Sunshine Coast Hinterland of Queensland to Brisbane

Maleny Cows

Wednesday 20th October: Packed up and headed for Brisbane via Malaney and Nambour.  A great drive, especially across the hinterland.  Loved Maleny very cute town.  Caught up with the Headstock's and their pooches at Nambour great lunch but peeling boiled eggs was a task - sorry Janet!!

View of Mountains Across Pineapple Fields

Onto Brisbane past the spectacular Glass House Mountains to visit with friends Will and Amanda in their great spot on the Brisbane River.  Had Indian for dinner our first meal out  for some time - Yum :) !
Played tourists and spent a day exploring Brisbane with Amanda - I'd forgotten what a pretty city it is especially on a good day from the City Cat (Will's work place)....

Brisbane City from the river

Another day of fine food, great company and good music - when are you going to do something with that Will??
Sorry to those we were planning to catch up with on the Gold Coast - unfortunately a couple of medical appointments sent us having to high tail it to Coffs Harbour.

Next Stop Conondale NP

Wash day

Ancient rain forest, cascading waterfalls, crystal clear creeks, tall open forest, expansive views and a wonderful variety of wildlife including more than 120 species of birds and many mammals. We were fortunate to observe a mother yellow-bellied glider with her baby one evening when spotlighting.  We had planned on staying at the Booloumba Creek but the access was closed due to flooding - we were fortunate that the Charlie Morefiled campground had just been reopened - a beautiful spot!  Rob got swooped by a cheeky Kookaburra who made off with half of his wrap and almost a few fingers but he survived... 

Day 1: we caught up on washing and just hung out reading up on the walks and the area.  Rob rigged up a shower which was really nice for the first minute or so with the water in the hose that had been heated in the sun but after that you just had to grit your teeth!

Rob's Bush Shower

Mt Allan Fire Tower

Day 2: Some areas of the park were closed but we decided to walk over to Booloumba Creek  and see if we could walk to the Mount Allan fire tower (Part of the Great Walk).  The effect of the floods was obvious - some places 3 metres plus above normal river height, new footbridge just demolished, roads washed out. The views from the top of the tower were spectacular - the day's walk would have been around 28km - tough  going but well worth it!  Camp oven to die for, then bed.

Day 3: Anne woke and could hardly move - over done it maybe?? A lazy day exploring around the camp. Although we had to walk in to the Rangers Station to make some phone calls (as Rob forgot to take phone numbers with us the day before where we would have had reception from the fire tower).  So off we set (5km each way) but when we got there discovered the phone number was wrong anyway.  Needless to say Rob was in the bad books but made up for it by giving Anne a good "deep tissue" massage.  Great park some pics below of the area taken on our hikes....



Skipping stones at Booloumba Creek



360° views from fire tower



Looking for gold in Yabbie creek

Mary River

13th -15th October Heron Island

A perfect couple of days on Heron with Jen, perfect weather, prolific wildlife, sandy beaches and Long Island Teas - what more could you ask for?  We stayed at the research station with Jen for a few nights and made the most of the perfect weather snorkeling for hours with the turtles, rays and reefies.
Enjoyed an evening at the resort bar (one too many Long Island Teas - how good are they:))!  Thanks for the solar panel Russ we're fitted out now so that we can stay longer in remote areas.... 

 Hope you enjoy the pics from Heron - A very scenic and relaxing stay!!  At one point we counted 14 sharks (reefies and lemon sharks) in shark bay..... 

 

 

7th October - 13th October ONE TREE ISLAND

Turtle Love 

One Tree Island: I think I've found paradise - what a beautiful little Island - Thanks Russ and Jen for sharing your island home with us!

One Tree is a National Park 96 km from Gladstone.  It is part of the Great Barrier Reef chain of islands, and is zoned for scientific research. The Research Station is operated by Sydney University and was established in 1976 it accommodates up to 20 visiting scientists.  Jen and Russ have been here for five years and manage the day to day operations.  Solar panels backed up by a 240V diesel generator provide electricity and the only freshwater supply for the island is rainwater.

Managers Shower 

The accommodation is very cute with the best views from your loo I've ever seen (Rob spotted a whale on his first visit). Some of the floors are coral rubble - a bit hard to walk on but quite spectacular.  The canvas bag bush showers were fun - and certainly put you in touch with nature. Certainly takes away the effort of scrubbing tiles :))  The birds are plentiful and are certainly not shy of human contact with a variety of terns, Silvereyes, Brown Boobies, Rails and a pair of magnificent Sea Eagles.

Sooty Tern

The snorkeling was amazing with plenty of green turtles, beautiful corals and an abundance of reef fish. The shovelnose rays were pretty amazing to observe.  Below are some pics and video  taken in the waters around One Tree.....

Above: Coral-banded Butterfly fish         Above: Eastern shovelnose ray  

Thanks to Jen and Ben for some pics - This shot of the corals is pretty amazing.
 

Above: Underwater Garden

Above: Black tip reef shark....

A LITTLE CONFESSION

Vinegar is an important item to have in the pantry particularly in North Queensland with those rotten stingers - don't you think? I mean there are more uses for vinegar, than say all Rob's snatch straps and all those other man things he has shoved in the back taking up precious space wouldn't you agree?

And I can explain why I need to have so many different sorts, I'm sure you will see that there is absolutely nothing wrong with carting around 6 bottles of vinegar :))

1. White Wine Vinegar: This product is perfect for today’s lighter cooking style -- replace heavy cream or butter with a splash of White Wine Vinegar to balance flavors without adding fat.
2. Balsamic Vinegar: A must for the concerning Chef - mainly used in salad dressings, sauces and gravies  
3. Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar: Because it's just yummy and I'm an addict - OK
4. White Vinegar: For all those stingers that might get us and Ohh yeah its a good cleaner and disinfectant.... OK
5. Rice Vinegar: For all those Asian dishes add to a quick stir-fry dish with ginger and of course sushi rolls
6. Malt Vinegar: Everyone knows its the one you have to have for your fish and chips - I wonder can I pickle prickly pear fruit with it?

So to all you that scoff at my taking up room in the pantry with vinegar - I'm sure I have convinced you that it's perfectly logical to cart 6 bottles of vinegars around Australia with you :))

28th September - 4th October Byfield NP

Happy 30th Birthday Nick!!

Weir at Water P Creek

Left Blackdown NP today a bit reluctantly but need to restock and we have also decided we need to do something with our mattress so after restocking in Rockhampton and the purchase of an egg shell mattress we set off for Byfield NP - Guess what?  It's raining!  We arrived at Water Park Creek in the State Forest section of Byfield and decided to camp there as we were loosing light and the rest of the track while only 18km to go was heavy 4wd and we had been warned that it would take us an hour or more to get there for Water Park Creek.  Lots of Mosquitoes...... pretty area but all pine plantation - a pretty boring monoculture.

Woke to sunshine and a beautiful nights sleep just that little bit extra has made our little penthouse so much more comfortable.  Set off for Five Rocks campground (Byfield NP) via a pretty ordinary access track, Rob's first heavy sand-driving for a few years and he did good!

The drive in was stunning, just look at the centre of this flower on the right.  We were both pretty excited about seeing the coast again!   Byfield NP covers about 15,000ha.  Massive parabolic dunes, the oldest reaching 5-6km inland in the south while in the north, the rugged pinnacles of The Peaks and Mt Atherton dominate the landscape.  The park conserves  large areas of coastal Heath and Taller eucalypt woodlands flourish in sheltered areas and rainforests thrive where there is abundant water.

We arrived at our Campground - wow this is Paradise!! Five Rocks Campground is set in coastal woodland and is in Byfield Conservation Park which also incorporates the tiny Township of Stockyard Point (population 10) the headland has stunning views out over the coastline. From our campsite we accessed the beach via a steep stepped track via beautiful wetlands and a lovely waterfall that we used on the return journey to wash off the salt.  

Above: Thong Ave Stockyard Point

One of the two streets

 


Above: Five Rocks Campground



Above: Five Rocks Beach



Above: Five Rocks Beach again...



 



The water is beautiful here and so is the wildlife everything from turtles mating colourful birds etc but the highlight of the trip was watching the 30 or so Humpbacks travelling south with there calves - lots of tail slapping and breaching but how do I explain what it is like to see this?

The pics below are a taste of Byfield - we will definitely be back.......

Cold but most welcome...