CRUISIN AUSTRALIA QLD ADVENTURE, 2014
With- Karen and Keith Holmes
Geraldton, WA.
Thursday 29th May, 2014 – Off to the Crystal Caves and what an
awesome experience that is. Itâs an Aladdin cave of more than 600
crystal formations and fossil specimens on display. Most impressive is
The Empress of Uruguay- the worldâs biggest amethyst geode, standing 3.5
meters tall and weighing 2.5 tonnes.
Next we headed a couple of doors down to a great meal at
Heaven On A Fork – the Heavens House Pie was delicious ⺠and the best
chocolate milkshake so far this trip. After we went to the Chinatown
Temple and museum; here the history of the Chinese in the local Atherton
Tablelands is shown;
A quick detour to Herberton saw us at the Spy and Camera
Museum. Local photographer Michael Petersen gives a 45 minute tour of
his brilliant display of cameras and spy wear. A local resident back in
the day was a spy and the gear here is well worth seeing⦠very James
Bond without any cheesiness.
Back on the road and wandered through the lush country side
back through Tully and camped up at The Cardwell Beachcombers Tourist
park and had the best seafood tucker at their Beachcombers Restaurant
and Bar.
30th May 2014. â Today we left Cardwell heading south
again when we took a detour to Lucinda. Here they have a jetty for
transporting the sugar cane that is 6 kmâs long!! It is a nice short
drive there and a quaint, quiet town with lots of holiday houses to
rent. My highlight was a pond full of water lilyâs I enjoyed
photographing.
Back on the Bruce Highway we stopped for a cuppa with
friends in Townsville then headed off leaving the rainforest behind us.
Aiming for Bowen to camp for the night we came across a few Big town
icons and stopped for photos. In Aye we found a Big Carpet Snake;
Gubulla Munda (carpet snake) is the Aboriginal totem and the protective
spirit of the Biri Gubba people.
Wandering further down the track we came across a vegetable
stand that had a Big piece of water melon and a Big Queensland Blue
pumpkin-
We parked up for the night in Bowen and are consulting maps
for tomorrowâs adventures- am sure thereâs going to be a Big Mango pic
tomorrow
Saturday 31 May, 2014- 6.30 start (one and only, lol) and here it isâ¦.
What a beautiful day and headed of through Mackay and into
Sarina where we found the Big Cane Toad- nasty little critters doing so
much damage to our native mammals.
Not much really until we passed through Rockhampton â we did
plan on seeing the Big Dugong but were sad to see it was at the
Indigenous heritage centre which would have cost usâ¦. But it was closed.
Sad for those chasing BIG Aussie icons (and we have been seeing heaps
and even did a chase game yesterday with 3 young Japanese youngâuns
chasing them for photo shoots- 3 times we crossed paths) We decided to
take a detour out to Emu Park- 46 kms and nestled on the coast with
views of Great Keppel Island.
Here they have a âsinging shipâ memorial to Captain Cook, a
sculpture with drilled holes and pipes that whistle or moan in the wind.
Am sure this would be quiet eerie at night but was nice to see, a
wedding had just taken place there and the views are great.
We decided it was so nice to Camp the night, do the washing and chillâ¦â¦.
Sunday 1 May, 2014– leaving Bell Park Caravan Park ( a
nice, clean place right on the foreshore) we headed back through
Rockhampton where we saw a few Big cowâs, but we didnât feel inclined to
stayâ¦had the same feeling with Bundabergâ¦stayed long enough for a good
look around but settled on the Bundaberg Ginger Beer Big barrel and
Bundaberg Distilleryâ¦..as we were neither keen to sample either we took
some âbigâ picâs and continued on to Barwon Heads for the night.
Monday 2nd June- after catching up with friends who found me
a cane toad as we hadnât seen any this trip so far, we carried on south
looking for interesting things. We found a few BIG things in Noosaville
and had an awesome seafood lunch and champagne at âGrennysâ on a
tourist strip overlooking the bay. We decided on camping at Caboolture
for the night so we were close to Brisbane for tomorrowâs fun of
catching up with friends and family. âº
We are winding down now and hoping to fit all our âgoodiesâ in our suitcases for the trip home.
Tues 3 June, 2014 – Caught up with a school friend I
hadnât seen for 35 years. We met at Ridgesâ in South Brisbane CBD.
Parking the Winnebago was a bit tricky but we finally sorted it. Visited
the Maritime Museum were the have the Diamantina river frigate. They
also have Jessica Watsonâs Pink Lady yacht- 210 days in a 10 metre
yacht, what an achievement and standing next to it â wow, very small.
We had a BBQ on the banks of the river overlooking the city then headed out to visit my Aunt.
We have parked up tonight in the beautiful and very friendly
Greenacres Caravan Park â 508 Mt Cotton Rd, Capalaba, 20 mins from
Brisbane CBD.
Sitting back now enjoying a Chardonnay.
We would like to thank Cruisinâ Australia for the
opportunity to travel on their behalf. We have spread the word of your
company everywhere we went and had people write down your details.
The opportunity to catch long time, not seen friends and family an absolute bonus- thank you so much.
Travelling through Queensland we found more places inland to
visit than via the coast which was surprising and very enjoyable- The
heart of the state after all.
We chose inland first as the weather was showers and thought
it may clear for the trip south, it did, with just a few showers which
never bothered us.
Highlights of the trip for Karen – âMy fun travelling
âthingâ is searching for BIG Aussie Icons, well certainly wasnât
disappointed as found 26!!!!!!â¦â¦.. The Butterfly Sanctuary and the
Crystal Caves were unforgettable but thereâs been so many interesting
highlights of the trip it is very hard to just pick two. Watching cotton
be harvested was awesome and cost nothing so travelling doesnât need to
be costly. The sunsets in land or on Bribie Island breathtakingâ¦â¦â
Keith- âI find the smaller showâs with the intermit
attention better than the bigger commercialised places. The Kingaroy
information Centre and Peanut Factory was very informative. Ilfracombe
had an excellent WW2 firearm display and memorabilia also a mile of pre
1900 machinery, bottle collections and all at the cost of a donation,
but a carton of beer cost $52.00, hahaâ¦some you win some you lose.
We are happy to pay to get into places and always looking to
see and try new things. This trip we found the non-commercialised
places the better places. We played tag with 3 young Japanese tourists
chasing BIG Aussie Iconsâ¦..3 times we laughed coming and going to
watermelons, pumpkins, pythons and mangoes, so I am not insane with my
hunt.
Once more- THANKYOUâ¦â¦.and if ever you need another reporterâ¦you have my number âº