Hello again. Last day of the tour, and to another sand island. But no ferry this time as it has a bridge to it. It was about a 2 hour trip north of Brisbane to get to the park. A large part of the island is residential development. The walks I undertook were only two kilometres from the main shopping centre, in an inland part of the park, with banksia forest and palm groves. I didn't do a lot of walking today as the marathon effort of yesterday didn't leave my feet in good condition.
As usual plenty of interest on public transport. There was the bald man with sunglassess on top of his head, feet on the seat, sucking a beer, and in between times talking to his friend on speaker phone and listening to the radio (without headphones). Then there was the woman with mottled purple and green hair that thought it was an opportune place for a complete re-envisioning of her hairstyle.
Back to Bright tomorrow and 10 degree decrease in daytime tempretatures!
Today I visited another national park on an island and for once it was mainly sunny!. Today it was North Stradbroke Island. It is the second largest sand island in the world and is 40 km south-east of Brisbane on the eastern side of Moreton Bay, and I reached it by water taxi (really a ferry) from near Cleveland to Dunwich on the island. The ferry company kindly provide a free bus service from Cleveland railway station (an hour from Brisbane) to the wharf. Then it was a long walk to the other side of the island to get to the park. It was worth it with beautiful banksia, grass trees and eucalypt forest and even a lake.
As usual there was more adventure getting there and getting back. On the shuttle bus trip from the wharf to the train station we nearly missed the train as all these locals came on having just done their shopping! I thought I saw Scott Morrison at a train station but on reflection it couldn't have been him because he wasn't wearing a baseball cap. At one station an old woman got on with fingerless gloves and a man with two wine glasses.
Last day of touring tomorrow.
Hello again. Today's expedition was to Moreton Island National Park. A big pile of sand. I got to it by a 75 minute ferry ride from Pikemba, on the Brisbane River (not far from the centre of Brisbane) to Tangalooma, which is a large resort, surrounded by the national park. There were a lot of people visiting the island - so much so that we had two ferries. A lot of Asian tourists, in particular, Chinese. I think our tourism industry would collapse without them. I am not sure why they come to Australia: is it the sun?, is it the natural landscapes, is it the cleaner air?, or is it the freedom? It's a puzzle.
I had lunch at the resort and one of the cooks was wearing a large black broad brimmed hat. Maybe he is used to cooking in the outdoors. The resort flogs all sorts of mainly water based activities but it also has quad bikes (ATVs in American) that people seem to ride aimlessly around the island. I walked to The Desert which is a large open sand dune in the middle of forest, which you can sandboard.
On the ferry trip back the "photographers" were out on the deck with their phones. One had a large contraption, which looked very expensive, to hold his phone while he was taking pictures. Might have been better off spending money on a real camera - they are especially designed to hold. There also was a photo shoot with the (male) photographer manually adjusting the face of his female subject to get the right shot - with his phone.
The weather was warm and overcast again today although it cleared a bit later but the forecasters keep on predicting partly sunny weather - it never is. It's more cloud than sun. It was especially humid today. I don't do humid well. I think I could have filled my water bottle with the sweat.
Anyway...the pictures...
Another day, another national park. This time it was to the Sunshine Coast hinterland, about one hour north from Brisbane by train. Weather was warm but overcast at times. Nevertheless, there were good views from the top of Mount Beerburrum (263 metres), to the other bigger Glass Mountains. It was a short walk but one of the steepest I have been on in Australia and with a great variety of native vegetation.
On the train trip there I had two foreign students across from me who I think thought they were in their living room. First we had an intensive chat about their and others' personal relationships, then the chips came out at 8.30am (breakfast or brunch?), then back to the chatting with one constantly (and irritatingly) saying "mmm" at the end of each sentence. Then one of them had a video call with her Spanish speaking relatives. At that point I moved seats. On the way back a knucklehead was playing videos, loudly, in the "quiet" carriage. Thankfully, he soon lost interest.
The photos...
Hello, arrived in Brisbane yesterday for my national park walking tour. The plane into Brisbane was late but that was not the most irritating thing. Some people are just pains and it was with this one family. They were in front of me, queuing to go on the plane. The daughter decided to keep on flicking her overly long hair in my face. Then in the airport when we were going to baggage collection they arranged themselves side by side then anyone quicker than them (i.e. everybody) couldn't get past them. Getting on the flight a family had a bag full of food, including sushi. Don't know whether they don't have sushi in Queensland, they needed a lot of sustenance for the two hour flight, or weren't prepared to pay the exorbitant Jetstar prices for food. On the actual flight people seemed to find it hard to follow instructions. They didn't put their table up, window shutters down, or seat forward, before landing, even though repeated announcements were made. They had to be individually directed. Perhaps some sort of aversion therapy might help. No wonder there is so much crime if people can't even follow simple rules or instructions.
Brisbane airport is much improved and the Airlink train that leaves directly from the front of the terminal and goes to the Gold Coast via Brisbane City was excellent. The weather when I came was overcast and humid. Today it was partly cloudy but it has really clouded over this afternoon. However, still warm and humid. I am staying in an Airbnb apartment near the main train station. Big windows with nice views of the gym across the road and I still haven't worked out why the clothes dryer is attached to the wall upside down.
Today I visited Enogerra Reservoir and D'Aguilar National Park, about 30 minutes by bus in the hills west of Brisbane. Pictures below. On my return to Brisbane, I had lunch at The Bavarian. I had high hopes. It wasn't very Bavarian - a few token checked shirts and traditional dresses and lots of beer. I guess the beer was cheap because the parma wasn't. Also, their "Wiener Schnitzel" which included capers didn't sound very authentic to me.
The view over the Brisbane River from my lunch spot...They must have charged for the view too...
