Friday 6 September 2019 - Toorbul

Up this morning and done a couple of loads of washing.  When I went down to hang out the second load (45 minutes after hanging the first load out) half of the first load was dry.   Spent the morning getting the blog up to date and intend to rest and relax the rest of the day away before we start to pack up as we are leaving here in the morning.

Thursday 5 September 2019 - Glasshouse Mountains

Set off this morning for a drive to see the views.  We headed towards the Glasshouse Mountains and came across a sign for a lookout at Mount Beerburrum so detoured up the dirt road.  Now we had come prepared for walking, yeah sure.  I had thongs on and Ian had sandals.  We pulled up at the carpark to find it was a 1.5 km round trip to the top.  The only trouble was it was more or less straight up.  As you walked you had to lean forward so you didn't fall back down.  The lean was so great I felt like I could touch my toes or the ground.  I got two thirds of the way and had had enough.  Apart from huffing and puffing like a steam train my feet were sliding out of my thongs.  I was trying to grip onto them with my toes which lead to my toes cramping.  At this point I threw the towel in and started to return back to the car park.  Ian continued on and these are the views from the top of Mount Beerburrum.

The trip down was just as bad.  You were leaning backwards so you didn't tumble down.  My feet were now sliding forward in my thongs and the piece that goes between your toes was digging into the skin.   And don't start me on the mosquitoes.  There were hundreds of them.  Now I must say, apart from the thongs, it was nice amongst the trees.  At one point I rounded a bend to see a head on the edge of the footpath.  The body was in the greenery.  I couldn't tell if it was a snake or a lizard.  I started stomping my feet figuring that if it was a snake it would return to hide in the foliage.  The head didn't move just looked at me.  I stood still for about 5 minutes watching it until, I presume, it decided I wasn't a threat and moved out onto the path.  Thank goodness it is not a snake.  I stayed still and it moved across the path.   I continued on and arrived at the carpark.  While waiting for Ian I was reading the information board to find what had crossed the path was a Lace Monitor, although not a full grown one.   When Ian arrived back we set off in the car heading for Glasshouse Mountains lookout.

Now this is my type of lookout.   The car park is at the lookout.   The only problem with this is that tour buses also visit.  Luckily for us the tour bus pulled up as we were reading to leave so we didn't have to share the view with a bus load.

Yes, that is our car

We continued along the Glasshouse Mountains Tourist Drive and on to Maroochydore.  With a mixture of roadworks and traffic we were over Maroochydore before we had arrived.  We were heading towards Sunshine Plaza when Ian saw a shopping centre with Harvey Norman so we headed there instead.  Only trouble was it had Harvey Norman and then the rest of the shops were furniture shops.  There wasn't any food outlets even a supermarket, which we needed to get a couple of things.  Having had more than enough we returned to the car and back towards the van via Caboolture.   Travelling along the freeway they have display boards which were flashing the news that there was an accident ahead with lengthy delays expected.  Luckily Miss Google Maps also detected the accident and then redirected us around it.  Our aim when we arrived in Caboolture was to get a few things from the supermarket.  They had an underground car park.   We fitted under the first height restriction only to find that this lane just drove straight out the other side of the car park.  We couldn't fit under the height restriction for the actual car park so we drove around and found a parking spot and had to walk back to the shopping centre.  We had a late lunch, grabbed a few things at the supermarket and then returned back to the van for the night.  The temperature is currently in the low 30's but luckily there is a cool breeze coming off the water which cools the van down for sleeping.

Wednesday 4 September 2019 - Bribie Island

Set off on the 30 minute drive to Bribie Island.  An old work colleague of Ian's and his wife live on Bribie.  Last time we were up this way we visited their block where the plumber was busy laying the pipes before the slab was poured.  This time we visit the finished product.  Very nice house with lots of lovely outdoor living areas to make use of the weather and the cool breeze when it comes.  We had coffee and chatted before heading off to the RSL for lunch.  After a lovely meal we went for a drive around Bribie and adjoining Sandy Point.  

We also visited the Mater Prize Home which is first prize in a raffle with proceeds going to research and patient care at Mater Brisbane.   It is positioned with the back of the house overlooking the canal on Bribie Island.  The plan makes full use of the view of the canal and is stunning.  The study which is situated in the middle of the home has a window instead of a wall so you can see into the living area and then out to the canal.  I don't think much work would get done there.  More daydreaming looking out on the water.  

Back to their place for another coffee before we headed back to the van.

Very enjoyable day and great to catch up in person rather than the phone.

Tuesday 3 September 2019 - Toorbul

Today was spent doing the boring but necessary jobs.  Sweeping floors and washing.  The rest of the day was spent chatting to people around the park, reading or just plain nothing.  Nice to be out of the car for awhile.

Monday 2 September 2019 - Australia Zoo - Part 2

We were very lucky with the Lemurs as they run freely around on Bindi's Island.  You are not meant to go within 1 metre of them but if you stand still they come right up to you.  There were 2 staff with them.  They have an area they seem to play in and then they all go to the sleeping area.  We arrived just as they were finishing up playing so a few were still chasing each other and swinging in the trees.  Then they started walking towards the sleeping area.  There was probably about 10 to 15 of them.  We walked with them for awhile and got talking to one of the keepers who told us they were heading off for a sleep and once there would probably sleep until later in the afternoon.  If we had arrived 15 minutes later than we did we would have only seen them sleeping.  One of the Lemurs had a short tail.  He was apparently in a zoo in America and the tail got frost bite and had to be amputated.  Luckily they don't need the tail for balance and this particular Lemur is near the top of the hierarchy of this group of Lemurs so manages to live a normal life. 

Most of the animals were awake and moving as we went past but I think that was because we got there at opening and it hadn't started to really heat up yet.

They also do shows throughout the day including Tortoises Live, Kids' Story Time, Otters Live, Tiger Keeper Talk, Crocs Live, Birds Show Live and The one we went to Australia  Zoo Wildlife Warriors Show.

At this show they had snakes, birds and a crocodile.  The staff walk around the arena carrying the snakes while on the arena a staff member pretends to get bitten by a snake and they tell you about first aid for a snake bite.  

Then they bring in the birds, which fly freely around the arena including in the grandstands before they fly back to the keepers or out one of the exits and I presume back to where they are kept.  

Finally a crocodile comes into the pond in the middle of the arena and comes out of the water so you can see him.  Once he gets some food he returns to the water to show you how they can jump up out of the water for food. 

After 4 hours we had seen enough so drove back to the van via Donnybrook to see what was there.  Not much.  We checked out the caravan park but decided the one we had chosen was much better.

Spent the afternoon getting the blog done.


The picture below Ian had captioned "Two old fossils and a crocodile".

The cheek of some people !!

Not sure if you realise if you click on the photo they will go full size.  Just hit the x in the corner to return to the blog.

Monday 2 September 2019 - Australia Zoo - Part 1

Set off this morning for a 30 minute drive arriving at Australia Zoo right on opening time.  There was already about 30 cars there.  There was no waiting at the gate which was good.   We wandered around the zoo seeing all the normal animals, giraffes, hippos, zebras, meerkats, otters, snakes, lizards, kangaroos, koalas etc, etc and of course crocodiles.  

I love the picture of the giraffe that has its legs spread apart so that it can get its head down to ground level.  It is in the picture below in the very middle of the shot.  There is another giraffe leaning on him.

While looking at the wombats the keeper came and put a harness of it and they went off to do a tour of the zoo so people could get a closer look.

They had a kids playground and water park which was being enjoyed by quite a few.   There is also a wetland area.

Part 2 to follow

Sunday 1 September 2019 - Gold Coast

Up this morning for a 2 hour drive down to the Gold Coast.  The traffic on the freeway and through Brisbane wasn't too bad.  We kept flowing all the way through fairly constantly.   First stop was Pacific Fair.   It is just too big and when you don't know what shops are there you just aimlessly wander around, which we did for a couple of hours.  Drove to Ian's aunt and uncle's house for lunch.  We had a lovely bbq in the their backyard with their daughters and grandchildren.  The time passed far too quickly and we had to return to the car for the trip back to the van.  It was lovely to catch up with everyone.   

The trip back to the van was not quite as easy as the trip down.  We were in bumper to bumper traffic crawling along at 40kph and even came to a complete standstill at one point.  There did not appear to have been an accident and we could not fathom what the reason was except too much traffic trying to return home after a day out!