Month: July 2018

Is another one of those charming little towns you’d probably only visit if you were travelling up the coast or lived in the area and wanted to get away somewhere sleepy for the weekend. 

Leonie had booked us in for over a week as we planned to leave the Van here while we visited Fraser Island. We arrived later than we planned as I spent a few hours at Zone RV HQ on the way up while they diagnosed why our fridge would only work on 240v and not 12v. 

We’re finding out when your home is the van – any sort of repair or maintenance can be a bit of ‘federal case’ – the logistics of what you do when the van is being repaired, especially if you need to move out and in again can be a right pain. In this case we we’re glad we didn’t have to empty our fridge/freezer or have it completely replaced. Zone arranged for a Dometic engineer to visit us in the park the next morning – one PCB swapout and all was well.

The late arrival meant it was easy to justify getting Fish ‘n Chips from the ‘Snack Shack’ as recommended by the park owner. Correct Decision. Turned out to be the best fish ‘n chips we’ve had so far across 3 states. It was the salad that made all the difference – massive amounts of really crispy green lettuce leaves combined with delicious ‘Red Emporer’ fillets made it 5 star! Still not sold on the need for grated cheese with a green salad though. Highly Recommended.

Next day, we got the bikes down and all five of us went for a ride to explore the town. There is a great path that starts near the CP and takes you right to the marina. We past a great kids park, the ‘Snack Shack’, Fresh fish Market and found out where you can feed the famous Dolphins of Tin Can Bay at the marina.

I love these bike rides with the whole family, it’s really quality family time, and I’m so glad we made the call the to bring the bikes on the trip even though they weigh quite a bit, we’ve used them loads.  

Rest of the day was spent chilling around the CP – the girls we’re entertained till night time playing with some new friends they met in the CP. At every opportunity they are frantically asking can we go back and play with our friends.

This is only their second time on the trip  that there have been other kids in the park and they’ve had a chance to make friends. I suspect as we head north this will happen more often – kids are so good at making friends quickly.

We headed out to Rainbow Beach for the day and planned to drive the beach for a bit and have lunch. I had read about the ‘Carlo Sand Blow’ and it being great for sand surfing so we stopped in town to hire a couple of Sand boards and found our way there. 

It’s a great big sand dune that stretched all the way to the ocean with fantastic views down to ‘Double Island’. We all had a blast flying down the steepest part of the dune but the lady in the hire shops was right – it’s exhausting climbing back up it! 

Onward to Rainbow beach itself – I had planned to maybe drive on the beach as far as the lagoons at ‘Double Island’ but we had left it too late, the tide had turned and I didn’t fancy being the subject of one of those facebook vids of your 4wd bogged and flooded on a rising tide!

So we setup on the safe side of the rocks for probably the most relaxing afternoon on the beach since all the work I had been doing recently and out time in Byron Bay.

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity of getting some great photos of the girls at this clever piece of public art in Rainbow Beach before heading home for the day. Fortuitously, the girls had a rainbow outfit, perfect!

On our last day, before heading to Fraser Island we just had to go and check out the ‘Dolphin Experience’.

It was a lovely morning with the river glassy. For $10, you got to get up close to the dolphins who come say hello most mornings and feed them. 

After experiencing the ‘Dolphin Feeding’ lottery of Monkey Mia in WA and the careful controls to ensure the level of feeding does not impact the natural hunting abilities of the Dolphins, we we’re a bit surprised to learn everyone would get a chance to feed these Dolphins. 

However we only fed them very small fish, and we learned the feeding only provides a very small percentage of their daily requirements. Needless to say the girls loved it and it was well worth getting up early for.

After a great breaky at the Dolphin Cafe – it was on to Fraser Islan

It was going to be a short travel day today so we stopped along the way to visit the Big Pineapple. Seems it may have seen better days but we still enjoyed our visit. With an ice cream and ride on the little train that takes you through some forest, orchard, and a zoo the kids thought it was great.

Our next stay was at Lansborough Pines Caravan Park. A beautiful setting and well maintained park nestle amoungst trees on a little man made lake it had a lovely rural feel. With goats just along the fence line chickens and a wide variety of water birds there was always something to observe and many distractions for the girls. The goats were a big hit and nicely fattened up after our visit.

Landsborough itself is at the base of the Blackall Ranges. It came to being as a “port of call” for the Cobb and Co coaches stopping for refreshment but became a larger town supporting the early logging industry. Once gold was discovered further north in Gympie it grew even more as the rush for Gold brought larger numbers of people through the region. It was durning this period it was renamed Landsborough after William Landsborough (born in Scotland) the first European explorer to cross Australia north to south.

Our first day was a quiet one around the caravan park, schooling, washing, cleaning, working and playing. The next day we packed a picnic lunch and where making our way to Kondalilla Falls National Park for a picnic and walk. Fortuitously we stopped at Gerrard’s Lookout to take in the views and grab a coffee and it turns out Mr Gerrard not only ownes the property but makes coffee and offers great tourist advice. He whipped out a map and showed us a fabulous circuit to drive and spots to stop. The coffee was good, as was the map and we ended up having a cracker of a day.

 

We did a beautiful walk to the rock pools in the national park. The trees were stunning, views vast and rock pools freezing. You could only dip a toe in briefly before it was burning with cold. It was only 4 km’s with about 150 stairs and there was much complaining from the peanut gallery but they loved it in the end

We decided we had earned afternoon tea so stopped at the Flaxton Barn and had a best lemon meringue pie and Devonshire tea you could hope for. Completely worth the calories!

The rest of the drive was gorgeous. Lush rural landscapes, rolling hills and climbing peaks, bathed in the light of late afternoon.

A stop at Kenilworth treated us to a fun and creative playground. We have come across a number of playgrounds with equipment we’ve never seen before. It’s with great delight that the girls try it out and Ken and I have been known to get in on the action.

It was getting late and the setting sun was casting a lovely light but we weren’t going to make it home before dark so we opted to pop into a German restauant in Maleny for dinner. What a Fantastic place! A family run business only opening two nights a week, with spectacular views of the Glasshouse Mountains. The hostess/owner was so good, making us welcome and really caring for all her customers, it was old fashioned service. The food didn’t disappoint either.

All in all, the day was one that nourished all the senses.

The following day we only ventured out in the afternoon to visit Montville and views of the Glasshouse Mountains, in daylight this time. Beautiful but chilli, the weather has really become cold with a bitterness to it. Mental note, really must press on to the north!

 

That night we stayed in a cabin in the caravan park so that Ken could get an early start and hitch up the van to get it down to Brisbane to have the suspension serviced. Us girls just hung around Landsboroughs cafe’s, playgrounds and the caravan park, on the look our for any cats but none to be found. Folks in the park were very kind offering us shelter and water as the day went on. We must have looked a little strange sitting on our empty camp site with no van and we put on a fabulous show with a massive meltdown over school work. Argh, same shit, different scenery. Still the scenery was lovely and school outdoors beats the alternative, even if it was bitterly cold.

Our last day here was one we had all been anticipating with excitement, a visit to Australia Zoo. And it didn’t disappoint. It really is a wonderful zoo, the animal enclosures are really fabulous for the animals and all day you see animals out and about walking or being walked around the zoo giving you an opportunity to get up close and speak to the keepers.

 

 

The girls both did an animal experience, Charlotte and Ken with dingos and Georgia and I with a couple of wombats. They loved this and it was a great educational experience. Turns out wombats are very stubborn and can be unfriendly so while we learnt a lot there wasn’t the cuddles Georgia was hoping for. The show at the crocoseum was terrific and again educational for us especially as we are heading for croc country in the next few weeks.

We had a full day but didn’t get to do all we would have liked to, the option to do it over two days may have been best, but as always, so grateful to be able to share these experiences at all. The lovely thing is the girls have both been inspired by the message of wildlife conservation which is what Steve and the Irwin family are so passionate about.

The added little bonus was the introduction to Bindi’s series of books, well written, engaging and always have a great message. After three months of reading the same things over and over this is been a breath of fresh air for us all.

There is much more we would have liked to explore around the Sunshine Coast. Striking a balance between work, maintenance and repairs have meant we may just have to visit here again. I’m already looking forward to it. 😉 For now, north to a bit more warmth.

After Byron bay we decided to park up the van and stay in an apartment for four days and explore the city of Brisbane (we couldn’t park the van in the middle of the city because there where no caravan parks.)

We arrived late in the afternoon, dad had to drop off the car so we where all wondering wether he went over the top (which he some times dose).The billiding had 74 stories, and geuss what… we are on the 73!!!!!! I am a tinny baby bit afraid of heights, but the view made up for it all.

On our next day we got up and ready to explore Brisbane. We walked along South Bank and then we dicided to catch river cruise and they had morning tea, yum.

 

Then we went for lunch, on to the museum and shopping for a new out fit. It was such a long day and I just wanted to get home. That night we ordered take away to the room.

The next day we mainly just explored but in the evening we went to…….ALADIN 🧞‍♂️It was amazing the dancing and all.

 

The last day we went to …… ……. DREAMWORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So much fun, even if we missed all the scary rides. I really enjoyed the water park.

I loved Brisbane! 😀

 

Lotte out 🦄.