Maleny - 13-16 February 2014

Our second trip away with the caravan club we have joined, the Brisbane Roustabouts, was to Maleny. We stayed at the Maleny Showgrounds, which was great. It had a newish amenities block with showers and toilets, power and only $15/night. The Showgrounds are well used by the community. Contained within the grounds of the Showgrounds is a huge, undercover equestrian centre, a tennis complex, a croquet field, Sea Scouts hut, gym, craft centre as well as a few other buildings for use during their Annual Show. The locals also use the grounds to run in and also walk their dogs. A creek ran next to where all the caravans were placed. Apparently, it floods but absolutely no chance of that this time with 35 deg. C temperatures

As you can see, we had a great setting and this is the view we had out the door of our van.

We arrived on the Thursday and from the time we arrived, there were groundsmen working on the cricket pitch shown above. They even started work on it on the Saturday morning about 5.30. I never heard a thing. The oval was mowed and the covers went over the pitch. So much work went into the oval that we thought maybe South Africa or England were coming to play. But no, the 2 local teams turned up at 8 am on the Saturday for their match and that was it.

There is a lovely boardwalk from the Showgrounds along Obi Obi Creek into town, through the bush.

We  walked it to town a few times and also did a walk around the Showgrounds themselves to check out what was there. But quite a bit of the Thursday (after setting up) and the Friday we spent relaxing under the awning out of the sun and the heat. I got quite a bit of sewing done and Bruce quite a bit of reading.

Other members of the Club arrived on the Friday (there was only 3 vans there on the Thursday) so it became more social (noisy with exchanges of greetings and news). On our last trip away with the Club, to Jacobs Well, there were only 6 vans and by Saturday night there were 10 vans, a camper trailer and a bus so we met quite a few more people this time and it was good.

Jean and Stuart have the camper trailer and we became friendly with them at Jacobs Well and had kept in contact since then. They arrived on Saturday morning about 7 am and the four of us walked into Maleny to have breakfast at one of the great looking cafes in town. We had another wander through town before heading back to prepare for our afternoon at Barefoot Bowls.

We did think twice about playing as it was very hot - about 36 deg - but there was a bit of a breeze so we decided to go ahead. We couldn't play barefoot though as the synthetic turf was too hot. We broke up into about 4 teams and spent about an hour playing. Bruce and I played with Doug and Terry and by a fluke Bruce and I won. It was great fun and we all enjoyed the afternoon. A few members of the Bowls Club were on hand to give us guidance and a bit of tuition. The ladies of the Club provided an afternoon tea for us and we had a good chat after our game as we sat down inside under the fans, cooling off. I don't think I will be taking up Lawn Bowls any time soon but would be happy to have the odd game of Barefoot Bowls.

On the Friday and Saturday we all got together for Happy Hour and a good chat. It's great to listen to all the good tips of some great camp spots around the place. We have added a couple of new places to our list of destinations to try.

We got up about 5.30 on Sunday morning and went for a walk up in the hilly areas of Maleny. There were some lovely old houses and also some lovely modern homes. It was certainly a good walk as we would walk up some streets and get to the top to find the road didn't go through!

Jean, Stuart and I went to check out the local Markets on the Sunday morning. When we returned the meeting was held to elect the office bearers of our new Branch and we met a couple of the Committee members of the Australian Caravan Club, who had joined us for the meeting. As Bruce and I are very new to caravanning, and still working, we didn't want to take on any role in the club. Maybe in a couple of years.

After the meeting, we left to come home as we had work on the Monday. Quite a few of the others were staying to the Monday. We have a schedule of camps for the year and it looks pretty good. There will be a few days away (from 4 days to 2 weeks) every 6 to 8 weeks. Some of them we will go on, others we will be away ourselves.

It was a great weekend away and I think we will have some good times with the Brisbane Roustabouts and just caravanning in general. Our next trip away is at the end of March for 3 weeks and we are heading along the coast of NSW.

Mt Warning, Northern NSW - 17-19 January 2014

We hadn't been to Mt Warning for quite a few years so were looking forward to this weekend very much. It is an easy drive from home too. There was rain forecast but as it turned out we didn't get a drop. It was pretty warm and humid though which is to be expected at this time of year.

The Mt Warning Rainforest Park is the closest caravan park to Mt Warning and is quite a large park. There are 3 areas to the park. The first one is an animal friendly part and mainly for permanents. The next area has powered sites for vans and also a few for camper trailers, as well as a few tent sites. The last area is unpowered and is mainly for tents, although there was a camper trailer there on the weekend. Separating each area is an amenities block. There was also a camp kitchen between the van area and the tent area. I don't think I would like to be there over a long weekend as there were only 2 toilets and showers in the block near us. The shower had a timing switch but I had time to have a lovely shower and wash my hair. We paid $30 a night but if we had booked online, it would have cost us $35.

We were set up by lunchtime and spent the rest of the day reading, sewing and dozing (me) and reading and sudokus (Bruce). Bruce has had a busy couple of months at work so it was good to be able to just vege out. Just as we pulled up, another van pulled up beside us. They had 2 young children with them. Bruce spoke to the guy when he washed the dishes at the camp kitchen on Friday night. They had spent 2 weeks at Yamba and had paid $1,300 for the stay. We're glad we don't need to go away at Christmas.

It is only a few kms to Mr Warning from the caravan park, so we headed up to do the walk up the mountain on Saturday morning. It is a 5km round trip. When we got to the car park at the beginning of the walk, however, it was overflowing with cars. We managed to get a space where someone had pulled out but we decided not to do the walk. There would be too many people on the track. We will come back later in the year when we can come during the week, and it will be a little quieter. There is a little 20 minute walk (10 minutes would be more like it) called The Lyrebird Track. We did this without spotting any lyrebirds but it was a nice little walk.

Instead of doing the walk, we headed to Tyalgum, which was about 20-30 minutes drive away. We had been told that there was a nice café there so instead of losing some weight on a walk, we decided to put it on with a morning tea!

Flutterbies is the name of the café but it comprises shops as well as the café in its little setting. There was a gift shop, a Christmas shop and down the back of the complex was a wellness centre. As well as the café, there was also a specialised coffee bar where you could order different sorts of coffees. There was plenty of seating and they had plenty of customers.

We had a wander through town and also drove around to have a look at the free camping spot, but it didn't look very appealing.

After lunch back at the van, we repeated our activities of Friday afternoon before walking down the road to The Rainforest Café. It had tables and chairs set up in the garden under the trees and looked very nice. A place to try another time. We then walked back to the park and wandered up to the end of the tent area to have a look. We did see a great tent.

The park had filled up quite a bit today but there were still about 10 van sites available. The tent area looked full though.

We packed up Sunday morning and headed home via Tumbulgum where we found another lovely café. I forgot to look at the name of it but it is just up from the pub. We had a table outside and it overlooked the river. It is very popular judging by the number of people there.

We had had a lovely, relaxing weekend away. Our next trip away is in a month. We are heading away with the Caravan Club and heading to Maleny. Should be a good weekend if our last trip with them is anything to go by.

Jacobs Well, Queensland - 18-20 October 2013

Friday

At the Caravan Show in June, we joined the Australian Caravan Club. It is an Australia-wide club which is composed of Branches or Chapters. Each Branch usually has trips away every 6 weeks approximately. We thought it was worth joining. The members are like-minded people and it would be good to have the opportunity to get away with them now and then. And also, the tips we would be likely to pick up, so we have heard, would be handy.

We had had an email in July asking if we were interested in joining a new Branch about to start up. They were going to be called the Brisbane Rouseabouts and their first trip would be to Casino in the first half of August. Unfortunately we couldn’t make that one.

This weekend is the 2^nd outing for the new Branch and it was to Jacobs Well, a little fishing place just south of Brisbane. It is only a 35 minute drive for us, and probably not somewhere we would have even thought of going to. We haven’t been there since the boys were little. There were only going to be about 6 vans going along, so a nice small group to start off with.

Friday was a miserable day. It was a bit drizzly and very windy, but also very cool compared to what it had been. But the rest of the weekend was supposed to be a lot better. We left home about 10am and were well and truly set up by lunchtime, then spending the rest of the afternoon watching the comings and goings of people and vans. I think we were the first ones there, but the others dribbled in over the rest of the day with the last van, or rather camper trailer, arriving about 5.30pm.

 

We did see a funny sight. A fellow came in towing his van. He checked in at the office, then proceeded up to the boom gate where you put in a code to get in. There are witches hats around the post holding the boom gate - in other words be careful! This guy cleaned up the witches hat, turned his van too early and the boom gate next to the entry he used scraped right down the side of his van.  He moved it right out of position as well. He stopped, got out and had a look at what he had done, then got back in his car and drove off. It was left to the lady in the office to right things outside but he obviously did something to it as it was blocked off for the rest of the weekend.

Those that were around met up for a cuppa/drink around 4pm as one couple, Lyn and Warren, had just come down to say hi, but weren’t staying. There is Di and John. Di had sort of organised the weekend and originally office bearers were supposed to be elected this weekend. But as only a few were coming, it was decided to put that off till next time. Also there were Dianne and Rex, Ken and Graham. They all seem very nice.

After the meet and greet broke up and we headed back to our van, we found the last van, the camper trailer, had set up next to us. We introduced ourselves to Jean and Stuart and chatted to them for a little while. They seem very nice too.

 

Saturday

Saturday was a lot nicer day than Friday, although still a little bit breezy. But that helped keep the sandflies at bay, so can’t complain.

The camping area at Jacobs Well is a lovely set up with lots of trees – melaleucas and fig trees. Unfortunately in the fig tree next to us, a huge crowd of noisy lorikeets obviously slept there at night. When we got back to the van, they weren’t sleeping and were very noisy. Luckily they were quiet at a respectable hour but we figured they would probably be up early – and as a result so would we.

After breakfast, we went for a walk round Jacobs Well, heading out to the end of the road. There is a pretty new estate there with some quite big houses. There were also people fishing on the river’s edge. Bruce didn’t bring any fishing gear this time, but it is a place we would come back to another time.

At morning tea time, we all gathered and this time Stuart and Jean came along to meet everyone. Also, Ken’s wife, Sheryl, was there. She had come down this morning. We all had a good chat for about an hour before going our separate ways.

I spent the rest of the day doing some sewing and reading. Bruce read and did some sudokus and crossword puzzles. I won my fortune ($12) on a scratchie.

We had booked for dinner tonight at the Jacobs Well Tavern. What a fantastic night we had. We all got on famously and we laughed so hard and so much. Rex and Di, particularly Di, had us in stitches with her stories of things that had happened to them over the years. Then everyone else started coming out with them. It made for a great night.

Apart from the fun we had, the meal was great. We all enjoyed what we had ordered. Also, around the walls of the pub were some great paintings by an artist by the name of Donald James Waters.

I looked him up on Google and he has been painting for about 30 years. Check out more of his paintings -  www.djwaters.com.au. 

 

Sunday

After breakfast this morning, we packed up and headed down to the cafe not far away with Stuart and Jean for a cuppa. We are having a quick get together at 9.30 before everyone heads away, except Di and John who are staying another night.

We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend and look forward to many more trips away with the Club.

            

 

 

 

Binalong Bay to Launceston Airport - 14 September 2013

Today is our last day. I would be quite happy to stay, but unfortunately work on Monday. Our last day started off cloudy and felt warmer than the 8 degrees that it was when we left.

The birds put on a show for us this morning in the garden. There are so many birds and they fly up to the deck and through it even when we sit there.

On our way through St Helens we stopped at the newsagent to claim our winnings from a scratchie we had yesterday - $25. We bought 2 scratchies yesterday with winnings of $37 from 2 we had bought the day before. We like Tasmania scratchies.

When I dropped the key off before leaving, I spoke to the owner of the cottages (only knew Marion's name, not her husband's) about the way we were intending to drive back to Launceston. We were going to drive down through St Mary's and across through Fingal and Avoca to hit the Midlands Highway and then head up to the Airport. We haven't been that way before. He suggested going another way as he said it is an uninteresting trip with nothing touristy to see. We decided to stick with our plan as the other way to go was the way we had come on Tuesday when we came across from Cradle Mountain. Plus, we had also done that trip last time we were in Tasmania.

Our first stop was at a little coal mining place called Cornwall, about 2 kms off the main road. I had to go and look as my ancestors came from Cornwall itself. There was a sign on the highway to the Cornwall Wall of Remembrance. It was erected in 2006 I think it was. It had a plaque with the names of people who had died in mining accidents over the years but then it had all the names of the people who had actually worked in the mine located in Cornwall. Coal was first discovered in Cornwall in 1843 but coal production didn't commence in Cornwall until 1886. There are a few coal mines in the area. There have been ups and downs in coal production since then but has remained fairly steady over the last 30 years.

Driving through the tiny town of Cornwall, life looks a real struggle. The yards are overgrown, cars are driven till they stop and then just left, houses are not maintained. The places that are looked after with pride really stand out. A bit sad.

Further down the road is a place called Fingal and there is also a coal mine there. It is slightly bigger than Cornwall. It had the lovely backdrop of the Ben Lomond National Park.

We didn't see a good place for morning tea till we reached the highway where we saw St Andrews Inn, built in 1845 with convict labour.

I must have been holding the camera crooked as the building looks like it is falling backwards and Bruce is about to fall over, but that was not the case!

On the walls in the hallway are the original documents of indenture. George has owned the place for 17 years and he does all the cooking. In the cake cabinet he had a chocolate and beetroot mud cake with chocolate chilli ganache. He said it was lovely and I imagine it would have been but I took him at his word. I have a chocolate and potato cake which I make and the potato makes it lovely and moist. I imagine the beetroot does the same.

Not far down the road at Epping Forest there was a market so we stopped for that. There was a lot of china and glass, some of which looked very nice. We went inside the building to see what was in there and on one of the tables were 3 bundles of patchwork fabric fat 1/4's (quarter metre pieces). There were 5 pieces in each bundle and they were half price at $15 each. I took all 3. The lady said I obviously knew a bargain. Apparently they were from a shop owned by a lady who had died. They will go nicely in a quilt I am working on at the moment.

Not far from Launceston Airport is the village of Evandale. Every time we are near the airport we go there and have a walk through. There are lovely old houses, and old buildings converted to galleries or cafes. This gallery used to be the stables of the pub, build in 1840.

Well, it is time to go. On to the airport to drop the hire car off - 870km later. Back to Brisbane for us and back to work on Monday. We had a great time.

Our next trip away will be for a few days in mid October. I'll add to the blog then.

Binalong Bay - 13 September 2013

On the ABC current affairs program this morning, they interviewed Tom Denniss, an ultra marathon runner who was completing a run around the world at the Sydney Opera House this morning. He had spent 662 days running over 26,000 steps, and raising money for charity. His favourite part of the trip was running across the Nullarbor. He sounds like a very interesting guy. If you want to read more about him follow this link www.tomsnextstep.com.

We headed out this morning and out first stop was Shop in The Bush about 15 kms from St Helens. It is literally in the middle of nowhere. It sells antiques, old jewellery, books, and other stuff - odds and sods in other words. It has been operating since 1982 by the same people, so it must be doing something right.

From there we drove on to Pyengana, a few kms further down the road, to visit the Pyengana Dairy Company, where they have been making cloth bound cheddar cheese for over 100 years. It is in a beautiful valley and there are 200 Friesian cows in the dairy. They get 1,000mm of rain each year so no wonder it is green and lush looking. We took part in a cheese tasting and the cheese was delicious, so creamy. They have won many awards and it is used by many of the top chefs in the country. They have over 100,000 people go through the place each year. We bought a few of the different cheeses to take home with us and look forward to opening them. They also have their own brand of milk and also ice cream. See www.pyenganadairy.com.au.

After the cheese tasting, we decided to have morning tea at The Holy Cow Café at the Dairy. Great name for their café. They are also open for brekkie and lunch. We had a lovely Devonshire Tea with their own cream and jam. Yummy.

After morning tea, we were able to look through the window at a couple of the guys making cheese. Huge vats of cream being stirred for about 3-4 hours to make the cheese. It is bound in cloth, in the traditional method, and set aside to mature for varying lengths of time depending on the type of cheese being made.

From the Dairy we went down the road about 1 km to The Pub in the Paddock, famous due to the beer drinking pig, Pinky, that lives there as well. It doesn't really look like a pub, more like a lovely old farmhouse. The Pub is on the market for $800,000.

We headed back to St Helens then and went for a drive out to the end of St Helens Point. When we were last in St Helens, we stayed along St Helens Point in a cottage called The Beachhouse. It was a great house and we went past it today and it is still operating as a holiday rental. Out near the end of the Point, are the Peron Dunes. The Dunes are pretty extensive and would be great to slide down on a piece of cardboard!

It was back to the cottage for lunch and a relaxing afternoon, before going for a walk in the late afternoon. Thank heavens it wasn't as windy today as what it has been, although it was still cold. We walked up to the area on the hill behind where we are staying. There are quite a few houses on the market. One of them has a fabulous view and I checked the price it was selling for. $720,000 +. Not bad for an ocean view.

Bruce is happy that he is able to watch the Rugby League semi final on TV tonight live even though he is in Tassie.

Binalong Bay - 12 September 2013

What a windy day it was today. A bitterly cold wind. The highest temperature today was 11 degrees. But at least it was sunny.

We set off about 9 am for a walk up the beach to the other end. Bruce took his backpack with thermos, mugs and morning tea. As we reached the other end, in amongst the red lichen rocks just out of reach of the water, a fish was flapping feebly. Bruce picked it up and threw it back in the water. Hopefully it survived.

We climbed over the rocks/boulders out to the headland to see if we could find a sheltered spot to have morning tea. What a beautiful spot for morning tea, looking out towards the ocean and no one else around.

If we had walked back along the beach, we would have had to walk into the wind. We decided to head inland hoping that would be better. It was in parts. The road took us up high above Binalong Bay overlooking the Bay and Grants Lagoon which is just behind the beach. We walked about 8 kms all told.

We had lunch on the front deck and it was beautiful, the sun glistening on the water. Bruce saw a bird do a kamikaze dive into the water after a fish.

I did hear bits and pieces of another book on the radio today that sounded pretty good but didn't hear the title or the author. All I knew was that it was set on Thursday Island. I ended up googling it and found it. It is called My Island Homicide and is by Catherine Titasey.

After lunch we drove out to The Gardens, about 13km along the coast from Binalong Bay. The road is a dead end, ending at a couple of houses. When we got there, there were some people in a hire car who had couldn't get their car going. It would start, but they couldn't get it out of park. It had happened to them three times today and they had only hired it this morning in Launceston and were on their way to Bicheno. There was very little phone reception there but he found a spot where he got a bar or so and with great difficulty, after a few attempts where we could hear Peter but he couldn't hear us, Peter suggested looking for a lock on the stick. Sure enough, there it was, and the people left happy people.

After they left, I walked along the track that cut around the headland. I always have to see what's around the next corner. It was very pretty countryside and coastline. Green pastureland meeting the beach with its red rocks. What a place to live.

On the way back to Binalong Bay, we stopped at Cosy Corner North to check it out. It is quite a large area on the beachfront with sheltered spots in amongst bushes and trees where you are allowed to free camp for up to 4 weeks. There are toilets provided, but no water or power. We also checked out Cosy Corner South, Swimcart Beach and Jeanneret's Beach, which all have free camping for up to 4 weeks. After the 4 weeks you have to move out of the area for 4 weeks. You can't move to the one just down the road. After the 4 weeks, you could move back again if you wanted. Pretty good. Cosy Corner North and South were my favourites. At Swimcart Beach you can actually park your van right on the edge overlooking the beach, but on a windy day like today, it wouldn't have been very pleasant.

We arrived back at the cottage in time for afternoon tea and spent the rest of the afternoon reading. What a hard life holidays are!

Binalong Bay - 11 September 2013

I just saw on the weather tonight that St Helens had the highest temperature in Tasmania today - 14 degrees. It showed snow on Mt Wellington in Hobart and no doubt it snowed in Cradle Mountain. It was sunny most of the day with a few clouds building up during the day. We were sitting on the deck in the afternoon with the sun shining just about everywhere but behind us where there were rain clouds, when it started to rain. It didn't last long though and it is supposed to be fine for the next couple of days.

We drove in to St Helens after breakfast this morning. We parked the car and walked up each side of the main street, before paying the Information Centre a visit to pick up some information on walks at Binalong Bay. I also asked at the Centre if the patchwork shop that I had visited the last time I was in St Helens was still open. Unfortunately it had closed so I missed out there. We then went to the IGA supermarket and bought enough groceries to last us till we leave here.

We have listened to a fair bit of Radio National while in Tasmania and they have interviewed a number of authors. Their books sound like they will be worth reading. One of them is by Ruth Ozeki, who is part Japanese and part American. She was at the Brisbane Writers Festival. Her book is called A Time for the Time Being. As part of the interview the recorded her reading part of her book, possibly at the Festival. She really got you in, just with her storytelling skills. Then another person they interview was Turia Pitt, who wrote the book called Everything to Live For. Turia is the ultra marathon runner who was caught in a bushfire in the Kimberleys, I think about 18 months or 2 years ago, with burns to 65% of her body. She sounds like a remarkable person, and the book is the story of what happened and her recovery. Her doctor said he had never had anyone with such deep burns to survive.

After an early lunch, we walked up the road from our cottage to walk the track to Snake Point. The beginning of the track involved rock hopping across rocks along the edge of the water. We took the easier option of sticking to the gravel road, joining the track further along. Along the coast in the Bay of Fires area a lot of the rocks are covered in red lichen.

We reached Snake Point and looked out to sea, to see if we could see any whales. Apparently a couple had been in the Bay yesterday, but we didn't see any. However, on the way back we did see a seal sunning himself on rocks and then taking a swim. He was a cutie.

Altogether we walked about 9 kms today which was good, seeing we hadn't done a good walk for the last couple of days. I was having withdrawal symptoms!