Here We Go Again - Chapter 5 - Maroochydore to Woodford

Saturday morning and that brings with it a lot of things. A sleep in should be one of them for us “empty nesters” not required to ferry kids to sport. Silver Schoolies looking to reduce girth size are out (and that means me) for a walk early in the morning air. The air is crisp and thankfully windless as I expect to get up a bit of a sweat, I leave my coat behind. 

The surf has picked up and on the rise. We walk the more solid sand nearer to the water and are almost swamped by the “one big wave”. . The morning is dull, the surf has risen somewhat from last night and surfers are out getting dumped in the bigger swell. 

There is a solitary swimmer trying to body surf the waves and not doing too bad a job of it easier yet my mind is taken back to an invention a long since departed of this world, old client of mine Michael Sichel MD, an extraordinary minded man, who invented a swimsuit to allow swimmers to body surf with ease. It was a wet suit with a boat hull like piece of foam stuffed inthe font and the buoyancy allowed for much easier body surfing. Bulky and cumbersome, it never took on but I saw him in his heyday he was surfing as well as any body-border but without a board.

Its a dull morning. With the sun streaming below the grey clouds the reflection on the water is a silver streak all the way to the horizon. I take some pictures to capture the scene. 

About half way from the steps from the caravan park entrance to the beach and the breakwater is Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club. There is a coffee shop here but we have both left our wallets in the van, seeking to remove as much weight as possible to allow for the most speed of walking. The life guards are on duty, the flags are out. It seems odd that the tower from which they can view the water is oblique from the flags and the water they want to protect the swimmers in. No matter there are no swimmers in the water at the moment we walk past, 

As we further ventrie along the beach there is evidence of the turgid tranquility of the ocean. Its a paradox. You can sit and watch the tranquility of the ocean, albeit with the surf up and not envisage the life and death struggle that occurs beneath the waves. The evidence is the pipi shells, devoid of their inhabitants strewn across the shore line having been devoured by something bigger. Its the circle of life. 

Towards the end of the beach are man made “groynes” which are made of sand filled bags rather than the rock structures of Botany Bay. Here to protect the sand, they make for excellent s=fishing platforms, even if there are signs suggesting prohibition. We meet a mother and son out for an early fish on the rising tide. Armed with tackle and some beach worms they are just getting started as we pass. Unsure of their targets when asked I suspect they are chasing whiting or flathead. We wish the good luck and head on.

We are accosted by a very large Rottweiler pup with a stick. Its owner not far behind is happy that we seek to pat the dog and entices me to throw the stick, which I do but the pup is more interested in another dog down the beach and bounds off. 

The surf is large enough for several boardfers to be trying the break across the bar. Later on our return Silver Leader had tried as well and not finding it suitable movers across the poperning of the river and managed a few good “dumpings” for his trouble. 

We turn and return to the park. Yesterday afternoon’s “bug in” assistants are up and eating breakfast on our return. They have broken the curfew in Melbourne and taken the 15 hour drive to be in Queensland before the borders are closed. Not sure about the morality of the decision, but they are here. Robyn the eternal glass half empty person gave them a wide berth trusting nothing Covid related will curtail our time on the road. 

Yesterday I had given them some of the samples Robyn had been offered by Jeerks the Beef Jerky people. They had been so impressed Joe was trying to supply me with a significant amount of Gentleman Jack for my troubles. 

We breakfast and bug out, but not before checking in with Silver Leader and Forbsy. They are going to do the wander around Noosa for the day and head to Woodford tomorrow for the Secret Mans Business Dinner. Its on the road and the GPS takes us along the beach. A seemingly big mistake for a Saturday morning as the weekend crowd jostle for parking spots for either their favorite coffee location or surf spot. 

With the caravan on its a painful drive to the motorway which Robyn notes at its start is only a single lane and 60kph – not much of a motorway. 

Its probably going to be about an hour’s drive according to the GPS, straight towards the Glass House Mountains. Perhaps today Robyn will be able to snap shots of them rather than vast tracts of pine trees as was the case yesterday. 

We almost dont make it. 

Coming down a rise in a 100kph area towards an intersection a car turns into the traffic from the cross road. I jump on everything to attempt to stop. I cannot go around because there is traffic coming the other way. I gain “control” very close to the rear of the little red car, and watching their reaction, they seem oblivious as they simply continue their conversation. Not only that their acceleration to the speed limit takes more than a kilometre and then beyond and they drive away. 

Where do some people get their licenses???? 

The destination for today is a farm in the hinterland adjacent to Woodford. Owned by a mate and business associate, Wallie and his wife Suzy have lived here for many years. Its a majestic

holding of 100 acres of pasture with a self-sufficient house, off the grid and devoid of town water. Wallie has prepared a campground with fire and barbeque facilities. He suggests the vans be parked close to the setting but I opt for a sunlit area to preserve the power in the van. 

Immediately we break out the chairs and congregate around the fire. Its not cold but the fire is welcome. 

Suzy is not in residence. She is presently in hospital, we are led to believe having caught a virus from the red wallabies she has been feeding. The ailment has been quite debilitating. She will be joining us tomorrow after the malaise that is the medical system in this country has been circumvented. 

Apparently if you are in a private medical fund, practitioners will not come to this remote location for the life saving assistance she needs but were they to be in the public system it would have been no issue. The circumvention comes in the form of using their son’s house, closer to town which the private medicos will attend, then transferring home for the night and returning for the next day to her son’s address. It seems odd that you pay health insurance for all that time and when you need it, its actually better not to be insured. Tell me how that is fair. 

Wallie talks of the Secret Men’s Business Club and how they solve the world’s problems but on return to their wives are short on the memory of how. Funny what alcohol can do. 

While Wallie is away his neighbours wander by spraying weeds like lantana in a vain attempt to control the spread. One wonders, given they know of the arrival of the three intrepid vanners, it was actually prudent to be spraying the poison at this time. 

Wallie is an enigma in himself. Still waiting after more than 30 years to be an “overnight success” he is the preeminent export in water from the air technology. He invested and patented the technology that can extract water from the atmosphere (at a reasonable cost, unlike some of those who have tried to copy) but the technology, although known and admired across the world, has not taken off. 

When talking to Wallie, there are always big things in the wind, but the gale turns to a zephyr and then dissipates altogether. His business (in which I have a financial interest) World Environmental Solutions, creates Mulitgen outcomes. Installations in Wagga and Albury TAFE’s installed many years ago and still operational, generate cheap electricity through the use of a turbine. By products of this machine are free air-conditioning and WATER. 

There is also other machinery doing just water production, and because it’s from the air and filtered through the machine it is about as pure as you can get. 

Wallie sells enough units to get by, but its the recognition, organisations like WHO (the World Health Organisation) afford him that bely the success of the technology. In a world where money talks and bull shit walks we have seen many a fast talking salesperson supposedly with orders,

many of who see so much potential in the business they were to buy in (for nothing usually) but to date they have all gone by the wayside. 

No person deserves success more than Wallie. 

The fire has been stoked many times and as the darkness falls its attempts to allay the night temperature drop are failing. The darkness here is pitch. There are no ambient lights, only the coals of the fire. Time to retire to the van for dinner and bed.