Dip in Lake McKenzie

Our itinerary for today is to drive to Lake McKenzie. On the way, we stopped at Stonetool, a sandblow dune and walked out to Lake Wabby lookout.

Sandblow

Lake McKenzie was busy. Hate to see how crowded it gets in peak season. We took a refreshing swim as it is a beautiful lake. Crystal clear water. No wonder its so popular. Plus a swim would mean we save on a shower later!

Lake McKenzie

Shower for the day

No food or drinks are allowed at lake side to avoid the dingoes going after the food. There are signs all over the island to remind you to store away your food, do not feed and stay away from them. We decided to lunch at Central Station, a former logging station. The place is covered with tall trees. Impressive canopies. After lunch, we took a short walk along the Wanggoolba Creek boardwalk.

Trees adorning the picnic area at Central Station

Wanggoolba Creek

Fraser Island

On the barge

Fraser Island is the biggest sand island in the world. It has a lot of dingoes and you are reminded everywhere of signs not to feed, leave food out or go near them.

Driving along Fraser Island

Woke up early on the day we left for Fraser. The drama in the morning was a brush turkey getting caught on a piece of fishing line on a tree. It was hanging up side down from a branch. TJ drove the car over to reach the line and took it down. His good deed for the day.

After saying goodbye to our neighbours for the last 3 nights, we went over to Fraser on the barge. It was only us and a bus on board. We eventually figured out that high tide was 10am and we had to drive along the high end of the beach which is soft. No wonder there were not many cars both ways. If wasn't a problem for us except for the higher fuel consumption. 

Before setting up camp at Cornwells, we made a stop at Eurong village, where we indulged in a sausage roll and pie. I believed this was our first junk food since we left a week ago. 

We found a site and finished setting up at 3pm, just in time to get a dip in the ocean before it gets too cold. With no fire allowed at Fraser, we settled for hotdogs.

Fishing

Fishing is like golf. You keep on casting and casting thinking that you will get one in the next cast. 

There are constantly people along the beach fishing. Just pick a spot on the beach and cast away. We did not use live bait, so the chances of us getting a bite was quite slim. However, we were still hopeful to catch dinner. Our dinner was beautiful...lamb chops with the best potato TJ claimed he ever had!

Rainbow Beach and Inskip Point

On our way to Inskip Point, we drove passed Rainbow Beach, a long stretch of beach with cliffs on one side and the sea on the other. Camping is allowed along the beach. One spot on Rainbow Beach is notorious for the rocks and cars getting stuck. Its good bye to the car if they can't get out by high tide. Due to mother nature, the rocks are now covered with sand, which must be disappointing for the adventure seekers.

We are now camping at Inskip Point, approximately 1km to the ferry taking us to Fraser Island. Our campground is called M.V Sarawak. Surprised to see there were so many people even when its a week day and not school holidays. Looks like we are not the only ones on the road. From our camp site, we could look across to Fraser Island, our destination in 4 days.

Fraser Island across the water

Point Cartwright

While we don't have any dads around to celebrate father's day, we did have brunch at a cafe in Point Cartwright in Sunshine Coast. It was busy as the locals gathered for picnic. 

After brunch, we went for a walk to the Point Cartwright lighthouse and took in the view.

The highlight was the ride in our friends' purple moke. 

Bokarina

We are in Bokarina in Sunshine Coast, staying with friends who have just moved here from Brissie. The weather here is beautifully warm in the day and pleasant night time. 

bad attempt at selfie

Bokarina is located between Moolloolaba and Kawana, a growing area. The beach is clean and primary used by locals unlike Moolloolaba or the popular Noosa. On Saturday, we joined the beach clean up day organised by the local residents. 

our friend with the clean up bag 

After an hour of walking the beach, I ended up with 1 bottle lid and a few pieces of paper. We had to really looked to find rubbish! The rubbish were then sorted in order to get data for the council

Passmore Reserve

There is nothing much here except that its a free site to park and stay for the night. This place is about 23km west of Clifton and next the the Condamine River. Its a big area with some picnic tables and bins. No toilet facilities.

Passmore Reserve Camp

Sculptures in the Shrubs

Not an arts person, I have now seen 2 sculpture exhibits. The sculptures in Pilliga NP is not much different from the infamous Sculpture by the Sea in Sydney except for the location.

There are approximately 6 sculptures along the trail each with a story to tell based on aboriginal stories. It was interesting as one would not expect this in a national park. 

The campground is very well maintained with clean toilets and free BBQs. Looks like a lot of money has been put into the park.

Free BBQ. Just BYO food

Launch Day - One Day before the start of Spring

It was an early morning start at 6.30. Partly to avoid peak hour traffic.

Early spring bloom of wattles

First stop was Mudgee. This is one area we listed as potential future home. The place made it to our list after watching Doctor Doctor, the channel 9 series, which was filmed there. The famous shot from the show was the clock tower, which we obviously did not missed.

Modern Spick & Span Toilets

One surprised for me was the public toilet right at the edge of the town. Its one of those modern self cleaning, flushed when you wash your hands and with a time limit of 10 minutes. You also get to listen to music while in there.

We reached our first stop for the night around 4pm. It was in Pilliga National Park called Sculptures in the Shrubs.

On the Road Two Point Oh (2.0)

Yes, after a two year hiatus, we are back into the "Podd" again. Preparation started in July with TJ doing most of the heavy lifting.

The newly improved Podd include:
- Solar panels on the roof - no more noisy Gen set
- Bungee cords to hold stuff in place
- water filtration
......and many more

Off to Fraser Island via central NSW.......

All loaded ready to go

Filling up water and bikes mounted