20120908 Qld Gympie

18-09-2012  Des is getting bored, you know what he’s like he can’t stay still for 2 minutes so we decided to do a short trip for a couple of weeks and our first stop was Gympie to catch up with our mates Kay & Ken for a couple of days.
Well the first night turned out to be a biggie, it’s funny how we never plan these sorts of events they just seem to happen.  We had a great night catching up followed by (as usual) way to many drinks and walking from the house to the Van just for different scenery, I guess, that’s what happens when you drink too much.

The History of Gympie

 
A public meeting was held to consider QLD’s separating from NSW in 1851 and in 1859 Queen Victoria gave her approval to establish the new colony of QLD, the 6^th June is now celebrated by Qld as the day acknowledging the birth of Qld.  Queensland was bankrupt and when James Nash discovered gold in the area in 1867, Gympie became ‘The Town That Saved Queensland’.  When Nash struck gold in a creek bed, The Gympie gold rush had begun and for a time the town was known as ‘Nashville’ then in 1868 Nashville was renamed Gympie, after a local stinging tree the Aboriginals called “gimpi”.  All that existed at that time was a mining shanty town with tents, many small stores and liquor outlets.  Within months of the name change, 25,000 people were on the goldfields.  Gympie was proclaimed a municipality in 1880 became a town a decade later and was a city by 1905.

19-09-2012  I woke with the biggest hangover, which I never get, but this was a doosie.  Ken had planned to take us for a drive along Rainbow Beach which I was very keen to do, "the day before" but I went with them, never the less.  Passing a railway station I said, isn’t that the Old Rattler? Ken was kind enough to stop for me to take some pic's, we must do the trip some time.

The Railway Hotel

Built in 1915 the building in Heritage Listed and if you interested is up for sale.

Step back in time and take a ride on the Valley Rattler beginning at the Heritage Gympie Railway Station, a tribute to the golden heyday in the 1860’s and host many different theme trips throughout the year.

Dam, the train had left the station so no photos of the train only the old building.

Elliottville Model Railway

Lloyd & Beryl Elliott’s dream was to build a model railway they travelled the world in search of the components & after thousands of labour hours their dream became a reality.  After they passed away the Elliott family chose the Historic Gympie Railway Station as home for their masterpiece.

We stopped to get a 4 wheel drive beach permit then stopped for lunch at the surf club (thank god) I was starving, after lunch I felt much better and was ready for the beach trip.

 The view from the club house where we had lunch.

The Cherry Venture Propeller

The 1600 ton cargo ship bound for Brisbane from Auckland, with little ballast (a device used to control buoyance & stability) & no cargo aboard, the Singaporean ship was at the mercy of the winds and tide when the captain strayed too close to the point. With every swell the ship propeller reared up out of the water.  A rescue helicopter was rigged with winches and despite the conditions the aircraft launched battling their way to Maroochydore where 70 mile per hrs winds, clouds almost to sea level and the Cooloola sand dunes towing hundreds of feet high, the rescue chopper could see no way through to the ship & made flying suicidal.  The best the 24 officers & crew could hope for was to hold their ground, dropping both anchors, only both cables snapped.  The crew were all rescued but attempts at salvage failed during the next 2 yrs.  For 30 yrs she has been a significant attraction on the Sunshine Coast, all remains are now removed due to safety and the only remains is this propeller.

 Ken drove us to Inskip Point where he managed to get bogged but at least we got to see where the barge to Fraser Island leaves from, Silly Ken forgot to lock the hubs in, we were out and up the beach in no time.

 The colored sands and impresive sandy cliffs can be up to 200 metres in height, and impressive they are.

Erosion has exposed a palette of as many as 72 different coloured sands and it is likely that the sands have been forming since the last ice age.  An aboriginal legend tells of a spirit which took the form of a rainbow, entering into a fight over a young woman the spirit fell onto the cliff infusing the sands with its polychromatic splendour.

Originally known as Black Beach, Rainbow Beach was renamed after the coloured sands located near the town which lies to the south of Fraser Island.  From Rainbow Beach to Noosa spans 50km of pristine beaches and sand dunes.

We had a fabulous trip from Inskip all the way to Noosa where we sat and watched many Paragliding Surfing.

We drove off the beach into bushland which we had no idea where the road lead to, should we turn around or keep going? We stayed on the dirt track that eventually brought us out to a fairy that took us to the main land.  So all in all we had a very eventful day.

No drinking for me tonight I'm still not 100% so after dinner we all watched a movie and had a early night.

20-09-2012  Kay had to work and the boy stuffed around doing what ever boys do and I played with my photos till I got board and decided to join the guys who were drinking in the shed. 

Kay arrived home so we organised a BBQ dinner and Sam played and sang with his mother in the back ground playing the Congas & whatever else she had, I’m bugged if I know their names, but we had a wonderful night and hit the bed at a reasonable time.

21-09-2012  Kay was dropping Ken of at the airport so we were up and packed ready to leave, no hangover today we said our goodbyes and headed for Kilkivan.

See ya guys and thanks for a great few days.