Queensland - raining one day, pouring the next!!

Maryborough, QLD- Friday 20^th May (just a lunch stop and a look around the town)

Gin Gin Rest Area – Friday 20^th May (a wet overnight stop)

Tannum Sands, QLD – Saturday 21^st May – Wednesday 25^th May

We left Deana’s on Friday morning determined to head further north in the hope of some better weather. After a quick stop in Caloundra to get the connection from the car to the van fixed (the van fridge hadn’t been running whilst we were driving), we begun heading towards the Gladstone area, praying for some sunshine.

Based on a suggestion from Kate (she’d seen a segment on the news) we stopped at Maryborough to see the newly renovated toilets at the town hall. Wow, what a surprise! I hadn’t told the kids what to expect and they were gobsmacked when we walked into the fully hand painted rooms, complete with chandeliers, ceiling frescoes, classical music and even a gold-plated loo!! We were lucky enough to meet the artist who designed and painted the Parent’s Room, and he gave us a run down on the inspiration behind his work and the intended purpose of the items he included in his artwork. It was well worth stopping for.

We then found out that Maryborough is the birth town of the author of Mary Poppins, Pamela L. Travers, and the town is adorned with Mary Poppins inspired sculptures, a museum and even the streetlights are Mary Poppins themed! As it was a public holiday (local show day), the museum was unfortunately closed, but we were still able to enter the grounds and take a few happy snaps.

We were tempted to stay the night, but it was beginning to spit whilst we were eating lunch, and it quickly turned to much heavier rain, so we decided we might as well keep driving. We made it to Gin Gin (I was hoping for a Gin Distillery but alas there was not one!) where we set up for the night at a roadside stop. The rain kept going ALL NIGHT and we awoke to find ourselves camped in a huge puddle, with our thongs floating away! The rain was very heavy so we moved to one of the provided shelters and decided to wait a few hours before heading off, in the hope the rain would subside and make the drive a bit easier. It didn’t!

We drove the whole way.... in the rain. We stopped for lunch…in the rain. We arrived at Tannum Sands….in the rain. We set up…in the rain. We managed a short walk on the beach but then got caught….in the rain!!! We went to bed feeling a bit disillusioned, so far the trip wasn’t really living up to our expectations, with the weather the cause of most of our angst.

However, we awoke on Sunday morning to glorious sunshine. After spending the day exploring the rock pools and boogie boarding, we felt renewed. It also helped that the sun dried everything for us…having wet clothes and towels constantly hanging up in the van was doing my head in! The waves were perfect for boogie boarding and the kids and I had such a fun time riding the waves in. It was made even the more hilarious due to the poor quality of the elastic in my bathers. My well loved swimmers didn’t stand a chance against these waves and there were lots of peek-a-boo moments- I spent half the time holding my bathers on whilst trying to boogie board – it was extremely funny and gave us all a well needed laugh!

The next day began with sunshine as well (OMG- 2 days in a row of sunshine!!) and we had a lazy morning before heading into Gladstone to do some shopping (with new bathers the first item on the list). Unfortunately by lunchtime the rain had returned so we whiled away a few hours in a shopping complex, where Daniel and I even managed to get our flu shots. That night we went on an evening walk along the inlet, spotting cane toads. Daniel and Jackson did their civic duty and slayed the pests (much to the disgust of Emilia!).

The weather wasn’t too bad on Tuesday so the kids spent the morning catching pufferfish in the rockpools, then we all had another swim and boogie board and enjoyed our last taste of the ocean for a while. We are heading inland now and probably won’t be back on the coast until Townsville.

We left early on Wednesday morning to take the car and van into Gladstone to get some maintenance done. Unfortunately there was a mistake with the booking and the couldn’t fit us in. We’d planned to head to Mt Larcom after the car was done to tackle the summit climb, but Emilia was feeling quite unwell so we decided to begin making our way towards Carnarvon Gorge, hoping we’d find a decent roadside stop for the night.

The royal throne in Maryborough.

The walls and ceilings were all handpainted.

The Parent's Room- depicting a scene from Mary Poppins, with local buildings added, as well as some 3D effects (hot air balloon lights, cherry blossoms and layers of multitextured wallpaper). It was a delightful room that I am sure young children would love.

The Parent's Room

The Mary Poppins themed lights at the pedestrian crossings in Maryborough.

We couldn't miss this photo opportunity.

Up, Up and Away.

Getting into character!

Catching some waves at Tannum Sands (and trying to keep my bather bottoms up!).

Enjoying some well needed beach days.

Sand surfing was a hit....

...and a miss!

The rockpools where the kids spent hours hunting (and catching) small pufferfish.

The speargun Jackson made to help him on his fish catching quest. He spent hours rigging it up with wool and rubber bands, but unfortunatley it eventually broke and ended up in the bin. It brought hours of fun though :)

We enjoyed watching the birds near our camp enjoying these blossoms, they regularly hung upside down whilst eating which was cool to watch.