Brisbane, Australia

December 29th - December 31st 2011

Our first day in Brisbane we decided to drive in and try and find a place to park so that we could explore. Unfortunately we found that parking was very expensive at $4 an hour so we drove back to the campsite and took the bus in instead. We found an information centre and did a historical walking route which took us past lots of interesting buildings and landmarks as well as interesting statues in Anzac Square. We walked past the Treasury Building and through the Botanical Gardens. In the gardens we saw ducks and lizards and relaxed in the colourful grounds before walking back up Queen Street and catching a bus back to our campsite. Our first impressions of the city were of how clean and well laid out it is. While we stopped to have a look at our walking tour map a lovely elderly gentleman approached us to point us in the right direction and give us some useful information about the city too.

Juxtaposition of old and new architecture

The following day we caught the bus to the South Bank to visit the art galleries. We saw European paintings, religious paintings as well as landscapes and still life's in the Queensland Art Gallery. I found a beautiful Degas on display and also loved some photographs of priests in India doing penance, including the man who has his arm permanently raised above his head. There were also wonderful Japanese drawings as well as contemporary paintings by American painters of the Abstract Expressionist movement. We saw an exhibition full of old historic landscape paintings which including some sketchbooks which were wonderful and very inspiring.



Richard Long

After lunch outside by the river we wandered to the library where we managed to take advantage of free 30 minutes of internet before moving on to the Gallery of Modern Art or GOMA as it's known. We went to the top and worked our way down. The gallery houses Aboriginal art as well as contemporary art. Most of the work was Australian however I did notice a 'I Never Stopped Loving You' pink neon sign by British artist Tracey Emin. After the gallery we went for a walk along the bank and got a good look at the Brisbane Wheel.

Tracey Emin

Christmas Eve we decided to relax and spent the day by the campervan not doing very much at all! We had dinner and watched Back To The Future 3 in the little kitchen on site. At 10 we decided to head into the city on the bus to watch the midnight fireworks. The bus was free to get in to town and back which was a bonus. There were loads of rowdy people on the bus, mostly drunk teenagers being annoying! We absorbed the atmosphere on the South Bank which was filled with crowds of people, the smell of donuts and the sparkling Brisbane Wheel. We picked a spot and after the countdown watched the fireworks over the Brisbane River which had a beautiful Brisbane skyline backdrop.


Glass House Mountains, Australia

December 27th - December 28th 2011

We decided to take a trip to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo in Beerwah. I had been there before with my family when we visited Australia five years ago and it was a highlight of our trip so I really wanted Craig to see it. The entrance fee had gone up by $10 since the newest edition of Lonely Planet came out so it was $59 each to enter. We went in and saw the lizards and alligators then the giant aldabran land tortoises which Craig loved! We watched them get fed and then wandered around until the daily show in the 'Crocoseum' which showcases snakes, birds and crocodiles. The birds fly all around the stadium and the crocs are let loose in the enclosure with Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin. It was a fantastic show to watch and the Irwins enforce their support of animal welfare issues too.

Kangaroo

The new Africa exhibit was good as the animals had really big enclosures and a highlight was walking through the kangaroo enclosure where you can feed and stroke the kangaroo's. We saw the afternoon elephant feeding and watched the tigers. We spent a long time walking through each of the enclosures and exhibits and really got our moneys worth. Our final stop was the new animal hospital which has been set up to take care of injured animals and try and rehabilitate them.

After Australia Zoo we drove to the nearby Glass House Mountains. We drove around and ended up at a campsite which felt more residential where the locals seemed to stare at us, luckily we were only there for the one night.


Glass House Mountains

Glass House Mountains

The next day we had breakfast and left to go to a viewpoint which looks over the Glass House Mountains. The scenery was stunning. We did a small 800m circular walk through the woods and saw interesting trees with markings all over them, we weren't sure if they were natural markings or somehow man made. After our walk we returned to our camper and started our journey to Brisbane. The sat nav got us hopelessly lost but we eventually made it to Nestle Inn which was quite far out of the city but we could easily catch a bus everyday in to the city.

Noosa, Australia

December 23rd - December 26th 2011

With only a couple of days till Christmas we decided to head down to Noosa. It was the next major stop on our journey and also sounded nice in the Lonely Planet so we thought we'd pay a little more and stay there for a few days to relax over the festive season. We were preparing to pay a lot to stay in a nice campsite over Christmas and were slightly worried about availability too as we hadn't pre-booked anywhere. Luckily we found a Top Tourist Resort which we get discount at and paid $58.55 each for three nights.

On Christmas Eve we had a relaxing morning at the site which features a big pool and TV/Games room. We drove to Coles and got some goodies for Christmas day, a chocolate yule log as well as bits and pieces for a picnic on the beach. We went into central Noosa and looked around for a nice restaurant so that we could go out for dinner on Christmas day.

View from the National Park walk

We woke up on Christmas morning and luckily the weather had finally brightened up as since Fraser Island a few days before it had been uncharacteristically drizzly. We couldn't afford to get each other presents so there was no present opening on Christmas morning however we knew that we would be spending over the budget to treat ourselves to a lovely dinner out, our first dinner out in Australia. We drove to Noosa and walked along the beach watching surfers, sunbathers and people frolicking in the waves, such an unusual Christmas day! We walked along some paths and got to the National Park where we saw a kookaburra and kept our eyes peeled for a koala but unfortunately we didn't see one.

Kookaburra

With emotions running high as we were both missing family and home Craig and I had a little falling out over something trivial which dampened the Christmas spirit but we soon got over it and enjoyed our picnic on the beach. After our picnic we relaxed in the late afternoon sun and listened to some Ricky Gervais podcasts which gave us a laugh. We managed to find a pay phone to call home so I spoke to Mum for a few minutes. I really wanted to be able to have a long chat as I was missing home so much but the pay phone was so expensive and a short call cost about $10. Unfortunately we couldn't find an internet cafe to call on Skype and typically the computer at our campsite was broken. We felt a lot better after hearing loved ones voices, travelling makes you realise that Christmas is all about family and not at all about presents and spending money.

We went to Cafe La Monde for our meal out. I had pizza and a yummy 'Blue Lagoon' fruit juice while Craig had fish and chips, something he was really looking forward to and loved. We strolled on the beach as the sun was setting on our Australian Christmas day together.

Christmas evening

We booked another night at our campsite and spent Boxing day by the swimming pool relaxing in the sun.

Fraser Island, Australia

 

December 22nd 2011

We woke up early for our Fraser Island tour. After parking up the camper for the day we got picked up in a 4x4 by our guide Kris. He took us to the office where we paid up and met the other people on our tour. We drove to River Heads and boarded the boat to take us to Fraser Island. While we were waiting to get to the island some playful dolphins started swimming around our boat, jumping and showing off in the water. It was the first time we had seen dolphins in the wild so it felt very special and meant that the day started off very well.

Seventy Five Mile Beach

We eventually got to Fraser Island and took to the very sandy roads in our 4x4. We were very relieved that we didn't hire our own 4x4 to drive like many people do as it's so easy to get bogged in the deep sand. We drove through the rainforest which is the only rainforest in the world that grows on sand and Kris told us interesting stories about the nature and wildlife on the island. We drove through Eurong Resort and on to 75 mile beach highway where we cruised along the smooth sand with the ocean to our right. Kris highlighted that the water off the coast of Fraser Island is home to tiger sharks and if we were to go for a swim then we definitely wouldn't survive! We got to the Maheno shipwreck and stopped for morning tea where we had cheese and crackers, strawberries and amazing lamington cake which we hadn't had before. It's a lovely light sponge covered in chocolate and dessicated coconut, delicious! We had a look at the wreck, it's rusty hull covered in all sorts of miniscule sea creatures. The crowds eventaully gathered round making it impossible to get a nice photograph without someone walking in front of it so we moved on to see the colourful Pinnacle Rocks which in aboriginal culture is a place for women so no aboriginal men are allowed there.


Maheno Shipwreck

After Pinnacle Rocks we drove to Champayne Pools where we passed a couple of drivers stuck in the sand wheel spinning to get out. The weather was starting to make a turn for the worse so I wasn't keen on having a dip in the pools and instead watched on as the much braver people had a dip in the cold water. The pools were very beautiful, we watched the water swirl and bubble which is what gives it it's name and took in the pretty views out to sea. After Champayne Pools we walked back to the car and made our way to Indian Head. We climbed to the top which was a bit trecherous in the slippery sand and made it to the top. It was so windy that I thought I might be blown over the edge! Luckily we weren't and we managed to get some nice if a bit windswept photographs and looked out for wildlife which can be spotted from the top. On our way back down the rain and wind started to pick up so we huddled under the little awning for a buffet lunch which was lovely. It was nice being in such a small group which consisted of two cars worth of people compared to the impersonal coach loads who were also doing the tour, we paid $10 more but it was worth it as we got to know other people on the tour.

Pinnacle Rock

After lunch we drove to Eli Creek, we walked along the boardwalk and waded back in the water watching the kids boogy board their way down. We passed an absolutely massive spider in a web in the trees and heard reports of a snake in the mens toilets too, our first real encounters of scary Australian wildlife! Our last stop of the day tour was to Lake Mckenzie which boasts beautiful white silica sand and crystal clear waters. Even on our overcast and rainy day it still looked dazzling. We had afternoon tea and Craig had a swim in the water before the sky opened up again and we receded to our 4x4. We drove through the trees and back to the ferry for our crossing to the mainland where we had a great chat with Kris and relaxed in our camper for the night.