Comm Games Getaway, Day 24

It was weird sleeping in a bed, under a roof again, but the hot shower made things much better. I had a relatively early breakfast and then headed south towards home. A long the way I dropped into the Mazda dealer at Cleveland and picked up a spare rim for the car for a grand total of $5. This will be my second spare when I get a tyre fitted to it. Then it was back to pick up a couple of parcels from the post office and then home to unpack the car and do some washing and get my brain ready for work on Monday. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 23.

I was up early, had a coffee and headed off south while the tide was still low. I had an easy drive down the beach, before putting some air back into the tyres after leaving the beach at Noosa North Shore. Then across the Noosa river at the car ferry and I was going to go into Tewantin for breakfast but the bloody traffic at 8 am was terrible, so I went in the opposite directions and ended up with brekkie at the German Bakehouse in Cooroy. 

From there I headed via the back roads to Kenilworth, which was pretty busy, with the show grounds packed with caravans and tents, so I went and explored the Conondale National Park for awhile. 

I eventually found somewhere to wash off some the sand from the underneath of Blute. 

I was going to do a bit more exploring but the rain started to really pour, so I headed for the comfort and warmth of a cafe in Maleny for lunch. Maleny has really changed in the past 40 or so years since I lived there and I hardly recognized a lot of the town. The one thing that hadn't changed was the fact that it was rainy and misty. 

I then took the back way through Montville, Palmwoods and other small towns to go to visit mum and dad in Caloundra. It'll certainly be a change sleeping in a house this evening. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 22.

Once again the weather looked pretty grim. So I had a coffee and went for a drive into Rainbow Beach via the Freshwater Track before the tide got too full. Of course, it was then time for second breakfast at the bakery. 

I caught up with some internet stuff while sitting in the park, watching the rain come and go. After awhile I went for a drive up to Inskip Point for a look and the first couple of camping areas were pretty empty but the ones down towards the tip, which had a much firmer driving surface were packed with caravans. 

I wandered slowly back to Rainbow Beach as I still had low air pressure in the tyres and had some fish and chips for lunch before heading back to the Freshwater Track and finally back to camp. As I reversed the car into camp, the rain started to bucket down, so I ended up sitting in the car and reading a book on the iPad. After, the rain shower passed I was able to set things up properly and have a cup of tea, until the next shower. 

Around 4'ish the rain cleared up and the clouds disappeared, the people next to me packed up and left but the clear weather let me setup the campfire and cook dinner as normal. I also packed up the gazebo when it dried out, to save me doing it in the morning. 

The rain came back around 9 pm but I was already in bed and it put the last of the campfire out. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 21.

The weather has turned nasty with a strong south-east wind blowing most of the night and bringing intermittent rain showers with it. As a result I had a slow morning around camp, coffee, breakfast, lazing around all while dodging the occasional shower. Just before lunch time it started to clear up a bit although the wind was still pretty gusty, so I went for a drive north and then across the Leisha Track looking for somewhere sheltered from the wind. Just to the south of the Leisha Track the remnants of the old Cherry Venture ship wreck were showing. 

I spent a few hours in a nice protected spot having lunch and catching up on internet things before heading back to camp mid afternoon. On the way back I noticed that the rangers had set up a barrier so that people wouldn't accidentally drive over the wreck. 

I'd just got back to camp and got myself organized when the rain started bucketing down, so I sat in the camper warm and dry while reading and watching the rain. The rain pooled quite badly on one side of the gazebo and of course I got wet when I went out to get rid of it. 

The rain kept coming and going all afternoon, so there was going to be no campfire this evening. Dinner was some Sao biscuits with butter and vegemite in between showers. Then it was early to bed to read and drift off to sleep with the pleasant sound of rain on the roof of the camper. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 20.

I woke up early and watched the sunrise over the sea from the comfort of my bed, before going back to sleep for awhile. Then I had a leisurely coffee and breakfast with the weather looking surprisingly good. I.e. blue skies, no clouds, minimal wind and a calm sea. I lounged around camp for the morning waiting for the tide to drop down a bit. At one stage my mid-morning nap was rudely interrupted by a very large goanna attacking my rubbish bag. It didn't seem phased by me trying to shoo it away and only left after it had eaten all the bacon fat I had trimmed off my breakfast. 

Then I headed off for a drive up to the lighthouse, along the way the Maxtrax people where doing some filming and they were doing that for most of the day. 

 I turned off at the Leisha Track and went for a drive over to the other side of Double Island point. There is a deep water crossing just passed the toilets, so I couldn't drive around to the point, instead I headed the other way toward Rainbow Beach. The tide was still a couple of hours from dead low but I was able to drive almost all the way, only getting stopped by the rocks and water at the bottom of Carlo Sandblow. 

I turned around and headed back to the Lighthouse and had some lunch and lazed around for awhile. 

I took the walk up to the lighthouse and the view was spectacular but the wind was getting stronger, so I couldn't send the drone up for a flight. 

At the bottom of the lighthouse hill I chatted to some folks who had a camper built on the back of an Isuzu truck, it looked pretty nice but was big and heavy. Then back to camp, where someone had setup between me and the next camp along, they're not all that close but there is tons of other empty spots they could have gone.  I waited for the wind to die down again before starting up the camp fire but it didn't so I had to improvise a wind break with a camping table on its side. Then dinner, campfire reading and bed. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 19

Once again it was misty and foggy when I woke up, it wasn't raining as such but there seemed to be drops of water condensing out of the atmosphere. A quick coffee and pack up and I was on the road to Gympie. I refueled the car and then had breakfast at a servo just before turning off towards Rainbow Beach. The next hour or so I hardly remember as this is one of the most boring roads to drive. The mist and fog had disappeared around Gympie but was hanging around a bit at Rainbow Beach. 

I wandered around Rainbow Beach for a bit and organized my camping and car permits and did a little fresh food shopping while waiting for the tide to drop down a bit. Then it was off to the Freshwater Track where I let some air out of tyres and then continued on down to the beach. By this time all the clouds and mist had burned off and the rather was spectacular with clear blue skis and a reasonably calm sea. 

On the beach I turned south to go and find a camp site. There wasn't a lot of people about and I found a really nice grassy spot with a little protection from the wind but still with a good view of the sea. I set up the Gazebo for a bit of shade, made some lunch and settled in for a lazy afternoon of reading, beach walking and snoozing. 

Around 5:30'ish the wind started to die off a bit so I got the camp fire going and cooked dinner, then sat around the fire reading for quite awhile as it was a very pleasant night. 

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Comm Games Getaway, Day 18

I had a little sleep in as it was foggy and misty again, although no rain. After a coffee to wake me up, I packed up and headed off towards Gayndah. On the way way I dropped into the Mt McConnell lookout but it was still a bit misty for a good view, then I stopped for a look at the Claude Wharton Weir just to the north of Gayndah. 

As I'd yet to have breakfast I dropped into the Gayndah Bakery for a Bacon and egg roll and cappuccino - very nice. Then it was up to the Archer's Lookout at the back of the town as the sun was burning off the mist. 

I headed off to Ban Ban Springs via the back roads and found a great little creek crossing (Thompsons Crossing) before turning south on the main road to Murgon, however I didn't get there having detoured to have a look at Boat Mountain Conservation Park and taking the back roads to Goomeri. 

At the bakery in Goomeri I had a very nice Lamb and Rosemary pie for lunch. Heading out of town I dropped into Kinbombi Falls for a quick look. The free camp area there was pretty nice but the falls themselves were a bit disappointing. 

Heading east past Kilkivan I took a back road to have a look at a gold mine (it appeared to be closed to the public now) and then on to look at a Copper mine chimney, but it wasn't visible from the road. So back to the main road and further east, instead of heading into Gympie I took a detour to the little town of Widgee about 20 km west of Gympie. I setup camp for the evening in the show grounds, where there was a nice hot shower and grassy camp site waiting for the cheap price of $8 per night. 

Tomorrow, I'll head into Gympie and refuel the car and do a little fresh food shopping before heading off to Rainbow Beach and then heading down to camp on the beach at Teewah in the Cooloola National Park. I'll stay there for a couple of days to relax on the beach. 

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