Brisbane, Queensland

We have now entered the state of Queensland!  Kind of a surprise...I was expecting wilderness and low population, heck this is where Steve Irwin grew up and lived!  But it's modern, bustling with people, and the beaches are gorgeous!  The further north we go the better it gets!  The city of Brisbane is one the coast, but located on a river.  The city is referred to as the city of cats because of the catamarans that ferry people up and down the river.  We quite enjoyed Brisbane, there are walking streets in the central business district(CBD) that are lined with shops, bars and restaurants.  Business people and tourists are all bustling up and down the streets getting to where they need to go!

 We were quite fortunate to be able to free camp within Brisbane.  The park we stayed in had a variety of birds, and also large fruit bats that loved the mangoes that hung in the trees.  This bird is the kookaburra.  It has the most amazing call.  It's call starts out sounding like laughter, and then morphs into a chimpanzee sound.  It's hilarious!

 The walking trail takes you to the top of Mount Coot Tha that overlooks the city.

                                         The summit! 

                                           The view!

                                         The summits restaurant!

                                      And of course there has to be a spider!!  Slightly smaller than my hand!

                                             Brisbane's CBD

                                       We took the catamaran ferry and went up and down the river.

                                         Enjoying beer and fries at the Pig and Whistle downtown Brisbane!

Byron Bay

This famous little beach town has a great beach just as all the other beaches we have seen, but the vibe of the town itself is what makes Byron Bay so special.  It's here where the surf culture flows into the hippie tide washing down the hinterland, creating one great barefooted, alternative-lifestyle mashup.  The town center is low-rise, funky, and relaxed.  Developers would cheerfully turn Byron Bay into a surfers paradise given the chance, but locals are dedicated to preserving its essential small-town feel.

 Like I said before, the Aussies are serious about camping.  Here is an example!  This guy pulled into our caravan park.

                                             I think I'd be scratching my head too!!

Maryvale

We spent one night in the sleepy, little, town of Maryvale while heading back to the coast.  The owner of the bar provides free camping in hopes that you will drink a couple of beer and/or eat some food!  Hoss had a couple of beer with the locals.

Tired of Rain

Our final night at Diggers Beach in Coffs Harbour poured.  It had rained off and on during our stay, but it now seemed to settle in.  The morning was still pissing down rain(Aussie terminology).  Feeling a bit grumpy we decided enough was enough, and we packed up and headed west over the Great Divide for sunny skies and warm air!  We said our goodbyes to Sandra and Gurry, they decided to stay put, and hopefully we will see them at Byron Bay when the rain quits.  We spent one night in a beautiful country town called Tenterfield, then moved on to a rural campsite at Glenlyon Dam.  It was an awesome place!  It was loaded we kangaroos, and big lizards called goannas, a variety of birds, an information center about the dam and wildlife in the area, and also a few campers.  I did laundry, we dried out the awning, the camp chairs, and cleaned up the van.  We were told not to feed the kangaroos, because they become aggressive in their hunt for food.  One ripped open the belly of a child who was eating a sandwich.  An sure enough, soon as I took the pizza rounds, and fixings out for supper guess who showed up!  A few kangaroos, and they weren't shy.  We had to put the lawn chairs between us and them, finally Hoss had to tap one on the backside with a stick to get it to move, but it only a went short distance away.  Finally, after many attempts of arm waving, and verbal encouragement to skidaddle they final left us alone.
They are cute, but very furious.

                                          A goanna lizard.

Thong Tree At Sandy Beach

While walking the shoreline at Sandy Beach we came across a unique tree.  We have seen similar displays in other destination, but usually with driftwood and washed up or lost beach articles.  In Australia, a thong is a flipflop (I believe we also called flipflops thongs back in the day), and a thong is referred to a g-string.

Sandra and Gurry

We met this Dutch couple at Fynn's Beach, and then again at Diggers Beach, and spent a a few rainy days together waiting out the cyclone.  We were never in any danger of dear Marcia, but she did affect us with her long reach with rain!

Diggers Beach

Our safe haven while Cyclone Marcia does her thing!  It was a great place to hang our hat.  Electricity, showers, shelter, bathrooms, and great company with Sandra and Gurry, and it was all for free!!