What an epic journey it has been that has taken us across six Australian States in nine months covering well in excess of 20,000 kms. Along the way we traded our beloved fifth wheel for a motorhome that will hopefully see us out for the rest of our lives with lots more smaller journeys planned for the future.
Since my last post, almost a month ago (sorry!) we had slowed down considerably and were also covering areas and places that we knew like the back of our hand. After Byron Bay we headed to Tweed Heads for a few days to make the transition from van to motorhome. While we were there we caught up with my forever friend Lynn and her daughter Trina and also Marco and Suzie. Marco kindly offered to take the Landcruiser back to his place at Gundiah, and later to Palm Cove. I was very grateful for this, as I wasn't very confident driving it back to Palm Cove!
Our next stop was Toowoomba where we had booked into our favourite caravan park for six days. This gave us ample time to spend with my mum and also to shop a few items for the motorhome - things like seat covers and matting plus a couple of minor maintenance items. So far so good with the Winnie! While we were in Toowoomba we visited two of my aunties (mums sisters) on two separate days. It was lovely to catch up with them but quite tiring for mum (and for us!)
After Toowoomba it was an overnight trip to Leyburn to catch up with the Reids that is always a lot of fun and always a talk fest. Their lives are quite busy but they are planning a trip with their van to South Australia later in the year. We loved South Australia so we were able to give them the heads up on some must see places in South Australia. It is a state that we would definitely want to revisit at some stage.
Next stop was Gundiah where we enjoyed three nights with Marco and Suzie at "Evergreen". Philip was able to get his cattle fix as Marco had cattle to pick up from a neighbours place and he was also re-locating young cattle from "Eureka" (another small block they own) to "Evergreen". We also squeezed in a trip to Hervey Bay where we enjoyed a Tapas lunch at one of the local restaurants. I love Hervey Bay with its coastal atmosphere but also a very busy regional town these days with all the services.
We said our goodbyes to Marco and Suzie but not for long as we plan on a trip back down to them before the five month warranty on the Winnebago expires. We are going to caretake "Evergreen" for them while they go camping. It will also be a good opportunity to spend a little more time with mum at Toowoomba.
Tannum Sands was our next stop and it is another place that we always enjoy returning too. As always, as soon as we had set up camp, we took a long walk, this time along the Tannum Sands esplanade. It is a beautiful walk and the bbq tables were packed with people celebrating various things on a sunny Sunday afternoon. We would have stayed another night but home is calling.
Cape Palmerston was a place that we had always wanted to stay and I am so glad that we made the effort this trip. It is just a short distance off the highway but well worth the drive as the caravan park here is one of the best we have ever stayed. All sites are drive through and completely private with the use of hedges and trees between sites. It is just a short walk through to the beach where we enjoyed a very long walk for a couple of hours. It was low tide and the beach was crawling with soldier crabs. We have never seen so many of these little crabs in any other place we have visited and you had to be very careful not to stand on the little critters. The beach is flat to walk on and we covered five kilometres but you could walk in either direction for many more kilometres.
Next morning we got an early start as our destination was Alva Beach, just a short drive from Ayr. There is not a lot at Alva Beach but we love the van park here (park wherever you want!) and the walk to the beach is also pleasant. There had been a very wild storm pass through this area recently and council were still in the process of cleaning up. It is a huge task.
The next day our final destination before Palm Cove was Kurrimine Beach. This is another of those magical places that you want to return to asap. Like most of these beaches, there is not a lot to do except go for long walks and this place has the perfect beachside pathway the runs the whole length of Kurrimine. We were staying at the King Reef Resort caravan park that also has a restaurant and wonderful beer garden. After our walk we pulled up chairs in the beer garden and enjoyed refreshing and cold beers. Perfect. We know that we are back in the tropics though as the humidity is stifling and thank goodness for air-conditioning.......
So here we are back in Palm Cove. We parked the Winnie at the Palm Cove caravan park for two nights as it was so much easier to unpack when we only had to take our gear two blocks. I don't know why we hadn't thought of this before. The Winnebago is now clean inside and out and back in the storage shed at Port Douglas, at least for a little while! I have been enjoying some of the walks around Palm Cove that are, I think, some of the best in Australia and I was also pleased to see a lot of familiar faces on the walks. It's good to be home.....
