WE’RE AT WOODGATE BEACH

TWO WEEKS IN PARADISE 

TUESDAY 13TH MAY   -   We left Palmwoods on The Sunshine Coast and our friends Janet and Paul and headed 261 kilometres further north to Woodgate Beach on The Fraser Coast.   It was a lovely sunny day and after 4 hours we arrived “in paradise” Woodgate Beach Tourist Park  -  our favourite place in Queensland.  We stayed here 3 years ago on Stage 1 of our travels and have talked about it so many times and told many of the people we’ve met along the way about it.  To say we were really looking forward to coming back here was an understatement!!!  It was so beautiful to be driving along the beach front again heading towards the caravan park.  We pulled up at reception and got directions to our site.  We were at the back of the park this time.  There were quite a few vans already set up and they looked like they’d been here for a while.  The front section where we were before was almost full up.  It’s becoming more and more popular with people from Hervey Bay (1 ½ hours away) and Bundaberg (1 hour away) as a quick weekend destination. It’s also only a 4 hour drive from Brisbane.

 

Our site was under a shady tree and beside a tall hedge along one side and along the back of the site, so we were quite private.  We quickly set up and couldn’t wait to get down to the beach for a stroll along the white, flat sand. The beach stretched for 16 kilometres of pristine sand and was ideal for swimming, fishing, sailing, skiing and boating with calm waters protected by Fraser Island.  There was a paved winding path snaking all the way along the ocean, like a slithering snake, with tall leafy trees bending over in a cool protective canopy overhead.  There were picnic tables and seats at intervals along the side of the pathway, with ample space for everyone to sit and relax and enjoy the view.

The park was set on 8 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds backing onto 230,000 hectares of National Park.  There was an abundance of kangaroos, black cockatoos, lorikeets, poincianas, bougainvillea, eucalypts and pine trees throughout the park.    It had a lovely casual and relaxing feel and everyone was very friendly and only too willing to have a yarn with us.

The park owners were doing lots of improvements around the park and put in more undercover seating areas as they’re opening up the back section for more caravans.

There was a gazebo beach café at the front of the park which was always busy.  It overlooked shady trees and picnic tables across the road where people sat to have happy hour, relax and watch the water.  The park had a general store, camp kitchen and immaculate amenities, as well as a car and boat washing facility at the rear end.

VIEW FROM THE CAFE TO THE BEACH

It was unspoilt and idyllic with Woodside Beach Bowling Club at one end of the esplanade and Woodgate Hotel at the other.  In-between there was a real estate, hairdresser, post office, a second coffee shop and general store.  There were no high rises buildings, only houses either with permanent residents or holiday lets available.  The club was a 5 minute walk from the park and the pub about 15 minutes.

FRIDAY 16TH MAY   -  We were finding it very difficult to tear ourselves away from Woodgate and were feeling totally relaxed and “into the swing” of the laid back, relaxed  lifestyle there.  We had to drive into Bundaberg to pick up some kitchen cupboard latches that we had ordered from the Jayco dealer.  It was an hour’s drive and we had a look around the town, got the catches from Jayco, did some grocery shopping and had a lovely lunch overlooking Bundaberg River in the RSL Club.  We arrived back to Woodgate in time to have happy hour with our neighbours Peter and Penny.  They were cooking a roast chook in their turbo oven under their awning.  I’ve been toying with the idea of buying one, so I had a good chat to Penny to see if it was a worthwhile investment.  We’ve seen so many caravanners with them.  It’s a big, round glass dish with a lid – a mini oven.   They don’t use as much electricity as a conventional oven.  The beauty is you can keep all the cooking smells outside of the van. It was bigger inside than I’d imagined and you can cook a roast with all the veggies and potatoes around the meat.  Penny told me she cooks steaks, bacon and cakes with hers and it’s a crisper dry end result as you don’t need oil to cook with. Penny and Peter told us the 1300 watt oven works perfectly with a 2kva generator for free camping. There’s also a rinse cycle after you’re finished cooking and it washes itself – brilliant!!  They were going to Maryborough the following day to have their car serviced and kindly said they’d pick one up for us.  They’re usually $39 from Kmart or Big W.  Will let you know later in the blog how well it worked out.  Can’t wait to try for myself.

SUNDAY 18TH MAY   -   Time to try out the turbo oven!!

We went shopping to Childers, a 30 minute drive from Woodgate.   On the way there, we stopped at The Hollow Log – the local fresh fruit and vegetable shed.  We bought a bag of avocados for $2, tomatoes for $2, fresh zucchini, pumpkin, freshly picked broccoli and lots more.  It was so fresh and cheap, we couldn’t help ourselves.

We had a look around Childers then had lunch at the Post Office Café, where Russell Crowe had been spotted a few times when he first started going out with Danielle Spencer.   It was a lovely open plan balcony café, overlooking the town, with comfy cane chairs and ceiling fans.  The service and food were really good.

We bought a 1.6kg marinated, stuffed chicken and got back to the van anxious to put the turbo oven through its paces.  2 hours later we sat down to a beautifully cooked roast chicken dinner.  The chicken was really crispy and succulent.  Whilst we were tucking into our baked dinner, we put the oven on wash cycle.  It worked really well.

MONDAY 19TH MAY   -   We went down to the beach for an afternoon walk.  The beach was deserted, except for 4 kangaroos hopping along the sand and in and out of the water.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hurriedly put Sally back on her lead as the kangaroos were getting closer.  They hopped up to the grass verge at the top of the beach and watched her going past and then they disappeared.  We only saw them that one time.  We kept an eye out other days, but didn’t see them on the beach again, although there were lots to be seen in gardens munching on the grass and on the other side of the fences in the caravan park.  

FRIDAY 23RD MAY  -   We walked up to the Bowling Club for the 6.30 raffles and dinner.  We bought $20 of raffle tickets and were astonished to win 3 lovely meat trays:  2 trays of rump steaks and 1 pork roast that we’ll cook for our friends Rob and Ros next week when we get to Rockhampton.

The place was swarming with groups of the big electric blue Ulysses Butterflies.  They were amazing to watch and flew right into us many times.   I was fascinated and totally mesmerised looking at them. On the beach we watched them flying out to sea. 

PEAK HOUR AT WOODGATE

 

VIEW LOOKING UP THE STREET FROM THE CARAVAN PARK

 

THE PATH FROM OUR VAN TO THE OCEAN

 

SOME TALL COOL SHADY TREES

 

THE PATHWAY UP TO OUR VAN

 

THE PAVED PATHWAY ALONG THE 16KM OF BEACH

 

VIEW OF THE BEACH FROM THE PARK

 

A GNARLED TREE WITH A HORSE HEAD PROTRUSION AT THE BACK OF THE PARK

 

We’ve had a fantastic fortnight here at Woodgate.  It’s been so relaxing and idyllic and we’ve met some lovely people. We’ve read lots of books.   I finally got around to reading the new Jack Reacher novel by Lee Childs that I bought Richard for Easter.  We’ve also been reading some new female authors that we hadn’t read before – Sheila O’Flannagan and Di Morrissey that we’re enjoying – very easy readable books. Richard’s been fishing a few times, with no luck.

NEXT WEEK:  We’re heading north to Rockhampton for 3 nights to catch up with friends.  Then we’ll be heading inland to start the 3,000 kilometre drive through Emerald, Winton, Longreach and eventually up to Darwin.