If you don't get rain, you don't get Rainbow Beach!

We made a decision early on to stay off the main Highways and Motorways, just so we could see more of the country side.  Most times this is the right choice, but sometimes, like our Kenilworth forrest adventure, it can be a worrying choice.  Well once again the bitumen disappeared and we are on the corrugated roads at the back of a place called Wolvi.  The main problem is you don't know how long the roads will be like this, if they will get worse or even if you should turn around and find a different route.  But just when you think everything is going to rattle off the old van, you see the bitumen again and the choice is vindicated.  Wolvi is a lovely little country town so close to the coastline and rivers with lush green beautiful paddocks and hills full of fat cows and horses you'd think that you were in high hinterlands.  It's perfect if you were wanting a bit of everything...Rainbow Beach just up the way or a quiet country secluded life.

We left the Sunny coast for a week long trip up to Rainbow Beach. We had called in there before, but the weather had been crap and it was school holidays so now it was back there for some more R & R.  Rainbow Beach is 75klms east of Gympie and is an amazing expanse of sand and ocean.  Unfortunately the Hiace isn't 4WD, as your exploration of this area would last for weeks. Its one of those great but disappearing Queensland beaches that you can drive on, allowing you to find your own little piece of privacy.  But we didn't have that luxury, so we struggled with perfect weather. There was however a wall of photos in the pub and shops showing all the recoveries of vehicles that had succumbed to inept drivers not knowing when the tides come in or just plain stupid, driving through the water and not realising that the sand is not as hard as they had been driving on earlier in the day!!  Very amusing - especially to the locals we're sure!

View from the van

We checked in to the caravan park and managed to get the front row - millionaires avenue, for $35 a night.  Rainbow is going ahead and is a very popular place for the social set. The Rainbow Beach Hotel has gone from an old style weatherboard pub full of character which got demolished and replaced with a Lounge Bar you would find in New Farm.  Jamie & I gave ourselves several CLOSE inspections of the RBH, so we are experts.

Our little blue home with the same view as the 6 star units at a fraction of the price!

This was our first opportunity since to put our new surfboard in the water, so our days were mainly falling off, but laughing the whole time.  We think we are improving but it is a slow process. Especially for Jamie!

Le Hotel Bell

When we started off on our adventure, we always knew sleeping in a van would give us a different outlook on lots of things we take for granted.  When you are used to a nice place to live, with all the mod cons then you jump in a blue Hiace, which has no a/c or power steering, things will change.  One camp ground we stayed at had a sign as you entered the shower: "PLEASE WEAR APPROPRIATE FOOTWEAR". For the uninitiated, that means it is strongly advised you wear rubber thongs into the shower!!  Yeah that takes some getting used to.  Communal toilets are par for the course, but gee you do miss having a little privacy!  

Cath and Jamie....and a real Glass!!

As we mentioned earlier, we did try and bring our nice GLASS wine glasses, but they were short lived.  Drinking out of plastic is just another small sacrifice we have had to make. (I know, I know...poor us). One-pot cooking is also a novel way to prepare meals.  Again Jamie & I are pretty keen on our tucker, and I have a knack of using every bowl, dish, pot and pan when I am cooking.  So cutting this back to one pot and a pan is tricky.  Slow cooked casseroles or my favourite, risotto, is pretty much a thing of the past....

...unless you have access to a comfortable, spacious, swanky house.  Which, thankfully, we do.  We refer to Archie & Cath Bell's lovely abode as "Le Hotel Bell", because honestly that is what it is like.  The Bells are the nicest people you could meet.  Nothing is a bother and they are probably both nutters, which happens to match perfectly with us.  Oh...and they love a drink....out of GLASS!  Say no more.  The house is freshly renovated, with a heated pool, our own toilet and a shower which is a thong free zone.  There is a massive outdoor area with Fox, BBQ and Jamie's favourite, a heater!  They let me cook and make a mess, so it is very hard to leave.  Oh and they are smack in the middle of the Sunny coast, so its sensational.

Uummm.....yep! Ramon, Harps, Arch & Cath having a social drink?

But the real reason we love it here is their "kids", Bruce & Betty (Boo Boo) - the Staffies! Who, just when you thought it couldn't be any more blissful, have just had 3 of the most gorgeous puppies which reduce adults to goo!  So while we are able to go away for our little adventures in our van and take in all the Sunshine Coast has to offer, it is great to be able to slip back into some normality and use a kitchen, have a shower sans thongs and then play with the pups until they pee on you.

Handsome Bruce at the card table

Love your work Brucey!

Betty cuddling up with mummy's boy Razz.

Dinny, Toy & Razz.