The Grass Doesn't Grow Under Our Feet

Since our return to Australia in mid-July we haven't been letting the grass grow under our feet.

We spent a few days in the brisk winter in Canberra where we picked up our car.  After the heat of an Italian summer Canberra's winter was a bit of a shock.  Then we drove to Sydney where we spent a few more days.  During this time we sold our Astra convertible  - the last thing we need now is a "spare" car.  From Sydney we aimed for the warmer climes of northern New South Wales and Queensland.

We had another delightful and restful week at Cabarita Beach, near Tweed Heads soaking up the sun and the nearby rainforest.  This is a beautiful area which combines beach,river, rainforest and bushland.  A great place for relaxing - but there's plenty to do if we get bored.

From there we moved further north to Rainbow Beach which is close to the ferry point to Fraser Island.  4WD vehicles abound in this area where the countryside is predominantly sand flats with plenty of vegetation.  There are plenty of great camping spots, all requiring permits from the park rangers.  A visit to Fraser Island also requires a permit, and a ferry trip.  Rainbow beach is so called because the sand varies in colour from white, to yellow, to black.

Just south of Rainbow Beach is Carlo Sandblow.  A short walk from the carpark is a huge sandy area - like a volcanic crater, only sand.  An enormous sand-dune.  As we were leaving we passed a model and film crew on their way to a photo shoot.

A short drive around the peninsula found us at Tin Can Bay, a popular holiday town which is well known for the dolphins which come into the bay every morning.  It's also a good place to hire a "tinny" for some fishing.

While we were at Rainbow Beach we both did a Caravan Towing Course.  This was a day well spent with Tony and Helke (http://www.towingcaravans.com.au) who were able to teach us the basics of caravanning and the essential skills of backing and parking.  After a week at Rainbow Beach we headed south to spend a few days in Maroochydore to prepare for "C (for caravan delivery) - Day".


As we made our way south to Maroochydore we detoured to Noosa and climbed to the Tewantin Lookout with magnificent views of the coast and the hinterland.

Our few days at Maroochydore were not all shopping for stuff for the caravan.  We also had a trip to the Glasshouse Mountains.  These were named by Captain Cook because the volcanic plugs reminded him of the glass furnaces of northern England.  The lookout is a popular tourist spot and we were not the only ones enjoying a picnic lunch there.  The paths are decorated with mosaics depicting the mountains and there are some good interpretative panels with plenty of information about the area.

Meet Bruce, Doris and Big Tony.....

After a lot of planning and many months of waiting we have at last taken delivery of our new home and transport so it's time to introduce you to Bruce, Doris and Big Tony.

Bruce is our Toyota Landcruiser 200 Series that we took delivery of in April, just before we went to Italy.  If you've already met Bruce "in the flesh" you will notice that he has had a makeover.  Over the past few weeks we've been getting some modifications done.  Bruce now has a bull bar complete with very effective driving lights.  We have new towing mirrors which are adjustable so we don't have to fit different towing mirrors when we have the caravan attached.  We have also had a CB/UHF radio and aerial fitted - so we can listen in to the fruity truckies language on CB/UHF 40, or attend to the more sedate language of fellow caravanners on CB/UHF 18.




Doris is our SatNav system.  The first time we heard her voice we both immediately said "That's Doris".  In true Doris fashion she tells Bruce exactly where to go (although Robert doesn't always take her directions).

Big Tony (or BT)is our new Bushtracker caravan which is now our home for as long as we want to keep travelling.  After 3 nights we are finding it VERY comfortable.  We are not missing the perpetual packing and unpacking regime of the past 10 months.  

As with any new home we are now trying to work out where all our stuff will be stowed.  There's plenty of storage space, although we may not be saying this when we empty out our storage unit at Girraween Rent-A-Space in a few days.  We have already decided that if it doesn't fit it will become an op-shop donation. We are very pleased with the curtains that we had specially made with fabric from Aboriginal Fabrics in Alice Springs.  They match perfectly the quilt and cushions from similar fabrics which were made by sister-in-law Margaret - perfect.

After a full day of handover instruction from Bushtracker, we hitched up and drove a few kms south to the campground at Coochins Creek where we spent our first 3 nights watching beautiful sunsets and laughing at the male brush turkeys chasing after the single female near the campground - nature at work!  During this time we were able to try our as many bells and whistles as we could.  We also became frequent shoppers at Bunnings and K-Mart and several camping equipment stores as we kitted ourselves out.  We've got plenty to learn over the next few weeks and months.

Now we are well and truly "on the road".  Our first trip is a "shakedown trip" to Sydney and Canberra and back to Maroochydore where Big Tony will have his first service to tighten any loose nuts and bolts.