Boys on the Beach and Kids sliding down Sand dunes.
Day 4
It had to happen. All good things must come to an end. Our time was up on Straddie. Mother Nature provided perfect weather and we packed up ‘dry’. We NEVER get to pack up dry. I think I saw Les shed a tear of happiness over this fact.
We attempted a few geocaches on the drive back to Dunwich with mixed success. Kady’s thongs were being held together by a plastic bread clip and Erin had decided that shoes were just too much effort. These facts mixed with hot sand and sun made for unfavourable geocaching conditions.
“Straddie” residents are very proud of their place and this is very obvious in the pride and effort that has gone into the museum. A minimal entry fee of $9 for all of us had us enthralled by tales of shipwrecks, Aboriginal history and asylums. Well worth the visit.
Before I left school I found out that two workmates would be on Straddie at the same time as me. Cathy and Helen. At lunchtime we went to the Little Ships club and Cathy was there! As we lined up in the car for the return barge, Helen was driving off the barge we were driving on to! Unbelievable.
April and Darren – thanks for inviting us over there. We met some great people.
We loved everything about North Stradbroke. You don’t need a lot of money to stay there or a lot of money to enjoy everything it has to offer. But seriously…let your tyres down!
9 comments
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Jim Buzacott
January 5, 2013 at 6:25 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
What a great way to end one year and start a new one. But we all know that what you experienced on Straddie, fantastic as it is, will be nothing compared to the next 4 or 5 or 6 years! They will be magical for you all.
Important things:
1. Have fun (as you always do).
2, Stay safe
3. Occasionally remember old friends back in Australia.
4′ Let us know – at least on a monthly basis – how many kilometres you have covered. That will allow me to put aside sponsorship money on a regular basis and not have a shock at the end of the first 6 months!!
Les Canfield
January 5, 2013 at 8:58 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Ah, Jim. At 5c per KM we almost have an ice block.
Jim Buzacott
January 6, 2013 at 7:59 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
I was thinking of your time in Europe and the UK. Not airline kms mind, but on the ground. I reckon in 4 months you could easily rack up 10000km (train travel is allowed). In Italy alone you will do more than 2000km, I reckon. Then there’s France and the Brirish Isles. That makes 40000km
So, at 5c per kilometre (that’s 1 c/km each + one for luck) that makes around $500 for the 4 months. If you did more, then that’s more you receive. Now if a few people got on board and sponsored you that would give you some emergency funds for your bike touring from 2014 to 20__.
Jim Buzacott
January 6, 2013 at 8:20 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Oops! Forget the part that says “That makes 40000km” because I had already multiplied by 4 for the four of you. The old brain is addled.
The maths in the second paragraph is correct.
Colin
January 6, 2013 at 10:43 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Sounds great, I’m going to have to go over.
How ‘cycle friendly’ do you think it would be?
Les Canfield
January 6, 2013 at 12:15 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Quite cycle friendly. Some long roads from a to b however generally it would be fine.
Main linking roads are 100 km/h do that may cause a bit of a situation.
Les Canfield
January 25, 2013 at 2:54 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hey col.
Yep it would be a really good island for biking. However the main road is a little quick being 100km/h and not much of a shoulder for bikes.
Nice spot though.
Jo Perrin
February 5, 2013 at 10:08 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hi Les, just enjoying reading your blog and re-living Straddie all over again. We just love the place too, and our plan is to visit every 2nd year. April and Darren are the Straddie experts, I too have a copy of their Straddie bible, and we have found it most useful, highlighting what we HAVE done, and planning to eventually have the whole list highlighted! Might take awhile!
We stayed for 10 nights, took 2 days to get home to Sydney (had to get home before the big 46 degree corker of a day), and apparently just missed out on monsoonal conditions.
Ah well, as they say, beautiful one day, perfect the next???
Or as we say, Monday one day, Tuesday the next.
Good luck with your travels,
Jo, Andrew, Natalie, Thomas.
Les Canfield
February 6, 2013 at 7:50 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hi Jo, oh it was just FANTASTIC. We love it and it was great meeting you all. I wish Stradbroke could have gone on for a couple of weeks. We are just getting everything finalised before the euro and uk tour. A couple of weeks and we will be there. Take it easy.
Les