A short walk
The weather had certainly improved on our last day at Lake Cootharaba and after lunch Allthego set off on the short loop walk to Mill Point. About 5.5 km, say an hour or so. Homealone remained behind for some quiet time.
Mill Point is where, in the mid late 1800s, there was a saw mill on the shores of the lake. Timber felled in the Hinterland was transported there to be cut and barged down the Noosa river and then by sea to Brisbane.
Some 60 families lived here in very basic accomodation. The Mill closed in 1898 and the area was given over to dairy and cattle growing. Allthego diverted down another track a kilometre to the old cemetery, a grassy patch surrounded by forest.
No headstones or burial mounds, but a memorial rock engraved with the names of those buried there. A quiet place to reflect on the times.
The grazing stopped in 1973 when the area became a national park. National Parks has done a lot of revegetation work and the area is reverting slowly to its former state. Still a lot of weeds and pests. There are some big stands of paperbarks beside the track.
All that remains of the old mill is a rusting boiler and some pipes being consumed by vegetation. Some fence posts and rails can be seen in amongst the trees. A brick chimney and stone steps are all that remain of a dairy building.
The diversion to the cemetery and the reading of the information boards has turned the one hour stroll into a two and a bit wander. Some perspiration and thirst had also been worked up and back in camp CootharaBAR called for a cold Amber ale before dinner.
We now head off for Rainbow Beach, one of the gateways to Fraser Island.
Bakery
As we headed off to Boreen Point it started to team down with rain. Absolutely cats and dogs. A few ducks as well. There is no bakery at Boreen Point. So we headed to Pomona, kept raining even harder at times. Water was lapping the side of the road in spots.
In Pomona we initially couldn’t find the bakery. So called into the IGA store for the milk and see what the bread was like. Waited in the truck for a while to see if the rain would ease up, it didn’t so Allthego went for a slow dash through the puddles. Got the milk and left the shop. Rain had stopped suddenly and the sun was trying to make an appearance. Found the bakery too. Next door to the Pomona Hotel in which we had stayed for a night 15 years or so ago.
We were at Pomona then, with some people from the Brisbane Club’s movie interest group, to see a silent movie at the town’s Majestic Theatre. A Rudolph Valentino classic from the 1920s, ‘ The Son of the Sheik’. An organist played along with the movie for the dramatic effects. They still play the movie now on the first Thursday of the month, although now paused for a short time.
Their Christmas movie is Holiday Inn, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and others. A must see! Maybe we will come up for it.
But, back to the bakery. Apart from a loaf of bread and some buns Allthego was tempted by a french vanilla slice, as opposed to an ordinary vanilla slice. The french vanilla slice has a layer of cream on top of the custard and no icing with the swirls of chocolate like the ordinary one. We took this back to the van for afternoon tea. A sausage roll was also acquired to fill a hole, it was getting well past lunch time. This was excellent, nice flaky pastry.
We then headed back to the campground for lunch to be followed by the vanilla slice. It was pretty gooey and oozed out between the pastry, which was a bit chewy. Have had better.
We were getting some late afternoon sun and a pink sunset over the lake. “Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight”, maybe the weather is turning for the better?
Setting off in the rain
We are off again but it is with the threat of plenty of rainy days. This is going to be a short outing in our near backyard. We are heading north for a few days at Lake Cootharaba. The lake is north of Noosa and is quite shallow, no more than 2m. It is more or less a big pool of water in the upstream Noosa River channel. We may then head further north to Rainbow Beach before returning home.
As we set off from Bedwell Pl the weather was not too bad, warm and steamy. Stopped for a quick sandwich lunch along Steve Irwin Way in the shadow of Mt Tibrogargan, one of the Glasshouse Mountains. There was a cairn here marking the spot where Matthew Flinders camped in 1799. He had intended to climb the mountain, but didn’t as he was put off by the steepness of the climb.
Arrived at the habitatnoosa everglades ecocamp (a mouthfull) beside the lake mid afternoon, it is a few km from the Boreen Point township, out from Pomona. Five nights for the price of 3, a good deal for grey nomads. This is a great spot.
Besides van and tent sites there are a large number of glamping tents. The admin block houses the cleverly named ’CootharaBAR’ and a restaurant. Craft beer made on the spot too! Not a lot of people around. Would be crowded come school holidays. Have had a good burger for lunch at the restaurant, plenty of chips fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately.
We are now midway through the stay and the weather has turned out as forecast, cloudy with on and off drizzle. Quite heavy one night. Patches of sunshine though. Relaxing though under the awning, plenty of birds around as well as a resident goanna.
About to head to Boreen Point to stock up on milk and bread at the bakery, maybe something else as well.
THE END IS NEAR – NORTH KIRRA TO PT. DANGER
But delayed by a day. There has been a weather delay in completing the last 4 kilometres to Pt Danger. Allthego had to skip Thursday due to a rather bad weather forecast putting a dampener on the final leg. Friday morning though saw the weather ultimately clear to blue skies after some early morning downpours on the Gold Coast. So it was back to North Kirra Beach to pick up where the walk was called off a couple of days ago.
From North Kirra the walk closely follows the beaches all the way through Greenmount Beach at the southern end of Coolangatta Beach. Along the Kirra section of the pathway is a memorial to the sailing ship ‘Coolangatta’ which washed up on the beach in a storm in 1846. This was the origin of the name ‘Coolangatta ‘ for the small town that developed on the coast from about 1884. ‘Coolangatta’ is an aboriginal word meaning “Good Outlook” of “Fine View”. Quite apt! There are also a few sculptures along the pathway. Another one of the Koalas promoting Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and the somewhat unusual ‘Nailing the Gold Coast’, a number of ‘steel things’ embedded in the grass to various depths resembling nails.
Coolangatta Beach was soon reached, lot of building work going on. The parkland between the main drag and the beach very green and attractive. The tide was out and there was quite an expanse of sand down to the water. Coolangatta and Tweed Heads is an old stamping ground for Homealone, she was born at Murwillumbah and lived at Tweed Heads for a number of years, enjoying Coolangatta Beach with her two sisters on many an occasion. The town has moved on a bit since then one suspects, there is an electric vehicle charging station right outside the Coolangatta SLSC. A Tesla was tied up to it getting a fill up, reminds one of the days when horses were tethered to rails outside hotels.
Allthego couldn’t resist ducking down a side street to have a look at the ‘wall’ Queen Anna has built to keep the southeners out, this segment just closed off the exits from the roundabout outside Twin Towns Services Club. A big sign there says ‘Welcome to NSW’, couldn’t see the ‘Welcome to Qld ‘ sign anywhere!
After checking the wall out Allthego returned to the main task and continued along the pathway around the Greenmount Headland, great views along the path here looking back down Coolangatta Beach. Rainbow Bay marks the closing stages of the walk as the path winds its way along the beachfront past the iconic SLSC on the hill looking back all the way to Surfers Paradise and beyond. On past the famous Snapper Rocks surfing locale the path heads up to Pt Danger and the view over the mouth of the Tweed River to the south and then back north past the Spit and Seaway.
That is the end. It has taken Allthego five mornings, about 3-4 hours of walking each day, to complete the 36 km from the Seaway to Pt Danger. It has been an interesting journey, a few things learned and to be remembered. Some do the walk in the opposite direction, Allthgo is not tempted!
PALM BEACH TO NORTH KIRRA BEACH
Over the last three days Allthego has been notching up a few kilometres more than planned and as a consequence is ahead of schedule. This a good outcome because the weather is deteriorating and rain a threat to further progress later in the week. So the objective today is to try to do 12 kilometres and get to Point Danger a couple of days early and beat the rain. The forecast is similar to what we had yesterday, so there is a good chance. Gillian has also come down to join me on the trek and encourage the pace required.
We set off from opposite The Collective where we had lunch yesterday. It was a few more blocks of roadway before turning towards the beach and joining the pathway through the Palm Beach Parklands and along the back waters of Currumbin Creek.
Then back to the Highway to cross Currumbin Creek and head out to the mouth on the southern side. There is a sand pump going strong alongside a large sand bar near the creek mouth. The sand is being pumped several hundred metres north along the beach. The area we are in is known as Currumbin Alley, a top surfing spot. Not many in the water though on this dull windy day. We watched a kite surfer skipping along the surf line at a great rate, quite spectacular, against the backdrop of Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise.
Back on the walkway we headed past Currumbin Beach SLSC and Elephant Rock, a seventy step climb to look down to Coolangatta and Pt Danger away in the distance. At this point I started to wonder whether we would make it! The weather was closing in a bit too and we were soon stepping out in some drizzle that slowly got heavier.
We stopped a few times under Pandanus palms and Tuckeroo trees for shelter, Bilinga Beach had some welcome shelters next to the Surf Club. We had got a little wet and decided to call time at North Kirra Beach, some four kilometres short of the destination, having called Homealone for the pickup.
Temptation was too great though and the three of us had lunch at the Club while rain tumbled down on the tin roof! Timing is everything! It was then back to Broadbeach for a hot shower and warm up. Four kilometres in the final stage to Pt Danger, weather permitting!
NOBBYS BEACH TO PALM BEACH
Stage three of the trek is from Nobbys Beach through to Palm Beach, about 8.5 km. Nobbys Beach is apparently named after a local farmer’s cow that wandered down there back in the ‘old days’, it is a rather quiet place. The walk goes along the street past the surf club before returning to the foreshore on the way down to Miami Beach. The weather is not great, very overcast with the threat of some rain. But it is great walking weather. The beach scenes though are rather glum, the sky misty and a pervading ‘grey’ hangs around. It feels like a bit of a race to get to Palm Beach before the rain comes!
Miami is also rather laid back, it has a ‘residential’ rather than a ‘tourist’ air about it. There is a little family history here in Miami. Allthego’s father worked as a wool shipping clerk for a French company that owned a unit in the Coel-Na-Mara unit complex. For a number of years around 1990 the parents had holidays here at Miami in the unit and we dropped down from Brisbane to see them for a couple of days. The unit complex is still here today, but Miami is somewhat changed. Have to look back in the old photo albums for a comparison!
At the southern end of Miami Beach some steps lead to the top of Little Burleigh Hill giving great views north back over Miami to Surfers Paradise and south to Burleigh Headland. Up the steps and down Little Burleigh Headland proves to be the steepest part of the walk so far, but once down to the beach it is back on the level. The Boardwalk leads along the foreshore through the Burleigh township to Burleigh Headland NP. A little bit of drizzle sets in but fortunately stops as the walk goes up the headland into the National Park. Allthego chooses the coastal path around the headland which winds it’s way around to Tallebudgera Creek.
Once across the creek it is down the Gold Coast Highway to Palm Beach, there is though a short stretch of foreshore boardwalk to enjoy. More is planned but there is an ongoing planning battle with residents about the pathway and where it goes. One suspects the Gold Coast Council will eventually win out. Allthego wont wait!
So, the trudge down the highway from 27th Avenue to Seventh Avenue is necessary, a little bit of drizzle as well. Urban walking! There was temptation to stop for a coffee. The streetscape has that tired feeling about it. Revitalization is needed. Here and there the housing is getting a bit ragged and the 1960s and 70s gloss is fading. Some would say it has rubbed off and been replaced by nothing! Some of the old beach ‘shacks’ are going and redevelopment is going ahead. There seems to be a rear guard action being fought to stop the light rail coming south from Burleigh Heads. Unlikely!
Finally, just past Seventh Avenue Allthego spotted The Collective, an eating establishment he had read about. It was about 12.30 and time for lunch, it was getting a bit wet as well. So the call went out for Homealone to head off for the pickup and lunch.
Allthego can recommend The Collective. It is a ‘collection’ of themed eateries, like sidewalk windows of food! One sits down and can order from an IPad. The selection covers American alfresco foods (mainly hamburgers and the like), a woodfired pizza bar and pasta, Greek delicacies, some Asian fusion nibbles and something else I have forgotten. Played some 60s 70s soft rock and country music as well! And it rained cats and dogs while we ate! A wise stop indeed.
It was then back to Broadbeach and recovery time.
NARROWNECK TO NOBBYS BEACH
We awoke on Monday to the threat of rain for the rest of the week! This was a little disappointing but Allthego is setting off anyway. Rain is needed. The next section of the trek resumes at Narrowneck and extends 8km south to Nobbys Beach Surf Life Saving Club. The sun and blue skies have gone but the rain has held off. Had a short walk around Mackintosh Island Park, in the Nerang River. Very pleasant spot in the hurly burly of Narrowneck, some black swans had recently had newborns and the peacocks were showing their colours.
The walkway heads south and soon comes to Surfers Paradise. Capital of the glitter strip. There are a lot of information boards around documenting the history of the area from the 1950s. Memories of Meter Maids and that guy who went around rubbing suntan lotion on people, as well as surfing legends and the bikini lady, Paula Stafford. Cavill Avenue history also gets a run.
Major redevelopment is taking place to revamp the precinct, the 2018 Commonwealth Games mascot is still hanging around along the waterfront. Moving along from Surfers the next calling point is Broadbeach, plenty of building activity is taking place. The boardwalk ends here and Allthego needs to take to the streets for the long walk along Hedges Avenue to Mermaid Beach.
Hedges Avenue is a narrow street lined with private homes and the odd apartment block, generally low rise. It is known as ‘millionaire’s row’. The homes have title rights down to the highwater mark, making it difficult to put a boardwalk up between them and the beach. Spoil the ambience and property values. It is a mixed bag though, modern homes mixed with original ‘beach shacks’ from the 1950s and 60s. It is a slow stroll down the Avenue from number 270 something to number 1 Hedges at Mermaid Beach. Quite a nice Surf Club here and cafe precinct. But there are magpies. Allthego, politely minding his movements, was dive bombed by one of these characters a couple of times in the parkland opposite the Club.
It was then back onto the streets for the stroll through to Nobbys Beach Surf Life Saving Club. Homealone duly arrived with the transport and we headed back to Broadbeach to Kurrawa Beach SLSC for a thirst quencher, couldn’t resist a serve of potato wedges and sour cream overlooking the ocean!
GOLD COAST
We have come down to the Gold Coast for a week of fun in the sun. No van. Staying at Broadbeach in a unit opposite Pacific Fair and nearby the Star Casino. Queensland has survived another COVID ‘scare’, so we have escaped the Brisbane suburbs for the glitter strip. This is a trip though with a purpose as Allthego is preparing for a multi day walk in Tasmania in the new year. Some training is required, drop some kilos and loosen the legs. Homealone will hold the fort and act as a transport operative, and no doubt do some craft things in between!
The objective is to walk from the Seaway on the Spit to Pt Danger at the NSW border, along what is known as the Ocean Way. This is about 36 km along the foreshore bikeways and walkways. There are some segments where the Ocean Way does not exist and one has to revert to the streets. This particularly applies in some areas where houses have rights down to the high tide mark. They do not want the general populace wandering past their back door spoiling the ambience of the locale!
Allthego has got out the maps and believes that this is a leisurely stroll and can be comfortably completed in 5-6 days, retiring each night to the Broadbeach accommodation. Some would do it a lot quicker but would miss the photo opportunities and cultural experiences along the way!
Day 1 has been successfully completed, approximately 8km. The Seaway to Narrowneck, including walking out and back along the seawall. The Seaway separates South Stradbroke Island from the northern end of the Gold Coast. Narrowneck is the thin ‘strip’ of land that separates the meandering Nerang River from the sea, a couple of kilometres south of Main Beach.
Leaving the Seaway the walk meanders down what is known as the Federation Walk, a track behind and among the sand dunes passing through areas of remnant rainforest. There are lots of people around. It is a dog off leash area, including the beach between the seawall and the sand pumping jetty. There are more dogs than people. Dogs everywhere, it is Sunday, but a pleasant stroll through to Main Beach and then along the walkway to Narrowneck.
A bit weary so it was back to the unit for recovery. Further south tomorrow!
LAST FLOWERS
Our time in Toowoomba is coming to an end and we are heading off to Crows Nest NP about 50 km to the north for a couple of days. After a slow get away (we always seem to have slow get aways for some reason) we have found ourselves calling into a couple of suburban gardens that are open to the public. They are at Highfields, about 15 km north on the way to Crows Nest NP, in the same street a couple of blocks apart. The houses here are on quite large blocks ideally suited to sprawling sorts of gardens. Anyway, these two have totally different sorts of gardens.
House A has a predominance of bush type layout, all sorts of natives haphazardly planted here and there, lots of blooms and pieces of stuff lying around the garden, old wheel barrows, animals made out of old garden tools etc. Fascinating place to wander around.
House B was a more classical sort of layout, with defined garden beds and edgings. Still plenty of natives but a greater use of spring flowering annuals. Very green grass defining the spaces between the beds. We liked both of them, oodles of work though!
Finally departed and headed for the NP where we set up camp in a very nice spot. Fire pit beside the van, plenty of room to spread out. We are going to head back from here to Toowoomba for the Grand Central Floral Parade, it will just be for the morning then back here to recover!
The parade was indeed a great colourful pageant. The theme was ‘butterflies’. Floats were pretty good. It was an interesting dynamic of the typical country sort of thing, local community groups, major employers, sports clubs and schools. Added to this were the pipe bands, drum bands and various combinations of these. Army band.
Interspersed were the various ethnic groups putting on a great colourful enthusiastic performance; Indians, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Muslim, Sikh. This parade has been going on for donkey’s years. It would have looked different back in the 1960’s.
Now back to Brisbane. That melon festival at Chinchilla might be a good place to head next!
CHANGE OF PACE
Time for a change of pace and get away from the flowers, or at least try to. Everyman and his dog (is that politically correct these days?) seems to be participating in the festival atmosphere by planting a few annuals, putting up banners etc. So we have gone off to a few places where the flowers are not the main action. The journey took us out to Drayton on Toowoomba’s south western flank. This was where settlement first took place in the late 1840s, later moving a bit further east to present day Toowoomba.
Drayton is where Toowoomba’s big sprawling cemetery is located, established in 1864. Quite an expanse of grave stones and lawn cemetery, plaques etc. There is quite an attractive section with gardens and a water feature. Probably the best spot to be for the long haul! We had a little bit of a drive around, up and down the grave lane ways. Doing the guided historical stroll searching for past icons and other famous types did not appeal. There is a night time tour that might be a bit more interesting, focuses on the macabre deaths!
After a while we moved on to the DownsSteam tourist railway and museum. This is a very active restoration group. They are nearing completion of their major project, the restoration of a C16 steam locomotive that was originally built in Toowoomba in 1914. It is the only remaining one of its type. To be known as the ‘Pride of Toowoomba’. The project should be completed in the first half of 2022 at which time plans are afoot to run locomotive trips out to Warwick, then south to Stanthorpe and Wallangarra on the border with NSW. From Warwick there is the ability to go further west to Goondiwindi. They have a good set up at Drayton in yards beside and access to the main line. The steam train has apparently passed most of its operating tests, regulatory and safety hoops and hurdles are the next challenges. They also have six or maybe seven stainless steel carriages being prepared for the trips.
The workshops also have their flower beds in bloom. They say they ‘compete’ with Spring Bluff to see who can do the best layout. There is an old photo reproduction of an oil painting of a steam train coming through Spring Bluff Station, it would have been a quite impressive sight chugging up the steep incline.
Time for a little more history at the National Trust property the Royal Bull’s Head Inn. It has been slowly restored to its mid to late 19th century glory. It was established by an ex convict in 1847 as stopover point on the journey from Moreton Bay to the Darling Downs. There were lodgings, stables for animals and rooms for social occasions in the town. The double story Inn would have been quite a sight along the dusty roads. There is a rickety old kitchen set up attached to the back of the building that would have provided meals and snacks to patrons. Although closed for inspection we managed to get a quick look through the building as a guide was there preparing for a late afternoon tour group and she let us wander around. Of course there were also a few gardens in bloom just to be part of the Festival action.
We managed to get in another lunch at Gips restaurant. They were putting on a festival special which Allthego couldn’t resist, a pastrami sandwich. Traditionally, pastrami sandwiches are made with rye bread, but these days anything seems to go so long as it is a tasty artisan type bread. The chef at Gips used some Turkish bread and it was very tasty! Homealone passed on the sandwich and had some whiting filets with chips.
We now head to Crows Nest NP, it is about 50km north of Toowoomba, for a couple of days. We are going to return to Toowoomba from there for the festival’s Grand Central Floral Parade. An iconic event and a bit of a highlight for the locals. One hundred thousand people are supposed to line the streets and fill the parks.
YET MORE FLOWER BEDS
We are away again on the trail of flower beds and gardens. But first an interlude. We have been the victim of a clothes line heist. Yes, Homealone has done a wash and hung things out to dry and low and behold someone has snatched items from the line! Never before has this happened to us. What has gone? Two towels. They could have taken the old stretched underwear, but no it was the two towels that we have had for nearly ten years! Lucky we have two spares on board. Homealone was ‘generous’ and thought it might have been a husband who was a bit confused and sort of grabbed them from the line as they were leaving the park thinking they were theirs! Argh, argh!!!
Back to the gardens.
First stop off was at the Boyce Gardens. This is an old property gifted to the University of Queensland by the Boyce’s who lived here for 60 years or so. It is a great property. Toowoomba by the way is a big bowl. The city CBD and commercial area sit in the bottom and the residential areas are on the fringes and ridges that surround the bowl. The Boyce Gardens look down into the bowl from the eastern side of town. It is a great rambling sort of place, order within disorder!
A change of pace then took us to Newtown Park on the western side of the city. Here lies the Queensland State Rose Garden. Newtown Park has been around for a long time dating back to pre WW1 days and hosting all sorts of community activities ever since. The plaques that abound tell all sorts of tales of the human adventures that took place in the park. World War mobilizations, community halls and activities, dances, croquet, horses etc. But these days it seems roses are the main go. Now roses are funny things and they just do not fit the timing of the Toowoomba Festival of Flowers! We had a little chat with a lady who seemed to be involved with the Garden, her line was ‘ we are all volunteers you know’. She gave us a brochure and explained that the roses were due to bloom October, not September! But we still had a walk around and there were a few blooms out, there are always early bloomers.
Third stop for the day was at Laurel Bank Park, back in the city. The gardens here were in great form. They had a dinosaur theme running through them. Many of the beds had ‘hidden’ dinosaurs in them that could only be seen when looking down from above. There is a stand in the park that allows you to get up a few metres and look down into the garden beds. Some pretty clever gardeners involved in this! The Loch Ness monster was even there peering out from under some flowers.
Pictures tell a story in a way words cannot. The Toowoomba Parks have been just so good! Excellent even!
Allthego has been having some teething problems with the blog. We have to work with some new design software. Why do things have to change! Photo inserts are a particular learning curve and some gremlins are causing some inconsistencies in the post layouts. Hopefully I will get on top of this shortly! I am told by the system that I need to do some tutorials on the new software. Mmmmmm. I have done lots of tutorials over the years and am getting past them!
More flower beds to come!
MORE FLOWER BEDS
The flower beds call and we are off to Spring Bluff Railway Station to check out their floral display. Spring Bluff is a heritage listed railway station on the Brisbane -Toowoomba line. It was a key stop for steam engines as they climbed up the Toowoomba Range. The line is now mostly a freight line and there are few passenger services, none stop at Spring Bluff. A very colorful display indeed.
This journey is not only about flowers, it is also a food and wine festival experience, and there is much promotion of local food establishments and regional produce. A number of country pubs in nearby towns are being promoted for an eat out. After strolling around Spring Bluff we headed off to Meringandan, a small town about 25 km north of Toowoomba. There is a country pub here owned by Geoff Murphy. This fellow played lock for the North Sydney Bears back in the mid 70s. Very popular place and the bar is adorned with a collection of NRL team logos.
It was quite appropriate that the Parramatta Eels were placed side by side on the wall with the Newcastle Knights, we had just beaten these characters in the race to the grand final. Anyway the food here was just great. Enormous meals, great steaks. Homealone called for a doggy bag and we took half her Parmie back to the van for later consumption. We had some soup for dinner and retired to bed very satisfied.
Queens Park was next on the list. This Park is a dominant land mark in Toowoomba. It has its origins in the mid 1870s with the establishment of the botanical gardens. Adjacent to this is a great area of rambling parkland and playing fields. A great display of spring blooms were on show. It is hard to describe. Bed after bed of flowering plants that are in full bloom. People everywhere examining the plantings. A few selfie takers among the flowers as well.
We are getting into the habit of finishing off the garden bed touring around lunchtime and heading off somewhere for a snack before returning to the van to put our feet up for the afternoon. A good number of the food establishments have a special menu item to promote the Carnival, We thought we should support some of them. So it was off to Urban Grounds where we had some ‘salmon, citrus and caper croquettes’; with a nice little green avocado and grilled lemon salad. Very tasty and a fitting end to the mornings activities!
More flower beds to come!
ESCAPE FROM BRISBANE
The van has finally been fixed and we are on the road again. Only 4 months to fix the broken suspension, delay in getting parts. COVID probably contributed too! For the last couple of weeks we have been sweating on the daily Queensland COVID announcements and case numbers. Would our dear leader call a ‘short sharp lockdown’ to quell an outbreak and thereby prevent us from getting to Toowoomba to smell the flowers at the 2021 Carnival of Flowers and Food Festival? No, she didn’t and so here we are in Toowoomba among the free for a bit over a week. Escaped.
We are staying in the Jolly Swagman Caravan Park which is pretty well located for an urban experience, not the greatest ambience but it is clean and well maintained. No fires! Been here before, so it is familiar. The weather is also good, clear sunny skies are forecast for the week, the air is crisp in the mornings and it gets a little chilly at night.
The Carnival is an iconic Queensland event. It has been going for 72 years and is Australia’s longest running horticultural event. I’m not so sure about this as some of the capital city Easter shows have surely been going longer, perhaps they don’t fit the ‘horticultural’ category? This year the Festival has been expanded to take up the entire month of September.
Anyway, we have come up the mountain to have a look at some of the public spaces and private gardens that are on show and also check out the food and wine part of things. After checking into the Jolly Swagman and some lunch the first stop was at Picnic Point which is at the top of the Range and looks back down over the coastal plain. Quite a view and some nicely laid out garden beds were in full bloom.
Saturday morning saw us at the Farmers Markets to stock up on some food items. Got caught at the organic pig farm butchery truck with what was some overpriced bacon and pork chops. It was then time to join the masses at the Food and Wine Festival in Queens Park for the afternoon and evening. There was all day entertainment on the big stage and numerous local food and vineyard outlets plying their fare. Quite a multicultural food offering. We settled for some pulled lamb burgers and a bit later a grazing plate of cheese and assorted meats, a pizza and a little wine to top it off. Listened in the sun under an umbrella to about 8 hours of music of variable quality.
The highlight act was two old rockers. Brian Cadd and Russell Morris. Both pushing into their 70s. Quite a show, both were probably a little past their best but they were still entertaining and sang some of their old hits. Brian Cadd was into ‘Ginger Man’, ‘A Little Ray of Sunshine’ (which he says he sings to his 5 grand children), ‘Arkansas Grass’, ‘Don’t You Know It’s Magic’ and others. Russell Morris belted out ‘Wings of an Eagle’, ‘Sweet, Sweet Love’ and ‘The Real Thing’. Plenty of old age gags and banter. I seemed to remember most of the songs so I probably also qualify for the age group.
Sunday saw us off to the University of Southern Queensland to check out their Japanese Garden. The cherry blossoms were out in full force. Nice little walk around the lake, quite a calming spot. Back to the van for lunch and the afternoon with legs up before Allthego ventured to the Federal Hotel, nearby the Jolly Swagman, to watch the Parramatta Eels clean up the Newcastle Knights. Homealone remained at the van and did some craft.
More flower beds to come!
Adelaide
There was great disappointment when we got off the Ghan in Adelaide. The souvenir shop had sold out of Ghan stubby holders and tea towels showing the trains route. Allthego looked around the shop two or three times for stuff but there wasn’t even a postcard! Lucky he got a Ghan postcard in Darwin. You could get jig saw puzzles, key rings, soft rubber train models, history of the Ghan books etc etc but no stubby holders or tea towels were to be had, maybe we can get them online later. So shaking our heads it was off to Adelaide city in a taxi and our hotel just off North Terrace, not far from the Torrens River. This has subsequently proved to be a great location, close to buses and trams to all parts. Now, I will not make comparisons to a certain establishment in Darwin except to say that in Adelaide we are at 40% of Darwin’s cost and it also includes breakfast! No more comparisons.
We had decided to ‘do’ Adelaide by avoiding dusty museums, over indulgent art galleries and old buildings by going to the natural environment. Looking around the town to appreciate it’s natural beauty, albeit some what manufactured since colonial times. The Torrens river flows through the city centre, ‘flow’ is a loose expression. In the centre of town it is a bit more like a lake, two weirs are at either end controlling water flow to keep the lake full year round. Various craft float around on the lake, it is a pretty setting with the City skyline as a backdrop and the Adelaide Oval dominating the other side of the river. Road and footbridges crisscross the river thereby providing walking and biking loops of varying lengths along the river. River Red Gums, gardens and grassed areas adorn each bank. We did strolls around the river bank taking in the river action and views. After European settlement the river banks were heavily eroded as the land was cleared and the area apparently became quite degraded. Prior to colonization the river was ephemeral, flowing strongly in the wet and then falling away to a series of billabongs in the dry times. During the late 1800s and into the 20th century various beautification schemes enhanced the environment.
We escaped one day up to Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills for a look around the old German heritage town. A very well maintained main street provided an insight into early settler life in the district. A highlight here was lunch. We thought we would have some schnitzels for lunch in one of the local hotels. Well they were enormous, the same hotel also promoted its metre long hot dog with German dressings. We avoided this. In these sort of towns you also find some curiosities. On the outside wall of the information centre was a photo reproduction of what was a 1920s scene, but the people were wearing masks. Allthego immediately thought that it was the time of the Spanish flu epidemic. But no, it was an artist having a bit of COVID ‘fun’. Very real though!
There was also a little trip down memory lane when we caught up with Ewin and Karen Davis for dinner one night. They are old friends from our Sydney days. We had last seen them when they came to Brisbane for EXPO 88, thirty three years ago! So there was much reminiscing about old times and others, as well as what was happening in our lives today.
I think one of the must dos in Adelaide is going to the Central Markets and having a look around the food halls. These are not unlike what we have seen and so like in Europe, particularly France. Great displays of produce, meats, cheeses, spices, bakery and pastry items and the list can go on. We had lunch here at an Algerian food bar. Allthego had a slow cooked lamb tagine, with prunes and nuts. Really good. Homealone had a slow cooked lamb and brown rice dish, also good. There were also big pans of paella simmering away enticing the taste buds of passers by. Great morning wandering around. We bought a few bits and pieces from the stalls and put together a ploughman’s dinner for that night instead of eating out.
We moved from our first hotel over the river to the Oval Hotel for our last two nights in Adelaide. The Oval Hotel is built into the side of the Adelaide Oval stands. It has not long opened and is a bit of a step up from the Darwin establishment in all respects (still less expensive though) and is very comfortable. The restaurant overlooks the playing surface of the Oval.
A good reason for staying there was so that Allthego was on the spot to do the ROOFCLIMB at the Oval, Port Adelaide was playing Freemantle in an AFL game. This basically involved climbing up some ladders and crossing over the top of the stands. At the highest point we were fifty metres above ground. There were thirteen of us on the climb. There are seats up the top were you sit and watch the game. Our tour saw the first quarter of the game from this vantage point before having to head back. Great spectacle from up there, Allthego was positioned such that he looked down into the goal square right on top of the posts. A little edgy at times up there, Allthego almost Allthegone! No, he lives to climb another day. The Auckland Bridge climb beckons!
And after all that folks, it is time to return to Brisbane.
More Ghan
The Ghan pulled into Alice Springs Station on time, around 11am. We had risen from our bunk slumbers for a 7.15am breakfast after which we had some time back in the cabin looking out the window at the passing scenery. Low olive green scrub set amongst the odd tree here and there, open plains and red dirt. The over whelming feature though is distance, the view just goes on and on. Allthego remembers a book he read many years ago, a classic Australian history book, ‘The Tyranny of Distance’. It was a treatise on how, in the author’s view, distance had first shaped Australia’s European settlement and then it’s subsequent social and economic development. I suspect that same distance also shaped Aboriginal development and history prior to what is now seen as the European invasion. Enough of that though, back to the Ghan.
On our way south from Katherine the train rocked and gently rolled along during the night. We had no trouble with sleeping. The train stopped from time to time, we had a couple of hours in a siding at Tennant Creek north of Alice. Once in Alice we were whisked away on buses for the selected excursions. The two of us went out to the Alice Springs Desert Park. This is a sprawling establishment set below the McDonald Ranges escarpment. Our guide took us around pointing out various plants, birdlife in the giant aviary and the residents in the nocturnal house. Some dingos were wandering around on leash, seemingly tame but one can never be sure with these fellows. After a good lunch there was a session with the local birds of prey. The birds are let out ‘to fly’ in the open skies, returning to their keeper for ‘treats’, also knowing they will be rewarded with a bigger treat for dinner later on. This was quite a spectacle, the various species soaring high and then zooming in low over our heads. The Desert Park is thoroughly recommended if you are into nature based attractions.
It was then back to the train for a brief time to clean up before dinner under the stars at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. It is a couple of kilometres out of town and is the original site of Alice Springs. The Telegraph Station was one of the thirteen repeater stations on the Overland Telegraph Line between Adelaide and Darwin, which started operation back in the 1870s (not sure this date is right but it is pretty close), and which then connected to the submarine cable from Java and on to Europe. The Station is a great venue for a dinner, the grounds and buildings are well maintained. We were entertained by a three man band singing a range of 1960/70s hits well suited to the onlookers. They were joined by a didgeridoo player for a bracket of numbers, ‘We come from a Land Downunder’ really pounded out with the Didg reverberating that deep haunting sound out into the night sky. A memorable night.
It was back to the Ghan though to continue the journey to Coober Pedy. Allthego didn’t vary his bunk technique. All quite smooth and we again had a good sleep arriving at Manguri in the early hours for breakfast. There was at times a bit more rocking and rolling compared to the section from Darwin to Alice. The fellow in charge of our train section told me that this could be attributed to the track condition. The Darwin to Alice section was in much better condition having been completed in 2004, after originally being promised by Government in 1911. The original section from Adelaide to Alice Springs was completed in 1929. This track though was realigned in 1980 to avoid flood prone areas that severely disrupted the train and destroyed tracks and infrastructure.
We have had some really top eats and wines along this journey. A feature has been the use of bush tucker in some of the sauces and marinades. These are described in the colourful meal menus. Allthego could not resist picking up a few of these as souvenirs.
Manguri is a railway siding thirty kilometres from Coober Pedy. There are remnants here of a railway track maintenance community. Concrete pads as reminders of the small group of people who lived here many years ago.
Our off train excursion today took us out to the Breakaways. Pictures are better than words here. Remarkable place, remnant areas of the ancient sea floor being slowly eroded leaving rock formations and stream beds. After looking around here it was back towards town stopping at an opal mine turned tourist destination. We had lunch here after which it was down a short tunnel for a talk by an old opal miner about the use of gelignite and dynamite in the mining for opals. Interesting chat, not sure how he has lived to 94 working in this game! Last stop was an opal shop and museum in town, short talk followed by the opal hard sell. All very genteel though!
Back to the train and a drink as the sun slowly set at Manguri. On board we were off to dinner and then bed. It was the last overnight leg of the journey to Adelaide.
The weather turned on us a little with some heavy rain overnight but clearing as we came into Adelaide Station. It has been a great journey through the Australian Outback. We are looking forward to a few days in Adelaide before returning to Brisbane.
Allthegobro 