Goodbye Bargara and on to Hervey Bay – our jumping point for K’gari. I told Chris that I wanted to stop and see the town of Childers on the way. According to a tourist brochure I read “Childers is the beating heart of the regional food bowl and still famous for its old world charm.”

My reputation for choosing towns to stop in was a bit tarnished after our Gin Gin visit so I had some work to do to regain my itinerary planning reputation.

First thing we saw as we drove into town was The Peanut Van. Good start because Chris loves peanuts.

There were many many flavours and we were allowed to taste.

We parked the van in a side street and wandered to the main street. Next stop was a cafe called Insane Caffeine. A gorgeous rustic and artistic cafe. And the red velvet cake tasted as good as it looked. If I wasn’t redeemed by the peanut truck and this cafe there was no hope.

The main street was pumping and I got the best vibes from this town. Even the bank, hardware store and post office were cute.

I think you can tell a lot about a town by the community notice board. I always look. The Bonsai show. The pink ribbon morning tea. Computer help and fresh goat’s milk. It’s all hapening. And that’s not all, the beautiful theatre / cafe has upcoming shows from the olden (ish) days.

I said to Chris OMG I need to move here. I’ve found our retirement place. I love it. I know there’s no beach but this is such a good community…

I continued to dream of retiring at Childers while we walked along. Admittedly I’m quite far off retiring and I do say this about many towns, but this time I really meant it. While we wandered we came across possibly the most impressive RSL display I’ve ever seen.

One of our last visits was the to Childers Arts Space which incorporates the Palace Backpacker Memorial and an art gallery. The memorial is at site of the rebuilt Palace Hotel that was was destroyed by a deliberately lit fire in 2000, killing 15 backpackers.

I remember that fire so clearly, it wasn’t long after my backpacking days and I was could not imagine the horror. When I backpacked dad would say to me “make sure you know how to get out if there’s a fire” because his mother’s family home had burned down. I really didn’t take much notice at the time. When the Childers fire happened, and I found out that the emergency exit was blocked by bunks in one room, it really hit home to me. When I stay in a hotel now I always check the exits. I didn’t take photos of the memorial, there is a sign asking not to out of respect, but it is beautifully done and very sobering.

The memorial is co-located with an arts space. On display was a range of work by local artists who belong to a local art group. Each was accompanied by a little article on what being a member of the art group meant to them. Life changing for some people. Again, I found myself inspired by the sense of community in this town.

The last stop was to the Old Pharmacy. It is the site of the original pharmacy, and it is full of relics from the past. Amazing curation of old pharmacy things. There were two volunteers working there. I was telling one volunteer about how it seemed like such a sense of community in the town – she said I don’t live here I live in another nearby town. She asked the other volunteer about it who said “I wouldn’t know. I keep to myself. I live next to ferals with loud kids.” Oh.

As we left town I was walking past one of those discount store type places and I saw this material! What a blast from the past. If you grew up in the 70s or 80s in Australia you would have had at least one friend with that doona cover. And last stop an op shop where I found these glasses for $2. When a girlfriend pops over to my house we can drink out of extra fancy glasses. Just have to get them back to Melbourne without breaking might not have thought that through.

On our way out of town we dropped into Vintner’s Secret Vineyard. It is only a couple of minutes from the main street and has plenty of room to park the car and caravan. What a find.

We enjoyed chatting with Edward the owner as we tasted the lovely wines. I loved Edward’s story too. Edward said they had only really driven through the town, but his wife said I want to move there. They drove up to look at properties, and ended up buying a vineyard. I loved that they barely knew the town before they bought. I felt the same way about Childers.

It was so tranquil sitting in the yard sipping our glass of wine and looking out across the property. The house and tasting area is surrounded by gardens and knick knacks and trees and all manner of quirky things not in a style I normally like, but it just all works together. It seemed every time I turned my head there was something to look at. It is obviously a labour of love and we really enjoyed it.

Finally we were off to Hervey Bay. A couple we met along the way told us they got shoes stolen at Hervey Bay and said lock up your things. We received a text message from the caravan park along the lines of lock up your things. I wondered what to expect from Hervey Bay and we were pleasantly surprised.

We stayed at the Torquay Beachfront Caravan park. It was a tight squeeze to back the caravan in but absolutely worth it. Truly beachfront. A shame we arrived quite late would have been nice to enjoy it a bit longer.

As the sun went down I wandered along the beach to take photos. There were lots of people out and about.

It never ceases to amaze me what a difference a few minutes can make with the timing.

And finally after our big day we realised we needed snacks and petrol for our three day trip to K’gari. We headed out to find a supermarket. We went to a Fresh and Save. I’ve never heard of this supermarket chain before. It was huge like a Costco but no membership required and not bulk foods. A lot of things were cheap. I kept saying to Chris ‘ooohh look at this price.’ I hope they come to Melbourne.

They sold roast chickens so we had that for an easy caravan dinner. Yum. Time for bed.