Brisbane

After our adventures on Fraser Island we decided that we would spend another day in Hervey Bay  soaking up the lovely weather and doing nothing.  The following day we packed up yet again and followed the coast 80 km south to Noosa Heads.  Noosa Heads had been recommended by other travellers and as it was on our way we decided to do a drive through and get some lunch.  Noosa is positioned between some large hills, the congregation of several rivers and of course more amazing beaches.  The town centre definitely had an up market feel with lots of expensive clothes shops, coffee shops and up market restaurants.

We were now heading towards one of Australia’s largest cities, Brisbane.  With still some 100 km to go the scenery changed from happening upon occasional towns to a constant suburbia of homes, shops, restaurants, car showrooms and industrial estates.  We headed for another free camping spot just outside Coboolture which turned out to be a lay by next to a highway which was very popular although made us feel like gypsies.

The next day saw an early start to visit Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo.  Before his untimely death he had set up a zoo mainly to show off the Crocodiles that he had captured and to show the Australian public the merits of looking after the environment, something the Australians don’t do very well.  Since his death the zoo has become a shrine to his work and is even more famous than it was before.

In most zoos the animals are kept behind fences but here you could walk through the kangaroo enclosure feeding them and stroking them, and the same with the koalas.

Obviously it was not the case for the croc enclosure.  We spent a good half day watching the demonstrations, looking at the animals and me trying to stop Emma from steeling a koala which she became very attached to.  It was a great place and very well done without the normal problems of zoos and disturbed animals.  Kids would love it.

We left the zoo at 14:00 and decided to high tail it into Brisbane even though it was a Friday afternoon as so likely to be a tricky drive in.  Our book had listed a campsite close to the centre of town, unusual even in Australia and we headed in the general direction.  I have to say that it’s a testament to navigator Coates but since we landed in Oz we have not got lost once, impressive in over 10,000 km of driving.  We found the campsite first time and planned a Saturday in the CBD (Central Business District).

Brisbane is a big place compared with Perth and far more built up with lots of old buildings to compliment the modern high rises that seem to populate all central areas these days. 

As we walked around the shopping district I was struck by how familiar it looked realising that it looked exactly like, Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester, etc.  We walked down to the river and again I stood looking feeling like we had been here before.  In front of us on the south side of the river was a large 1960’s style theatre complex and around it lots of bars and restaurants.  Yes, it was the south bank of the Thames in London complete with Ferris wheel.  We spent a very pleasant day frequenting bars, riding the free ferries up and down the river and just generally mooching.

After only a day in Brisbane we decided to move on and head south whilst trying to miss the toll roads as they don’t have booths to take cash over here.  You have to pay on the internet and we already had enough problems trying to get internet access so we really wanted to avoid it.  We left the highway again and took the coastal route to the world famous Surfers Paradise.  Surfers Paradise is on a stretch of coast that encompasses a number of towns that have practically been joined by massive developments to accommodate the thousands of tourists who flock to this coast.  As we reached the shore you could see the waves breaking on the very steep beach making it perfect for surfing. 

However turn round and what you get is Benidorm on acid.  Massive, modern, 20 to 30 story high rises reach for the sky right on the beach giving every room a stunning view of the 30 km plus long beach.  Some of them seem to be purely holiday rentals, with some expensive condos for those that can afford to live here.  Ironically there are more high rises here than in the middle of Brisbane and Perth put together.

We continued along the coast for the rest of the day stopping every few miles to see yet another amazing beach or to take another picture from a high rocky outcrop on top of another bay.  The weather had turned grey and drizzly again meaning that any extended beach visit would have been unpleasant.  Also the temperature had started to drop at night meaning another cold night sleep.  We had entered spring in Australia but no one had told the weather.

We stayed in Byron Bay, another must do place on the coast and this time a recommendation by Emma.  The place was synonymous with surfers and definitely had a bohemian style about it with backpackers, surf dudes and the odd hippy mixing in seamlessly.  It had been another wet night and the rain looked like it was set for the day, so with nothing else to do but shop or sit on a beach we decided to continue our journey south.  Before we left Bryon Bay we made a quick visit to the lighthouse at the end of the bay that is famed for being the most easterly point in Australia.  Stunning views even though the weather was trying to put us off. 

Once back on the road, the signs started to show the distance to Sydney.  With only 750 km to go and with nearly a week before we had to be there we had a new problem, possible getting there too soon.  So looking in the book we headed inland hoping that the weather in the mountains would be better than the coast.  Oh, how wrong could we be….again!

Next:  The final stretch before Sydney.