Chapter 12 - Hervey Bay - Week 2

Day 70 – Monday 31 July 2023 – Hervey Bay Day 7

The start of week 2 in Hervey Bay aligns with the end of week 10 of the trip. Just a few more to go.................

I slipped out of bed and into the shower around 7:30 am. The car was at a local mechanic just after 8 am, for an oil change and a minor service. We have completed over 8000 km, much of it with the caravan, and much of it on undulating roads (to be kind). So the car deserves a checkup.

I walked the 1.2 km back to camp and turned it into 2 km by checking out the local wet-lands or, more accurately, the local lagoon. Birds were hard to find and impossible to capture on film, so I spent time with the thousands of bats (flying foxes) - who were making a very loud noise. I am not sure what the bats would do for local house prices.

Grey-headed flying fox

The lagoon was peaceful, but local signs indicated that the water was unsuitable for wading or swimming.

Urangan Lagoon

I arrived back at camp just after 9am, just as Shirley was emerging from her 'cocoon'.

We had a quiet morning. After lunch Darryl and I sauntered over to the bowls club and each scored a set of 'loan bowls'. They are quite old, but round and work in the normal way. We gave them a try for 8 ends, and look forward to teaming up in the pairs on Wednesday.

Left: Darryl under cover.   Right: My loan bowls.

Mid afternoon Shirley and I walked to the mechanic and picked up the car. The tyres had been 'blacked' so it looked faster.

Around 5 pm we wandered into Kay and Darryl's annex with a couple of beers, a bottle of Baileys and a bottle of Pepperjack shiraz. We dined on superb corned beef and veggies. Dinner was superb.

Day 71 – Tuesday 1 August 2023 – Hervey Bay Day 8

At 7:50 am Kay, Darryl and I left the caravan park and headed to the dock for the 'Tasman Venture' boat - for a whale watch tour. Shirley slept on.

Tasman Venture

The Tasman Venture left at 8:35 am and returned at 1:30 pm. The trip cost $125 which worked out at maybe $1 per whale. We had a whale of a time. Pure magic. I took 500+ photos and some appear below. The magnificent humpback whales were often close enough to the boat to jump onto them. They flipped, rolled, clapped and did all the things that whales do.

It was exhausting.

On the way back we scored photos of a different view of the famous 800-metre-long pier.

We arrived home in time for a late lunch, then some relaxation.

Shirley cooked dinner of curried snags and rice. Darryl was impressed.

Day 72 – Wednesday 2 August 2023 – Hervey Bay Day 9

It was the third day in a row that I had to be up early AND Shirley could stay in bed as long as she liked.

Darryl and I were at the bowls club, and had paid our $12 green fees, by 8:10 am. We played 21 ends of a pairs match, against a husband and wife team who I knew from bowls at Diamond Creek. They have retired to Hervey Bay.

The overnight rain continued throughout the morning, sometime quite heavy. We were lucky to have a cover over our head.

Urangan Bowls Club

Darryl and I did well. We lead for 17 ends and dropped off the pace over the last few ends to come second 18-22. Not bad, considering our opponents were locals who play bowls 3 times each week. Darryl had not played for a few years, and I had not played for a few months, and both of us were using old borrowed bowls.

To cap off a good morning I won a drinks voucher.

Around lunch time I met up with a lady who had a worried expression on her face. In no time at all I was Denise's chief technical adviser, letter proof reader, and printer of her legal letter. Phew.

Sixty minutes later I was assisting Denise's husband with internet problems with a permanent caravan park resident. This lady was Greek who spoke very little English. Me and my big mouth.

Just after 5pm I headed to local "Shelly Beach" for a sunset. I was about 90 seconds too late for a really good photo.

Sunset over Shelly Beach

Shirley cooked a chicken stir-fry for dinner.

Day 73 – Thursday 3 August 2023 – Hervey Bay Day 10

The rain yesterday seems to have petered out, and that is fine - as today was setdown as Maryborough day. Maryborough (pop. 15,300) - 44 km away - is a lovely city with lots of history on display, a large amount of murals, and a weekly Thursday market.

Shirley and I have been to the market before, and we hope it is still as good as it was then.

Launched in 2015, the mural trail now has 39 large scale murals and installations adorning buildings in the city’s Central Business District.

The Post Office Hotel - A Grand Old Building

The four of us set off at 9am and were parked in Maryborough before 10 am, one block from the market. The market was a bit disappointing, being smaller than seen in previous visits. However we bought some veggies and had a German sausage for morning tea.

We then set about seeing the art work that was spread all over town. That took some time, and was very enjoyable. We noted that Maryborough was the birth place of P L Travers, the author of Mary Poppins.

Some of the art work appears below. Much more can be seen if you click here.

City Hall and Canvas Backdrop

"Man In The Moon"
(Everything lost on Earth can be found on the Moon - P L Travers)

"The Under Sea"

Jules Francois Archibald
(Started "The Bulletin")

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
"Father of Modern Turkey"

An ex-service woman and two tourists.
(Guess which are which)

Former Prime Minister Andrew Fisher

Mary Poppins

In due course we headed home and relaxed for a while. I had a desire to cook so meat pie and mash potatoes was for dinner, with apple pie and cream for dessert. The Weber played a part in cooking dinner. The troops seemed Ok with that.

Apple Pie

Day 74 – Friday 4 August 2023 – Hervey Bay Day 11

Another slow start to the day, with washed clothes on the line by 8am. Leisurely breakfast. I then cooked a few tasty morsels using two sheets of pastry that would not fit into the freezer.

Both of us then visited Bunnings, for maybe the second time this trip - to replace the Weber gas bottle, and replace a padlock that has somehow disappeared.

That was it for the morning. A lovely tuna salad for lunch, then more time to relax.

Not much happened all afternoon apart from a few computer duties and some sudoku.

We wandered over to the bowls club around 5:30 as last week the food was great and the music was excellent. This week the food was just as good (lamb shanks and fish n chips) but the music was woeful. We wished that we had not bought raffle tickets as we had a 90 minute wait for the draws. Our disappointment turned to joy as one of my numbers appeared on the raffle display. A meat tray was ours - pork chops, burgers, 4 different types of sausages.

Winnings from Urangan Bowls Club

In two trips to Hervey Bay (6 years apart) I have won two meat trays.

Day 75 – Saturday 5 August 2023 – Hervey Bay Day 12

Kay & Darryl headed south to Rainbow Beach to see their daughter, so we headed to the Howard market – around 45 km away. The trip turned into a big circuit as we visited towns such as Torbanlea, Howard, Burrum Heads, Toogoom and Dundowran Beach. It was a great day.

Our first stop was at the Australian Craft and Herb farm, an eclectic mix of great craft, superb wooden products, herb nursery and animal and bird enclosures. I have never seen so many guinea pigs in one place at one time. There must have been 100 in their enclosure. One wonders if there were other interesting plants being grown in some quiet spot out back.

We moved on and stopped at Howard for their feature monthly market. It was OK, but not as good as the markets that we had locally last weekend. We bought a new garden sculpture and some cheap capsicums. Shirley also patted an alpaca, and we pondered a trip on the train.

Shirley and Friend

A letterbox well worth a photo

From there we backtracked to the Bamboo Nursery and Gardens - a well-established bamboo, ginger and heliconia specialised nursery featuring a collection of the world's finest non-invasive bamboos. All varieties (including gingers and heliconias) are growing for display on the 50-acre property with 10 acres of landscaped tropical parklands.

Bamboo and Other plants

Above & Below: Flowers that we admired

We drove through Torbanlea and headed to Burrum Heads on the coast. There were two caravan parks very close to the beach and a fish n chip shop that beckoned. Red Emperor and chips was our choice for lunch, and it was superb. So was the view from our lunch spot.

Our view while we ate our Red Emperor

Toogoom was next on our list as it was on the way. They have a superb sandy beach. Next was Dundowran Beach and Arkarra Lagoons and Wetlands Reserve. This was a haven for birds, big and small. I managed to score a few photos.

Arkarra Lagoon

A resident on a log

Satin Flycatcher

Pied Cormorant and Two Australian Darters

It was 3:30 before we arrived back at camp and we both relaxed in our outdoor chairs. We had a happy hour session with Kay and Darryl and had left over pie mix on toast for dinner (no wine).

Day 76 – Sunday 6 August 2023 – Hervey Bay Day 13

Overnight scattered showers seemed to fizzle out as the sun rose. A few jobs filled most of the morning before Shirley and I went for 3 km walk that included buying some hamburger rolls for dinner.

After lunch we drove to Pialba - a north western suburb of Hervey Bay. We admired the art work and strolled along the beach.

Above & Below: The water park and local whale art

Our beach walk

On our return we found out that the 'Dunga Derby' was about to end at the park beside where we were parked.

For those of you who have not heard the term 'Dunga' the web describes the term as: 

Mostly used in small towns in Queensland. Predominantly Maryborough.
1. An exclamation of frustration, usually at an annoying situation. Can be used in the place of words like crap, shit, damn, dang and so on.
2. A term used to describe something crappy or dodgy.

The Dunga Derby has 55 teams who participate in a four-day car rally to help local people in need. The participants seemed to really enjoy themselves. Some photos tell the story. Click here to see many more photos.

Stretched Land Cruiser

Official Recording of the Event

Above & Below: Happy participants

We returned to camp and cooked our hamburgers (from the Friday bowls club dinner raffle) for the four of us. Bun, burger, onion, cheese, bacon, egg, lettuce & tomato. They were pretty good.

This chapter now complete.

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Last updated at 7:40 pm on Sunday 6th August 2023.