Drive to Sydney

     We gave ourselves three days to take in the coastal sights along the 900 km Pacific Highway between Brisbane and Sydney.  The road travels south and is interspersed with many views of the ocean and the numerous picturesque beaches.  

    We stayed on the road for the most part while passing up the very touristy Gold Coast and stopped for lunch at Byron Bay.  Byron Bay has a very laid-back vibe and was reminiscent for us of a hippy haven from days gone by.  We did have a lovely vegan meal at the Seventh Day Adventist restaurant on the main street.  We continued on and made our first night stop in Yamba in the old Yamba Hotel overlooking the sea.  We joined many of the locals in the pub for a meal and refreshments while gazing out over the sea.  We stayed long enough to watch the moon rise over the ocean.

Moonrise over the Pacific at Yamba

    We were up the next morning and drove to South West Rocks for a beach walk, patio lunch, and a quick stop at the historical old Trial Bay Gaol.  We didn't explore the prison but did enjoy the views.

Another expansive beach at Southwest Rocks

A row of Norfolk Pines at the Southwest Rocks Gaol

A nice view from the Trial Bay Gaol

    Our second night was spent at Laurieton on the coast in New South Wales.  Our accommodation was slightly forgettable but we enjoyed a very memorable meal at the Delizioso Italian Restaurant a short walk away.  Thank you Rae for another great suggestion!

    In the morning we detoured slightly to visit the Bago Maze and Wine in Herrons Creek.  After Deborah did some morning drinking we wandered the grounds and took some pictures of the intricate hedgerows of the maze.  We didn't venture in for fear of never finding our way out.

The maze at Bago Winery 

We had a short day drive to North Narrabeen in the afternoon and were welcomed to the home of Mollie, Nick, Parker, Riley, and Billie.

Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast - Mooloolaba 

  

    The 1100 kilometer drive from Airlie Beach to the Sunshine Coast was similar to the stretch between Cairns and Airlie.  The Bruce Highway continued to traverse green farmlands; with the coast ranging from ten to twenty kilometers on our left (east) and the Dividing Range on our right (west).  As we traveled south the farms slowly transitioned from mostly sugarcane crops to cattle ranches.  While some might describe the drive as boring, we found it interesting simply because it was all new to us.

    We broke our journey into two days.  Our overnight was in a wide spot on the road called Benaraby, just off the Boyne River around  420km north-northwest of Brisbane.  Deborah found a recommended clean, small motel that served home-cooked breakfast and dinners (complete with wine) in our room.

    On our second day on the road, we made our way to Noosa Heads.  We pre-position ourselves to meet friends Don and Wendy the next morning.  We were to meet them at the Sunshine Coast Airport after their flight from Sydney.  We stopped for a fine lunch in the town of Maryborough, in a restaurant converted from the former heritage Customs' House.

Maryborough - Fabulous restaurant 

    After leaving Maryborough, our GPS took us on some backroads through cultivated pine forests before arriving at Noosa Heads, our destination for the night.  We enjoyed some Australian-Indian fusion cuisine that evening explained and served to us by a young woman from France.

Appys at Noosa Junction Indian fusion restaurant/Gin Bar

    The next morning we were off to the nearby Sunshine Coast airport to meet friends Don and Wendy whom had flown up from Sydney.  We dropped the rental car off at the airport and greeted our friends before meeting our hosts for the following week, Jeff and Ray.  Jeff and Ray are Don's daughter-in-laws.  We were treated like members of the family and cannot thank them enough for their graciousness and generosity.  They were our guides personally and as mentors as we explored some of the region on our own.

Dinner out in Mooloolaba with our hosts

    The Sunshine Coast encompasses the coastal cities and towns of Caloundra, Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, Marcoola, Coolum, Sunshine Beach, Noosa Heads, and Rainbow Beach. The nearby hinterland and inland locations include Gympie, Eumundi, Yandina, Nambour, Mapleton, Montville, and Melany.

The Mooloolaba Wharf is abuzz on Saturday nights

    Jeff and Ray lent us their car and we drove into the hinterlands to visit the small hill towns of Montville and Maleny.  Montville is a hub of quality art galleries and studios featuring works from established and emerging artists. We enjoyed a coffee and visited the shops and galleries.

Browsing the Montville boutiques and galleries with Wendy

    We stopped at Maleny for lunch. Maleny is a rural community, perched high above the Sunshine Coast with amazing views of the Glasshouse Mountains and the Pacific We had a fabulous lunch on the patio and enjoyed the amazing views.

The view of Balmoral Ridge from our lunch spot

    On the way home we stopped in the village of Palmwoods to visit Rick's Garage for a cool beverage and a walk back in time to the 1950s.  We also took advantage of the stop to stock up on beer and wine to replenish Jeff and Ray supplies before we say goodbye.

Enjoying a Great Northern draft in Palmwoods

    The Sunday before leaving, we took part in a "Sessh".  Essentially, a Sessh is an afternoon at a pub or brewery that caters to families.  Our sessh centred around visits to four different pubs led by Jeff, and Ray's son, Tim.  We got to meet various members of the Mott family and spent a very civilized family day as long as you don't mind quaffing a pint at 11:30 am.  We were home by four and everyone had a good time.

Brewery tour stop - Sunday Session on the move

Salad and fresh prawns -another great meal made by our hosts

    Still driving our new friend's car we set off on Monday to stay at the UNESCO-listed Fraser Island and stay at the Kingfisher Resort.

Fraser Island

 

We took this ferry from River Heads to Fraser Island

Kingfisher Resort on K'gari (Fraser Island)

    Fraser Island is a UNESCO-listed world site based on its unique indigenous culture and biosphere.  Its sand dune systems are still ever-changing and have rare dune lakes and tall rainforests.  Fraser (or K'gari) as the indigenous Butchulla folks call it, is memorable because of these unique differences.

    Named after an officer serving with European explorer, Captain Cook when he discovered the island, the island was home to the Butchulla as a hunting and fishing source and was simply known as K'gari meaning paradise.  The unique feature of the trees growing there led to logging in the 1860s which lasted as a thriving industry until the 1970s when the government woke up to the fact they were destroying something special. It is now a heavily regulated place.

1200 year old Satinay and Brush Box trees

Staghorn Fern Parasite growing on the Pine trees

   We drove northeast and took a forty-five-minute car ferry ride to the Kingfisher Resort before checking into our two-bedroom condo provided to us almost free by Don's Australian family friends.

Our wonderful Kingfisher Resort home thanks to Anna and Mick!

We watched these Kookaburras from our deck

    We spent the first day exploring the eastern shores of the island on a four-wheel drive bus, with our driver/guide for rainforest walks, beach driving, and swimming in Mackenzie Lake.  Since the land is comprised of only sand, a four-wheel vehicle is the only way of negotiating the various trails to access the 75 Mile beach.  The beach is the island's main highway and is patrolled by Queensland's finest.  A highlight was coming face to face (inside a bus) with a wild dingo.  The island's dingos are the genetically pure dingos found in Australia.  They are very cute and look like small dogs but we were warned that if you tried to pet one, they would take your hand for lunch.  We settled for viewing from the bus. We were also fortunate enough to see a Bryde's whale offshore.

Four-wheel-drive bus tour along the beach and over rocks

Tourists float down knee-deep Eli Creek that flows out to the beach

We spotted this purebred Dingo on 75 Mile Beach

There is nothing in Lake Mackenzie that can harm you!

   Since words are a poor way to describe K'gari, we will let Deborah's pictures tell the story.

Fraser Island is entirely sand-based

The Maheno shipwrecked on Fraser Island in 1935 cyclone

An evening walk on the jetty

Another night shot of the jetty

We highly recommend this tour on Fraser Island

 

Brisbane

    We were up early Saturday morning and after saying our goodbyes and final thanks to our hosts Jeff and Ray, Jeff kindly drove us on the hour's journey into the city.  We dropped Don and Wendy at a car so they could drive south to Sydney to rejoin their family and take up some grandchild care duties.  We waved goodbye to Jeff after he dropped us off at our Pacific Hotel overlooking the Brisbane River and its tourist walk encompassing culture and dining.

    After dropping our bags at the hotel we ventured out to explore.  We first stopped for a couple of flat whites at the courthouse gardens before venturing across the river to the Queensland Museum.  We hit it on a free day and enjoyed the museums' natural history displays of flora and fauna.  Deborah enjoyed it all except perhaps the stuffed venomous snake display.

We've been enjoying our flat whites

We loved the beautiful walking paths flanking the Brisbane river

    After a short break for lunch, we entered the Queensland Art gallery and wandered the many rooms displaying local historical art.

Sheep station painting of the ever-capable Australian woman

    Day two was spent shopping in the morning and arranging a rental car for our own coastal drive south to rejoin Don and Wendy at their daughter Mollie's family home in North Narrabeen in the northern beaches suburb of Sydney.  Only after much persistence on Deborah's part did we secure a car at a reasonable price.  We learned a few things, it is cheaper; to rent online rather than in a brick-and-mortar shop, and to book a rental through a third party rather than direct. It was worth Deborah's effort.  She managed to reduce the cost from an initial $1200 to $190 after much research.

Sunset over the Brisbane skyline

    On Ray's advice, we had dinner at the Little Greek Taverna in the West End adjacent to the Theatre District.  We took a short walk after a memorable meal to the Brisbane Performing Arts Center to watch the musical Hamilton.  Deborah enjoyed the entire experience.  I did as well but was glad to have researched the story and characters to keep track of the story that can be challenging to understand without knowing United States history.

View from Queensland Performing Art Centre

We saw the fabulous Hamilton musical

Fish Alley street art 

    We were up early the next day to pick up the rental from the airport and leave the city on the coastal drive south.

Airlie Beach and Whitsunday Islands

     

    A visit to this part of the world is incomplete without a visit to Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands.  This is truly one of the most beautiful places we have had the privilege of traveling.

    When walking around the small beach town the visible divide in the age groups strikes you.  Airlie Beach tends to be the place the greying generation and families stay before jumping off to the various Whitsunday Island excursions while the rest are much younger and there to enjoy the various bars and nightclubs that come to life after yours truly have retired for the evening.

    We did enjoy walking around the 800-meter town center street in the evenings before choosing a restaurant.  We also enjoyed the Bicentennial Walk along the seashore seeing the beautiful yachts and different well-night-lit paved walks and footbridges.  We especially enjoyed a sunset dinner at the west end of the walk overlooking the Marina.

    After a good night's sleep at the Airlie Guest House, we were up early to catch the bus to the harbour to board the Nancy Wake for a full-day cruise of the Whitsunday Islands.  We were encouraged by our guesthouse host Mick to book the more expensive but far more comfortable Sea Link’s Big Island Day Tour.  The MV Nancy Wake accommodates 280 passengers but the tour company limits their trips to 74.  Ours only had 48 souls on board.

    The tour is especially popular with the grey nomad market who like to go at a leisurely pace, and also the families who enjoy the space and comfort inside the air-conditioning.  The gourmet food and relaxed pace were our main calling cards for us.  The tour proved to be as good as advertised and created a memory that will stay with us forever.

Morning Coffee Break

Gourmet Lunch

Afternoon Tea 

    Our day started with a cruise between some of the various islands that make up the Whitsundays complete with a running commentary describing what we were seeing.  

    The island chain was named after the explorer, Captain Cook who first sailed the island waters.  The first day of exploration coincided with the Whitsunday Christian holiday back in Great Britain, hence the island's name.

    The first stop was a guided tour/hike to the South Whitehaven Beach Lookouts accessible from Hill Inlet. The commentary focussed on the history of the environment and was informative.  The views were fabulous.

We hiked to the Hill Inlet lookouts

    The next stop was Whitehaven beach.  Whitehaven Beach is a pristine, award-winning beach on Whitsunday Island, the largest of the 74 islands in the Whitsundays. Whitehaven Beach stretches over seven kilometers and boasts brilliant white silica sand that is among the purest in the world.  It was well over 30 degrees Celsius but incredibly the sand was cool enough to walk on comfortably.  The pure silica in the sand reflects the sun and doesn't absorb the sun's heat.

We hiked to this lookout over Whitehaven Beach

    We hiked to the lookout over the beach and then donned our "stinger suits" for a dip in the pristine waters.  Deborah's pictures will tell a better story about the suits.  Suffice it to say I had a greater fear of a shark mistaking me for a fat seal than I did the deadly jellyfish.

Stinger suits were mandatory apparel

    Our second day was much more relaxed.  We took a leisurely one our drive to the Cape Gloucester Resort, located in the Gloucester Passage overlooking the crystal blue waters of the Whitsundays, It has a beautiful beachfront dining restaurant where we relaxed with a drink and lunch while being serenaded by a live musician followed by a stroll of the beach.

We enjoyed a lazy Sunday on Gloucester Bay

    Our final full day was split between a trip to the Great Barrier Reef and the discovery of a local waterfall/swimming hole.

    We had almost convinced ourselves that the disappointment of not getting out to the Reef due to the weather in Cairns was okay and we were over it.  Turns out Deborah was not and easily convinced me to book a flight over the Reef.  We bussed to the nearby town of Proserpine's airport and boarded a ten-passenger single-engine plane to the Reef.  The pilot gave us a running commentary as we toured more Whitsunday Island resorts and gave us a 500-foot cruise over the very heart (center) of the 2000 km Great Barrier Reef.  Deborah's pictures will tell a better story.

7 mile-long Whitehaven Beach

Flying over the Great Barrier Reef - river running through the reef

Heart Reef

The rest of the afternoon we spent driving out to George's 50's dinner at Conway Beach only to find it closed early for the season.  We had to be content with a bag of chicken-flavoured chips and ice cream bars.

George at George's Diner at Conway Beach

    After our not so succulent lunch we made our way to Cedar Creek Falls State Park.  The falls were something to see and were clearly a favourite with the locals seeking the cooling waters for a swim on a hot day.

Cedar Creek Falls - no crocodiles!

    We finished our day with a fine meal overlooking the marina and enjoyed the sunset while toasting our experiences on this stop.

Sunset over Airlie Beach Marina

    We left the next morning for our 1200 kilometre drive to the Sunny Coast.