Archive for November, 2007

It’s been a whole week since I last updated.  It has been a busy week so not a lot of time to keep up.  The days have become a bit mixed up too and I can’t remember what we did on any particular day so I’ll give you a week’s run down.

Our second day here, someone decided that they liked our little 12V esky and helped themselves to it while we slept.  They must have seen it during the day because it was pretty well covered up at night and under the table.  On Saturday we went to Eumundi market and had a downpour to end all downpours but it cleared up and we had a good market.  On Sunday it was back to Caloundra where again we were prepared for the rain and sure enough down it came.  It seeems to be a pattern that there is a downpour early in the morning and then it becomes fine.

We went for a drive to Maleny up in the mountains, a nice little town full of art and craft shops and then continued on to the Glass House Mountains. This was my favourite peak and I was clicking away with the camera as we were driving along.  We found a great little spot to get some really good photographs and also picked up a good few mozzie bites. Here is Motley1 clicking away.  We stopped at Mary Cairncross Reserve, a natural rainforest and I believe the only part that still exists in this area.  This is a really beautiful area which I much prefer to the coast.  There are the most incredible trees and root systems and we spent a few hours here. This was one of the many lookouts along the drive to the mountains.

We met a guy who was cycling around the east coast with the bike laden with his camping gear.  He was from Minnesota and was checking the area out for a return visit with his wife and family.  He stayed and had coffee and a long chat about everything Australian.

We also went for a day to the Gold Coast to visit family.  A long drive which should have taken 2 hours but 25kms outside of Brisbane the traffic was backed up all the way to the Gateway toll.  Still, we had a nice visit and went out for lunch.  It was nice to catch up.

Yesterday we went to Eumundi market and have a fairly good day there.  Afterwards we took the advice of our neighbours in the caravan park and went for a drive to Montville.

What a beautiful little place.!  Right on top of the mountain with spectacular views.

Janet, we took another wrong turn check here and see where we ended up this time

Here are a few pictures from around the town.  1:  2:  3:  4:  5:  6:  7:

We sat at the end of the jetty here in Mooloolaba the other night and watched the dolphins play and the turtles feed and that was beautiful, here is a beautiful shot of the moon over the water which is now my desktop wallpaper.

Do you remember about the stolen esky ?  Well got up yesterday morning, made the coffee and went to sit outside to drink it and discovered that this time someone had taken our chair.  One had already broken so we are reduced to sitting on a little fishing stool in turns .

Well we are off again this morning, so better go and get packed up.  Will post again as soon as we are able.

Well it’s been a long time since the last entry so there is a lot to catch up with but don’t worry I’ll keep it short

It’s fairly nice here in Coolangatta. The park is nice even though it is at the end of the runway and we get a good view of the planes. On Sunday the 11th November, we went to the Coolangatta Market. The downpour we had was unbelievable.

All the kids came to the market along with Michael and Chantelle, Jason & Monique and Dylan were on the next stall. On Monday we were able to dry things out a bit but the weather remained very cool. We had a drive around the Gold Coast area over the next few days. I’m afraid it’s just “not my cup of tea”. Definately not somewhere I would like to settle..way too busy. by far! The weather forecast remains bad with lots more rain predicted so we decided on Thursday morning to head out of the Gold Coast and go further north.

We found a caravan park which is not on the coast but not too far away. It is very peaceful and quiet and the layout was quite unusual. Every caravan site had it’s own bitumen road on which you parked like a drive through with a large grassed area beside each van. We settled here for a few days and were quickly joined by some of the local wildlife including bush turkeys, tree mice and the usual array of birds.

On Friday we drove to Buderim which is a lovely little town in the mountains with great views of the coastline and this amazing tree. What do you think that is living in there?

On Saturday we went to the Eumundi Market which is reputed to be the biggest and best market in Australia. In fact they are called the “World Famous Eumundi Markets” with in excess of 650 stalls. How many of you have heard of them? We certainly hadn’t before we were further up the coast.

As has become the norm we had a huge downpour of rain during the morning but it was still a good market with coaches and buses arriving all morning from Brisbane, the Gold Coast and surrounding areas. On Sunday we did the Caloundra market which we preferred to Eumundi. This is a street market with lots of buskers around giving it a really good atmosphere plus NO RAIN !!!!! We got back to the park hot and sticky so enjoyed a spa and swim in the heated pool. It’s a hard life but somebody has to do it

Monday we spent all day working and worked on and off till around 11.30pm. Still getting plenty of rain but so far only at night. Tuesday we went for a drive to the coast and a look around. It was a very hot day so the seabreeze was great.

Wednesday morning up early again and off to Eumundi for the midweek market. A very hot day today although it rained this morning early. Not such a good market on a Wednesday although we got some incredibly cheap fruit and veg and met some really nice people. This evening we watched an outdoor movie sitting on a blanket on the grass, in the caravan park. A thoroughly enjoyable experience!

Thursday morning the rain started again. It knew we were packing up today. However, by 9.00am it was dry and warm so we were able to pack everything dry and head off to our next stop which is here. It’s late now..here is the last look out the caravan window before we turn in for the night.

Next instalment won’t be quite as long appearing I hope.

We left Soldiers Point and headed up the coast for Forster/Tuncurry.  It rained most of the way.  It rained and rained and rained although in the brief times it wasn’t raining the weather was warm.  The park was built around a pirate theme for the kids and I’m sure families would love it..  We visited with friends and had dinner there but decided that the weather was just too bad and that we would carry on up the coast to Coffs Harbour.  Unfortunately, the rain just never let up and we drove through some pretty heavy downpours.  The weather forecast was for more of the same for a week so we thought it was probably a waste of time staying in Coffs.  We drove on to Ballina and spent the night there but in a drive thru site as we thought we would outrun the rain and head for sunny Queensland.  You know the place, “sunny one day perfect the next“.  It isn’t you know

Still raining and also much cooler than it was further down the coast.

We met up with Natasha, who was visiting her younger sister and saw her off at the airport for her trip back to Sydney and yesterday we got visitors here at the park.

Some pictures to follow…….

We left Sydney on Friday morning and headed north.  A bit dubious about this character who appeared at the Sydney park the night before we left.  We have spent our time here in this park at Soldiers Point.  It is not too far from Nelsons Bay.  Saturday, we went to the market at Anna Bay and had a drive around the area where Ben played with his new toy.  We now have a video camera on permanent loan.  We sat outside the van until late.  It was a beautiful temperature and then remembered we had an early start for Nelsons Bay market this morning.  This is the sight that met us this morning complete with thunder and lightning.  The market of course was cancelled.  By 10.00am it was beautiful with blue skies and very warm.  We went for a drive to Nelson’s Bay anyway and had a walk along the seashore, paddling and sat by the marina for a while.  Of course, we had to take this picture , it’s mandatory

We headed into Newcastle to see David about the car which has developed a shudder in the steering wheel whenever you brake.  Later we went for a drive around Newcastle and took these pictures, 1 :  2:  3 .

We got back to the park around 5.30 and Ben went to cool off in the pool before tea.

Heading off in the morning.

Will post soon and let you know where we end up.