It seemed appropriate after visiting my Aunt Christine in Murwillumbah that we should also visit my cousin Marcel (Christine’s eldest son), who lives about an hour north of her, in the Gold Coast region of SE Queensland. So, as do so many Grey Nomads on their northern migration, over the border we went…
Just like ‘Cousin Eddie’ with his RV in National Lampoon’s movie ‘Christmas Vacation’, we (WTF? - Where Are The Farrows?) parked the caravan on Clark Griswold’s (aka Marcel’s), front yard, plugged the van’s extension cord into a power outlet from the house and set-up camp for a few days of free-loading. I wonder what the neighbours thought was going on?
During the day we did some sight seeing in and around the region. We visited Surfer’s Paradise (the high-rise strip right on the coast), and a few other beaches along the coast on day one.
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| Heather at the 'Surfers Paradise' sign the Gold Coast |
The next day we ventured up into the ‘hinterland’ (that’s what Queenslanders call the hills situated a few km (in this case ~ 20km) back from the coastline, and had a very nice day at Mt. Tambourine. There are many walking and hiking trails to be done up there and plenty of eateries to choose from once you have worked up an appetite.
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| There are hiking trails and waterfalls aplenty at Mt. Tambourine in the Gold Coast hinterland |
In the evenings, after Marcel got home from work we had a good time catching up on the things going on in each others’ lives. We really appreciated being allowed to use his home as a base for a few days - Thanks for the hospitality Marcel!
Hitting the road once again, we meandered firstly north and west and then once we were north of metropolitan Brisbane and then the Sunshine Coast, continued north and east which took us back to the coast.
The twin villages/towns of Agnes Water and Town of 1770 is where we settled for a few relaxing days at the very laid-back Workman’s Beach Campground. The hot and humid days provided plenty of motivation for us to enjoy the lovely clear warm waters with gentle swells several times each day. The fact that we pretty much had the beach to ourselves every time we went there was a real treat!
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| Coconut palms were never far away at 'our' beach at Agnes Water |
Before I go too much further, I think I heard you wondering a few lines back, “Why is it called ‘Town of 1770’? - That is an unusual name for a town!”. Well I am glad you asked. You see, previously named Round Hill, the town’s name was changed to Seventeen Seventy to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lieutenant James Cook anchoring his ship, HMS Endeavour, on 24 May 1770, and going ashore here in what was his first landing on what is now known as Queensland (and second in Australia). Now you know!
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| Captain Grant and his ship HMS Endeavour anchored near 1770 |
While there is not often ’too much of a good thing’, that was almost the case at Agnes Water/Town of 1770, so rather than become ‘spoiled’ we reluctantly moved on. Still warmer and more humid for this time of year than long term averages said it should be, we decided that if we were to continue northwards we would stick to the coast as it was still stupidly hot and dusty inland. Now almost April, summer had to end soon and be replaced by autumn and it’s cooler days and comfortable overnight temperatures…
We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn at the regional hub of Rockhampton (pop ~ 80,000) where we restocked before driving 40km further on to the not so tiny beachside town of Yeppoon (pop ~ 18,000).
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| The Tropic of Capricorn is the southernmost point that the sun appears directly overhead at the December solstice |
While in the Yeppoon region (the coast has many near shore islands which make for nice scenery) we came across a roadside stand that was selling what their sign said were ‘Sweet Ready to Eat’ pineapples for just $1 each. We bought a couple and they were delicious - we went back for more a couple of days later!
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| Beautiful sweet pineapples for just $1 each! |
Like fishermen, Metal Detectors never reveal the exact location of their hunting grounds for fear others will move in and clean it out before they themselves are able to do so. For this reason I shall remain vague and simply state that it was in the Capricorn Coast 'region' that Heather had a great day of metal detecting! A Florin, several Three Penny coins and a Kangaroo Penny. Despite a very heavy downpour, she was on a roll and just would NOT stop until she was satisfied she had found all that there was to find there. She came in from the rain looking like a drowned rat but with the biggest smile on her face so it was well worthwhile!
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| Looking like a Drowned Rat but Smiling like a Cheshire Cat after a great day of detecting near Yeppoon! |
With the rain that couldn’t dampen Heather’s spirits also came a change in the wind direction that lifted my spirits as I was well and truly ready for some cooler weather. I took this to be a sign of the changing of the seasons and as such, when we left Yeppoon rather than continue northwards we turned inland and travelled to the west and south. As soon as we were on the western side of the coastal ranges we (especially me) were immediately enjoying clear skied sunny days and cooler, humidity free nights. Overnight the temperature was now dropping to between 16 and 18C and without much humidity. This was the first time in about three months that we had experienced overnight temperatures below 20C! It is amazing how well you sleep when the nights are cool!
We camped our way west and south towards the town of Surat, where we had arranged to meet up with a couple of friends we had met at our Christmas campground near Portland, in Victoria. We shared a couple of meals, enjoyed with some 3 Ingredient Camp Oven Beer Bread. No yeast, no kneading and leavening and waiting for the dough to rise a second time - just mix the 3 magic ingredients together and put it into the oven! It tasted as good as it looks! (see pic below).
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| Camp Oven Beer Bread |
For those interested in trying to make this bread (next time you go camping or at home), just click on the link below that takes you to a video on YouTube that we made that provides a quick step-by-step description as to ‘How To’ do it yourself.
That about wraps up the 'Queensland - Waiting for the Seasons to Change' portion of WTF? - Where are The Farrows's? journey. The map below shows our route and summarises when, where and how far statistics covered in this blog.
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| North from the border to the Tropic of Capricorn then a turn to the west and a return to bush camping |
In the next phase of our journey, WTF? - Where are The Farrows? heads further inland and out west where they commence a pub crawl that will see them taking the back roads across thousands of kilometres of outback Queensland. We are accompanied by plenty of dust, persistent flies and first-hand experience of both wet and 'dry flooding'. WTF is dry flooding? - stay tuned to find out!
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