Day 84 – Monday 14 August 2023 – Hervey Bay to Elliot Heads
Another beautiful start to the day. Clear skies, no wind, and 15 degrees at 7 am. I was already showered and dressed, but Shirley slumbered on (a kind word for snoring).
Coffee was had at Childers and not long after we stopped at the Bundaberg Tourist Information Centre. The 'Kelly Events Manager' stocked up on brochures and had a broad smile on her face as we headed out to Elliot Heads - a mere 20 km.
Just short of our destination we made a slight detour to the place we stocked up on mandarins three weeks ago. This time we stocked up on mandarins, avocados and zucchinis - all very fresh and very cheap.
Camp was established before lunch. Lunch happened, then a 3 km walk on the beach - a very scenic location - as per the photo below.
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| Elliot Heads Beach |
During our walk we met up with Julie and Al, friends from home, who we had drinks with last week in Hervey Bay. Small world. They are staying in Bundaberg.
It was time for afternoon coffee and brochure research....
Around 4:30 we had drinks with Kay & Darryl, then moved indoors just before 6pm for sausages n mash.
Day 85 – Tuesday 15 August 2023 – Elliot Heads
We both slept in and celebrated with a cooked breakfast of bacon and eggs around 9:15 am.
Around mid-morning we went for an exploratory drive, starting with Riverview - so called because it sits on the mouth of the Elliot River.
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| Mouth of Elliot River at Riverview |
Not far from where the above
photo was taken is The Cochrane - an artificial Reef in the Woongarra
Marine Park. Just a short boat trip from shore, is the 50-metre
‘Ceratodus II’ and the 40-metre long 'Porteur' surrounded by two Mohawk
aircraft and a Kingair aircraft, two lightships, and a criss-cross of concrete
modules, pipes and other structures all taken over by coral and sea life. Schools of fish cruise this underwater
playground, dotted with friendly estuary cod, a family of groper, stingrays,
turtles, wobbegong sharks, and many other unique coral reef species. A great place for a dive.
We were in the middle of zucchini and macadamia country with plenty of both on view. There were acres of zucchini being picked by workers with wide straw hats.
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| Flower on Macadamia Tree |
We headed north and visited Innes Park and Coral Cove. Both sit on a very rocky coast line, but the ocean views were excellent. As usual murals dotted the landscape.
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| Mural at Innes Park |
We drove in and out of Coral Cove Golf Club which has an address of "1 Pebble Beach Drive", quite a famous name in golf terms. Most of the fairways, that we could see, had water nearby - some had canals on both sides. Not good for my game.
Back at camp it was time to relax, so Shirley got the brochures out and planned the next week or so. I just took it all in.
A short happy hour then a BBQ pork medallion for dinner.
Day 86 – Wednesday 16 August 2023 – Elliot Heads
There were two sunrises this morning.
I slipped on my tracksuit, walked 250 metres, and was on the beach just before the 6:11 am sunrise time as a red ball rose about the horizon. It was around 14 degrees.
I barely had time to snap a couple of photos when the sun disappeared behind a wide bank of thick clouds. Ten minutes later the sun rose again - this time above the bank of clouds - and it was here to stay.
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Above: Red ball at 6:11 am Below: Second appearance at 6:21 am |
I wandered along the beach for a while then headed back to the caravan, grabbed my soap and towel and headed to the shower.
My day was underway.
Shirley was up, washed, hair dried, fed and ready to go for a walk by 9:15 am. That could be a record.
There is a 4+ km walk heading north from the caravan park along the top of the beach cliffs. The views were rocky but well worth the 4.5 km return walk that we completed.
We stopped to admire the ANZAC Memorial, the site of an observation spotting team during WWII. It was manned by the volunteer Defence Corps, who were on the lookout for movement by sea, air or land. It would be a great place to attend an ANZAC Day service.
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| ANZAC Memorial on the Site of a WWII Observation Post |
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| Our Local Beach from the Walking Path |
We had lunch and drove into Bundaberg. While there we visited Bunnings and Grunskes - the fish restaurant and market. We will be back.
On the way home we stopped at 'Tinaberries' and bought ice-creams. Shirley had strawberry and I had macadamia with ginger. It was a great place to relax. The ice-creams were superb.
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| Shirley had strawberry. Chris had Macadamia with Ginger. |
We smiled at the covered-machines that the pickers used to help with the picking.
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| The 'Strawberry Picking' process |
We headed home, chilled out, then had hamburgers and veggies for dinner.
Day 87 – Thursday 17 August 2023 – Elliot Heads
The day started with sun, clear skies and no wind. Perfect holiday weather.
The matriarch and patriarch started the farm with tobacco in 1958. Since then they have migrated through sugar cane and vegetables (such as tomato & zucchini). Now their focus is macadamia nuts, and what a great job they do. We learned how the husks of the nuts are used to fire furnaces that dry the nuts. Then the ash from the furnace is added to compost that is used to add nutrients to the trees. The whole cycle is fascinating and healthy for the planet.
We dined on different macadamia nuts (plain, sea-salt, baked honey, lemon-myrtle, milk chocolate and dark chocolate). We drank a hot chocolate that was made from macadamia milk.
We learned all about the various facets of the business.
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| Stages of macadamia growth, from left. Early flower buds, flowering, pea-sized fruit, full sized nuts in kernel. |
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| Masked Lapwing Plover - Enjoying the sprinkler |
We did the right thing and invested in some dark chocolate macadamias, to add to our samples from the tour. We also bought some macadamia oil, which is apparently healthier than olive oil.
The following is a selection of photos.
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| I could do great things with this banksia, with eyes and a mouth. |
We then headed further south and ended up at Coonarr Beach, where there is a magnificent beach, a number of homes, and nothing else.
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| Coonarr Beach |
It was time to head back to camp and a late lunch. I did a couple of jobs in the caravan (namely a switch on the diesel heater) then it was time for a beach walk. The strong wind did not help.
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| Shirley admiring some drift wood (for her garden?) [Who can see the dog?] |
A cup of coffee, a relax and it was happy hour time. Snags and salad for dinner.
Day 88 – Friday 18 August 2023 – Elliot Heads
Another dawn, another sunrise. I was on the beach and comfortable at 6 am. Although it was very windy - and had been all night - my phone indicated that it was round 19 degrees.
I was on my own on a section of beach that had no foot-prints, other than seagulls. Again there was cloud, and again it added to the photo. I listened to country music as I watched the sunrise. Josh Turner.
The following gives an indication of what I saw. It was my 4000th photo of the trip.
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| Sunrise on Elliot Heads Beach |
Eventually I returned to camp, loaded the washing machine and had a shower.
I played with the photos, then hung out the washing. While I was doing that Shirley sneaked past me, off to the shower. We had an early breakfast together. By 8:30 we were ready to see what the day held for us..............
It was considered too windy for a beach walk so we went for a drive into Bundaberg to check our the wall murals and generally look around. The art work is not up to the standard of other Queensland towns, but the following were worth including here.........
We are not sure what any of them are supposed to represent.
We bought a coffee and a few other essentials, then headed home to camp. We did not need lunch as Bunnings had a sausage sizzle and we supported the local Men's Shed.
Around mid afternoon we went for a walk along the cliff-top path that we had started a few days ago. It is a rocky coast and the water and clouds seemed angry.
Happy hour occurred, then a chicken stir fry for dinner.
Day 89 – Saturday 19 August 2023 – Elliot Heads to Bargara
It was a short trip today so a sleep-in was Ok. I emerged around 7:45 am and Shirley about 8:15 am. We casually had breakfast and set about packing up.
We were ready to go around 9:30 - so we did.
This chapter is NOW Complete.
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Last updated at 3:25 pm on Saturday 19th August 2023.
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