Fraser Island - Part One

April, 2013

With great excitement, and a touch of sadness, the Rowdy Roadtrip reached its last major destination. And what a fitting finale. Fraser Island is great in so many ways. It is stunningly beautiful, environmentally unique, adventurous, casual (thongs the only footwear allowed) and really, really sandy.

 We leave the mainland behind for a two week adventure on the world's largest sand island.

Look out.....here we come. The Manta Ray Ferry drops us off at the southern-most tip of the island.

Headin' down the highway....Fraser style.

One of the most amazing things about Fraser is its diversity. Sitting on the beach under a couple of flimsy causurinas, you wouldn't believe that only 5kms inland is a lush rainforest with giant trees over 50m tall....and all just growing out of sand.

After months of salt, it was nice to take a dip in the freshwater lakes. A bit of a wander along a submerged boardwalk at Lake Mckenzie got us away from the tour groups and on to our own patch of white sand. Just perfect for a major sand-moving operation by a brightly-coloured dump truck!

It was so relaxing, even Riley (I don't have an off button) chilled out.

OK guys, back we go (across sunken boardwalk). We need to find a campsite.

 A bit of shade, plenty of ocean views and lots of mozzies and sandflies - so the insect screen for the annex that we've been carting around for a year finally gets its debut.

Yep, it's a great spot. Let's dance to celebrate.

Good morning Fraser Island. We South Aussies are used to this kind of show on a balmy summer evening - not 5.30am...yikes.

They've been awake 10 minutes and already the battle is on....only 14 hours til they're asleep again (yes Sharpy, we are managing to get them to bed at 7.30.....most nights)

The wreck of the Maheno (with a rich and diverse shipping history from the Tasman Sea to Gallipoli) is just many of the fascinating things you pass when driving the 120km Fraser Island coast.

 Actually, the poor old dear is lucky to be here at all after being used as target practice by war pilots in training.

 Occasionally, while driving on Fraser, you need to dodge for aircraft. Archie thought it was incredible.

At Fraser's largest waterway, Eli Creek, you could stroll a few hundred metres upstream and plonk yourself on a floatie thing and just drift down to the sea.....it was fun (and you got a bath at the same time).

But every now and then, you have to just flog them up and down a mini desert on a hot day......

and make them suffer!!!!

All is forgiven at Lake Garawongera.

While it's hard to drag yourself away from the beach, the inland is not to be missed.

One of the locals.

 

We were warned, and warned and (yawn) warned about the dingos, but they seemed to give us a wide berth.  It could have been that glint in Archie's eye...but we're not sure.

Rowdy Moments

 

The Good: Not getting bogged during our first week on Fraser Island, hence minimising Leanne's deep-breathing sesssions and valium intake. But, more adventurous days were to come (see part 2).

The Bad: Leanne's butt after sitting on a wasp during a bush dunny visit - yeeeeouch. The attractive red welt seemed to spread a centimetre each day for about a week.....luckily I don't get to sit down much anyway.

The Ugly: The news that our tax return is overdue and the taxman is demanding our return by May 15.....rotten spoil sport.



 

We loved Fraser Island so much, I took 600 photos, so to make it easier on all of us, we'll post a part two for those keen enough to continue.

Byron Bay, Gold Coast and Noosa

Early April, 2013

Byron Bay


Here it is. The eastern-most tip of Australia at Byron Bay. The ocean and the beaches are great, but downtown Byron itself is a bit mad. We preferred our more laid back camp and beach spot near Lennox Head.

Yes, yes Riley, you can get in the water in a minute. Just indulge your mum with one photo....and try to look like you're enjoying it.

Archie just loves a lighthouse and this one at Byron is gorgeous.

Beautiful bay just south of Byron - you can see there is a lot of beach missing though.














 
The Gold Coast

The view from Burleigh Heads over the mouth of Tallebudgera Creek and Palm Beach in the distance (where my school buddy Kirsten lives).

A glorious morning walk to Burleigh with Kirsten - first time she's ever been taller than any of her friends!!

 

The funny thing about hanging out with Kirsten for a while is that (especially after a few afternoon wines) you always end up doing gymnastics.

 

 Quite badly!!!



The Theme Parks - back to the "Worlds" for one last blast. We loved the King Penguins at Seaworld - a more recent addition since I was there 26 years ago. The good old Corkscrew rollercoaster was still going strong though.

You can't go to Seaworld without watching the dolphins jump out of the water, which was nice and all that, but really.......

 

......it's all about the rides!!! This Jetski Rescue ride was a family favourite.

 

 

Pay Back Time!! Paul took almost psychotic joy in his frenzied drenching of the little kiddies on this Pirate ride. It was as if he was releasing eight years of parental  frustration with each blast of the water cannons.

It was clearly good therapy - we could hardly drag him away.

 

Happy Truck'n

The Sunshine?? Coast


Um, excuse me, this is supposed to be Sunshine Beach at south Noosa.

That's a bit better - main beach Noosa Heads

A lovely rolling swell comes into Noosa and hundreds of surfers pack the waves.

Some with a death wish

Get outa my way!!.....there was a fair bit of colourful language and a bit of carnage on the waves as we followed the beautiful Coastal Walk past several popular surf breaks in the Noosa Heads National Park.

 

Rowdy Moments

The Good: The dramatic, invigorating, soothing and mesmerizing coastline that frames NSW.
The Bad: Paul queueing for 30 minutes to get on the amazing 4G-Force Superman ride only to have it break down just as he was about to get on. After a soul-destroying 10-minute wait, he dragged his sorry butt back to the kiddies area.....Not Happy Jan!

The Ugly: While attemping to restore some of the 1400 lost songs on to my Ipod, I managed to lose all 300 of my phone contacts. That's it! It's smoke signals and homing pigeons from now on - technology and holidays just don't mix.

 

 

 

 

Beach, Bunnies and Birthdays - NSW Coast

Late March, 2013

 

Hat Head National Park

 

The north coast of NSW keeps serving up some magic spots, and Hat Head with its mini-desert of sand-dunes was great.  Enjoy that tranquil coffee while you can Paul......

Because it's not going to be tranquil around here for long!!!

Yeeeeee-haaaaa. Splat!

I hope they come back, because I'm not running after them.















A little oasis.

Now, who's gone and messed up this lovely smooth sand dune??

One guess?

 Too good to resist.

 heading for another wipeout.

A bunch of hat heads at Hat Head NP.

All sandy and sweaty - time for lunch and a swim.

Hungry Beach, Hat Head NP - Ahh, beautiful and nice warm water too up here.

 

 Despite the population on the East Coast, you can still have a beach all to yourself at times.

And they're the best beaches for catching a feed. This bream was delicious.

Take only photographs....leave only footprints.....oh and perhaps a little bream or two.














Yuragir National Park

Despite almost a year of adventurous travel, Leanne has still not managed to shake an intense (bordering on pathological) fear of getting bogged on a beach with a rising tide. Needless to say there were a few deep-breathing sessions at Yuragir National Park as we were looking for a camp spot.

With the masses moving on to the coast for the Easter break, we came across this lovely beach perch at the Illaroo campground near Minnie Waters. Our over-nighter turned into a week-long stay as we hooked up with a lovely crew of four families from the Gold Coast.

Brooms Head - a scenic spot.



Beach-front campfires beside the rising moon were a nightly treat.

Who says you can't have chocolate before breakfast - on Easter Sunday, all bets are off.

Jesus wasn't the only one to rise from the dead at dawn on Easter Sunday after a bit of a Sat night session!

So? Who's up for an Easter Egg Hunt?

Ballina (20kms south of Byron)

April 2, and it's all about mum. I had a lovely birthday with special cards, paper planes and a brightly-decorated camper trailer with breakfast in bed. Lucky me!

Birthday beachday. Tomorrow it's a massage, sushi and some chicky shopping in the very laid back Lennox Head.

Some nice scenes from the Flat Rock Tent Park just past Ballina.

Great rock pools too.

 

Rowdy Moments

 

The Good: Possibly the best `hot rocks' relaxation massage Leanne has had in her life and the groovy new skirt and dress she bought for her birthday - you can never have too many fashionable items when you are on a year-long camping trip!

The Bad: The poor-old beaches between Port Macquarie and the Sunshine Coast, many of which have lost between 50m and 100m of beach in recent wild storms and cyclones.

The Ugly: A certain car occupant's meltdown when we did, in fact, get bogged for a very short time on the beach near Minnie Waters. Paul let some air out of the tyres and we drove straight out......but not before a little tantrum from yours truly.

The Slightly Odd: Sitting in our very quiet litte campground at Hungry Beach, were were quite surprised to see a large procession of smart vehicles containing cheery, smartly-dressed campers file in over several hours. The big sing-along that night gave us a clue, but all was confirmed in the morning as I attempted to quietly skirt around the group to get to the loo, but was pleasantly invited to join them in prayer and hymns. It was most odd to see the evangelical-type leader pacing around with his microphone in one hand and bible in the other. But all their children were very well behaved - perhaps we should seek salvation!