TONSWILLE, WITHSUNDAY COAST, CAPRICORN HINTERLAND, CAPRICORN COAST
Touring Australia is a hard job because you spend quite a lot of time in the car but when you look at the map it’s only a short distance!!! Townsville is the first big city in Queensland we’ve visited, over 150,000 inhabitants and thanks god it was Saturday afternoon when we got there because there wasn’t any traffic at all and the information centre is at the business centre.The ladies at the tourist office were so friendly and kind and they suggested that we could visit Bowen –the mango capital of Australia-, not for mangoes but for its beaches ; most of the people at tourist offices are volunteers; retired people mostly and I think it’s a great thing for them. We visited the Reef HQ Aquarium, home to 130 coral and 120 fish species, unbelievable!! We drove along The Strand and parked in front of the beach watching the sunset. We decided not to go to the reef until we reach its southern part. The sea is Cairns was a bit rough and not very clear and it’s so touristy there ; Moreover, a guy from the hostel told us that in the southern part it’s not so spoiled and crowed; so, although Townsville was one of our other options, we’ll try it in a few days. After Townsville we drove to Bowen- we wanted to stop at Ayr because the Australian Institute of Marine Science is there and it organizes tours but only on Fridays. In Bowen we spent a lovely day on Horseshoe Beach where we enjoyed a safe bath without any crocs warning and the children and Joan saw the first corals and fish just snorkeling.
Our next stop was Airlie Beach the mainland centre for the Whitsundays, 74 islands jutting out from the Coral Sea with turquoise waters and coral gardens. There I got on a seaplane and flew over the island and then to the great barrier reef. The views were amazing and it’s was such a lovely day. We flew over Whitehaven Beach, with white silica sands, voted one of the best beaches in the world, and the gorgeous swirling sands of Hill Inlet and then towards Hook Reef , saw the impressive Heart Reef and Hardy Lagoon. I will remember the sights from above for ever. After the flight, we bushwalked to Coral Beach, a beautiful beach in the National Park and we wanted to swim there but warnings of a croc seen recently stopped us again.
From Airlie Beach we drove through Capricorn Coast Hinterland to Clermont and then Rubyvale,Saphire and Emerald. This is an area full of coal mines, ancient copper mines, gold mines and as you can figure from the names gems. We wanted to go fossicking – and become rich!!!!- but it wasn’t what we expected. We enjoyed the visit to a sapphire mine but all the rest where only places to buy jewellery. Each house in the village is a shop where you can buy jewels, not very touristy now because it’s winter or because it’s far away from the coast. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn just before Emerald and then we drove towards Blackwater and stopped in Dingo. We wanted to visit one of the largest coalmines in the world in Blackwater – that’s why it’s called so, aussies do not have many problems choosing the names of their towns- but we couldn’t because it had leaks and visits had been cancelled but we could imagine its importance because trains with 100 wagons each one were passing by.
Our next stop was now Agnes Water and Town of 1770 – because it was where Captain Cook arrived for the first time in Australia in 1770- where we had decided to go to Lady Musgrave Island Reef and experience the reef live. Although it’s the most southern part of the Reef it’s famous for its untouched, colourful and varied reef ecosystems. Our day trip was to Lady Musgrave Island, one of the “ladies” of the reef. Our trip was amazing: excellent weather, humpback whales and dolphins sightings, pristine waters ,a superb coral lagoon and a tour to the uninhabited island that made you feel like a castaway for a while.
FRASER COAST
From Agnes Water we drove through Bundaberg, the rum capital of Australia and Bargara, a beautiful town with a long promenade and full of people walking or running like everywhere in Australia. We bought some strawberries from a local producer and Albert swam in Barolin Rocks and Hoffman Rocks. Then, we went to River Heads (Hervey Bay) to get our first sight of the Great Sandy Strait. Albert went on a tour to Fraser Island the largest sand island in the world and World Heritage. He visited Lake Mckenzie, Eli Creek and swam in its fresh waters , saw dingoes and walking through its 800,000 year-old rainforest.
While he was there, we visited Maryborough an inland and well preserved colonial village. It was important because it was the second immigration point for new settlers. It is also the place where the author of Mary Poppins was born.
We also drive on to Tin Can Bay and saw how people fed dolphins on the shore and then on to tiny Rainbow Beach, one of our best findings in our trip: the Carlo Sandblow. An amazing natural sand mass 120m high with lots of sand colours like the rainbow. We walked along its 2km beach looking at its coloured sand cliffs and many 4WD passing by towards Double Island Point while Albert and Laura were having their surf lesson in Australia. They enjoyed a lot with Guess, their friendly teacher and finally they could manage to stand on the board quite many times. After surfing lessons, we visited Inskip Point where we saw an amazing sunset. All this section of the Great Sandy National Park (Cooloola ) is amazing. Our caravan park was a mixture of sand and grass as well; it’s surprising to drive along the road and see just sand on both sides.
SUNSHINE COAST and BRISBANE
Our trip is finishing. Sunshine coast with some showers, isn’t it funny?.One of our last stops was Noosa, a stylish resort town with a beautiful National Park where we spotted our first koalas. We hired two boards for Laura and Albert so that they could practice their surfing knowledge.We slept in Maroochydore with a beautiful beach but too touristy for us; lots of skyscrapers, fast food restaurants, shops… which reminded us some places in Catalunya and Spain.
We reached Brisbane yesterday . We dropped the motorhome off and went to the apartment we have rented for two nights. Brisbane is quite a big city with a very busy City, full of shops and department stores, with some huge and beautiful office towers and a stylish pier to walk along. We wandered around the farmers market and did some shopping. Tomorrow at 12,35 pm our plane takes off and our trip to Aussieland ends.
Touring Australia is a hard job because you spend quite a lot of time in the car but when you look at the map it’s only a short distance!!! Townsville is the first big city in Queensland we’ve visited, over 150,000 inhabitants and thanks god it was Saturday afternoon when we got there because there wasn’t any traffic at all and the information centre is at the business centre.The ladies at the tourist office were so friendly and kind and they suggested that we could visit Bowen –the mango capital of Australia-, not for mangoes but for its beaches ; most of the people at tourist offices are volunteers; retired people mostly and I think it’s a great thing for them. We visited the Reef HQ Aquarium, home to 130 coral and 120 fish species, unbelievable!! We drove along The Strand and parked in front of the beach watching the sunset. We decided not to go to the reef until we reach its southern part. The sea is Cairns was a bit rough and not very clear and it’s so touristy there ; Moreover, a guy from the hostel told us that in the southern part it’s not so spoiled and crowed; so, although Townsville was one of our other options, we’ll try it in a few days. After Townsville we drove to Bowen- we wanted to stop at Ayr because the Australian Institute of Marine Science is there and it organizes tours but only on Fridays. In Bowen we spent a lovely day on Horseshoe Beach where we enjoyed a safe bath without any crocs warning and the children and Joan saw the first corals and fish just snorkeling.
Our next stop was Airlie Beach the mainland centre for the Whitsundays, 74 islands jutting out from the Coral Sea with turquoise waters and coral gardens. There I got on a seaplane and flew over the island and then to the great barrier reef. The views were amazing and it’s was such a lovely day. We flew over Whitehaven Beach, with white silica sands, voted one of the best beaches in the world, and the gorgeous swirling sands of Hill Inlet and then towards Hook Reef , saw the impressive Heart Reef and Hardy Lagoon. I will remember the sights from above for ever. After the flight, we bushwalked to Coral Beach, a beautiful beach in the National Park and we wanted to swim there but warnings of a croc seen recently stopped us again.
From Airlie Beach we drove through Capricorn Coast Hinterland to Clermont and then Rubyvale,Saphire and Emerald. This is an area full of coal mines, ancient copper mines, gold mines and as you can figure from the names gems. We wanted to go fossicking – and become rich!!!!- but it wasn’t what we expected. We enjoyed the visit to a sapphire mine but all the rest where only places to buy jewellery. Each house in the village is a shop where you can buy jewels, not very touristy now because it’s winter or because it’s far away from the coast. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn just before Emerald and then we drove towards Blackwater and stopped in Dingo. We wanted to visit one of the largest coalmines in the world in Blackwater – that’s why it’s called so, aussies do not have many problems choosing the names of their towns- but we couldn’t because it had leaks and visits had been cancelled but we could imagine its importance because trains with 100 wagons each one were passing by.
Our next stop was now Agnes Water and Town of 1770 – because it was where Captain Cook arrived for the first time in Australia in 1770- where we had decided to go to Lady Musgrave Island Reef and experience the reef live. Although it’s the most southern part of the Reef it’s famous for its untouched, colourful and varied reef ecosystems. Our day trip was to Lady Musgrave Island, one of the “ladies” of the reef. Our trip was amazing: excellent weather, humpback whales and dolphins sightings, pristine waters ,a superb coral lagoon and a tour to the uninhabited island that made you feel like a castaway for a while.
FRASER COAST
From Agnes Water we drove through Bundaberg, the rum capital of Australia and Bargara, a beautiful town with a long promenade and full of people walking or running like everywhere in Australia. We bought some strawberries from a local producer and Albert swam in Barolin Rocks and Hoffman Rocks. Then, we went to River Heads (Hervey Bay) to get our first sight of the Great Sandy Strait. Albert went on a tour to Fraser Island the largest sand island in the world and World Heritage. He visited Lake Mckenzie, Eli Creek and swam in its fresh waters , saw dingoes and walking through its 800,000 year-old rainforest.
While he was there, we visited Maryborough an inland and well preserved colonial village. It was important because it was the second immigration point for new settlers. It is also the place where the author of Mary Poppins was born.
We also drive on to Tin Can Bay and saw how people fed dolphins on the shore and then on to tiny Rainbow Beach, one of our best findings in our trip: the Carlo Sandblow. An amazing natural sand mass 120m high with lots of sand colours like the rainbow. We walked along its 2km beach looking at its coloured sand cliffs and many 4WD passing by towards Double Island Point while Albert and Laura were having their surf lesson in Australia. They enjoyed a lot with Guess, their friendly teacher and finally they could manage to stand on the board quite many times. After surfing lessons, we visited Inskip Point where we saw an amazing sunset. All this section of the Great Sandy National Park (Cooloola ) is amazing. Our caravan park was a mixture of sand and grass as well; it’s surprising to drive along the road and see just sand on both sides.
SUNSHINE COAST and BRISBANE
Our trip is finishing. Sunshine coast with some showers, isn’t it funny?.One of our last stops was Noosa, a stylish resort town with a beautiful National Park where we spotted our first koalas. We hired two boards for Laura and Albert so that they could practice their surfing knowledge.We slept in Maroochydore with a beautiful beach but too touristy for us; lots of skyscrapers, fast food restaurants, shops… which reminded us some places in Catalunya and Spain.
We reached Brisbane yesterday . We dropped the motorhome off and went to the apartment we have rented for two nights. Brisbane is quite a big city with a very busy City, full of shops and department stores, with some huge and beautiful office towers and a stylish pier to walk along. We wandered around the farmers market and did some shopping. Tomorrow at 12,35 pm our plane takes off and our trip to Aussieland ends.
Ya termina el viaje pero habeis visto y hecho un monton! I hope you had a lot of fun. The trip looked fantastic all the way through! Enjoy the trip back home and I hope you all will feel refreshed and rejuvenated after such a wonderful adventure.
Grant