Friday 18 April 2008

Tille, Ains and Bruce...

So far we have been riding on as many scenic routes as possible (even though on one occasion I announced no more scenic routes as they always take longer!) as they are much nicer than being on the highway. Unfortunately to get moving along the coast we have had to befriend Bruce - the Bruce Highway that is, which is not very attractive, full of trucks and pretty boring, but does mean that we have made some ground in the last week or so.

We left Brisbane and drove through the gorgeous Hinterlands to the coast, popping by thepost folk in Noosa Beach and then staying in Rainbow Beach and hiring a jeep wrangler to take to Fraser Island. It seemed a little mean leaving the bike for a shiny red, topless jeep - but once on the island we were very pleased that we hadn't brought her with us! Fraser Island was just beautiful and we are now of course, masters of the 4WD! Driving along the beach was easy and great fun, the internal roads providing a bit more of a challenge and making us glad it wasn't our car! The scenary there was even better than expected- you just have to go!

On leaving Fraser we've had a hard (well, hard for Tille who has to ride and not so hard for me to day dream on the back) few days riding to move along up the coast and are now in Mackay - which I must say has very little to offer if you're not into massive utes and tattoos... Although we had a great 2-4-1 meal at the Lawn Bowls club near our caravan park last night - yes folks we are living it up!

Have downloaded some more photos - we're off to Eungella National Park next to spot some platypus and then to Airlee Beach.. No complaints from us!

Thursday 10 April 2008

Rain, rain go away - come again, in SA!

On leaving Sydney we headed up through Yengo National Park into the Hunter Valley - yet another beautiful, winding and green ride. It was then time to say goodbye to the cold mountains and return to the coast. We spent a night in a place called Seal Rocks that had picturesque beaches before continuing on to Port Macquarie where thanks to puncture no.2 we spent the night. The 'Iron Person' was on that weekend so we mixed it up with incredibly fit and healthy looking people there before moving on to Hat Head National Park (thanks for the tip Don, great spot) where we shared our campsite with a pair of kookaburras, a family of kangaroos and a goanna!

On our way to Byron Bay from there we got caught in a crazy down pour and I conceded that perhaps buying rain gear would be a good idea - denial was not keeping it away! We are now the proud owners of functional and particularly colourful gear. After a day or two of rain, body surfing, a bit of sun, a few beers and being hippies we moved up to Surfers Paradise where Tille perfected body boarding and enjoyed finally being able to swim in the Australian seas (bit too cold in SA). Highlight of Surfers was definitely the world's largest timezone and NOT the endless rain - tried to blow those clouds to the south. Last few days have been in Brisbane - thanks to Carrie and Sam...

The weather maps say it'll be clear this weekend so the plan is to leave the bike for a few days, hire a 4WD and head over to Fraser Island - yippee!

Last thought is that if I were a cow - I would definitely want to be a dairy one and live in the north of NSW near the Nurimbah Valley, just outside a town called Winglepong where life just looks peachy. As you can see my mind is now clear and I can just mull over the important things in life whilst riding along.... :)