Off on another short break

Although the sun wasn’t shining, it was bright and not raining when Colin and I left home for our three days on Fraser Island. It is quite a long drive (six hours, thanks to major road works in several places) but we broke up the distance with a couple of stops. The first was at a service station where we enjoyed a coffee and shared a most delicious apple crumble muffin from “wild bean” café and the second was to eat our packed lunch in the rose gardens at Maryborough. I can share a picture of Colin eating his lunch but the roses behind him will be at their best in quite a few months time!

Colin enjoying his lunch in the Rose Gardens of Maryborough

Very near to the rose park was a striking old building, I couldn’t resist pulling the car over as we were leaving to take a photograph of it, the huge embossed arch that was once the entrance revealed that this was once a flour mill belonging to the Dominion Milling Company. The place is vacant and for sale – but I would have loved to wander around it and take a few more photos!

 The old mill near the rose gardens

We set the GPS so that we could find the booking office for Kingfisher bay and the poor “girl” giving the directions nearly had a coronary when the twisty road changed direction and became a beautiful motorway! She told me to turn left, follow the highlighted route and eventually demanded I do a U-turn! Silence eventually reigned when the motorway rejoined the original road! So much for the Garmin update! (Garmin is the make of the GPS).

 Almost at the ferry to Fraser Island

We arrived at Riverheads in good time and after checking in our suitcase we went off exploring (and taking photos) for a while. The homes built here all look neat and expensive and the gardens are all tidy – not overflowing with colour but neat with lawns and shrubs. The ferry trip across from the mainland to Fraser Island took around forty minutes, I was pleased that I had my new “toy” with me, I managed to read two chapters of my latest novel on it! 

Not too many passengers on the ferry to Kingfisher Bay

The sand hills of the island looked drab and colourless under the grey clouds so the camera stayed in the case throughout the journey!

A little coach was waiting for us on the jetty and it dropped us off at the front door of the resort. What an impressive entry!

The entrance to the Kingfisher Bay hotel.

A young man guided us into a room where he advised us of the different restaurants and activities that were available. With the top temperatures for the next two days to be below 20 degrees none of us was too excited by the offer of outdoor swimming pools heated or otherwise nor about the canoes, stand-up paddleboards or any of the activities that involved getting wet! Perhaps a ride on a “Segway” might be a challenge! I have never tried one of those. Tennis is not my scene, nor is sitting on a bar stool! There are plenty of places to get tipsy!

Tomorrow we are going on a tour of the beauty spots – but the weather forecast is not very encouraging. Fingers crossed!

AJ

On top of the world

It was the first time for me - to have a meal at the famous "St Bernard's Hotel" on Mt Tamborine. This was only the second time I have visited the place, the time before only for a quick look. This time I was able to explore the building and the surrounds, some of which I will share in pictures. The hotel has lots of atmosphere and is understandably very popular both for casual drinks as well as for meals. The staff go out of their way to make you feel welcome and by the time you leave you feel as if they are personal friends!
There has been a tradition to own a St Bernard dog since the doors first opened to the hotel years and years ago. (It acquired a liquor license in 1915) I was lucky enough to spot the youngest of the two dogs, one year old Molly. She was exhaustingly energetic, as you can tell from this picture.

The views from the out door tables is spectacular, the eating area hovers over a valley and looks down over tree covered hills. There are beautiful flower filled gardens with seats and easy pathways for the more energetic visitor to wander.

If the weather is fine a walk through the rainforest to see the waterfalls is a possibility. With a group of people patiently waiting for me to return to place my lunch order I only had time to take a few paces into the rainforest where I couldn't help but take photographs of the wonderful stag ferns in the trees, these ferns grow in the wild in the National Park on Mt Tamborine and in the trees that are much too tall for people to steal them so these specimens in this private piece of rainforest would have been placed here deliberately. They are absolutely magnificent.

(remember that if you click on the pictures you can enlarge them)
In yet another part of the garden the lawns have been mown so that the area can be used for open air weddings and functions. While I was there a small group of geese had claimed it as their own and honked angrily at me for disturbing them. They waddled off into yet another part of the property but no doubt returned as soon as I had left.

As you can tell, I was very impressed with my visit to St Bernard's Hotel. I took far more pictures which I would be happy to share - but every day I see something new that is worthy of a story so I will limit the number of my photos!
AJ
joanren@gmail.com