Australia





16 Mar: Surfers Paradise

We left the campsite in the mountains, direction the coast, stopping off to admire Minyon Falls on the way. We then stopped off in the small town of Pottsville to buy some bread, rissoles from the butchers and we also picked up some more tasty locally grown bananas from a front garden stand. Afterwards we headed a few more kilometres up the coast to Cabarita Beach, where we spent the rest of the morning at the beach. Picturesque lava flows mark both extremities of the beach, the sand is golden and scattered with shells and rock pools and the water lovely and warm and clear; a really beautiful beach. We ate lunch in the picnic area behind the beach and the girls played on the playground whilst we had a quite hour or so reading and updating our web pages.

Next stop was Surfers Paradise further up the coast. On the way we crossed over the border from New South Wales to Queenstown. We were surprised at and disappointed by the size of the town, with its big tower blocks. We were expecting something similar to the lovely Byron Bay, but this surfer's paradise is on another scale. We managed to park on the sea front and had a quick wander up the main touristy street, Cavill Mall, before going to the beach. An enormous grey storm cloud came over only minutes later, the temperature dropped by a good 10 degrees and the wind picked up. We ran for cover before the heavens opened! We drove a couple of kilometres further north to a smaller and quieter area where we spotted a nice boat launching area to spend the night before heading to a seafood restaurant for dinner. We fed the kids pasta beforehand, so that we could, hopefully, enjoy a pleasant meal... We ate bugs and prawns, washed down with a local chardonnay! The bugs are in fact Moreton Bay bugs, similar to lobster. The meal was absolutely delicious and the girls were well behaved with their drawing books and Nintendo DS.

Impressive storm cloud hits Surfers Paradise! Ominous sky over Surfers Paradise

17 Mar: Brisbane

Today's destination is Brisbane. We were surprised by the amount of traffic on the roads around the city, but we managed to park the campervan in the town centre and headed to the city hall, with the objective of doing the Lonely Planet's city walking tour. The city hall, built in 1920, has a clock tower accessible by a lift which opens at 10am. As we had arrived at 10:40am we were perplexed to see it not open. That's when we discovered that there's an hours difference between New South Wales and Queenstown! We'd been an hour ahead since yesterday afternoon! We were actually up at 6am this morning and we actually walked into the restaurant yesterday evening at 18:15!!!

We picnicked on the lovely lawns of St. Stephens Cathedral and Chapel. The chapel was the first church to be built in Queensland in 1850. We stopped off at the Commissariat Stores Building, a building built by convicts, now a museum providing insight into Brisbane's gruesome penal history. We crossed the river on a fast passenger ferry and the girls enjoyed a dip in the pools at Streets Beach; a beautiful oasis of beaches and pools in the city centre.

We got caught in a big tailback on the motorway leaving Brisbane and struggled to find a camping spot for the night; the two indicated in our guide were closed... We thankfully managed to find a quiet spot before it was pitch dark at 18:30...

Brisbane Saint Stephens Chapel in Brisbane

18 Mar: Australia Zoo

Our first stop of the day was at the Glass House Mountains lookout to see the spectacular volcanic cone mountains. Unfortunately the weather wasn't at it's best; there were big grey clouds looming ominously over us. Next stop, Australia Zoo. We saw the Crocoseum show at 11am, to see the zoo's famous crocodiles and were very disappointed by the American style presentation - completely over the top... Fortunately the smaller afternoon shows were much less cheesy. We really enjoyed the original tiger show: The keepers played with the big cats as if they were kittens and jumped into a pool with the tigers, who dived and swam quite happily in the water much to our amazement. There were a couple of kangaroo and wallaby enclosures which we could walk through in order to stroke and feed the marsupials. We were able to pat a koala too. We also saw crocodiles being feed, active wombats, echidnas, emus, cassowaries (huge black birds like emus, with a colourful neck), a K omodo lizard (the world's largest lizard up to 3 meters!) and lots of exotic birds. Sophie even went on a short donkey ride. It was a fun day for all the family.

That morning we had booked a 4WD day tour of Fraser Island for the next day, so we had a 2 hour drive to get to Rainbow Beach, the departure point before sunset. We arrived as it was getting dark, barbequed some marinated chicken by the beach and ate in the campervan. A council employee came to check that it wasn't our intention to spend the night there and informed us of a roadside area opposite the backpackers where overnight campervans are tolerated. The down side was that a group of backpackers  had decided to spend an hour or so on a bench next to our campervan, drinking, playing rugby and generally making a lot of noise until 1:30 am...

Glass House Mountains Family shot with a western grey kangaroo Patting a koala named Chloé

19 Mar: Fraser Island

We were all up at 6am, the sun rises early in Queensland... We boarded our 4WD coach for the day at 7:45; an impressive piece of machinery with 600 horsepower, quite a beast! After a ten minute drive to Inskip Point, we boarded a barge to take us over to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is a World Heritage Site, a unique sand island covered in rainforest and fresh water lakes and creeks. It was a pity that the weather wasn't better, it was overcast and showers were forecast... The drive along the southern end of the island, along seventy five mile beach's water edge was impressive. It's amazing how fast the coach speeded over the sands. A bonus, we stopped off to see a venomous sea snake on the way. After morning tea and muffins, we headed further up the island over rocks in some areas, to a couple of aeroplanes waiting on the sands. Air Fraser was proposing 15 min scenic flights over the island. We didn't need much persuasion as the price was very reasonable. The pilot took us up to about 150 metres in his small 7-seater over the rain forest, inland sand dunes, 3 of the island's lakes, over Eli Creek, a ship wreak on the beach and the Pinnacles. A spectacular flight and worth every minute of it to get a bird's eye view of this beautiful and diverse island. We landed back on the sands, next to the Maheno shipwreck, a 130m luxury 1900's cruise ship that used to sail between Auckland and Sydney.

Next stop Eli Creek for a paddle up and down a beautifully clear, sand-lined stream. If the sun had been out we'd have probably gone right in and swum it. We saw a fresh water eel on the way. After a buffet lunch we headed through the rainforest on a really narrow sandy track to Central Station and a short rainforest walk (hands up too our driver!). We saw huge stag head ferns growing on the trunks of trees, a rare fern growing in Wanggoolba Creek's  bed dating back to prehistoric times and funnel spider's nests (lethal spiders...). Then a further 10kms drive inland to Lake McKenzie, rated by some to be the most idyllic bathing spot on the planet. The sands are white, 97% silica and ideal for a beauty session. The waters are a stunning light blue in the shallows and a beautiful deep blue further in. We spent almost an hour bathing in the waters, regrettably under a drizzle, but it was fun all the same! Then a long bumpy drive passing 2 dingoes, back to the barge and Rainbow Beach for a second night, but thankfully quieter night, in front of the backpackers. We discovered there was a free WIFI connection available from the van so we Skyped our respective parents, who were luckily in at the time.

A venomous sea snake The 4WD coach A view of Fraser Island from the air
The 7-seater for our scenic flight - François and the girls with our pilot Wadding up Eli Creek Idyllic Lake Mc Kenzie

20 Mar: Tin Can Bay

This morning we headed around the bay from Rainbow Beach to Tin Can Bay to try to see and feed wild dolphins there. There are rare, in fact endangered, freshwater dolphins that live in the estuary and come to Barnacle's Café most mornings since four dolphin generations (since the 1950's) for daily feeding sessions. We arrived just in time, for the 8 am feeding session to commence. There were two dolphins present. We were knee-deep in the water with the dolphins swimming patiently around our legs for their fish. It was amazing to see them so close, although we were not allowed to touch them, they were swimming just centimetres from us. Each dolphin is rationed to 3kgs of fish a day, so we bought the girls a fish each. The dolphins gently ate the fish out of their hands. Super! Volunteers manage the feeding sessions and look after the well being of the dolphins. It's great to have such an activity for free, we hope it lasts!

We drove nearly 400 kms further north, with a quick stop off in Maryborough to see the birth place of the author of Mary Poppins and a pause at Gladstone to view the shipping town from a lookout. We spent the night on a lovely large free riverside campsite near Calliope and we all watched the beginning of the film Mary Poppins on the Archos before bedtime!

Gaelle feeding a dolphin Sophie's turn

21 Mar: Roslyn Bay

It's Saturday and wash day, so today we headed to a campsite! We chose one on the coast just south of Rosyln Bay. We arrived at 11 am, after a 3 hour drive. We're now officially in the tropics as we crossed the Tropic of Capricon today! We spent a lazy day, reading whilst the kids splashed around in the swimming pool with other children. The campsite was infested with mosquitoes, apparently a result of the recent cyclone in the area, and despite special Australian tropical repellent we all got bitten... Late afternoon we went on a long walk along the beach, collecting shells. We saw signs on the beach for the first time warning of marine stingers and we had been informed that the river nearby had crocodiles in it. We're beginning to wonder whether we'll enjoy the north with all its nasty creepy crawlies and deadly animals...! We didn't fancy being food for the mossies in the evening, so we went to the marina for a drink and a dinner.

22 Mar: Finch Hatton Gorge and Eungella National Park

We hit the road at 8 am, direction Finch Hatton Gorge in Eungella National Park to the west of MacKay. Estimated drive time 5-6 hours. We stopped off for a BBQ lunch on the way and a tourist information office to stock up on local leaflets and tips. We decided to stay at a basic campsite, Platypus Bush Camp, in Finch Hatton Gorge and arrived around 3pm. The 1 km dirt track is quite adventurous with a couple of stream crossings and lots of pot holes! At the bush camp there's a nice river swimming hole there and inner tubes to raft down the small rapids. The girls had great fun! We then drove up a steep windy road to Broken River just before sunset to try and spot the shy platypus at a national park viewing platform. We waited for almost 10 minutes before the first platypus made itself seen, followed by 5 or 6 others in the next half an hour. They're surprisingly small, only 40-50 cm long, but it was great to see these strange animals for the first time!

Crossing a river in the campervan! Sophie and Gaelle rafting on inner tubes
François and the girls rafting A platypus in the wild at Broken River


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