Townsville to Ingham and then Wallaman Falls took 2:15 hrs on a cool and overcast day. The drive from the highway to the Falls is quite steep and shrouded in mist on a narrow winding road. Arrived at 10:45 am and the Falls were completely obscured by mist. There were a few other people there and many of them left, I nearly left as well but having nothing else to do decided to wait and see if the mist would disperse. I checked a couple of times but still could not see a thing and then to my great surprise the mist cleared at 13:00 to reveal the Falls, magnificent, all the more so because I thought I was not going to see them. They are the tallest falls in Australia at 269m.
Ingham
Sugarcane Wagons
Local Traffic
Under the clouds
Cassowary
Wallaman Falls 269m
The Lookout
Where are the Falls
Emerging from the mist
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Sugarcane
Next stop was the “Pub with no Beer” made famous by Slim Dusty, an Australian singer and icon, a fun stop.
Mackay to Townsville was through sugarcane country. There are special minature and very long trains that carry the sugarcane around and there are many road crossings.
Sugarcane Train Croissing
The BIG Mango
Steel Bridge
Sugarcane Train
Townsville – the biggest city in the North of Queensland, it is quite modern and it has Parking meters and signs. I wandered around following the Street Art trail and I also visited the Army Museum. Townsville was a hub during the Second World War and has the largest Army Base in Australia.
Mackay – surrounded by sugarcane fields and known as the sugar capital of Australia, population 80,000 which is a metropolis in regional Australia. Two unusual features of the city are the many Art Deco buildings and the mural on the Levee wall showing the history of the Mackay region, it took five minutes for me to walk along the wall making a video. There is a dark side to Mackay’s history when Blackbirders were used to enslave Pacific islanders to work in the sugarcane fields.
Bundaberg – famous for that clear brown alcoholic liquid made from sugarcane. I naturally went on the Brewery tour. Before the tour you visit the museum and a short film, very interesting more so than the Tour itself where you basically see very little and no photos. At the end of the tour you get two free drinks at the bar which was the best part of the tour hahaha. I also visited the Seaside at Bargara and the Botanical Gardens. The Mon Repos Turtle Centre has turtle viewings starting in November when they come ashore to nest and lay eggs.
Byron Bay – I stopped here on the way to Brisbane because it is the Easternmost point on the Australian mainland. It must be a popular spot because it was fairly busy, can’t imagine what it is like during peak periods. There are a few parking spots near the lighthouse, the fee is $8 and you will probably have to wait for someone to leave before you get a spot. After you park and walk up to the lighthouse its a 300m walk down steps to the Easternmost point.
Colourful
4 lanes all the way
Byron Bay Lighthouse
No Drones
Byron Bay
Surfers
300m to go
Easternmost point
or is that it hahaha
Easternmost point
Looking down
Looking up
Cliffs
Cafe
Lighthouse
Tunnel
Traffic
Roller Coaster
Street Lights
Brisbane – big city, population 2.6 million or 3.8 million if you include the sprawl. The river winds its way through the city and the CBD is squashed into one of its S bends with no place for roads which have been built on stilts over the water. The city is located in a flood plain and gets flooded regularly, the last big one being in 2011. Overall a nice place to visit, organised with good facilities.
South Bank, Queen Street Mall and Coot-tha Lookout
Saturday Markets
Southbank
Southbank
Artificial Beach
Pool
Mosaic
Southbank
Nepalese Temple Replica
Giant Wheel
The City
Queen’s Bridge
Kirilpa Bridge
Casino – Ex Treasury
Queen Street Mall
Art
Queens Gardens
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Treasury Hotel
City Cat stop
The Cat
Southbank
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The ANZAC man
How it all started
View from Kangaroo Point
Coot-tha Lookout
The City
Airport and the Bay
Coot-tha Lookout
Brisbane Flood Prone Areas
I visited the Queensland Museum, Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art all in one area. And a walk through the city.
Taipan
Len and Gladys
Giant Squid 400kg
Diprotodon
Diprotodon
Muttaburrasaurus
Muttaburrasaurus
Marsupials
Birds
Snakes
Lizards
Art Gallery
Elijah and the Priests of Baal
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Colonialism
Brisbane
Stockwoman
Dogs
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That bridge
On the Bridge
Another Bridge
Roads on Stilts
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Church
Memorial
City Hall
Aussie
Hotel
Station
ANZAC Square
ANZAC Square
ANZAC Square
Charge………………………….
…………………………….
Boer War
Bibimbap
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Mermaid
Mural
St.Stephen Cathedral
St.Stephen Cathedral
Botanic Gardens
Art
Kangaroo Point Cliffs
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Fig Tree
Mangroves
Goodwill Bridge
Goodwill Bridge
Maritime Museum
Maritime Museum
Navy Memorial
Maritime Museum
Girls School
Brisbane Museum, Casino, River Cruise and West End
Fountain
BRISBANE
Casino Lights
Casino – thats all I was allowed to photograph hahaha
Green Eyes
Brisbane Museum
Brisbane Museum
Brisbane Museum
River Cruise
Pedestrian Bridge to the new Casino
Kitty Cat
Art
Exercise
Kangaroo Point
Paddle Boats
Story Bridge
Ferry Stop
Waiting for a Flood
Sleek
Manicured
Heritage Listed
House on the Hill
Pink House
Big Lawn
Looks like a lift
Felons
West End
West End
Spot the Sculptures
Elephant with Talent
West End
West End
Frydays Kitchen
Kimchi Pancake
West End
West End
West End
West End
West End
West End
West End
West End
Brisbane Brew Pub
Brisbane Brew Pub
Brisbane Brew Pub
West End
Governor’s House and Parliament. The Lamington was named after Governor Lord Lamington or his wife but it should have been named after their chef, “the French-born Armand Galland, who was called upon at short notice to feed unexpected guests. Using only the limited ingredients available, Galland cut up some left-over French vanilla sponge cake baked the day before, dipped the slices in chocolate and set them in coconut. Impressed by Galland’s creation, Lamington’s guests were said to have later asked for the recipe. This version of events is supported by Lady Lamington’s memoirs. Coconut was not widely used in European cooking at that time, but was known to Galland, whose wife was from Tahiti, where coconut was a common ingredient.”
Cafe on the Goodwill Bridge
Governor’s House
Lord Lamington
Governor’s House
South Bank on the Left and the CBD on the Right
Tree of Life
Colonies
Governor’s Office
Goats and Chooks
QUT Art Gallery
QUT Art Gallery
Very Large Fig Tree
Parliament House
Parliament House Annex
Inside the Parliament
The New Casino
$1.5 billion and 2 years to go
Cheap
Bicyclists
Nice
Botanical Gardens
Big Foot
Red and Yellow Beak
Purple
Beauty
Gong Cha
Mango frozen
Wednesday Markets
Wednesday Markets
On my last day in Brisbane I went on a River Walk, this is one of the best things to do in the city. I started at New Farm and walked all the way to the Queen Street Bridge, just over 6km.
The drive from Armidale to Nambucca Heads is down the aptly named Waterfall Way. It is a narrow winding road through a National Park, one way in parts. This is a beautiful drive with many places to stop and go for walks.
Frosty morning
National Parks
Wollomombi FAlls
Ebor Falls
Ebor Falls
Road works
The View
Dorrigo
Dorrigo District
Dangar Falls
Rainforest National Park
Lookout
The Mountains
and Forests
Walks
Newell Falls under the road
Can you see the sea
Nambucca Heads – a seaside holiday town with no traffic lights. I visited the surrounding area from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour. There are many beaches and resorts along this stretch of coast which has grown significantly in the past 10 years.
Nambucca Heads
Nambucca Heads
Nambucca Heads
Nambucca Heads
Nambucca Heads
Nambucca Heads
Guess who
Brush Turkey
Lunar Eclipse
Port Macquarie – a fairly big place.
Port Macquarie
Korean Koala
Walks
Paint your own Boulder
Cocky Koala
Legal Koala
Court House 1869
Ancient
The Brothers
Out there
Still alive
Lighthouse
Big Bowling Ball
Camels
Camels
Big Golf Ball
Coffs Harbour – another growing town
Coffs Harbour
The Jetty
The Harbour
The Beach
Another Beach
Sawtell – where you go to retire
Sawtell Main Street
Fig Trees
Covid Marshall at the RSL
Woolgoolga Sikh Temple
Sikh Temple
Sikh Temple
Sikh Temple
Sikh Temple
Macksville – a small town where I was surprised to find murals.
Bathurst to Armidale was on the back roads, no traffic through scenic farm country. I passed through Coolah which claims to be the “Black Stump” town as does Blackall further north in Queensland hahaha. I stopped in Tamworth to fill up and take a photo of the Golden Guitar.
Many Lakes
Country Roads
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Coolah, Home of the Black Stump
Cotton Fields
Tamworth
Armidale – this is a University town and there are also some expensive private boarding schools here and a few Cathedrals. It is 1000m above sea level and freezing at night. There are no fewer than 5 craft brewerys in the area and there was a Beer and BBQ festival on the weekend. The Visitors Centre offers a free half day bus tour of the city, very good.
Woolongong to Bathurst is a 3 hour drive so I decided to stop in Katoomba and visit the Three Sisters. There are many walks in this area.
Echo Point Lookout
Echo Point Lookout
The Blue Mountains
Scenic World
The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters
Shady
Scenic World only open on the Weekend
Walks
Steps not Walks
Cascades
Kedumba River
A Pool
Hotel Alexandra 1903
Inside
Lunch
The main reason for my visiting Bathurst was to drive around the Mount Panorama Race track. This Race track is a public road and anyone can drive on it anytime when its not being used for racing and its free. The speed limit is 60 kph and at that speed its scary hahaha. Since my last visit they have added a chicane to Conrod Straight to slow cars down in the name of safety.
There is an excellent museum at the entrance to the track with some legendary winning cars on display.
The Circuit
Foggy at the top
Clear at the top
Start your Engines
Start Line
Hell Corner
Mountain Straight
Sulman Park
Foggy
At the Top
Heading down
Twists
and Turns
Conrod Straight
The Chase chicane
Past the Chase
Pit Lane
Murray’s Corner
Colin McRae
Dick Johnson Torana
Dick Johnson Mustang
Dick Johnson Falcon
McLaren
HQ Monaro
Sidecar
Motorcycles
Falcon and HK Monaro
Falcon 1977 Alan Moffat 1-2 finish
Nissan
Jaguar
Sierra
Australian Rally
Holden
Peter Brock – Legend
Bikes
AJS
Wayne Gardner – World Champion
Greg Hansford
Victoria Hotel 1876
Annie’s
Oreo Sundae – Huge
Evans and War Memorial
Interesting
This area had a Gold rush once upon a time and I visited Hill End and Sofala Villages which survive as tourist attractions.
There is an unusual Museum built by one man which at first glance looks like a junkyard but is worth a visit
Jindabyne to Woolongong – I stopped at the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre at Cooma, here they give you an overview of an amazing engineering project that was constructed between 1949 and 1974 and is currently undergoing an expansion. It consists of a series of lakes at various levels that feed water through tunnels to Hydro Electric Power Stations. During times of low power demand the turbines can be reversed and used to pump water back up to the lakes which then act as a storage battery and the water is released to provide power at peak times. The scheme also encompasses solar and wind power farms. It is free and there are 2 films.
Cooma Main Street
Discovery Centre
The Network
Stats
Power Generation
The Story
The Workers
Opening Ceremony
Lakes
Lives Lost
Tunnel Boring Machine
Tunnels
Turbines
Big
10,000 Km
What is that?
When I visited Port Adelaide to see the street murals I became aware of the Wonder Walls Festival which started in Woolongong and this is the reason I am here. Port Kembla also has some murals. Let the walls do the talking.
“The Wonderwalls exhibition explores the various artistic styles, techniques and processes practised by self taught artists from various urban environments and sub-culture backgrounds.”
Launceston, Tasmania to Jindabyne, New South Wales. The first step is to drive from Launceston to Devonport, about an hours drive and then while away the time until Ferry boarding starts at 1630. I visited Rooke Street Mall and sat there for a while in the sunshine, next stop Molly Malones for a pint of the local drop and finally to the Spirit of the Sea Lookout to wait until it was time to move.
Tasmania Tracks
Rooke Street Mall
Lychee Bubble Tea
From here
Molly Malones
Inside
Spin the Wheel
Calm, 3 weeks ago there were Surfers here surfing
Spirit of the Sea Crowned
Devonport Harbour
Get your Boarding Pass here
Weighbridge
And I weigh 2460 kg
Slowly
Slowly
Looking back
Melbourne Trams
Early morning
The View
Pretty
The Roads
A Bridge
Snowy River
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Snowy River
Narrow and Winding
Lake Jindabyne
The Ferry boarding and transit across Bass Strait went without a hitch and I drove off the ferry the next morning at 0705. Heading out of Melbourne took about 45 min to get away from the traffic and then it was a fine drive upto Bairnsdale. From there I turned away from the coast and into the mountains and Google Maps decided to let me have some fun on the C608. This is a narrow winding road which was gravel in parts and finally through Kozciuszko National Park where the roads were very bad having been damaged in the recent heavy rains.
I visited Jindabye in February 2004 on my bike and it has grown since then, more than doubled in size I was told but still a small town and very nice. It drizzled for the first two days and then fine for the next two. I was planning to walk to the top of Mount Kosciuszko 2,228m as I did in 2004 (13 km return) but for various reasons I finished up only walking to the Lookout (5.5km return).
Chris's space 