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.