Our attempts at work... from Carmilla to Boyne Island, to Hervey Bay!

After 5 days at Carmilla Beach in the rain, we decided to head further south and try our luck near Yeppoon, Byfield State Forest. This time we booked our camp site in advance, and when we arrived it was just as well as there were a lot of people! A really nice spot in a pine forest plantation near a nice swimming hole. It rained a little the next few days, but there were moments of sunshine and we made the most of it, going into Yeppoon, driving along 9 mile beach and 4WDing to remote beaches in Byfield State Forest. We probably should have taken the signs a bit more seriously when we were 4WDing. We thought we would be ok on the tyre pressure we were on, but turns out the sand dunes were very sinky! Luckily, Gav used his skills to manouevre us out, but it could have been another story if I was driving haha. Gav also caught a turtle with his bare hands during our stay at Byfield. Was pretty funny to watch him dive into the water and grab the turtle who was very suprised to be caught in such a fashion! Unfortunately I didn’t get it on camera, but I have the turtle photo so at least there is some evidence. 

The sand dunes that were very boggy

Gav's turtle catch

On we drove and headed further south through Rockhampton, stopping for a car wash to get all the sand off. On to Gladstone, which was almost as industrial and ‘tradie’ like as Mackay. About 20 minutes south of Gladstone there was a turn off for Boyne Island and we pulled into a great little Caravan park that was cheap and friendly. Unfortunately we didn’t know that it was a sand island that we were staying on and over the next 2 weeks we got eaten by midgies - over 100 bites on us! Fun fact for everyone... midgies don’t bite, they actually pee on you and that is what stings and itches. Who would have thought? 

We visited Tannum Sands and went to the beach - this is the first beach going south in QLD that you can officially swim safely without fear of crocs or marine stingers so we made the most of it. Gav decided to apply for a job at the Tannum Sands Hotel and within minutes we both had jobs as they had fired two people that morning. We were rostered on the next day and over the next two weeks we got involved, working hard and managing to save a little bit of money and make some tips. Worked Melbourne Cup which was a lot of fun and also at a Halloween Party. I have to say though that pubs and bar work isn’t really me. Got a great pick up line... a guy passed me a coaster over the bar which said “I’ve noticed you noticing me... call Ben on 0404... “ It was a bit of a laugh, especially as I was working in the bar with Gav that night! Both of us ended up sick during the two week period, partly because of the crazy hours and partly because we were just exhausted in general. After 2 weeks, Gav got a call from the Bayswater, Hervey Bay offering him a job as a manager for 5 weeks paying good money. As I already had 2 weeks of work lined up in Hervey Bay we decided to make the move, and we packed up one Monday and drove on taking a week off to check out Agnes Water and 1770. 

1770 - beautiful place

Gav at 1770

Gav and I at 1770

Stopped in at a campground on Workmans Beach, just south of Agnes Water. This was a little council campground so it was cheap and as it was right on the beach it was ideal. The weather was brilliant and we spent the next few days exploring the beaches, driving through Deepwater National Park and its remote beaches, having coffee at a local cafe, and having a few beverages down at the 1770 Treehouse Bar. It was a really magical spot and somewhere I’d love to invest in a bit of property one day... when I make my millions! Gav and I splurged and decided to go on a cruise to Lady Musgrave Island to do some of the Great Barrier Reef as we hadn’t done any yet. What a magnificent day! The tour left early in the morning and despite a rough journey out to the Island, once we were in the Lagoon it was peaceful and exceptionally blue. Took a smaller boat to the coral based Island and we walked the length - its only about 700m or so and is a large nesting area for migratory birds. The plants on the island have to learn how to survive off the harsh environment where there is no fresh water source. We went snorkelling which was the most amazing experience. Gav and I swam with green sea turtles and patted them as they sat on cleaning stations (coral bays where fish clean them). We saw yellow trumpet fish, angel fish, mowong, trevally and giant long toms. This was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. 

Giant clam - snorkelling

Gav and I on Lady Musgrave Island

Green Sea Turtle

Tropical fish

Trumpet/flute fish

Nina with the turtle

Gav with turtle 

The next day we packed up and headed through Bundaberg towards Hervey Bay, which took about 2.5 hours. After scouting around we managed to find a good caravan park at the marina. We set up, got organised and went down to Gav’s new work for a beverage and to meet the managers. It is a really nice establishment and is part of Peppers Resort, so there are really good food and beverage standards. We were both asked to work the next day at a function where Dr. Charlie Teo was to be speaking. We decided that despite it being 11-11-11 and our planned day of relaxation, we would help out for a few hours. 

Private beach at Workmans Beach camp site

11-11-11 started with an early 12km bike ride along the bay bike track, followed by breakfast at Salt (next to the Bayswater) where we were seated on table 11 - coincidence much? Can you tell our favourite number is 11 haha. After a great breakie, we went back to the park and had a swim in the pool then headed into work. It was a great function, and Dr. Charlie Teo’s speech was interesting. We also managed to score a free gourmet lunch, and a free dinner and bar tab for helping out so it was well worth it. 

Our set up at Hervey Bay 

The past few weeks, I have been working in a kiosk selling cheap jewellery at the Stockland Shopping Centre, Hervey Bay. Gav has been working at the Bayswater and we haven’t seen much of each other due to the different hours. Nonetheless we are saving money and we have managed to find some time to go to the boat club for dinner and try our luck at keno. Finished up at my job today and really excited because Amanda is coming to visit on Monday for a whole week and we are going to Fraser Island. Hoping the weather will hold out, but even if it rains I know we will have fun. The plan is to work at the Bayswater for a few weeks when I get back and when Gav finishes his contract we will head to Brizzy for Christmas. I am coming home on the 27th December for a few days, to go to a wedding and to see the fam. If any of you are around, I would love to see you and for those of you who I am seeing, I can’t wait and have really missed you. 

Take care and stay safe everyone! 

N & G. 

Down the coast towards Hydaway Bay and Carmilla Beach

Gav at Hydaway Bay

Well it has been awhile since I last wrote... and we have travelled a long way, 1114km to be exact, from Townsville to Hervey Bay. I will break it into two blogs, so that this one doesn't get too long. After we left Townsville we headed south on the Bruce Highway towards Ayr where we had lunch at a lovely little beach near Alva. Although there looked like a few spots to camp we decided to keep on going towards Bowen. Here we stopped for the token photo at the giant Mango and had a bit of a melt down at the lack of free camps in the area. We spoke to the information centre and they said that although it wasn’t free, there was a nice caravan park in the wilderness at Hydaway Bay around half an hour drive from Airlie Beach. 

Hydaway Bay Whitsundays

When we arrived at Hydaway Bay we decided that this was a place we could stay for a few days. There was a beautiful little park with kangaroos, lots of different birds, possums... lots of night visitors, and a magnificent bay right in the Whitsundays. Over the next few days we explored the area and went snorkeling and reef walking where we saw wonderful, colourful coral and fish. After such a rushed journey up north it was nice to finally slow down and relax, and the weather was beautiful. We did a day trip to Airlie Beach and wandered around amidst the backpackers - it reminded me of Thailand and staying on the islands, very touristy and focused on the backpackers, but lots of fun. We went to Conway Beach and did a small bush walk to Cedar Creek Falls and saw some turtles swimming, while Gav chased after some goannas who raced out of his reach! Went to Dingo Beach just south of Hydaway Bay and spent the day swimming and sun baking. It was a nice 5 days of relaxation but after awhile we got itchy feet so we headed on. 

Gav and his Rainbow Lorikeet friends

Hydaway Bay

Eungella, view towards Pioneer Valley

Drove onwards and stopped in at Midge Point which was a lovely little park for lunch. We looked in the camps book and decided to stop in at Cape Hillsborough, Smalleys Beach. After a long day of driving we pulled up and started setting up. Unfortunately we started setting up before I read the signs, which said that it was an e-camping site and you needed to pre-book. We rang the hotline, but the campsite was apparently booked out because it was a long weekend. We have since learnt our lesson and always pre-book wherever we go. However, at the time we had to pack up again and set off trying to find a camp before dark. This turned out to be the longest day of our lives! We headed west to go towards Eungella National Park about 50km west of Mackay. The road drove through a large valley and then we were faced with the largest mountain climb we have ever seen - the road twisted up the mountain with cattle grids and was so steep that we had to go the whole was in 1st! At the top of the mountain we pulled off into a caravan park which had the most magnificent view of the valley, it was like being in the clouds for the night. There were these little fireflies that flew around and light up the sky, really magical place. The next day we did a few rainforest walks, taking in the view. We also went platypus watching but unfortunately we were at the wrong time and they were all in hiding. On we pressed, and we spent the next day and night at Eungella Dam, which was filled with water skiers and boats. It was a free night, so we couldn’t complain. 

Myself at Eungella 

The road up to Eungella - so steep!

We visited Finch Hatton Gorge on the way down the Pioneer Valley, and what a beautiful place it was. We had a lovely walk through rainforest to Araluen Falls and then dove in to icy cold but very refreshing water. Some locals were jumping from the 7m high sides but we just took it easy as there were a lot of rocks in the water. On we drove and headed to Mackay, which was a laugh. As soon as you enter the shire, there are billboards with tradie signs for tool shops, mining gear etc. and that is pretty much what Mackay is like from first impressions! Camped up at Ball Bay near Cape Hillsborough - didn’t dare try and reach Smalley’s Beach again after the e-permit fiasco. We met a nice old couple at Ball Bay and had a great chat to them. The guy was like Doc from Back to the Future - absolute classic. 

Gav at the Sky Lookout, Eungella NP

Nina in Eungella NP - tallest tree

Finch Hatton Gorge, Araluen Falls

Gav and his baby goanna catch

The next day we drove on to Carmilla Beach where we were to spend the next 5 days (another free camp). When we arrived, the weather was not looking promising so we hurriedly set up the entire tent on a nice little beach camp spot. Luckily we did because the weather was foul for pretty much the entire time we were there. Played backgammon, watched movies, went for walks along the beach when it wasn’t raining, cooked damper, and Gav set the crab traps out the front and down near the mangroves. The whole time we were there we only caught one mud crab, and the only reason we caught it was because we walked out to the trap at night to check it and there was a crab on the side of the trap. Gav grabbed it and dinner was served! We spent some time doing some job hunting and putting together resumes to prepare for work. Carmilla Beach is a great spot but I think it would be even better in the sun! 

Over and out, 

N & G

Innot Hot Springs, Moonstone Mountain and Townsville to Hydaway Bay

Quartz sphere that looked like the moon!

We left the comfort of Palm Cove behind and headed up the mountain towards Mareeba and Atherton. When we arrived at the Tablelands the temperature plummeted... having been used to 30 degree weather it was a bit of a shock and much complaining all around. We stopped in Atherton at the Crystal Caves which is a private museum with an amazing collection of stones. Housed here is the world’s largest amythest geode ‘The Empress of Uruaguay’ - 3.5m tall by 2m wide, 2.7 tonnes. The guy who owns the joint bought it in 1991 for $70,000 and last year was offered over a million for it - solid investment. There were other amazing stones, including an ancient Chinese lapis carving a few foot wide, a rose quartz bench and giant smoky quartz. It was really amazing to see so many large pieces in a private collection in Australia! 

Gav standing in front of The Empress of Uruguay

Gav sitting on the Rose Quartz Fountain

The Lapis Carving 

Nina sitting on the Rose Quartz Bench

After this we headed to Millstream Falls, which would have been nice for a swim if the weather was warmer. Instead we decided to head to Innot Hot Springs where there are 7 pools of varying temperatures from 22 - 45 degrees. We camped up here and had a relaxing time... even braving it to go in the 45 degree pool, which requires submersing yourself in cold water for 5 minutes, then jumping into the hot pool and trying not to move. 

Millstream Falls

In the middle of the night we awoke to a rainstorm of epic proportions, and we realised we had left the kitchen open and not undercover and the tool box open. We got our towels and ran out into the rain trying to salvage the very wet kitchen. The next morning we had to leave a little later as we needed to a second clean up, the day after we left our clean up in Cairns haha. We drove towards Undara National Park, where there are volcanic lava tubes. However upon finding out it cost $47 per person for a national park to enter, we decided to move on! We headed further south towards The Lynd on a mission to find Moonstone Mountain to try our luck fossicking for moonstone. Gav found out about this place via a website and had a poorly drawn mud map of how to get there. About 90km from the Lynd, down a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere we came across Moonstone Mountain. Upon stopping and having some lunch we discovered that the moonstone was everywhere. We spent the next 2 hours picking it up from the surface. We had arrived at the perfect time as all the grass had been burnt to the ground and there had just been rain to wash away the surface dust. It was easy to see the moonstone sparkling in the ground. Gav headed for a mission up the mountain and discovered that the best place to find large pieces of moonstone is in the dirt around the roots of a fallen tree. He came back with some huge pieces!

Gav picking a big piece of moonstone out of the tree trunk.

Nina specking for moonstone.

One of the large pieces of moonstone we found in the light.

Porcupine Gorge 

The next morning we spent more time fossicking around and all in all we had about 5kg of stone - was heaps of fun. Some pieces as big as your fist. Following this was a drive that we thought was going to be a 200km drive but in fact was over 600km... poor GPS calculating woops! Lucky we had spare fuel. We stopped off at Porcupine Gorge - an amazing sight and something which I don’t think many have seen. It should be one of the wonders of Australia. In the middle of nowhere a canyon, 130m deep and over 200m wide stretches for as far as you can see with a river running through it. It is said to be over 600million years old. Onwards we went towards Charters Towers and then to Townsville where we pulled up at the Rowes Bay Caravan Park - this time we locked our tent as we weren’t taking any chances with robberies that happened last time. Over the next few days we saw Jeremy, went swimming in his pool, went to the markets and hunted down our very own backgammon board (geeks!) 

Hope all is well in your world. 

N & G