Diary for Peter & Joan's Adventures


Bribie Island

2017-03-03 to 2017-03-08

Still undecided about Bribie Island. We stayed on the surf side (Woorim) and on reflection may have been better staying on the Pumicestone Passage side (Bongaree). The van park was acceptable but old and compounded by unfriendly managers and staff. Majority of sites are permanents with the remaining sites and park roads very tight for larger rigs. There is also a lot of capital works going on around and along the Woorim beach front, making access and just getting around difficult. Also a lot more services are located on the passage side. We did however enjoy our six day stay and Joan was very complimentary of the running/cycling tracks. It was also convenient that whilst in a populated and administrative area we finalised the sale of our Gracemere house. It certainly helped having access to JP's, banks, good internet and a Post Office. We also took time out Monday to visit Joan's dad in Kilcoy.

We did swim at Woorim beach and Joan got to use her boogie board again. The surf was not great but the water was a good temperature. About one third of the island is National Park and we did venture as far as the White Patch and the Park Rangers HQ but did not proceed into the park, as not really equiped for sand dunes and sandy or beach roads. We did however visit the talking Matthew Flinders monument and debated the purpose of the nearby Glass House Mountains Statues. Miniature rock versions of the Glass House Mountains which are in clear view across the Pumicestone Passage from Solander Esplande where the statues are located.

Monday evening we decided to visit Buckley's Hole, a wetlands, to view the splendour of the annual migrating shorebirds from Alaska, Siberia and China. Must be too late in the season because all we were greeted with were a few wild ducks and the ever present flock of ibis. We relocated around the corner to Melba Park to watch the sun set over the mainland and enjoy happy hour on the water's edge. On Wednesday we decided to transfer the bike rack from the caravan to the back of the car. We the drove to the Bribie Jetty and set off on the bikes towards Banksia Beach. We only got as far as Bellara Marina before running out of bike track. Not a big ride but memorable because it was completed with no batteries, particularly taking into account no gears and only 16" wheels on our little bikes. That adds up to a lot of peddling.

Thursday morning after some manoeuvring we extracted the van and ourselves from Bribie Island van park and skirted Brisbane and Ipswich in search of a tree change in the little township of Kalbar conveniently located in the Scenic Rim. The attraction here is a number of lakes and National Parks with walking tracks, lookouts and waterfalls. Will update what we find here next week.