Day 13: Agnes Water to Mon Repose Turtle Rookery Tuesday 6th November

Well it rained all night and it rained all day today we stopped for lunch at Bargara where we again managed to blag an internet connection and uploaded the latest series of blogs along with more pics of the trip. We went to look at Coral Cove because we liked the sound of it . . . it is in fact a huge golf-inspired estate that is being built and put us in mind very much of an example of Spanish over-development, they don't seem to be learning from other people's mistakes. There is so much property and land to build being sold absolutely everywhere, it's all going to look so different in ten years time! From there we made the short hop to Mon Repose . . . it was still raining and when asked if we wanted to go to the beach that evening to see the turtles coming up to lay their eggs in the rain and pay for the privilege we thought we would get up early and check progress then. Maureen met a Liverpudlian women who had circumnavigated (I think that's went round) the world with her husband and now spends her time in equal measures in Oz and New Zealand where they keep the boat moored, this lady said we must be really good luck as they hadn't had any rain since April . . . yeah really lucky!

Day 14: Mon Repose Beach to Tin Can Bay/Inskip Point Wednesday 7th November

Guess what? Yep we are still being lucky and it is still piddling down! However, Maureen did get up at 6.30 to go and check out the turtles and it seems it was too rough for them last night, so we could have been standing around in the rain for six hours last night and not caught sight of them. She said to let the "little-uns" know that she had tried . . . but did not manage to catch Donatello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo or Raphael but she did get a picture of one they had captured previously. Didn't rush away too early and made our way to Maryborough (looks like a wild west town) but we did manage to change some travellers cheques in the bank and also bought a lead for under £4 to connect the i-pod to the on-board mp3 player . . . result, and we are now able to give Southern Queensland the benefit of Maroon 5. From there it was on to Tin Can Bay, we had met a guy a few days ago who came from there and so we thought that we would give it a whirl and it was a nice enough place. We didn't fancy the three campsites there, they all seemed a bit "pikey", though in retrospect they would be probably been OK. The Dutch couple we met back in Bingil Bay had told us about this brilliant place around the bay from Tin Can that was right on the ocean, so round to Inskip Point where we picked up the camping permit because it is in another national park. When we got there it appeared to be the aftermath of some kind of beach assault with caravans and 4wd strewn everywhere . . . however I found what APPEARED to be a compact stretch of sand and sailed in to claim my spot in paradise . . . and promptly got stuck. Maureen and I jumped out and tried to clear sand from the wheels and get moving before anyone noticed . . . luckily after 20 minutes of trying in vain, one of the Aussies noticed, hooked up his Landcruiser and dragged us out, just like that with a "no worries mate". At the same time an ex pat from Stevenage came over and said to Maureen "I just did that", so it must be an English thing. I took the guy who'd dragged us out, over a bottle of red and my sincere thanks. We were sitting eating our dinner about an hour or so later when a guy came in and got stuck with a 4wd, I shot out and said "I just did that" . . . I didn't really but I wanted to! Don't want to get too cocky still got to get onto the road out tomorrow yet . . . I have got another bottle of wine just in case!

Day 15: Inskip Point to Esk Thursday 8th November

After raining all night the sand was firm and we were able to get out easily and early, making our way towards Gympie and the hinterland. On the way to Gympie we encountered lots of forest fires (all out but still smouldering and being damped down by the rain). Via the Mary River tourist route we came through Kananga to Imbil where we visited the lookout and Lake Borumba (spot the wallaby in the pic), and onwards through Kenilworth, Conondale and Maleny. This was some of the most beautiful scenery you could imagine reminding us of both the Dales and Scotland, after lunch we passed Steve Urwins "Australia Zoo" in Beerwah. After arriving at Kilcoy, our intended stop for the night, a quick glance told us that we needed to alter our plans (another pikey encampment). 40k later we arrived at Esk and a very agreeable caravan site. Whilst setting-up we met some very friendly Aussies who invited us to dinner with them at the retired servicemans club (thought Keith was in the Boar War).

Day 16: Esk Friday 9th November

So enamoured with the site and fed up with driving decided to stay another 2 days here. Usual household chores washing, ironing and cleaning the van out. Spent the rest of the day chilling and reading and talking. Went to the bowls club (can you believe this and we are not even drawing the pension yet!) and had an excellent meal for £14 (three courses and coffee) for us both. Whilst there we met a group of people, one of whom was an ex pat Liverpudlian called Jim who was married to Margaret. We all chatted for an hour or so, they wanted to know where we came from and Jim said that he had done a bunk with a local lad from Carshalton whilst on conscription. At the end of the evening Margaret invited us for morning coffee the next day at their house about 4k from where we were staying.

Day 17: Esk Saturday 10th November

After waking early we went to the local market and then made our way to Jim and Margarets place. We were not quite sure why they had invited us but it became very apparent when we drove up their drive. Their property covered 16 acres overlooking the Wivenhoe Dam. We got there at 10 a.m and left just after 2 p.m. some coffee morning and some location . . . It was unbelievable. The region is mountainous with lakes and views for miles and you just sat on their verandah "larging it." They showed us all round the property and the projects on the go. The pic in their garden shows a peacock, one of their many animals. I spoke mainly with Margaret who described what life was like living in the hinterland with drought, snakes, spiders and dingos all a part of their everyday life. Keith was shown the "shed" which would have made a workshop for any commercial car repair business. I don't know what we expected but we certainly didn't expect that and it was all we could do to tear ourselves away. That evening we returned to the bowls club (thinking about becoming members) for another excellent meal. Each evening around 6.30 the sky is blackened with fruit bats about to attack the local peach orchards . . . what a sight.

Day 18: Esk to Mount Tamborine Sunday 11th November

Cleared up and said our good-byes to the people who had befriended us and made our way to Ipswich and then onto Boonah (not lamb or chicken just Boonah). After a lunch stop we continued on to Mount Tamborine. The countryside has remained very green and quite lovely the long straight roads have turned into rolling countryside which is far more pleasing to our tastes. Met a couple of cyclists from Brisbane, the guy is entering the Iron Man Triathlon in Western Australia in January 08, this made us both think back to "the way we were" (there's a song about that!) Paid a visit to Tourist Info to use their internet facility to check e-mails and get some info on local camping spots. Found what appears to be a very quiet site except for the wildlife, the little lorikeets as seen in the pics are delightful but bloody noisy. Unfortunately, no bowls club in the vicinity so I shall have to cook tonight!