Gold Coast to Brisbane

Day 34
Wake early with the exciting prospect of the Mudgereeba show.
An agricultural show which is (as reported by the locals) 'The best on the coast'.It's just down the road from the family home so a short stroll and were in.
They've got everything here, from a puppeteer, wood chopping and cutting, Mudgereeba kung fu society, cakes and vegetable competitions and of course farm animals.

They do have rides on donkeys but far more popular are camel rides around the showground, big buggers they are as well.

After a sausage sizzle we head back to finish packing up Polly and to say goodbye to the folks (Thanks for feeding us).

On to Brisbane just over an hour up the road and to Nicky's house, which is an old 'Queenslander' A house on stilts with verhandas all the way around.

A quick stop to meet the flatmates (Gerorgia and Corey) and the two dogs (Harvey, who we have met before and Trudy).
A quick hello and we are off out in the car for a quick drive around the hood which includes Carmens old address on Springhill, the Breakfast creek hotel  where they do this new stuff 'Beer off the wood'.

I imagined a wooden drinking machine and thought we were settling in for a right session but was slightly dissapointed to find that it basically means beer out of a wooden barrel! (what a novelty).

Parked Polly in the garden and were off out for Dinner in china town followed by Cocktails at the sky bar and then everybodys favorite Karaoke.. Much the same set up as any karaoke but we kept having microphone malfunctions (Which would have never happened at DDD). Then as a measure of how drunk we were its into the Beat nightclub (An old favorite of Peters ;-])

This was followed by Mc Donalds on the way home, where having learnt my lesson previously i didnt even think about getting a family box.

Day 35
Hungover, Nicky takes us all on a magical mystery tour of Brisbane, very good it was too. We were driven through New Farm, the City, way up to Mount Cootha where we had great views back over the city.

Then back down through Paddington for a Steak at the Breakfast creek hotel (all roads in Brisbane seem to lead to that pub!)
Not a $10 mind this was a $30 monster accompanied some more of that new fangled beer off the wood (hangovers were left up the mountain i think).

Day 36
Monday morning so everyones off to work and we take the city cat (Ferry) from one end of the line to the other, meandering through the city and up to the university. We got chatting to the ticket lady who was more than helpful and ended up chatting to us for the entire 1 1/2 hour journey! Finally got off at South bank, Brisbanes cultural precinct and strolled through to GOMA and the Queensland museum.

Crossed the river to see a very helpful (at the time) national park man, who gave us loads of leaflets about the whole of Queensland.
Thought it was high time for a beer so stopped at the Belgian beer cafe and a further beer at eagle street pier before getting the ferry home.
Nicky cooked us a beautiful home cooked meal and we looked through all of the brochures given to us earlier only to find that 3/4 of them were 4WD only and so not much use to us at all....

Day 37
Cycle tour of Brisbane today so off on the ferry again to New Farm park and a converted Powerhouse come cultural centre.

The kids are on holoidays from school at the momment so it's packed and we don't stay long.
We had a route planned from a book of cycling tours but when we get going we reliase that quite a few paths were washed away in the floods and have not yet been rebuilt so its detours all over the place but that did mean we got to go through some nice suburbs and some great houses (Lots more old Queenslanders and some good modern buildings) We Follow the river through the city and through the botanical gardens after which we cross over the Goodwill bridge and stop for lunch Which turned out to be an expensive affair.
Continued following the South side of the river around and Kangaroo point and back up and over the 'Story Bridge' (I know they've got the spelling wrong but thanks for trying Brisbane)

Back down through New Farm to new farm park and the ferry home.

Tonight we have the double excitement of Yatla (Legendary) pies and the drive in movies (My first ever drive in!) Of course its old hat for Carmen and the girls and they regail us with tales from when they were kids, sitting in the boot with the back door open in their pyjamas and duvets.
First stop was the infamous pie shop and we were all salivating with anticipation.
Whilst they didnt have the same variety as our earlier encounter with Freddo's pies they made up for it in size, taste and accompanyments. The mash was good the mushy peas were very good and you get a good serving of gravy on the top. Far too big to be handled we were issued with plastic knives and forks which were compleatly useless, the knife couldnt really cut the pie and the fork couldnt really pick it up. Somehow we managed to eat the pies and drove just up the road to the drive in (Yatla has it all!)

Its brilliant, almost as i has imagined and is doubly special as there are screens at both ends of the field showing two different movies (Soemthing even the girls havent seen).
You switch off your lights and drive into the field, where you park on your own private little hill next to a little pole with a light on. Some of the poles have speakers on them to hang on your window but we simply tune the radio in and as if by magic the films soundtrack is on the radio (blind peole could live next to the drive in and listen to films every night for free!).
There is a small building in the middle of the field done up like an American diner with life sized models of Elvis and Marilyn (Monroe not Manson) and we all opt for choc tops (Ice creams dipped in chocolate) and bags of sweets. What i also hadnt really thought about the drive in is that once everybody is in their cars and the lights are off you are pretty much in your own little world and can get up to all sorts under the pretence of watching a film! (I should add that there were 4 of us in the car and there were no 'all sorts').

We were in for a double bill and so it was Carmen and I in the back for the first movie, the lights went down and the film started.
Now im not saying it was a bad view in the back but with two of us vying for position and the rear view mirror in the way i felt like asking for at least 30% of my money back...
However for the second film we swapped places and we were in the front. Now this was a lot more like it! full view of the screen, speakers blaring. Amazing.
If you are ever in Yatla of an evening you could do a lot worse than dinner at the pie shop (Bring your own cutlery) followed by a movie at the drive-in.

Gold Coast

Day 26 continued...

Chose to disregard our budget for a night and basically did a big pub crawl around surfers and mingled with the 14 year olds in the clubs.

Had a rubbish kebab and attempted a family box from Mc Donalds, i say attempted because i couldnt eat the whole thing and so when we got back to Tonias place decided to leave (Hide) the remaining Big mac and cheeseburer in the microwave and have them in the morning :-]

Day 27

Woke up after our night out and just in case we werent sure where we had been, handily each bar and club had given us a tattoo upon entry.

Then i remembered the big mac and cheeseburger :-]
Just what you need for a hangover. Strolled into the kitchen and opened the microwave....
Nothing. Checked the fridge as i must have put them in there.
Nothing. Checked the empty family box.
Nothing. Checked the bin and lo and behold two empty wrappers.
Well i know i had a few drinks but i would have remembered the second big mac and cheeseburger surely.
Turns out Tonia, who had also been on a big night out had arrived home after us and decided to make herself a hot Milo. She opened the microwave and to her delight the fairies had been and left her two burgers to eat....
Saturday afternoon we packed up Polly and headed to Burleigh heads for the night, a lovely campsite by the sea again and the promise of the best Mexican on the coast (what locals call the Gold Coast) and some of the local brew, Burleigh Heads brewing company, they do a 4 or 5 different beers but didnt seem to be available in pubs, in the bottle shop, one bloke had heard of it but didnt know where we could get any!
Squeezed in the next section of our bike ride before the sun went down, Miami to Burleigh and the official halfway mark, not a long ride but right along the beach and very nice too.

Sat on the hill and watched another lovely sunset and Yes the Mexican was the best on the coast!

Day 28

Up early and our for a stroll along the promenade, suns out so decide its high time for a surf. Carmen retires to the beach with her book and im off.

Well after a couple of waves even the locals are stopping to look.
"Who's that prat?" is what they are saying.

On to our next capsite, Mudgeeraba and Carmens family home.
Theres a nice spot for Polly in the garden and we set up camp, complete with electricity, camp fire, local wildlife and a choice of indoor facilities.

A Family BBQ in the afternoon and Tonia (and Yogi) have come and Carmens nephew Rhys with his girlfriend Nicola. Along with John, Grace and Nora its a right old knees up.

Day 29
4 weeks on the road today!
Carmen has decided in her wisdom that Polly needs some new curtains to make her a bit more homely and
Off we trot to Spotlight, amazingly a place that doesnt even sell spotlights! Its all fabric and stuff.
Back at base camp Carmen dissapears into the work room downstairs and set to it on the sewing machine under the carefull supervision of the twins (Grace and Nora).
Meanwhile, outside Polly is having her first bath since we left.
We light the camp fire in the evening and all sit around toasting marshmallows under the stars, we started hearing russling noises in the bushes and were told it was a Long nosed Bandicoot!!
Im straight up with the torch, shining in the bushes, leaning in to try and get a look at him but he was just out of range, hiding just out of range.

Day 30
We notice Polly has a runny nose and so its off to the mechanic to have a look.
He spots the problem as a master clutch cylinder and orders in the part ($300) but it want be there until tomorrow at the earliest, shes still safe to drive so we head home.
Carmen continues with the curtain production and I collect firewood for the nights sausage sizzle.
What a little ripper it was too.

Day 31 23.06.11 - 1 MONTH ON THE ROAD!

Up early in the cold again.
Off to start the final section of the bike ride from Burleigh to Coolongatta. Started off in the Burleigh head land and its turned into a gorgeous day,

cycled through Tullebudgera, Palm beach, Currumbin (stopped to climb Elephant rock), Tugun, Belinga, Kira, Coolongatta and Rainbow beach and finishing with snapper rock and froggy beach.

Yes we made it! Now to turn around and cycle all the way back to the van.
Had lunch at life guard station No 1, the first in Queensland (Not the first ever one but the first one...) with a great view back towards the North end of the coast and a guest for lunch.

A round trip of 36KM today and thats it we have cycled from one end of the Gold coast to the other, and back again!
Return home, the camp fire is already alight and we are treated to some lovely home cooking again.
The russling continues and im up again with the torch but still he's just out of view.

Day 32

Took Polly in early to have her runny nose fixed and after a stop for coffee its back to the curtains again, meanwhile the English tradie (me) is in painting the ceiling of the twins work room (where the curtains are also being made)
So, a room where usually only two people work suddenly has a bloke up a ladder painting and a woman going like the clappers on the sewing machine as well as the twins all beavering away!
So the ceiling got painted and the curtains got finished and Polly got picked up from the garage and we are all happy.
Im reversing out of the garage and CRUNCH, weve scraped the bumber of a parked car, the other car is fine but we've got a ding in the side. A little annoyed we drive back to base camp.
Another lovely dinner round the fire and off to the infamous 'Wallaby Bobs'pub in Mudgereeba. Nora chauferred us down (and stayed for a shandy) and Tonia met us there and with the upcoming Mudgereeba show this weekend we were half expecting (hoping) that we would run into some of the sideshow alley people. A bearded woman or a strongman would have done but it was just the locals (although a couple of them looked like they weren't far off a job in a sideshow!)

Day 33

We decide to have a lie in this morning. 8am!
Off up to Springbrook National park in the same mountain range as we camped at Binna Burra. Great drive up the mountain again and a series of lookouts.
Stop and do a short walk at 'Purlingbrook falls' for a look at the falls.

On to the inventively named 'the best of all lookout' which was pretty good but surely they could have come up with a better name than that!

Another great drive back down the mountain side and we didnt even need the telescope as helpfully the Gold Coast City council have amateur astronomers in mind and have pointed out some of the main astronomical attractions.

Back to base for the final time as we are leaving tomorrow, think ill be clever and reverse in from the front drive rather than perform another 20 point turn in the garden. So start reversing around the corner of the house, which is up on stilts, think were fine and CRUNCH.
Bugger.
A cracked tail light and another ding (Two in two days). If there were a bright side it would be that it is the same panel as was crunched yesterday. At least the panel beater will have a slightly easier time of it..
Some hasty repairs and shes as good as new and we will say no more about it (either of them).
The final curtain is installed and so she might be a bit battered and bruised on the outside but she's pretty as a picture inside.

Russling around in the bushes again but this time ive got him (well seen him) Long Nose Bandicoot, the stuff of legends. Looks like a big rat with a long nose to me.

Gold Coast

Day 22
The sun is out and so we are off to do the second leg of our bike ride.
From main beach (where we finished the first leg) we rode by the sea through Narrowkneck, Surfers Paradise, Broad Beach where we stopped and met Dad (Carmens dad that is, its a bit far for my dad to come for coffee), continued through Mermaid Beach, Nobby('s?) Beach and finished up in Miami where we had lunch.

Then we had to turn around and do all that in reverse to get back to Polly, a 20KM round trip (Carmen is learning to love her bike now).

Day 23
No cycling today, instead off to Burleigh Heads and a short stroll around possibly the smallest National park in Australia. walked round it in an hour. Got a good view of the rest of our bike ride (as far as you can see).

Did some Polly housework in preparation for a couple of days in the mountains and then headed to the pub, eager to continue one of our other side quests, the $10 steak challenge.Arrived at the local pub (Ashmore  Tavern) and grabbed the menus but saw that even the cheapest steak was double the challenge budget!
Since we left we have been struggling to find even one offer of a $10 steak and should have done a 'meat pie' challenge instead as we would have had loads to write about!

Day 24
Having now had a week in a proper bed in a warm house it was time to get back into Polly and head upwards.
Binna Burra in the Lamington national Park is only 45 mins from the coast and you are in another world (45 mins up a winding and steep and narrow road that is!).

Parked up in the rainforest campsite and headed off for a warm up walk through the forest (5KM).

Had an open fire but had forgotten the marshmallows so instead drank too much red wine and retired to a freezing cold bed.

Day 25
Up with the larks and pack the bag for a full days walking along the Ships Stern circuit (20KM should be a breeze).

We chose this walk because it seemed to offer everything from huge trees (Biggest tree in NSW lookout!) waterfalls and dense rainforest to eucalypt forest to clifftop lookouts.
What we hadnt really figured was that to get from dense rainforest to clifftop lookouts actually involved us walking there.

Lunchtime timecheck 1.30pm, walking for 4 hours and roughly halfway there. It gets dark about 5ish and so... well you do the maths.

Made it back to camp, 4.30pm almost exactly 7 hours since we left. Feeling tired and sore we sit down in front of the fire again and didn't move too much after that.

Day 26
After a good nights sleep and a hot shower we set off to the Bellbird Lookout, just 1KM away (Nothing us now, seasoned professionals). Nice to stretch the legs again and a good lookout as well.

 A big tree.

 Bellbird lookout

Some wildlife.

Head back to civilisation and popped into the family home for lunch and to show off Polly to Carmens mum who is now home from hospital and walking around already.
Back to Tonia's (and Yogi's) for the night and off into Surfers Paradise to live it up on a Friday night.