Shark-hunting bear finds the perfect hunting ground for

We sent the kid to school while we stayed at home and packed – sad farewell it was! Still good to catch up with both of them. We showed the folks on our Western Island how we do a family bear-hug!!

Decided to skip shopping for food supplies and 

head of to Bryon – a small beach town south of Tweed – known for its surf and arts and crafts – but more importantly, it is also the location of the most eastern point of Australia!!   Fonzie is eager to get going - not sure on his map reading skills . . . .

First stop - up to lighthouse (were had to pay for parking - only a handful of parking places available ( - something for the Coromandel/Cathedral cove place to look at) ) and we walked and took lots of pic's of us being as close to NZ as we possibly could.












Here Mamabear is considering how long she would need to swim away from our Western Island in order to get back to the two Main Islands of New Zealand . . .














Saw a pod of Dolphins lounging about in the water.  Actually I think they were on a feeding trip.  The local tourists (french/spain/and some middle eastern country folks ) all went - 'ohhhh' and 'uaaahhhh' and 'ooooh loooook!!!' .  Very excitable folks they were.  One of the local shops had some large canvas prints of the Dolphin surfing the waves / etc - he was lucky enough to be out there on a surfboard and them not being photo-shy . . .

Back into town and a spot of lunch on the beach side of the road– then a actual paddle in the surf – where Mamabear got a surprise wave and wet feet and urm other body parts.

These cheap Bunnings chairs came in handy on a number of occasions.






Here is the female bear - still all very dry!! It was the wave after next, that gave her, her free - urm - bath!! :D
No cellphones were harmed - but it was a close thing for a short while!
With the Dolphins milling around near the beach - there was no chance of shark hunting, so we flagged that part of the trip right there and then.  I had visions of Mamabear trying a new technique - sitting in a deckchair - dangling her toes in the water (as bait) and reading a book to wile away the hours.   Hmmmm maybe next time

From there we strolled through the town and enjoyed the shops and the atmosphere. Very much a tourist town with lots of young and very 'muscle' bodies (surfing dudes and duddess'es) lolling round!! The language was very international and you could easily hear French/Italian/Spanish and German next to each other.  We had a true-to-goodness Italian gelato Ice cream (the owner being an ex-migrant from Italy) and bought bits and pieces for the folks left at home - and yes - that included a Bryon badge for myself.  yess!!

It was still in the Celsius of mid 30's on a lazy sunny afternoon - so we decided to skip camping there and head instead to Coffs Harbour – a 240 km drive further south. My Navigator sending wrong directions once to get us on M1 – easily fixed though. 

The roads to and from towns are often built similar to European Autobahns - at worst 2 lanes and having cracks in the concrete - but often 3 lanes and freshly sealed / build - but still there is a 100km speed limit AND every 30-50km a sign warning of speeding and fines and traffic cams monitoring speed and having cameras on bridges that take pictures of you as you whizz past and them some 20km later another bridge camera taking your picture again and then working out the time/distance thing and if you had to have gone at a certain speed to cover said distance in said time thus working out if you have been speeding.  With the speed limits and almost everyone sticking to it (they must have a heavy fine system in place) it took perhaps a little bit longer then anticipated to get to Coffs Harbour. 

Found the camp-site easily enough and set up camp then relaxed with a glass of red/white while skippy (the local wild Kangaroo) and several of his companions skipped right past our mobile home – literally within touching distance.  Wohoooo
We certainly knew right there and then that we are in Australia.  We have seen Kangaroos before - in a zoo - never freely roaming in the wild. This was so cool

Meal cooked and eaten - dishes done  / blog written  / FB news caught up, then it started to drizzle.  We braved as short stroll in the dark to the beach – steep sand access to the water so not game enough to get feet wet. Still you can hear the waves from the sea crashing on the sand from where our van is parked.

Other notable features during today's trip - the sugar cane fields - they stretch like forever!!  It would appear that this is the Main Australian cash crop.
Also saw lots of houses that were built on stilts - lifted 2-4 meters of the ground.
This goes hand in hand with the road signs telling you "this road subject to flooding! A flood depth indicator is up ahead".  Hmmm I know we have in Austria snow-drift depth sticks during winter - but here . . . .
Anyhow - the indicators went up to 3 meters in some places -now that  I S  an awful lot of water going down the road . . . . . . .  

With the shark-hunting being called off by Mamabear- we figured we might have a better chance to catch a local croc' - as we will head inland later on!!  Mamabear not to keen on all the dangerous wild life - Skippy going peacefully past our camp-site was enough excitement for one day.  Little did she know that the sugar cane fields hide the brown snakes (very venomous) and a couple of other non-desirables . . . . . .

Sharkhunting bear crosses the border without his passport

Yawn - well - the bed was comfy!
:)
Thanks Kanni!!

Usual routine (sort of) then we dropped the wannabe-Dorothy of at her local school.  From there it was off to a beach at Coolangatta (where there were many good shapes [body-boards that is] there).  Sun out and very hot! WE did get warned yesterday about our expected arrival for dinner and the summertime thing.  Seems that Queensland has no summer time but New South Wales do.  No small problem - right??? Well you be surprised!!  After the beach _which we believe to be in Queensland we then drove to the the “official state boarder” and straddled same.  We literally had a foot in both states.  Weird thing is - there is no obvious demarcation line - such as a river or hill or whatever.  Thus the border (and their respective time zones) cut right across the local town.  This means that you can easily go shopping / movie's / dentists / schools etc across the (border) town and you are in a different time zone!! Awkward if you forget which is which and it pays to remember to ask which time-zone said appointment is. Busses / trains are affected by this as well. It also means that one half of the shops close earlier then the other.

Having criss crossed the border at will (without ever needing to flash our Passport) we drove on to the local info centre where we picked up some books for the impeding trip south- and spotted two clocks on wall giving the very distinct times!!!

Eventually we found the "Tropical Fruit World" and we took the guided tour - first up a show and tell about the different fruits they grow and their various ascribed properties.  I can recommend the "Red Dragon"  fruit - it helps ward against short term memory loss!! There was a lot of other never heard of fruit to taste some very yummy and sure to be missed in NZ.
The park then takes you on a tractor ride through the orchard and gives a running commentary on who grew what when why and for how long - along with another stop to tastes some fruit!! Did you know there are over 1200 Varieties of Bananas??? Included is also a steam train ride - which turned out to be a Diesel tuk tuk chugging along!!

Lunch was late and found in the Tweeds Mall, then it was time for the school pick up run.  The usual routine post school was changed with a short detour to razorback for 360 degree lookout – except the newly planted plants have grown to height blocking some of the 360 view.  Sigh!  I was going to take a round view/stitched together photo.

The evening was rounded of with a visit to the "local" scout group and we took part in their closing ceremony!  It was fun seeing the Aussies doing their stuff - in some ways very different (Flag break) but other stuff is just the same!!  I knew it was a good reason to bring one of my scarves!

Dinner was lovely and we had a late night 

Early morning roll call of the local swallow population.  I have seen them bunched up with 15 plus before

The surf was good- lots of locals and foreigners hanging 5.  No shark to be found - which may well have been just as well (good for the shark ea!)

No trip to the beach is ever complete unless Mamabear gets her feet wet.  The water was surprisingly cold . . . . 

The State border - with Mamabear having a foot in both states.   This does remind me of the house somewhere in the Alps where the border runs through the house making the bedroom in one state and the kitchen lounge in another state . . . . . .














We decided to demonstrate friendliness across the border with a scout hand shake. 















The Clocks in the Info Centre!! Hard to miss!!

A smorgasbord of fruit awaits you! it was very yummy - loved the red dragon fruit and the other thing that had a taste which was a cross of banana/vanilla/lemon flavour - yumm yumm 

snapped this wee beauty! Mamabear taken with the colour!!

Forgot the name of this particular fruit - it tasted yummy.  It can grow up to 50kg - about 5x the size shown here!

The Conductor was here - all aboard!! Fasten your seatbelts for a leisurely ride through the bush . . . .

Evening snack time

Looking out over Tweed Head / Coolangatta. Actually I wonder what they do if the border runs through school grounds?? Will they have a uniform school time or . . . . .








Tomorrow - we are off on our own - for the first time we may actually have to live in the camper-van!! So far we used it as a bed and breakfast in Brisbane and of course in Tweeds Head we were looked after by a lovely scouting friend - so the acid tests starts tomorrow



PS  - Links to the dragon fruit!! I can Honestly say - NO dragons were harmed for this story! :) 
Further - there is no truth to the rumour (given the fruit world experience) that this bear is giving up on his regular meat - thus the shark-hunting trip is still alive!  ^.0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya

dragon fruit health benefits

how to eat a red dragon - urm fruit

 

Shark-hunting bear finds the Wizard of Oz - or does he?

The birds were out in force again - seems to be a regular habit of theirs. They certainly do make a lot of noise - but not in a bad way. ( I am sure the neighbour living in the property across the caravan park feeds them a daily dose of bread or something).  With all this squawking, how a bear is s'posed to get his beauty sleep is a mystery yet to be solved!?  I won't repeat what Mamabear said about my beauty and the idea of sleep improving it.

We have more or less settled into a routine and by the time we finished the routine it was time to pay our bills and depart from the noisy but very lovely and relaxing camp-site.  Found another helpful sign in the parking lot - this one a bit more in the comedy line, yet still very helpful!  Along the way we also saw a creepy miniature-dragon-look-alike-crawl-on-your-belly thing and more of our feathered noisy friends.






These old bears need their creature comfort but would not pay the (steep) hire charges for 2 deck chairs so we bought them on the cheap from the local' Bunnings store - after getting directions from the Campsite owner and the Navigator decided that left is left indeed!!!  Noted -we did not get lost!

We then felt VERY brave and hunted – oops drove across town to the  “Lone-pine Koala Sanctuary”! We walked 'round and saw lots of wildlife.


Here Mamabear can bee seen having a wee chat with the local parrot who repeated most things.  Polly and cracker were the most often used words.



Eventually we found the holding cells for my cousins thrice removed from our Western Island.  Actually they are not cousins at all - but (psssst) we let them have this illusion!
The sanctuary is just that - a sanctuary for Koala's who suffered  a misfortune in the wild and need a helping hand in order to survive - so they get to see out their "re-tirement" in relative cared comfort. 
We also found out that their diet consists almost exclusively from the leaves of the eucalyptus trees and being that, they get very little nourishment and to much fibre - which of course effects energy levels - thus (it would seem to be a VERY good excuse) they sit in trees mostly and - snooze - too tiered and lethargic to move! hmmm some life!! 


This little fella decided a drink is a good idea.  You have to keep hydrated after all.



 





Eventually we got to the Bird of Prey show! Ah yes - no - not THAT bird of prey (sorry Trekkies) but the feathered variety and we saw some of the regular larger birds of prey from Australia.  This eagle is the second largest native bird in Australia.  Pity that our own Haast eagle is now extinct - it would tower over this one!! 

The show involves a show and tell and a flight  across and from here to there and sometimes (in the case of one owl) between the rows of people watching - so you got real close up to the action.  If you pay extra extra - you get to wear the gloves and hold one . . . . .  

Despite the 'touristy' nature and the real good looking logos used on their uniform - sadly no cloth badges (sighs).  Time to re-hydrate ourselves and we went back to the van and boil some water (for this very English tradition of a cuppa tea!)  -   eventually - right after we discovered that the plugs only work when you have the camper-van plugged into mains supply!! Still thats what the gas is for - so the kettle was soon singing.

We were still in the heart and heat of Brisbane at this point and the hunt for sharks looked less likely as time went on.  I have to say - as we flew in (to Brisbane Airport) you could clearly see below the water line, in and around the airport (which is right out on the beach) and sadly no great white lurked around there. Maybe they have heard tales of this fearless shark-hunting bear and that he is visiting their shores, so went to ground - oops hiding in some deeper waters??

Not to be outdone we felt brave and consulted Mr Google and found a long and windy route through Brisbane to get to Tweeds head (rumoured to have a resident killer fish in some waters nearby).

When arriving there - we found instead 'Dorothy' - who missed her Lion and Tin Man and hmmm the strawpersonthingie.  Time to have dinner and a general catchup and make some sort of plans for the next day!! Dinner was yummy,
bed was even yummier - no banging of feet against the bulkhead on the campervan.  I dreamt of big fish with big fins . . . . . .

to be continued . .

Have fun

Shark-hunting bear becomes confused in the big city

 Waking up at 6 am to sunrise and various bird screeches. One bird in particular having a very peculiar screech that sounded like “auh”  which sounded like the german word for 'outch'.  Time for nice hot shower!  Breakfast – van tidy (Fonzie doing a good job there!!) – then went and caught  a bus into town – all before 9am!!  It helped when we knew where to go and cue!  We decided to get off at queen street and visited a couple of shops (badges!!). From there we strolled past the Info centre and on to the botanical gardens. Again impressive reflections in the glass towers!!  Botanical Gardens full of plants and trees – but lacked colour / flowers.  Saw an impressive fig tree!! Gardens was large enough and nice wide walkways.  City runs a hire a bike scheme so lots of folks cycle everywhere.  Walked full length around outside path with a few photo stops.  Also Mamabear needs her daily fix of connectivity.  Eventually made it back into town CBD– again lots of reflections on glass towers  so took some photos! We decided to have a  semi early lunch in the "Myer Centre" - a mall spanning 5 levels!!!! Mall feeling very cool and air-conditioned.  The heat / mugginess hits you as soon as you walk out the door.  Sighs-  back out into heat, visited  more shops, then walked across the river in full sun (Outch - that was hot!! ) to the waterfront!  This is a strip developed around river frontage and main building on sight – performing arts centre etc. with lots of green spaces and attractions to peruse and hang around including a small ferris wheel. Not to badly priced. So we took a ride in ferris wheel and saw Brisbane form a different angel.  Saw the secret underground NZ spy base . . . . .        from there we  walked  to “the beach”!  They have re-created a beach scene complete with imported white sand so that the locals can “swimm” on the "beach" shark free.  Really more like a sandy super large paddling pool.  So naturally the question goes begging - how is this bear meant to catch a decent white pointer???  Local beach is a long away away out of town.  We both paddled for a bit, as do many of the locals.  Very nice - with the water a nice pleasant warm temperature.  I have to add - we saw far to many beach babes/boys  in less then skimpy outfits, in the short time we are here then compared to back home! 

Must be the warm dry weather!!!  From there we were strolling back to bus stop via Info centre and other shops / ice cream.  Booked tickets to the Koala sanctuary so that ”Fonzie” the newly christened stow-away bear could catchup with his 'cousins twice removed'.  Eventually with heat still beating down we took the bus home, stopping at a  bottle store to get vital supplies for later and from there is was waiting for dinner time (shop owner knew we were tourists but thought we were ozzies from accent!! outch!).  Having been all day on our feet we decided to treat our selves for a local meal out – found a nice pub-bar (Newmarket Hotel) and Pam had Skippy for dinner (Kangaroo meat) while my chicken in pyjama was a manufactured breast.  Roo meat turned out to be quit nice.  Also had Garlic bread – very nice and have to fill out the blog for that later.  Not sure if Mamabear will get in trouble for eating Skippy?!?!  Back to the mobile house and sat down  for an evening of white/red wine and relaxing.   It gets dark by 6pm.  Lights are on by 6.30pm. Once the sun sets the heat of the day dissipates and it is  bearably nice.  We sat outside the van in darkness (torch light)  and had a glass or two and just chilled out and decided how to tackle the next day.  Then fell tiredly into bed – slept better the second night round after re-adjusting how we make the bed.

 Mamabear enjoying the window cleaners and wonders if office workers are being told when these folks come down and clean  in order to avoid hmmm embarrassing revelations?!  I liked the reflections - clear as a bell

 You would think that one dish was enough to get the BBC on radio????  No wait - is that NASA listening on my mundane conversations on HOW to make tea perfect????  Take Note - you stir 4 x ANTI clock wise first, then .. . .

 A selfie - reflections in the glass of us in the Ferris wheel!

 I guess a picture tells a thousand words??  No further comment is required here!!
I have to say - the folks over here (remember - our "Western" Island?!) are full of helpful signs - this is just one example of it

 

Sharkhunting bear takes a flight

So eventually found an airline and this looked ok - some serious flight captain! Although not sure what the deal was with the flowers!! Anyhow -






yawn – early morning 2.45 am wake-up call – not impressive. Had breakfast and then waited for taxi – more waiting at airport – then waiting for boarding – could have slept two hours there and then.  Had Ipod with me  – so listened to music – dozed all the way to Brisbane airport – single runway.  Weather sunny and feels very hot. At the airport we had a bit of a hi-cup. I still travel on  an Austrian passport and had it new – eg never travelled on it since I got it.  They could not scan it with their fancy scanning machines -  so at immigration was asked to step sideways.  Hmmm oh dear!  Then the name on the ticket did not exactly match the passport – we Mullers have an umlaut – something the English don't use. So that created a bit  of a fuss (must tell our travel agent that) Meanwhile my passport was checked with a microscope – literally – to make sure it was not a forgery!! Imagine!! Eventually got the all clear.  Also noticed the increased notices (both visual and sound system) about  Ebola!!  Lots of notices about what to do (or not) if you have been recently to Africa etc etc. Meanwhile  it turns out it was above average temperature for the time of the year --32 degrees with a 70% humidity factor, so very hot hot hot.
Took a taxi to the van place and picked up the camper van which has been sitting in the sun for most of the morning (3 hours) so was suitably hot inside – everything - all cuboards/doors/floor - everything was warm to the touch.   Internal sensors showed 37 degres - obviously no insulation.  Air-com working only during driving – OR Mains power connection - but thank god for that!!!  We more or less drove on the blind across to the booked campsite (we had no maps) and got a nice surprise from the campsite owner – presenting us with a bottle of white for the evening (it was our 30th wedding anniversary trip) We arrived a little early and had some time to walk across to Coles and stock up on food! Settled everything in the camper-van  and then took the  bus to town  (where we met a lovely Lady  at the bus stop who was full of helpful hints).  In fact generally speaking the people here are very friendly and always willing to offer help- unasked!! Most people are thanking the bus-driver when they got of the bus! Something folks in Christchurch could learn from! 






Given the advise we had we took the Blue Cat – a local bus ferry thing and went right out to the last stop. 
Saw lots of different river side buildings / moorings etc.  some very expensive property there (and boats in the river).  Being bushed from the muggy heat and the sun and the 2.45am start.  We caught the bus back home and surprise surprise by 6 pm local time it gets dark. By 7 it was almost completely dark.  I cooked dinner and we set outside and enjoyed the meal and the wine given to us by the campground-lady-owner  and while Pam was doing the dishes later I had a quick shower just to feel some water running over the skin and then fell into bed by 7pm local time (10pm NZ)!!!!!!  The bed in the campervan is a bit short around 1.60cm so I had my  feet banging on the opposite wall or hanging out over middle The van was still very hot and very muggy inside despite the air-con. Slept fitfully till 6 am.