Byron Bay

We enjoyed staying at the well located Clarkes Beach Holiday park as we could walk from the park up to  the Light house on Cape Byron and take in the magnificent views of Byron Bay. It also had a  covered camp kitchen with lovely views of the sea.There is limited parking, so it is easier to walk to the Lighthouse than drive. We had great Byron Bay coffee (Organic blend) at a café next door and are now looking to see if we can buy some beans ourselves. We had a very interesting tour of the Light house, which is still in operation, and walked back along the coastal walking trail, which had great views. The round trip, with coffee at the Light House, took us about 4 hours. We saw a whale calf near the Light House and several pods of dolphins near the beach. In the town we saw New Age shops, a Buddhist group marching and Hare Krishna group singing in the Park. We visited a Christian Church that reaches out to the Community. 

 

View of Byron Bay from Light house

Clarke's Beach, near our van park

Tallow Beach from the Light House

walk up to the light house from Clarkes Beach



Cape Byron Light house

Cape Byron Light house

clear waters for whale watching and dolphins at Cape Byron

 

Most easterly point of Australia



View from Cape Byron Light house

Views of Byron Bay

Coastal walk on  Cape Byron

View of Byron Bay and mountains



Palm Valley walk is oldest Aboriginal settlement in Byron

 

Brisbane

We stayed at our friends, Jeff & Ann's bush property, near Brisbane for 3 nights. We enjoyed seeing their Queenslander style home verandah view of the bush and birds in the trees. On a very hot day, Jeff took us to Mt Tambourine and we did a lovely short walk to Curtis Falls, and saw some of the shops and mountain views. We enjoyed our trip to Southbank where the beach, parks and buildings,(Museum, Maritime Museum, Performing Arts Centre & Art Gallery, shops & eateries), all flow along the banks of the Brisbane river. We enjoyed seeing some of the Museum but will have to come back to see the other buildings. The river flood damage has now been repaired and we saw little signs of flooding.  It was linked by an archway which was covered in purple bouganvillia flowers.  We enjoyed the views on 15 min ride in the Wheel of Brisbane. We had a nice surprise to see Nadine, our neighbour, at Southbank,who was having a short holiday in Qld. A friendly lady told us about a free concert at the Concert Hall. We loved hearing the huge German Pipe organ, (over 6,000 pipes) a soloist and choir. We didn't have time to go to the shops on the other side of the river bank!

 

Enjoying the sights at Southbank

Jeff & John  on walk to Curtis Falls, Mt Tambourine

Lovely Curtis Falls, Mt Tambourine



Wheel of Brisbane, Southbank

Enjoying the view from Wheel of Brisbane



lovely man made beach at Southbank

Huge pipe organ at Brisbane Performing Arts Centre, Southbank

 

Pretty Bouganvillia arch at Southbank

Toowoomba QLD

After a very steep drive up the ridge into Toowoomba, (the steepest we have done so far with our van) and through road works to reduce future flooding, we arrived in Toowoomba. We had a wonderful 3 days with Dave's parents in Toowoomba. Greg kindly drove and showed us the great views, places of interest, and parks of Toowoomba. We shared stories and sampled some wonderful coffee, food and wine and learned some of Toowoomba's history. We also visited the lovely, Heritage listed Concordia College School, where Chaseley works. Having missed seeing spring flowers being up north, we enjoyed the remaining flowers from the festival of flowers in the Queens Park and Laurel Bank Park. These parks have very old trees and are lovely to walk around. Laurel Bank Park also had sculptures, lots of Topiary and scented gardens. We were amazed to see the areas in Toowoomba had that flooded after heavy rains 2 years ago. 2 creeks, that now looked small now had caused so much flooding in Toowoomba and the valley below.

 

Spring Flowers from Festival of Flowers  in Queens Park

Greg Lamerton & John in Queens Park

Enjoying the spring flowers in Queens Park.

Picnic Point & Table top  Mountain

Tranquil Japanese Gardens

Enjoying the Japanese Gardens



Cobb  and Co Coach Museum

Concordia College - Heritage listed school

Chaseley and Greg Lamerton



Visiting Chaseley at Concordia College

Ancient days theme for flower beds at  Laurel Bank Park

Lovely Laurel Bank Park

Bribie Island and Sunshine Coast

We visited Buderim for lunch & enjoyed visiting the beach at Coolum, from Caloundra, on a hot day. At Coolum,we did a short boardwalk and looked for whales but didn't see any.

We enjoyed Bribie Island and rode our bikes 7kms along a path close to the beach at sheltered  Pumiceton Passage. We found a great café,"Seaclusion" to rest and have coffee.  It was very busy with people swimming and fishing, due to the school holidays and long weekend. We were surprised to find out how busy on a long weekend, and pretty Bribie Island is, as a large part is National Park.

 

View from boardwalk at Coolum beach, on Sunshine coast

Coolum Beach - whales are spotted here to.



View of Glasshouse Mountains, Pumiceston Passage, Bribie Island

View from café at Pumiceton Passage

Glasshouse Mountains - from Bribie Island

Lots of water activities in sheltered Pumicestone Passage

Very Old Jetty on Bribie Island

Nice sandy beaches on Bribie Island

Hervey Bay

We enjoyed our stay at Point Vernon in Hervey Bay. We road our bikes along the numerous bike paths along the esplanade. We had to wait 6 days for the strong winds to subside enough for us to do a whale watching cruise. This was a most enjoyable whale watching trip with many whales and calves seen - several very close to our boat. The hump back whales were very active and we even heard them sing - via the boats microphone in the sea. Hervey Bay is a busy town - they have 1.6 million visitors each year. the town seems to thrive on whale watching and Fraser island tourists who depart from here. 

 

walking on Torquay beach at Hervey Bay

The Urangen pier at
Hervey Bay - 880 meters long

A singing boy and fish near the pier

a view into the botanical gardens

reflective pool at botanical gardens

a blossom amongst the flowers

enjoying the flowers at the botanical gardens

 

the Tasman Venture boat which we went whale watching on

 

A whale diving

A whale spouting

a whale pectoral fin flapping the water - very loud

 

 

Maryborough QLD

We drove 35 kms, after roadwork delays, from Hervey Bay to Maryborough. Maryborough, settled in 1847,  is one of Queensland's oldest towns. The last weekend of the month they have steam trains and a brass band playing in Queen's Park. We just missed this but enjoyed seeing so many heritage listed buildings. Brennan and Geraghty's store Museum is one of three preserved retail stores in the world. It opened in 1871 and ceased trading in 1972. It contains stock dating back to the 1890's, many of which we recognised.eg Arnotts biscuits, Keens Curry Powder, Eta Peanut Butter. I shared a brolly with Mary Poppins, outside the birthplace of Ms P.L. Travers. The building was formerly a bank.

  

Mary River and Queens Park



Cannon at Queens Park



Band Rotunda at Queens Park is still used



Mary River Bollards



Court house built around 1878

Mary Poppins  - P.L Travers bronze memorial

Queens Park very old trees



Brennan and Geraghty's Store Museum - opened 1871



Outside of Brennan and Geraghty's store

National Trust Residence of Store owner