Naree Budjong Djara National Park

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.

Moreton Island National Park

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... 

 

Glass House Mountains National Park

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...

 

 

Enogerra Reservoir & D'Aguilar National Park

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...

Autumn Days

Hello, Autumn is certainly here in Bright with the leaves changing colour and the temperatures declining (particularly in the mornings with single figures being the norm). Off to Brisbane after Easter to do some national parks walks (another upcoming book!). But before then some observations and photos...

Local Events
We have a lot of local events here in Bright including the mountain bike championships (see pictures below) Hot Rod Run, and the Brighter Days Festival (the most attended event of all). This festival is an important charity event and features, cars, bikes and music. It's a time when you see a lot of grandpas on expensive, noisy, motor bikes, and a lot of black tops and handlebar moustaches around town.

Local News
I found it quite ironic that the Beechworth Bushrangers football club had prisoners on day release playing for them (as reported here).
A big thing here recently has been a farmer that has planted a field full of sunflowers. I have seen a number of people taking photos of themselves in front of them and people have apparently come as far as southern NSW to see them. People should get out more. Perhaps try visiting a botanic garden - I believe they have flowers there too.
In the local newspaper they feature profiles on local people. It is a good way to get to know people in the community and to learn about what they do. One profile I saw intrigued me. I quote from the profile:

I am a life coach, adventurer, speaker and host of....podcast. I help peo­ple break free from their lim­it­ing sto­ries and es­cape so­cial pres­sure so they be­come their high­est vi­brant self. To­gether we re­view life­style pat­terns and ex­plore their ad­ven­ture, life­style and well­ness as­pi­ra­tions. I help peo­ple put prac­ti­cal ac­tion steps in place and en­cour­age, in­spire and hold you ac­count­able to achieve their ideal life. I truly be­lieve that travel and ad­ven­ture is a phe­nom­e­nal cat­a­lyst for growth and learn­ing and I love that also get to work with school groups, lead­ing kids on over­seas ex­pe­di­tions teach­ing them skills such as lead­er­ship, re­silience and mind­ful­ness.

I think she is a tour guide.
A bit of a tragedy here in Bright, one of our last (in fact our only) vestiges of corporate fast food chains has closed down: we no longer have a Subway. I don't know what the tourists will do now. 

Television

I sometimes wonder about priorities on TV News when their main story covers such things as: the timing of the AFL grand final, a photo of a footballer, and a horse winning a race.
I am also intrigued by the fact that a lot of the female TV hosts on commercial TV seem to all look the same. They all seem to look like barbie dolls. I am not sure whether that's a key selection criteria for the job or I am just getting old and all young people are beginning to look the same to me.

Fashion
I saw someone the other day with a pony tail in the middle of the top of his head. He must have lost a bet.
Also I don't think neck ties are really for people with fat necks. It's distracting. It just highlights their fat neck.
I have noticed a few more people wearing socks with sandals lately. Really, that's just wanting it both ways.

Bikes
During my recent travels I have come across some interesting bikes. If your bike creaks, I think it needs some sort of mechanical inspection. And if you still have a bike that has a seat with a spring, it's time to update.

Visit to Melbourne
A few weeks ago I went to the Palais Theatre in St. Kilda to see the John Prine concert (an American country folk singer-songwriter who has been around for a while). Quite a number of attendees had real problems coming to grips with the alpha-numeric system to designate seats. Perhaps colour coded seats might help. Working in the cloak room, I was surprised to come across (in retirement) a former media director I once worked with. I have not been in the theatre before or the area for quite a while. I like Acland Street because it offers all the offers all the  important food groups: icecream, cakes, and schnitzel.
I also had the usual entertainment on the train. One person not only sat in the wrong seat but she had one of those cleaning lady headbands on, you know - tied in the front with a big knot. She didn't even have the excuse that she was old. 
I also don't know what was happening in Melbourne when I visited. All sorts of people in the middle of the day with weird costumes: someone with antlers, a belly dancer outfit, and another all in pink. Talking about costumes I think the term "cosplay" was invented by adults wanting to legitimatise wearing children's outfits.
I also came across a discerning smoker in 7-Eleven: he just wanted the cheapest cigarettes. In the city I also saw an old woman that looked like the Queen on a bad hair day with too much makeup.

Knuckleheads
I have come across another measure of knuckleheadness. According to a recent survey, 6% of Americans think "socialism" means "talking to people, being social, social media, getting along with people". That puts it at 19,723,310 knuckleheads in the USA. That explains a lot.

Another Discount!
Yes, yet another plug for Random Thoughts & Tales. The book is now available with a 15% discount (until 18 April) using discount code ONEFIVE. To order visit lulu.com.


Some pictures from the Oceania Mountain Bike Championships...

And some other local pictures as well...