Day 213 - Saturday 29 July - Back to the coast in Bargara

Day 213

Saturday

29 July 2017 –

Boynedale Bush Camp – Bargara

Paul was out of bed at 6.15am, to pull the yabbi pots and as he went to leave he let me know the lake was shrouded in fog, so I was up too. Camera and tripod in tow, I wandered down to the lake edge to watch the fog swirl across the water. It was worth getting up to enjoy the view and watch the sun rise over the lake and hills behind, but I was bloody freezing and by the time I got back to the van my hands were frozen. 

I had intended to go back to bed, seeing it was only 7am, but Paul, back with no yabbies, was up and he was ready to start making a move, so I reluctantly made the bed and had breakfast as I went through the photos from the morning.

Just after 7.30am we were ready to move on, pulling out of the campground well before most were up. The GPS was set to our Bargara destination giving us an arrival time of 10.30am. We made our way along the Bruce Highway, which was pleasantly quiet, probably something to do with the time of day. We then turned off, to follow a more coastal route, though you could not see the water.

We passed the sign, left to 1770 or right to Bundaberg and made the right. Before organising to catch up with Claire, we were going to head to 1770, but we will leave it for this time. 

We have moved well away from the tropical rainforest setting, with the landscape returning to gum tree woodlands. There were also plenty of sugar cane farms and market gardens as we approached Bundaberg and the glimpse of rich looking soil showed why things grow so well.

We skirted around Bundaberg city and made our way to the coast, finally arriving at Absolute Oceanfront Tourist Park in Bargara for 10.20am. I checked in, as Paul wrestled with the car that had become stuck because of one of the tie down straps. Once the car was off, we had a tight fight getting the van into the site, eventually we had to unhitch the trailer and push it into space, then back the van in before bringing in the car, but we did it! Finally by 11am we were set up.

I set off for the laundry to throw in a load and Paul went for a shower. Once the laundry was done we pegged it out and checked out the view of the water, it seemed like a nice place to sit and enjoy a drink and Paul thought it might be a good fishing spot.

I went for a shower and then returned to make lunch. Paul had phoned Marty and Damon for a chat, catching up on the home front. I then rang Mum and Dad to do the same. Dad is off to Europe next Saturday and is busy organising last minute bits. 

 I then rang Claire and we organised to meet at a park by the beach.

We took off in the car, heading north and looking for the landmarks Claire had given me. We parked where we could find a space and then waited fro Claire and Livi to arrive. Paul was busily talking to Merida when they arrived, so Claire and I took the opportunity to catch up while Liv played on the playground equipment.

When Paul was ready, we walked around to a busy café with a large windmill on its roof and ordered some ice cream. We took the opportunity to sit in the winter sun on their deck and continue to chat as we scoffed our very large desserts.

When we were done, we walked back to the beach and Claire offered to show off her in-laws unit. It was only a short walk along the esplanade and then we walked into the ground floor apartment, said hi to Kay and stood out on the small balcony overlooking the beach. Lewis was now awake and happy to entertain us for a bit, though he wasn’t feeling the best. Claire and Kay had also been sick but were now on the mend. I kept my distance as best I could, not wanting to become infected.

We stayed for about half an hour, before heading on to the shop for a quick food stop and then we made our way back to the van. We booked in for a further 2 nights, which at first was going to be a struggle, the sign out the front said no vacancy now, but they eventually found a different spot for us to move on to for the extra days.

When we returned to the van I began loading all the photos on to the blog and Facebook. Paul began dinner and we ate soon after. Knowing we hadn’t walked much, we took off to check on the view at the back of the park, chatting to fellow travellers and exclaiming how busy the park was with vans crammed into every possible space. We then we extended the exercise to the main drag, where we walked the suburb before making our way back ready to enjoy the quiet time.