Lost 3 hours in time zone flying back to Aus, body is really confused, thinks it is John Wayne ( normally thinks it is Wayne Sleep)
Picked up the new hire wagon and took to the scenic highways in the hills up from the Sunshine Coast. It is very nice up there. We visited old Petrie, a real dish of a town. It seems to be set up like a living museum. We watched the steam enthusiasts trying to bring an old steam traction engine up a track from the lower field to their workshops. First they got a steam traction engine and tried to tow it. No joy! the traction engine could get no traction - only wheel spin. Next they brought the steam road roller and coupled it to the traction engine and tried to tow again, still no good. Then they drove the 2 engines up to the top, wedged their wheels to stop them slipping and put a cable on to the steam driven winch on the traction engine. I had to leave them, I will never know if they succeeded, being gritty Aussies, I imagine they did. We then drove onto Dayboro and had a clotted cream tea in the sunshine, leaf Earl Grey, strainer and all, scones cream and jam, yum.
Linda then took on the map reading duties to take us up and along 1500 foot ridge to Mount Mee and down Aguiller to Caboolture. We started well along some lovely switchback roads wit nice drops over into the valley, the roads got smaller and smaller.....and then we went off road onto gravel tracks (don't tell Budget Rentals), the track got smaller still until we ended up at a dead end in the forest. Linda suggested, I asked the way at a house up in the trees, I opened the car door and the sound of banjo could be heard from the porch....... I did a quick uuie and back we went.
I continued my track record and we found a motel that is a converted timber chapel. Got free beer and wine when we checked in. We asked the owner for a recommendation for dinner, he suggested the Blue Anchorage on Birbie Island We drove over in the evening ands had a stunning meal, herb crusted snapper and crayfish on a bed of mash and bokchoi with a pepper chowder sauce, the parakeets were deafening in the trees around us, the sun was going down over the mountains, glorious reds, golds and turquoise turning the sea purple - wow. I dunno if the piccie does it justice.
Another little quiz item - how many modes of transport have Lin and I used so far? Guess and name them.
Now in Hervey Bay. It is a delightful little coastal town with sandy beaches, pine tree lined at the beach edge, followed by a cycle/walking path that threads its way along the coastline. Lots of benches, picnic areas with coin operated barbies, fitness stations ( for those so inclined) and backed with bars restaurants, motels etc.We rose early to visit Fraser Island on a guided tour. Cruised over on a Tank Landing Craft, they call a barge. Fraser is a World Heritage site, the biggest sand island in the world, 165k by 18km, 500m deep, it has rain forest, temperate forest, deserts of dunes that are overpowering 60m high trees. This cycle of dunes overpowering forest, in turn being colonised by forest again has been going on for millennia. It has resulted in strata of peat like layers called coffee rock because it crumbles like grounds when handled. This forms waterproof layers that retain all the water that falls on the island so that you get a 500m deep aquifer that supplies springs and streams all over the island. There are no roads, so only 4WD can cope on the tracks. We drove over to the far side of the island where there is a wide sandy beach that is used as a highway, an airstrip and also as a beach all at the same time. We took a flight from the beach in a single engined aircraft for a tour of the surrounding sea and the rest of the island. The 4WD continued up the beach and we landed further up the beach to re-join it, landing over the top of the cars and taxiing through streams - cool, Linda was very brave. She took a fancy to our pilot, he said people thought he looked like Prince Harry, but our driver said everyone calls him "princess" 
We had a nice lunch and then went inland to a freshwater lake for swimming. The water is all sand filtered, very clear and with a ph around 4, so no life in it to speak of, very clear and very cleansing on the skin and hair.
There is plenty of wildlife, we saw dolphins, goannas, dingoes and tiger sharks, plus loads of birds and flies. It was very full day from 7.00am to 5.00pm that went like lightning. The dingoes apparently steal any leather gear if you leave on the lake beach while swimming. 
No comments:
Post a Comment