Caboolture & Belmont Qld 9th July to 29th July 2010

Caboolture July 9th: We were off to the beaches in the Caloundra area.

 Beaches are abundant on the sunshine coast. There are 9 different beaches in this area.

 Kings, Bulcock, Moffat, Kawana, Currimundi, Golden, Shelly and Dicky Beaches were on our agenda. Caloundra boasts baked golden beaches, surf or sheltered waters at your doorstep and is a very popular holiday destination.

The day was a little overcast and breezy so we just drove along stopping here and there and soaking in the magnificent views.

 Bulcock Beach is a southerly facing picturesque beach located within walking distance from town, suitable for fishing, kite surfing and windsurfing.

Dicky Beach has an interesting history. In 1989 SS Dicky was forced ashore during heavy seas. Its iron skeleton still remains on the beach today while Moffat Beach has stunning views northwards all the way to Point Cartwright.

 On Friday the 16th July we ventured out to the Farm Fantastic. 100’s of exhibiters and stalls. We admired the new fifth wheelers and motor homes and even admired some of the new caravans on display. We enjoyed the demo’s in the tents and the free tastings. All the latest electrical appliances were on display. I was quite taken with the new electric pressure cooker. Quite impressed! Bill finally succumbed to his whim and purchased a helicopter. Boys and their toys! They don’t actually grow up their toys just get more expensive. LOL.

 Now he just needs to learn how to fly it. His first attempt wasn’t too successful but he has improved since. On a downer at the Farm Fantastic we had lunch and for $20 we had a chicken souvlaki, a bratwurst roll and 1 drink. Rather expensive I thought. Saturday night we had a farewell dinner with Allan & Lillian at the Caboolture RSL and Sunday morning 18th July we left for Belmont near Brisbane. We settled in again at the place we stayed at before. Last Sunday we joined the family for Brunch to surprise Trent for his birthday. Several of their friends enjoyed a feast of fresh fruit, fluffy pancakes, scones with jam & cream,smoked salmon and poached eggs on muffins, mushrooms, bacon and of course the family baked beans. Tuesday on his actual birthday we celebrated with a delicious meal cooked by Fee. The chicken was cooked to perfection. I won’t give out much detail as I think this may become another family recipe. It was absolutely delicious and even the judges on Master Chef would have been very impressed. Trent mashed up the creamiest mashed potato that actually melted in your mouth and served it all with stir fried green beans and asparagus. I made a layered caramel baked cheesecake to share for dessert. I was a bit worried as I haven’t made one of these for years but it turned out fine. We are going to enjoy babysitting the grandies this weekend while their parents have a much deserved break away. I have some great news which I am busting to tell you but I’m not allowed to tell you all yet. So watch this space. We finally leave Qld for NSW on Monday and will be staying at the Mullumbimby Leagues Club.
Talk again soon
 

Caboolture 17th June onwards

The Big Pineapple one of Qld's Icons

We have been in Caboolture Showgrounds for about three weeks, during that time we have visited Peter and Marie at their property nestled in the Glass Mountains. Di and Doug were also there having a new motor and gearbox replaced in their bus. We then made our way across to Maleny Montville and Landsborough. This visit we enjoyed the lovely views of the escarpment and noted where we would visit later, not having the camera with us.

The escarpment from the hills on the way to Maleny

The next tour was out to Bribie Island, a lovely spot surrounded by water, enjoyed a fish and chip meal at Scoopy’s on the beach. We had a full day travelling to Eumundi for their most talked about markets. They are a very unique market with lots of crafts and other things on offer. We enjoyed some of the tastings of the macadamia nuts, popcorn, fudge and many fruits and dukkah etc. We were rather intrigued with the potato slinkys not having seen them before in our travels. They are potato cut in a spiral on a stick dipped in a thin batter and deep fried then sprinkled with either sea salt or chicken salt. They taste like a potato crisp mixed with a potato chip. We managed to share one on a couple of our visits to the markets. On our way back we called into the Buderim Ginger Factory in Yandina we purchased some ginger products and indulged in a mango ginger ice cream. A quick visit to the nut factory across the road completed that visit. On the way home we called into Montville and wandered through a lovely boutique village.

The Clock Factory

 First stop was to the Clock factory when we were amazed by the different clocks of all shapes and sizes.

Cuckoo clocks and chime clocks were in abundance.

 We have visited twice to Maroochydore Sunshine Plaza. Now this is a huge shopping centre on two floors surrounded by the Maroochy River. Dining on the boardwalk is a must. If you can’t find anything here you don’t really need it. I replaced my old phone with a new one here as the old one didn’t seem to be holding its charge. We also managed a weekend trip to Brisbane to spend the day with the family and enjoyed the company of the youngest member with a sleepover. There is markets held every Sunday in the showgrounds. You can stock up on the vegetables and generally have a browse. A visit to the market was enjoyed by the family on occasions during their visit with us. We also had the pleasurable company of fellow Motor Homers Ali and Bruce in their motor Home the “Silver Bullet”. Many a happy hour we have enjoyed together as well as a visit to Eumundi Markets and a dinner together at the Caboolture RSL Club.

One of the Cafes in Montville

We also were surprised to see friends from our chapter at home at the Markets. John and Joan also dropped in to see us on another occasion. Caboolture is about 75klms from Brisbane and is not far to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and other well known spots.

The Poet Cafe Montville

 Australia Zoo is in the vicinity but having already visited there previously we decided to give it a miss this time. It is well worth the visit though.

Shops in Montville

 We also drove over to Woodford and up to Mt Mee and then climbed up to the town of Dayboro, where we had lunch then did a round trip back to Caboolture through North Lakes and Lawnton.

View from Mt Mee

 We are intending to leave here in about a week maybe stopping off somewhere on the way to Mullumbimby near Byron Bay in NSW. I think we will finally be leaving Queensland.
Talk again soon