From the moment I arrived at Marie and Ross's place, the weather started to improve. The days of rain and gales disappeared and even setting up my van on their front lawn Saturday arvo was done in sunshine. Yay!
James was delighted to have a house and yard to wander around in and settled very quickly with Marie and Ross's spoodle, Milo. We had lots to catch up on that night and did so over a delicious dinner of seafood paella, french champagne and wine. Ross is a bloody good cook! It was great to have power to the van and the battery which I thought might be rooted didn't take long to show 13.5 V. That was a relief. I was expecting to have to spend $300 on a new one. It was also great to have a washing machine and sleep in clean sheets.
Hervey Bay is a pretty big place with a population of over 50,000 people. It has miles of beautiful beaches and lovely, tropical, well-maintained foreshore areas interspersed with caravan parks, beach-front cafes and bars as well as lots of great kids play grounds. The long stretch of esplanade which ends at Urangan boat harbour has a very holiday feel while a few streets back there are all the big name retail outlets It's a popular destination for grey nomads escaping the winter down south and in summer is close enough to Brisbane to be a family summer holiday destination. Its real claim to fame however is its proximity to Fraser Island and whale watching which takes place between July and November. There are heaps of different options for getting out to the island and the whales and it's apparently a booming boating industry with heaps of vessels of all sizes lined up on boardwalks within Urangan harbour.
My week spent with Marie and Ross was very leisurely. Each morning we walked the dogs on the beach just a few hundred meters from the house.
We played competition golf in perfect weather a couple of the days which was pretty cheap for me as Hervey Bay is a reciprocal club to my home club of Yarra/Mul. I even managed to catch up with Pammy and George, friends from Yarrawonga who come to Hervey Bay every winter. Pammy joined Marie and me for the ladies comp on Wednesday. Nice. The course is lovely and quite challenging...and I'm still playing like crap!
We checked out some of the local sights, had a dinner out one night at a Thai restaurant and even managed to fit in a spot of fishing. Ross launched his tinny at Gatakers Bay Thursday arvo and the three of us headed out and anchored not too far from shore. We were getting lots of bites and pulling in a few winter whiting but they were tiny. It was also blowing a northerly which created a bit of a swell and it wasn't too long before both Marie and I started to feel crook. Time to head back. It was a short outing, but fun, and the pelicans enjoyed a few of the little whiting we fed to them.
I'd set up my Sprouts Alive kit to grow a few different varieties of sprouts when I was at Agnes and with the addition of water a few times a day they certainly shot up in the warmth of the caravan in a week. I don't mind a little indoor garden. I used them in salads, just to nibble on and Friday, made up some hors d'ouvres to take to the beach for my last night at Hervey to watch the sunset.
My week at Hervey Bay was great. Not only was the weather beautiful with every day in the mid 20's and lots of good times spent doing summery stuff with Marie and Ross, I also had the Jeep's transmission serviced. It was well overdue - the normally clear pale brown fluid had turned thick and black. New oil, a new filter and a headlight bulb replacement plus my peace of mind only cost $273. Bargain! With car, van, solar panels and clothes all washed I was ready to move on. Still heading south to meet up with Karen who had delayed her departure from Melbourne due to bad weather - hail, wind, rain - I decided on a Youcamp spot on a working farm not far from Gympie. I said my goodbyes to my dear friends around midday, took a leisurely route through miles and miles of pine forests toward Tin Can Bay arriving at Glen Seil Farm, Kandanga, late Saturday afternoon. James and I enjoyed our first fire in nearly three weeks.
Hervey Bay is a pretty big place with a population of over 50,000 people. It has miles of beautiful beaches and lovely, tropical, well-maintained foreshore areas interspersed with caravan parks, beach-front cafes and bars as well as lots of great kids play grounds. The long stretch of esplanade which ends at Urangan boat harbour has a very holiday feel while a few streets back there are all the big name retail outlets It's a popular destination for grey nomads escaping the winter down south and in summer is close enough to Brisbane to be a family summer holiday destination. Its real claim to fame however is its proximity to Fraser Island and whale watching which takes place between July and November. There are heaps of different options for getting out to the island and the whales and it's apparently a booming boating industry with heaps of vessels of all sizes lined up on boardwalks within Urangan harbour.
We played competition golf in perfect weather a couple of the days which was pretty cheap for me as Hervey Bay is a reciprocal club to my home club of Yarra/Mul. I even managed to catch up with Pammy and George, friends from Yarrawonga who come to Hervey Bay every winter. Pammy joined Marie and me for the ladies comp on Wednesday. Nice. The course is lovely and quite challenging...and I'm still playing like crap!
We checked out some of the local sights, had a dinner out one night at a Thai restaurant and even managed to fit in a spot of fishing. Ross launched his tinny at Gatakers Bay Thursday arvo and the three of us headed out and anchored not too far from shore. We were getting lots of bites and pulling in a few winter whiting but they were tiny. It was also blowing a northerly which created a bit of a swell and it wasn't too long before both Marie and I started to feel crook. Time to head back. It was a short outing, but fun, and the pelicans enjoyed a few of the little whiting we fed to them.
It was the perfect evening to hit the beach. A stunning sunset with pelicans flying by.
My week at Hervey Bay was great. Not only was the weather beautiful with every day in the mid 20's and lots of good times spent doing summery stuff with Marie and Ross, I also had the Jeep's transmission serviced. It was well overdue - the normally clear pale brown fluid had turned thick and black. New oil, a new filter and a headlight bulb replacement plus my peace of mind only cost $273. Bargain! With car, van, solar panels and clothes all washed I was ready to move on. Still heading south to meet up with Karen who had delayed her departure from Melbourne due to bad weather - hail, wind, rain - I decided on a Youcamp spot on a working farm not far from Gympie. I said my goodbyes to my dear friends around midday, took a leisurely route through miles and miles of pine forests toward Tin Can Bay arriving at Glen Seil Farm, Kandanga, late Saturday afternoon. James and I enjoyed our first fire in nearly three weeks.
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