London was a way stop after Paris, where we collected the luggage we stored, near our Belgravia accommodation. A catch up with Alison was fantastic, as was the proliferation of outdoor drinking at London pubs … the City pavements were full of ‘suits’ enjoying the early-season sunshine. We then strolled through those pavement-blockers to our European finale, the Pierre Marco White London Steakhouse Co. restaurant experience. A delicious 5-course meal with introductory cocktail and a celebratory bottle of champagne was our treat … and that bottle must have taken our quota beyond 20 champagne houses!
A standard “very long flight with stopover in Doha’s airport” was endured before we landed back in Aus, Brisbane to be precise. We met by a very well-dressed chauffeur holding a personalised welcome sign – thank you Immi for the effort. A few days with our wonderful daughters and their partners was the best welcome-home present we could ask for (Brigi and Ross had flown up to spend the weekend in Brissy). The usual post-travel, pre-travel business ensured (think washing, clothes sorting, food shopping and camper packing), broken by a park run/walk, lovely conversation times, fabulous meals and family time passed too quickly.
Queensland beckoned. But Nature has its own agenda, of course, with once-in-500-year floods in the northern outback (and northern coastal NSW too), meaning we are dealing with variable road conditions and potential limited (and safe) access to certain areas. Our early-part route was open, so we set off on the next leg of our adventure, northwards to the quaintly named 1770. What a treat this tiny hamlet is. Our campsite was on the foreshore, overlooking the water, with gorgeous ocean views and stunning sunsets. Walking along the beach, ocean swimming (Wanda clocked a 1km swim one day!), visiting Lady Musgrave Island and a turtle-swimming snorkel helped to reestablish our energies for this north-eastern Australian road trip. The afore-mentioned weather conditions required a rethink of destinations and routes, and what better place to replot our journey than 1770?
Several days of relaxing activities, bush walking, ocean swims, wildlife encounters, internet searches and phone calls all paid off. There were modifications aplenty: changes to travel plans, rerouting of journeys, extra destinations, accommodation reserved and additional activities booked. All very exciting.
An early morning departure for Rockhampton Airport makes a good chapter end to the first part of our Queensland peregrinations. Wanda was travelling to Sydney to get to a Hunter Valley wedding … only to be flying into a crazy storm cell and public transport meltdown. Delays and flexible thinking helped get her home: 13-hour journey ‘door to door’ instead of about eight. And a big question hung over her trip … with the Hunter Valley floods, would the wedding happen? Of course it did, with blue skies the order of the day and event was beautiful. Alistair explored Rockhampton, which is a very elegant city on the Fitzroy River, and ticked off a few ‘need-to-be done’ tasks from our preparation list. Many an evening stroll along Quay street with the obligatory pub stop off become the routine for the 4 nights. A lovely sunset on the last night with a champagne picnic at the top of mount Archer on Wanda’s return followed by a steak in the ‘Beef’ capital of Australia (see photos for the numerous cows decorating the city). The road North now beckons.
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