Saturday 8 September 2012

Queensland

Queensland in July
 
It seems a long time ago now and I've been meaning to write this for a while, so I hope I can remember.
 
Catching the plane from Adelaide we had a bit of time to kill and called in at Pearl's Diner for a famous burger. Even though it was a Saturday lunchtime there was a brief wait. The menu is limited but the burgers are made from ground beef and are delicious! Onward to the airport and after a 2.5hr flight we landed in Coolangatta to pick up our car. Our destination was Coombabah, a little north of Surfers Paradise
 
 
After an interesting time entering the appartment (to do with automatic keys etc) we settled in for the night.
 

 
A reunion and Sanctuary Bay
 
We met up with some of my old school friends for Sunday brunch. Diane, who I knew from Primary School and her hubby Glen have been in Oz for over 12 years. I think the last time we met was when Diane did my hair and makeup on the morning I was getting married! She has kept in touch with John and his wife Karen who I knew from Secondary School. Sanctuary Bay where we met was beautiful - huge $$$$ yachts.
 
Fishing Trip

On Monday, much to Imogen's disgust it was an early start to go on a 5 hour fishing trip. We watched the sun rise and had a superb view back to the glitz of the Goldcoast Skyscrapers.


Soon the rods were cast and it was a matter of waiting.....



.....soon the trip came to an end and a nice number of fish were shared out. We took our share of Jew fish and Red Snapper which became 2 evenings teas! The cerviche was particularly good!


Tambourine Mountains and the Best of All lookout

We ventured into the hinterland where the climate is sub-tropical and there are rain forests. Stopping off for a coffee on the way, the views were incredible back down to the coast.



At a lovely village we did the Gallery Walk - a picturesque street of shops.

Sandwiches bought, we headed to the botanical gardens to eat lunch and watch the Kookaburras watching us!
Botanical Gardens
 
 
 
More views and rainforest followed.....


Brisbane

Tuesday's trip was to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is a lovely city, not huge but has a real heart to it. A free boat will take you across the river and a bus does a circuit of the city so it's easy to get around. We were very impressed.





Down the coast as far as Byron Bay
Exploration down the coast was in order for Wednesday. A combination of map and satnav was used, but after the satnav took us in a big circle we reverted back to good old fashioned map reading!
The glitz of the Goldcoast skyscrapers was gradually left behind for a gentler more traditional feel to the coast.

 













Moreton Island Cruise and Snorkelling

The last day saw us taking a boat to a neighbouring island. The crossing was rough and got rougher and so the snorkelling was limited. Still, it was an experience!

We're now looking forward to our next adventure to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road in a few weeks. Until then.....

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like a great time. How is Mr Whitehead? Pass him my regards!

    ReplyDelete