Yeppoon (go the mighty Hawks)!

Well it was a good day on Saturday, especially if you were a Hawthorn supporter. We decorated the common room in Hawthorn colours with a token offering to Geelong in the interest of fair play, of a couple of blue and white interruptions to the gold and brown. We had a great afternoon with the others from the park and thought the Hawks thoroughly deserved the victory. It certainly made two people at least very happy (and their partners I might add!).
At the end of the day there was a sunset, just right to finish off a great weekend.
We’ve continued to enjoy our visit to Yeppoon with magnificent weather every day. This week is our last lazy time before moving on on Sunday as we travel fairly quickly to Pete and Dawn on our way home.

Yeppoon

On Monday we went to Mt. Morgan for the day which was a really interesting insight of what happens when mining finishes. Mt. Morgan 130 years ago boasted as being the richest gold mine in the world creating one of the biggest bustling towns outside of Brisbane in Queensland, producing 225 tonnes of gold, 50 tonnes of silver and 360,000 tonnes of copper.
We had a fascinating guided tour which took us over the township of Mt. Morgan and then up to the open cut mine where we saw the process being undertaken by the Queensland government to reinstate what is left. It really is like a ghost town and quite eerie.
There are also a number of historical buildings remaining including a toilet block high on the main street which has a heritage classification based on the fact that it was an air raid shelter during the war. It’s hard to imagine an easier target but there you are, it doesn’t have to be logical.
Also included in the tour was a visit to the fireclay caverns which were excavated by pick and shovel over 100 years ago. The caverns are home to seven species of bats and early Jurassic dinosaur footprints.
We’ve also been to the Byfield National Park for a walk and visited a pottery nearby for some retail therapy.
Today was the local free paper delivery and guess what – there was a bike advertised which was an absolute bargain – especially when Ian offered less than the advertised price. So now I can ride around Yeppoon as well as walking. We can take the front wheel off and it fits in the car too!
On Saturday we’re planning a Grand Final get together here as we’ve found another Hawthorn supporter hopefully to celebrate a victory otherwise I’ll be keeping a very low profile, maybe a solo bike ride on Sunday!

Yeppoon

We’ve been to Yeppoon before except that last year we were driven out by bad weather and only stayed a short while. This year we have been very fortunate and have enjoyed the best weather of our trip so we’ve decided to stay a while and enjoy.
Each morning we go 5 km into town and take a walk along the beachfront path which sets us up for the day. Most of the day has so far been spent enjoying the sunshine, reading, swimming and for me sewing. There is a particularly nice patchwork store here so I have been able to pay a couple of visits so far.
This morning we went to the market at Emu Park and snapped these extremely attractive camels who were there to provide a rather unique form of transport for those who thought it worthwhile. You’ll notice that there were no passengers when I took the photos and we didn’t partake.
At the park we’re staying at there is a nine hole golf course and so Ian and I decided to have a try, thinking it can’t be that hard – well it is and we played our nine holes more in the style of mini golf with my personal top score of 13 for one hole. My greatest claim to fame is that I didn’t lose any golf balls!

Seaforth

We’ve returned to Seaforth as we make our way slowly south and have booked into the same council park we stayed in last year. As is the way of a lot of things after amalgamation in Queensland the park has changed with all the sites being marked and having to select a site was a bit like hard work but we managed and have settled in well.
We had planned to do our walks along the beach as we had enjoyed them last year especially with the tide going out so far and making for easy walking so on the fist afternoon we set out to walk to the point which was quite a long way. Having made it that far we walked back along the road which seemed to take a lot longer with all the streets we had to walk up and down to return to the park. Eventually we arrived back and I think Ian had had quite enough!
The next morning I was talking to some campers who have stayed here many times and they suggested that we go to the Cape Hillsborough National Park which we did and thoroughly enjoyed a couple of walks which were self guided walks and took us through mangrove and coastal woodland communities on the edge of Sandy Bay. On the way back to the park we called in at a lovely tea house which is a converted railway station and enjoyed Devonshire Tea sitting at a table decorated with beautiful stitcheries which made my finger ache for a new project as I have almost finished all the sewing I have brought with me unlike last year when I just about brought everything in my sewing room with me, including my machine, which I bravely left home this year!
On Saturday afternoon we were sitting at the van reading when Ian had a visitor who sat on his leg for quite a while and then left a small offering twice! I think we must be the only people in the park who are not feeding the birds, hence the offering as an expression of disdain!
Before we left on Sunday morning after the lovely sunrise we went to the market at Seaforth having decided that we were really only going for a look and left with ten books and bags of beautiful fresh fruit and vegies to take on to Yepoon which is our next stop.

Tully

We stayed at Cowley Beach for an extra day so we could go to the Tully Gumboot Festival. Greg, Joan and Ollie came too. Ollie travels in style these days as his hips are not what they used to be. We almost looked like we should have been in the parade and Greg was hoping we would so we could win the $500 prize! However there were much better attractions than us I have to say and we were particularly taken by the mini fire engine!
Tully has a huge gum boot at the entry to the town and the height of the gumboot represents the annual rainfall recorded in 1950, 7.9 metres – the Australian Record.
After the parade we went to the showgrounds and enjoyed watching the politicians throw gumboots, a display of Indigenous dancing and the presentation of the prize for the best float. The whole day was to go through until the evening but we left after enjoying some lovely local fare.

Cowley Beach 2

Everywhere we go we find something unique which takes our interest and Cowley Beach is no different. We discovered a truly unique variety of palm tree known hereabouts as “thongus”. Well not really but it’s a very original use for displaced thongs so we added a pair of our own. Apparently it began with a collection of mismatched thongs many years ago and more are nailed on to the tree regularly. There must be over 200 nailed onto this tree.
We’ve discovered to our relief that we are not the only people travelling who cannot seem to make decisions about moving on easily. Our neighbours Greg and Joan and Ollie arrived two days ago for one night ….. they’re still here !
Yesterday (Friday) Greg and Joan invited Ian to go for a ride in their tinny across to the islands not far off the coast. So off they went whilst I stayed on shore with Ollie who’s recovering from a nasty dose of kennel cough and is at present not too keen on going anywhere despite the fact that he has his own lifejacket for sea travel and a pram for land wandering!
So the two pirates and their damsel set sail for the island and had a lovely time exploring until Greg (the chief pirate!) discovered that the vessel was drifting away from the shore with some determination. It may have had something to do with the tide and also the fact that the anchor was still on board! Off into the water went Greg swimming and arriving at the boat to discover that he couldn’t get on board as the water was too deep. In went Ian to the rescue and between them they returned to the island and Joan. Lucky really considering the phone and the water were ….. on the boat! Ah well, all returned to Ollie and I none the worse for wear and enjoying a good laugh. Joan has recorded the whole incident and I hope to publish incriminating photos at some time. Should be a very good dinner party story.
After lunch Joan and I walked to the point which is about 5kms each way and despite an offer from Ian and Greg in the boat we walked all the way back. Can’t imagine why I declined can you?

Cowley Beach

Well we said we were moving and we did – sort of – actually we moved about 50kms down the beach to another park right on the water which is lovely. We were just driving down the road after refuelling in Innisfail and I saw a sign for Cowley Beach. As is our custom we drove down the road for a look and after checking out the park and the beach we booked in for two nights to begin with but now after our initial two nights we are staying for seven!
We’ve enjoyed walking along the beach for an hour each day and discovered on our first morning discovered part of the beach front contains a Defence Department facility which we have ascertained from Warwick’s father is a Training facility. On our second morning we discovered some of our country’s finest undertaking training in dinghy’s along the shore. As with our previous encounter with the Army, this was apparently not without incident and on our walk back to the park we passed a rubber dinghy being pumped up with a foot pump. Reminded us of the APC which was not cooperating!
We’ve also encountered a large flock of pelicans taking in the sea air and probably dinner when we walked up the beach yesterday and discovered that the far end of the beach trails away into a river.
We’ve been into Tully for shopping and will return there on Saturday for the Golden Gumboot Festival which I will write of afterwards and also include a photo of the huge gumboot which dominates the entry to the main shopping centre.
Speaking of big, we’re always on the lookout for ‘bigs’ and along the beach yesterday we saw a huge cuttlefish which we were going to collect on our way back only to find someone beat us to it which was disappointing. However when we walked down in the other direction today we saw dozens of them so here’s our very own edition of ‘bigs’. If anyone would like some cuttlefish, just let us know, we can collect plenty in smaller sizes before we leave on Sunday.
When I was waiting for the washing yesterday I had a friend who was very curious about what I was doing and I’m sure would have come into the laundry had I not walked (quickly!) back to the van for the camera.