As of midday Monday June 1st restrictions on travel in Queensland were lifted. Bloody beauty! That meant I could get back to my travels. Given I had been planning to leave on June 12th , the forecast date for intrastate movement to be allowed, I needed a few days to get ready to go.
Monday 1st. I had my fortnightly plasma donation taking place and I was still doing a few things to the van that I needed to complete. The stove lid had a nasty burn mark on it that I wanted to fix. My initial plan was to cover it with a sheet of black gloss Melamine or the like, but after speaking to a couple of cabinet makers it appeared I would need to purchase a whole sheet for one small piece....way too expensive. One of the blokes I spoke to did offer me a sheet of thin stainless steel for $20, which he cut to size. Excellent, that might just work. I would need to sand back the lid to get rid of the burn mark. I started to do so before discovering that the burn was actually on layer of plastic sheeting that was glued to the lid. I was able to slowly peel the entire layer off and after cleaning off the sticky residue with solvent I ended up with a gleaming black lid that looked like new....yay! Way better than the stainless steel sheet. I'm guessing it is now, however, far more fragile so will need to be careful with how I use the surface.
Another problem I had was at the front of the van. The vinyl behind the draw bar and gas bottles had started to pull away from where it tucked under the metal cladding above it. Shelley had a can of contact adhesive she used in her saddlery business and with her expertise we were able to glue the whole think back in place...woohoo!
By Wednesday I had cleaned the solar panels, skylight hatches, fly screens, windows and awning, which got rolled away. Tyre pressures on the van were checked and I used my pump to inflate all four to 45psi. They all needed a fair bit of air! It was a beautiful afternoon so Shell and I hit the golf course on Tamborine Mountain. It was Shelley's very first nine holes of golf. Armed with her new clubs she hit a pretty bloody good ball! Then Thursday afternoon we spent an hour or so at The Hills driving range...I think she's getting hooked.
I decided Friday would be D-Day. With lots of freecamp areas still closed I booked a site on YouCamp for three nights. Thursday I readied the car for travel - fuel fill, tyre pressures, oil check, tow mirrors attached and rear of the Jeep packed. That night Shelley, Adam, Lachy and myself shared a farewell dinner at the local Canungra Pub, making sure to arrive exactly at 7pm, as booked, and leave at 8pm as required, so the third 20 person dinner sitting could come inside the huge dining room. Covid - ugh!
Friday morning I said my goodbyes to Lachlan as he headed off to school. That was sad. I will miss him. With a fairly short run north to get to Bli Bli Valley Camp, I took my time getting ready - housework, water fill, van hook up and final pack up. By mid morning I was ready to go. It felt weird. It was like starting all over again and I must admit to feeling somewhat apprehensive. 11 weeks and 3 days of enjoying the relative luxury of living at Shell and Adam's (power, water, security, company etc) might have made me a bit soft. Did I remember how to tow? I did multiple walk rounds of the car/van checking connections, lights, brakes etc before bidding my final farewells. I hugged Shelley for ages. Thanks to my beautiful family for an amazing time in Covid-19 lockdown.
Once out on the road it wasn't long before I started to feel comfortable back behind the wheel. In perfect weather I made my way north, bypassing Brisbane on the M1 towards the Sunshine Coast. By early afternoon I had arrived at my destination, Bli Bli Valley Camp, some 190 km from Canungra.
Bli Bli is a rural town situated between Nambour which is located at the foot of the Blackall Range and beachside Maroochydore. The Maroochydore River and it's Petrie Creek tributary run through a subtropical wetland valley that used to be a sugar cane area. It's now open, lush, green farm land. Bli Bli Valley Camp is in the middle of the valley and has five huge, flat sites situated right on the edge of Petrie Creek as well as a large camping area adjacent. I had a spot right on the creek. It was so expansive I could have shared it with another 3 or 4 vans. The property owner, Darren, had sent me a message telling me to set up anywhere on the site and he would catch up with me later. It wasn't long before James and I had settled in. It was lovely!
Over the next few days I explored the area, doing a spot of grocery shopping, grabbing a coffee or two and checking out the local golf courses. One day we did a drive up through the picturesque Blackall Range to Baroon Pocket Dam. it was quite pretty. Most of the time though I was quite happy to chill beside the fire, throw a line in the creek and catch up with the other campers. Darren dropped in a few times for a chat. What a top bloke! I felt really comfortable on his farm.
After a leisurely pack up Monday we left Bli Bli and headed north once again on the Bruce Highway to our next destination, Harvey Bay. My friends, Marie and Ross, have a lovely home on a huge block of land very close to the beach at Point Vernon. I've camped on their front lawn on a few occasions. We arrived mid afternoon, backed the van in place, hooked up to water and power and set up. I discovered whilst connecting to power that one of my leads (the one that had been 'adapted' to convert from 10 amp to 15 amp) had a melted plug. It must have happened at Shelley's. Luckily Ross had a spare lead, so I borrowed that. I would need one of my own however, so put it on my 'to do' list before leaving.
It had been almost 12 months since our last visit, but James settled in immediately, remembering his mate Milo and the space. He was one happy puppy. The weather was not great, but each day we managed a walk or two with the fur babies. The beach that looks across to Fraser Island is a couple of hundred meters from Ross and Marie's and the dogs just love it there. It has fascinating rock formations and the views out over the turquoise bay to the island are stunning.
Ross, Marie and I took it in turns to cook each night and we shared yummy meals, nice wine and
good conversation. Our last night we went out to Chinese. It's something of a novelty to eat out now that Coronavirus restrictions are being lifted. The meal was delicious! One rainy afternoon we watched the movie The Invisible Man. If you ever get the chance to watch it...don't bother! And I did manage, with Ross's guidance, to make up a new power lead to plug from the normal household 10 amp power point to the caravan's 15 amp lead. Not quite legal but I was rather impressed with myself!
Harvey Bay is a great spot and normally at this time of year is absolutely chockers with southern tourists. It's impossible to get a spot in a caravan park if you don't book well ahead. But sadly, Covid-19 has really stuffed up the local tourism industry at this time. The beachfront caravan parks were empty. I really hope that state borders are opened up soon so that lives and incomes can get back on track. Bloody Coronavirus!
Monday 1st. I had my fortnightly plasma donation taking place and I was still doing a few things to the van that I needed to complete. The stove lid had a nasty burn mark on it that I wanted to fix. My initial plan was to cover it with a sheet of black gloss Melamine or the like, but after speaking to a couple of cabinet makers it appeared I would need to purchase a whole sheet for one small piece....way too expensive. One of the blokes I spoke to did offer me a sheet of thin stainless steel for $20, which he cut to size. Excellent, that might just work. I would need to sand back the lid to get rid of the burn mark. I started to do so before discovering that the burn was actually on layer of plastic sheeting that was glued to the lid. I was able to slowly peel the entire layer off and after cleaning off the sticky residue with solvent I ended up with a gleaming black lid that looked like new....yay! Way better than the stainless steel sheet. I'm guessing it is now, however, far more fragile so will need to be careful with how I use the surface.
Another problem I had was at the front of the van. The vinyl behind the draw bar and gas bottles had started to pull away from where it tucked under the metal cladding above it. Shelley had a can of contact adhesive she used in her saddlery business and with her expertise we were able to glue the whole think back in place...woohoo!
By Wednesday I had cleaned the solar panels, skylight hatches, fly screens, windows and awning, which got rolled away. Tyre pressures on the van were checked and I used my pump to inflate all four to 45psi. They all needed a fair bit of air! It was a beautiful afternoon so Shell and I hit the golf course on Tamborine Mountain. It was Shelley's very first nine holes of golf. Armed with her new clubs she hit a pretty bloody good ball! Then Thursday afternoon we spent an hour or so at The Hills driving range...I think she's getting hooked.
I decided Friday would be D-Day. With lots of freecamp areas still closed I booked a site on YouCamp for three nights. Thursday I readied the car for travel - fuel fill, tyre pressures, oil check, tow mirrors attached and rear of the Jeep packed. That night Shelley, Adam, Lachy and myself shared a farewell dinner at the local Canungra Pub, making sure to arrive exactly at 7pm, as booked, and leave at 8pm as required, so the third 20 person dinner sitting could come inside the huge dining room. Covid - ugh!
Friday morning I said my goodbyes to Lachlan as he headed off to school. That was sad. I will miss him. With a fairly short run north to get to Bli Bli Valley Camp, I took my time getting ready - housework, water fill, van hook up and final pack up. By mid morning I was ready to go. It felt weird. It was like starting all over again and I must admit to feeling somewhat apprehensive. 11 weeks and 3 days of enjoying the relative luxury of living at Shell and Adam's (power, water, security, company etc) might have made me a bit soft. Did I remember how to tow? I did multiple walk rounds of the car/van checking connections, lights, brakes etc before bidding my final farewells. I hugged Shelley for ages. Thanks to my beautiful family for an amazing time in Covid-19 lockdown.
Once out on the road it wasn't long before I started to feel comfortable back behind the wheel. In perfect weather I made my way north, bypassing Brisbane on the M1 towards the Sunshine Coast. By early afternoon I had arrived at my destination, Bli Bli Valley Camp, some 190 km from Canungra.
Bli Bli is a rural town situated between Nambour which is located at the foot of the Blackall Range and beachside Maroochydore. The Maroochydore River and it's Petrie Creek tributary run through a subtropical wetland valley that used to be a sugar cane area. It's now open, lush, green farm land. Bli Bli Valley Camp is in the middle of the valley and has five huge, flat sites situated right on the edge of Petrie Creek as well as a large camping area adjacent. I had a spot right on the creek. It was so expansive I could have shared it with another 3 or 4 vans. The property owner, Darren, had sent me a message telling me to set up anywhere on the site and he would catch up with me later. It wasn't long before James and I had settled in. It was lovely!
Over the next few days I explored the area, doing a spot of grocery shopping, grabbing a coffee or two and checking out the local golf courses. One day we did a drive up through the picturesque Blackall Range to Baroon Pocket Dam. it was quite pretty. Most of the time though I was quite happy to chill beside the fire, throw a line in the creek and catch up with the other campers. Darren dropped in a few times for a chat. What a top bloke! I felt really comfortable on his farm.
After a leisurely pack up Monday we left Bli Bli and headed north once again on the Bruce Highway to our next destination, Harvey Bay. My friends, Marie and Ross, have a lovely home on a huge block of land very close to the beach at Point Vernon. I've camped on their front lawn on a few occasions. We arrived mid afternoon, backed the van in place, hooked up to water and power and set up. I discovered whilst connecting to power that one of my leads (the one that had been 'adapted' to convert from 10 amp to 15 amp) had a melted plug. It must have happened at Shelley's. Luckily Ross had a spare lead, so I borrowed that. I would need one of my own however, so put it on my 'to do' list before leaving.
It had been almost 12 months since our last visit, but James settled in immediately, remembering his mate Milo and the space. He was one happy puppy. The weather was not great, but each day we managed a walk or two with the fur babies. The beach that looks across to Fraser Island is a couple of hundred meters from Ross and Marie's and the dogs just love it there. It has fascinating rock formations and the views out over the turquoise bay to the island are stunning.
Ross, Marie and I took it in turns to cook each night and we shared yummy meals, nice wine and
good conversation. Our last night we went out to Chinese. It's something of a novelty to eat out now that Coronavirus restrictions are being lifted. The meal was delicious! One rainy afternoon we watched the movie The Invisible Man. If you ever get the chance to watch it...don't bother! And I did manage, with Ross's guidance, to make up a new power lead to plug from the normal household 10 amp power point to the caravan's 15 amp lead. Not quite legal but I was rather impressed with myself!
Harvey Bay is a great spot and normally at this time of year is absolutely chockers with southern tourists. It's impossible to get a spot in a caravan park if you don't book well ahead. But sadly, Covid-19 has really stuffed up the local tourism industry at this time. The beachfront caravan parks were empty. I really hope that state borders are opened up soon so that lives and incomes can get back on track. Bloody Coronavirus!
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