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| At Petrie Park |
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| Mary River |
En route to the Sunshine Coast our overnight camp was at Petrie Park, another freebie beside the Mary River. We were lucky to get a spot suitable for our van as a lot of it was not level but with a little jiggling we managed & it was OK for one night. There was quite a nice sunset, & Stu took some lovely photos of a boy & his dad fishing by the river & silhouetted in the sunset. There were quite a lot of birds, including whip birds, galahs, & kurrawongs though I couldn't photograph any.
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| Boy fishing Mary River |
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| Jan watching sunset |
Next morning we set off, stopping for a short break in the town of Gympie (Fiona from Sahara's home town). At this stage we leave the Bruce Highway behind & take the tourist drive through some lovely country, heading to the showgrounds at Kenilworth which is a small village like Paparoa about 1/2 hour from Maleny where my son lives. It is in a lovely valley surrounded by ranges & there is a caravan group from Maryborough having a rally there. Still room for us though thankfully. On a walk to the village we discover the local Cheese Factory which also makes yoghurt & ice-cream. We resisted the ice-cream but indulged ourselves with yoghurt & cheese, both very nice. The village has everything required for day to day living plus a cafe & a restaurant etc. Really reminded us of home.
Next morning we leave at 9am to head to Caloundra on the coast to watch my two grandaughters (12 & 10) play netball. They are both in their first season & really enjoying it, so it was quite nice to sit in the sun & watch them though the breeze was a bit cool at times. Son Trevor was working so we tried to rendezvous with him for lunch but after driving through all the Saturday traffic, just as we arrived he got a call-out, so that was that. By the time we got back to Maleny, had afternoon tea with the children & their mum, drove back to Kenilworth, the whole day had gone.
Sunday morning we get an early start again to meet my son at his mate's property where we will store our caravan till next year. Meantime my family will probably use it for a holiday in the summer. Today Stu & I are taking the 3 children back to the caravan for the day & unfortunately it starts to rain - just what we need! They are very keen as they also know there is a great playground near the showgrounds, & the ice-cream factory is a great attraction too. We duly arrive at the van & pile inside, have lunch, play games, & are grateful when the rain stops. It's off to the playground, lots of energy expended including us two oldies. Tyan at nearly 5 is all go & will try anything, so whatever his big sisters did, he did too. Trouble is, he thought Nanna should do it too!!! Luckily we had to stop before the ice-cream factory closed, so everyone was quiet for a while due to a lot of licking time. Once again we drove the hills back to Maleny to return the children home, & were invited to stay for dinner - wonderful. It also gave me time to listen to the girls play their keyboard & play another card game which we had just taught them. They are all growing up so fast so it is really lovely to be able to spend some time with them & we will collect them from the school bus tomorrow afternoon while their mum is occupied elsewhere & I hope to have a short concert from the girls on their violins. We will stay at the showgrounds in Kenilworth for another two days, then shift to another at Maleny to clean the van up before storing it. After that will shift into my son's place for the remainder of our stay till 1st Sept & indulge in more family time. However, there is another page to go with a summary from us both with thoughts on our journey & Stu will give some insight to those who may wish to do it themselves in the future.
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