Maroochydore to Narrandera - Dec 2011

Been here in Maroochydore for a while now, have been seeing the doctor more than is healthy but otherwise enjoying the beach, river, bike riding and walking.  Joined the surf clubs and enjoy a beer or meal there from time to time.  Had Christmas in Maroochydore then headed south.

First stop Maryvale Hotel south of Brisbane on the Cunningham Hwy.  Caught up with Denis the publican, ex of Papua New Guinea.  I get to camp in the back yard.  Off to Ballata next morning gunna do this trip in a couple of days so I'm in Narrandera for New Years.  Mirrool the next night and catch up with Ben the publican.  He and I have things in common as well.  Narrandera tomorrow just 90km or so.

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Mirrool Hotel

Cotton Tree and Sea Breeze CP

Cotton Tree

I have now met my weight goal of 76kg. BMI mid point of the normal range, yeh! A loss of about 14.5kg in the last 6 months.

Purchased a new Samsung Note.

Spent the month camped at Sea Breeze Caravan Park riding along the bike tracks to various places. Point Cartwright stopping for a few drinks at Kawana Waters Hotel on the way back being typical. About 25km all up. Bike to marina and back about 16km. Plenty of places to ride and the paths are really good. Or riding to Fishermans Rd market for fruit and veggies then to Coles for the fish meat and other stuff. 25km.  Ride or walk to have coffee at the servo and watching surf carnivals, swimming, surfing or just lazing on the beach.

Happy hours with Gary and Sue next door who stay here for a few months of the year when they are not in Darwin. Walking along the beach to the surf club or Cotton Tree shops for coffee and then checking the mail every weekday morning.

Queenslanders now!

My motorhome is now registered in Queensland and I have a Qld driver's licence, I guess that makes us Queenslanders now?

Brisbane - John Farnham

I wonder why I do that!  Travelled to Brisbane stayed in M on Mary and went to the concert.  Left at interval.  Not overly impressed mostly it was too loud and the stories between songs were soft.  Same same.  Had a good meal before the concert so not all was lost except about $500: ticket, accommodation, meals and travel. Oh well, got that out of my system till next time.

Wagga and Motorhome Repairs - Maroochydore

Maroochydore to Texas, Tooraweenah, Mirrool Hotel, Narrandera and Wilks Park Wagga in 5 days.  Bit of an express trip but had a destination and an appointment to have the motorhome repaired.

Dropped the motorhome of at Royan's on 7th September and pick her up on 13th.  The guys did a great job and did it to schedule no delays no muck about, nice.  Whilst in for repair I had a hire car and stayed at a B and B in Wagga, confortable and nice.  Drove back and forth to Narrandera cleaning up the blocks and catching up with people.

The fishing club had a salami night and asked me to be one of the judges, fun.  The weather was still cold so heading north again will the go.

Late September saw me heading back to the Sunny Coast via the coast of NSW.  Wagga, Jugiong, Karual, Swan Bay, Woolgoolga, New Italy and then Maroochydore.  Seems I'm in a hurry to get back to the warmth.

Back to the Sea Breeze CP. Got a good shady site and will stay till Christmas.  Not so busy now but booked out for Christmas and I will have to leave but that suits me fine.

Whilst here this time I am changing my licence and motorhome rego over to Qld and opened a new PO Box to share with Mary, PO Box 333 at Cotton Tree.  And establish a fulltime identity as a Queenslander.

 Shady site for a month or two

Nice park nice location

Maroochydore shift to Sea Breeze

I have moved to the Sea Breeze CP, right on the beach and closer to Alexandra Headland.  It’s a tourist park, better, people of similar interest with few permanents.  I walk up to the Alex Surf Club along the beach for coffee each morning with Mary then back.  A nice way to start the day.

I've been talking to the guys at Royan's in Wagga about the motorhome repairs.  They tell me they are ready and have the bin door from Winnebago.  So she's booked in for mid August.  Also a chance to see my doctor, optometrist, mow the grass on the block and get ready to head off big time.

Might seem a bit silly but I drove to Qld to kill time waiting for that bin door now I'm driving back.  A round trip of 2800km or there abouts.  But that's what a motorhome is for?  Weather should be a bit warmer down there now?  Hopefully meeting the 10/20 rule.

The sunny coast is a great place to winter. But next year expect to be further north but time will tell.

 The beach at Alex Surf Club

My morning walk

Ngungun out of Glass House Mountains

On Saturday I took the bus to Nambour and then the train to the Glass House Mountains then a short walk from GHM town to Mt Ngungun in the Glass House Mountains NP.  The scenic walk up the hill is only 2.2km return but the climb is 200mtrs and a one point near straight up or it looked and felt like it.  But the view from the top was worth it as they say.

The View from Ngungun

Brisbane for the weekend - week 3.

A trip to Brisbane on public transport, now that will be an adventure.  9am got on the bus right outside the caravan park and headed towards Nambour via Bli Bli and other obscure places.  At Nambour station the train to Brisbane was waiting.  Nice clean airy carriages and off we went.  Transfer to a lesser suburban train at Caboolture and after waiting about 20mins we were off again.  The trip in total was over 100km took about 3 hours and with a GoCard cost $12.00.  Good value or what?  Driving the motorhome would cost more than twice that just for the fuel.

Booked in to Mary on Mary hotel via Wotif in Mary St of course, close to shopping and sightseeing and it turned out to comfortable with good facilities.

On Saturday night Mary and Tony met me at the hotel and we walked to south bank and had a nice dinner.  I walked back to the hotel via the casino looking only coming out with everything I went in with.  It was very busy and very noisy.  I went back to the hotel and watched a bit of TV before bed.

Sunday was back to south bank, the Museum of Modern Art for coffee and a rubberneck then off to Roma St for the trip home.

All in all it was a relaxing weekend.

Maroochydore and Noosa week two

The weather is so good and Maroochydore so nice that I have booked in for another week and could stop even longer.

I have been walking and riding the bike every day. On Saturday I hired a BBQ boat and Mary, Bridie and Tony (Mary's partner) went up the Maroochy River for lunch, a really great day out. Sunday we went for a drive to Noosa stopping at a few beaches for a rubberneck and then had lunch at the surf club at Noosa. It was lovely spending the afternoon just sitting on the balcony, in the sun, having a few drinks.

Maroochy River CP

Made it to Maroochydore on Friday, raining but warm.  Checked out the caravan parks online but could not book the Cotton Tree park so opted for Maroochy River CP across the road from the river and bike paths.  Been walking about and working out the public transport.  Local buses are good.  Big shopping centre nearby and pub and IGA closer.  I have booked in for a week and might stay longer?

Mary is in Brisbane watching Bridie play wheelchair basketball.  I would like to go but don't want to drive the motorhome there so I will rubberneck around here till I meet with her and Bridie on Tuesday.

The Entrance - Telegraph Point - New Italy

The Entrance, have stopped at the Top tourist here before, its a nice location on the river across from town but the sites can be a bit poky especially for a big motorhome and the park is more suited to longer stays rather than overnighters.  Interesting walking about the town and river precinct.  Lost my hat, blown off, into the river whilst walking across the bridge.

Heading north decided to stop before Kempsey, as I could not remember an acceptable caravan park there.  Found a caravan / water ski park at a place called Telegraph Point.  Nice place artificial lake slalom course and wakeboard facilities clean amenities etc etc.  A local club nearby with cold beer and hot meals but I opted just for an afternoon beer as I didn't fancy the bike ride at night in the dark, too cold!

Stopped at New Italy Rest Area had a coffee and a look around at the tourist things, interesting.  Bit noisy and a bit crowded but doesn't bother me.

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The Entrance looking from the bridge early morning

Batemans Bay - Kioloa

Merry Beach Caravan Resort not real far from Batmans Bay a large park 200 plus sites lots of cabins lots of annuals and permanents. The park is on the beach in a cove with sites going back up a hill affording a view of the beach ocean and sunrise from most sites.  I was bemused when offered the seniors rate without asking or showing a card?  Is this a sign?  How did she know I just qualified a couple of days ago?  

I think I will start to seriously head north the nights are too cold here and the days not much better.  Sky is clear at the moment lovely sunrise but forecast not all that warm.  Walked and rode around but this place is best suited to water sports and its too cold by half.

Finally heading off from Riverina

I have been stuck in Wagga waiting for important mail.  Tripping over to Narrandera now and then camping on the blocks and catching up with old friends.  Rocco (my next door neighbour and long time friend) invited me to go fishing and then for dinner with Polly (his wife).  Had a great day fishing and a lovely evening talking about locals in Narrandera.

Now I can see clear air.  Heading off to Bateman's Bay to see Brad then heading for Brisbane to catch up with Mary (my sister).

It's been cold overnight here with nice days but the forecast is for colder nights -1 and colder days just 14 so it's a good time to head to the coast.  I think min 10 overnight and 20 during the day should be my expectation and govern where I should be.

Nice drive to Batemans Bay been quite sometime since I've been here and the place, like most coastal places, has grow.  Stopped in a CP on the beach, nice.  Rode the bike and walked heaps.  Went out for dinner with Brad and Kelly (his partner) and had a lovely evening.  Took myself to a very nice restaurant for my birthday.  Now northward bound.

 

Me and Rocco

Narrandera and the Blocks

Still waiting on Royans to get the bin door for the motor home.

I have been spending time in Narrandera cleaning up the two blocks we purchased last year.  Each is about 5000 sq mtrs, one has a pond and both border the irrigation channel.  I have mowed it all and it really does look good.  Purchased a another 20' container now having two I can get in and out of them and use the tools etc, thats much better!

Brad (my son) has been transferred to Bateman's Bay for a month with work so I might go down and see him there just to get away from here for a bit.

I have decided to delay the motorhome repairs and tour a bit then return as Royans say Winnebago are somewhat slow and unresponsive and can't or won't make a commitment on delivery of the bin door.  That's common knowledge in the industry for Winnebago, and does not seem to worry them.

 The Block and the two containers

The driveway 

Coolamon and cold - Motor home repairs

Still in the Wagga area.

Whilst in Sydney in March I damaged the motorhome when a tourist van, wizz-banger, made me swerve to avoid collision and I hit a bollard.  Manage to reattach the bin door temporarily so she don't look so bad.  Have a repairer lined up here in Wagga, Royan's usually does truck repairs, so the motorhome should be no problem.  But will need a new bin door from Winnebago, that I think will slow things down.  She looks better than in the photo with the missing bin door back on.  It was not damage more than some paint, its the one in front of the missing one that will need replacing.

Still a few things to tidy up regarding Trish.  Spent the weekend in Coolamon CP and explored the town on foot.  A friendly town with a couple of pubs and a golf and bowls club.  Not much happening this weekend.

Good little caravan park and good rates $10/night/site with power and just one street away from the supermarket and main street.  Nice public pool next door, would be good in summer.  All this just ~60km north of Wagga.

Bloody Hell!!

Wagga Wagga - A new dawn

Well it's just me now after 33 years.  I'm not sure what I'll do but this is the start of the rest of my life.  To view the story so far:  trishmaddenbatlow.blogspot.com

Been staying a while in Wagga at Wilks Park on the north east side of town, I have some stuff to attend to before I'm free to go.  Wilks Park is about a 10min walk from the centre of town.  Large mostly flat area with some shade, toilets, water, dump point and green grass, what else could you ask for?

Wagga is a nice town good shopping and usually good weather.  A bit out of town along the Murrumbidgee River to the east is Oura beach and Sandy Beach at Wantabadgery both having excellent camping, drop toilets but no showers or fresh water.  But right on the river.

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A new dawn - Murrumbidgee River near Wagga