It was a pretty hot Christmas this year and I had to feel sorry for Santa who, in spite of the heat, hopped aboard the fire truck and drove along every street in Tanilba Bay, Mallabula and Lemon Tree Passage doling out sweets to the children. The truck sounds its siren as he makes his way around and, as you can imagine, it takes some time for him to complete the route so for hours the streets are lined with children shouting 'SANTA' every time they hear the siren in the distance.
Enough about that. I like to kid myself that this is a travel blog so,back to our recent trip. 

We got up early on our first morning in Tin Can Bay and wandered along to a cafe at the waterfront where they feed wild dolphins. These dolphins have been turning up at 7.30 am for years for a feed and the cafe have turned it into a tourist attraction. They have very cleverly positioned billboards, fences etc so there is not a centimetre of dolphin to be seen if you have not paid your $5 entrance fee to watch or $10 to feed them a fish.

 It is all very closely controlled with uniformed volunteers standing in the water to make sure there is no dolphin abuse and to supervise the feeding. The dolphins were really patient remaining incredibly still in the water while the feeders purchased their fish and queued waiting to be called one by one to hand over the fish to their designated dolphin. It was good fun and well worth the tiny entrance fee.
We had an appointment to view the caravan later in the day (the real purpose of the trip) and drove up through Maryborough to Hervey Bay. The drive was as boring as bat poo through endless rows of identical pines grown for logging and it was a real relief to get to the other end. We stopped in Maryborough to find the bank and discovered a splendid market. Maryborough looks reasonably prosperous and must be to support a fairly large market even though it was once a town that thrived on the sugar trade and the little narrow gauge sugar train rail lines are still there. The town is proud of its history and there are interactive information boards dotted around, all quite impressive.
Next stop Hervey Bay where we fell in love with the caravan and agreed to buy it then trotted off to look at Hervey Bay itself which is a big holiday destination, pretty smart and one of the main setting off points for Fraser Island. I was quite taken with a cafe where you could hire a big cushion and umbrella for the day facing the sea and the cafe kept you topped up with cold water. 
Anyway, back through the boring pine forests to Tin Can Bay where we got chatting to one of the permanent residents at our campsite only to discover she was great pals with one of the people we meet at the quiz night at home every week!
Next morning we had arranged to go and pick up the van so set off through the incredibly boring pine forests again, paid for the van and towed it back. When we got back, we swapped everything from tent to van, much to the amusement of the other campers. 

We liked Tin Can Bay very much so decided to stay for a few days and play with the new van while we explored the area.

Apologies for the lack of blogging lately but we have been away on a bit of a trip. Christmas is a really busy time here because, not only are people travelling around to see family but it is also when the children have their six week break and families go on their summer holidays. So we head off a couple of weeks before this and get safely back home indoors by the time the schools break up. 

We have been looking for a smaller caravan for some time now and the very model we wanted at exactly the right age, price and selection of useful extra bits and bobs popped up in the for sale ads. The location of the van was Hervey Bay, a few hours north of Brisbane so we decided to make a trip of it.
The faithful tent was packed into the car and we set off at 7.30 am up the, now very familiar Pacific Highway (via Macca's at Williamtown for a cheeky bacon and egg McMuffin). This gave us a good look at the damage caused by the recent bush fire as it had jumped the motorway at one point. The burnt trees went on for miles, it is incredible to think no homes were lost. We pressed on swapping drivers every couple of hours for 500km until we reached a campsite recommended by a friend. This was a bit risky because we had no idea what type of campsites she likes but, as it turned out she goes for exactly the same things we do. So we pulled into the Clarence Campsite in Iluka, across the water from Yamba and found it was a splendid little place. 

The site itself had a pleasing mix of whacky permanent pitches, touring caravans and tents. The permanent homes are brilliant, they all started life as caravans but have been extended and accessorised until you would struggle to work out which bit is the original van.
The little township had everything for an overnight stay too, a fishermans' cooperative which sold fish and chips for $5 (about £3) and a pub looking out over the water at the fishing boats preparing to go out as soon as it got dark. It was all a little bit scruffy and quiet, which we like, unlike Yamba on the opposite shore which is much more slick and fashionable and attracts the tourists. 

It rained in the night and there is nothing like packing up a wet tent to remind you why you are on your way to hopefully buy a caravan. The van looked like a really good buy and we wanted to get there before someone else snapped it up so we set off early again and drove another 500km to Tin Can Bay. We crossed into Queensland and turned our clocks back one hour (and 25 years, old joke but true, more about that later). I saw the upper floors of Brisbane's buildings from the motorway but that was all. The Pacific Highway at this point reminds me a bit of the M6 in the UK where the road is elevated with the tops of buildings on either side.

 Eventually we reached Gympie and turned off down Tin Can Bay Road which is lined with mile after mile of completely straight pine trees grown for logging. This was interesting for about ten minutes then quickly became one of the most boring roads imaginable to drive along. Tin Can Bay itself is a bit like home really, at the end of a long, narrow peninsula with a similar population. We had decided to try the Kingfisher Caravan Park and found it to be just what we like, friendly, nice mix of permanent and touring guests and, most importantly, clean showers and toilets. 

Now, back to the time change in Queensland. There is no need for a change between New South Wales and Queensland because, geographically, they are not in different time zones. However, Queensland chooses not to take part in daylight saving (putting clocks forward in Spring and back in Autumn) so it starts to get light at 4am and, because it is so much nearer the equator, it is pitch dark at 6pm! So there are families on holiday bumbling around in the dark as they go out to eat or have an evening stroll.....bizarre.