Sunshine and Gold Coast

The urban face of Sunshine

We depart at 6:15, leaving the city with its statues dedicated to bulls and its many hotels, several of which inexplicably showed "fully booked". We are 630 km from Brisbane; the weather soon turns cloudy, making it difficult to enjoy the beautiful sunrise that accompanied us on our departure. There is not much traffic, but the speed limit of 100 km/h and some trucks prevent a faster journey. The overtaking lanes are rare, and passing trucks is always a challenging task. The landscape doesn't say much due to the dark weather and arid bushland. Speaking of bushland, we have heard for several days that Sydney will be under siege at the weekend due to the arrival of numerous heads of state who will meet for an international conference. We are crossing Childers, rich in pleasant historic buildings, beautiful houses with large verandas, carefully designed to create shaded areas and promote airflow during the hottest times. In Gympie, but not only there, the road reaches its lowest geographical point: it runs through the city from top to bottom, with a limit between urban and non-urban areas, and cannot be otherwise. It's a shame that it is also used by noisy and polluting trucks. What surprises even more is that the road is frequently traveled by tourists who are forced to endure the Highway or fly in order to reach the beautiful islands of the barrier reef. 30 km south of Gympie finally becomes a two-lane road, but we soon have to leave to travel the section from Maleny to Mapleton. The section follows a very scenic ridge that, at other times, must be one of the most spectacular roads in the region. A mixed rain and autumn fog prevents us from having a clear view. It's a charming village with a touch of French style, likely because many colonists came directly from France. We refuel with two homemade brioches filled with vanilla and chocolate, purchased from an artisan bakery. We return to Highway nr 1, passing by some fields cultivated with pineapple, just as they are collecting them.

Arrival at Sunshine

For the first time, we see how the harvesting process works. Using a kind of machete, the harvester places the crop on a conveyor belt and the fruit ends up inside a trailer pulled by a tractor. The weather is always grey and it frequently rains. Due to a number of reasons, we decide not to go to Brisbane either. We hadn't even found any major attractions, and then the bad weather sealed our fate. We are forced to wait for an hour on the bypass due to an accident. While we proceed slowly, our attention is drawn to the trucks transporting large water tanks. We have already seen several of these vehicles, one of which was on our own ferry to Kangaroo Island. These are enormous plastic containers for storing water, a sign of how Australia is becoming increasingly arid and people are trying to conserve rainwater as much as possible. Even in tropical areas, where there is sometimes too much rain, there is no access to fresh water during the winter months. Finally, we pass through the city with its constant traffic jams and continue on a highway with a speed limit of 110 km/h, while the weather remains almost constantly rainy. This makes it pointless to see Byron Bay, the easternmost point in Australia. We finally take refuge in Ballina, a beautiful village by the ocean, during a torrential downpour. Despite arriving early (we are already in our room at 6 pm, even though the day had started twelve hours earlier), we can't see much of the town because of the darkness that surrounds it. The hotel has a drive-in style reception, which is very useful in this weather. We compensate for the rainy day with a restaurant serving Thai cuisine. We try the fish of the day, which consists of grilled fresh cod and an oriental-style fish dish. It's interesting to note that the restaurant is "unlicensed," meaning it doesn't have permission to sell alcohol. Customers enter with a bottle in hand, which they hand over at the entrance and receive back at their table along with glasses. For Europeans, this system is incomprehensible: first, you have to decide what to drink and buy it before going to the restaurant, then there is no point in doing so: you can walk into the establishment with a barrel of beer and leave soaking wet, without the owner even making a profit! In any case, not knowing the local customs, we stick to water. The muffins and pudding were also delicious at the end of dinner. It will be difficult to digest everything after such a sedentary day.