Yamba [via Fingal Head, Hastings Pt, Evans Head] – 20 to 24 March 2011

We drove the Tweed Heads Way part of which is the old Pacific Highway and walked to the Lighthouse at Fingals Head. We overnighted at Hastings Point and then drove through Byron Bay with lunch overlooking a surf break at Evans Head before arriving at Yamba.

Yamba is a nice little fishing village where we camped on the Clarence River.
Just up the road is Angourie which is supposed to have the best Point Break in Australia. Surfers can be seen hugging the headland waiting for the perfect wave, like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.


Yamba was a major port but has now been overtaken by Grafton. It is amazing to see the various rock walls used to 'train' the current effectively self dredging the river. After over a hundred years of work the scheme was perfected, just in time for the decline in coastal shipping services, although the shipping service to Lord Howe Island still uses the Port.

There is a ferry service between Yamba and Iluka, the villages on each side of the mouth of the Clarence River. We took the ferry to Iluka, walked the ocean walk and watched the thousands of little blue swimmer crabs scurrying around the sand. A popular boat type were outriggers made out of corrugated iron. One was called MV Roof.

We also took a cruise to the Bridge at Grafton on one of the ferries. This is sugar cane country, flat and pleasant. On the night of 19 March the moon was at its closest to earth since 1992.


We visited the Blue Hole and Green Hole at Angourie, the remains of two quarries used to supply rock for the river walls until they finally hit an underground spring and filled up with water.

Mooloolaba - 8 to 20 March 2011

We settled back into Mooloolaba and prepared the caravan and car for departure.  We enjoyed the absolute beach frontage with the background of million dollar apartments, restaurants and shops.  Trish loved the name of the Mooloolaba Wool Shop, “Wooloolabaa.”

The “pet” lizard from our last stay promptly appeared at our door, demanding to be fed.  A diet of grapes seemed to satisfy him.

As the wet is late this year we did not to head North as we planned. It was still raining and the major northern highway was cut at Tully.  Instead we decided to head south into New South Wales.

Summer 2010-2011– 7 November 2010 to 10 March 2011

We spent the antipodean summer enjoying Thanksgiving and Christmas with our children and friends in the United States.

We had a holiday in Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas which we enjoyed very much.  We stayed in the old fashioned Colonial Hilton with a great view of Nassau Harbor.


We did not need a holiday from our holiday but it was very enjoyable.  We had afternoon tea at Government House and watched the changing of the guard, saw the marching Flamingo’s at the zoo and visited Harbor Island and Ships Passage Cay.


The trip to Ships Passage Cay had the best organized, safest snorkeling program we have ever been on.

We patted stingrays and swam with and watched our hosts wrestle sharks, a bit nerve wracking for Australians.


We were glad to be away from the floods and cyclone Yasi in Australia.  It was good to return to Kunda Park to find that our caravan was safe and dry. We had selected the storage facility carefully, it was high up on a hill and beyond any possible flood and behind a mountain to give some protection from cyclones, which fortunately went further north this year.

Kunda Park–back to our start point and off to the USA– 6 November 2010

Having cleaned and packed the van we put it in storage at Kunda Park, less than a kilometer from the Bushtracker factory where we collected the Bushtracker and started our journey.

This means we have now been completely around Australia and back to our start point.  We then left for the USA to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with our children and grandchildren.

We plan to resume our journey next year with a trip to Australia’s most northerly point – Cape York.

Mooloolaba –1 to 6 November 2010

We left the Township of 1770 reluctantly and drove to Mooloolaba. Here, perched below the million dollar apartments is another exceptional campsite, invisible to the road and nestled into a cliff with absolute beach frontage, courtesy of the Mooloolaba council.  With its sister park at the other end of the beach, this is all that remains of what in the 1950’s was the only amenity, a beach caravan park running right along the foreshore.

It is like stepping back fifty years, except that a hundred meter walk brings you to all the amenities of the resort town behind it.

We enjoyed the swimming on the patrolled surf beach and exploring the lovely beach and river walks. In between time we cleaned and packed the van to put it into storage before leaving for the USA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Township of 1770 [Lady Musgrave Island]– 26 to 31 October 2010

We left Mackay to drive to the Township of of 1770. At the Mount Larcom Cafe and Collectibles [try their Big Mama's Pies which are great!] we met Mats Frankl.  Mat a 43-year-old Swedish-Aussie gave up work to live his dream, rollerblading around the world in the name of peace. He has already rollerbladed 4300km across Europe, and now he’s rolling through Australia. At present he is doing the section from Brisbane to Cooktown. His wife and two young children are his support team. He looked hot, stiff and sore when he arrived at the café as this section of highway is hardly friendly for humans on rollerblades. His journey can be followed on Rollerpeace.com.  Rollerpeace raises money to support the International Committee of the Red Cross in its work to help the victims of war.

From there we drove to the little Township of 1770. It has a lovely old fashioned council campsite right on the beach. The Township of 1770 was the second landing site of Lieutenant James Cook and the crew of the Endeavor in May 1770 as part of their voyage of discovery. During their time here they shot a Bustard which they said was the best meal they had had since leaving England. Considering ships food in those days this would not be hard. Consequently they named the Bay Bustard Bay.

There is a very nice Hotel and Bistro called The Tree so we did not have to shoot our own bustard.

We went on the Spirit of 1770 out to Lady Musgrave Island, named after the wife of Sir Anthony Musgrave Governor of Queensland (1883-1888 ) who was famed for her afternoon teas, but never visited the island. The sea was rough and Trish was sea sick but once she arrived she revived and we had a good days snorkeling in the lagoon and a walk around the island.

We saw several Turtles and a Turtle cleaning Station. This is where the Wrasse Fish clean the turtles of algae and parasites and is like a hairdresser for turtles where they hang out with their friends. We also saw Turtles mating.

Lady Musgrave Island is a coral cay and is the only island with a navigable lagoon. We took a guided walk of the Island and saw the colonies of white-capped Noddy Terns nesting in the Pisonia Trees. There are also Silver Gulls, Bridled Terns, and Black-naped Terns nesting nearer the beach along with wedge-tailed shearwaters (Mutton Birds).  It is possible to camp on the Island although the odor of guano is a bit overwhelming.

[Paronella Park], Sth Mission Beach, Ayr, Mackay – 21 to 26 October 2010

Paronella Park was built by José Paronella. His dream was to build a Spanish Castle on a property he purchased by Mena Creek Falls. He provided a picnic area by the falls, tennis courts, bridges, a tunnel, and an amazing range of 7,500 tropical plants and trees, now a lush rain forest.
It opened to the public in 1935 and because the remote location meant power was unreliable he used his own hydroelectric system to provide power for his castle, picture theatre and function rooms. 
The hydroelectric plant is unique and was recently restored to full working order. Paronella is now a beautiful ruin and still a great place for a picnic in better weather. We saw it in flood – they had 201mm [8 inches] of rain in 24 hours.
We camped at South Mission Beach It was still raining so heavily that nearby Dunk Island was barely visible. Don’t forget the new tourism slogan for Queensland – “Queensland – where Australia Rains Shines”
In Cardwell we saw the Memorial to the Battle of the Coral Sea, recognized as one of the decisive sea battles against the Japanese fleet in World War II.
We camped at Ayr where thankfully it had finally stopped raining, as we were feeling very soggy by this time.  Ayr has “the big rainbow serpent” to add to our collection of “bigs”.

Passing through Bowen provide another “big” the “Big Mango”, a Kensington Pride variety.
We had lunch at Ocean Beach. This part of Australia is very beautiful and the scenery of sugar cane farms and distant mountains is wonderfully green.

 

Marian, is the site of a cottage where Dame Nellie Melba lived for six weeks while her husband managed a nearby sugar mill. She didn't like it as there were too many beetles and insects so she left to pursue her career to become a famous opera singer instead.
We camped at Mackay. This is a Coal and Sugar Town. We spent time on the Blue Water Lagoon especially following the walk along the Town Quay.
The sugar lump stacks memorialize Pacific  Islanders who worked in the sugar cane industry.
The lighthouse was operated by kerosene and is situated at the marina.