Wow! It’s been a while since my last entry and we continue to have some hits and some misses in the success of locations. This brings me to Bli Bli. My mum raised me to be polite and always told me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say then I shouldn’t say anything at all. So, I should probably end this paragraph now. The Sunshine Coast is known for its beautiful beaches and lovely semi-rural locations. We (being heavily influenced by the fishermen in our family) opted for neither a beachside or rural location. It’s probably best described as a place to sit and read a book. There, that’s not nasty is it? Bli Bli boasts a ski and surf park (our kids weren’t heavy enough to go on) and a huge barramundi farm. So Chris and Ry enjoyed two full days trying to catch a barra. Thankfully Ry had some success pulling in a 35cm barra. Unfortunately they only caught one other fish for the entire time. As for the caravan park itself, well, um, we experienced our first theft for the holiday which taught the kids the valuable lesson of locking up all of their belongings. Another vital lesson learnt by the kids is that compared to other children they have pretty cool parents.
 |
| The best of Bli Bli |
From the ridiculous to the sublime. Our next stop was amazing. We headed to Tiaro to consider one of two free stays. As we pulled into the quaint little town noticed the first free stay. It was a car park packed with vans right on the side of the Bruce Hwy. Thankfully Chris pushed on and insisted that we try the other one out of town down a dirt road. Here we found a beautiful campsite with the most amazing views and terrific people. We were even invited to our first “happy hour” with the Nomads. We met some really wonderful people here who just adored having the kids around. The nomads prove time and time again that if there’s a great place to visit they know about it, especially if it’s free. After my overprotective watchful eye at Bli Bli the kids relished in the freedom of being allowed to roam and investigate. Frogs in the toilet blocks, beautiful birds, wild quail, bush turkeys, parrots, fishing, this was just what we needed. I remember the first time Ry caught a cane toad last year. He was devastated when I told him that we had to kill it by putting it in the freezer. A year later and all the kids have learnt just how devastating this introduced species have become. I’m somewhat proud to say that the Pentland children are on a crusade to rid QLD of these pests but I’m not entirely sure that their technique is recommended by the QLD government. Let’s just say I’m still soaking their clothes.
 |
| The view from our van |
 |
| Kelly Slater and Steph Gilmore in the making |
On Nomad advice we headed to Agnes Waters and 1770. What a win! Unfortunately we weren’t able to get a beachfront stay as the 2 caravan parks in town are very popular. We ended up 6km out of town in a quiet park with all the essentials. Now this is somewhere I could live, if only they had a supermarket with reasonable prices. I’m happy to rate Agnes as my favourite place in Qld. It’s absolutely stunning. The history of the area was really interesting and it amazes me that these two little towns remain relatively uncompromised by tourist commercialism. By far the best $40 we’ve spent on the entire holiday was here at surf school. Taz and Ry did a three hour lesson while Chris, Taj and I relaxed on the beach taking time to have a surf ourselves. It was hilarious to watch the kids carve it up while the adults wiped out continuously. I’m pretty sure the kids learnt how to say “go to hell you little brats” in Dutch care of the group of Dutch tourists attempting to participate in the lesson.
From Agnes we drove to Gladstone, a huge mining town on the coast. This was purely a stopover to catch up with an old high school mate of mine. It also offered us the first opportunity to sleep in a house in 7 weeks. Thanks Woody for your hospitality!
 |
| My own coconut man |
Leaving Gladstone saw me take a huge emotional dive. It was my Mum’s 60th birthday and I wished I was home. To make things worse I couldn’t get mobile reception or internet so I couldn’t get in touch. We were on our way to a beachside village but I was in no mood to be stuffed around by prices, set ups, television, annoying neighbours, trailer park trash and internet availability. After checking out a couple of places I jumped in the car and demanded that we just keep driving north. This dummy spit was of great benefit. By the time Chris was exhausted we had arrived in a gorgeous little spot called Clairview. I think to give this a rating of my second favourite place might lead people a little astray. It wasn’t so much the place, although it was spectacularly stunning at high tide and an adventurer’s wonderland at low tide. This place just oozed character, or perhaps its characters just oozed. We all loved it. I loved the beachfront view for just $30 a night. I loved that thecaravan park doubled as the local grocery shop, tripled as the local bar (live bands included) and quadrupled as the fashion boutique come bait shop. The town itself couldn’t have more than 200 permanent residents but they’re all so welcoming. We went for a walk one morning to the weekly CWA stall (great tomato relish) and on return the kids found a dog and as always they started patting it. Tamsyn then found the owner who invited us in to see the recent litter of pups. Next thing we know Taj is collecting a bagful of tomatoes and radishes out of the garden. Later that night we met the owner again (David) when he and his partner Peta came up to the pub/shed/ bonfire for a beer. As we chatted he offered to take us out crabbing in his boat, sadly we are required in Mackay by Saturday otherwise we would have been a certainty. In fact it’s probably a good thing that we had to move on, I really could have settled here. A great time was had by all. If you’re ever heading to north Qld this one’s a must see, but make sure you give yourself time to really let the whole town impress itself onto you. Thankfully Clairview also has internet reception so I did get to send my Mum a huge happy birthday wish.
 |
| Did I mention I caught the 1st fish. |
NOTE TO THE NOMADS
If you are camping at a caravan park with very limited washing line space you do not need to hang your undies using two pegs. Especially when your undies are the size of a backyard shade sail. Nor should such undies display any traces of marks left behind. I do not wish to walk past a huge pair of Y-fronts with skiddies on display. Multiple undies to a peg! Is it too much to ask?
Missing you all, but still surviving
Kristy. xo
No comments:
Post a Comment