Quick Trip North – Part 2

TUESDAY

Continuing on our with our travels, I rose early enough in Noosa to enjoy the soft light and the stillness of the morning from our deck.  No sunrise visible from here, but the view was still lovely.

After breakfast I ventured to the other side of the river to look back towards our accommodation.  Pretty nice.

You can see Mick sitting on the deck of our unit.  They really are a great place to stay.  Nice and central and self contained.  I could handle staying here a bit longer, but not this time.  We had to play the tourist a bit more.

We continued to head north along the Bruce Highway.  It is a great road for getting somewhere fast, but that was not our aim.  We noticed a sign to the “Mary Valley Tourist Drive”, so took it.  There were a few little towns along the way.  We really liked Imbil.  Don’t you love the name of the creek.

Not too shabby for a creek.  Our river is nowhere as big as this.

We enjoyed coffee and cake at “Yabbadashery”, a great play on words.  Unfortunately, the business along with several others were robbed the previous night.  Not what a small town needs.  10 businesses were targeted, with only cash taken.  That is except for the two pieces of caramel mud cake taken from Yabbadashery.  When we were being served they discovered that their can of whipped cream has also been stolen.  All we could do was laugh along with the shop owner.

Back on the road we meandered along.  There were lots of cane fields.

Acres and acres of mangos.  So different from the landscape at home.

We aimed to get to Bundaberg for the night, as once again, we haven’t been there for years and years.  We arrived at about 4pm and it was bedlam.  We decided to drive out to the coast and ended up at the small town of Bargara.  So much nicer than he hustle and bustle of the large regional centre.

We found a motel that was right opposite the beach.  A rather lovely outlook in the evening light.

WEDNESDAY

One again I was up early to catch the sunrise.

Once we were all packed up we headed back into Bundaberg.  Much more enjoyable in the quiet of the early morning.  We enjoyed a great cuppa.

There are some beautiful old buildings in the main street.  You just have to look above the awnings.  This must have been a great shop in its hey day.

Civic building always give a feeling of grandeur.

Oh dear.  This is the start of something…..but I didn’t know it at the time.

I can’t remember where we saw this sign, but it made us chuckle.  Not what you usually see advertised at the butchers these days.  Mind you, served crumbed with bacon, they are pretty good.  I always enjoyed it when Mum served it up.

As we headed further north we detoured into Gladstone.  We’d never been there.  All we knew was that it is industrial.  It has obviously been a major port for a long time, as it was where my grandparents disembarked when they immigrated from England in 1913. 

Firstly, we headed out to the coast at Tannum Sands, where we enjoyed lunch at the Surf Lifesaving Club.

I’m not sure that I would want to venture in for a swim here.

I don’t know what we expected of Gladstone, but the town is rather nice. 

Oh no! Another one.

Mind you, there is lots of industry on the outskirts.  This was an aluminium smelter.

Finally, we reached our destination, to stay a couple of days with friends.

  More soon.