Sunday 16th October - Trip to the Hinterland/Noosa

Incase you are wondering where my blog has been, i didnt take my laptop with me on our road trip but do not fear, i am back in Hervey Bay on the comfort of my own bed and will fill you all in on everything from what we did each to day to yes, what we had to eat.

Thursday evening Gaz was craving another tapas but we thought we would try a different, less up market tapas on the esplanade. Unfortunately the food wasnt as good as the Roasted Pepper which we ate in not so long ago. The food didnt taste as fresh and didnt have as much flavour so we shan't be going back there again. Friday morning I had Gaz up and ready to go at 8.30am. We had been informed that the weather was going to be stormy but luckily the sun was shining amongst the clouds and it was still very warm. Our journey took us from Hervey Bay, along the Bruce Highway down to Gympie where we turned off the highway and joined the backroads. First stop, Imbil.

Imbil wasn't priginally on the plan of places to stop at but im a sucker for those brown tourist signs on the side of the roads pointing you in the direction of touristy things. This sign read 'Borumba Lake'. "Come on Gaz, lets go see that!" ..."Do we have to?" Gaz replied in his less than enthusiastic tone. "YES!". So we took the turning to this lake which we did not know how far away it was, but it seemed like a good idea. The single track road was empty (luckil) except for a few sunbathing goannas on the side of the roads and a snake in the middle of the road which Gaz didnt see until we had run over its tail. It wasnt there on the way back so it mus thave slithered off, a little bit sore perhaps! One goanna was happily tanning itself in th emiddle of the road, ignoring our car that was threatening to run it over. Gaz did the british thing to get it out of the way and gave a very polite 'toot' on the horn. The thing just looked at us  and carried on its duty of tanning itself. A violent rev from the engine and it soon scarpered. We commenced driving and eventually came across the lake...although it was more of a dam - and a very big one! The lake was set amongst the hills and surrounded by trees and birds feeding from the water. It was very peacful, very romantic ...until....BRRRRRRRM BRRRRRM BRRRRRRRM...what on earth? A guy with a very annoying chainsaw disturbed the peace cutting down some nearby trees. Oh reak at well. There was also a handful of teenagers in school uniform fishing on the lakes edge. What a cool school trip! Gaz was very jealous that no teacher ever taught him how to fish during school hours.

After a break at the lake we headed back in to imbil to get back on the road we were meant to be on in the first place. Imbil was not really worth stopping at as it consisted of a butchers, a convenience store and a post office...and a very quiet railway track. We drove through very beautiful scenic places to get to our next stop, Kenilworth...bang on time for lunch! I had been told that the pub in Kenilworth does great food so it would have been silly not to have sampled it! Gaz and i wolfed down a steak sandwhich and chips from the Kenilworth Hotel...which was quite an old building....but by old in australian standards, i mean early 1900's. We had a stroll down the main street in Kenilworth. All through the Hinterland, peoples houses had these weird scare crows outside. We worked out that these people werent nuts, they were part of some regional scarecrow copetition...a bit like what Auntie Carol participates in in West Wales. Even the shops in Kenilworth had these scare crows outside...i took some pictures of some of them. I must say, a lot of time and effort had been put in to these things and every one of them was different...this is probably because there is nothing else to do around here and they probs spend all year making these things and take the competition very seriously. I can imagine these things in cardiff getting vandelised or kidnapped and being held ransom.

Before leaving Kenilworth, Gaz spotted a brown sign for the historical museum...we HAD to check it out! thankfully it was only down the road a few yards but it did appear to be someones back garden. Maybe someone who had collected so much junk in thei rback garden, they felt it would be easier calling it a museum than sending the junk for scrap. Needless to say,  we didnt go in. Gaz wouldnt allow it and i notice he didnt even slow the car down past it. Our next stop, Maleny.

Maleny was a pretty little town. The street began to feel very oldy worldy and a little bit british. Even the sweet shop there was marketing itself as a british sweet shop where you could pick up british chocolate for three times as much you would pay for it back home! Gaz and i were literally like kids in a sweet shop. So  much choice we didnt know what yto have! The lady behind the counter could see we were suckers for chocolate and knew we were an easy target to sell to. She let us sample some of the fudge there for free....it was yummy...i ended up with a block of mars bar fudge and gaz had some caramel vanilla thing. Sickly but yummy and worth every calorie and gram of saturated fat! There was a nice, safe, relaxed feeling to Maleny. Some young children, ,around 6/7 years old were getting off a very brightly coloured, hippy lookign school bus all laughing, joking and looking as though they had been having a great time...we could have sworn these kids were high on something.

We drove down  the road and came across a random tributary which people seemed to be stopping at. We had a little paddle...me trying not to drop the camera in the water and Gaz trying not to get in my pictures. We even tried to do a walk along a designated footpath but the signed warned of these 'stinging leaves' that can leave you with a sting for hours/days and even months! We felt it best to avoid the track...especially when we would not be able to decide what leaves are stingy and what arent and believe me, there were a lot of leaves on the ground. Even the TREES want to kill you here!

Back in the car and we headed to our next stop, Montville. I had no idea what to expect in Monville and luck may have it that the timings had all worked out perfectly. We reached montville around 4pm which left just enough time to have a browse int he arts and craft shops and grab a drink in the cafe before everything closed for the evening. The drive to montville had the feel of being amongst the Brecon Beacons...very green and lush grass, cows grazing and the mountainous surroundings. It was beautiful. From the tops of the mountains we drove along, the views were spetacular and the roads were quiet...for a moment the only thing that reminded us we were in aus was the weather...it was hot! Montville was very touristy but the buildings were unique for australia. One building, which we ended up having dinner in had a tudor appearance with the white wall and black beams, Another shop was made of stone with a big water wheel outside. Overall, the buildings were very british. We had a quick drink in a cafe that overlooked the blackall range right out towards the sunshine coast. I managed to get a photo of gaz who by this point was getting irritated by me telling him to stand in certain places so that i could take a shot. He doesnt make much of a model! I didnt want to whack VJ on the ledge either incase she fell off...she doesnt like heights. We checked in at the motel...it was pretty basic and the owner was a little miserable. We had a nap before dinner and at 8.30 went to the tudor looking restaurant next door for grub. The food was very good....expensive but worth the money because it was freshly cooked and the service was excellent. Our main was going to take a while (because they were so busy) so they handed us a complimentary bowl of calamari to apologise...its a shame Gaz isnt a fan of seafood...it meant i had to eat more or it. The atmosphere was pefect - we sat upstairs amongst a crowded room where people dined and a soloist on her guitar sang. What a lovely meal it had been...that was until Gaz took one last mouthful of pie and looked like he was going to die. I was getting ready to jump up and give him a bit of the old heimlich maneuver but he was up and out of his seat choking away already. He went red int he face and siappeared off to the toilets without even telling me what the hell was going on! By the time he got back he announced he had been sick in the toilet having got a bone from the beef stuck in his throat. He was ok once it was dislodged.

About 3am i was woken by a huge loud rumble. There was a wild storm happening outside which was great because it meant it would get it all out of the system so saturday would be a nice sunny day....and that it was! I had gaz up and out of bed again by 8.30 with the intention that i wanted to get us to Eumundi markets bright and early. Gaz reluctantly dragged himself out of bed (poor thing) and dragged himself into the car. As we set off, i saw a sign for Kondalilla falls...ive heard this is a pretty waterfall and its on all the tourist attraction guides of things to do. "We must go!" i declared all enthusiastically as Gaz sat drapped against the passenger door looking shattered. It was a bit of a walk to the falls....a whole half hour walk which i hadnt anticipated when i felt the urdge to see the damn thing. It was all downhill and Gaz moaned the whole way...which was funny because on the way back up we passed a family with young kids who were very excited about seeing the falls! Gaz reckons they had been bribed with ice cream if they behaved and acted interested. So the walk was a little bit muddy from the rain during the night and i managed to flick all the mud up my legs from my flip flops. We treked down the steep stone steps, not really dressed for the occasion and marched towards the waterfall. Just when Gaz had seriously had enough, we reached a lookout point of the waterfall. It was kind of romantic but i guess it was just a waterfall afterall. I darent ask if Gaz wanted to go to the bottom of the waterfall so i settled for having at least seen the thing.

Eumundi markets were crazy! For starters we had to find somewhere to park...there were cars EVERYWHERE! it was huge! We ended up parking in some old mans front garden for 5 AUD along with 20 other cars. He said he rents his garden out every week for the market...he must make a fortune! There were lots of stalls but lots of them sold pretty much the same things. the one that stood out to me was the guy that made decorations out of forks and spoons...he had a great big eagle made out of this stuff and other impressive creatures. There was lots of massage stalls and people selling hippy stuff but Gazs main interest was int he food stands. He hadnt had breakfast so he had a stir fry from one stand, some chicken skewers from another and we both tried some south american cakes. The guy asked where all our purchases were when we returned to our car and Gaz joked "well i ate all the stuff i bought!". Having made a big skid mark on their front drive trying to reverse the car, Gaz and i scooted from Eumundi.

We reached Noosa by lunch time but agreed we would not eat lunch so that we could save ourselves for The Hogs Breath Cafe which we had spotted on a leaflet for Hastings street, noosa. We had the afternoon by the pool at our hotel and enjoyed half our in the jacuzzi before getting ready for the wales vs france match. We watched the game in the irish pub which i had remembered the wareabouts from when i visited noosa 5 years ago. Gaz an di both agreed when we had last visited, Noosa was made up of mor eof a retirement village with no shops other than an ice cream shop down by the beach. We were very amazed to see just how built up it is now. There were so many designer shops along the waterfront and posh hotels along hastings street, none of whcih existed when i was there last! It was like a different place. We found a park that overlooked the river in noosa and admired the houses on the other side whose gardens backed onto the lake. you could walk out of your house, down your steps and onto your boat, leaving behind your 5 million AUD house for a pootle on the river. Anyway, back to the match...AWFUL DECISION REF! yellow card i say, not a red! unfortunately the irish pub i remembered because it was ov er the road from the hostel i stayed in..and with hostels come complete a*seholes. There were some young welsh guys and girls watching the match in the irish pub which was nice....but with them came the english idiots that would rather support the french and would cheer loudly when wales missed their many penalties, and messed up their many lineouts, and screwed up thei rmany scrums....oh yes not to mention when the welsh captain got sent off 10 minutes into the match! Oh well, disappointing but nothing a hogs breath steak wont cure!...

I booked a table because I knew it would be busy and Gaz has been talking about how great this 24 hour cooked steak is. It is expensive but you pay for what you get....we turned up and were given the most miserable waitress who told us in a very blazay mannor "oh by the way, theres no 24 hour steaks left  but you can still have a normal cooked steak."....its 8pm on a saturday night and they have no steaks left? devastated! Next, she brings us 2 schooners of coke zero which tasted like soda water so i informed her of this and she merely went to the bar, poured some more coke zero and brought them back. She didnt think to change the syrrup. I wasnt in a good mood so i marched up to the bar and demanded they were changed so we were given bottle of coke zero instead...much better. The food was ok but very slow and i could see lots of peopel complaining about their food, or waiting for their food whilst other people on the table had theirs...and even people being given the wrong bill and having to debate with the waitress what they had and hadnt had.

Gaz and i were both up again at 8.30 and went to have breakfast down by the beach. We both had some very lovely pancakes before having a little sunbathe by the river. It was very sunny and very very hot so we didnt spend more than half hour outside.

Gaz jokingly pointed out a sign to another historical museum off the bruce highway. Yes, i made him go and check it out and yes it looked rubbish so we didnt go in...on the way back to hervey bay we took a detour up to toogoom for a salty squid lunch and milkshake. It was a lovely way to end a very lovely weekend :)