill and Distillery but far enough away not to catch the smell from those two important industries. We put up the annex and spent most of the time housekeeping and recovering from the coughing jags. After sleeping sitting up for a couple of nights I had to walk some fluid off the ankles.

A small visitor welcomed Jim one evening at the ensuite doorway

We took a trip out to the beach at Bagara and then down to Elliot Heads which we enjoyed more than Bagara . The beaches there reminded Anne of some of the beaches in New Zealand - all dark rock no sand. We used the local RSL courtesy bus and had an evening out. The driver gaves us a commentary on various things, burning off sugar cane, cane smut, etc.  Dinner and the free raffle, was entertaining enough without the bonus of winning a slab of my favourite soft drink.

Bargara in a choppy mood

This part of the coast forms part of the Great Sandy Marine Park

Elliott Heads on a blustery cloudy afternoon

The next leg of our journey north called for some careful coordination as Elaine and Bruce were coming south with Josh and Jess.  They had been to the Cape and had even managed to get themselves on Sunrise which was seen by a surprising number of friends and family.



what their mother calls 'shameless advertising' by the next generation of O'Connor-Aitchisons

7 July 2011

It took only three calls between the grandmothers to ensure that we met in Mount Larcom for a sit down meal of ‘home-cooked’ pies and coffee/soft drinks from Big Mama's home cooked pies. Elaine’s skills in tour timing are superb. They had come south from Sarina about 375k while we had come north about 215k and we were less than five minutes ahead of them at the meeting point. It was a very enjoyable visit for all of us – let alone the exchange of tips and gossip.

Mt Larcom Cafe and Collectables the home of Big Mama's pies home cooked by two little old ladies on the premises!

After leaving the rest of the family we continued north to Rockhampton where we are booked in for a week from 16 July.

Bribie Island to Rainbow Beach

The helpful neighbours decided to give us all the assistance they could in putting the van on site – fortunately after helping for several hours they decided to get the man with the little tractor who parks all the vans to do it for us. That worked and took most of the stress out of the operation.  As this is a short stay we decided not to erect the annex.

A walk across to the lookout above the beach and up town had us stocked with the essentials – bread, tide map and a list of what to do with all the relevant wheres. Anne cooked a nice corn beef and vegies dinner and we started to talk about where to next. By the time we retired we had the next few destinations and activities for the area sorted.

Waking up the next morning called for a revision of plans because I had a throat infection and Anne was sporting a similar wog. So we got into the “home by” planning of the whole trip with an understanding of our style of travelling to date – shortish one day trips on travel legs and week-long stays in more interesting locations with sight-seeing in the car. That let us rearrange some mid-year appointments to suit our movements.  We also decided not to take a trip out to Fraser Island nor to explore Tincan Bay and Hervey Bay - we hope to fit this in on the homeward leg when we are fitter.

We broke the day up with a couple of walks and a drive to the Carlo Sand Blow and Inskip Point. Locally, I saw a pair of Speckled Drongos (no not the helpful neighbours) and further afield we saw a Brahminy Kite.

Helpful sign board with all the info on Carlo Sandblow and the walk from this area to Double Island Point, just north of Noosa

The size of the people gives an idea of the vastness of Carlo Sandblow

The Carlo Sand Blow is a very large natural sand gully that has been creeping west at the rate of half a metre per year since long before Captain Cook named the feature after his deckhand. It is immense and does seem to bring out the mediation urge as there were a number of long footprint tracks that ended with a person sitting in solitary contemplation. When we were there, the local tour leader brought a group of 20 young people to watch the sunset and to learn to throw a boomerang while they waited for that to happen. We went on to Inskip Point to catch the sunset and the unloading of the last barge from Frazer Island.

The Manta Ray car barge arrives from Fraser Island - smoke in background from cane fields.

Inskip Point is a popular camping place that runs for several kilometres either side of a good road. One needs a Nature Parks Permit and a willingness to forego showers etc but it looks great. The sand tracks out to the ferry were quite deep and the sand soft at the end of a long hot day (Yeah lots of those days here!!). We hit the beach and plodded round to the point taking photos of the sunset as we went – pretty good exercise as there was a bit of climbing in and out of the shoreline furniture to ‘get effects’. There was a clear sky except for a bit of smoke in the distance that was not enough to get any extra cloud effects. The last ferry had only one vehicle on it and the light was gone by then too.

Inskip point at sunset with some of its shoreline furniture

Watching the sunset from Inskip Point

The trip into Gympie took up the rest of the day after some local walking along the beach and the Doctor had done his thing by prescribing some throat drugs. Gympie has to be the hilliest town in Australia – and they are big hills. We found a second hand bookstore that had an amazing number of the old time Westerns and lots of other ones. Anne traded some of her books for others she had not read at a very nice price so we bought a few more too. Then we headed to the local Woollies for some groceries and found that the coffee and muffins were at the end of the day rate of two muffins for $1.50 the lot!!!!

Our pack up for Bundaberg was very simple as we had not unpacked the car or erected the annex. Over the few days we had watched man with the little tractor put vans onto sites with great ease. Some of the sites just would not be accessible to an ordinary car and van outfit. So we got him to get the van out of the site and we hitched up easily on an apron with plenty of room. We were on the road by 9.00am.

Bribie Island - Week 2

The early part of week 2 at Bribie Island saw us on the road a bit more. We visited Under Water World and enjoyed the day in cool shaded exhibits that were educational and entertaining. The seal performances were a delightful act that entertained and educated by including the animals in the script. We got only a couple of curious glances when we spread the rug and had lunch under a shady tree next to the car park. I have noticed how many different species of small shady tree grow up this way.

We did a tour of the beaches from Coolum to Caloundra. Not much of a surf while we were there and quite a few in swimming and lots more enjoying the beach and beachfront picnics.  We included a couple of strawberry farms where we decided not to pick our own at the same price we could buy them in the shops (or dearer). However the family groups that were picking were going for the biggies and finding them! One short cut dead-ended us in the small town of Toorbul close to Bribie by water but distant by road. A sign on entry to the town warned of Kangaroos in any street in town and it was right .They were in all sorts of places and taking it easy. I took a photo of a doe eating grass as she lay in the sun.

Glass House Mountains from Bribie Island

The call of the Glass House Mountains occupied another full day as we toured up to Mary Cairncross lookout to get a landscape view and then meandered down among them until it was too dark to see them from the lookouts near Glass House Mountain village. While at Mary Cairncross Park we took the rainforest walk and came across a potoroo, a few scrub turkeys and heard three catbirds calling to each other – the women at the information centre were quite excited about their being there as they are infrequent visitors this far north. Their call is sometimes likened to a baby crying but I think it is more like the cat-fighting toms at Page...

Glass House Mountains from Mary Cairncross lookout

The caravan fridge gave us some bother as the electric element blew just after another of Anne’s cook up days. Andrew, the Fridge Whisperer, helped us diagnose the problem with a series of phone calls and tests over a couple of days. Then he gave in to an illness so the Caboolture Coromal Caravan people took over and despatched one of their workshop guys to bring out the part and fix it – very helpful and professional service from the company.

The fridge diagnosis saw us spending a bit more time at the back of the caravan and we found a noisy miner bird started to swoop us and clack its beak near our heads. Sure enough we found it had a nest in a tree above our site. Strangely, as these birds have a reputation for taking over the nesting sites of other birds, this pair’s nest was a stick and grass one at the extreme end of a long slender branch.

The Annex went up on day two without any trouble and down again on the day before we left. We even got a photo of it this time. It is handy for extra storage and for shelter. It means that we can get all our gear out of the car reducing the weight and improving the vision and as we had a few wet days at Bribie the extra sheltered living space was a bonus. The pole carrier fitted in Maitland is a success. It has not moved and the poles fit quite comfortably but firmly.

As Anne reckons it is still too cold at night we are moving on to Rainbow Beach for three days and then further north. Again we expect to get in some planning for the remainder of our time....

Bribie Island - Week 1

Bribie Island Queensland week 1

We managed a good run through Brisbane’s motorways to get to Bribie Island from Casino. Well, we got almost to the island as the two parks on the island were booked out and we got into one about 2km short of the bridge (it’s about a kilometre long too). With a bit of huffing and puffing we got onto the site in a fairly large park with mostly long termers and a retirement village down the back.

Bribie Island provided lots of recreation and useful services. The shopping centres are well provided and we found an op-shop or two to renew our reading supplies. We found a shop that specialises in second hand stuffed toys (reminded me of a bedroom I had seen). Anne got a swim suit for use in the warmer climes at a great price as the shop owner knocked it down to 50% for ‘out of season’ - so we are definitely not swimming at Bribie... The island has some very easy to get to bird watching sites including one that also had a kangaroo down from the nature park for an excursion of his own. The RSL gave us a delightful dinner one evening with a dessert that Anne thought good enough to publish on Facebook.

On our one day in Brisbane we took the opportunity to visit my brother Max and his wife Marion and Anne’s brother Pat. It was interesting to compare their respective residences, a modern home and a more traditional ’Queenslander’. Both were good examples and despite the brand new entrance stairs to the Queenslander we probably liked the modern one most.

We heard a stone hit the windscreen just outside Casino and the run up gave the chip time to develop enough for us to see it so we visited a Caboolture repaired to get it fixed.

The historic village in Caboolture took up the rest of a very pleasant day looking at the exhibits and also talking to some of the many volunteers. It is an unusual collection as it includes items from what we would have thought of as separate eras. Most was donated so we found some items that we are still using at home mixed in with others that we were able to remember from our grandparents’ days. At one point we hurried along to a big machinery shed to look at a Morris Minor similar to my first car, only to find that it is the daily driver of one of the machinery shed volunteers. It is a pity that such collections are getting too hard to gather and maintain as occupational safety concerns prevent many of the ‘gathering and maintenance’ techniques used twenty years ago. A donated structure will come on site shortly at the transportation cost of $45,000 whereas ten years ago “the boys would ‘ave got ‘er for nix – an’ ‘ad enough left over for a beer at the end of the day!”

Lots of drivers lost their right arm through use of these signals

Eumundi Markets finished off the first week with a flourish. One of the advantages of a hefty 4x4 is we got to park quite close to the entrance in a mud patch rather than way down the back. We found it an interesting mixture of the larger Sydney ‘Paddy’s’ style with a number of stalls that were more like the ones we used to do at Hall. The hours (start at 6.30 am) would never have worked for us. One stall had all the second hand books arranged by author – marvellous for the customer and the stall holder informed me that she often has someone take a job lot of all of the author’s works. We didn’t buy much and the strawberries were all gone by the time we decided to get some – real strawberries as big as eggs are coming into season about here.

The ornaments were awful, but the sense of humour ok!!!