Bangalow and Beyond

Finally found one of those great country markets I have been holding out for. Left Ballina on Sunday morning heading for Bangalow, a small town halfway to Byron, but a bit inland. They were having their monthly Sunday market, and we were told it shouldn't be missed. They were right.

Bangalow is a quaint little town full of old historic buildings and small specialty shops and cafes. Reminds me of Tilba Tilba, except there is no cheese factory. The market was on the showgrounds oval, and was wonderful - full of local produce, home made delicacies, as well as hand made crafts in wood and leather. We tried frozen chocolate coated mango, and freshly squeezed sugar cane juice. This is a popular drink in Egypt, but obviously George had not had any for many years. Not a lot of sugar cane in Melbourne. Delicious and refreshing.

The market was so popular that there was a queue to get into town, and all the streets were lined with parked cars. There was a car park run by Rotary, collecting donations for the Salvos for $2. Great spot, once we actually got in there. Long queue to get in.

After Bangalow we moved on to another small town called Brunswick Heads, which is just north of Byron. They had been having a rowing regatta that morning, followed by a town festival on the river just as we arrived. This is a gorgeous little town, with the caravan park right on the river edge, and the beach just over a small bridge. The town itself is compact and very laid back. There were lots of families and small children, and we tried some fishing off the bridge. You could see the mullets leaping right in front of you, and they were happy to nibble our bait, but nothing on the line.

I could stay there a week quite happily. I believe this is probably what Noosa was like 20 or 30 years ago. So many people tell you it was lovely before, and there used to be a caravan park right on the river, and just a few shops. Before the over development. Hope it doesn't happen here.

We moved on in the evening and spent the night in a rest area just near the highway. It was amazing - large, paved and ordered, great facilities. And all free. As we pulled in it already looked like a caravan park, with assorted rigs of all shapes and sizes, but there was plenty of room to pull over and cook some dinner.

Next morning we decided to check out a few other small towns before we hit Tweed Heads and the beginning of civilization and over development that is synonymous with the Gold Coast and just below it.

First stop was a small town called Pottsville. Again just lovely. A few nice small shops and cafes, a beautiful beach, a really relaxed and laid back spot. Next stop was Hastings Point - very small, basically a milk bar and a small caravan park. Then there is Cabarita Beach, another gorgeous beach, but a bit more developed, with holiday apartments and motels, but not too big.

After that we hit an area called Casuarina, which is just south of Tweed Heads. The whole area was one huge development site, with thousands of new houses under construction. Real Yuppieville. We hated it and couldn't move on fast enough.

North from here was Tweed Heads, followed by Coolangatta, then the Gold Coast, Brisbane, and the Sunshine Coast. All areas we have been to many times, done to death, and really don't like. Besides that, they actually have very few caravan parks, as everything is high rise apartments.

So we decided to byp************* lot. Hit the highway and kept on going, past Brisbane, past Noosa, and stopped in Gympie overnight, in another rest area. This was the first rest area for about 200 kms, and very different to the last one. The ground was rough and only occasionally paved, tents, campers and caravans were parked all over the place haphazardly, and the people staying there were real down to earth campers. None of the fancy fitted out buses, pulling a 4 wheel drive behind it. Many of these people told us they had been on the road for several years. Amazing lifestyle!

Next morning drove into Gympie Tourist Info Centre to see what was in the area. Very enthusiastic volunteer told us the whole story of Gympie, especially its gold mining days, and how it basically put Queensland on the map way back. Fascinating stories, but not so fascinating town. Basically we got on with some banking and got some provisions, then moved on to more interesting spots.

GeorgeY's bit

Bangalow market was the real deal. It still had some of the airy fairy new age ****, but most stalls had a balanced variety of crafts, local produce and food. The sugar cane stall was manned by a young French guy who has been to Egypt and loved it (probably learned about sugar cane juice there).

Brunswick Heads is just a great holiday place for families. Easy, relaxed feeling, wide streets with broad, green nature strips and, though it was full because of the paddle competition, parking our home was easy.

The rest area was the best we have seen so far - large and long parking bays, sheltered from highway noise with a wall of trees, flushing toilets, BBQs and even a modern kids playground. Parked behind a full size bus motorhome pulling a full size Toyota Land Cruiser and connected to a massive satellite dish to complete the fancy set-up. Somehow the Transit with the Yamaha on its back looked contrastingly minimalistic. Yes, Peter, the Yamaha has made it all the way to Queensland.

Great day for discovering hidden gems. Absolutely loved sun-soaked Pottsville then Cabarita Beach. Nature at its best, teamed with smart sophisticated placement of facilities and amenities - and the result is stunning. I could spend the rest of my life there having coffee in the morning at the main street, and soaking up the natural beauty and the temperate, bright climate. Because these places are a bit far from major cities and airport access, they become the best kept secrets, beating by a mile the excessively popular places like Byron Bay and the Gold Digger's Coast, with its inward looking shopping malls and high rise concrete jungle blocking the notion of waterfront beaches.

On the beach at Pottsville there is a sign warning of a strong currant. I did not see any, but I think prunes, and even sultanas, can beat him easily.

Very pleased with our last finds and hoping for more, so we headed up the coast road to Casuarina, where it all ended.

Casuarina is Queenslands answer to outer Craigiburn. Hurry, now selling house and land packages with sea views. (?) What sea views? The only blue sea seen there was on the screen of our Garmin.

Great town planning folks! Started with a bland spot, made a quick buck and created the bogan-ville of the future. Real classy. Couldn't flee fast enough for the **** roundabouts peppered everywhere, and then the speed limit of 110 km/hr on the freeway.

The rest spot just before Gympie was a very down to earth place. Some people there looked more homeless than tourists, but they are all very friendly. There was a mix of young Europeans in rented compact campers, tents, and the Grey nomad caravaners traveling with their pets. A few had their generators running from the back of their camper, powering microwaves and kettles. But some had extensive house furniture and white goods, giving the impression of long term dwelling, which was unusual for a rest spot.

Next morning headed for Gympie, a 5 minute drive, and were at the Tourist Info Centre 15 minutes before 9am. The guy was just arriving, and let us in. One of the best Tourist Info help ever. The man is very enthusiastic and had the local knowledge of the history of the place, as well as its geology, with gold and other metal deposits. There were also stories of Gympie saving Queensland, then providing a prime minister who was a character in his own right and introduced the baby bonus back in the 1910s.

We were overwhelmed with all the stories, and were then given a brochure called '25 things you have to do in Gympie'. Went through the historic town, with old, narrow and bendy streets and did some banking transactions. In keeping with the historic theme, in Westpac, the lady employee struggled to get some customer's card out of a card reader/swallower. She was on the phone to get instructions on how to press a sequence of buttons to get it to spit out the card. But finally it was the screwdriver approach that worked, and after a full surgical procedure, the card was extracted. I guess in any branch around Melbourne there will be a repairman called in and the thing replaced instantly. Another example of Aussie ingenuity by tough people in the bush.

Once the Tour de Gympie was done, we sifted through the list of 25 things you have to do in Gympie. After careful consideration of all options, we decided to do one thing, leave Gympie.

A great move but details are in the next entry.