It was time for another visit to Rainbow Beach. This is a wonderful destination fo9r sun tanning, fishing, hiking, swimming and beach driving. There is a café strip and a bakery to look after the early morning cravings. We drove on the beach to one of the departure points for the Fraser Island ferry. The scenery is always stunning, beautiful and sunny.

Almost like heaven.

Getting onto the beach.

4wd, beach, surf = Happy Chappy

Life’s a beach.

Later we drove around the village as it is nestled on the hillside. Once again there are great views. Later we got to sit on one of the very high dunes above the beach.

Great view

Happy

Also happy

Some of us were very tired by the time we got home.

Boy, the beach does not half make you tired!

On 19/7 we spent some time at Rainbow Beach. Situated some 25 km away from Tin Can Bay It is a vibrant beach resort that delivers on miles of sandy beaches that are patrolled by life guards. There is a Backpackers  that caters for many younger people. A few kilometres further at Inskip Point there  is a regular ferry service to the southern tip of Fraser Island. Along the way there is bush camping for many kilometres between the road and the sea.

Rainbow Beach has many shops, supermarkets, and industrial estate and other services available to the visitor. This includes horseride , Kayaking,  bushwalking and cycling. There are many surfing spots along the miles of beaches. There are several access points to the beaches where 4×4 access is allowed.

Trawler returning home

Ferry to Fraser

Gimme some sun I need a tan

Stormy waters to Frase Island

All good things come to those that wait!

We finally started our journey to get out of the Victorian winter on 15 July. After 2 months of cold temparatures and fires every evening, we headed north to a little-known place,  north of Noosa  Qld , called ‘Tin Can Bay’. We had been delayed for a few months because my dear wife had developed a heart condition that required a number of stents. This has now been done and we are now safe to travel.

On said morning we had to defrost the door locks and the windscreen before we departed. The ‘From’ temperature was 0C degrees.  The first leg took us to Narrandera in NSW. Great little town for a stopover.  We prefer stopping at the Lake Talbot caravan park as it is away from the traffic noises of the main road. It sits on a hill overlooking the lake  and has many drive through sites for caravaners. Since our last visit all drive through sites have been reconstructed and many other sites have been renovated. (see pics below.)

Neat construction and heaps of space!

Cute homebuilt caravan

After enduring a frosty night, the next day (16/7) saw us move along to Gilgandra just 65km north of Dubbo. The Newell highway was a pleasure to drive along with work continuing at improving the surface. The scenery along the road was dry and mainly boring. However,  the temp had improved a bit. Along the way we came across a Dakota. Used to jump out of these in the army/

Reno option in Gilgandra

I used to jump out of these in the army!

On day 3 (17/7) we moved along to Goondiwindi in Qld. This is a lovely town on the MacIntyre river which is the catchment for the Murray Darling basin irrigation scheme. It is also the cotton and grain capital of Australia. During the day we reached a temp of 26C degrees.

Today 18/7 we made our way from Goondiwindi to Tin Can Bay. We travelled some 530km and completed the trip late arvo. We booked into the caravan park and then drove to the boat launching facility just in time for a pic or two. The temp is now cruising in the high 20s.

OK, after 4 days and 1820km we are here. To-morrow we will set up camp and then start exploring. Fishing is very much on the agenda; will keep you posted. The temp has been around 26 degrees each day.

It was really good to catch up with the boys, but this time to have my own transport at hand. This gave me the liberty to explore at will. We had been plotting for a while now to do some fishing on Cable Beach in the afternoon and then withdraw to the dunes at a certain spot on Cable Beach and camp for the night.

We had prepared by getting into the bush earlier that day and cutting up some dead timber for the fire.  The fishing was pretty uneventful and we had a long swim in between. Just before we stopped fishing I hooked a large stingray and landed it on the beach. It was really beautiful with electric blue dots on light beige wings. I pulled out the hook and returned the fish to the water, all the time carefully avoiding the tail that was whipping from side to side.

We drove along the beach for another kilometer and unloaded the wood. By then the others started arriving and we set up tables and chairs and got a decent fire going. The evening was spent catching up on the last year and a bit of gossip (J) It got to be pretty late by the time we got to bed. I rolled out my sleeping bag on a tarp and slept in the open air on the beach; very invigorating. The next morning we had a swim and packed up.

Fire Devil

Boat Cruise

One of the days in Broome we were booked on a day trip on the big Catamaran Karma IV. The boat is a 70ft x 33 ft Catamaran. See  http://www.karma4.com.au/index.html  .The agenda was to cruise across Roebuck bay to the Eco Beach Wilderness Resort, have lunch and then spend the rest of the day whale watching some 50 km out at sea.

We launched reasonably early at the boat launch place at Gantheaume beach. It is very pretty there with so many boats moored off the beach, just beyond the low water mark. Our boat the Karma IV looked resplendent as she waited for us. A shuttle boat got us boarded and we were off heading south towards the Eco village. That time of the year the seas in that area are calm and we had an enjoyable cruise. Refreshments were available all the time as we rocked gently across the waves in this big catamaran.

Gantheaume boat launch

Yours Truely

We arrived at the Eco village after two hours sailing. The eco village is across Roebuck bay some 40 kilometers away. When we arrived a tour of the village and their accommodation had been organized. I was very impressed with the level of luxury and the degree of self-sufficiency that had been designed into the place. A really great lunch had been organized at the village dining room that was situated on a hill behind the horizon pool that overlooked Roebuck bay. The buffet lunch had a huge variety of produce including heaps of King Prawns.

Once we had eaten all boarded the Karma once more and set off to the whale area. Tricky things these whales. Every whale we sighted, as we got closer, we could not see the whole whale at any one time. There was no breaching, no exposure of the whole whale on the water. It was almost as if they were playing silly buggers with us. Yet, I have a few pics below of half whales and ‘bits’ of whales. We got back to the launch place just after sunset.

Crabbing Trip

Jacko had purchased a boat and was keen to show off the new toy. Three of us took off in the morning from Broome beach and headed south towards Dampier creek. We reached the creek at low tide and set up 3 traps.  We then trolled our lures in the estuary. My mate Jack caught a decent size shark and Neil and I caught a few smaller fish. The result was ok, but nothing to get excited about. At high tide we collected our crab nets but had only two small crabs for all our effort. Even though the result was not great we had a great outing in the sunshine.

We have been knocking around the neighborhood the last few days. That includes one or two beach walks a day. Last night we sat on the beach just before sunset and had a few frosties as the sun went down. Very relaxing.

The day before I was at Yeppoon harbor and took this interesting picture of the harbor at lowtide. It looked very funny with all the boats resting on the mud bank of the creek at lowtide. Turns out that the harbor is made up by a small creek. Turns out that the general water depth is pretty shallow all along this coast. The tidal differences are large.

Once the tide comes along again everything looks normal. You’d never guess that  the water was so shallow.

To the north of Yeppoon the main beach becomes the Farnborough Beach which continues on for 20km and terminates at a natural bay where the Fishing creek runs into the sea. There is a beach access where we got onto the beach and drove to Corio Bay. Just great to have a decent drive on a beach again; makes you feel so good and free.

Ex-Turtle

There was a bush fire burning vigorously which cast a pall of smoke over the coast.

Church converted to cafe in Willunga

A scenic drive through rolling hills got us to Victor Harbor. This is a charming town on the Fleurieu tourist route. It also is one of the ways to Cape Jarvis from where the ferry departs for Kangaroo island. By the time we reached Victor Harbor it was definitely time for a coffee which we then followed with some sight-seeing.

How is this for chance; I was born in Munich, Bavaria

Victor Harbour is a natural harbour with 3 islands surrounding a natural bay. This offers protection for small craft from the elements. It also offers deep water harbouring from Granite island as the bay is a shallow water bay. Granite island is joined to the mainland by a very long jetty that is sturdy enough for vehicle traffic and a horse drawn cart for the tourists. One can also walk across and look up the displays regarding the history and geology of the area.

The horse and cart transports only tourists these days

The long Jetty to Granite island

There are some special buildings in this town and the foreshore garden has a big tale to be told. In fact it is a whale of a tail (J) see pic. The connection is the Southern Right whales that visit every year and frolick in the bay.

A true Whale of a Tail fountain

Across Encounter bay

We drove along the beachfront to Encounter bay and then went on to Normanville. The road took us through a number of lovely small places including the rich and fertile Inman valley. The landscape is green and in places sports green forests around the Myponga reservoir.

Great scenery around the reservoir

We drove through the town of Yankalilla to Normanville. After all we had been told about it we were a mite disappointed and so we went on north up to Sellicks Beach where I found, to my great delight, than I could take the Nissan Navara onto the beach. This was the first time in almost 2 years that I have driven on the beach and the moment was almost like having a religious experience. (:-))

Driving on the beach, almost better than ice-cream.

Navara on the beach

We  ran around the beach with the dogs for a while before returning to our caravan in the McLaren Vale. The area is so beautiful and we were having such a blast that we decided to extend our stay by a few days.

The last week at Port Vincent just flew by (23/10-28/10). We spent days relaxing at the water’s edge and watching the tide come in. They have a school program that teaches the children about kayaking, sailing, windsurfing and water skiing. I took the dogs for a walk along the sand-bar at the spring low tide and watched the shells and crabs do their thing. At high tide we had rays come in right up to the stairs to the caravan park.

Sailing

Afternoon smming at Port Vincent

We spent an afternoon going to Stansbury, just down the road, to look at their very long jetty. The real point of interest however turned out to be the red sandstone cliffs close to the coast. They were full of holes that had been worn away by birds of ages past, but were now occupied by flocks of domestic pigeons that had turned feral and making their own way independent of man. Very interesting how quickly this happens! On the other hand we had a repeating ceremony play itself out where feral birds had become reliant on man. Every day the fishermen were gutting their catches at the cleaning station and feeding the pelicans that were loitering around all day long. When the pelicans opened their beaks they revealed a cavity big enough to swallow a baby, including pram. They have a little hole in their thorax through which they make a trumpeting sound; see pics.

Waiting for a meal.

Me please!

The next day our very friendly neighbour asked me to come along fishing on his boat ‘Duifken’ which is Dutch for little dove. We had a great day all around the coast catching squid, whiting and snook. The snook are around 30 to 55 cm in length, give you a good fight and taste great once you have prepared them properly. We had a great day and after a few beers later that evening. I was exhausted from all the fresh air and exercise. The cleaned fish and squid has been cryo-vacked and frozen for an evening meal of Salt & pepper squid, yum.

Duifken