Day 61 – Sunday 4 August – Hervey Bay to Maroochydore - 220 km
The forecast suggested a cloudy start to the day, so I arrived on the beach at 6:01 am, ready for a 6:25 am sunrise. It was chilly, but there was no breeze. I was not disappointed.
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| Pre-sunrise at 6:05 am |
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| Cloudy sunrise over K'gari at 6:25 am |
We departed Hervey Bay (on schedule) around 8:20 am. Instead of a staid 220 km drive to Maroochydore, the navigator had plans. We passed Maryborough (and its huge cemetery) without incident - apart from an open caravan window, which meant a 90 second pause. My fault.
The navigator had locked in Tiaro – a historic town, and a town known for its famous turtle, and its historical buildings. The 'Mary River Turtle' is endangered and is well known for its 'weird' physical characteristics. The Mary River is the only place on earth where this turtle can be found.
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| Mary River Turtle |
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| The Tiaro Hotel |
Next we visited Bauple – the home of the native Macadamia in pre European settlement times. Local trees still
exist with the same Macadamia DNA. The nut was valued as indigenous trading currency.
We drifted south and stopped at Gunalda as they had a drive through coffee place. No surprises, it was too small for a caravan and seemed inactive. We made our own thermos coffee and watched a Dunga Derby car call in for a family reunion.
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| Dunga Derby car |
We detoured to Buderim and its ginger factory and nut house. We left with some Australian macadamia mustard and some locally produced nuts.
We arrived at Maroochydore around 1 pm. Lunch was had, camp was established and the afternoon disappeared. A beach walk happened.
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| Our local beach looking south |
For dinner Shirley cooked the piece of corned beef that was bought yesterday. It was excellent. The Australian macadamia mustard got the stamp of approval from both of us.
Day 62 – Monday 5 August – Maroochydore
The day started as a repeat of yesterday - overcast - beach before sunrise - photos. I preferred the pre-dawn photo.
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| Pre-dawn at Maroochydore |
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| Sunrise at Maroochydore as a surfer heads into the water |
We headed back to camp and drowned our sorrows with coffee. Shirley functions much better with brochures, but she coped.
After lunch we walked around the shops - there are still all there - then went for another beach walk.
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| Mouth of the Maroochy River, looking out to sea |
The walk did include another candidate for the interesting sign award - Quick Sand - on a beach. Luckily we must have avoided it, as we are both still here.
[Later. We have found out that the 'quicksand' situation is being caused by the dredging of sand and being relocated to another spot.]
It was time for sudoku, reading and relaxation.
Dinner was a couple of great sausages from our favourite Queensland (Hervey Bay) butcher plus five veggies and gravy.
Day 63 – Tuesday 6 August – Maroochydore
The last day of our ninth week started slowly after two pre-dawn rises for beach photos. It was 8:20 am by the time I returned from my shower. Shirley slept on.
Around 9:30 am we were ready to face the day. Shirley said coffee in Mooloolaba, so south we headed. It was a superb coffee and an excellent muffin. Shirley was less than impressed with the prices in the clothes shops. We enjoyed the walk, until it started to rain. The local prawns were priced and stored in the memory bank.
I got a smile from a sign in a shop window. Quite clever.
While buying a printer cartridge in Harvey Norman, the sales guy recommended Mudjimba Beach Holiday Park - a few km north from where we were. So off we went and found a nice looking park beside an excellent beach. Also in the memory bank. The same guy also recommended Mt Barney, inland from the Gold Coast. Also memorised.
Lunch was a sandwich containing some of our home-cooked corned beef.
After lunch Shirley said another walk so off we headed.
Around 3:30 I was allowed to sit and relax. The ensuing research showed that we were just 115 metres from the local BWS store. That was actioned.
Dinner was a superb adaption of a pumpkin & chorizo paella recipe. We had no pumpkin so 'prawn and chorizo paella' was our choice - and it was sooo good. Send money if you want the recipe.
Day 64 – Wednesday 7 August – Maroochydore
The cloud cover from my caravan window looked ideal for a sunrise photo. So off I headed to the beach. However, my window looks north, and I was deceived. The cloud cover to the east made my venture an early morning beach walk - not a photo opportunity.
The prevailing wind made for surfing conditions, and there were plenty of boards in the water. My phone indicated 14 degrees. Apparently the water is about 20 degrees.
I was out of the shower by the time the sun appeared. By the time Shirley surfaced the sun had disappeared again.
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| Morning Tea |
The navigator said Caloundra so south bound we were - 20 km. We found a (non affiliated) tourist information booth and were advised that the local tourism authority has withdrawn funding as "all tourists now seek information online". At the end of the laughter we were advised (by the two very friendly ladies) of a great local 'Parisian Patisserie' that had great coffee and pastries. Off we went. It was great.
It was time to walk the Caloundra art trail, which was enjoyed. We were particularly impressed with the large 'flower' below. The colours change with the movement of the sun or clouds.
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| "Four Impossible Things Before Breakfast" |
Click here if you wish to see more Caloundra street art.
I took a photo of the impressive local beach.
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| Caloundra |
We found a discount 'fruit & veggies' place and stocked up, and were back at camp by 1pm.
After lunch we headed to Maroochydore beach. We were impressed with the operation that is moving 50,000 cubic metres of sand from the Maroochy River to Maroochydore Beach. The process involves dredging sand from the river and moving the super-saturated sand to the beach 300 metres away through a 600 mm pipe. This helps to minimise the impact of erosion. This process can cause a quicksand situation, so most of the impacted beach is out of bounds.
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Dinner was a repeat of the pork ribs of a few days ago. It was just as good second time around.
More Olympics filled the evening.
Day 65 – Thursday 8 August – Maroochydore
After a shower of rain overnight the day started bright and sunny - and breezy - and slowly. It was 17 degrees at 9 am.
It was a slow morning as I needed to conserve my strength for bowls.
Around 12:15 I wandered over to the bowls club - Club Maroochy - maybe 300 metres. I paid my money and met my 'partner in crime' - a top bowler from South Australia.
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| Club Maroochy |
We won our two 12-end matches (4 bowls each) and tied for runner-up. We lost the countback and did not get a cupid doll. I met a number of nice people and had a good day. Those people came from Edithvale (Victoria), New Zealand, Victor Harbour (Sth Aust), Colac (Vic) and Queensland.
Shirley made some rissoles for dinner. After delivering 96 bowls I just wanted to relax. At least the new hip was good.
Day 66 – Friday 9 August – Maroochydore
Despite an overnight shower of rain the clothes were in the washing machine before 8 am. It was again a slow start, but the body felt fine after yesterday's bowls. Another shower of rain convinced us to hang the washing closer to home - in the caravan and under the awning. 😅
By the time the washing was on the line the rain had stopped. Twenty minutes later the sun appeared.
A team of concreters were laying a couple of concrete slabs in the park. I was given permission to add my initials. It was hard, but I resisted. I doubt that they were impressed with the rain.
Not much happened until we decided to head to the beach and enjoy the sand and the scenery. Thanks to a quicksand risk a lot of the beach was 'out of bounds'. So we headed to the ice-cream shop.
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| Shirley surviving huge surf, high winds and bright sun |
Shirley turned some chicken and chorizo into a great rice dish.
Olympics.
Day 67 – Saturday 10 August – Eumundi Markets
More overnight rain, but today was designated as 'Eumundi Markets' day, and rain was not going to deter us. Bowls was off limits.
We were in Eumundi by 9:30 and we walked just over 3.5 km for the next 2.5 hours. Many stalls were studied. We made an investment at one of our favourite market foods stalls - Tibetan Momos (dumplings) - both steamed and fried. See photo below. As usual they were superb.
A break was soon called - for coffee - and that was also excellent. At that time we also took a photo of the art work of famous Aussie artist John Murray.
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| Typical 'John Murray' art work |
As we wandered Shirley was seduced by the people eating 'salt and pepper calamari' so that was our light lunch. Shirley thought that it may have been the best she has ever had. It was outstanding.
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| Tibetan Momos & Salt and pepper calamari |
Apart from the above (and a couple of minor gifts) our sole investment was some tomatoes, bananas and oranges. All in all Shirley and I were wonderfully restrained. There was food from at least a dozen different countries - virtually all looked great. Then there were the sweet options.
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| Our route around Eumundi Markets |
We checked out the "Big Pineapple" on the way home. It has been rejuvenated and looked much better than when we saw it last - pre-COVID.
We did not need lunch so we had a coffee, a short rest, then headed to the beach for another 3 km stroll. There were plenty of surfers enjoying the waves.
This chapter is now Complete (apart from minor edits).
Last updated at 8:10 pm Sunday 11 August 2024
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