Day 113 – 116 – Maryborough to Hervey Bay 30 klm
Well another Bathurst down even though it was a little light on for excitement and the fact that a Kiwi driving a Holden won, it was still Bathurst!!
Today we travelled a massive 30klm to Hervey Bay for our stay at Torquay. The “Wide Bay” which is a well-known for observing humpback whales and also the hub for tours to Fraser Island.
After stopping at the tourist information centre where we treated like royalty and given the low down on nearly everything that happens in Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, we set up camp at the Fraser Street Discovery Park.
Now finding this park was a great relief after my disastrous efforts in Bundaberg.
Once again, the Wide Bay Council put our Council’s to shame. The infrastructure along the whole of the Bay was tremendous. A board walk along the waterfront for cyclists and pedestrians from Point Vernon, one end of the bay to the other end at Urangan.
Captain James Cook named Hervey Bay in 1770 after the 3rd Earl of Bristol Augustus John Hervey.
Probably the most interesting and amazing sight at Hervey Bay is the Urangan Pier stretching 868 metres into sea and is over 100 years old. The pier was originally built to create a deep-water facility which shipped sugar, timber and coal from Hervey Bay. Today it is used by residents and tourists for fishing and the leisurely walk out into the bay.
We rode our bikes out to the end and back and were amazed at the amount of people on the pier and the view it gave you back over the bay.
We finally caught up with Chris and Norma Lowe who have also been on the road for 16 weeks, having first touched base with them back in Broken Hill. We had a great night out at the RSL Club, and it was wonderful hearing all their stories and swapping all the different experiences we had both encountered.
Unfortunately, all the whales are down towards home now so there was no whale watching for us. We did spend a lot of our time in Hervey Bay driving, biking and walking around and being amazed at the wonderful scenery. Our trustee GPS (not) came in handy for finding different parts of Hervey Bay that I don’t think many people know about. Bloody thing is a useless as tits on a bull.
We drove back into Maryborough on Thursday to the markets and then onto Gympie to have a look around. The area between Maryborough and Gympie is very dry but hopefully as the wet is coming early things will change. Lots of street art around Maryborough which one cannot quite capture the beauty of in pictures.
Day 117 – 119 – Hervey Bay to Tewantin (via the tourist drive) – 176klms
As our trip was less than a couple of hundred kilometres today, we headed off later than usual having had a very relaxed pack up. I decided to that we would take the tourist drive south to Tewantin rather than down the A1 and we were treated to a much prettier and varied scenery. However, it was a drive we probably should have done without the caravan as the road was very narrow in lots of places and I could feel the steam coming from George’s ears as he negotiated log trucks, other car and caravans, stock and people.
However, as usual he delivered us safely to our stop for the next 10 days.
On arrival we caught up with our friends, Ian and Leeanne, who we met back in Blacks Beach.
Ian and Leeanne are from Bowraville in the north of New South Wales and are on the way home in time for Leeanne’s son’s wedding. Its nice to have such great company and if Ian behaves himself, we will definitely keep in touch.
On Saturday we ventured to the infamous Eumundi markets where we spent most of the morning before heading to the Ginger factory. Leeanne and Ian spotted a friend of theirs at the markets and where happily chatting away. It turned out to be Troy Cassar-Daly and his daughter. No wonder I kept thinking he looked familiar.
After the markets we went onto the Ginger factory and after sitting down for coffee were treated to an evacuation alarm and were all herded out into the carpark until the “problem” was identified and rectified. One of the staff members told George they didn’t get false alarms very often but luckily it turned out to be one and we were once again allowed back in.
Sunday saw us travel to Tewantin Marina for a sticky beak and then a ferry ride into Noosa where we spent the day strolling Hastings street, the beach area and finally lunch at the surf club. From the surf club we had a beautiful view back over the beach and got to watch a storm roll in from the sea. After a rather wet ferry ride home we settled down to watch the NRL grand final and then off to bed.
We have been treated to some great storms since Saturday night and Sunday night did not disappoint with a late night storm and rain.
Having Ian and Leeanne’s company is great and amongst other things George has found a new audience whom like Kerry Hallett, laugh at his dad jokes. I truly believe Ian and George are evil twin brothers as there is no end to what amuses them and left alone, I am sure the mischief they could reap would be monolithic. The pictures say it all.
We are here in Tewantin for Week 18 and will be catching up Ian and Sharon Cowley and Linda and Gary McGhee which will be great.
Home is getting closer and so is Christmas. The news that the borders may open for the Christmas holidays or sooner is exciting as we will probably get to see the boys. By that time, it will have been 12 months since I have had a cuddle from either of them and I ache to be able to do that.
I hear on the grapevine that congratulations go out to Kimberley Fletcher and her partner on the safe arrival of their little boy. Tina and Greg must be brimming!! It is always such a joy to have a new little life come into our world.
As WA are excluding themselves from the border opening, we believe our decision to come home early is the right one and we will pick up the remainder of Australia at a later date.
We hope you are all well and we are looking forward to catching up with everyone on our return.
