The end of our Queensland travels

Reluctantly, we left the town of 1770 and our site right beside the beach, heading south to the metropolis (by comparison) of the Sunshine Coast.

We’d booked a site in a caravan park on the Maroochy River, quite close to where Penny’s prospective in-laws live, so had a wonderful time catching up with them and a couple of others who’ll  be at the wedding on September 8.

We cruised around the coast, quite astonished by the amount of suburban development and high-rise apartment blocks, but must admit the beaches are glorious. There was a lot of heavy-duty shipping lurking offshore, waiting for the word to enter the Brisbane port and even as we watched from the Point Cartwright lighthouse, two headed south, obviously under the control of pilots.

Looking back at Mooloolabah development from
Point Cartwright.

Today we left the coast and headed for the hills, thoroughly enjoying wandering through Mapleton, Montville and Maleny.

We’d already bought seafood on the coast and we topped this off with some delicious cheeses from Maleny Cheese . . . some for us and some for Penny.

The Glasshouse Mountains on a hazy day from the Maleny
area.

As a bit of nostalgia for my mother’s family, who had been dairy farmers in the Maleny area for a couple of generations, we drove along Mountain View Road, where my grandfather had his farm. As the name implies, it looks down on the Glasshouse Mountains to the south, and I remember it as all farmland. Now, it’s positively suburban, but the Mary Cairncross Park remains and that’s where we had our lunch.

We arrived in Penny’s Brisbane street while she was still at work so will have the house to ourselves until she returns with the boys from daycare in a few hours.

After spending at least one night with her, we’ll head back to Goolmangar, and that, dear friends, will be the end of our travels.

I know many of you feel you’ve travelled with us. Well, you’ll just have to go it alone from now on . . . but we HAVE made bookings on the Spirit of Tasmania to take the motorhome to that island state in December for 2 months, so I might be persuaded to write a blog about that as well.

Thanks for your comments and good wishes. We have had an idyllic 11 weeks together, exploring Queensland, and even after living in such a confined space for that time, we’re still speaking to each other!