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Our journey down the East Coast continued until Bundaberg, which is a little town most famous for the Bundaberg brand of Rum. The main reason for visiting this area was the Mon Repos turtle conservation park, where the female Loggerhead, Green and Flatback turtles make their way up the beach at night to their nesting grounds to lay their eggs. After about an hour it was our turn to head down to the beach via the Northern Boardwalk and down to the nesting grounds. The stars on the beach were so clear and the area was pitch blank apart from some light pollution from a neighbouring township. The group of around 35 had to wait until the turtle had begun to dig the egg chamber before we could approach and view the turtle for the first time (there are tight 'viewing guidelines' to protect the turtle and ensure that we do not disturb the turtles during this time). We all stood behind the turtle as it dug is egg chamberand all marvelled at how close we were to this amazing event- around 2 metres. Once the chamber was dug it began to lay- all 115 eggs, but unfortunately for her they were below the high tide mark. After she had painstakingly patted down the area she began to turn around and move back to the water- a process which the titanic could have done quicker. Amazingly for us we got to assist in the conservation and relocate the eggs to a new site that the rangers had prepared. We all followed the turtle back to the water where she began her trip back to her feeding grounds down the coast. It was a truly awesome experience and amazing to get so close to these animals.
The next section of the Coast then took us to Hervey Bay which is a small town set mainly along the sea front with the usual mix of eateries and tourist souvenir shops. We did manage to find a nice campsite in the centre of town on the beachfront- which funnily enough was run by an English woman and her Irish husband. We joked how it didn't seem like Christmas with 35 degree heat and she agreed- she still isn't used to it after 20+ years. From here we made the day trip by barge to Frazer Island which is the largest sand island in the world and home to a myriad of plant and animal life. It was pretty hard going on the sand tracks around the island and we were glad we didn't decide to tackle the island independently. On the day trip we stopped off at the old logging station- the old hub of the island; sped along 75 mile beach (yes- a beach is really the main road on the island) dodging the tide as it swept along the beach as well as visiting the wreck of the Maheno and the coloured sands at Pinnacle Rocks. Later in the afternoon we visited Lake Mackenzie, which is a pristine lake with the whitest of sands surrounding the crystal clear light/ dark blue water. It was just like being at the best beach in the world apart from the water wasn't salty- it was amazing.
After the hectic day tearing around the sand on Frazer Island we swapped it for a more relaxed day the next day on the beach at Noosa Heads where we sunbathed and had a whale of a time on our new body board. Although the town had a very upmarket feel with trendy wine bars and shops we found a really reasonable bar for a lunchtime burger overlooking the central roundabout and then hit the beach in the afternoon to hone our skills on the body board.
Our next major stop down the coast was slightly inland at Glass House Mountains village which is home to nine pinnacles/ rock formations and also the close by Australia Zoo- home of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Urwin. We had an early start to try to be first into the Zoo- which we failed miserably, but were in the park by 10.00. We entered just in time to see the famous Crocodile Shows at the Crocoseum where the Head Keeper Stevie showed off the skills of one of the fastest Crocodiles in the park. The show was really good fun and also showcased flying parrots and also a whole host of other reptiles and also elephants. We then ventured into the park proper seeing the crocodiles that have made the Zoo so famous, Koalas, red pandas, exotic birds, the most venomous snakes in the world and also dingoes amongst other animals. One of the highlights had to be the tiger show which showed off the power of these animals with the keepers even getting in the pool with them and play fighting- glad I was on the other side of the glass though.
After a day at the Zoo we heard that there was a chance of a storm, but we continued with our plan to drive to the view point of the pinnacles range to view the whole area. The view was amazing over the islands seemingly appearing from the valley bottom and it was made even more impressive by the electrical storm that we viewed in the distance. After half an hour trying to take the perfect shot of the lightening we finally admitted defeat and headed further South to Brisbane.
Having only a few major cities down the East Coast we were excited to visit Brisbane and it had a really nice feel with a great pedestrianised centre with plenty of shops and restaurants. Everything also seemed really compact. From the central shopping street of Queen Street we walked down to the river and crossed over to the Southbank area of the city. Not only similar in name to the area in London but looking at the river you could easily mistake it with the Thames with its version of the big wheel and bridge crossing the river which is not too dissimilar from the Millennium bridge. On the Southbank we wandered around the weekly craft market and saw some great pictures of areas of the coast that we had visited on our trip to date. We then returned to Queen Street for a bit of retail therapy and lunch in Wagamama-such was the hunger for Eastern cuisine again. That was then topped off with some Christmas coffees and muffins from Starbucks- to try and kid our bodies that it is nearly Christmas even though it is not snowing outside. Lol!
The next day we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway to a water park called 'Wet and Wild'- who'd have thought that water and some slides could bring so much fun. We had a great day and went on everything from the lazy river and super 8 racers to the drop of death and tornado water shutes. We found ourselves being really competitive with strangers that we raced on some of the 'racing' slides and I'm sure that we won more than we lost J
After milking the entry ticket for all it was worth we left the park at around 5.15 and made the short trip further down the Gold Coast to Surfers Paradise. We arrived in the evening and drove in through the maze of 60 floor buildings with all the glitzy neon lights flashing above us. The city itself was slightly too built up and oppressive for us but there was something about seeing the beach lined with dozens of high rise buildings that seems slightly surreal. The beach was amazing through and had the biggest surf that we have seen on the trip to date. The body board got a real work out, but the current was so strong that we were only half way out to where the big waves were breaking.
We were thoroughly exhausted after about two hours and packed up to drive to Lammington National Park which is on the border with New South Wales. We had booked a permit to stay at the National Park campsite at Green Mountains. After a stunning drive up through the forest and mountains we reached the campsite just before dark. We shortly got chatting to an Australian bloke who was nearing the end of a two month trip and lived in a place along the coast that we had decided to give a miss- that was an interesting conversation. Later that evening we sat down and chatted for a few hours and shared a couple of bottles of wine and had a really good time and our new found friend actually used ' fair dinkum' on a regular basis. As you can imagine we were in bits! After getting out of the hustle and bustle of Surfer Paradise and the Gold Coast, we both enjoyed the slower pace of life in the National Park and really began to relax.
In the morning we rose at around 8.00 and before Claire had even climbed out of the car our new best friend David was there with breakfast- vegemite on oatcake, which he had been preaching about the previous evening. This may have been the moment that I turned my back on marmite and become a vegemite fan for life ;) After breakfast we showered in and out of the pouring rain and then headed for a walk at the nearby nature centre, which we cancelled after about 10 minutes as we were so wet and headed for the nearby coffee shop- Claire shared her pot of cream reluctantly with a Crimson Rosella (bright blue and red parrot like bird)- actually she had no choice in the matter . A quick change of clothes later and we left for Natural Bridge which is a giant hole in rocks where water falls through into a cave creating a lovely water feature in the nearby Springbrook National Park. The waterfall was lovely apart from two men who decided to swim naked into the falls which was altogether disturbing.
When we returned to the car though we found that some 'no hopers' had broken in and stolen money, cards etc etc etc. This kind of ruined the next few days, which was taken up by calling banks, insurance company, car rental, chasing replacement glass for the van and the like as well as dealing with the Australian Police which is not easy and particularly frustrating- especially when they tell you to just 'crash at the beach' to sleep and eat at the local church with the homeless in the morning. We are back on track with things now though, with much help from people and we are just putting all that rubbish behind us now and not letting it affect the rest of the trip.
Next we set off for Byron Bay and enjoyed an afternoon soaking up the relaxed pace of life in the beachfront town and looking around the craft/ hippie style shops. Just before dusk we headed up to the lighthouse which dominates the headland of Cape Byron and walked to the most Easterly point on the Australian Mainland and took some wonderful photographs at the 360 degree panorama.
This morning we set off from Byron Bay and made up for some of the lost time by heading straight down to Coffs Harbour. The main attraction in town is the marina and coastline with the Great Dividing Range appearing from behind the town and running almost to the waterline. We also walked out to the end of the marina and walked up onto Muttonbird Nature Reserve where birds of the same name nest and breed away from the main population of the town. The views from the end of the rugged coast were amazing and you really get a feel for how close the Great Dividing Range is in the background.
Can't believe it is nearly Christmas with only 6 days left to go. We have checked on the weather channel and I'm afraid that there is no chance of it being a white Christmas in Sydney this year. Hope everyone at home is enjoying the festive season and looking forward to seeing everyone early in the New Year.
Lots of love David and Claire x x x
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