Byron to Gold Coast
Today we woke up early (7:30) and headed north. We didn’t have any set plans, but wanted to see some stuff along the way. We were crossing over from NSW to Queensland…it was going to be epic. We turned off the highway to Tweeds Head and was driving through town to see where the boarder was and then all of a sudden ended up in Coolangatta.
Turns out the boarder isn’t all that exciting and there was no epic moment.
We then decided to go for a hike. There is Tambourine National Park close by which we headed to. About 40 kms later we rant into this sign…
Whelp, that sucks. I guess maybe we will keep going – there has to be another entrance for us…and 20 kms further – we saw the exact same sign. Bummer – but luckily there is another national park close by – Springbrooke. So we headed there. A few kilometers in and we see a sign that says – steep grades caravans not recommended…well they didn’t say no – so we went. 17% grade hills and our Valda the Van was crackin. Mat it up no problem. We saw a lookout and had a quick stop. You could see all the way out to the Gold Coast. Then back in the van, a bit of road works and a lot more lookouts. We finally found an information centre with no one around, but a few maps – and it turns out there weren’t any walking tracks around.
Bummer – but we did get to go to the “Best of All” lookout. Which was probably the best one we saw. You could see all the way back to Byron Bay. We had a quick lunch of chips, salsa and fruit and were on our way.
There was a road we saw which looked promising to get us out of this park with no walks without having to backtrack. So we jumped on it…only to find out 10 kms later it dead ended into a picnic site. Seriously, there were way too many lookouts and picnic sites in this park. So we turned around and came out the same way we went in.
What was supposed to be a quick 30 min drive to hike, turned into a 3 hour drive with no hike. Not the best afternoon – but on the bright side we did get to listen to lots of good music, and as Helen soon found out I have a lot of “favorite” songs.
Since the day was looking shattered we decided to go shopping – yes shopping. Plus we had to pick some things up for our big year end KPMG bash.
Then back to Burleigh Heads, to the caravan park. Had a quick nap, shower and off to dinner. What Helen refers to as a pensioners dinner because it is so early only old people are eating. Now some more sleep and ready for Wet’N’Wild tomorrow – should be good.
Wet’N’Wild
Today was a great day. Helen let me sleep in and we had a late breakfast. Drove up the Coast to Wet’N’Wild for a day of excitement. It was a bit cold when we first got there so we sat by the wave pool to warm up. We then took a walk around the park to see where the best rides were.
Once our plan was set we were off. There was the family tube ride (which is made even better because you don’t have to carry your own tube up to the start), then onto the double tube ride, the straight down fast slide, the in the dark tube ride and the funnel. At fist when I saw the funnel it looked a bit disappointing there was no spiraling down the funnel you just kind of dropped into it and went up one side, back down and then up the other…BUT when we actually were on the ride, we screamed like little girls. Kind of embarrassing.
After that we needed a break and sat in the whirl pools for the rest of the afternoon. Very enjoyable. Now back at the caravan park, shower and packed up as we head home tomorrow.
Gold Coast
Today we woke up early – but I had a really good night sleep so didn’t feel too bad. ate some brekki, backed up the rest of our stuff and headed out – destination endota spa! yep spa day – just what the doctor ordered. We go there a bit early so took a quick walk along the beach.
The spa was amazing. Started with a foot bath and scrub, then a body exfoliating scrub, clay mask, and cocoon. Next a quick dip in the jet spa to clean off followed by an hour massage and facial. Man relaxation is great.
Had a quick lunch trying to finish up the rest of our food and double checked when we had to have the caravan back. Turns out it was at 3:30..which means we were going to be late. Jumped in the van and drove as quickly as possible up the coast to Brisbane.
Dropped off the van and with nothing else to do - went to the airport. As there were no earlier flights to Adelaide we were stuck hanging out at the airport for a few hours. We first had what I cal la pre-dinner dinner consisting of pizza and garlic bread. Then it was a bit of wondering and a good hour of reading. Then came dinner – Pad Thai – and off to the gate. Lots of reading on the 3 hour flight home.
Sad that the holiday is over – but it was a fantastic road trip with excellent company. Very relaxing but still full of excitement. Can’t wait to do it again…
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