July, 2021 - Travels with Verne and Roy

QLD Odyssey – Part Five: Fraser Island, Hervey Bay & Maryborough 15-17 June

Cold comfort in Hervey Bay; grilled fish and no chips; Fraser Island Day Tour: the wonderful Wayne and his whopping 4X4, horrible history, Central Station, Eli Creek, 75 Mile Beach drive and the Maheno shipwreck; a tale of two Marys – Maryborough and Mary Poppins

I’m being consciously strategic with this order of events. Maryborough came first; then Hervey Bay, the launchpad for Fraser Island. But an island is always going to be sexier than Mary Poppins – and Fraser Island was what we’d come here for.

QLD Odyssey – Part Four: Noosa

From Craftsville to Glossville; coffee and a rare gelato; not-so-rare bush turkey sighting; a peach of a beach; kraken good salad at Peregian Beach; Bistro C review

With the prospect of sunshine and a predicted midday high of 22 degrees Centigrade – in the middle of one of the coldest spells seen in these parts for a very long time – we headed for the famous seaside town of Noosa*.

Beach bunny Verne in her element – and Roy? Not so much

(* Properly pronounced by locals in a faux-posh accent as Nyooosa, with a pinched nose – or so I am reliably informed.)

Noosa is less than half an hour northeast by car from Eumundi, the crafty hinterland haunt where we were spending three nights. But these two towns could not be more different.

QLD Odyssey – Part Three: Eumundi & the Hinterland, 12-15 June

Eumundi’s mega-market; phrasal verbs and a self-indulgent flashback; curmudgeonly customer in a continual quest for coffee; Imperial Hotel and Joe’s Waterhole; those profusely perspiring Poms who headed for the hills; Dr Seuss in Montville; Maleny, a supermarket kinda town; Yandina, home of Buderim ginger; other recommendations from Max

We arrived mid-morning on a Saturday, one of Eumundi’s two weekly market days – described as the biggest craft market in Australia. (It also has a permanent, covered market.) Our Brisbane friends Max and Trevor having entrusted us with the keys to their gorgeous Eumundi house, we had set off in good time for the market, which closes at 2pm.

“It’s a great place to use as a base for Noosa and the beaches south of there. Plus there’s the cute towns of Maleny and Montville just 30 minutes away.”

QLD Odyssey – Part Two: Beenleigh Rum & Gold Coast

Yo, ho ho! – and a bottle of rum; Gold Coast in mid-winter – not too shabby; seagulls at Surfers Paradise; terrific lunch at Tropic; Tommy Bahama, sashimi and sushi; new jacket – spoiler alert!