Kinka Beach – Day 12

I thought I’d get a lovely red sunrise photo this morning through the bedroom window but it wasn’t as good as it has been. Because we were awake so early we were on our way earlier than we expected. No more home comforts for a while. L

I think there must be a heap of money being spent on Qld roads at the moment because there seem to be extensive roadworks every few kms. We decided to deviate to Agnes Water and 1770 to see how they’ve changed since we were last there in 2002. In Agnes Water trees have grown so much that there were only glimpses of new housing developments we’d seen before and there seem to be many apartment. 1770 has had less obvious development and I was pleased to see the amphibious vehicles are still plying their trade though I don’t think they’ve been painted since we last saw them.

Even though I’d checked the Island View Holiday Park online and saw that they had no vacancies we decided to stop there and make sure. They had only a single unpowered site available. I would describe it as in the least desirable spot in any park, right beside the “ammo box” cleaning station! We decided to take it anyway because we enjoyed it last time we stayed and we won’t be sitting in the camper much anyway.

We went into Yeppoon and it’s mind blowing how that place has changed. The holiday apartment we stayed in last time looks as though it should be next on the list for demolition and there are many wonderful looking new apartment blocks, Motels etc. Apart from the fluoro shirts, and standout utes there were other signs of mining workers in the area including the Jeweller’s Shop window filled with flash watches and the two Tattoo Parlours.

We’re sitting in the communal kitchen tonight along with a group of campers who’ve been here for 8 weeks, they’ve just told us there was an earthquake in Bundaberg this morning, must have been just after we left that area.

Yeppoon 2015

Our delightful apartment 2002 -top right with broken window.

Oyster stacks????

!770, Captain Cook’s impression.

1770 Harbour

Thanks Hostie.

Sunrise through the bedroom window.

 

Moore Park – Day 11

We woke with the sunrise again today but were able to relax and enjoy being in a house with all its comforts. The day promised to be warm and it was but the wind still chilled. I had my haircut, we had coffees etc then went for a walk beside the lagoon. The palms are magnificent but there were no signs of wildlife. By contrast down at the Duck Pond there were THOUSANDS of Plumed Whistling Ducks as well as some Ibis, Egrets and Black Ducks. I’ve never seen so many ducks clustered together just socialising… until they decided I was a threat and took off into the water. We also searched for a geocache, I was assured it was too cold for snakes which was just as well because the grass was thick and tall. I didn’t have my GPS so I used the phone. I consider it lucky I found the cache because I don’t understand how to follow a trail using the phone. Later we walked down to the beach.

Tomorrow we’ll be leaving the comforts and companionship we’ve enjoyed in Moore Park and heading towards Yeppoon.

The mass of Plumed Whistling Ducks

Plumed Whistling Ducks on the alert

Plumed Whistling Ducks

On the geocache trail.

Moore Park near Bundaberg – Day 10

Waking up early isn’t as difficult when the sun comes up early so this morning I was wide awake at 6:00. Although we’d planned to have the annexe packed away yesterday that didn’t happen so after we’d packed everything into the car we dealt with the annexe then rewarded me for my efforts with pancakes at Sea, Salt & Vine.

We bought a lovely big Gold Banded Schnapper from Morgans then started off on our journey to Bundaberg.

I didn’t think the car was pulling as well as usual but thought it would prove itself once we were out of town but then it became jerky and we decided to pull over. Luckily we were able to pull into Bunnings carpark and as soon as Alex got out he saw puffs of smoke coming from one of the camper’s wheels. I looked and thought I saw a spark then saw a small flame. Alex grabbed the fire extinguisher and we put out the flames, I was nervous there might be more hidden but we were lucky.

Alex discovered that the brake was locked on. While he was in Bunnings buying a second pair of multigrips to work on the brake he also bought a replacement fire extinguisher. Using the two pairs of multigrips he was able to loosen the brake lock. I did a test lap of the carpark and everything seemed fine. A fellow Jeep owner who was parked nearby told us about the local caravan repairer he uses and as it was on our way we thought we’d go there but as soon as I started driving again I could tell the camper was running freely. After about 10 kms we stopped and Alex checked the wheels which were fine. We continued on to Bundaberg without incident… apart from having to follow a police car with all its lights flashing at 25 kph for several kilometres like GP drivers behind the pace car. We presume it was because something was happening at roadworks up ahead but we don’t know.

Tonight we’ve had delicious baked fish for dinner. It’s nice chatting face to face with a friend and to be sitting at a table in comfort writing the blog.