Week 3 : 8 Mar to 15 Mar 2012 -- Cotton Tree, Maroochydore to Woodgate, Qld

Weather has been a range of sunshine, rain, showers and wind..all in all a real mixed bag this week.

Firstly we must apologise for being late this week....it is nice to know that some of you were waiting for the next instalment..... 


As we enter the third week on the road we’re beginning to relax a little and of course we both think Cotton Tree is a great spot to begin our lay back lifestyle. My parents-in-law, Tom and Bonnie, arrived for a ‘surprise’ stay, which was great.

Thursday was a perfect day to take a drive so the four of us headed up the range to Maleny. We enjoyed a devonshire tea/coffee overlooking the majestic Glass House Mountains at the Mary Cairncross Park Cafe. Of course, being such an iconic Queenslander, these mountains and surrounding villages seem a damn good place to visit as we prepare to head off on this trip.We strolled the streets of Maleny and Vic got her Zonk Tea from the Happy High Herbs shop so now I’m starting to feel like a hippy as well as a grey nomad. We bought cheese at the Maleny Cheese Factory and spent the rest of the day slowly driving back to camp via Montville, Mapleton, Nambour and Buderim.

It was late in the afternoon by the time we arrived back and not long later we were enjoying a couple of cool drinks watching the spectacular sunset from the banks of the Maroochy River. The day was topped off by an equally spectacular full moon sparkling over the water. Friday was a fine day and we spent the day enjoying the beach. The State (Queensland) Nipper Titles were on for three days over the weekend at Maroochydore (at the other end of the caravan park) so we watched a couple of events before a long swim. After a good meal of fish and chips we watched the Cowboys do the Broncos L.

I’ve noticed that even though the Waeco is doing a good job of keeping things frozen (and a six pack chilled) it’s gaining about 4 degrees during the day so we toddled off to BCF on Saturday morning to investigate an RV shade. The one we bought can mount off the back or the side of the jeep and will help keep the direct sun off the Waeco when we’re parked somewhere, as well as give us extra cover when we’re camping away from the caravan in the Territory.

On Sunday the local Cotton Tree markets were a bit of a washout with rain really bucketing down by mid morning. Cara arrived from Brisbane and after a coffee at Envy (CJ’s favourite café) Glen, Allie & Allie’s mum, Judi, joined us for a quick walk around before we all headed to Judi’s for a fabulous lunch with Kim, Bon, Tom, CJ, Glen, Allie, Vic and I, at her lovely home at Buderim.

The weekend was spent saying more final goodbyes to friends, Ray, Maureen & Christine, who came to visit and our wonderful family and again on Monday when Bon and Tom headed home.

A big day Tuesday was necessary to drop some things back to the storage shed in Brissie (culling already!), both of us to catch up with some old workmates and have a computer message analyzed on the Jeep.

Even after all the preparations we’ve made to the car and the caravan, on the eve of us leaving the coast, the tele died. We grabbed a 22”, 12volt unit with DVD from Big W as we left the coast and headed to Maryborough. A quick stop at Tiaro gave us the chance to check out the free camp facility here, which is a block back from the main street. This is a neat little area with handy access to clean amenities. It is on a bit of a slope but for an overnight stay is neat and tidy. I think road noise at night may be an issue though.

We had been mulling over the possibility of moving to Maryborough for some time so we took the opportunity to visit an over 55’s village in Maryborough which has a focus on the caravanning/RV lifestyle. A look around convinced us that this is the sort of place Vic and I could come back to when we’ve finished our trip around the block. Go to www.rvhomebase.com.au if you are interested to see more.

On Thursday we visited the weekly Maryborough markets, which are held in the main street. Maryborough has a wealth of historic places to visit but as we had done many of these previously we decided to push on towards Childers. Childers is an RV friendly town and offers many interesting things to see. The Post Office Gift Store is always worth a sticky beak and the Old Pharmacy is a great place to pass some time. There is a very good day rest area for RV’s in the street behind the pub if you’re ever looking for a good stopover.

We finished the week staying at the Woodgate Beach Caravan Park. The park here is a really pretty spot with lots of shade, big sites, well kept amenities and a nice café/takeaway overlooking the beach. 


Vic and I took a long walk along the beach knowing that it will be quite some time before we get the chance to enjoy a Queensland beach again.

It’s been a busy week with lots of mixed feelings. If you ever consider doing a similar trip you should be aware of the unexpected emotions you may experience once you begin your travels. The excitement is mixed with the sadness of leaving your ‘safe’ life, the anxiety of whether you’ve done all you can to prepare, or that you are indeed, doing the right thing at all.

                                                       Anyway till next week.....