The Final Wave - From the Coast to the Desert and Home

May 2013

 

Coolum Beach

 

Just down the road from Noosa is this great spot Coolum Beach with a beachfront caravan park. It was just what we needed for our farewell to the Pacific Ocean and a final swim and surf before returning to an Adelaide winter.

Riley's little surfboard turned out to be one of our best investments and is a pursuit we are sure he will enjoy for life.

With an average age of 65, this crew of early-morning surf swimmers were inspirational.

Last beach play - our little Archie went away a baby and has come back a boy. Let's hope he has some memories of his great adventure. We are sure it has at least helped shape the fella he will become.

The Final Wave - no more beach for us until the next Adelaide summer. Boo hoo.

Spending a night with our good friends Mark and Jenny Luft at their lovely Brisbane home was like staying in a resort. Our last luxury before the run home through grazing land and desert on route to Innamincka in the north-east corner of SA.

In a rare move, we drove well into the night to get some kms under our belt and decided to get a motel room at Goondiwindi in southern Queensland. We were suprised to see the `no vacancy' signs up at every motel until we snared the last room in town and were told we had arrived on the eve of their biggest event of the year - the Goondiwindi Show.

Well, we could hardly leave without taking the kids to a true-blue Aussie country show, so off we went to pat pigs and goats, watch some amazing cowboys and sheepdogs in action and eat country-baked scones. It was beaut!

The cowgirls were no slouches on horseback either.

One of the highlights of Riley's entire trip was when he won this camel ride as part of a pig-naming and pig-racing event.

The last of the campfires - pretty sad for the mushy marshmallow masters.

So near, yet so far. After a pretty good run on some of the roughest roads in the country (not even a single blown tyre), we finally came unstuck on an Outback road near Innamincka losing our rear window to a rogue rock that ricocheted off our trailer. There was nothing we could do but lament the copious amount of dust that coated our clothes tubs until we hit the bitumen four days later.

But the kids didn't care one bit if their clothes were dusty because.......WE'RE COMING HOME. The excitement about seeing family and friends again reached fever pitch as we crossed the border.

But, we had one last mission and that was to explore some of the unique and beautiful country around the Cooper Creek - and to visit the graves and Dig Tree associated with Burke and Wills' tragic expedition in 1860. Riley was particularly touched by their brave but unlucky endeavour shedding a few sympathetic tears.

But the discovery of a rope swing over the Cooper Creek soon had them shrieking with laughter again.

Until Riley flung off a thong that proceeded to drift into the middle of the river. So, it was dad to the rescue with an unplanned (but not unpleasant) swim to retrieve the favoured footwear. Lucky it was about 30C. 

It was quite an idyllic camp beside the sandy-banked, gum-lined Cooper in beautiful weather with abundant birdlife. We must go back - any takers??

 Some scenes of the Cooper Creek, which has had some healthy flows from the Queensland channel country.



Rowdy Moments

The Good: The fab memories of an amazing year-long adventure, and the thought of going to bed in our own home with no fewer than three doors separating us from our children.

The Bad: The realisation that our journey is ending and that we will soon have to work like everybody else.

The Ugly: Our beautiful?? daughter transformed into a Vampire as she loses one of the biggies. A fitting end to her GAP year, ha ha!

 

 

The Last Great Drive - the Strzelecki Track

 

The wide, dusty road from the top of SA to the start of the Flinders Ranges spreads before us.



But we had to share. Gee, how fortunate we are to have no rear windscreen - the dust will hardly get into anything at all!!

The last time Leanne will wear khaki, for a long time, or wield a compass (to ensure optimal shade for the outdoor kitchen).

Oh, that's right. There aren't any bloomin' trees out here anyway.

To most people this would appear to be a stock standard floodwater and access tunnel beneath the defunct Old Ghan Railway......but to a special group of 14 souls, this was the gateway to the open-air dancefloor beneath a billion stars at the Doof in the Desert music festival - to mark the Solar Eclipse in 2002. We had to go back for a quick squizz.

Riley-proof fence.

 As sunset approached, we came accross the Dog Fence, just North of Lyndhurst. We turned off the dusty main drag and followed it for a few kilometres until we came across a little rise. A great expanse of gibber plain stretched for miles around us in every direction. It seemed a fitting end to be camped in the middle of nowhere beneath a billion stars - just us and this great continent of ours.

The End.........well, almost. 

 

A Baptism of Fire.....Welcome Home Craigies!!

 

This was the view that greeted us at the top of our driveway as we arrived home to bushfires in Cherryville on May 9, 2013.

 

And, it was quite a big one.



Very nice of the locals to put on such a spectacular home coming for us.

 

Water bombers to the rescue the next day.

 Fortunately, no real impact on us. We'll just call it one last wild adventure on the Rowdy Roadtrip.




The End.

 

 

 

Fraser Island - Part Two

Late April, 2013

Our first week on Fraser Island, with our lovely camp spot near Eli Creek, was great. We swam in the freshwater lakes, ran down the massive sand-dunes, went fishing, beach and bush walking and  tentatively swam in the treacherous but invigorating waves. But, the best of Fraser Island still awaited us up north.

Getting there wasn't easy though. Negotiating some substantial patches of soft sand with a tonne of trailer dragging behind us was pretty challenging and caused a few anxious moments. We snapped the cable for our trailer brakes on one creek crossing and had to keep letting air out of the tyres to get through the soft stuff.





 But, we fared better than many. Ahead of us on one sandy rise was a car and boat trailer with a broken axle (not much holiday joy there). But, the one consolation was there was never any shortage of people willing to help and armed with snatch-straps and Maxtrax (bright orange plastic planks that you shove under your wheels when you're stuck). It was 4WD recovery heaven (for those who are into that sort of thing). I, for one, hate it and required substantial sauvignon blanc 4WD recovery when we finally made it to camp.



But, what a lovely camp it was. This quieter part of the coast north of Waddy Point at Ocean Lake was a great spot to fish and chill out.

 

We even had our own tidal swimming pool out the front, which took the stress out of swimming time - no rips or tiger sharks!

 On life-guard duty

On `catch dinner' duty.

Now, speaking of dinner, I have to say cooking is a joy when the stainless steel kitchen is set up galley-style and the view is this good. A few fresh whiting help too.

 Sorry, I really like my kitchen window - you can just see the fishermen in the distance.

 



The next great thing, was the arrival on Fraser Island of a fun family we first met in Point Plomer and have bumped into a few times since. Mel, Heddo and their fun-loving girls Ella and Mia spent a few days with us fishing, beer and wine tasting, sight-seeing and bitching about blokes who get their cars bogged (the women), and bitching about wives who abuse their husbands for getting bogged (the men). It was good therapy for all.

 Paul and his new greatest love, his fishing rod holder on his bullbar.














Waddy Point and Anzac Day

 

Although small and remote, Waddy Point has a long tradition of observing Anzac Day. Paul, Riley and Heddo joined the throng of 4WDs making their way along the beach at 5am to attend the Dawn Service, drink rum and milk and play two-up. The girls made lovely flags with poppies and the words "We Will Remember Them".

 It Was All Their Fault!! Anzac Day will probably be remembered in our family for all the wrong reasons. Leanne (who had not been drinking rum and milk) jumped to her feet when the country singer started playing the hokey pokey at 11am for all the kiddies. The kiddies, however, were all shy and embarassed for the first time in their lives, leaving their mother alone in front of 500 largely intoxicated blokes shaking various limbs and appendages ``all about''. Fortunately I was rescued by "Jimbo" (now a mate for life) who joined me for the crucial finale.

 

By midday, it was time to switch to that other Fraser Island tradition - fishing. But, a lengthy breakfast of beer and rum was going to catch up with Paul eventually.

Man Down, Man Down!!





 And while our fallen soldier recuperated, the kids continued to storm the beaches.

Riley obeying the signs as usual - this one advising not to go off alone as a dingo may eat you.

Now, once in a while, something terrible happens that shakes your marriage to the core. Forget infidelity or a pokies addiction - they pale in comparison to what Leanne did to Paul (apparently) on this fateful April night. You see, the fish were on the bite, but Leanne did not care. It was the kids' bedtime and they were not cooperating, so Paul was required to put down his fishing rod and help get the monsters off to bed.

Wild eyed and desperate, Paul insisted his new mate Neil, continue in his absence. Paul (who was using a whiting rod and hook) baited up, set the drag, pointed to the spot, cast into the spot and handed the rod over. About 20 minutes later, Heddo and Mike staggered over with Paul's catch bag with a gigantic GT (giant trevally) sticking out of it. It was the BIG fish that has eluded Paul for the whole trip and it was caught on a whiting rig, without adjusting the drag after a great 15-minute battle.

 Smiles all round but Paul really felt like crying. ``That was MY fish," he was frequently heard mumbling for weeks afterward.

But, anyway, life goes on! At Lake Wabby, we whoosed down a giant sand dune to plunge into the beautiful lake below.

 

A lovely freshwater bath was just what we all needed after a week of salt, sand and fish guts.

Bye guys, the Heddermans continue their year-long adventure - heading north - while the Rowdy Roadtrippers finally turn their heads toward home.

It was a sad farewell to Fraser Island, knowing it was the last major destination of our journey.

Bye Mr Dingo - thank you for not eating any of our children.

Rowdy Moments

The Good: The kids having a ball driving on the beach - particularly Archie.

The Bad: Surviving all manner of sand hazards on Fraser Island only to get bogged on the mainland in the fading light at Inskip Point about 30 seconds after driving off the Ferry.

The Ugly: Hmm, well it's a toss up between Leanne's Hokey Pokey and Paul's fish that did NOT get away.