Australia Day 2009

Australia day it comes around each and every year celebrated across this land with bar-b-ques and beer.Well that's how the old bush song goes anyway but the boy and myself decided to head for the beach for a short break and a bit of a father and son get away this year. So we packed up the camping gear and hit the road to woodgate beach which is about 350km north of Brisbane.

What do you mean i am not invited



In typical style we were no sooner on the road and down comes the rain it wasn't to bad though we at least cleared Brisbane and were on the highway headed north when the rain got real heavy and forced us to pull over and wait it out at a truck stop so it was breakfast at Mc Donald's followed by krispy creme donuts (there goes the diet). Anyway with our stomachs full and the rain easing we hit the road with a vengeance and the prediction was that we would be there by 1.30.Unfortunately there was an accident further up the highway where it becomes one lane and traffic was slowed to a crawl well there goes the idea of getting there at a good hour as we sat in traffic talking and laughing at the things we saw around us Lester snapped a picture of an aeroplane which was part of a sign for a local gliding club and from the angle we were on it looked that it was a real aeroplane about to crash, this provided us with a few laughs to pass the time away.

Help we're going down "pull up pull up"






About 4.30 in the afternoon we reach our destination and are greeted by a traditional woodgate beach welcoming committee a large mob of eastern grey kangaroos which roam wild and free around the area grazing in peoples front yards.

The welcoming committee





We set up camp and showered and headed to the local bowls club for dinner and a few well earned ales. The place was pumping it was a Sunday night and the club was filled with families locals and tourists alike all out for a good time there was a local duet playing everything from Kenny Rogers to credence clear water revival. It was a good mixture of old and young alike. We were about 1/2 an hour early for the dinner service so i got the drinks in and we sat outside and watched a few of the locals playing lawn bowls which is a sport steeped in tradition which is taken very seriously by its devotee's everywhere except in woodgate beach apparently. The locals were just out to have a little fun and share a laugh the atmosphere was wonderful and we had a laugh with them.After dinner we headed back to our camp and passed the rest of the evening away playing cards Euka and 500 mainly this became a regular nightly pass time when we were not annoying our fellow campers by playing the banjo or guitar.

Ever so serious there is a sheep station riding on this hand,





I win again,



Annoying the neighbours'





Dawn on Australia Day and i decide an early morning walk was the order of the day and neither the weather or the scenery let me down as the beach in the early morning was just as beautiful as it was in the evening the weather was fantastic it rained every night of our stay but fined up for a beautiful sunny day.

Scenes from a morning walk















We're a patriotic bunch at heart,





After breakfast we are off to theodolite creek to do a spot of fishing and have a look around. This was on journey i was happy to take the creek was so pristine and the water so pure and clean trully a sight to be seen with its sweeping sandbars and sparcely vegetated dunes melting into thick treelined embankments as the creek wound off into the distance.We never caught anything but i was still happy to be there just soaking up the morning sun and the serenity which seemed to fill every day of our stay.









Beauty in unexpected places,





We spent the remainder of the afternoon swimming and laying around camp and decided to visit the banksia forrest the following day as we wanted to see the boardwalk and see if we could spot the banksia in bloom. It seems that we were charmed as we did get to see the banksia flower even though it was late in the season and the walk was nice and typical of Australian coastal bushland with sub tropical vegetation giving way to the harsher Eucalypt scrub with paper bark swamp in between but each piece has a beauty of its own.

Boardwalk through the paperbark swamp,





The sub tropical



Iron bark and Eucalypt scrub



The banksia in bloom



Back to camp and Lester made the tea



He thought it was so good he decided to imortalise it,



We spent our days walking,fishing,swimming and generaly just doing alot of good old fashioned male bonding as fathers and sons have done for many years i will leave you now with some of the photo's taken on one of our evening walks.





























With our time at woodgate behind us we hit the road to home feeling happy to have had the chance to be there and share it as father and son. Just one more befor i leave this one is mt Tibrogargen from the highway very imposing sight. Towering above the pineapple plantations.




Posted by chefie