A DAY ON THE CAPRICORN COAST....

My friend Eleonore needed  someone to pick her up from delivering her car for a service and she asked if I would be able to do it....

Since I was going to pick her up and neither of us had plans for the day, we decided that we would head to the beach and spend the day there...

We left town just after 8.30am and headed to Emu Park where we ended up at the "Jolt"Cafe for morning tea.

We grabbed a table outside and whilst Eleonore enjoyed a cappachino, I ordered a hot chocolate and we both had a small tart and cake for morning tea...  

We probably spent a good 45 minutes there walking down the street to check out Vinnie's.  Eleonore found some lovely 3/4 floral pants that she fell in love with but unfortunately they didn't fit her.  I picked up a little tray with koalas on it.  It was only $1 and I thought I could use it in the caravan when we go traveling...

A love this message outside of Vinnie's - it is so true...

After Vinnie's we  headed down to the boat ramp off Fisherman's Beach at Emu Park for a walk out along the sort of jetty there.  I always find the rocks fascinating around here.  They remind me a lot of the tessellated pavement that we saw in Tassie many years earlier...

A wall at Emu Park with Eleonore

Reminds me of the tessellated pavement in Tassie

Enjoying a beautiful day out together...

Fisherman's Beach at Emu Park....

A lovely couple we chatted to out on the jetty at Emu Park...

We met a couple of really love lot of tourists that were holiday at Emu Park.  Both couples were so friendly and spent quite a bit of time chatting to us.  We were feeling like tourists ourselves...

From  Emu Park we headed down the scenic drive towards Kemp Beach.  It was such a beautiful day that we decided to take the walk (or should I say climb) the Bluff Point Walk...

Crossing a walk off my bucket list...

 Twelve month ago I would never have dreamed of doing this walk..  but it is always one I have wanted to do... I had rung Chloe this morning to find out a little bit more about the walk and she informed me that there were two ways I could approach it.  It is a circuit track and the path that leads to the right was longer but had less steps and was a more gradual climb up so we decided to head up this way.  It was the nicer walk as when walking down the other side you have beautiful views looking out over Cooee Bay...

 The walk up was through pretty thick scrub but at least we were in the shade....  I was surprised at how easy the walk was for me and I didn't get to puffed...

 

 

 

 

 

There were patches of almost orchid like grass or plants growing along the sides of the tree.  It was thick and lush in places

Half way up the hill, there was a clearing in the shrub and you could look out over the plains below..

We were only about half way up so still had a long way to go until we reached the top..

It is a lovely walk and once we got almost too the top we came out though of the bush onto a grassed area where we had amazing views down onto Mulumbin Beach towards the causeway....  Just as we came out of the scrub we met another lovely couple whom we had a chat to who also were enjoying the glorious day and were also in awe of the amazing scenery.   In fact we had a lovely conversation with them, as there was no doubt in any of our minds that all this beauty did not just exist that it didn't invent itself.  Common sense would have to tell you that it was created....    They were just a lovely bright happy couple and it was so nice chatting to them.  Strangers who brighten and lightened out day...

We made it to the top.....

From the top the views were amazing,  it didn't matter where you looked, looking down the coast you had stunning views of Mulumbin Beach and the Causeway and then looking in the other direction where stunning views of Kemp Beach and Roslyn Bay.. and then looking out to see you have the views of the many islands that dotted the coastline....  There was a park bench up there and we sat for quite a while taking it all in and appreciating the beauty and at the same time being so thankful to our Creator for his wonderful craftmanship in creating such a beautiful environment in which we live...

Stunning views over Kemp Beach to Roslyn Bay

I made it to the top....

Could of sat up here all day admiring this amazing view

We met another couple up here that had just come from the opposite direction and were telling us about the beautiful little red back fairy wrens they had just seen.  They also told us that they had seen quite a few turtles swimming in the water below so we were hoping that we would also see some of the beautiful little birds and turtles also...

 

The little red back fairy wrens we saw flying around at the top of the Bluff....

 

We also saw quite a few wild flowers up along the track...  

I think I am only just starting to appreciate the  many little flowers that we see growing in the bush in Qld... We obviously have more here in Qld than I have previously noticed...

 

 

 

 

We had definitely walked up the right track to the top, as the views we enjoyed as we headed back down were amazing... had we have come up this way, all of this beauty would have been at behind us as we climbed... 

The track winds on...

We diverted off the track down to a little viewing platform to see if we could spot the turtles swimming below.  We managed to catch sight of at least two or three of them. 

Eleonore on the viewing platform looking for the turtles below....

This platform also offers amazing views of the volcanic rocks which line this coastline...

The views of the islands here were also beautiful, with one of the islands very close to the coastline here...

I found the walk down hard going... Not that it was a particularly hard walk but it was quite steep with lots of stairs.  Now with my bung knee, this was quite hard as the steps were all different sizes, some quite steep but all of them uneven, and it seems in the steepest parts there was no hand rail.  A hand rail would have helped in that I could have used the rail to take some of the weight off my knee...

Ultimately I think it would be better for my knee if I had gone up the stairs and come back down on the other side.   Still I have no regrets going the other way as the views were amazing and even though my knee was very sore I have no regrets having gone up from the right path...

Once we got back to the car, I noticed that there was a note under my windscreen wiper.... I grabbed it and was very surprised to find that it was a letter of kindness, a random stranger who had posted it under my windscreen to let me know that I was valued....  this person's kindness totally made our day...

The note that was placed on our windscreen... it made our day...

From here we headed to Wreck Point to check out the Lookout there.  I had read that they had also done up this area with funding from Cyclone Marcia... It has been a long time since I had visited this lookout...

 

The Wreck Point scenic lookout is located in Cooee Bay and  gives 360 degree views of the Capricorn Coast and Keppel Bay.

It is only a short drive from the Yeppoon town centre.  The Wreck Point Scenic Lookout has undergone  an upgrade  in the last couple of years with a new viewing platform installed  along with a walking trail and interactive artwork added to the lower section of the headland below the main lookout.

 

 

 

Wreck Point Lookout...

 

View from the Lookout out over Cooee Bay

Views of Lammermoor Beach from  Wreck Point...

 

 

Heading down to check out the Selina symbolic sculpture artwork...

 

 Just below the lookout there is a wreck sculpture which stands to remind us of the Selina Shipwreck off the coast at this point...

The central focus of the walking trail features the symbolic shipwreck sculpture and an interpretive panel telling the story of the Selina.

Selina was a ship wrecked and found in 1848 after which Wreck Point was named.  The new addition showcases the rich history of the point with artwork constructed in the form of a symbolic representation of the famous ‘Selina’ shipwreck.  Selina, a transport schooner, washed up on the shores of the coast cliff on it’s maiden journey from Brisbane in 1847. With disaster hitting early on the journey, the Selina lost its crew and wandered for thousands of nautical miles in a huge circle near the Victorian Coast before heading towards New Zealand.  The ship was finally wrecked on the Capricorn Coast, which in turn dubbed the area Wreck Point.

The lookout  rally does provide a positive visitor experience through a design that complements and integrates with the natural environment.  It is a great spot to visit and really take in the beauty of Yeppoon and the Keppel Islands. 

The work here is not yet finished with future pathways planned to connect the lookouts to Cooee Bay Beach and Lammermoor Beach when funding becomes available.  

Wildflowers growing along the foreshore at the coast here...

By now it was after 1.30pm and we still had not had lunch, so thought we would drive into Yeppoon and go to "SALT"for lunch.  When we got there they had looked like they had closed down as everything was stacked away inside the building and it definitely wasn't open.  Eleonore suggested that we head over to the Yeppoon Lagoon for lunch instead...

It has been a while since I have been there for lunch but it was every bit as good as I remembered it from the last time I had visited a little over a year earlier...

Art work on the public toilets near the Yeppoon Lagoon..

Heading to the Yeppoon Lagoon for Lunch

 

We both ordered Calamari with Aoili Sauce and chips for lunch.  In hindsight we should have ordered just one meal and shared it between us.  The meal was huge with 8 large calamari rings with a heap of chip.  Total cost was only $10...

 

 

 

 

 

8 large calamari rings in our lunch box....

Eleonore enjoying her lunch

Lunch - large serving would feed two people...

By the time we had finished lunch it was after 2.30pm.. We left around 2.45pm to drive into Yeppoon before heading back into town.  We were going to check out Picko's Nursery but had run out of time today so thought we would leave that until our next visit to the coast at which time we would try and see if another of our friends who loves to garden would like to come with us....

 

We left soon after this to head home.  I dropped Eleonore off to pick up her car and then arrived home close to 4pm...

 

On arriving home I notice that there were quite a few more blooms out in my garden and being the first day of Spring I was keen to check out my garden.  It is a palette of colour at the moment and just being out in the garden makes me feel so happy.. 

My garden is my happy place at the moment.  I enjoy walking out each day and spending time in it and checking out the new blooms that are opening up each day....  I am loving all my beauitful pansies and viola's at the moment.  The colours are so rich and so vibrant and again it reminds me of our marvellous our Creator is.