Harvey Bay, sunshine coast

Unfortunately we won’t be able to publish this Blog or maybe the next when they were written and you may have to wait a couple of days before we get chance to publish as we have no Wi-Fi or USB facility where we are staying. I will write a Blog each day if I get time and save it to a folder along with the photo’s and publish when we get a chance, so sorry.

Some good news for Jimmy and Shirley back home who lent us their house to us while we were renovating; they have sold the NH house for the full asking price (STC) to some first time buyers. Well done guys! They are celebrating by escaping the snow and shooting off to the Dominican Republic this Thursday for two weeks taking their two boys Dan and Tom along with their girlfriends; what a party, have a fantastic time guys!

We headed off as soon as we picked up our hire car at about 9.45am from Queen Street, Brisbane and will be dropping it of in Townsville when we start our second house swap on the 19th January. We didn’t really stop until we arrived at Hervey Bay as Bruce highway wasn’t that close to the coast and we had nothing booked for Tuesday’s trip to Fraser Island and wanted to give ourselves the best chance of getting something. Claire found a travel booking place in the Lonely Planet book on the way so we headed there but the crappy sat nav stopped half way there so we had to do it the old fashioned way by maps and road signs. To be honest, you only really need a sat nav when you are in a city or large town that you don’t know in Australia because most roads are long and roughly follow the coast. Claire did a great job and we arrived outside the booking office without a hitch. The booking agent was called Next Backpackers on 07 4125 6600 at www.nextbackpackers.com.au and Mark sorted us out in about 5 minutes with both a trip and accommodation. They only had one trip available for tomorrow so we had to take it; it’s the one day tour by Fraser Explorer and he managed to get us in a YHA for two nights so Claire was happy. It’s called the Colonial Log Cabins YHA at www.coloniallogcabins.com and we have paid $85 a night with a basic hostel brecky included for 2 nights. We have a detached cabin with a double bedroom and en-suite, a huge lounge, kitchen diner with two extra single beds in it. We have cooking facilities, TV and air con along with ceiling fans here and there which we will probably need as it’s so hot and only one air con unit for the whole massive place. We even have a settee, table with 4 chairs, back door where we parked the car, cooker and fridge freezer; my mum would love it here. The place even has a swimming pool albeit small, every possible game that you could imagine, table tennis etc., etc. I spotted a notice that said that they had been voted the best YHA in Queensland for 4 years; why haven’t we stayed in these places before? As I said, they don’t have wi-fi but they do have about 6 internet stations but the USB ports have been disabled as they had serious virus problems and are yet to sort it out. Wish I’d brought my screw driver.

We dropped our bags off and drove off to find where it was all happening, first stumbling across the Hervey Bay Boat Club which was fantastic with one of those 60’s buses outside. We went in for liquid refreshment and to look at the boats then headed off to the beach which was also impressive. It’s been really hot today and we have heard nothing but fire warnings on the radio for Victoria and South Australia, but so far so good. Back to the YHA to check that out and had a jug of beer for $7, why have we been messing about in Victoria? They also have a swimming pool but we were too shy with the fit and tanned youngsters to try it out. There is also a rather delightful little pond that looks like it needs a bit of weed clearing but the ducks seemed to like it. They have a BBQ on tonight for $10 and you choose from Prawns, steak etc while they cook what you choose and supply all the different salads. A glass of wine is only $2.50 so Claire will be happy. We have a long day tomorrow so mustn’t get carried away, they pick us up from our YHA at 7.45am but we are the last pickup, the first people are picked up at 6.30am from the best hotels in town. I really feel like our luck has started to change for the better; just keep positive and it will eventually turn. For me its getting better each day, I love Queensland! I hope they play some heavy stuff at the BBQ, rock on Parkway Drive!