James is a crack-up. When it's cold in the mornings he snuggles down under the doona, tucked in beside me while I do my journal and absolutely refuses to acknowledge any interaction. Normally you can say words like 'walk', 'ball', 'cows', 'ducks', 'kangaroos' etc (he actually has a big vocabulary) and he instantly sits up and starts looking. But not when it's cold and he's tucked in bed. It's funny when we're driving along and there are cows or roos on the road ahead. One of us will casually say 'cows ahead', or some such thing. James can be fast asleep in his bed, high in the middle of the back seat and he's instantly up and searching. He's a real sticky-beak - doesn't want to be left out of anything, but you can't budge him when it's cold and he's in bed. Maybe he knows we're just tricking.
It was very cold and foggy when we awoke Sunday morning. It's the first time we've fired up the gas jets on the stove and left them to run a while to warm up the van. The fog burned off pretty quickly and as the sun came to life the day warmed up enough so that I put on shorts. The plan was a game of golf, so maybe that was more incentive for shorts than the temperature. We had only booked for one night at the dam, so we contacted Shell and Em (Emma had arrived at Shelley's the night before having driven from Melbourne) to discuss rendezvous plans. We agreed we'd meet Monday at Inskip Point and take our chances with the forecast iffy weather.
We booked a second night at Boondooma and drove into Prostin, 18 km away. The town has a population of around 300, most of those residents living on surrounding properties. It could be a quaint little place but is actually a bit run down and shabby. Apparently the area has been experiencing pretty tough times and is in decline. When the dam was being built in the 1980's it was quite prosperous.
At the nine hole golf course we met a couple of guys playing who gave assistance with borrowing a couple of buggies and paying our $10 green fees. We followed them to learn the course layout as they were just about to do the second nine (same as the first 9, but different tees). We both hit smashing first drives - excellent! It's a nice little par 35, in reasonable condition though a bit rough on the greens. We both played ok - and loved it. After the game we went into the clubhouse where the guys in front were having a drink. We got chatting about all sorts of things while enjoying a Sunday lunchtime sip. It's amazing that the club has only 14 members, a couple of whom green keep it. What a great job! The rest of our day was spent enjoying the beautiful Boondooma Dam environment, blogging, reading and fire-making. Before bed we packed as much up as we could in preparation for our departure for Inskip in the morning. I was excited that I would see the kids for the first time in over four months.
Sunset over Boondooma
We left Boondooma at 8.30 to wend our way east to Inskip Point via Gympie and Rainbow Beach. It was hilly, winding travel through country-side that was partly farming, partly forest and partly urban, particularly around Gympie. It was 16 degrees and drizzling for most of the way but cleared up and warmed up, thank goodness, by the time we got to Inskip early afternoon.
We arrived before Shell, Em and Lachy so drove along Inskip Point Road, off which the four beach side, bush camping areas are accessed. To stay at Inskip you buy a permit from Queensland Parks, then set up wherever you like at one of the designated areas. We needed a space that would accommodate three camps. It was tricky. Access was sandy and one spot we tried to get into we very nearly got bogged. When Shell arrived we walked around and found an area we thought would be ok. Getting in however was not without its dramas. The tight maneuvering caused the back of the Beast to connect with the front storage box on the van, damaging both the storage box and one of the tool boxes behind the rear wheels of the Beast. Bugger! We eventually got all three vans in place, but we were on black sand which, when it started to rain later, was sticky and horrible.
Our camp was almost at the tip of the peninsula so, protected on both sides by mainland to the west and Fraser Island to the east. Our camp was just behind the dunes on the ocean side.That was good for Lachy as he was into the water in a flash, joined by James who was beside himself with joy at being on the beach They played together for hours. By 4pm we had a fire going and started to kick back.It was great to catch up with the girls and my grandson. I did a Weber roast for us all and we enjoyed a lovely night together.
It rained quite a bit overnight. Em said it was lovely tucked in bed listening to the drops hitting the canvas of her camper. We all stayed dry. Lachy and Shell hit the beach at first light, despite the intermittent showers. He just had to be in the water! When Em got up she, Shell and Lachy went for a drive to have a good look through all the camping areas to see if they could find a spot that was on grass or yellow sand. The black sand we were on was was pretty messy and Lachy was constantly filthy. Our shoes were carrying the black stuff into the vans as well. Unfortunately they had no joy. The good spots were either taken or inaccessible due to deep sand or low overhead branches that the Beast and the boat would not fit under.
Ocean side with rain coming
Brian and I headed into Rainbow Beach to pick up our permit tags as we had booked our camping on line. Rainbow Beach is right on the ocean and has a lovely, fresh holiday feel about it. The main street ends at a lovely green park beside the surf club. There are some beautiful houses and holiday apartments that are built into the side of the hill behind the small shopping precinct. There are heaps of different beaches to go to around the peninsula and the sand is so wide on the ocean side that you can drive a car all the way from Inskip Point to Tewantin along the beach at low tide.That's a good 50 km. The beaches are truly stunning. It is a beautiful place. It does have one shortcoming - sand flies. You do really need to cover up.
In the afternoon Shelley, Lachy, James and I went to the ocean side for a walk and discovered lots of blue jellyfish on the high tide line. We scooped one up in Shelley's croc, took it back to camp and put it in a bucket. It had long, deep blue tentacles. We pulled out the Ipad and identified it as a Bluebottle or Portuguese Man of War. Their tentacles, which can range from 15 cm to 10 meters in length, inject a poison which causes incredible pain. From that point on neither Lachy nor James were allowed to play in the water on the ocean side. Fortunately there didn't appear to be any on the bay side. We all did a bit of fishing on both the bay and ocean sides and had plenty of bites. Em and Brian caught a couple small whiting but they were too small to keep. The drizzle came and went throughout the day but it was a relatively mild 20 degrees so not too much of a problem. Mid afternoon I got a big fire going and Shell made a stew which sat in the camp oven beside the fire and slow cooked until dinner time. It was yum!
It was very cold and foggy when we awoke Sunday morning. It's the first time we've fired up the gas jets on the stove and left them to run a while to warm up the van. The fog burned off pretty quickly and as the sun came to life the day warmed up enough so that I put on shorts. The plan was a game of golf, so maybe that was more incentive for shorts than the temperature. We had only booked for one night at the dam, so we contacted Shell and Em (Emma had arrived at Shelley's the night before having driven from Melbourne) to discuss rendezvous plans. We agreed we'd meet Monday at Inskip Point and take our chances with the forecast iffy weather.
We booked a second night at Boondooma and drove into Prostin, 18 km away. The town has a population of around 300, most of those residents living on surrounding properties. It could be a quaint little place but is actually a bit run down and shabby. Apparently the area has been experiencing pretty tough times and is in decline. When the dam was being built in the 1980's it was quite prosperous.
At the nine hole golf course we met a couple of guys playing who gave assistance with borrowing a couple of buggies and paying our $10 green fees. We followed them to learn the course layout as they were just about to do the second nine (same as the first 9, but different tees). We both hit smashing first drives - excellent! It's a nice little par 35, in reasonable condition though a bit rough on the greens. We both played ok - and loved it. After the game we went into the clubhouse where the guys in front were having a drink. We got chatting about all sorts of things while enjoying a Sunday lunchtime sip. It's amazing that the club has only 14 members, a couple of whom green keep it. What a great job! The rest of our day was spent enjoying the beautiful Boondooma Dam environment, blogging, reading and fire-making. Before bed we packed as much up as we could in preparation for our departure for Inskip in the morning. I was excited that I would see the kids for the first time in over four months.
Sunset over Boondooma
We left Boondooma at 8.30 to wend our way east to Inskip Point via Gympie and Rainbow Beach. It was hilly, winding travel through country-side that was partly farming, partly forest and partly urban, particularly around Gympie. It was 16 degrees and drizzling for most of the way but cleared up and warmed up, thank goodness, by the time we got to Inskip early afternoon.
We arrived before Shell, Em and Lachy so drove along Inskip Point Road, off which the four beach side, bush camping areas are accessed. To stay at Inskip you buy a permit from Queensland Parks, then set up wherever you like at one of the designated areas. We needed a space that would accommodate three camps. It was tricky. Access was sandy and one spot we tried to get into we very nearly got bogged. When Shell arrived we walked around and found an area we thought would be ok. Getting in however was not without its dramas. The tight maneuvering caused the back of the Beast to connect with the front storage box on the van, damaging both the storage box and one of the tool boxes behind the rear wheels of the Beast. Bugger! We eventually got all three vans in place, but we were on black sand which, when it started to rain later, was sticky and horrible.
Our camp was almost at the tip of the peninsula so, protected on both sides by mainland to the west and Fraser Island to the east. Our camp was just behind the dunes on the ocean side.That was good for Lachy as he was into the water in a flash, joined by James who was beside himself with joy at being on the beach They played together for hours. By 4pm we had a fire going and started to kick back.It was great to catch up with the girls and my grandson. I did a Weber roast for us all and we enjoyed a lovely night together.
It rained quite a bit overnight. Em said it was lovely tucked in bed listening to the drops hitting the canvas of her camper. We all stayed dry. Lachy and Shell hit the beach at first light, despite the intermittent showers. He just had to be in the water! When Em got up she, Shell and Lachy went for a drive to have a good look through all the camping areas to see if they could find a spot that was on grass or yellow sand. The black sand we were on was was pretty messy and Lachy was constantly filthy. Our shoes were carrying the black stuff into the vans as well. Unfortunately they had no joy. The good spots were either taken or inaccessible due to deep sand or low overhead branches that the Beast and the boat would not fit under.
Ocean side with rain coming
Brian and I headed into Rainbow Beach to pick up our permit tags as we had booked our camping on line. Rainbow Beach is right on the ocean and has a lovely, fresh holiday feel about it. The main street ends at a lovely green park beside the surf club. There are some beautiful houses and holiday apartments that are built into the side of the hill behind the small shopping precinct. There are heaps of different beaches to go to around the peninsula and the sand is so wide on the ocean side that you can drive a car all the way from Inskip Point to Tewantin along the beach at low tide.That's a good 50 km. The beaches are truly stunning. It is a beautiful place. It does have one shortcoming - sand flies. You do really need to cover up.
In the afternoon Shelley, Lachy, James and I went to the ocean side for a walk and discovered lots of blue jellyfish on the high tide line. We scooped one up in Shelley's croc, took it back to camp and put it in a bucket. It had long, deep blue tentacles. We pulled out the Ipad and identified it as a Bluebottle or Portuguese Man of War. Their tentacles, which can range from 15 cm to 10 meters in length, inject a poison which causes incredible pain. From that point on neither Lachy nor James were allowed to play in the water on the ocean side. Fortunately there didn't appear to be any on the bay side. We all did a bit of fishing on both the bay and ocean sides and had plenty of bites. Em and Brian caught a couple small whiting but they were too small to keep. The drizzle came and went throughout the day but it was a relatively mild 20 degrees so not too much of a problem. Mid afternoon I got a big fire going and Shell made a stew which sat in the camp oven beside the fire and slow cooked until dinner time. It was yum!
We were up early Wednesday as Brian had a flight out of the Sunshine Coast Airport at midday. He was going back to Melbourne for six days to do his aviation medical, his AFR (practical flying review), and do the 100 hourly (maintenance/service) on his home-built RV aeroplane. The trip to the airport took just on two hours. I got back from dropping him off at 1pm, only to find that he had taken the key to the van with him. The spare key was locked in the van. Bugger! It took Shell, Em and me over an hour to break in. Fortunately in the end we only had to make a small cut in the fly wire of the security screen door then use a tent peg to unlatch it from the inside. Getting to that point, however, took ages and it was bloody frustrating!
After a late lunch and a clean up of my very sandy van James and Lachy had a big play and swim in the water bay-side while Shell, Em and I watched on. They both ended up cold and sandy by dusk, so it was bath time all around before they settled in front of a roaring fire all snugged up. Before bed James and I went for a walk along the ocean beach. The moon was bright and the tide was way, way out leaving a wide band of beautiful firm sand. It was just superb!
Shell, Lachy, James and I went walking on the beach as soon as it was light next morning. The tide was quite low and it was lovely to walk on the hard sand from the ocean side, up to the point and down the bay side to the back of our camp. We were really surprised to find a couple of wild horses grazing along the sand dunes at the edge of the beach. A stallion and a mare in foal, they were quite relaxed in the company of people as they wandered through the camps. The stallion had almost lost both ears. Shell reckoned it was because he had been constantly rubbing his sand fly bites on trees and had scratched them off. Aside from that they both looked in lovely condition.
I went into town mid morning to have a cappy, do a load of washing and fill the water containers at the public water point. Our van had the only hot water service and shower between the three camps, so it was getting a bit of a hammering - particularly given the black sand and showery conditions. Back at camp I pulled the bikes off their racks and Em and I rode the 14 km back into town for a fish and chip lunch while Shell and Lachy explored the playground and Tin Can Bay. It was great fun but on the way home Em had to resort to using power only as her bottom was so sore she could only sit one cheek on the seat at a time which meant she couldn't peddle. Luckily the batteries held out.
Thursday was our best day in terms of weather with clear skies and a comfy 22 degrees. Em had promised Lachy a ride in the canoe, so late in the afternoon we all walked across to the bay beach and Lachy got his paddle. He loved it. While on the beach he found a shell and held it to his ear. "I can see the beach!" he exclaimed.. How cute! A long play in the shallows with James followed, then a lovely hot bath in front of the fire. What a big day for a very busy little boy!
Shelley passed Lachy over to his Nanny Noelle first thing in the morning. Actually, it was first thing for me as I was still snugged up in bed - not for Lachy - he (and Shell, unfortunately) had been up for hours! He was ready for a play with James. Mmmm - a very loud and boisterous four year old and a dog playing catch hippo and tug of war in an 18 ft van is mind-boggling. It also leads to a touch of over-stimulation which is destined to end in tears. Ahhh - the joys of grand-parenting!
The day was cool and overcast with intermittent drizzle. Not the best beach going conditions, so Lachy and I went into Rainbow Beach for a mid-morning cappy and some time together on the foreshore play equipment. That was a good idea. A bit of rest time in the car seat and an area to run free and burn off some of that never-ending energy. It wasn't long after we got back that the heavens opened up and man - did it pour! It poured, and poured, and poured. Bucket loads. For hours and hours. Bugger!
My job for dinner was to make a loaf of honey and oatmeal bread in the camp oven. The radar on the Ipad indicated the band of storms would pass so thought we would be able to get a fire going a a good bed of coals to cook the bread in time for dinner. Wrong! It was still raining at 6pm, and the fire that Em had used a bottle of metho on to get going, and that I had stood over with an umbrella to protect from rain was not exactly going to deliver a bed of coals. We did manage to pull out a few and with a pre-warmed camp oven I took the chance with the bread.
By 8 pm Shelley's partner, Adam, had arrived to spend the weekend, the rain had stopped, dinner was ready and we all ate it standing up in front of the fire because all the chairs were wet, accompanied by doughy bread.
It rained most of Friday night and was still drizzling when we left to go across to Fraser Island on the ferry at 9am. Adam was keen to take us over in his Navara Ute and had all the recovery gear on board in case we got stuck in the sand. The car ferry departed from Inskip Point, just a kilometer or so up the road, and it was only a kilometer or two across to the the Island.
I hadn't experienced beach driving before and was amazed at how many cars just drove off the ferry onto deep, soft sand, gave the accelerator heaps and ploughed through to the firm tidal surface close to the crashing waves of the ocean. Car after car roared along the undefined beach highway at 80 kph. All were four wheel drives of course and most, like Adam, had tyre pressures around 20 psi. It was funny though to see a group of blokes, two cars laden with fishing and camping gear get a stubby each on the ferry (9am remember), then bog one of the cars up to the axles on disembarkation on the beach at Fraser. Bugger eh!
We screamed along, slowing for washouts, dingoes, shipwrecks and aeroplanes for over 60 km, stopping only to grab a few photos and have morning tea and a fish. It was overcast with intermittent showers but amazingly spectacular - a seemingly never ending stretch of wide, white sand bordered by forest and sand dunes on one side and angry, crashing seas on the other. As we drove along we started to spot whales close into shore and when we arrived at Champagne Pools, we stood on the cliffs above the point and watched as pod after pod swam past blowing spouts and flipping tails.
Champagne Pools is a beautiful set of three rock pools with a cliff on one side and the sea on the other. The water in them is crystal clear. Apparently when the tide comes in the waves crash over the rocky edges creating champagne colored water flows. Lachy and Adam had a swim but we couldn't stay long as we had to get back along the beach before the incoming tide got too high. Half way back we stopped for a picnic lunch before heading inland through the tropical rain forest to a look out over Lake Wabby, one of several inland lakes. The spectacular 12 meter deep waterhole was bordered by forest on one side and a huge sand blow on the other. It would have been great to walk down to it but we just didn't have time.
We got back to the ferry by 4.30, missing the top of the high tide by not much. It was a fabulous day. James was extremely happy to see us after 8 hours in the van by himself!
A dingo on the beach at Fraser
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