We farewelled Rose and Dave this morning…sad to see them leave after travelling together for the last 3 months….Dave packed up early….

The last group photos were taken…

Rosie got in the last animal feeding (forbidden but what does that matter???!!) with the local baby emu…who was as good as  Rosie working the camera- he had the right foot and head action…

Branch was sad to see them go and even considered a trip as bonnet ornament – but changed his mind as there was too much work involved with the Wells van – leave that to Poppy the apprentice!

A near-Branch episode occurred as they were leaving- the TV aerial was still up – but averted at the ninth-hour by Dave!

Dave went out hot…skidding along the dirt road on the exit from Hidden Valley ….we would all be missing the Toyota precision driving team!!

Trev and Gordie were keen to go to Rainbow Beach to take the 4WDs on the sand so we were up early and drove to Tewantin to catch the vehicular Ferry to Cooloola.

There were bushfires burning in the Cooloola area so we stopped at the ranger station before the ferry to check on access etc. All was good – just no camping allowed as the fires were still active – and the drive along the beach and up over the point to Rainbow Beach was all open.

The ferry ride took all of 2 minutes and we then drove to the 3^rd access point and let the tyres down before driving on to Teewah beach.

The tide was right out and the sand was hard so we made our way along the 51kms to the point fairly quickly…

the coloured sandhills were beautiful…..

we saw the bushfires burning close up on the hills and the rural fire service was grabbing some seawater to take in the fight the fire.

Surf rolled in – crystal clear water and smooth white sand on the never-ending beach….or so it seemed! The day was a bit windy and the waves were being whipped up into a hit of a choppy mess..

Arriving at the Leisha track that went across Double Island Point to Rainbow beach Gordie went first and nearly got the Titan bogged in the soft sand but managed to get up the ramp and on to level ground where he let the tyres down a bit more….

We had hardly seen a car on Teewah Beach  but as we came over the rise on to Rainbow Beach there was a plethora of 4WDs parked along the beach!!! The beach was protected from the wind and the surf was smooth – albeit small.

After parking the cars we jumped in for a swim and Trev took his new surfboard – aptly named the “Peanut” – for its maiden voyage – not too successful due to the small waves but a bit of fun nevertheless…

The water was amazingly clear and warm…

and the coloured sand cliffs of Rainbow Beach made a spectacular backdrop.

We relaxed and swam for a while….

Trev used his portable shower to wash off the salt…Gordie revelled in the freshwater shower as always!!

then made the journey back to Noosa along Teewah Beach before the tide became too high to pass…

Back in Noosa we walked along the boardwalk through the national park looking at the various surfing spots…..

Gordie found an unusual surfboard to ride…

The boiling pot was aptly named….

We returned back to camp for our last dinner together…Gordie and Kerry were leaving in the morning to head for Brisbane to get the Titan serviced at SCD…