July 2016

The weather forecast for this week is to be sunny every day with temperatures of between 22 and 24 degrees. The weather turned out generally very good rising to 25 degrees on Friday and 29 degrees on Saturday. However Saturday got very windy as the day progressed with westerly winds of 15 to 20 knots gusting at 25 to 30 knots by late afternoon.

On Monday we drove over to Robina to return the bikes to Brendan and Lyn, and had a coffee while we were there. Now we have to decide whether to buy ourselves a couple of bikes and if we do how we are going to carry them.

On Tuesday Di went to Aqua Aerobics in the pool again, and in the afternoon we did the rounds of a few bike shops to see what you can get for your money. We are undecided whether to buy folding bikes that can be carried inside the van, or ordinary bikes that would need to be on a rack at the back of the van. We think that a little more research is required on the types of bike racks that would fit on the back of the van without bouncing around too much.

On Wednesday we did the tourist thing again and drove to the Hinze Dam which is about 15 km from the Coast on the Nerang River. The dam was originally built in the 70s and was completed in 1976, raised in height in 1989, and significantly raised again to its present height of 106 metres. When full the Dam holds back 310,000 mega-litres of water and provides the main drinking water supply for the Gold Coast as well as providing flood mitigation. The Dam is a rock and earth fill embankment dam and is 1,850 metres long. The Dam is named after the Hinze family who lived in the valley that was flooded by what is now known as Advancetown Lake.

The Hinze Dam spillway.

Di in front of the Hinze Dam rock wall.

View from the cafe at the Hinze Dam.

View across the lake from the Cafe at Hinze Dam.

Back of the Hinze Dam wall.

The view across Advancetown Lake at the Hinze Dam.

The Quarry on site where the rock for the Hinze Dam wall was sourced.

On Thursday Di went off to water aerobics again, and after lunch we went for a walk on the northern side of Tallebudgera Creek bur were unable to find any walking tracks and were confined to the streets in the area, On the way we noticed some Camelias and Azaleas in the gardens which seem to grow well in the shadier places. On the way we noticed a smart looking kit car that was probably a Caterham Seven.

Runabouts towing kids around Tallebudgera Creek.

Camelia in a shady spot.

Looks like a Caterham Seven kit car.

An Azalea in a shady spot.

On Friday we noticed a lone Dolphin in the Creek that seemed to be feeding on small bait fish that were jumping out of the water in an attempt to get away. In the afternoon we sat in the sun at the back of the van enjoying the 25 degrees and admiring the view across the Tallebudgera Creek.

A lone dolphin in Tallebudgera Creek.

Di enjoying the afternoon sun at Tallebudgera Creek.

Saturday started out well before getting to 29 degrees with a very strong westerly wind. One end of our awning pulled out of the clip system that holds the annexe walls as well as the porches. Rather than going out to hit the shops we hung around camp all day keeping an anxious eye on the awning.

Surf boat crew out for a row on Tallebudgera Creek.

Girl with a dog on a paddle board on Tallebudgera Creek.

Sunday was fine and sunny with no wind so we dismantled the porches and the front walls of the annexe to allow the clip sytem bars to be removed. Each has 4 wing nuts that clamp onto the vinyl awning and hold it tightly in place, but when the awning pulls out -and it has done it a few times before - it is always between the wing nuts, A quick trip to Bunnings provided a dozen bolts and wing nuts that were installed in holes drilled in the clip system bars between the existing nuts. This now provides a strong clamping point at about a 12 inches spacing along the bars and will hopefully solve the problem,

The weather this week has been very ordinary - cloudy every day with occasional showers and rain.

On Monday we ventured out of the caravan park on the bikes and rode along the back of Palm Beach.

Monday's weather photo - no sun and no fish.

Palm Beach.

On Tuesday we went to Pacific Fair for a wander around the shops.

On Wednesday we drove up to Southport to check out the Broadwater Caravan Park. We used to stay here on a fairly regular basis but have not been there for a couple of years. The caravan park used to be on the waterfront but last year they reclaimed a large section of the waterfront at the park resulting in the caravan park now being at least 100 metres from the water. In the evening we joined Colin and Merle for a meal and a few drinks at the Burleigh Surf Club.

Wednesday's weather photo across the Broadwater.

Someone is killing the grass on your site Frosty.

Waterfront sites at Broadwater C P longer on the waterfront.

Pelicans on the Southport boat ramp waiting for the fishos to clean their fish.

On Thursday Di went up to the pool to participate in a session of water aerobics.

On Friday we did the tourist thing and went for a drive south along the coast through some of the seaside towns on the way to Cape Byron. We stopped for photos at Kingscliff, Norries Head, and Brunswick Heads. We stopped for lunch at Brunswick Heads and had a walk around the town. Brunswick Heads was smaller than we expected and seems to be a bit alternative, and has a small caravan park which we checked out before moving on. We drove though Byron Bay without stopping and made our way to Cape Byron to have a look at the Lighthouse. Parking is at a bit of a premium but we managed to find a spot on the way back down the hill, and walked back up to the Lighthouse. After a coffee and a cake at the Cafe we made our way back to Tallebudgera via the Pacific Highway.

Trip to Cape Byron.

Di at Kingscliff Beach.

Kingscliff from the beach.

Cabarita Beach.

Norries Head.

Roadbridge at Brunswick Heads.

Footbridge over the Brunswick River.

Cape Byron Light.

Looking south from Cape Byron.

Cape Byron Lighthouse.

Di at Cape Byron.

Another shot of the Cape Byron Lighthouse.

Byron Bay from Cape Byron.

Light Keepers Cottages at Cape Byron.

Looking Northwest from Cape Byron towards the mountains.

Parrot feeding on a Bottlebrush.

If you cant see from the Lookout - climb onto the roof.

On Saturday we drove over to the Carrara Market for a walk around but while we were there it started to rain so we made our way to Robina for lunch at one of the cafes on the Lake.

On Sunday Brendan and Lyn came over for a few drinks. They had been in Hobart for 3 or 4 weeks and later in the week they are going to Melbourne for a big furniture show.

Monday's weather photo - rain is forecast for tomorrow.

On Tuesday we caught up with Rob and Donna for a coffee in Burleigh Heads. They had recently finished about 10 days at Maroochydore, and had been at Broadbeach for the last few days. After an early lunch they came over to the caravan park to see our van and have a drink or two. Tomorrow they are returning home and are not looking forward to the cooler temperatures in Hobart, although their house should be nice and warm as Rob forgot to turn the heating off.

Tuesday's weather photo - it rained for most of the morning - but a bit of late sun.

Its Wednesday today and while fine and sunny it is very windy - about 20 knots from the W/NW and gusting to 25 knots. Not very pleasant outside today so we went to Pacific Fair where David had a much needed haircut and Di did some shopping - what else?

Thursday was magnificent - sunny with no wind and a temperature of 22 degrees. In the afternoon we walked over the top of Burleigh Head to the Burleigh Surf Club where we signed up for a two year membership at $5.50 each. After signing up we had a drink on the deck with a view across Burleigh Beach before walking back to Tallebudgera. On the way back we walked past a work gang busy re-installing the pipes used to pump sand from Tallebudgera Creek to Burleigh Beach,

Thursday's weather photo across Tallebudgera Creek.

All quiet today on the Tallebudgera Creek barway.

Palm Beach from the lookout on Burleigh Head.

The view of Burleigh Beach from the deck of OUR club - the Burleigh Surf Club.

Friday was another fine clear day with a temperature of 22 degrees once again. We were up early so that we could pack up the long side walls of our annexe so that Colin and Louise from Australia Wide Annexes could pick them up and take then to the factory at the Sunshine Coast to have the outside blinds replaced under warranty. In place of the long walls we have erected our long shade wall for the next few days while we wait for our annexe walls to be returned.

Long annexe wall replaced with a shade screen until repairs complete.

The lovely sunny weather continued through Friday and Saturday, 22 degrees each day.

Surf boat crew returning from a training just on sunset.

On Sunday we drove to Lismore in NSW (round trip 235 km) for the 4WD Caravan Camping and Marine Show at the Showgrounds. The show turned out to be dominated by caravans of every brand and style. Each time that we go to a caravan show there are more and more Off Road vans - the criteria seems to be a bit of black checker plate, all-terrain tyres and a 4 inch lift. This show was smaller than the Brisbane Show and much more relaxed. The only thing that we saw at the show that we do not have yet is a rotisserie kit for the Weber Baby Q, but at $140.00 it might have to wait for another day.

On Monday it was still cloudy and windy - we are over the wind - is it always like this in June?

Tuesday started at 4 degrees - much too cold for this part of the world - but the weather improved to a beautiful sunny day. This morning Di's hair dryer blew up so we headed off to Pacific Fair for a replacement from Myers. Her old hair dryer was a quite expensive salon version but we should not complain too much as it lasted about 25 years.

Since our last visit to the Gold Coast, Pacific Fair has been undergoing a major upgrade and while not yet finished will be a major competitor for the Robina Shopping Centre. Car Parking is a bit of a worry though as height restrictions vary from 1.9 m to 2.0 m to 2.2 m - and being 1.94 metres over the roof rack we will have to be careful.

Wednesday was also a cool start, but improved to a beautiful sunny day with little wind. Once again we had a bike ride around the caravan park for a while - the bike seats are very hard! Later we walked around Burleigh Head for an ice-cream at the Burleigh Surf Club. While walking around to Burleigh we passed some boys diving off the Tallebudgera Creek Bridge.

The rest of the week was sunny and warm with temperatures of up to 22 degrees and no wind. The caravan park started to fill up on Friday and we now have plenty of kids around with school holidays. We have continued with the bike riding and made a couple of walks to Burleigh Head.

On Sunday we noticed a couple of Policemen on Jetskis checking out the boats on Tallebudgera Creek.

Tuesday's weather photo.

Wednesday's weather photo.

No Diving! - but who cares.

A back somersault off the rail on the Tallebudgera Creek Bridge.

On the way down.

Splat!

Surfing conditions at Burleigh Heads were good on Wednesday.

Thursday's weather photo.

Police checking boats on Tallebudgera Creek.

The good life - a couple of Policemen on their Jetskis.