Capital of Queensland

As we left Port Mcquarrie, the Pacific Highway took us to another beautiful coastal resort called Coffs Harbour where, if it hadn't been so close to Port Mcquarrie, would have b een another stopping off point.  Taking a local route through the town, we stopped off for a coffee and, as we got out of our car, were welcomed to the town by a flight of the Royal Australian Air Force flying past in formation, traling red, white and blue smoke.  We just stood there, totally amazed at this greeting.  Grabbing our cameras we waited for them to return but assume we were only entitled to a single flypast as we never saw them again.  We had been told to look out for the Big Banana, a local tourist attraction based on a banana plantation which has been turned into a theme park.  Unfortunately, the traffic waiting to enter the park and the volume of other traffic driving past meant that we weren't able to take anything other than a quick snap from a moving vehicle.  This part of Australia seems to promote larger than life objects as tourist attractions.  At Kew, just south of Port McQuarrie is 'The Big Axe', promoting the logging and timber histroy of the town; Port McQuarrie itself as has 'The Big Tee and Ball' promoting their local golf club.  Further up the coast we saw 'The Big Prawn' and 'The Big Pineapple'.  There was, apparently, 'The Big Cheese' in the northern part of NSW until someone realised it was just a water tank painted yellow!

Along the Pacific Highway, through the inland town of Grafton and then back to the coastal town of Ballina we came to Byron Bay, also known as the alternative lifestyle capital of Australia and on the 'must do' list of backpackers from around the world.  Unlike other coastal towns of NSW this place was buzzing!  The streets were crowded with people, most of them young and carrying surf or boogie boards to or from the main beach.  The cafes and bistros were packed and, as we discovered that evening, the town certainly does not close down at 9pm.  It is also one of Australia's major arts centres outside the main cities with blues and roots; jazz; rock and contemporary music festivals as well as writers and film festivals.  Local publicity reports that major actors and film stars asuch as Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and celebrities of their ilk visit this resort on a regular basis.  The evening streets abound with buskers, some good and others cringingly embarrassing, vying for  attention (and donations) from passers by.  The beaches are wide, long and beautiful and Byron Bay also has the distiction of having a lighthouse situated at the most easterly point of Australia.

Byron Bay is also the Australian home of the Sanyassin sect of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, an Indian guru, also known as Oshee.  Although he died in 1990, the cult is still going strong and thriving.  Perhaps Byron Bay was chosen due to its reputation as being a place for seekers of alternative lifestyles.  Although they claim to be a force for good, the cult has a dark history when, in the mid 1980's, the sect was found to have poisoned with salmonella 700 residents of the town of Antelope, Oregon, to prevent them voting in local council elections with the result that the sect took over the running of the town.  It was after this that Osho and some of his followers were deported from the USA.  Today, the Sect owns large tracts of land and runs several 'alternative lifestyle and therapy' resorts just outside Byron Bay.  Our motel was within walking distance of the town centre and we only used the car when we left the town, via a visit to the lighthouse.

Back on the Pacific Highway on 16th April we left NSW and entered Quensland - The Sunshine State - on our way to Brsbane.  It may have been our imagination but the roads seemed to be busier and crowded with the traffic travelling faster, despite the highly visible speed limit signs.  Also, the buildings were taller.  We had noticed that in NSW in the coastal resorts, the buildings were low rise, the fronts were landscaped with lawns and wide open spaces between the beaches and the buildings.  The part of the Gold Coast we saw was somewhat different.  Taking a coastal tourist route along to Surfers Paradise we came upon what we thought to be the tackiest, ugliest, part of Australia that we had seen so far.  High rise buikldings bordered the coastal road with car parking bays on the other side of the road, just before the esplanade.  It looked like the worst excesses of Spain in the 19080's.  The people sitting outside the cafes and restaurants (fish and chips, pizza and 'skippy' burgers prominently advertised) shared the taste of the food with the smell of traffic fumes from the many cars driving slowly past only feet from the seating areas. Needing a break and trying to keep an open mind we had a walk along the esplanade followed by a coffee and snack.  Yes, the sun was shining; yes the beach was long and wide and yes, the sea was blue but if there was an ambience there, we couldn't find it.  The guide books refer to parks and wide open spaces in Surfers Paradise and we are sure they must be there but are probably further back from the beach, but working on the first impression' principle, we continued on our way, as soon as we had finished the snack, past the Gold Coast, another resort of high rise buildings.

Brisbane  - Mon 16 - Wed 18 Apr

If the original settlers in this part of Queensland had been able to find a plentiful supply of water and deal with the hostile aborigines, Brisbane may not have been Australia's third largest city and the capital of Queensland.  In 1824 a penal colony was established at Redcliffe in Moreton Bay.  However, for the reasons mentioned above the colonly was relocated to its much safer present location on the banks of the Brisbane River, about 25kms from the river mouth.  Moreton Bay is a much more popular destination now than in 1824 with whale and dolphin watching and 4wd and bushwalks through the wilderness.  With Denise again navigating (she reckons that I had been Christopher Columbus' navigator, in 1492 he would have discovered Scunthorpe!) we very easily found our way off the main highway into the South Bank area of Brisbane to our abode for the next three nights.  The Edmonstone Motel is situated in the trendy West End, within walking distance of the South Bank Parkland, which borders the river, and loads of cafes and restaurants.  Also within walking distance was the Queensland Art Gallery, Museum and Academy of Performing Arts, the latter having the distinction of being only the second building in Australia associated with music  that we have come across (the other being the Sydney Opera House) where karaoke was not advertised.  A 15 minute walk from the motel brought us to the Victoria Bridge over the river and the city centre.

As well as the cafes, etc, on the South Bank, there is an artificial beach  in a setting designed to resemble a tropical lagoon.  Streets Beach was built in 1988 as part of the Brisbane Expo but constant updating and redevelopment has kept this concept fresh and attractive.  There is even a childrens area with computer controlled water fountains. On the occasions we strolled past the place was packed, though not overly so.  Brisbane has just declared the severest restrictions on water usage in the city's history, due to the drought, and notices were prominently displayed that all the water used in the lagoon complex had been bought from a source outside the Btrisbane water catchment area.

On our second day, we spent a very peaceful boat trip along the river, using the City Ferry system rather than a guided boat trip.  Five dollars will buy an all-day ticket for buses, small ferries and the faster City Cats (catamarans) and we couldn't think of a nicer way to spend an afternoon than watching the city go by.

The next day we set off along the Pacific Highway, also signed as The Steve Irwin Way, heading for Mount Coolum and then to Tewantin near Noosa, further up the coast.  In Mount Coolum I met my Aunt Sheila, who was the youngest of 4 sisters, my mother being the eldest, and the only one remaining.  Sheila had emigrated to Australia in 1966 making it over 40 years since we had last seen each other.  The reunion with her, and her husband Peter, was quite emotional especially as I noticed a strong facial resemblance and several mannerisms of my mother.  Both Denise and I also noted that Sheila had not lost her Hartlepool accent!

After a very pleasant luch and long talks of family history (on both sides) Denise and I set off for Tewantin to meet up with a lovely Australian couple we had met several times in Vietnam.  Larry and Anne Made us very welcome in their home and, over a ,lovely meal and wine, Anne gave Denise some tips on China and what to buy and where.  They very kindly put us up for the night allowing us to enjoy the evening before we left the next morning to drive to Brisbane airport, hand the car back and catch the flight to Cairns.