Our Travels

We woke this morning to our coldest morning so far, our thermometer was showing 0.4^oC when I got out of bed and there was ice over the tent and car.

Frost on the 100 series

It took a while but we finally left camp to check out the attractions in the Springbrook area. Springbrook is a plateau about 900 metres above sea level and on the eastern side there is a large escarpment with quite a few waterfalls. First stop was Purling Brook Falls, this was the site of one of the earliest settlements in the area.

Springbrook Plateau

We then drove to Canyon lookout, the view was good but local burn offs had put a lot of smoke in the area. From there we went to Goomoolahra picnic area, this a very nice picnic area with tables and bbqs tucked into bush areas and a small waterfall and lookout at the end of the track. Then it was up to the Best of All Lookout, we thought the drive up to the plateau was steep, the drive to the Best of All lookout was further up the mountains and steeper.

Best of All Lookout, Springbrook

We then headed back to the village, had lunch and Jacky found a small craft shop with local craft product with some exquisite glass and ceramics items. Jacky found a nice painted ceramic spoon for her collection.

The last place to check out was the natural bridge on the other side of the park, it was about 30 kms away through the Numinbah Valley, another early farming area in the mountains. Here the creek had worn a large hole into the rock and then flowed out from underneath the rock forming a bridge over the creek. The waterfall into the natural bridge was backlit and quite picturesque.

Natural Bridge waterfall

Natural Bridge waterfall

On the way back to camp there was another historic tearoom in the Numinbah Valley and we enjoyed a very nice cuppa with scones, jam & cream.

Back at camp the temperature is rapidly dropping after the sun is set, currently I have a thick shirt, 2 jumpers and a thick coat on and I’m using fingerless gloves to type this.

Today we headed for Springbrook National Park. In the planning stages of this trip we made a decision to avoid large cities, one for the difficulties in finding campsites and two because we wanted to see as much of the country and bush camp as often as possible. Springbrook is in the mountains inland from the Gold Coast, to get there we had to drive through Brisbane and because the main motorway has e-tag tolls we took the highway with all the traffic lights right through the middle of Brisbane. Once clear of the city it was smooth driving to Nerang where we turned off to headed back into the mountains. We were about two thirds of the way up and the left and right lanes split into two separate cuttings in the rock and where they met again there was a quaint old cottage / tea rooms that had been built in the 1920s and it was lunch time. It turned out that they had just employed a new Italian chef and the menu had had to be rewritten but he was able to do a Chicken & Mushroom fettuccini that was delicious.

After lunch we finished the climb and arrived at the Settlement campground in Springbrook National Park. The campground was quite new and the sites a little tight but each site was fairly secluded and there were only a couple of camper vans there.

We were tossing up whether to go to Sea World or Australia Zoo, Jacky was keen on Sea World but when we checked prices Australia Zoo came out in front, $60 per ticket is still a steep price to see a zoo but we were both surprised at the effort and detail put in to the zoo that the entry price seemed a little easier to take.

Mt Beerwah

First stop was Mt Beerwah, the largest of the Glasshouse mountains, the walk track to the top which takes about 3-4 hrs and involves hauling yourself up the final section using a chain was closed due to a major rock fall. Jacky was disappointed but we didn’t have the time anyway.

Australia Zoo is definitely a day trip, maybe two days. We arrived at 10:00 and left at 4:30pm and didn’t see everything or spend the time we would have liked to in some areas.

Sumatran Tiger, Australia Zoo

Koala at Australia Zoo

There are over 100 acres of exhibits and enclosures, they are well set out to maximise the animal’s natural environment as well as public viewing. The staff were very friendly, ready to answer any questions and really seemed to want to be there.

Crocodile feeding at Australia Zoo

First stop today was the Glasshouse Mountain lookout, this is one of several lookouts in the area. The view was quite spectacular. From here we went to Mount Beerburrum to climb to the lookout, 278 mtrs. The climb to the top was a well formed concrete path but it was so steep in many places that you were walking on the front of your feet just to maintain your balance. It took several rests but we eventually made it to the top where there was a fire lookout with 360 degree views.

Jacky at Mt Beerburrum Lookout

Terry at Mount Beerburrum Lookout

You could even make out the Brisbane skyline. Walking down was nearly as slow as you had to take quite small steps to make sure you did not over balance or pick up too much momentum.

Jacky & Terry, having a rest on the way down Mt Beerburrum

After the climb we drove into Beerburrum where it was Matthew Flinders Day and the town was celebrating with a re-enactment, everyone was dressed in period costume and there were stalls selling period crafts and foods.

Mt Coonowrin

The main postcard photos of the Glasshouse Mountains are taken from a lookout on the other side of the Bruce Hwy call Wild Horse Mountain so we set off to find it. I took a turn too early and ended up a fair way south of the lookout in a huge pine plantation but after exploring a number of forest roads we eventually arrived at the lookout. We had lunch there but even though the distance to this lookout was shorter, Jacky declined and left me to walk up to take a few photos. From here we headed back to camp, we stopped briefly at Mt Ngungun and Mt Tibrogargan but the walk to the top of each mountain was over 2km and we were out of time and energy.

Pack up time again, this time we are heading to the Glasshouse Mountains. We headed down to the beach for a 45 km drive along the beach. Once again it was into the car wash. The wash they had here appeared to have a more powerful underbody spray and the 100 series was the cleanest it had looked for the entire trip. From there it was on to the river ferry across to Noosa where we had morning tea at the Noosa Marina with my cousin Esther who I had not seen in nearly 40 years. It was really good to catch up, Esther really appeared to miss the family connections over the years and particularly now with 3 of her children living in Italy.

After lunch we headed off to Glasshouse Mountains, the caravan park was a little rustic, more like a campsite with amenities but the showers were clean and hot and for $28 for a powered site it wasn’t too bad.

Today I let the tyres down again and headed down to the beach and began wonder why I had spent the time and money washing the salt and sand off the car. The first destination was north to Double Pt Lighthouse, we parked and headed up the headland to the lighthouse. After a 2 km climb we arrived at the lighthouse to find it wrapped in scaffolding and mesh sheeting while it was having a respray. Jacky was developing some very negative attitudes towards lighthouses.

Teewah Beach from Double Point

After lunch on the beach we headed down Teewah Beach, there was a 15km camping zone and we were absolutely amazed at how many people were camped along there, Jacky thought it must have been a public holiday but it seems that these banana benders are pretty keen about their fishing.

We drove 40 kms down to the beach exit, bought an icecream at the first kiosk and headed back to Freshwater camp.

The time has come to leave this fantastic island, low tide was at 12 noon, so we had plenty of time to drive the 100 kms back to the ferry. The difference low tide makes is amazing. You can cruise along the beach around 70kms/hr and pull a trailer with little effort. This time we stayed on the beach all the way around Hook Pt to the ferry and arrived there around 12:00 pm. Jacky was quite taken with the fact that 75 mile beach has speed limit signs and more signs to let you know that the speed restrictions are enforced, though we did not see on radar in our time on the island.

40 km/hr, Fraser Island

The first stop was the under body car wash, after 7 days of driving up and down the beach I needed to ensure all salt residues were washed away. I haven’t seen a car wash like this in WA, you park on top of a steel grid and jets spray high pressure water on the underbody then add a rust inhibitor. Our next camp was at Freshwater just off Teewah beach about 20 kms from Rainbow Beach. Another beautiful campsite with flushing toilets and hot ($1/5min) showers and we had the place nearly to ourselves except all afternoon there was a steady stream of traffic coming in to use the showers. As we found out the next day nearly every spot in the beach camping area was full.

Ngkala Rocks

During our successful negotiation of the Ngkala rocks bypass on Mon, I forgot to turn on the GoPro so with one last day we decided to go up to Ngkala Rocks and film our efforts in negotiating this tricky bypass. With the rain some of the holes in the track had water in them and again we had to wait while someone got themselves out of a bogged situation. It is quite amazing how some people avoid letting their tyre pressure down until they are bogged. Despite the deeper ruts we went through without any problems. On the other side I stopped and spoke to a couple of guys fishing to see if there was any action but it was the same story I had heard further south, no tailer, just a few small dart.

Ngkala Rocks Bypass

It was now time to see if I could catch a fish, I could not go 7 days on Fraser Island without throwing in a line. The recommended time was 2 hours before high tide so we headed back to camp, Jacky decided to stay at camp and read and I got the fishing gear ready and headed down to the beach. I selected a nice gutter between two groups of fishermen and spent the next 2 hours enjoying the serenity. They say a bad day fishing is better that a good day at work so it was a good day.

Rain in paradise!! What’s going on? The extraordinary amount of water on this island may have something to do with regular rainfall. Jacky had seen a cute t-shirt at Happy Valley when we were there on Thurs so she was keen to go there and she offered to buy lunch. Going back through the Indian Head bypass was a breeze, not sure what all the fuss is about getting through this section but I imagine it can be more difficult when the sand is very dry, there had been rain before we arrived on the island and some rain while we were on the island so the sand was quite damp.

Indian Head, Fraser Island

First stop was the Dundubarra camp ground, this is the most northern camp ground before Indian Head and is set up for families with a fully enclosed dingo proof fence. It’s quite large with plenty of shady camp sites.

Next stop was Cathedral Beach Resort, another of the privately run resorts with chalets as well as a camping ground all fully enclosed with dingo proof fencing. The store provided limited lunch options but it was well stocked with almost everything a camper would need including a variety of card and board games.

We had a leisurely lunch at Happy Valley and headed 45 km back to our camp at Waddy Point. We were quite fortunate with the tides during our stay at Fraser Island with low tide being around lunch time to early afternoon each day allowing for most of the beach driving to be on hard sand rather than the soft sand above the high tide mark.

The Maheno Wreck, the most photographed piece of rust in Australia

Another beautiful day in paradise, today we head for Sandy Cape, the most northern tip of the island. Just past Orchid Beach we saw a sign for Ocean Lake, there was a nice picnic area with toilets there that did not look like it was used very often. Jacky felt that the sign describing then numerous spider species including trapdoor spiders found in the area may have had something to do with it. I think that majority of people that made the effort to get to the northern end of the island are just interested in fishing not picnic. The majority of groups camping up this end of the island consisted of males, there were only a few couples like ourselves.

From Ocean Lake we headed off again along the beach to where we arrived at the infamous Ngkala Rocks. These rocks are usually passable at low tide and we were there about 2 hrs before low tide and there was no way they could be driven around or over. Everyone was using the bypass track, this track is a little gnarly and pretty soft, we were only 100 mtrs in when we had to stop and wait while some one used their Maxx tracs to get themselves through the soft sand. I wisely used to the spare time to drop a few more psi from the tyres and we got through without any issues. It was back on to the beach and a nice smooth 20 km cruise up the beach to the cape.

Sandy Cape, Fraser Island

The lighthouse is about 8 kms around from the cape and there is a couple of camping areas there for the real hardy fisher types. The road up to the lighthouse was locked, so it was a 1.3 km walk up a very steep hill to reach it.

The climb to Sandy Cape Lighthouse

The sign at the start of the road suggested there were self-guided tours available and Jacky thought the lighthouse would be open and you could climb up to the walkway but this was not to be. The lighthouse and the 2 lighthouse keeper’s cottages were all locked and the view from the grounds was mostly obstructed by trees and shrubs.

Sandy Cape Lighthouse

Jacky was not impressed after the effort required getting there from the beach. The effort required to build the structure in 1870 was quite impressive. It was built using prefabricated sections of cast iron that were off loaded onto the beach and dragged up the hill using horses. After more than our daily requirement of exercise it was time to head back to camp to relax.