Surfing again! Agnes Waters and Noosa

The most northerly point to surf in Queensland is in Agnes Waters and the township of 1770 so that is where we went next to catch some waves. It’s a nice place, very small and friendly. We met some nice people and got some good waves. It’s really a longboard wave there so not too easy on my board but met a guy on the beach who let me borrow a board to get out there. I even had a skate in the skatepark when there was no waves one day which was strange as it’s been a long time since I stood on a skateboard!
On the way to Noosa we stopped by to visit Mary Poppins in Maryborough to say superkalafraglisticexpiladocious! The writer of the book comes from there and they put a statue of her on the street!
Arriving in Noosa Heads was a shock! It was crazy and packed full of people as unfortunately we had arrived at the height of the school holidays! I couldn’t even park the van so we turned around and went further south towards Peregrine Beach and Coolum Beach on the recommendation of the guy who lent me the board in Agnes Water.
I didn’t want to give up too easy on Noosa as I had heard so much about the surf there and got up at 6 the next morning to go out before it got crowded. That was the best thing we could have done as we got a parking spot in the national park, walked up to Teatree Bay and had a fantastic surf! The walk through the park itself is lovely and if you look carefully you might see some koalas sleeping in the trees! I even had some dolphins come really close as you can see from the picture, no it’s not a shark!

That weekend it was the 100th anniversary of national parks so there was a nature show with some of the animals to see and even got to touch a snake and crocodile! There was also a free BBQ, cultural talks and didgeridoo lessons to take part in with a representative of the local aboriginal people. We weren’t too good at it but it was good to try.
The next day I had a surf at Teatree bay again but didn’t get on too well as the waves were a bit small and it is a longboard wave again. I walked another 500m up the track to Granite and that was much better! Steeper waves, easier to catch and much less crowded. I surfed till I was too tired to stand up anymore.
The wind picked up later so we headed down to Peregrine Beach to get out windsurfing, it had been a long time since my last sail in Exmouth! The waves were quite small but enough to get a couple of turns and try some aerials. I stayed out till the sun set and the wind dropped and swung offshore. The next day wasn’t as windy and the surf was very small so I had a nice cruisey sail just enjoying the wind and the water.
It was a shame to leave after being by the surf for such a short time but it was time to work again and start the course with Outbackpackers that would give us out next job.
However the night before we had to leave we found out we got our tax back and had money again! After searching the second hand shops in Noosa we found a beautiful surfboard for Iris and managed to get a quick surf in before we left. A shame we got it so late but we will have the board when we are back at the sea again!

East coast, Pacific Ocean! Townsville to Whitsundays

On that Saturday night we arrived in Townsville with a roadworthy test booked on the Monday morning. We stayed in a campsite that weekend as I didn’t want to drive without the van being registered.
It’s a nice town with a great promenade, interesting markets on Sundays and a cool rockpool for swimming safely without stingers. The little jellyfish can give a very serious sting here from October to April. Many places have net in the water to create a safe place to swim, otherwise you have to wear a very nice stinger suit, to cover you from head to toe.
While we were there we managed to catch the Full Moon Drum Circle. Held each month on the full moon everyone in the crowd is given a drum, shaker or bell and a rhythm to beat or shake and is great fun.

As for the van it didn’t pass the test for a few silly things, not important but expensive to repair, like a tear in the driver seat and the door seal not being too good. I couldn’t get my hands on spares from wreckers anywhere in Queensland so there was a bit of stress for a couple of days. I got in contact with the guy who sold me the van and managed to get it reregistered in his name until I can get everything fixed.
Phew that was a load off my mind; I could drive the van again. As we had been in Townsville a few days now it was time to head south to Airlie Beach the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands.
Airlie was quite a contrast to everywhere we had been while up north, a total tourist town full of backpackers and other holidaymakers. We also had the misfortune of getting there just at the start of the school holidays!
Running out of money now we needed to find work so spent a few days looking for work on boats, hoping to get a job on one of the many tourist cruises operating around the Whitsunday islands or even just cleaning work, something for a short time just to keep some money in our pockets.
The trip to and around the islands is one of the must do things in this area but is a bit expensive and touristy with the tour companies here. I really wanted to get on a yacht and do some sailing; I hadn’t been on the water at all for two months at this stage!
Luckily we found a guy with a private yacht who took us a german girl and another couple out the islands for only $45 a day each!
He has a lovely wooden boat called Bright Morning Star a 15 meters long and one of only two of that design, the other fitted out for performance racing. Our skipper John is an interesting character who lives on board, cruising up and down the coast.
It was fantastic to be out on the sea under sail in such a gorgeous vessel and the scenery of the Islands was amazing. The beach on Whitsunday Island itself had the finest, whitest sand I had ever seen, being 98% silica. Snorkelling was great too, almost as good as the Ningaloo reef. It was a shame to be back on land after three great days although the trip back was a bit rough and Iris didn’t feel so good. I wouldn’t mind swapping the van for a yacht though!
We didn’t find any work in Airlie Beach so we booked ourselves onto a course for working on farms/stations in the outback with a company called Outbackpackers. The main reason was they guarantee a job before the end of the week course. It was over a week before the course started so we were very keen to do some surfing before going inland again!!! So it was time to head south again to the closest waves!!