We haven't been camping for a while, so took the opportunity to meet up with some of Trev's 'Offals' fishing mates at a camp at Edward River, near Deniliquin. I was expecting basic bush camping on the banks of a river, but it's a little more luxurious than that - we have an old tram with beds and a huge fireplace, a couple of big covered areas for congregating and eating, a FLUSHING TOILET, HOT WATER and HOT SHOWERS! Unbelievable - and most welcome considering we have had nothing but rain for the last two days!
So, we've just had to sit around eating and drinking - it's been tough, so far. We had a lovely roast dinner (lamb & beef) a couple of nights ago, then a tasty red chicken curry with thai stirfry vegetables & rice last night. I think it's a bbq tonight and a chicken & champagne lunch tomorrow for Melbourne Cup day. We'll probably have a sweep or two to make it interesting.
The boys have been fishing but haven't been too successful as yet - caught a beautiful small murray cod but had to let it go as it was undersize. They're currently building a big table and chairs to leave here for future use. Will post some photos when I've recharged the battery on our little netbook.
As I said in a previous post, the traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is unbelievable! I've been to Bangkok and thought that was bad, but HCMC is way over the top. I have never seen so many motorbikes & scooters in my life, and everyone (cars, buses, scooters) beeps their horn continuously - not in anger, but as a way of letting people in front know to move over or let others pass. Crazy, but it seems to work. Although on one tour we did, our guide told us that 40 people each day die on HCMC roads.
On our first night, we went for a walk down to the river, and to cross one major intersection we had to go over 5 pedestrian crossings! We were all paralysed by the traffic, cos there was certainly no break and no-one stopped to let us cross. We watched some of the locals and figured out that no-one stops at the crossings, you simply have to start walking and the bikes/cars/buses will go around you. So..... we basically held hands and started walking, looking both ways (cos they drive on the right hand side of the road) and hoped that all the roadusers recognised that we poor foreigners hadn't a clue, and would do their best to avoid us. And yes, we made it across, then killed ourselves laughing when we arrived at the other side! And on some other major crossings, some of the local people actually flanked us either side and guided us across.... very strange, but nice of them.
So, our hotel was in quite a busy area, right next to the Bitexco Financial Tower (265.5m) which will be the tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City when finished. The Tan Hai Long 3 was pretty good, rooms were modern and comfortable, and Trev & I paid an extra $10 per night for un upgrade to a deluxe room which was a good deal larger than the other rooms. We had a lovely view of the escape stairs and rooftops from our room. Staff were efficient and friendly, and the porters were very quick to open the doors for us whenever they saw us approaching. Breakfast wasn't bad, but often only lukewarm - something we found also at our Hoian hotel.
Ben Thanh markets were huge, and people were packed in like sardines. We did a bit of shopping there, but bartering was much more difficult than at Hoian - starting prices were so much higher. Finding places to eat wasn't difficult and I still can't get over how much cheaper than Thailand Vietnam is for food, shopping, tours etc. Beer ranged from 18c to 90c and the most we paid for cocktails was about $4.50. Even really expensive meals for the six of us worked out at around $12 per person, including drinks and cocktails! Brilliant!
We visited the War Remnants Museum which was a horrible testament to the atrocities committed during war. The Vietnamese call the war 'The American War of Agression', and obviously this museum portrays the war from the Vietnamese point of view. I was horrified by some of the photos and accounts of activities - in particular the photos of children born deformed, limbless and with horrific cancers as a result of the US Forces' use of Agent Orange and other chemical warfare. Even now, many children born in areas where chemical weapons were used have a much higher incidence of cleft palates and other deformities. The War Remnants Museum is a very sad and shocking place, but one that should be visited.
The next day Lorraine, Bill, Trevor & I went on a tour to the Mekong Delta in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries.
The bus ride was about 3 hours each way along one of the major highways out of HCMC. Well, for a major highway, this has to be the bumpiest, narrowest and busiest highway ever. Every time we hit a bump (which was many) we just about hit our heads on the roof of the bus, which of course is built for tiny little Vietnamese people - ie, seats are small, narrow and legspace is almost non-existent, so needless to say it wasn't the most comfortable of trips. Anyway, we got to Cai Be, the beginning of the delta area, where we transferred to large rice barges for the next part of the journey. We sat on little cane seats on the barge, again not the most comfortable, but that's one of the joys of travelling.
After viewing the floating markets, we transferred to smaller canoes and travelled through some of the canals to a small village where we had a lovely meal (Trev & I shared an Elephant Ear fish, which we wrapped up in rice rolls). We had a short bike ride which started badly as I fell off - the bike seat was way too high for me, and when it wobbled I couldn't get my feet to touch the ground, so I landed in a bunch of grass and nettles. Not very dignified.... so I swapped bikes, then we headed off again. We got back to the restaurant in time for Bill and I to hold the giant python and have photos taken - boy, was that a heavy snake!
On the way back we visited a candy factory where we bought some lovely peanut brittle and coconut toffees and had some green tea to cool us down. Then on to a workshop for people with disabilities, who made the most beautiful artworks out of cane and wood, with the designs made from tiny fragments of broken eggshell and mother-of-pearl. The products were quite expensive by Vietnamese standards, but they were just amazing. I think we all spent a few dollars in this one.
Back at the hotel we decided to try the little restaurant a couple of doors down for some Vietnamese hotpots. Good decision - they were delicious. The staff didn't speak much English, but the menus had plenty of photos, so we managed. At the next table was a family celebrating a little girl's birthday, so when they started to sing happy birthday to her, we all joined in. The family was thrilled with us, so when they cut the birthday cake the little girl's mum came over with her and brought us all a slice of birthday cake, and took photos of our group with the little girl sitting on Sheep's knee. So cute!
Next day we were picked up from our hotel to go the Cu Chi Tunnels which were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during the war, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. It was a really interesting tour, and our guide was very knowledgeable. One of the sad points he mentioned is that he had a girlfriend who lived in the Cu Chi area, but was not allowed to marry her in case they had children who were deformed or affected by the after-effects of Agent Orange.
We got back to our hotel around 3.00pm and had to be picked up to go to the airport for home at 6.00pm. We paid extra to have a late checkout from our room, so the other guys had stored all of their gear in our room, which meant that we could all have a shower and freshen up before we got on the plane. We found a place called 'Phatty's' to have an early dinner (a really good Australian-style hamburger), then headed back to our room in the middle of a monsoonal rainstorm - we got absolutely saturated, and all the local shopkeepers that we had walked past in the last few days had a good laugh at us. At least the rain wasn't cold!
So, a quick shower, final pack then we were picked up for our transfer to the airport. The traffic was horrendous - because the rain had driven a lot of bikes and scooters off the streets, suddenly they were all back en masse once the rain stopped. All around us was a sea of bike helmets - our driver had a slight knock on his side mirror as a car tried to push in from the right hand side - he was not happy! Anyway, he got us there safely and we headed for home on September 14.
The trip home on Vietnam Airlines (and on the way there) was awful - the seats were tiny, no legroom at all, it was a very old Boeing 777 with old-fashioned tv screens so grainy and pockmarked you couldn't see them - that is if you could even see the screen over the heads of 4 rows of passengers (which I couldn't). The shape of the seats had a huge lumbar support bit at the bottom which forced your back into a most uncomfortable 'S' shape. I have to say the seats were the worst of any airline we've flown with. Trev says the little cane chairs on the barge were more comfortable! Definitely won't fly Vietnam Airlines again!
I've just uploaded a Picasa album on HCMC - click here to have a look.
All in all, we had a fantastic trip - lovely people, lots of interesting sights, weather was incredibly humid, and we did lots of shopping. We would definitely go back to Hoian again for its slower, laidback, old-town feel - don't know if we'd do HCMC again, although it was very interesting. So..... what travel specials are on now????
I've just uploaded a Picasa web album of photos I took in Hoian. The address is: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/sylvs10/HoianVietnam#. My next post will be about our time in Ho Chi Minh City. Very interesting - keep checking in.
Hoian was busy, and we did a couple of trips from there. We went snorkelling at Cham Islands, after visiting a little fishing village. I took a photo of a lovely old lady at the pagoda in the fishing village. There was plenty of soft and hard coral, and brilliantly coloured sea anemones around these island - not a huge amount of fish, but I bumped into a very friendly nemo. Water temp was around 32-34, a little bit cooler than our spa - the lunch on the island was really good, and what was really nice that there aren't that many tourists around! Brilliant - we shared the beach with about 30 people at the maximum. We visited the Old Town of Hoian and got some of our best bargains there. The shopkeepers were quite laid back, not so much hard-sell, so we were happy to buy. Our resort was really good, about halfway between the town of Hoian and the Cua Dai beach, with regular free shuttles to each of them. However, we rarely seemed to get our act together for the shuttles, so used cabs frequently to get to where we wanted to go - at the ridiculous price of about $2 per trip! Our porch led out to the gardens and overlooked the pool area, so many a happy hour was spent either drinking on our porch or having cocktails in the pool. Very hard to take.
Lorraine & I had some pants made for us at Cua Dai beach - really cool and comfortable in this heat, and cost $15 per pair, made overnight. Very happy with that. Kirsti had a dress made, and she is also very happy with it. The markets in Hoian had an interesting assortment of goods on display - including bottles of drinks with snakes and scorpions in them - supposed to be very good for men's virility - see photo!
Our last night at Hoian was spent in a restaurant on the river, which I had read about on Trip Advisor - it was called the Son Restaurant, and the food was delicious. A bit more expensive (around $70 for six people) than eating at the little local plastic table outlets, but well worth it.
We were all a bit sad to leave Hoian but agreed that it is definitely a place we would love to come back to.... so will have to start planning our next trip. Lorraine wants to come back and stay for a month?????
We're now in Ho Chi Minh City for huge change of pace - I have never in my life seen so much traffic, mostly motorbikes, and heard so much noise. This leaves Bangkok for dead .... but more on that later.
I've had so much trouble trying to upload posts to this blog, so this will be short. We've had a lovely time here in Hoian - very relaxing and very busy. We've done lots of shopping, had some clothes made, did a snorkelling trip to Cham Islands, visited the beach, lazed around our pool, and had a drink or two on our porch.
Haggling with the locals is fun, not as stressful as Thailand, and the people are very friendly and so tiny - we are definitely the giants around here. Need to do a bit of dieting when we get back, I think! The humidity has been crippling, and we've all been walking around dripping with sweat - not pretty. We're about to leave for Ho Chi Minh City in the next half hour so I have to go, and I'll try to post some photos when we arrive there. Tam biet (see you later).
Well, here we are in Vietnam after a very long trip from Canberra.We met up with Kirsti & Sheep at Sydney airport after leaving Canberra at 3.45am, and we left the tarmac at 10.45am (half an hour late), but still got to Ho Chi Minh City on time.Service on Vietnam Airlines was pretty good, but I have to say that we were travelling in a very old, shabby plane with the most uncomfortable seats I have come across – leg room was almost non-existent.
We arrived at Ho Chi Minh airport and had to pick up our luggage, go through customs, walk over to the domestic airport and check in again for our ongoing flight to Da Nang.Got all that organised, then hit a bit of a snag with our duty-free grog…… we weren't allowed to carry it on to the next plane as hand luggage!We had a bit of a discussion with the young lady at customs, who insisted that we either had to leave it or go back to the check-in counter and check it in with the rest of our luggage.We lost that argument, and we were running out of time before our next flight departed, so Bill ended up putting all of our alcohol into his and Lorraine's little cabin bag, took it downstairs and checked itin.Then he had to line up again to get back through to the departure lounge.We were getting a bit worried that he wouldn't make it in time and we might miss our plane, but he made it.Then…… they announced that our flight had been delayed, and we had to wait another hour before departure.So, we were very tired people by the time we got to Da Nang, then endured another 40minute trip to our hotel in Hoian.
We finally arrived at our hotel, the Hoian Trails Resort, at around 9.00pmVietnam time, midnight our time.Staff were lovely, check-in was very smooth and efficient, and we were in our rooms really quickly.The resort is Sino-Portuguese style, with beautiful gardens and ponds.And the rooms are excellent – they're huge, with a lovely sitting area and a small porch with lounges leading into the gardens.We had a couple of drinks in the floating bar (cocktails around $4.50) then turned in for the evening.By the time we got to bed, we'd been on the go for nearly 24hours – very tired.
We had an early start next day, (jet lag is a bitch), and made the decision (not necessarily a wise one) to walk into Hoian town.It was only about 5km, but with a temperature of 28C and humidity around 99%, it wasn't long before we were dripping with sweat – not a good look.Kirsti & Sheep had to find a dentist, cos one of Sheep's teeth had come off his plate, (that's what happens when you eat Rocky Road on the plane!) and he needed to get it fixed.So they took off to find a dentist while Trev, Lorraine, Bill & I had a look around the markets in Hoian.Do you know how many types of eggs there are? Well, I think it must be hundreds, cos I took photos of white, brown, large, tiny, speckled, sesame-coated eggs, and that was just at one stall.Markets were interesting, similar to Thailand, and not quite as aggressive. We had a snack and a drink or two, (middy of local beer 24c) at a little restaurant overlooking the river.
We had our photos taken with little old ladies carrying huge loads of goods on those double ended carrier thingies (don't know what they're called), then had to buy some pineapple ($2.40) for the privilege.I expected to have to pay for a photo, so it wasn't a big deal, and at least we got something to eat for it!Such is the cost of tourism.The town of Hoian is really pretty and quaint, with very wide streets and lots of bicycles and motorbikes.Not so many cars, except for taxis.And after walking all that way in the stifling heat, we decided to get a taxi back to our hotel at a grand cost of about $2.40.First thing on the agenda was a swim and cocktails in our lovely pool – magic.Very relaxing after our walk.Trev and I booked in for a massage (as well as a facial for me) at our hotel spa, and it was very pleasant.It cost 20USD per person (probably double what we would pay outside the resort), but it was worth it for the convenience.
Kirst & Sheep arrived back from their adventures and we had a drink on our porch before dinner.Next door to the hotel is a little restaurant called 'John' which had been recommended by many of the Aussie tourists here, so we popped in there for dinner.It was very tasty, but small portions.The boys tried the local brew, Biere Larue, and gave it the thumbs up for taste.The girls continued on their cocktail quest, which was a bit of hit and miss, but we'll get it right eventually.The evening, including quite a number of drinks, cost the six of us around $60 – pretty good!
So, we finished off the first day of our holiday with drinks on our porch, yet again.Looking forward to a busy day at the beach and Hoian town tomorrow, where we plan to book some tours.Chiao.
We're off on our next adventure shortly ... our first trip to Vietnam. We've booked the flights, got accommodation in Hoi An for 5 nights at the Hoi An Trails Resort, then 3 nights at the Tan Hai Long 3 in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). I've been checking out info about Vietnam on Tripadvisor, which is an excellent travel site - I've used it heaps of times for info on Thailand, Vanuatu, Europe, as well as Australia. It's really good for getting reviews about hotels, places to visit, good food etc. Love it!
We've had our immunisations, got our visas, our tickets, all we have to do is change some money ($US and Vietnamese Dong!) pack our bags and we're ready. Kirsti & Sheep and Lorraine & Bill are coming with us, so it should be a fun trip. And, of course, we're practising some Vietnamese words and phrases so we can have wonderful conversations with the locals.... I'll try to post some photos and rivetting information on this site as we go, so I can keep in touch with everyone.
Yes, the rain definitely set in. We discussed going west towards Innamincka, checked weather reports and found that rain was forecast out west for the next few days. We checked Lightning Ridge, and found the same thing. So we decided that if it was going to rain in every direction, we might as well head homewards. It's not much fun camping in the rain - unless there's a group of you and you can all be wet and miserable together!
We had planned to have another dip in the pools before we left, but the rain had made our campsite a soggy mess, and we figured we should just drop the camper as quickly as we would while there was a break in the rain, then head south. As you can see, I really enjoy packing up a wet campervan....
So, on to Dubbo, (through fog and rain) got there early so had a cuppa and something to eat at the visitor centre, then travelled on to Wellington to make it our last stop before arriving home. I did not want to unpack the wet camper for our last night, so we stopped at a motel for the night. Well, I have to say I've seen better motels .... cost us $70 for the night, and the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the multicoloured carpet had multicoloured stains to match, the two seats had stains on them, and the plastic showerscreen absolutely reeked of mould when you turned the hot water on - very attractive. And..... you won't believe this, but the TV screen had NO REMOTE! It's true - to change channels we actually had to cross the room and push a button! And to make matters even worse, not only did it have no remote, but it also had no/very poor reception on whatever channels it managed to pick up. Won't be staying there again - ever!
Had dinner at the local Soldiers Club - pretty good, then back to our gorgeous motel. Got up reasonably early the next morning and headed for home. Looking forward to seeing our kids/grandkids, and sleeping in our own bed. It's great to go away, but it's always nice to get home. Now, we just have to unpack,clean up and wash the campervan and rangie, do all the washing, restock the fridge and pantry..... ouch, too much work!
Travelled through Roma, then on to Mitchell for the hot springs. We free-camped at the Neil Turner Weir, on a lovely stretch of the Maranoa River. There were quite a few people already camped, but still plenty of room. We got talking to our neighbours, Nick and Chris, from Ballarat, who invited us to sit with them and have a drink. We were also joined by Lyn & Rob from Hervey Bay. Nick & Chris had a lovely campfire going, and we all ended up cooking on it that night - it was our first campfire meal of the trip. Roast pork and beautiful veges - yum.
That night it poured with rain, and we had a very soggy campsite the next morning. Ah well, you can't fight the weather. We went into town for a visit to the Mitchell Artesian Spa - very nice little operation, with two pools operating at different temperatures. It cost us $8.50 pp for a 2-day pass, pretty good value.
The weather cleared up, and we again cooked dinner over the campfire, and Chris provided us all with a bowl of delicious spicy lentils. They had also been joined by their friends, Peter and Barbara from Lakes Entrance. We all had a very pleasant evening around the campfire, and finished off with some of Nick's grappa and Chris's prunes soaked in grappa - that's a first for me! Definitely firewater - next morning I was not too well, but I don't think I can blame it all on the grappa - it might also have had something to do with the half bottle of champagne and couple of cointreaus that I had before it!
We dropped camp, and said farewell to the others who were heading to Lightning Ridge, then we headed back into town for a last dip in the wondrous waters of the artesian bore. We had lunch there, then decided to head towards Moree as we'd heard that there were also artesian bores in that town.
That night we stopped at a little place called the Nindigully Pub - we'd heard that the pub had free camping on site, with the use of showers and toilets. We pulled in to find quite a few travellers already set up there in the mud (we've been following the rain for a couple of days), so set up our camper just in time for happy hour in the hotel. Had a couple of drinks and checked out all the battered old cowboy hats and boots mounted on the walls of the hotel, and read about all the goings-on in this quite famous pub which was first established in 1864. One of its claims to fame is the humungous 'Road Train Burger' which costs $45.00 and can easily feed four people. We decided to have dinner there, cos I didn't feel like cooking. The meals were huge, good value, but way too big - I had to give Trev a good portion of mine. Have a look at the website and you can see it has plenty of character. Next morning, off to Moree. We arrived around lunchtime and checked into the Gwydir Carapark & Thermal Pools. Nice park with 4 large thermal pools, varying in temperature from 34-39 degrees and one large swimming pool set at 28 degrees. Spent an hour or so hopping from pool to pool and chatting to lots of grey nomads. Looking around the pools I decided that Trev & I are at least 10 years younger than 95% of the people here - I can't believe how many very senior people are still travelling all around this huge country, and many of the ones we spoke to today actually follow the 'thermal pool trail'.
After stocking up on a few groceries, we are now back in our camper, and I am listening to the rain thumping on the roof as I type - I'm not looking forward to dropping the camper tomorrow, cos I hate packing up in the wet. But people around here are very happy to have the rain, so I guess I shouldn't complain. We've done pretty well weatherwise with our trip so far. So tomorrow, we're heading south, but haven't quite sorted out our next stop.... if the rain keeps going, we'll be home very soon.
Before I go any further, I've just added a Picasa album from our time at Fraser Island. You might want to have a look at it.
After packing up at Calliope we stopped in at the little Calliope Historical Village for Sunday markets. Bought a couple of bits and pieces and had a chat with one of the stallholders who actually lived on Fraser Island when he was a child for about 10 years. His father was one of the Rangers and they lived at Central Station - he had very fond memories of the island and told us a couple of interesting stories - said he might write a book one day.
We were heading for Carnarvon Gorge via Biloela, so keyed in the appropriate info to our trusty GPS whom we call Kate. Well, Kate was having a bad day, and it wasn't until we were nearly at Rockhampton, still looking for a turnoff to Biloela, that we realised she had led us astray! We pulled over to the side of the road and reassessed our position, and decided that Kate needed a bit of a rest and we were going to have to do things the old-fashioned way - use maps and read the roadsigns! I'm sure John Ward will be having a bit of a laugh now, cos he really doesn't like (or trust) these new-fangled GPS things. Sorry to say it, John, but on this occasion you were right.
So, having taken us a very long way round, and increasing our journey by 150-200kms, we finally reached Rolleston which is a kicking-off point for Carnarvon Gorge. Stayed in a very basic little caravan park, but it was only $20pn, and had hot showers and toilets, so we were not complaining. Just happy to have somewhere to stay for the night before heading to the gorge the next day.
We booked into the Takarakka Bush Camping Site and arrived around lunchtime. Paid $34 for an unpowered site, and set up. It really is a lovely setting and the showers and toilets are excellent. We tried to book in for the Spit Roast, but it wasn't on that evening - they said there would be one the following night. We hadn't decided whether we were staying one night or two, so thought we would leave it till the next day to make a booking.
That afternoon we took a drive (and walks) up to Balloon Cave which had some Aboriginal rock paintings and then the Rock Pool, the only place suitable for swimming in the national park. Spotted a turtle and lots of little fish - very pretty. Then we headed back to camp where I cooked a lovely green chicken curry for dinner. Oh yes, we decided to book another night, but couldn't book in for the Spit Roast the following night as they were full - bugger!
Next morning we set off to do our 15km walk through the Gorge up to the Art Gallery. It was a much nicer day weather-wise than the previous one. Quite sunny and clear, but not too hot for walking. The Ranger (and accompanying brochure) suggested that we walk straight to the Art Gallery, then do the side trips to Ward's Canyon, the Amphitheatre, and the Moss Gardens on the way back.
Well, the walk was wonderful. Really pretty, lots of water crossings, different kinds of palms, macrozamia trees, mosses and ferns, all mixed in with eucalypts, casuarinas and wattle. The Art Gallery was really interesting - a large amount of aboriginal paintings and carvings in a huge overhang of sandstone rock, looking down into a lovely valley full of palms and mazrozamias. Ward's Canyon was beautiful, a long, deep, very cool walk with crystal clear water running through t. The Amphitheatre was amazing, and aptly named - if you had a concert in there, the sound would be incredible.
Our last stop (and the hardest one, we were starting to 'hit the wall' by then) was up (and I do mean up) to the Moss Gardens - a 1.2km return trip, mostly uphill which opened up into a beautiful cavern full of different mosses, with water constantly dripping down from them. Just lovely.
Then we had only 2.8km to go to get back to the Ranger's Headquarters. This last 2.8km seemed much, much longer than on the way there. Don't know how that happens??? But - we managed it even though our legs felt like jelly and our fingers were throbbing - very happy with that. We obviously don't do enough walking, and will have to make an effort to do more when we get home. When we got back to camp we were wrecked - had a cuppa then decided to have a shower before dinner, or we'd never get back on our feet again.
Tomorrow we're heading toward Roma, then probably over to Mitchell where they have hot artesian bore springs - think we might need to take a dip to recover from our walk.....
First of all, we want to wish mum and dad a very happy 55th anniversary. I rang them this afternoon especially to congratulate them, but they didn't believe me????!! Just because we have no idea of what day it is when we're travelling doesn't mean that we'd forget their anniversary. Hope you have a lovely dinner with Denise and Ray.
Anyway, back to our travels. On our way to Bundaberg we thought it might be a good idea to book a couple of sites before we actually arrived - good thinking. We tried about 10 cara parks between us before finally getting a 'yes' - apparently the whale season has started early this year. It normally starts in August, but somebody forgot to tell the whales! So, finding a spot all the way up the coast is getting difficult. We booked into one in Bundaberg East which was very nice, had a good ensuite, but is right in the light manufacturing area. It also backed onto a courier service which apparently had deliveries throught the night, so it was a little noisy. Did a bit of shopping to stock up, and bought a kilo of big fat juicy tiger prawns for only $20. Bargain! Pete had a telephone interview for a job that afternoon, so after he'd finished we invited Pete & Dee over for prawns and salad with Sylvia's Special Spicy Seafood Sauce (how's that for alliteration?) that evening - just delicious.
Next morning we booked in for a tour of the Bungaberg Rum Distillery (as you do, when in Bundaberg) which was quite interesting, especially as we got a seniors discount and saved $10 - gotta be happy with that! And of course, we ended up buying a bottle or two - Bundy Royal Chocolate and Coffe Liqueur, and Bundy Reserve Premium Release (which can only be bought from the distillery. Dee also bought a couple of bottles of the Liqueur. (As a matter of fact, Trev and I are just having a Bundy & Coke right now - will keep me blogging a bit longer...)
We drove out to have a look at Bargara, a little coastal town about 15km from Bundaberg - we went there on one of our previous trips and really liked the area. It's near the turtle conservation area at Mon Repos, where the turtles come to nest each year. The beaches here have huge black basalt rocks and boulders around them and are really quite different. We had fish and chips overlooking the beach and soaking up the scenery. While we were lunching a heap of rally cars came into Bargara - they'd been on the Burleigh to Bargara Rally and had just arrived at their destination. They were quite colourful, extremely dusty and dirty and quite vocal, and it looked like the participants had had a wonderful time.
Pete & Dee headed back into Bundaberg while Trev & I continued through the coastal towns - we'd brought our snorkelling gear as we'd been told that there were some good snorkelling rocks areas around Bargara and Coral Cove. We had full intentions of doing a bit of snorkelling, but it was quite windy, cool, and the water temperature was way too low for poor old Trev so we decided to give it a miss. But there are certainly some lovely beaches and rocks in this area - loved it. Pete and Dee have decided to head back to Canberra, as it looks like Pete has to have a further interview on Tuesday following his phone interview last night. So, as it's our last night together, we went to a little local club for dinner, The Easts Sports Club - the receptionist at our cara park had recommended it. We all had a really good meal and were very impressed.
We packed up this morning and said our farewells to Pete & Dee, as we are going towards Carnarvon Gorge while they head for home. We dropped into Gladstone on the way through, just to see if there were any snorkelling tours running from there. To my great disappointment, there were none, unless we wanted to d o an overnighter to Heron Island for $659 per couple! Afraid not, it's a little bit over our budget. So we continued on till we got to a little free-camping spot that is in the Camps Australia 5 book - Calliope. It's a top spot on a really pretty river with heaps of camping areas either side of the banks. The river is both fresh and saltwater and apparently is a great fishing spot. There are flushing toilets here too - yayyy! The birdlife here is amazing - heaps of kingfishers, kites, tiny little finches, huge herons, parrots and ducks.
Well, we're just about to have a lovely scotch fillet for dinner with Bundy & coke, so I'll sign off now. Heading towards Carnarvon Gorge tomorrow, but then again, who knows where we'll end up.......
Our last night on Fraser was spent sitting on our 'balcony' overlooking the ocean, sipping vodka & cranberry juice (beer for the boys). We were treated to a spectacular display of whales playing far out on the horizon - got our binoculars out to see at least 3 whales, probably more, slapping the water repeatedly with their tails, and breaching several times. It was wonderful, and a fitting end to our time on the island. No photos available, they were way too far away, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
I woke up at 6.30am this morning to a beautiful sunrise - grabbed my camera and started clicking away. Had to make the most of it, cos it's not that often that I actually see the sunrise! Took farewell photos of our camp on the beach, with a gorgeous golden glow and a rainbow to top it off. Magic!
We're on our way to Hervey Bay today - dropped camp and left around 9.15am then stopped off at The Pinnacles for a couple of shots of the coloured sands. This is a protected area, but some idiot has carved 'Alan 2010' into one of the formations - what a moron!
Arrived at Hervey Bay around 3.00pm to find that there are no places available at any of the caravan parks - finally managed to get a couple of spaces at the Pialba Beachfront Tourist Park. Threw some washing in the machines, had drinks and nibbles at Pete & Dee's van, then headed back to our van. Will be leaving for Bundaberg/Bargara tomorrow.
Headed for Fraser on 15 July, and stopped at Rainbow Beach/Inskip Point to deflate our tyres to get on the barge across to Fraser. Started well, with Trev letting too much air out then having to re-inflate. Finally got going into deep soft sand heading towards the barge - but Trev didn't put the boot in early enough (especially carrying a much heavier Jayco Dove) and guess what? Yes, we got bogged even before we got on the barge!!! Pete took note of the way we went and did a big detour around us - smart move. Trev lowered the tyre pressures a little more and we eventually made it onto the barge.
Then Pete & Dee came around and ..... yes, you guessed it - they got bogged just at the entry to the barge! Whew, Trev would never have lived it down if he'd been the only one to get bogged before we started! Anyway, all aboard eventually and 10 minutes later we were heading up the main highway of Fraser island - soft, soft sand to start with then it firmed up and we were on our way.
Picked a camping spot about halfway up the island at Yurru, near the Cathedrals. Nice spot behind the dunes with a bit of shelter from the wind and an uninterrupted view of the ocean. Finished setting up camp around 4.30pm - and most importantly, our own private WC - see photo left! I was just testing, people - it does now have a complete cover.
Next morning, exploring. We visited Lake Allom and had a picnic on the viewing platform while being viewed by the turtles! Interesting drive, amazing forests, lots of birdlife, different coloured fungi, just beautiful. After that we drove to the Knifeblade Sandblow walked up to the viewing platform, then drove through to Happy Valley for coffee, toilets and checking phones.
Next day, we did the Southern Lakes Drive. On the way we stopped at the wreck of the Maheno and took a few photos. Hardly anyone about (we beat the crowds) so managed to get some lovely shots. Lake Mackenzie was closed, but we visited Lake Birrabeen where we had a picnic on the pristine white sand beach, followed by a swim (well, Trev & I had a swim) in the amazingly clear water. Cool, but refreshing. From there we went to Lake Boomanjin, a totally different lake - black water from the tannins in the foliage - but also quite beautiful in its own way.
I also had my first taste of sand driving - both along the highway on the hard sand, and through one of the little villages - didn't do too badly, if I do say so myself! So, Seb, it's your turn next!
Yesterday we travelled north to Indian Head - much easier to climb up this soft sand without a trailer on our back (which is what we did last time we here - we have learned!). From there we went to Champagne Pools where we had a lovely swim with heaps of fish surrounding us - magic. I wish I'd taken a mask and snorkel with us, it was so pretty. Then it was up to Orchid Beach for refuelling, and Pete & Dee decided to head back while we went on to Ngale Rocks.
We knew we were too close to high tide, so stopped at Ocean Lake for a cooked lunch. We set off around 2.15pm, aiming to get as close as possible to Sandy Cape lighthouse. However, we negotiated two sets of rocks with the tide going out - had to do a 'go-around' at another section. We stopped around the middle of the rocks, then walked through to see how difficult the next section would be - met another couple who were around the other side of these rocks, also waiting for the tide to subside! Had a chat with them, waited about an hour then figured that we were not going to make it in time to Sandy Cape so decided to turn back and head for home.
Trev enjoyed the drive, cos it had everything in it: beach driving on hard sand, soft sand, inland driving on very deep soft sand, clambering over rocks covered by water, and sliding down narrow channels enclosed by scrub - just great! I even took some videos which showed some good 'rear wheel action'!
Got back to camp around 5.30pm, but just before we got there we had a beautiful rainbow over the ocean, with big billowy clouds around, so had to take some more photos of course. How beautiful is this?
Today it's very overcast, so we're just driving down to Happy Valley, might stop at Eli Creek and the Pinnacles on the way back if the weather improves - if not, we'll have a quiet day at camp, start packing up for an early departure tomorrow morning.
Fraser is still beautiful - definitely recommend coming over here for something a bit different. And yes, there are plenty of dingoes about - we saw three on the way up the beach on the first day, and have had plenty of sightings since then - this photo is for Blake and Brayden.
We had a lovely time staying at Carli & David's place nth of Brisbane. On Monday we caught the train into Brisbane and had a look around South Bank, had lunch at a Turkish restaurant, then did a river cruise on the Citycat. On Monday night Carli had invited Yvonne and Rob (the other couple that we met on our European tour) and their neighbours, Lyn & Ian over for dinner. It was great to catch up with them all - we had a lovely meal, a good bottle of wine (or two) and a really great fun night with lovely people. We can certainly recommend Carli's B&B - next morning we had eggs benedict for breakfast before setting off for Noosa to meet up with Peter & Dee.
We arrived at the Noosa Caravan Park around 10.30am and started setting up, with Pete & Dee arriving half an hour later. Again, sites were very small, and we were parked right next to the camp kitchen. Not too bad, except that at around 12.00 midnight a very thoughtful young man decided he had to call home (somewhere in Europe) and decided that he wouldn't disturb anyone where he was located, and instead came up to the camp kitchen to have his phone call, right next to where we were sleeping! I was not impressed, and at around 12.15 I called out and reminded him (very nicely, honestly!) that people were trying to sleep and could he please keep the noise down. No response, and no change in volume. After another gentle reminder about 15 mins later, there was still no change - so at 12.45 Trev went out and spoke to him. Apparently, he was making the phone call with earphones in, so had no idea how loud he was being, and that we had called out to him earlier. He left immediately, and finally we were able to get to sleep.
Today Dee & I decided to go to Eumundi Markets and leave the boys back at camp to fiddle around with cars. We had a lovely day shopping - fantastic markets, lots of different stuff, and no boys around to hurry us up - great! Our lunch was interesting - we had 'slinkies' which were spiral potatoes deep-fried and served on sticks (delicious) and some really lovely salt & pepper calamari. Bought a few interesting things then headed back to the caravan park.
Then we headed into Noosaville/Noosa and wandered around the Rivers store, then Hastings Street and ended up having cocktails and dinner at Jacks on Hastings. Food was lovely, as were the cocktails. Back to the cara park to get ready for Fraser Island tomorrow.
So, we've just had to sit around eating and drinking - it's been tough, so far. We had a lovely roast dinner (lamb & beef) a couple of nights ago, then a tasty red chicken curry with thai stirfry vegetables & rice last night. I think it's a bbq tonight and a chicken & champagne lunch tomorrow for Melbourne Cup day. We'll probably have a sweep or two to make it interesting.
