The journey from the Coast of Gold to Sunshine!

Ok here I am again signing in, this time sitting at the dining room table enjoying a beautiful dinner I whipped up, just across from the beach at Mooloolabah. Well almost… my dinner isn’t all that spectacular (vegies, lentils, chilli – the usual but with no canned tuna tonight!), the table takes up pretty much the whole interior of the van (and converts to my bed), but yes I am just across from the beach, tonight staying in a caravan park – I have have a powered site every two to three days to recharge everything ie the battery that runs the fridge and lights, plus when I plugged into 240V (mains power) I can use George’s kettle, microwave and power points to charge camera, phone, laptop etc.

Anyway I’m seeing this might be a fairly big instalment as I feel like I’ve been a thousand places and seen a billion exciting things since I last updated you. Following my couple of days hiking and camping in the Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast Hinterland, I decided to take part in Harriet’s Uni’s Exploration Society Walk “Yawning up Mt Warning”. It was incredible experience, we caught a bus at midnight (I slept from 8pm till 11pm haha!) to the base of the mountain – just back across the NSW/QLD boarder and started to walk up guided only by our torches. The difficulty of the walk surprised me at first and we had four hours till sunrise, but sure enough the track became steeper and windier, finishing with a 300m rock climb on all fours to reach the peak. Although it was a nice challenge for me, the rest of our group were slightly shocked and many unprepared. For example the girl walking (stumbling) in front of me dropper her glasses and smashed the lenses so her boyfriend had to hold her hand (her other hand carried the enormous torch she’d brought). To add to this she wore stockings and a tshirt-come-dress with converse’s on her feet! As most of you can imagine I became fairly impatient and eventually stormed past her and about 20 others who were struggling through their own difficulties. In the end I made it to the top with about 1.5hours to spare till sunrise, and instantly became freezing cold in the now sweaty singlet I wore. Nevertheless the wait was worth every second and the 80 odd people who chose to walk rather than sleep (or camped on the peak) plus the many many photos I took are evidence! There is a 360 degree view from 4 platforms with the sun rising above the ocean past Tweed Heads, with Byron Bay to the south, and the Gold Coast stretching along the coast further North.

Upon arrive back on the Gold Coast mid morning, I set about doing some jobs for the rest of the day like replacing George’s battery. The ridiculaous state of tiredness from basically an all-nighter trekking up a mountain, didn’t actually set in until the following day – when I had planned to start adventuring further north – but ended up plonking myself in Harriet’s apartment, feeling sorry for myself and trying to fight the onset of a cold.

Moving on, my next adventure was on North Stradbroke Island. I packed a few days supplies, my tent, sleeping bag and camp cooker into my pack and set off on the ferry, leaving George on the mainland. I caught the public bus right to the northern point and had a picnic lunch at main beach. Following a great swim and bodysurf I started my walk along the coast in search of a camp spot. Following a quick camp set up I headed off on a run to get my bearings. As the sun sets just after 6 I keep having this ‘nothing’ time, where I can’t do activities or exercise and I’m not quiet ready for dinner, unfortunately this is lonely time I’ve decided, as everyone else seems to be sitting round a camp fire, having a beer and enjoying the company of their partner or family – everyone is travelling in couples or families!!

Anyway skipping ahead a little quicker, since Straddie I spent a day in Brisbane – a city I don’t really know at all. I basically just drove in till I hit the river, parked George and got on my bike peddling round for about 3 hrs in and out of streets and all along the river. It was a great way to explore the city without the hassel of public transport playing for parking or the slowness of walking. Speaking of walking I;ve been doing it so much – well a lot for a non-walker. Whenever I just want to have a look around a town however I definitely choose to ride or run (I can sense most of you rolling your eyes right now – but you can see so much more faster that way!)

After exploring the Morton Bay region – I drive along the motorways and then always take a turn off at all tourist drives or beach access points. Which means by the time I reach Cairns I hope I’ve swum at over 100 beaches! Back to Morton Bay (the coast outside Brisbane) I spent one night in a carpark on what looked like a beautiful bayside town. I cooked myself up a steak and vegies on the bbq as I watched the sunset, but little did I realise that after dark this carpark was hoon city. Poking my eye out from behind George’s floral curtains I certainly witness a lot that night and didn’t get much sleep from all the revving cars and abusive language as I lay nervously in bed. It didn’t help that when they finally all went home it started bucketing with rain at 3am (a common occurrence most nights actually) and then the street cleaner came past at 5.00! Grrrrr.

Next travelling up the coast further I swung by Caboolture but was clearly there too early in the morning – the town was dead. Oh that’s another thing my body clock is still set on Victoria time which means I seem to wake each morning at sunrise ~ 6am which means I start getting closey-eye (ie tired) at around 9pm.

So it has now been a few days since I started this and I am now in the carpark in Noosa, listening to the chatter and music of at least 8 other campervaners, pretty much all in the twenties and from a European country. I’ve had a great last couple of days – some awesome body surfing at all beaches up the Sunshine Coast. I am in serious surfer jealousy mode right now. I wish I my board! But yes I couldn’t justify fitting it and my bike inside and most of the rest of my of my trip I wont be near surf beaches anyway. So for now I stick to body surfing, to the frustration of a few surfers when I get in their way, whoops!