Day 43 – Wednesday 17 July – Hervey Bay
A new chapter. A new town - Hervey Bay. A new day, after a chilly night. The day started without a cloud in the sky. There was no rush to do anything. So we didn't.
Our first activity was to visit the Wednesday market. It was such a low key event that we kept walking and headed straight ahead onto the Urangan Pier. There were plenty of birds to give the camera a workout.
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| Australian Darter |
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| Two Pelicans |
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| Whiskered tern |
It was time for a coffee, then a relax, then lunch.
Although it was to be a quiet day, we needed to visit (in order) Bunnings, Dan Murphy's, Coles and the windscreen replacement business.
Back at camp I took a photo of a kennel and a dog - in our 'dog friendly' caravan park. However, a closer look shows that the kennel is a cardboard box, and the dog is plastic. The 'pretend' dog even has a water bowl. It's an interesting world.
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| A dog that is not a dog |
I decided to move the caravan about three metres south as I had messed up yesterday. I blamed tiredness. Maybe it was laziness. Who cares, the caravan was on the wrong part of our site. So it was moved. Shirley agreed. We were both happy that it was moved. We now had more sun to sit in.
I shelled and cleaned our prawns and Shirley turned them into an excellent dinner.
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| Raw prawns about to be cooked |
Day 44 – Thursday 18 July – Hervey Bay
The washing was on the line before 8 am and I was getting a new windscreen at 8:30 am. Shirley slept on. Seventy minutes later I was headed back to camp with a new windscreen. Shirley was up.
The rest of the morning was just that - rest.
After lunch we went for a 5 km beach walk, heading north-west and west from Urangan pier to Shelly Beach. It was around 18 degrees with a cool easterly breeze.
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| Shelly Beach looking West |
Around 5:30 pm Ray, Gill, Shirley and I headed off to the 'Bayswater Bar & Grill' for dinner - on foot. It was effectively a goodbye dinner, and was 'steak night'. Ray had steak, Shirley had barramundi, Gill had chook and I had a 'Supreme Pizza' - and it was. The food was excellent.
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| Supreme Pizza at the Bayswater Bar & Grill |
Day 45 – Friday 19 July – Hervey Bay
We said goodbye to Ray & Gill after nearly five weeks (mostly) together. We have had a lot of laughs. They are headed towards home - we are not.
Cooked breakfast. Exercises. Coffee. The day was underway, which did not mean much - as we did not do much. Maybe a couple of jobs.
We had two walks, one along the beach and one to the Urangan Pier to get a sunset photo. Maybe a total of 4 km.
The Australian Darter was on the same pole on the pier.
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| Sunset photo from Urangan Pier |
Dinner was a relaxed affair.
Day 46 – Saturday 20 July – Hervey Bay
It was chilly over night, but the day started with a heavy dew, full sun and no clouds. By 9 am it was 15 degrees. It was time to walk 500 metres to the 'Urangan Pier' market. We bought some fruit and veggies.
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| Urangan Pier Market |
After a coffee we drove to the Torquay Market. After a stroll around Shirley suggested that I listen to some live music while she 'looked around'. Some time later she appeared with a bag with some clothes.
We admired a local mosaic.
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| Torquay Mosaic |
Back at camp I gave the car a freshen up and removed some of the salt air off the duco. A vacuum inside also removed some of the local sand and grass.
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| Fleeing Crab |
After lunch we had a beach walk. It was our best day, weather wise, since arriving in Hervey Bay. We watched a small crab trying to hide. He gave up. We walked away.
We moved inside as the sun was setting and it got cooler.
Day 47 – Sunday 21 July – Hervey Bay
Another slowish start to the day. Shirley found another market, this time the Sunday Nikenbah Markets - so off we went. It was the biggest market of the trip to date.
It was too early for 'German Sausage' so on we pressed. However, Darryl's Donut's won us over.
As soon as we had finished our donuts Shirley spotted the same lady who sold her some clothes yesterday. Funny about that.............
She was situated next to the "Legalise Cannabis" party stall. On her other side she had the man with a zillion different spices. Talk about conflicting smells, german sausages, donuts, spices and cannabis!
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| Left - Clothes Right - Cannabis |
Home we went. Home is where we stayed, as it was too breezy for a beach walk.
I caught up with computer stuff. Shirley caught up with knitting commitments.
Dinner was hamburgers, some veggies that needed to be cooked and (last minute) home made BBQ flat bread. It was pretty good.
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| Burger, seven veggies and flat bread |
Day 48 – Monday 22 July – Hervey Bay
Today provided the best weather for our stay so far in Hervey Bay. We used suntan cream before our walk from Torquay beach to Scarness Beach.
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| Shirley enjoying Torquay Beach |
After lunch it was time for reading, sudoku and knitting (not me) before a another walk and an ice-cream. The tide was nearly out beyond the Urangan Pier, which is 868 metres long.
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| Urangan Pier near Low Tide |
Snags for dinner, with five veggies & gravy.
Day 49 – Tuesday 23 July – Hervey Bay
Another lovely day in Hervey Bay. Another slow start, but we were ready for a walk by 9:15 am. Today it was to the Marina - a round trip of 5.5 km. It would have been shorter if Shirley had not left her sunglasses in the (coffee & smoothie) Cafe - requiring us to retrace our steps.
Anyway the view and the smoothie & coffee were all excellent.
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| Pondering where to store our boat |
We had lunch and I pondered the email advising that our gas account back home had been terminated as we have swapped suppliers. The email was legit, the swapping of suppliers was a Furphy. A very long email was then generated and sent.
Around 4:30 pm we headed 12 km north-west to Point Vernon, for a sunset photo. It was worth the effort.
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| Sunset at Point Vernon |
A BBQ pork chop was an excellent dinner.
Day 50 – Wednesday 24 July – Hervey Bay
It was our first day in Hervey Bay with clouds forecast in the morning, so I was on the beach at 6:05 am. My phone said that it was 13 degrees. There was no wind, and the tide was out and coming in. I chatted to two other early birds, one of whom nearly lost his camera bag to the incoming tide.
The clouds made the trip worthwhile.
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| Sunrise beside Urangan Pier |
A shower of rain curtailed our photo session, but it had stopped by the time I headed back to camp. The Wednesday market was being set-up but there were no breakfast attractions for me. 😌
Ninety minutes later Shirley and I walked back to the market to stock up on some fruit and veggies. Our preferred supplier threw in some snow peas, a few limes and a selection of apples that were sort of past their 'use by' date. However, they were good enough to be peeled, sliced and cooked.
After a coffee we headed off to the Botanic Gardens, which impressed us last year - specially the Orchid House. The Orchid House was again impressive as the few examples below testify.
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| A sample of the Orchids on Display |
One of our favourite Hervey Bay bakeries provided a pie for lunch.
After lunch I converted half of the stewed apples into apple muffins - in the Weber. They were Ok.
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| Apple Muffins |
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| An entrant in the "Interesting Sign" Section - on a caravan Maybe say it out loud |
It was time for reading & sudoku. Shirley made an excellent chicken stir-fry.
Day 51 – Thursday 25 July – Hervey Bay
We decided to go for a drive and checkout some coastal towns south of here. We first visited the Maryborough Markets and bought a pretzel.
We then visited (in turn) Boonooroo, Taun, Poona and Maaroom. All are fishing villages, with lots of mangroves along their coast. As such there is very little in the category of 'walking beaches'.
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| Beach & Mangroves at Poona |
A cafe was found in Poona that provided excellent coffee.
On our way back to camp we again visited the Maryborough Markets and bought two Bratwurst sausages. An excellent lunch. It was a round trip of around 180 km.
We relaxed in readiness for our 'Christmas In July' dinner at the caravan park.
Around 4 pm we headed to the 'Christmas In July assembly area' with chairs, table, drinks etc - and raffle tickets - and (of course) Christmas trappings on our clothes and table - not to mention a red hat.
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| Shirley in festive spirit |
Soon after the live music kicked off. It went until 7:30 - off and on. The duo was very good and were the MCs for the night.
There were raffles. I won one - a "3-way cigarette lighter with USB charger".
There were three quality auctions that raised over $1200.
There was a "meat on the spit" dinner. It was superb, and was followed up by plum pudding for dessert. We met some great people and had a great night. We had a lot of laughs.
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| Pork, Ham, Chicken & Veggies |
One aim of the event was to raise money for the "Dunga Derby", which is a major local fundraising event to support the Rally for A Cause Charity in their efforts to support local Fraser Coast families with life-limiting medical conditions in need of financial and/or practical assistance.
The night raised $3600. It was attended by an estimated 110 people.
This chapter is now complete (apart from some minor edits).
Last updated at 9:25 am Friday 26 July 2024
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