Day 71 - Small World, Big Pineapple

Our last big (ish) drive today and therefore our last full day with the Sweat Box. We said goodbye to the Noosa caravan park and pootled to Hastings Street, the trendy touristy street we visited on day one, and picked up some artwork for the house (which makes it sound fancier than cheap prints of Australian animals).

Next stop was Eumundi Markets where Matt almost ran over the parking attendant which could have been a sour end to the camper adventure. Unlike the vast majority of the markets we've visited so far no one was shouting Missy Missy/Boss Man at us which was nice. There was a vast array of stores from psychics to a man selling ammo out of the back of a truck (?!) plus your more typical ones selling jewellery and smoothies. We had a bit of a binge for lunch. We both had empanadas (aka posh Greggs), Matt tried to take himself back to Vietnam with a banh mi and I had amazing calamari from a stall run by a couple from York where the other customer being served was also from that neck of the woods (today's 'it's a small world' event number one)

We hopped back into Sweaty and headed towards Brisbane. Unfortunately for Matt I'd spotted an important landmark we had to visit. No, not a geocache, but 'Queensland's most Southern biggest thing', also known as the Big Pineapple. Inside said big pineapple were two floors dedicated to displays about the growing and canning of pineapple sponsored by a canned pineapple company and a top food observation deck. There was a sign which said as the Big Pineapple was a heritage site they had to get permission to spruce it up. Permission clearly hadn't been granted yet as it was a bit run down but coolly kitsch. Inspired, I even styled my hair into a (small) pineapple to match.

Finally we did get to Brisbane and excitingly went to a DIY car wash and had fun cleaning Sweaty - not that he looks much better as most of what appeared to be dirt was chips and rust. Then even more excitingly we cleared out the camper and packed. Whilst drinking beer at least. Matt chatted to a guy to told us Byron Bay (our next main stop) is full of druggies, hippies and unemployed people and we watched loads of cockatiels in the tree above our freshly cleaned van. This is campsite living at its finest.

We bussed into town and went for tapas and drinks. Brisbane has a very pretty skyline and it's a shame we're not seeing much more of it before moving on to Surfer's Paradise tomorrow. On the bus home we did have Small World moment 2 though when one of the guys from our Fraser Island group tour got on. I know we're still in the same country but what are the odds? We had a quick chat before his stop and we managed to get off at the right place for our last night in the Camper Van. Eeeek it's becoming very scarily close to the end.Read more