Day 80 - Home Sweet Home

This morning we have a couple of things to do before we can leave Perth and head home.  We are all very excited to be back in WA and we love the fact that we know where we are going on the roads and we can buy a West Australian and finally a Farm Weekly.  I can't believe how the kids hay fever has kicked in almost as soon as we arrived home.  Since about Newman, they haven't suffered at all and as soon as we are back to Perth it starts up, and when we get back to the farm, it is 100 times worse.

So driving home was just great.  We couldn't believe how green everything still is and what a relief to see the crops looking so great.  Ron has done such a great job of looking after things for us while we have been away and our lawn is mowed and things look good.  First stop is Grandma's to see how she is and also to see the guinea pigs.  We gained 5 while we were away!!!!  So the kids were very excited to see the babies.

Then we finally get home to our house.  Walking into the house is so bizaar, it feels absolutely enormous and I think I might have the largest kitchen in Australia, I think it might actually be bigger than the entire caravan.  I can't wait to start cooking and using a full sized oven without having people under my feet!!!  The kids just love being in their rooms and being able to stretch their arms up in their beds without touching the roof above!!!  And the minute everything is out of the ute, Glen is off on a crop inspection.  He is very pleased with how things are looking, it is such a relief after the last couple of years.

So the first half of our adventure has finished. The planning stage took years and now the first half seems over in a flash.  Being home and looking back is when we realise how much we have done and how much we have seen.  Our relationship as a family has grown as we have all got to know each other so well, both the good and the bad, I think it will be an experience we will remember fondly for a long time.  We are thankful to be have a break in between journeys as 11 weeks was probably enough in a caravan.  By the time harvest is finished I know we will be looking forward to continuing on the second half of our journey at the end of January.

So I will sign off here.  Thanks everyone for following us on our travels, it has been so nice to know so many of you have been with us all the way.  We look forward to catching up with you all before we head off again and hear what you and your families have been up to.  So until January. Ciao!!!

Day 79 - Perth

Wow, no more sleeps.  I thought everyone would bound out of bed full of excitement this morning but, as we aren't leaving until lunch time, it is a pretty slow start.  It has been raining most of the night.  Luckily we are under cover as all our bags are lined up outside on the concrete, no room for luggage in the van, fortunately they are all dry when I got up to check in the middle of the night.  We have pretty much done everything we had to do yesterday, so it is a long morning.  Initially we had booked the flights thinking we would have to put the van and car in storage, so we had made the flights in the afternoon, however, staying with Glen's cousin and being about to store our van here, has been so great for us, we just have to lock up and head to the airport.

Elizabeth is kind enough to drive us, and fortunately there is just enough room for Cody, after we pack all our luggage into the back of the car.  We are all very excited about the flight home, except Glen.  For a pilot, he certainly isn't very good at flying in big planes.  And we are travelling on an Airbus on the way home which makes matters worse.  They haven't had a great wrap with the media of late, so Glen isn't particularly excited at all.  However, the airbus turns out to be awesome.  We just love Qantas, but the added bonus with this model is that every seat has it's own little tv screen and it has a massive selection of movies, tv shows including comedy, documentary, cooking shows, reality tv and a whole selection dedicated to children including interactive games.  Needless to say the 5 hrs and 30 min home is a breeze.

We are greeted at the airport by a very excited Mum and Dad.  Hugs and screams of excitement all round as it has been a long time between visits, as Mum and Dad left in their caravan in June and we only saw them briefly in August when our paths crossed.  They have also bought Glen's ute to to Perth for us.  The vehicle situation is going to be tricky for the next three months, with harvest in the mix, however the plan is that we will share Glen's ute temporarily and then buy a cheap second hand ute or car for myself and the kids to run around in, which we will then sell before we go back in January.

We head back to the unit for cuppas and a catch up.  It is so nice to see my parents again.  We are all very tired though, as air travel seems to do that to you, plus our bodies are two hours ahead of WA time, so we eventually hit the hay at about midnight, Queensland time, exhausted.  It is so strange though, to have the kids in different rooms, they hover around our room prior to bed and we check on them one more time than is necessary once they are all asleep!!

Day 78 - What to take and what to leave!!!

Today is busy.  How are we ever going to fit everything in, that we want to take home??  I have bought with me half my Tupperware cupboard, my favourite knives, cooking utensils etc but I can't take all these home.  Glen has also bought a lot of tools and the kids have packed heaps of toys, so some tough decisions have to be made about what we can do without for the next three months, until we come back to the van in January.  I wash all morning so we can come back to clean linen and the van gets a major going over.  It is very exciting but we are also nervous about leaving everything behind.  We are really looking forward to the openness of our house and the kids are so excited about getting back to their bedrooms, I just stress about our luggage weight limit and hope that everything goes smoothly with our flights.

I cook tea again for Elizabeth and Charles, as we are home all day, and we enjoy another evening meal at their house, lots of laugh, lots of wine and a very enjoyable "last night" in Queensland.

Day 77 - Dinner for two

Well, things are starting to get hectic now.  We are busily preparing for our return home.  I spent the morning at the shops, as you do when you are packing, I had to buy some much needed bags for the flight home, some clothes for Cody, as he seems to have grown out of all of his, some sneakers for all the kids, as the weather is so chilly and all their sneakers are totally trashed after hiking through gorges, mud crabbing and trekking through rain forests, so they have gone straight into the bin!!!!!!  And then of course I needed to buy myself another pair of jeans....yes....the next size up....I just hope they don't fit me for too long after I get home!!!!

In the afternoon, Glen hooks up the van and takes it to the local garage to get the bearings and other stuff checked out, then he comes home and proceeds to wash everything.  It is a productive day.  The kids are now getting very excited, only two more sleeps until we go home.

This evening it is our turn to go out for dinner.   Charles and Elizabeth have very kindly offered to feed the kids and look after then while we go out for a meal.  Our first evening alone since Mum and Dad looked after the kids when we were at Fitzroy Crossing at the beginning of August.  So,  once again I don the make-up and dig out the hair dryer.  I haven't had my hair cut since the beginning of July, so it is really scary, but hey, it is nice to be a hippy for a while.  Glen's jeans fit......it is so not fair!!!! ......so he is pretty happy with himself. We enjoy a beautiful meal at the local pub and reflect on what has been a fantastic trip.  It is so nice to just have a chat about all the places we have seen and how much fun it has been watching the children experience so many new things.  We know when we get home it is going to be so busy, so we really appreciate this time together.

Day 76 - Sea World

Today was a fairly early start.  Not only were we headed to Sea World which was about 80km south of Brisbane, we had decided to kill two birds with one stone and get the exhaust on the car replaced in Burleigh Heads, so we had to drop the car off first.  The Taipan dealership was based here and we had been having troubles with the exchaust since installation so they were going to replace it altogether.

So we arrived at Burleigh Heads at about 9am.  The theme parks don't open until 10am so there is really no rush to get there early.  We got a lone car then drove to Surfers Paradise which is where Sea World is.  We now had our VIP passes so we got through the gate pretty quickly.

The first thing we did was go to the Sea Lion show.  Very funny.  They had a fantastic setting and they basically acted out a little show so it was most enjoyable.

After this we headed to the dolphin show.  This was also fantastic, the kids had never seen anything like this before and they were just amazed.

Throughout the whole day there were shows to see and all sorts of feeding sessions to view.  There were also a couple of roller coasters and other rides for us to go on.  Glen managed to convince Tori to go on the roller coasters with her, I took Shannae and Cody to some smaller rides.  The kids enjoyed a wonderful ice-cream for afternoon tea, then we went and saw the shark tank and the polar bear enclosure, both of which had underground viewing galleries, we could have sat and watched through the glass for hours. And wouldn't you believe it.... during our wanderings we run into Trace's brother Darren, what a small world!!!  Great to see a familiar face.

Then, Mum made the whole family go on the mono rail around the park, because I thought we couldn't really leave without doing that, it was while we were travelling on this that we discovered Castaway Bay, which was this massive climbing obstacle course for the kids.  We couldn't believe we hadn't discovered it earlier, as we were about to head out the gate.  The children decided there and then that we will have to come back in January!!!!!

We watched an awesome jet ski show before heading out of the park and battling the traffic back to pick up the car.  It was a brilliant day.  There was just so much to see and do and the crowds weren't too bad, which made a big difference.

We picked up the car, then on the spare of the moment we decided to visit our travelling buddies, who we met in Broome, as they lived just around the corner.  It was great to see them again, they had been home for about a month now after travelling for about 9 months, so it was really nice to see how they had settled in and how they were coping with "life after the van"!!  It was a short visit but we made plans to catch up when we get back.  I don't know if the month of January is going to be long enough!!!

We then decided to get takeaway before tackling the hour and a half drive back to Samford Valley where we were staying.  We were all pretty exhasuted when we got home by about 8pm but what a great day.

Day 75 - Mt Glorious

Today was fairly slow after the footy grand final. We decided to go and have a look at Mt Glorious with Charles and Elizabeth, which was not far from where we are staying.  We went up to a lookout which was lovely, then did a walk through the rainforest, unbelievable how dense it was and cold!!!!!......I think it was about 10 degrees colder at the top of the mountain.  The kids loved the walk and little Eva, at only 2, did a great job of walking most of the way.

We looked for a nice spot in the sun for a picnic lunch which was very relaxing.   It was pretty cold but the sun gave us some welcome relief.  In the afternoon we all went home to have a much needed rest.  It had been a hectic few days with a lot of late nights.

This evening we got ready for our big day at Sea World tomorrow.  We were all very excited about that.

Day 74 - Footy Grand Final

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!!

Today we made plans with Charles and Elzabeth to have a barbi for the footy and catch up with Charles' brother Will and his wife Rosey.  It was a beautiful day.  Very fresh in the morning but a forecast of 27 so a great day for a barbi.  It was also great weather to get some overdue washing done, nice to just get some things sorted in the morning.  We went over to the house for lunch and to meet Will and Rosey.  It has been a long time since the boys have seen each other.  You wouldn't think the boys were all related.  Both Charles and Will are 6ft 3in, so next to Glen, they don't exactly look like cousins at all!!!!!

Anyway, we had lunch on the balcony overlooking some beautiful hills in the distance.  Then we enjoyed the footy, not really too concerned about the outcome!!!  The kids enjoyed a swim in the pool.  After the footy everyone headed down to the paddock to feed the animals, get some fresh air, have a run around and have a look at the van, then we headed back to the house for leftovers and a few more drinks just for good measure!!!  A great day.

Day 73 - Wet n Wild

Well, there was much debate over which theme park to hit first, particularly with the weather the way it was yesterday.  Of course the whole family, except me, wanted to go to Wet n Wild, I don't know.......I just thought it would be nice to go to a water park without having to wear our jumpers!!!!!  But when we woke up the sun was shining brightly and the temp was going to be 26 degrees, so I totally lost the vote and everyone got into their bathers.  We had a bit of a hike, as we are staying north of Brisbane and the theme parks are all south, 86km to be exact, but none of them open until 10am so we have opted to go from here rather than book into to a hotel down there, as we will only go to two this time and do the others when we get back in January.

We passed Dreamworld on the way and when we got closer we could see all the roller coaster rides of Movie world and all the water slides next door.  Gasps came from the back seats and they couldn't look at everything quickly enough, we had three very excited children on our hands.  When we got out of the car we could not believe the people, the car park was just crawling with people and the line to get in was overflowing down to the car park.  It was going to be a long day.

We waited in line for about 30min before we had to get our photos taken for our VIP passes, then once through the gate I waited in line again for about 10 min to get a locker to put our valuables in, then I thought we had better do the loo before we start so we waited in line for about 15min for that, then finally ........yay.......we could hit one of the rides, so we raced up to the entrance of the first water slide where we waited 60min in line to go down our first slide which took about 10 seconds!!!!  "Suck it up" I was told, it was just going to be one of those days.  I'm glad we bought our own food and didn't have to line up for that as well.  We tackled as many rides as we could throughout the day.


The park is very similar to Adventure World but much bigger and with some much scarier rides.  Tori and Glen tackled some real adrenalin pumping slides while I took Shannae and Cody to some more sedate stuff!!!!  We had all our gear in one location which was our meeting place for the day.  Shannae and I lost track of Cody at one point and I thought I was going to have to put out a missing persons ad, however, we went back to where all our gear was and he was sitting there waiting for us as we had instructed them to do if they got lost.  I was amazed that he was able to find his way back amongst the thousands of people, but he wasn't stressed about it at all.  At about 4pm the park seemed to empty a little so that was probably the best part of the day as we were able to go on one of the rides with a big triple person tube, a couple of times with the whole family so that was great.

Anyway, we left when the place closed at 5pm thinking we will probably come back again in January hopefully out of school holidays, as our passes allow us unlimited entry until June.  We got home as quickly as we could as we had planned to babysit for Elizabeth and Charles so they could go out for dinner.  They had offered to do this for us originally, which we thought was just lovely and we will take them up on the offer before we leave, but we thought they too might also enjoy a night out so tonight was their night.  The kids all get on so well and it was nice to be able to sit in a lounge room and watch tv for the evening and make a cuppa in a real kitchen!!!!

Day 72 - Brisbane

I am having major problems with this blog as it won't publish and I am having to retype whole posts as it hasn't saved, so if I stop all of a sudden it is because I no longer have the patience to persevere with the "errors" or it has completely died on me!!!!!!  I will do my best though, it seems to be happier first thing in the morning, but not for long!!!!

We woke up to an even colder morning this morning with rain threatening.  All the jeans came out of the wardrobe for the first time as we got ready to go into Brisbane and do some site seeing.  I managed to squeeze into mine which I was pretty happy about, as long as I didn't breath to deeply or eat for the day they fit perfectly!!!!!

We drove down to South bank and had a wander along there.  What an awesome spot, a variety of pools and numerous eateries and shops.  We couldn't believe people were actually swimming as it was starting to rain and we were all freezing but there were people in the water and others laying on the lawn in their bikinis, we were amazed.  Not even our little mermaid wanted to go in the water.

We caught the City Cat to have a look up the river, what a fantastic public transport system, they catch the ferry over here like a bus, it takes you from one side of the river to the other, all the way up to the Queensland University and then back the other way to residential areas.  We hopped off on the other side of the river so we could have look down town, walked to the mall to find somewhere for lunch, miserable weather so it wasn't much fun.  The kids had been harassing us for ages that they wanted McDonalds, we walked past all these lovely little cafes and bistros in the middle of the mall but McDonalds won and Glen and I put the restaurants on our list of things to do when we come back without the kids!!!!!!

Anyway, we hopped back on the ferry and did the other end of the river before heading home.  A shame it was raining however, it is the first wet day we have had so I shouldn't complain.  We decided to cook Elizabeth and Charles dinner tonight as they were both working and with two little kids it gets a bit hectic so I was really happy to be able to get home in time to do that for them.  We had another lovely evening with them sitting around talking until late.  It has been so nice to catch up.

Day 71 - Making a plan

This is the view from our van at Charles and Elizabeth's.

Today we spent most of the day at the van organising our week ahead.  It is quite cold here.  Our winter clothes are very limited and they have shrunk over the last 10 weeks, so we don't have a lot to wear.  The weather is a shock to the system and all the long clothes come out for sleeping in at night.

So the day is spent making phone calls and plans to get the exhaust on the car replaced, maintenance done on the van, footy grand final lunch and of course when to visit the theme parks.  It is a lovely spot where we are and very relaxing.  Glen and I take it in turns to go down the street and the kids enjoy the animals and the open spaces.

Day 70 - Brisbane

Today was a slow start.  For some reason, everyone wanted to chat to us while we were trying to pack up to leave.  A couple we had met in Hervey Bay pulled in next to us yesterday, they were lovely and he just wanted to chat with us some more and show us the washing machine he had just bought for his van.  Then we met the couple parked the other side of us, who had been there since we arrived, but we hadn't really met them properly, anyway, we discovered they too were travelling around Australia with two young children, so we had heaps to talk about, they had been away since March and were nearly home.

Anyway, we got going at about 10am which was just as well, as we had booked in to see a magic show at a medieval castle in Bli Bli, which was on the way to Brisbane.  We thought it looked like an interesting place to visit and as it had a magic show happening as well, so we decided to have a look.

It was very strange to see this castle just on the side of a main street, but a very popular venue given the school holidays as well.  The magic/comedy show was great.  The kids and us got a great laugh out of it and we all walked away thinking, how did he do that????!!!!

We then headed off to Brisbane where we planned to stay with Glen's cousin Charles and his family.  Glen has fond memories growing up with Charles and his brothers, and these days they only seem to catch up at funerals, so he is very excited about spending some time with him and meeting his family.  We arrived at their beautiful 5 acre block just north of Brisbane where they have very kindly offered for us to use their property as a base for our last week and to leave our van here when we go home.  What a lovely place.  Their house is nestled on a hill at the back of the property, the little lane is flanked with Jacarandas and Snowy the horse and the chooks make us feel like we are in the country again .  It is so nice to meet Elizabeth and their two children Darcy and Eva, they all make us feel so welcome.

Day 69 - Noosa

Today was pretty low key.  Glen and the kids went to the beach and they dropped me down the street to have a browse.......oh the serenity!!!!  They didn't have much luck with the beaches.  The swimming conditions just weren't very good today, bring on Trigg!!!!!

In the afternoon we got things packed up for our final move of the trip.  We also spent some time at the pool, as we knew it would be the last time we were able to do that as a family for a while.  It's getting cooler too, the further south we get, so it hasn't been really hot enough for me to get in the pool, but the pool here is a little heated so it wasn't too bad.

Day 68 - Australia Zoo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON!!!!!!

Well, we had planned to go the Australia Zoo tomorrow, but at about 7:15 we changed our mind and decided to go today, much to the delight of the whole family.  Everyone was very excited, and we were ready to go in record time, it opened at 9am and we arrived just in time.  The Zoo was on "Steve Irwin Way", and I felt a bit sad knowing that he was no longer with us. We were all hoping to catch a glimpse of the rest of the family sometime during the day.

First we headed off in a shuttle service to the new Africa section.  This was great as we were able to see the baby rhino that was just born in April.  A big girl for a 5 month old.  We couldn't believe that she would jump around and play like the lambs do at home, when she is so big.  Very funny to watch.

The next thing we did was go and watch the otter feeding.  These little creatures are very intelligent and it was like watching dogs the way they acted and the way the trainer talked to them.

The displays and enclosures were very well designed.  The whole zoo was connected with a shuttle service, however, it wasn't that big that you couldn't walk everywhere.  There were zoo handlers everywhere, with different animals for people to touch and look at.

This is a baby alligator.

Python.

There was also a small zoo for the kids to feed the animals, this was great also.

Throughout the day there were shows in different parts of the zoo and feeding sessions, but the main attraction of the day was the "Wildlfe Warrior" Show in the Crocoseum.  This is the same stadium they had the memorial service for Steve, so I got a bit "goosebumpy"  when he came up on the big screen and started talking to everyone about saving the world!!!!  This show was just fantastic.  They had a variety of animals coming from all directions, birds, elephants, snakes and of course crocs.  You didn't know where to look next and the music that accompanied it just made the show.  The birds were probably the best part, but you just couldn't get photos as they were constantly flying over head.  Terry, Bindi and Robert entered the stadium for the croc show, so we were stoked to be able to see them.

This guy is in the water with this massive python, it would have been about 5 metres long!!!

Bindi feeding a croc.

Next was the elephants, they were just awesome and their enclosure was great.

We managed to see everything in the zoo I think, it was a long day but we all loved it.  Another thing we can tick off the list that we have been wanting to do for a long time.

Day 67 - Sunshine Coast

Well, this blogging has been giving me grief over the last couple of days.  For some reason it has just not been publishing like it normally does and has been displaying "errors", so I have finally got the last two pages published, I just hope these next two go through okay!!!

Today we thought we would hit the beach, it has been the first time since Broome that we have been able to swim at the beach.  We drove down the Sunshine Coast to have a look.  We were amazed at how populated the area was.  I thought it would be a bit like the stretch north of Bunbury with Myalup, Binningup etc, and I was hoping to find a little beach side caravan park to go to next, well that was certainly not going to happen.  The parks here were going to charge us $70 a night for a powered site!!!!  We felt like we were driving down West Coast Hwy in Perth.   It was really lovely, but very populated, you couldn't tell when one town started and another finished.  We drove down to Maroochydore, then made our way back and stopped at Coolum Beach and had a swim for a while. 

We were conscious of the time as we wanted to come back and watch the Eagles, so that is what the afternoon consisted of, however, after three quarter time I decided to have a game with the kids instead.  How frustrating, we really wanted the Eagles to win, but I suppose it was a bit much to expect.

Day 66 - Noosa

This morning we had a leisurely start as we didn't have too far to go.  We were heading to Noosa, or Noosaville, or Noosa Heads or Noosa North Shore, Tewantin- Noosa or whatever you want to call it!!!!!  It has created a bit of confusion for me when trying to book a park, I originally booked at Noosa North Shore, only to learn we had a catch a barge across.....oops!!!, don't need that added expense or hassle.

So we arrived at the park along with every other family who is now on school holidays, talk about squished!!!!.....Big Bertha isn't made to be squished into a small spot I am afraid.  The park is just buzzing with families and the resident ducks that wander around looking for crumbs.

We go for a drive into town and have a look around.  Some beautiful homes on the river and once again hotel after hotel, a bit like Port Douglas.  The main drag has heaps of really nice boutique style shops, you would need an unlimited credit card, and there are some lovely little restaurants and bars.

The kids really enjoy the facilities at the park, it has an excellent games room and an enormous pool.  There are so many kids here and it isn't long before we end up with extras outside our door!!!!

We sit on the edge of the bed tonight and watch the nail biter between Hawthorne and Collingwood.  Not the result we would have like, but what a game!!!

Day 65 - Fraser Island

After much debate and research into our different options, we decided to make the trip to Fraser Island for the day.  I must say, I do get quite annoyed at the cost to explore our own country.  Just to get over to the island for the day with our car it cost $200, but a much cheaper alternative than the $800 it would have cost to do a one day tour for the 5 of us.  So we arrive to catch the first barge over at 8:30am, a bit creepy having to reverse the car onto it.The kids loved the trip over and very quickly found the resident barge cat, who lives on it and just wanders happily amongst the people, getting patted.  We drive straight off the barge onto the beach.  Fraser Island is the largest "sand island" in the world, "How does it not just collapse into the sea like a sand castle, if it is just made of beach sand??" we are asked!!! The island is about 130 km long and about 25km wide.

We first decide to head for the beach on the east side.  You can't drive on the west side and we are conscious of high tide being at 4pm so we decide to do the beach first.  The drive through the track is very rough and sandy and we rarely reach the "hooning" speed limit of 30km.  The track takes you through thick, dense forest, the trees are just enormous, a bit like driving through Pembi on the beach!!!!!

75 mile beach is great to drive along, a lot of people camped in the dunes in their tents, a couple of camper trailers but you couldn't bring a van over.  There are a couple of resorts on the island as well, the place is pretty busy due to school holidays over here.  I had to laugh when I saw a normal 80km speed limit sign sticking out of the sand, I have never seen that on the beach before.  We can't quite believe our eyes when a plane comes and lands in front of us, picks up some passengers then takes off again.

We explore a shipwreck that is on the beach, looks like it has been here for a while, no information board about it so it was a bit of a mystery.

The kids then have a swim in Eli Creek, they can't swim at the beach due to the sharks, however it is supposed to be a great fishing spot over here.  We take another track through the forest to Kingfisher Bay.  The road is a rough as the proverbial.  Dad, Glen comments on my religiousness today!!!!!  The Kingfisher Bay resort is just beautiful, and it has a fantastic gift shop, but we don't spend too long here, as we have a boat to catch.  Next stop is Lake McKenzie, Shannae, Cody and Glen have a swim here, not very hot for swimming but it never bothers them.

Then a quick stop at Camp Station, this was very interesting, it was a secret army training base in World War 2.  Could have spent longer here, but we had to get back to the boat.

So we were glad we went across to Fraser Island in the end.  Probably not ideal to do Fraser Island in one day, but we didn't have the time or the money to book into a resort for a couple of days.  I think I will be able to write a book about the "Turbo Boosted Tours of Australia" as we have certainly mastered the art of seeing as much as we can in the shortest amount of time possible.  The resident cat on the barge was there to greet us, "Garfield" as we affectionately nick-named him, plonked himself down behind Shannae and Tori's seats and enjoyed the trip home asleep, he had obviously had a very hard day.

Day 64 - Water park and Shark exhibit

This morning we took the kids to the water park on the Esplanade.  This park was very similar to the one at the Coconut Caravan park, but bigger, it also had the big dumping bucket that would dump a massive amount of water on the kids when it filled up every 10 min.  It had a coffee shop and very well set up with tables and chairs for the parents.  It was an educational centre as well, with educational displays about water, but I don't think any of the kids at the park would have dragged themselves away from the fun of the water to read the displays, which is a real shame as it was very interesting.

After lunch Glen took the kids to the Vic Hislop Great White Shark and Whale Expo.  They were very impressed with all the info about sharks and whales that they learned, however, not so impressed with the smell and the gross sharks on display.  Pretty happy they went after our snorkeling expedition on the reef as he told them it is not uncommon to find Great Whites on the reef.  They came home with some horror tales about shark attacks, so I was pretty happy I didn't go, I just hope that don't have nightmares tonight.
This evening I had a very unpleasant encounter with a big fat cane toad.  The kids came back from the bathroom saying they had seen one and it was on its way out, so I went to have a shower only to find it was in my shower cubicle trying to climb the walls................aaahhh...... needless to say, I decided a shower in the van would be much more convenient tonight!!!

Day 63 - Hervey Bay

9 weeks on the road today.  Wow.......I can't believe we have been going for 9 weeks.  The kids are really starting to look forward to going home now.  They are dying to see all their friends and the animals.  I think 11 weeks will be enough in one stint for them. Glen is busting to get home now too, as hay cutting has started and lots of things happening on the farm front.  Me..... I would be happy to live like this for ever, so much more relaxing than having to be somewhere every minute of the day at home, but our budget and our waistlines couldn't cope with it!!!

Today we head to Hervey Bay.  What a nightmare, I think there are roadworks every 5 km.  We do 170km in the first 3hours.  We have 400km to go today, so it was a long day.  We arrive in Hervey Bay.  About 8 or 9 caravan parks here.  It doesn't take long to find one.  Hervey Bay is huge, I had envisaged it to be much smaller.  It is a really bustling place, however, no sight seeing today, just setting up.  The kids find the recreation room at the park and spend the arvo on the computer there.

Day 62 - Sarina Sugar Shed

We left Airlie Beach headed for "wherever we get to" today.  We were going to stop at Mackay but it is only 150km south so we thought we would try and get a bit further than that today.  We decide that Hervey Bay could be a good spot to stay for a few days so we make a b - line for it.  It is 800km away so we know that we won't get there in one day.  No chance with these roads. 

I have read some information about the Sarina Mini Sugar Mill, which is about 40km south of Mackay and we happen to drive by just as a tour was about to start so we decide to call in and have a look.  We have been looking at the sugar cane with interest up here, wondering how it all works as they have some crops ready to harvest and some just growing, we often pass the cane trains and see the little headers in action so we really felt that a visit to a sugar mill would answer a lot of our questions.  This "mini mill" has been built purely to show people what happens in the larger mills as, due to health and safety, tours are not often run in the big mills.

This tour was excellent, a local lady who was very knowledgeable walked us around some old machinery and gave us a rundown on how a sugar can season progresses.  We then went into the mini mill which had miniature replicas of all the equipment which she walked us through.  We all got to sample the sugar cane to chew on, juice that is produced and the by product of molasses.  After this we were able to sample a lot of the products they make as the Sarina Sugar shed, such as fairy floss, rum, liqueurs, sauces/marinades and ginger beer.  The kids were very happy to sample the fairyfloss as they were able to choose  from 12 different flavours.

We continued on from here and plan to stop at a rest area just north of Rockhampton.  The rest areas are very hit and miss I am afraid.  You can't tell, by looking at the camp book, what they are going to be like.  We got a great one at Toomulla beach, but today we plan to stop at one just outside Rockhampton, however, when we arrive at 4pm, it is very full of vans already, it is right on the side of the road, the bins are over flowing with rubbish, flies and a disgusting smell, so we decide to move on and try for an unpowered site in town as the next fee camp is another 100km away.  We find one straight away and they don't even charge for the children, so we are pretty happy about this.

Day 61 - Airlie Beach

Today was a catch up day before moving on once again.  Washing, photos, bill paying etc.  Took the kids shopping with me to buy some DVD's, clothes and more groceries!!!!!, the food shopping is ongoing no matter where you are!!!!

Tonight we go down the main street for dinner.  We decide to actually dress-up and I put make-up on and get the hair dryer out for the second time in 61days.  Downtown Airlie Beach comes alive at night, there are so many eateries to choose from and live music happening.  However, most of the bars are full of backpackers and "Rugby watching Yahoos!!".  It's a great place to go out for a good night, but not exactly a "family friendly" environment, so we head for Hogs Breath Cafe with all the other families.  Our seats are located on the balcony over looking the Esplanade, so this is really nice, however, I'm afraid the kids meals are pretty small and we end up having to order more food for them as they are still hungry, not quite like the serves we have had in the past!!!  Oh well, you live and learn!!!!

Day 60 - Markets and Boomerang throwing lessons

This morning the first thing we did was compare midgy bites.   We learn later that Airlie Beach is well known for it's midgies, you don't see them coming, they are about the size of a grain of sand, but after sitting outside for the afternoon our legs were just eaten alive.

Anyway, we head to the Saturday markets first thing, Glen and Cody reckon they are all "marketed - out"!!!  I don't understand what the problem is.... the girls and I could have stayed here all day!!! Glen and Cody lasted about 5 minutes before heading down to the beach to suss out the water sports, while the girls and I shop.  We then head back to the van for lunch.s

In the afternoon we decide to go down to the Esplanade as there is a great pool and playground down there for the kids.  We are amazed at all these coastal towns, they all have these awesome pool areas for the public to use free of charge and they are right next to the beach.  The problem being in North Queensland is you can't swim at the beach for a lot of the year due to the crocs and the stingers. All the beaches have warning signs about the stingers and a bottle of vinegar attached to the sign for an emergency.  So the beach here is just beautiful, but no one is swimming in it. We often discuss how great it would be to have family friendly pools on the South Perth foreshore at home, that would be fantastic.

After this we head to the oval as Glen has a boomerang he bought in Kakadu that he has been dying to use.  So we get "boomerang throwing lessons" from him.  Very amusing!!!!!  I think Glen could make his own "Russell Quoight" show as he demonstrates the correct throwing technique and just about gets knocked out by an incoming boomerang in the process!!!!!

That night we enjoy the awesome game of footy against Carlton and the Eagles, sitting on the edge of our seats until the end.  A late one for us as we are two hours ahead of WA, but well worth it!!!

Day 59 - Airlie Beach

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!!!!!!

We depart the rest area at about 8am, headed for Airlie Beach.  It's not that far but we still don't get there until about 2pm as it is slow going over here.  It is great to be back at Airlie Beach.  Glen and I were here about 12 years ago and always hoped to come back one day.  It is a lovely little town and a beautiful harbour.  We find our caravan park which is right near the airport.  Glen is in seventh heaven as the runway is about 100m from our van.  He could stand and watch the planes take off for hours.  Helicopters, flight tours and float planes taking off all the time.

The park has a pool so the kids are very excited to be able to go for a swim again and at 4:30 they feed the birds as we are right next to a national park, so they are just beautiful to watch.  Glen and I spend the arvo on the phone organising stuff at home and we manage to get the footy on tv which Glen is pretty happy about.  Looking forward to watching the Eagles tomorrow.

Day 58 - Toomulla Beach

We left Wonga beach today.  Still very blowy, but I think the weather was a bit unusual for this time of the year, although it was a nice change all the same.  We are now heading south towards Brisbane to catch the plane in 3 weeks.  We headed back along the treacherous road towards Cairns.  Just after Port Douglas the sign says "Crash zone next 27km", great fun with "Big Bertha" in tow!!!  We stop at Cairns Central to pick up mail at the Post Office, Glen's Mum has forwarded all our bills on, they are all getting paid, but I am very thankful the BAS isn't due until the end of October, as the book keeping, a bit like the kids school work, has gone out the window since the NT!!!

We drive for a long time but we don't get very far, between the rough roads and the roadworks it is "stop, start" all day.  Never before have we had to stop for road works where you can turn the engine off and get out of the car and have a stretch and a chat to the car in front.  We've been able to do this a couple of times in Queensland.  At about 4pm we start looking for a free camp rest area.  The first one we stop at is Begal Beach but there is no room which is a real shame as it is lovely spot.  Next one is Toomulla beach.  This is a nice grassed shaded area with flushing toilets and a playground and room for us so we don't have to unhook.  So we decide to stop here.  Dad, Bluewater was just up the road but we didn't want to risk it in case it was full. The rest areas are great here, there a lot that are off the road and they usually have flushing toilets.

So an early night tonight as we are just on battery so the whole van just reads until lights out.

Day 57 - Wonga Beach - Port Douglas

This morning we went for a nice long walk along the beach.  So strange watching the sun come up over the beach.  Mum and Dad, you would just love it here, we met a bloke from Bunbury that came here for 2 days 7 years ago and stayed for two weeks, he now comes back for 5 months every year!!!  We also thought is was quite funny that the place is called Wonga beach as the name is so similar to Wongan.

We love being so close to the beach.

The kids managed to make a break through with their coconut and got Dad's hammer onto the job, so they were very excited to actually get out the milk and eat some of the coconut.

Today we went for a drive to Port Douglas which is only 30km away.  I think of Port Douglas as the "Margaret River" of the area.  It's a lovely spot, but very overpriced.  A great place to come if you want to enjoy some nice meals and boutique shopping.  I think there are more resorts here than houses.  A great place to come for a relaxing holiday, however, there is also a lot of things to do in the way of tours out to the reef and up to Cape Trib, but we have decided not to do anymore of that sort of thing for a while, as we have the Australian Zoo and theme parks ahead of us yet.

Tonight we were invited over to the communal area for a "fish-a-que", yeah, instead of a "barbeque", however, it wasn't actually fish on the barbi is was basically fish and chips.  Anyway, the whole park was there with their drinks and salads.  A nice cheap meal at $5 each for us and $3 for the kids.  Lots of music playing and grey nomads enjoying a laugh!!

Day 56 - Daintree Rainforest

Today was pretty awesome.  We woke up to the crashing waves and enjoyed a little stroll along the beach to watch the sun rising over the ocean, that was really weird.  We had to drag our beach boy away to make him eat breaky and when we went to leave to go for a drive, Tori was halfway up the beach collecting small rocks and shells.  We got many moans and groans as we drive out of they park as they all just wanted to hang out at the beach and work on the projects they had set for themselves!!!!!  We were a bit sad that there were no kids here for them, but it doens't seem to bother them.  All the grey nomads are so friendly, Cody came back to the van to tell us we have to go over to the meeting area with our drinks at 5pm as someone had invited him, "All I need to take is a drink", he tells us!!!!

Working on getting the husk off the coconut.

Anyway, the original plan today was to drive to Cooktown.  We thought it would be a fairly big drive, maybe 2 hours, but we just weren't in a hurry this morning to get up early and get going but thought we could still do it anyway.  However, as we headed closer to the Daintree we began to discover a whole new world that needed exploring further.  And as we got closer to Cape Tribulation we also learnt  from one of the locals that from Cape Trib, it was probably another 3 hours drive to Cooktown, due to the road conditions, so we decided just to spend the day exploring this area.  Cooktown would have to wait for another day.

On the barge, in the car, going over the Daintree River.

The drive up is just amazing.  The whole rain forest just closes in around you as you twist and turn along the windy road.  One minute, you see a sheer drop down to the bottom of the rain forest, the next minute through the trees, you catch glimpses of the beach.  We are amazed that how the beach can be at the bottom of a sheer drop down the side of the road and the next minute, you are level with it again.  We stop at a lookout and walk out onto a small bay, the hills either side have lush rain forest that grows right down to the waves.  It is hard to imagine this is their dry season, the ferns and palms just growing wildly amazes us.

Cape Tribulation

We decide to stop at PK's for lunch.  A really cool little pub with great accommodation and lots of backpackers.  Mazza, we think this is your old stomping ground.  It is also the same place all you boys stopped at when you did the Cape York ride.  So Glen reminisces a bit and can't believe he is back again so soon. 

After this we stop at a Butterfly museum.  This place was very interesting, an amazing collection of butterflies and insects that one man had collected over a 30 year time frame, from all over the world.  Thousands of different species as well as live stick incests and tarantulas.  The kids just thought it was awesome.

We then headed back to the Daintree Village.  A small little town with some great little souvenir shops.  The kids parted with some of their money that was burning a whole in their pocket, then we headed home.  Making sure we had time for the children to head down the beach and work on their projects.  It is so windy here at the moment, but is doesn't bother them at all.  We have set the tv up using the aerial, as the satellite doesn't work through all the trees here, I wanted to see Sam Stosur on the news......how awesome was that!!! Anyway, Glen and I chill in the van watching the news, while the kids are at the beach.

Day 55 - Wonga Beach

Today it was time to leave Cairns, very sad, as none of us were ready to go.  The kids just loved it at the Coconut Caravan park and it was nice to have bitumised roads, lawn and manicured gardens for a short time!!!  No sand in the van.  But, we couldn't afford to stay here too long.

However, before we left Cairns, we had to get another vent put into the side of the van for the fridge.  After all the dramas we had with the fridge in Broome, we thought it was all sorted, however, when we were in the heat in Kakadu, the fridge struggled. When we got to Cairns we had the element looked at, we thought it had gone again, however, we learnt  that the problem was with the vent, because we have a larger than average fridge, the vent that was put into the van was for a smaller fridge, so it was in the wrong place for the heat to escape, so we had another vent installed in the right place!!!!  I tell you what, whoever buys this van after us is going to have everything in excellent working order.

So, we killed some time down at the Esplanade again while we waited for the van.  The kids love swimming down there, it is such a lovely spot. We then headed for the Wonga Beach Caravan Park, along the windy, scary roads.  We only had 90km to go, but it felt like a lot longer than that.  We pulled into Palm Cove to have lunch and show the kids where Glen and I stayed when we came over in 2007.  The weather has deteriorated, it was just blowing a gale and we all put jumpers on and hid in the van from the wind to eat our lunch.  I couldn't believe people were still happy to swim!!!

We arrived at Wonga Beach, a quaint little park right on the beach, just north of Port Douglas, full of long term residents.  It reminds us a bit of Eighty Mile Beach.  It is much smaller, but everyone has their own little signs on their caravans, they are all so friendly and there are regular fish and chips and casserole nights and they invite everyone to come along.  We got the prime location.  Our caravan is right next to the walk way to the beach and from the back of our caravan to the water's edge it would be about 40m when the tide it in.  The only thing separating us from the water is the palm trees.  The rainforest certainly meets the sea here.  The caravan park is just overgrown with ferns, palms and trees, and when we arrived the neighbour gave us an old doona to put on the bonnet of the car to protect it from the nuts that fall out of the trees!!!  We booked in for two nights, but before we hit the sack, we know that we will stay longer as everyone just loves it here.



The kids head straight for the beach.  It is blowing a gale and only about 24C, however, they love exploring and start collecting skimming rocks and old coconuts.  They spend the whole afternoon trying to crack open the cococuts, drawing in the sand and Cody loves flipping the washed up jelly fish with a stick!!!!  Tori thinks this is better than the Coconut Caravan park.  We certainly lovely being back to basics with the friendly people, just nature to entertain us and you truly can't beat listening waves all night.  Glen and I are also enjoying the half priced powered site!!!!

Day 54 - Tori's Birthday - Kuranda

HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY TORI

Thanks everyone for your phone calls, emails and texts for Tori's birthday, she really appreciated it and can't wait to get home and see everyone again.

Today was Tori's birthday so the whole van was awake early!!  She opened all her pressies and was very excited to get money from her family as as she is broke, and was looking forward to spending some money at Kuranda.  We had a special breaky of crepes, waffles and fruit salad before heading off to the Skyrail.  Tori was so excited, Shannae on the other hand, not so!!!  She's not big on heights!!

The trip up to Kuranda was pretty awesome, these fairly small Gondolas towering high above the rainforests that take you up over the hills.  It stopped at two stations on the way so you could get out and have a look which was great, an opportunity to look at waterfalls and a fantastic interactive information centre to look out which we couldn't drag our little scientist son away from !!!  You can see the gondolas in the background of this photo.  We were up pretty high!!

Sitting in the gondola.

Finally, at Kuranda, and we walk through the quaint little village towards Birdworld.  Kuranda is "market heaven", you could spend a couple of days up here just wading through all the local shops.  We get to Birdworld and have to remove hats, jewellery and anything else that sparkles, as the birds like to pinch these things!!  Birdlworld is just great and we spend quite a while here.

Glen made a friend with this guy, he couldn't get rid of him!!!

After this we head to the local Kuranda Hotel for a special birthday lunch for Tori.  Very nice, we just love being up here in this rainforest country and it is nice to go out for a nice meal.

We spend the rest of afternoon exploring Kuranda which is great and we contemplate bringing the van up and staying for a couple of days, however, after the bus trip home, we quickly reassess the idea.  15 km of winding, twisting road at a rapid rate of knots!!!!, had we gone another couple of km's I think the Kuranda Hotel consumptions could have landed on the bus floor!!!!

We make a couple of purchases at the skyrail shop before heading home for a nice dinner and birthday cake.  It has been a great day and I think the birthday girl has enjoyed herself.