Off the air for a while ....been on the move ! After the Geldenhuys' left us at the Gold Coast we went for a drive to the southern part of the Gold Coast. More great beaches, holiday areas and beachfront park and restaurant areas ....all really user-friendly and inviting.
On 2 April we headed north to Brisbane, driving as close to the coast as we could to enjoy the coastal scenery. We stumbled across Paradise Point, the northern tip of the Gold Coast. Wow ....what amazing houses and each with huge cruise liners at their door. There is definately lots of money in Australia ! With lots of waterways, estuaries and coves around, just the right place to have a boat - although such huge boats are not necessary, but it looks like boys comparing "who has the biggest one". No problem with the "tall poppy syndrome" here.
After getting a glimpse of Brisbane via a river-cruise from Southbank, we headed out to the suburbs to meet Leslie (Clint and Leslie worked together about 15 years ago) and Irene, who had kindly offered to host us for the night! We were treated to an incredible view at night over Brisbane from Mount Coo-tha and a really tasty curry. It was wonderful meeting and catching up. Thank you for the great hospitality.
The following morning we left for the famed Sunshine Coast - which seems to be on many peoples retirement lists. We tried to stick to the coastal road to get a feel of all the towns along the way ...100kms of sandy stunning serviced beaches. What more can one want !!! And then the many waterways, marinas and waterfront properties. For us the most impressive area was Noosa Heads, where we spent the evening. Very few high- rises, beautiful beaches and a nature park in the centre of town. Not bad ! The very upmarket Hasting Street has a definite Italian flair to it. And again ....no shortage of disposable income here !
On Thursday we then tackled the approx. 450km drive to Yeppoon, which took about 7 hours due to the amount of roadworks and stop&go areas. The heavy rains 6 weeks ago seem to have necessitated lots of repairs. Got rather frustrating though, as the travel time got longer and longer. Some really heavy rain made the driving a bit more exiting as well, especially as the roads are quite narrow and the huge rigs push the water across the roadway.
This morning we drove to Emu Park to see a memorial to the first landing of James Cook in Keppel Bay in 1770. This "singing" yacht structure is on a hill with beautiful views across the bay. When the wind blows, the organ pipes create sounds which mingle with the crashing of the waves. Beautiful spot !
We were on the road again for the second long day of driving to the long anticipated Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. The drive stretches along the forest-lined Bruce highway. Luckily we made much better time due to better weather and very few roadworks. As this is obviously a tedious stretch of road for most travellers, the road signs placed about 1 km apart along the road try to keep you awake :
Rest or R.I.P.
How far to go Dad ?
How far to go Mom ?
Are we there yet ?
It's still far to go Kids !
Trivia quizz questions and answers 1 km apart
Free coffee is offered at some of the rest stops along the way

We eventually started learning Spanish phrases out of our phrasebook ....although there is radio coverage in most areas and good old- time music is played. The main radio station is CFM. Getting used to the twang by now, sounds almost like "normal" english already. Scary !

Along the way we saw many brown, muddy rivers and mangroves, that really look like crocodile country - with names like Deadman Creek and Alligator Creek making them even more uninviting. Lots of ponds with blue waterlillies, a few live kangeroos, but mostly roadkill, and many birds of prey gliding above the forest canopy.

The A1 / Bruce Highway runs all the way around the coastline of Australia, from Darwin to Cairns...must be one of those epic trips like the London to Cape Town trip.

For lunch we stopped off in Mackay, where we spoke to the life-guard on duty about the stingers. He happened to be from Richardsbay !

As we were nearing Airlie Beach, the signs changed :
Australia's best bottom - Airlie Beach
Live, work ,play - Whitsundays
Whitsunday, Monday, Tuesday ....
and a rainbow appeared with the end pointing to Airlie Beach. It has proved to be all we had hoped for....tropical, lush rainforests, amazing ocean and islands. It is much bigger and more developed than I had anticipated (which has been the case with most places along the coast !)....but amazing !

Now we are just waiting for the weather to improve, especially for the wind to die down, so that we can go for our snorkling trip. Forecasts are not that great unfortunately. It rains mainly at night and otherwise just a few showers, which are no problem as it is still rather warm.

Off to the weekly market now !