Our plane from Hervey Bay to Brisbane
We are now getting pretty expert at checking in and tagging our bags, they have a very good system here which cuts down any queuing. We left Sydney in bright sunshine but by the time we landed in Brisbane the sun had disappeared and the sky was grey. After a short wait it was time to board our flight to Hervey Bay. Our transport was a 48 seater, twin propeller Dash 8, a marked contrast to our flight from London to Singapore in the huge A380! Although it was only a 50 minute flight we were served with nibbles and 2 generous glasses of red wine so we were feeling pretty happy when we landed! Although we had booked a hire car for the week we weren't able to pick it up at 5.45pm as the hire place shut at 5.30pm! I had booked a seat on the shuttle to our accommodation and the car was to be delivered there the next morning. The shuttle was just a small bus and there were only four of us on it so there was plenty of room for all our baggage. We were soon at the Silver Sands which was to be our home for the next week. I had booked it online and looked at its situation on Google Earth and happily it all looked good. Silver Sands is a small block of just 10 2 bed apartments with a pool and BBQ area. It is situated in the Torquay area of Hervey Bay and is just over the road from the beach.http://www.herveybay-silversands.com.au/default.h tm We were just a short walk from a couple of restaurants so were able to have dinner at an Italian restaurant after sorting ourselves out.
We are now getting pretty expert at checking in and tagging our bags, they have a very good system here which cuts down any queuing. We left Sydney in bright sunshine but by the time we landed in Brisbane the sun had disappeared and the sky was grey. After a short wait it was time to board our flight to Hervey Bay. Our transport was a 48 seater, twin propeller Dash 8, a marked contrast to our flight from London to Singapore in the huge A380! Although it was only a 50 minute flight we were served with nibbles and 2 generous glasses of red wine so we were feeling pretty happy when we landed! Although we had booked a hire car for the week we weren't able to pick it up at 5.45pm as the hire place shut at 5.30pm! I had booked a seat on the shuttle to our accommodation and the car was to be delivered there the next morning. The shuttle was just a small bus and there were only four of us on it so there was plenty of room for all our baggage. We were soon at the Silver Sands which was to be our home for the next week. I had booked it online and looked at its situation on Google Earth and happily it all looked good. Silver Sands is a small block of just 10 2 bed apartments with a pool and BBQ area. It is situated in the Torquay area of Hervey Bay and is just over the road from the beach.http://www.herveybay-silversands.com.au/default.h tm We were just a short walk from a couple of restaurants so were able to have dinner at an Italian restaurant after sorting ourselves out.
Next morning we were surprised to find a note on our door to say that our car had been delivered (before 8am!) and to call the hire company who would come back with the key. Once we had the key we wanted to go to the supermarket and get in some supplies but could not start the car. After seeking the help of the owners of our apartments and some of the other residents we still could not find a way to start the car. I rang the hire company again and was told that they had forgot to tell us that it was a childproof precaution and that we had to depress the clutch when we start the car. A quite frustrating start to our day.!!
Hervey Bay is made up of 4 areas, Uragan, Torquay, Scarness and Pialba. Pialba is the main town area with a shopping centre, supermarkets and lots of shops. We went to Woolworths supermarket and shopped for supplies before going back “home” for lunch.
Our main reason for coming here was that when I had finally found my birth mother she was living in Pialba but had died just after I had found out her whereabouts. I had always wanted to visit the place where she had spent her final years and at last I had made it. Before we left France I had e mailed the editor of the local paper asking if he could be any help in tracing anyone who had known her. He put my e mail in the form of a letter to the editor and a couple of weeks later I received the following e mail.
Doreen,
I don't know if you received any response to your letter in the Fraser Coast Chronicle 29-12-11 but I read it and have kept it to reply.
I did not know Dorothy but for the past 14 years I have run an annual get together of original bayites called the 'Golden Originals' held at and supported by the Hervey Bay RSL.
I don't know if you received any response to your letter in the Fraser Coast Chronicle 29-12-11 but I read it and have kept it to reply.
I did not know Dorothy but for the past 14 years I have run an annual get together of original bayites called the 'Golden Originals' held at and supported by the Hervey Bay RSL.
If you want to contact me, I can send you an invitation for the next 'GO's' to be held on Saturday, 11th February and we can ask the audience if anyone knew and can tell you about Dorothy.
The 'GO's' has grown from a small crowd of 38 people in June 1998 to 250 plus in February 2011.
I can understand your desire to learn about your Mum and if you cannot attend I could ask on your behalf and pass any information, names etc on to you.
Bev Cornwell
As we were not going to be here on the 11th I asked her if she would ask on my behalf and whilst we were staying in Olinda I received another e mail from Bev.
Hello Dee,
I read your request at my Golden Originals function last Saturday and no one put their hand up when I asked the question, "Did anyone know Dorothy Knight?"
But people talk and I have had several inquiries from two people and the last one was spot on, she was Dorothy's best friend.
Her name is Kay Clarke, Unit 1, 14 Beach Road, Pialba, phone number 07 41 243418 and the discription I gave her of your Mum from the photo in your email matched her perfectly.
I could tell you more of my conversation with Kay but I would rather you heard it from her, a lovely story and I am so excited for you and so pleased that I have been able to help.
I am sure when you visit Hervey Bay later this month you and Kay will have a lot of catching up to do.
Regards
Bev Cornwell
I read your request at my Golden Originals function last Saturday and no one put their hand up when I asked the question, "Did anyone know Dorothy Knight?"
But people talk and I have had several inquiries from two people and the last one was spot on, she was Dorothy's best friend.
Her name is Kay Clarke, Unit 1, 14 Beach Road, Pialba, phone number 07 41 243418 and the discription I gave her of your Mum from the photo in your email matched her perfectly.
I could tell you more of my conversation with Kay but I would rather you heard it from her, a lovely story and I am so excited for you and so pleased that I have been able to help.
I am sure when you visit Hervey Bay later this month you and Kay will have a lot of catching up to do.
Regards
Bev Cornwell
I phoned Kay on Friday afternoon and she suggested that we went for morning tea on Saturday. OK I said we will see you about 10.30 tomorrow, oh no she replied morning tea is at 10 o clock! Oops!. We were there at 10am prompt and were welcomed by Kay and her little dog, Tillie. Kay is a lovely lady, 84 years old and as bright as a button with a good sense of humour. She is a Kiwi but has lived in Hervey Bay for 19 years when she and her husband, who has since died, retired there. We soon felt at home and, over tea and home made pikelets, she started reminiscing about my mother who she had known as Dottie. Dottie had lived just over the road from Kay and several “girls”, including Dottie, met up at Kay's most afternoons for a chat and a glass or two of wine. Kay said that Dottie enjoyed her wine so that enjoyment of wine must be in my genes! It was so good to meet someone who had such good memories of my mother. Kay gave me a lovely framed photograph of Dottie that she had standing in pride of place in her sitting room, such a lovely gesture. We visited Kay again later in our stay and we both felt that we had been honoured to have met such a smashing lady.
The first four days of our stay here were quite dull but still very warm and plenty warm enough to make use of the pool. Pleasant enough too to walk along the beach and paddle in the shallows. The sea was very warm, warmer than the pool so I spent quite some time in the sea as well. One morning we had a tremendous tropical downpour which didn't last very long but we heard reports of flooding in NSW and in SE Queensland so that it seems that we were just on the edge of the bad weather.
We visited the botanical gardens which were, of course, much smaller than those in Sydney but never the less still very interesting. A lot of their area was just natural bushland and at one point a very large goanna (monitor lizard) crossed the path in front of us – quite a shock! There was a large lake with turtles and wetland area as well and of course the ever present Ibis.
The rest of our stay the sun came out and it was very hot so we were content to just enjoy our surroundings of the pool and the beach but we did make a trip to the Bayview Memorial Gardens
where there is a plaque in memory of Dottie.
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