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Oct 7th – 10th : Moved to Victor Harbour on the Fleurieu Peninsula south of Adelaide. Reminds us of the north island in New Zealand – beautiful green rolling hills dotted with sheep and lovely blue ocean. This is the place of the famous horse tram from Victor Harbour to Granite Island. This area has little towns which roll into each other and all have a nice feel about them. When driving around checking out the place we saw seals rolling around in the surf near rocks on the beach and a whale and her calf playing just past the breakers. Very cool! The beaches are nice with white sand and plenty of places to swim. Silver Sands particularly was really nice. At the tip of the peninsula is Cape Jervis where you can catch the ferry across to Kangaroo Island. We were going to go across but it was going to cost well over $200 for the ferry, just for a day trip.
Sept 30th – Oct 6th : Stayed in Adelaide for a week at Levi Park. Visited the zoo and saw the pandas – very cute! Drove out to the hills and saw the German village of Hahndorf and went along further to the wooden toy factory and the largest rocking horse in the world. Great place, and had lots of fun shopping in the toy factory. Beautiful hills, lovely and green, and picturesque. The lookout at Mt Lofty gives a fantastic view of Adelaide and surrounds. Went out to some markets at the Port and looked around all the coastline. They make the most of their coast and have designed it family friendly. WA could take a leaf out of their book. Went and saw “Despicable Me” at a lovely old fashioned cinema – had heaps of leg room and Brice’s legs finally stopped aching!
Sept 30th – Oct 6th : Adelaide
Sept 27th 29th : Moved further down the peninsula to Yorketown. Stayed at a little caravan park which we basically had to ourselves! When driving around the peninsula on all these little country roads. Edithburgh was a really nice place, had a cheap lunch at the pub there. Spent the next day looking around the Innes National Park. Marion Bay was really nice, white sandy beaches again and a nice jetty and good boat ramp. The sky was clear blue and the water a beautiful colour. The coastline at the base of this peninsula was speckky and we pulled up at Daly Head Point just as a paraglider was about to take off. There are six shipwrecks off this small coastline and one of them is clearly seen on the beach while others are submerged just off the beach - would be an easy dive. Walked around an abandoned townsite looking at all the old stone buildings. Saw an emu and his 8 chicks walk across the road in front of us – soooo cute! Some beautiful beaches, especially Dolphin Bay, some excellent surf as well.
Sept 24th – 26th : Stayed at Port Broughton at a nice Family Parks site on the Yorke Peninsula SA. The countryside is full of dark green paddocks of barley and bright yellow paddocks of canola – looks really pretty. Went bush a bit as Brice was keen to get amongst the paddocks to get some photos. Had cows following him at one points as if they wanted to be in the photo too. Looked around the area and went to Port Pirie – had a great chat with an Iranian refugee at a coffee shop. Visited other towns and really liked Moonta Bay – nice white sandy beaches and nice town.
Sept 23rd : Stayed at Port Augusta for the night.
Sept 20th – 22nd : Looked around Coober Pedy – desolate place. Piles of sand everywhere from Opal Mining. Went and looked at an underground home (dugout) that was hand dug by 3 women in the 1960’s. Really interesting, the temperature stays around 24 deg. all year round. When you went back upstairs to the ground level the temperature difference would have been around 10 deg. They had a pool in the room upstairs as well. If a cupboard didn’t fit, they just chiselled out some more rock, and if they wanted a shelf, just chisel some rock out! They estimate about 60% of the population live underground. Also went to an unused underground mine, an underground church and another house. Went for a drive around “the breakaways” and the dingo fence just out of town. Really desolate but interesting with the mesa’s and the different coloured hills ranging from white to chocolate topped orange hills, hardly any vegetation.
Sept 19th : Left Alice and spent the night at Marla roadhouse. Very nice stop – good clean amenities.
Sept 8th – 18th : Back in Alice Springs for some warmer weather. Went out to the West Macdonnell Ranges and saw Simpson Gap and Standley Chasm. Interesting places, then went out to Hermansburg to have a look at this historic townsite but it was closed due to a sorry week for an aboriginal musician that had died there. Went to the Olive Pink garden but was a bit disappointed. We planned to go back out to the ranges and finish looking at some gorges but it rained for days non stop so we didn’t end up being able to look at anything else. We were also going to go to a festival where you could try bush foods but the weather was horrible. So much for the red hot centre! Brice spent days catching up on computer work, watching a couple of dvds and just kept out of the rain.
Sept 6th – 7th : Enjoyed a lovely couple of days at Kings Canyon. The park was nice and friendly – a lovely change after Ayers Rock. Brice’s knee was still recovering from the Valley of the Winds hike so we didn’t do the rim walk which is a difficult hike taking 3.5 hours. Instead we did the gorge floor walk which was only an hour. It was really pretty – the red walls, the beautiful gums and heaps of native bushes in flower. We are absolutely loving all the spring wildflowers. Had a long nap in the arvo and caught up on some much needed sleep – I know, I know, you’re possibly thinking “you are on holidays, how do you need sleep?”. It’s amazing how tiring holidays can be! The afternoon nap was wonderful – and needed!
Sept 2nd – 5th : Arrived at Ayers Rock/Uluru on Pete and Ben’s birthday. Met up with Pete & Jane again and also Jane’s parents. Went out to tea that night for Pete’s birthday. Is expensive here for a piece of red dirt to camp on! The first day we went out to the Olgas. They were great! In some ways we were more impressed with them than Uluru. We hiked a 10.6km difficult track that took about 3 hours. Was worth it, it rained for a short while and immediately made these beautiful waterfalls down the rock face. The olgas look smooth from a distance but in are in actual fact large pebbles all melded together. The walk was called the “Valley of the Winds” and by the time we finished – we knew why it was so called. Felt like you were going to blow over in some sports. Saw a wild camel on the tracks too. The next morning we got up at 5.30am and went and saw the sunrise on Uluru. Heaps of people there and was interesting watching the colours change on the rock. Came home for brekky and a sleep, then went out to the cultural centre and walk a couple of short tracks before watching the sunset on the rock. Pete and Jane left to head back to WA the next morning – was sad to see them go, we really enjoyed the last few weeks with them and had lots of fun and laughter. We decided to stay one more night to catch up on washing and jobs and look at the sunset on the rock again. The campground/kitchen has been disappointing here for what you pay and for the first time we felt embarrassed about the standard of the park for the international tourists. Was Fathers Day today and was lovely to skype Kelly and Joey; Ben, Rach & Willow; Emily; and talk to Mel. Was amazed at how much Willow and Joey have grown up in the last few weeks – they totally melt our hearts, and we can’t wait to cuddle them!
August 30th – 1st Sept ; Arrived in Alice Springs at a nice Big 4 park – out of the dust at last with nice green grass. The first day we slacked in the morning, doing the washing and settling in and then went into town in the arvo at looked around Todd Mall a little and did some food shopping. The next day we explored the east Macdonnell ranges. Had a look at Emily and Jesse Gap where there was some aboriginal rock art and waterholes. There was a budgie nest in one of the trees and it was fascinating watching them. We went on to N’dahlia Gorge and had fun 4 wheel driving through dry river beds until we arrived at the gorge. Walking through the gorge you could see aboriginal rock carvings at various places which was interesting. All the wildflowers starting to bloom are gorgeous too – excuse the pun! Pete and Jane left the next day to go exploring the west Macdonnell ranges while Brice and I stayed another night and caught up on jobs and went exploring town some more.
August 29th – Arrived at the Devils Marbles late arvo and set up camp at an overnight camp on the side of the road. The marbles are amazing. Large round red boulders scattered everywhere. Was fun climbing over them and taking photos. I never realized what a large area they were spread over.
August 28th : Stayed at Mataranka the night and swam at Bitter Springs. Really warm and the current took you about 100 metres downstream, then you could get out and go back up to the top or swim back against the current for extra exercise. Pete and Jane looked at the Mataranka Springs the next morning as we left and said they were beautiful and nicely landscaped. We will have to save that one for next time!
August 25th – 27th : Moved onto to Litchfield National Park out at the Safari Camp/ Wangi Tourist Park. This park was at least watered and green. All the water came from the creek so we had separate filtered water for drinking. Lots of wallabies and kangaroos around leaving there evidence everywhere. We had a fantastic time here with Pete and Jane. Spent the first day at Wangi Falls swimming. Moved onto Buley Rockholes and walked the track down to Florence Falls. This was the highlight of the swimming. Florence falls was pretty and an easy walk to it. Buley Rockholes was fantastic. We had lots of fun doing bombies and scaring people away from OUR pool! The water wound its way down about 5-7 waterfalls with pools of clear water in each of them. We shared our pool with 2 water monitors, 1 which we scared off out of the water and the other was hanging around waiting to get back in the pool. They were about 3 feet long. Met this elderly couple where the woman was blind but her husband led her along all the tracks and went swimming in the pools. I thought she was so brave and courageous!. We spent hours their and was easily our favourite place. We even found a rock pool halfway down the walking track and Jane and I jumped in to cool off, clothes, shoes and all! The next day we went to Walker Creek where they have 8 rock pools along the way. You can book 7 out of 8 of them for your own private use to camp at. The remaining one is a shared pool for the public. We walked and swam along this track but didn’t enjoy it as much as Buley Rockholes. When checking out some of the campsites, we managed to catch a few skinny dipping and promptly reversed out – especially when we walked in on the fellow naked lying in the hammock! That afternoon after swimming in the tiny cut down tank which was the swimming pool back at camp, we went to Tolmer Falls and the Blythe Homestead. The Blythe Homestead was so interesting. This family with 14 kids in the 1930’s, dismantled this home, moved it by cart 11 miles away, then the teenagers in the family rebuilt it. It has been left as it was when abandoned in the 1960’s. Inside there are photos of the family and stories which they had written down about their life. It was amazing! There was one story of 9 yr old Max, who got his first job horsetailing and hobnobbling the horses. He also had to cook for 7-9 of his brothers and sisters. Can you imagine any of us doing that at 9, with no electricity, fans or airconditioning??!! They also spoke about how it was considered a weakness to call for a doctor or go for help. They tell the story when out in the bush of how one of the girls got her hand crushed with multiple bone breaks. Two of the kids sat on her while two of the others put the bones back in place as best they could. Two weeks later she was back on the horse rounding up the cattle with her arm in a sling! We had two river crossing across the dirt road on the way out to the homestead. Was very exciting! Was anxious not to stall in the middle of the creek as their were warnings for salt water crocodiles in the area. We are really enjoying our time with Pete and Jane, having lots of laughs and enjoying it when the guys buy us gals some vodka and orange udl’s! We are feeling old though – Brice was referred to as Pete’s father-in-law and I was asked by some aboriginal teenage girls if I was Jane’s mother – both in the same day!
August 21st – 24th: On the way to Darwin we called into the Douglas Hot Springs. They were so hot in some parts that you couldn’t stand there for long and the springs were coming up all over the place. They estimate they get up to 60 deg. Arrived in Darwin and spent the first day doing some catch up shopping and went to the Mindil Beach Markets. They are the best markets I have ever been to. Mobs of stalls and food available. Could have spent LOTS of money there! It is hot and so we spend a part of each day cooling off in the park pool. Went to the Museum and Art Gallery which was really interesting. Lots of unusual aboriginal art and interesting section on Cyclone Tracy and animals of the area. Spent heaps of time at Berry Springs. A beautiful hot spring that flows into three large pool sections. Finally having swome good swims that we have been waiting for. Looked around Darwin city, as festival was on so their weras lots happening
17th – 20th : Pete and Jane arrived in Katherine on the 18th. Was great to see them, and start exploring NT with them. We enjoyed the hot springs each day behind the caravan park which were very inviting. They were about 32 deg which was a lot cooler than the 35 deg out of the water. They weren’t large, but very clear and in the shade. We went out to Katherine Gorge and walked a 3.5km track up to a lookout. The visitors centre was really nice and the airconditioning a haven from the heat outside. The walking temp on the escarpment was 50 deg, so you can imagine how much we enjoyed the springs when we got back! We also went out to Edith Falls which were a lovely ool swim. We walked up to the upper pools and had fun exploring the rock pools and waterfalls. A 3 foot water monitor slid into the water just behind Jane. I was very pleased that I didn’t scream the place down. Two days after we left Katherine they caught a 4.5m saltwater crocodile in the river!
August 12th – 16th : Spent 5 long days travelling into Northern Territory to Katherine. The roads were good for a change which was really nice. Charters Towers Qld had lovely old buildings which have been beautifully maintained. We saw a few eagles, plenty of kites (the bird variety), a dingo and a fantastic large (about 5 foot) bungarra (sand or racehorse goanna). Has been interesting watching the landscape change especially the flowering plants all starting to bloom. The red red dirt reminds us so much of the Kimberleys and Pilbara.
August 5th – 12th : Stayed at South Mission Beach. Our start was not good as we had to squash into this little site at the caravan park (they were all little). We couldn’t even fit the car on the site so they had to give us another site as well next door to park our car on! The sky was grey and so was our mood. One bonus though, we could see the beach and ocean from our window (which is only 100m away), and with our car next door, no one could block our view for the week. We are having a lazy week before we spend 5 long days driving to Katherine NT to meet Pete & Jane and explore the NT together. We booked a day trip out to the Great Barrier Reef on the spur of the moment as we thought we may never get the opportunity again. Mission Beach is the closest place to get to the reef, and they go to an area which is the least spoilt. It was amazing how you travel out for an hour and half with this mass of ocean around you and all of a sudden you come upon this large area of different colour and its the reef! They went through a small break in the reef and anchored in this lagoon with the coral reef surrounding us. We were there to snorkel or scuba dive for three hours.
The tide reached is lowest while we were there (the lowest it was going to be for the year) and so we had the coral just under us while we snorkelled and also had great access to the deeper coral on the edge of the lagoon. The tide got so low, that some of the coral was above the water and you had to make sure there was room for you to swim above the coral without getting caught on it. Brice convinced me to do an intro scuba dive which I did! Never thought I would ever do that. Pips First Scuba Dive It was fantastic! The instructor took us down to the deeper parts and showed us what was safe to touch. I touched this sea anemone, about the size of a basketball, which was bright purple! It felt so amazingly soft and smooth and to top it off, in its tentacles were Nemo’s (clown fish)!!! There were massive clams up to a metre long which were blue and purple and also felt really soft. It was fun watching them start to close up each time we felt it. There was bright pink, green, purple and blue coral – I didn’t expect it to be so colourful and the fish were amazing! They were incredibly colourful too and just “hung around” in the water. You could catch some of the big skippy in your hands. Also saw a sea turtle, stingrays, a variety of sea cucumbers – all just amazing! One of the sea cucumbers looked like a sea snake and stuck to you as you touched it – that was really weird! We were diving for about 40 minutes – I think I might get hooked! (excuse the pun!). Brice unfortunately wasn’t allowed to scuba but we both snorkelled for the rest of the time which was still brilliant. A few people got seasick on the way out but we were both okay. Another natural wonder conquered and would recommend it to anyone to do.
We also spent an afternoon at Paronella Park which Karen and Mum and recommended to us.
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It was really interesting. A Spanish fellow who always dreamed of castles and so he built one! The place has been restored to some extent as it has been damaged by floods and cyclones but the vision of the man was amazing. He even built the very first hydro electric scheme in the 1930’s, utilizing a waterfall on the property, to run all the property. The plant life is interesting, heaps of fish and turtles in the natural lake which you could almost pick up in your hands.
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He opened it up to the public when he was alive and held weddings and movie nights in his ballroom. To top it off, while were having a Devonshire tea at the end, we saw 2 Ulysses butterflies and a Cairns bird wing butterfly which are rare to see and absolutely stunning.
The last couple of days have been drizzly but we are still in search of the elusive Cassowary. A number of them have been seen lately in the area, including a dad with 3 chicks on walkabout.
August 1st – 4th : Stayed at Airlie Beach at a fantastic Big 4 Caravan Park. Spent a day (from 6.15am to 5.30pm!) out cruising the Whitsunday Islands. We went to Daydream Island first for breakfast, then Whitehaven Beach (claimed to be one of the best beaches in the world), Hook Island for snorkelling and the glass bottom boat over the coral gardens and then Long Island
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for a swim and relax. It was a great day. Whitehaven beach has incredibly white fine sand, even finer than Esperance, and the water was a beautiful clear aqua blue. I got over my fear of snorkelling, and holding Brice’s hand, explored a bit of reef off the shore and saw heaps of gorgeous fish. The tour guy went out on a boat and threw food out which encouraged the fish to hang around. They would eat out of your hand. At one stage I screamed feeling something touch my leg – only to discover it was Brice’s flipper.
The water was a bit murky but you could still see heaps of colourful fish and coral.
When we were standing out on the jetty waiting for the boat to pick us up, a little 18month old fell in the water,- about a 5m drop. He was standing with his dad, but slipped through the rails. Everyone was in shock momentarily and then the dad jumped in and pulled him up. A parents worst nightmare! One lady watching started having a panic attack as she remembered the same thing happening to her at 7 and she went under 3 times before her dad rescued her. She said the worst thing was, that in the panic, another kid tried to help her and she bit his finger off! She had nightmares for years. Poor thing, she calmed down eventually but was a bit fragile for the rest of the day. It was a fantastic day, blue sky, beautiful water, swimming – just perfect, after the initial rough sea for the first hour. The caravan park topped it off, being so nice, and of course I had to get Brice to have a go on the waterslides at the pool!
July 29th – 31st : Went on with Alex and Lynn to Carnarvon Gorge in the central outback. The park was in a nice setting but quite pricey. The first day we went walking up the gorge for 5 kms. Oh my gosh, were we exhausted! Unfortunately the flat track near the creek had been washed out so we had to go on a new track 100m up the side of the gorge. We went up and down, up and down, up and down, down and up (get the drift!). It was a shame, because after the first 3.5 kms the track went back down to the creek and was flatter. By then though, after veering off the track for the specific sights, we were stuffed! We saw the Moss Gardens which were lovely and the Amphitheatre which was amazing. You climbed about 3 flights of steps and went through this crack in the gorge wall, it then opened up into this big natural amphitheatre. We had to have a little sing of course – Alex was quite impressed! We also saw an echidna walking along the track which was a real treat. Echidnas were one of the Australian animals I hadn’t seen in the wild yet. We have seen lots of birds of course this week, kookaburras, eastern rosellas, rainbow lorikeets, brolgas, bush turkeys, hawks, king parrots etc. We also saw turtles in a rock pool, but failed again to spot any platypuses. We also visited a cave where there was aboriginal art although there were some more specky ones further up the gorge that we didn’t get too.
July 27th -28th : Met up with Alex and Lynn from Eaton and went out to Cania Gorge. The park was lovely and we walked around the gorge for a couple of hours and then drove to other areas to have a look. Was interesting and the birds in the area were amazing. Saw beautiful whiptail wallabies, but the bettong we wanted to see was to elusive. We did watch a large possum cross the grass in front of us and climb a tree. Fortunately we didn’t stand under it as the possum promptly peeed and pooped everywhere! Was a good workout for Brice’s knee – sore, but managed.
July 24th – 26th : Moved up to Hervey Bay for the purpose of whale watching. It is supposed to be one of the top ten places in the world for whale watching. We went out for 4 hours and saw 3 pods of humpbacks. They came really close to the boat, only about 2 meters away and we could also observe them through the underwater windows. Was a beautiful morning out, the whales great, a good view of Fraser Island and a nice boat to get about on. At the peak time, they can have up to 70 pods in the bay!
July 11th – 22nd : Did lots of sightseeing with Karen and Katrina for the first week. Drove around Tweed Heads and Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast). Was a lovely sunny day and stopped off at “Ripleys Believe it or Not” for a couple of hours. Interesting as always! The beach looked nice although the esplanade area was closed off for upgrades. All that coastline was really nice with no warnings about crocodiles! Went up into the Springbrook National Park and saw Purlingbrook Falls, The “Best of all lookout” – could see over to Tweed Heads on the coast and down to Byron Bay in NSW. Also went to the Natural Arch (or Bridge) which was a lovely waterfall and walk through the rainforest. Spent an afternoon and evening ferrying up the river through the city centre and going through the markets at Southbank and exploring. Vibrant area with beach lagoons and water playgrounds for kids on banks of the river – REALLY nice and well done. WA has so much to learn from these areas – brings families out and enjoying the sun and water. We enjoyed Brisbane, the road network was good and easy to understand, the city vibrant and interesting and lots of interesting things to see within distance from the city. Caught up with Alex and Lyn and will cross paths again with them at the inland gorges.
July 6th – 10th : Made our way back a bit slower to Brisbane with Karen to sightsee a little. Townsville (our 1st night) was really nice, “The Strand” area was fantastic. Great parks by the water with cafe’s, bbq’s and swings. Even had a fitness circuit with 8 stations spaced out every 100m with different exercise activities and each station. Could live their – really nice and looked interesting. The 2nd night we stayed in Mackay. Definitely a working town with not much to look at and a VERY basic cabin to stay in. The 3rd night we stayed in Gladstone. A very industrial town but we at least stayed at a really nice cabin. Was very spread out. The 4th night we stayed at Maroochydore and explored the sunshine coast. Noosa Heads was our favourite – REALLY nice beach and esplanade area. The kind of place that was really nice to wander around the shops and stop at one of the many cafes for a coffee. The other areas I wouldn’t really rave about there. The day we arrived back in Brisbane, we picked up the caravan and Katrina (Karens daughter) from the airport.
July 2nd – 5th : Looked around the rainforest areas and the Atherton Tablelands. Saw some beautiful waterfalls and scenery, and travelled on some VERY windy roads. Went to Kuranda on the train, looked around at the markets etc and travelled back on the skyrail – was a great day, and caught up with Tess, Cuppy, Sian, Simon and Treeny. Also spent time with Jenna who had flown over for the funeral. Most of the time it was cloudy, misty and humid – so much for the warm sunshine. Also went to the border of the Daintree Rainforest, Port Douglas (very nice), Palm Cove and Trinity Beach. All nice areas, although the ocean is brown for a long way and there are crocodile and stinger warnings everywhere. The esplanade area of Cairns city area is lovely with a beautiful swimming lagoon (free) and a vibrant shopping area. The tropical gardens are beautiful and saw a rare blue Ulysses butterfly in the rainforest. Also had a BIG scrub snake cross the road in front of us. Was nice seeing all the cane fields growing at various stages – kept thinking of the Midnight Oil song!
July 1st : Bens funeral in Yungaburra – a sad day.
June 30th : Arrived in Cairns after 2 ½ long days of driving. Left the van with a family in Brisbane, staying in cabins at caravan parks on the way. Driving through Childers was eerie. Rockhampton seemed nice and saw the birthplace of Bundaberg rum.
June 24th – 28th : Drove out to Bribie Island which was accessible by a bridge linking it to the mainland, nothing special. Went into the city and looked around and drove around Southbank area. Really nice area. Two walking malls in the city itself and is vibrant. Saw the specialist and organised Brice’s knee op. Picked up Karen from the airport on the Monday arvo and headed off towards Cairns – a 1700km journey, for Bens funer
al in Yungaburra.
June 17th – 23rd : Staying at a really nice TT park in Skennars Head near Ballina, just south of Byron Bay. First day we had a catch up day and did some shopping. Next day we went through Lismore up to “The Pinnacle” lookout in the Border Range National Park. 
It was a narrow ledge that went out to a lookout with a massive drop off on each side! Was very high up but had a fantastic view of Mt Warning and the surrounding area. Went on lots of pretty little country roads. There was a sign on a tree warning you of a Koala crossing often with her twins. We also went to Casino to see the Platypus pools – didn’t see any unfortunately. There were some rock carvings in the river though of a platypus and turtle. Next day we went up the Minyon Falls in Nightcap National Park.
These are a 100m drop waterfall – very specky! Beautiful area. On to Tweed Heads (the border of NSW and QLD), a big place with nice beaches. We then went down the coast road to Byron Bay. The sugar cane fields are showing up now. Byron Bay was really nice with a wide white sandy beach. The water looked beautiful. They say “it takes all kinds to live in the world, and they live in Byron Bay”. Heaps of cafes and interesting shops. Went on through Lennox Heads which was where the recent water spout turned into a mini tornado across the coast. There was quite a lot of damage, not as much tree damage, but a lot more house damage compared to the Bunbury tornado a couple of years ago. Have really enjoyed our time here with lots of interesting places to get to from here. On Monday 21st we received the incredibly sad news about Tess’s Ben, killed on duty in Afghanistan. Is so hard to sink in, he was such a lovely guy.
where we saw that it had just broken through to the ocean. The sand bar was still breaking up – quite specy! Arrived in Coffs Harbour, looks like a really nice place. Will go and see the dolphins and seals tomorrow where we can get some kisses from them.
Port Macquarie. The caravan park was right on the breakwall at the entrance of the rivers to the ocean. Visited a Koala Hospital which was fun. Learn’t about them some more and watched them being fed – really interesting. The weather was showery off but still managed to have some nice walks. We were even on TV when leaving as the news were reporting on Port 
Macquarie being a good winter destination and showed us leaving in the car towing the caravan!
ice to get out of the city and traffic. Our caravan park here is right on the beach – the sun and surf is beautiful and its soothing listening to the waves at night in bed. Had a lovely Mothers Day relaxing, walking along the beach and skyping or talking to our beautiful kids. We are so looking forward to seeing them all (except Em of course, at the moment) in a couple of weeks. It’s wonderful seeing Joey and Willow on skype and watching them develop and grow! We loved Ettalong Beach, another beautiful place where a river/lakes meet the sea with beautiful lake and ocean beaches.May 1st – 7th: Spent the week in Sydney looking around. A number of days we parked free near Parramatta and caught the express ferry into the City.
It was lovely going in on the ferry, no traffic, no stopping and starting, no horns, just the waves lapping as we took in all the views. We love the area of Circular Quay and Darling Harbour – all the views on the waterfront. With everything situated on the harbour you don’t feel like you’re in a concrete jungle and there’s plenty to see. We took a ferry across to Taronga Zoo and saw the new baby elephant – what a cutie, and also went to Manly. Visited the Sydney Museum and saw a good display and video of times during the Great Depression. Man, we are so blessed! We spent the last day catching up with Treeny, Simon, Tess and went and saw Sian at work at the Bridge Climb. Was great catching up with them all, particularly Tess who we haven’t seen for a while. On a sad note, mid week we had to go through deciding to put Miffy (Emilys cat) to sleep. We skyped Em in Canada a number of times as she tried to worked out what was the best thing to do. Poor Em and Jenna were very upset and it was horrible not being with each of them to listen, cry and cuddle.
May 3rd -Up early today and headed up to Katoomba and the Blue Mountains. Stopped first at the 
Wentworth Falls (Town of the same name). Walked down what seemed like endless stairs with my tripod and camera to these stunning long drop falls. What a country we live in!!
Moved on to Katoomba and drove up to the Three Sisters lookout. The weather was quite clear and was able to get some not too misty shots of this famous icon. We were disappointed at the blatant over pricing of parking and food / coffee etc – have not noticed this elswhere on our travels.
Moved on to the Scenic world centre and took the Trainway (steepest train ride in the wo
rld) down to the forrest floor. Walked back up to the Cableway and back up to the top. We then jumped on the Skyway and had a look at the Katoomba Falls. Another amazing long drop falls that was too long for my wide angle lens to capture properly.
By now we were completely exausted and headed back to the car to make a cuppa and head back to our little home away from home. All in all a great day.
May 2nd - Slept in late and then took an afternoon drive out to the historic town of Windsor and walked through the Sunday markets. Lovely weather and a nice relaxing day.
May 1st - First Day in Sydney. Caught up with
some relaxation and looked at options for the next week here. Sydney is such an amazing city with so much to see. The harbour is amazing and contains such a variety of site seeing oportunities. Loved the trip up from Wolongong, especially the Sea Cliff Bridge, which is an amazing piece of civil design. The bridge is built far enough out from the cliff face to avoid the regular rock falls. We walked the length of the bridge and were very impressed with the views. Some beautiful little towns along the way. Take a long time to cover a short distance in this neck of the woods, with lots of ups and downs and very winding roads.
April 27th – 30th – In Wollongong now and caught up with Dom and Felicity Figlomeni one night. Had a lovely time with a lovely family! Went to the Murrinbindi Rainforest, Fitzroy falls around the south coast of Wollongong. All really gorgeous places – I have been
very surprised as I thought of Wollongong as an industrial area and never realized what beautiful spots there are around here and only 90kms from Sydney! Could live in this area too!!! Beautiful bay after bay with big rock pools you can swim in and its green and lush everywhere. Flick was saying you never have to water your lawns there because they stay green all year round. We stayed in a park next to the beach, going to sleep hearing the ocean was relaxing. The vast majority of the parks have been very good to excellent and the ones that have been below s
tandard are never Big4. Looking forward to going over the “Sea Cliff Bridge” on our way to Sydney.
April 22nd – 27th– Have had 5 lovely days in Batemans Bay at a brilliant caravan park. We haven’t done much, looked around the area(absolutely beautiful!) and relaxed and read a book for a change. Brice has a torn cartlidge in his knee so we haven’t done much walking. Brice loved the pelicans which inhabited the area in large numbers and like to squat on the light posts. Could live here easily and anyone we asked said they loved living there too – a pretty good recommendation!
April 18th – First day in the Nation
s Capital! Visited the Old Bus Staion markets this morning. Fairly basic markets but a nice day to stroll around and browse. We tasted some locally made Chai and it was so good we bought a tin. We also grabbed some locally made dips and turkish bread. Everything else was very pricy – markets aren’t what they used to be. Went from there to Parliament house and had a wander aound the grounds Amazing architecture and grounds.The layout of Canberra is very structured and orderly – almost sterile.The roads are very wide with large dividing strips. Looking forward to looking at the various national exhibitions, museums and memorials. Will visit the War Memorial tomorrow.
April 17th– Arrived in Canberra this arvo. After leaving Bairnsdale Victoria on the 16th, we got to Tathra NSW and stayed the night there. Lovely little town. Had a drink at the local pub that had a great view – they were having crab races that night but we had to get back to our Friday night crime on ABC! On the trip today from Tathra we went v
ia the coast to Batemans Bay. Absolutely beautiful coastline! I
want the family to move here!! There were beautiful towns on lakes and rivers that met the ocean, with the forest on the other side of the road. Cattagee Lake particularly was incredible! The ocean was blue and where the lake joined up the water was clear, blue and varied greatly in depth, so it was great for adults but really safe for toddlers and kids too. There were woodlands next door and rocks to explore – totally caught our interest. Many boats were moared in the rivers and lakes with easy access to the ocean. Mountains on one side of the road and beach on the other. We saw a cedar 4 bedroom 2 bathroom, 2 garage home, living rooms facing north with 180 degree views of lakes and mountains – $345,000! About 350kms to Sydney, beach and forest at your doorstep, Snowy Mountains only a couple of hours drive, AND koalas and wombats! What else could you want! Just have to move the whole family over.
April 14th– Spent the day looking around Paynesville and Lakes Entrance – beautiful area, we really love it and have decided to stay a bit longer. 
Three big lakes, one river, eventually artificially meeting the sea. Boats absolutely everywhere and beautiful friendly towns with lots of parks and great picnic spots. We caught the ferry across to Raymond Island (about 200 metres!) – we heard there were lots of koalas over there. So, in the pursuit of Australian animals again we went walking around the town. We saw ten! Most of them were big and one even went walking along the ground in front of us into a new tree. He was only about 1.5 metres in the tree and we could have reached out and touched him! Pip got this shot showing how close he was to the ground!! He stayed there for ages just watching us – awesome! Gorgeous townsite, beautifully integrated with the bush and the locals were so friendly. We also saw a pair 
of tawny frog mouth owls right at our eye level! There were heaps of lorikeets and crimson rosellas too – such a wonderful day.
April 13th– Travelled to Bairnsdale – great area!
April 12th– Looked around Wilsons Promontory. Unfortunately the weather was rainy and cold but we managed to have a pretty good look around. Interesting area, went for a walk to this little fern gully and took a different route back, the STEEP way! Oh my gosh, we managed but we were so glad to get back to the car! That night, following my bug bear about seeing Australian animals in their native habitat, we went wombat spotting. We saw 8 in a very short time, very exciting! They are so cute wombling around. It is so good to know they are out there – existing and free! We also saw the usual emus and kangaroos and out of the blue saw 2 deer. Have no idea where they came from – but there they were.
April 11th– Left the Melbourne area and went to Wilsons Promontory. Beautiful drive there, we were so glad to leave Melbourne. The roads are confusing and the place busy and lonely. The areas around Melbourne are beautiful and well worth visiting, we really enjoyed them all. We were amazed that even at the beach you had to pay for parking! How unaustralian! Victorian country roads leave a lot to be desired. Lost power for 3 hours that nigh
t during storms – right on tea time.
April 10th– Spent the day looking around the Mornington Peninsula. Lovely area with lots of towns and beaches. Went up to Arthurs seat and got great views of the peninsula. Portsea, at the very tip of the Peninsula has amazing homes with beaches on both sides of them.
April 9th– today was visiting the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges. We headed up first to Marysville to see the brilliant garden sculptures of Bruno. This was fantastic! On the way up you could see where the fire burnt homes and forest, as well as the regrowth and rebuilt homes. You could even still smell ‘that burnt smell’, it was very sobering. You see pictures and hear news, but like everything, until you see it for yourself it doesn’t sink in. We could feel (to some extent) the fear, devastation and tragedy that the Black Saturday fires brought to the area. To see Bruno’s sculptures was uplifting. He lost a lot through the fires, but has rebuilt many already. He showed photos of before and after the fire, it must have been absolutely heart breaking to see your work literally go up in smoke. We took HEAPS of photos and it was truly remarkable to see how Bruno and the town are rebuilding. 
The forest in these hills is beautiful – was well worth the drive. We drove on then to Mt Dandenong and the lookout – after very interesting road choices – at one stage we were up high on a small one lane road with an immediate drop off to the bottom with no barriers. We were thinking of Mel on this trip! The view was magnificent although unfortunately it was really misty and smoky so we couldn’t reap the total benefit. We then drove around the ranges and down to Ferntree Gully – wonderful little villages and scenery. A great day out!
April 8th– Went into St. Kilda and caught a tram into the Queen Victoria Markets in the city and looked around. Markets were interesting – I was fascinated with the toilets in the city where you went undergrou
nd! Back to St. Kilda beach (right next to Luna Park) and looked around all the beaches in that area. Backed into a guy with our tow hitch on – oops! No damage and he was very friendly and gave us tips on where to visit in Melbourne. He had just left a panel beaters after getting a quote on damage from where he drove out in front of a car – no wonder he was very understanding. 7th April – Left Bendigo and travelled down to Chelsea, south east of Melbourne city.
April 3rdheaded up to Bendigo to stay and look around that area some more. Bendigo is really big, the second largest city outside of Melbourne. Built as a goldmining town it has some lovely old buildings and a big Easter festival was on. It has been named and accepted as a “Kid Friendly City” – has lots of activities for kids. Went to a church that was right next to the caravan park for Easter Sunday. Went on the talking tram, which was a rip off, but enjoyed the day nevertheless. Monday we went up to Echuca which is close to the inland NSW border. It was the first inland port on the Murray River. We looked around the old port area which has been kept in its historical style and went for a cruise on the Murray on a paddle steamer. Very relaxing, would have been nice if it was longer. The weather has been ideal over Easter – the traffic bumper to bumper for those leaving the area today and Victorian roads are not the best to travel on.
April 1stwe set off with the van for Romsey to visit Lynden, guy that used to live next door in Bunbury. We spent 2 nights parked in Lyndens backyard. He showed us around the next day which was fantastic. We went to Mt Macedon first and were up in the clouds. Couldn’t see far in front of us at all. Saw this huge memorial cross for veterans which on a clear night, when lit up, you can see from Melbourne (66 kms). When we came down out of the clouds, we went and saw Hanging Rock (from the movie). Beautiful wooded countryside and many of the little towns we visited were tree lined and really sweet. Some very rich people live in some incredible homes up here. Went to the site that is THE middle of Victoria and saw the pub that Ned Kelly drank in. 
We also went to Kyneton which is one place where they bottle spring water. In the park there is a pump which is direct into a spring and you can pump it out and drink it. It was amazing how you could feel the bubbles, but it tasted heavily of iron. Also went to Bendigo and saw this MASSIVE cathedral – never seen anything so big.
March 30thPicked up the caravan and went to a caravan park in Geelong. Stayed their 3 nights getting setup again with food etc, looking around and visiting the chiro. 
March 28th & 29thtravelling up and down the Great Ocean Road. How fantastic! Lorne, Apollo bay, Pt Campbell – all beautiful. Warrnambool was much bigger than anticipated and was really interesting. The beach marine areas were very interesting. The islands pictured below have specially trained marine dogs on them to protect the wildlife on them. People aren’t allowed on them at the moment until the penguin/wildlife populations have increased. They also have a massive concrete seawall part way across the bay to provide a sheltered marina. Saw the apostles of cause, the martyrs, London bridge etc – fantastic coastline. On the way back on the boat, Brice upgraded us to a queen suite which was fantastic. Much bigger, a queen size bed (yey!!), it’s own tv and some champagne. Good trip back – a couple of nights later the boat hit a dead whale and had to have some repairs to its stabilizers. 
March 27thAfter leaving Launceston we travelled up to Devonport to fill the day until we could board the boat. We went and looked at Home Hill which was where John Lyons and their 11 children lived. He was the only politician who was Premier of his state and Prime Minister of Australia. 
I got to try on a few of his wife’s hats!!! Eat your heart out Valerie!! I think you would have looked a lot better in them than I did, she had a small head! Mrs Lyons was also a Dame in her own right and left the house set up as she had lived in it – Even left some clothes and hats. We then went on to an arboretum and saw a platypus in one of their lakes as well as some beautiful trees from different countries. We stayed 2 days in Launceston. Went to Cataract Gorge and looked around their for quite a while – the pool was full this time (last time we went with the kids the pool was empty being winter). Went into the city and shopped around for a while getting bits and pieces we need. After a haircut we went to this beautiful seafood restaurant – Hallams. This was our last night treat for Tassie and it was the best seafood I have ever tasted!
March 25thLeft Bicheno for Launceston. We thought this would be a fairly ordinary day as we didn’t have anything particular to look at, but it ended up quite surprising. First we came across a fantastic camping site – Lagoon Beach. Surrounded by nice bush, you walked over a small dune and there was a fantastic beach and lagoon to explore – what a find! Then on towards St Helens the coastal scenery was yet again fantastic and St. Helens and Bay of Fires was beautiful. You could live in a house and have the forest at your back door and the beach at your front door – amazing. 
Keeps me reminding me of Ben & Rach – where the bush meets the beach. It had been fairly comfortable driving but as we left St Helens we started entering hilly forests areas. Stopped and had a beautiful walk to Halls Falls and then continued through fantastic landscape to Launceston. The area around Scotsdale was particularly pretty. Beautiful forest and rolling hills with green pastures. Very windy roads so it was slow going, but you didn’t mind cause it was so beautiful.
Next day we travelled to Freciynet National Park. Coles Bay is beautiful, small, but beautiful. The east coast has white beach sand in this area with beautiful coloured water which is very clear. Some rangers were trying to catch a baby albatross at Honeymoon beach that had fishing wire caught up around its feet and dragging behind him. Everywhere is a beautiful photo and you have to resist taking too many.
March 23rd we left Hobart, skipped all the Port Arthur area as we went there with the kids 9 years ago. At last we could travel a bit faster! Saw the oldest bridge in Australia at Richmond and got totally mobbed by the ducks nearby. 
Travelled onto Swansea which looked a really nice town with lovely beaches. Went onto Bicheno were we booked in for a couple of nights. The coast after Swansea was fantastic, completely different to the west coast. Hills with areas of plains with farming areas. Bicheno was really nice too. We went for a walk on the beach at dusk to hopefully see some penguins. 
One came out of the water to the rocks we were sitting on – he was way too early, and consequently spent the next hour and a half waiting there until it started getting dark and then ran the gauntlet of the beach to the dunes. He/She was soooo cute! We gave up on waiting for any others. Our last full day in Hobart we travelled out to Mt Field National Park. Russell Falls were the best! Beautiful park and then had an interesting drive through the Styx forest where they have 400 year old trees. We saw a slice of a tree that was cut down that was over 2000 years old – its girth was over 8 metres around! Visited a wildlife park to have an 85% chance of seeing some platypuses in the wild at the back of the park – but couldn’t seem them. Did see some cute koalas, Tassie devil family and a beautiful golden possum that came right up to us, but otherwise it wasn’t really worth the money. Next day we drove to Bruny Island. Really nice beaches and a lovely forest drive through the centre to Adventure Bay. 
The weather was drizzly but it still looked gorgeous – must look brilliant on a nice day. Drove back to Hobart the long way, around all the little hamlets on the coast.
March 20thon the way to Hobart we stopped at “The Wall” which was incredible! We have never seen such amazing carving and woodwork. Brilliant!! The west side of the coast is very hilly and windy. It is only 266kms from Queenstown to Hobart but it takes 5 hours to get there – and that is without the caravan on. We arrived in time for the Salamander Markets and had a wander around them. Brought some yummy chocolate and ginger, and chocolate and liquorice fudge. HHHHHMMMMM.
March 19th- went out to Strahan and looked around. It was raining, but the town was sweet with gorgeous old buildings. Visited the Reflections Encounter at the Visitors Centre. Was interesting reading and looking at the history of the area. Amazing people who lived back then! Would have been really nice to do the Gordon River Cruise or the Wilderness Railway but you really needed to allow a day for it, which we didn’t have, and the weather wasn’t inviting. Would have been better staying in Strahan than Queenstown. 
Stopped at Nelson Falls which were absolutely beautiful! Carried on to Lake St Clair and Derwent River. Stayed at a fantastic self contained chalets there. Was really nice after the motel the night before. A family of wallabies were on the lawn that night.
March 17th- Travelled west to Stanley for our first night. Pretty country. We were so tired we booked into our SC Cabin at 10.30am and slept for a couple of hours. Went out driving on a Forrest Drive that was supposed to end at the 110m slide in Dismal Swamp. Instead we got totally lost in the bush for about 2 hours. The drive was gorgeous, the unsealed road – good, signage – terrible. Went over this old wooden bridge and then continued on to find a bridge was out. No warning or barricade on our side – luckily Brice was watching the road well. Saw a number of Wallabies crossing the road. We used up ¾ of our gas tank and then started on our petrol tank. Eventually found our way back, arriving home at 7.15pm after fuelling up. We climbed the “Nut” , well, actually went up on the chairlift, and had a really interesting walk around the top. The views were amazing and there were heaps of wallabies around. Brice got so close to one of them he could almost touch it. Was well worth the trip. Drove through Wynyard which was really nice and would have been a nice place to stay. Travelled down to Queenstown on a VERY windy road through some beautiful forest. Called in and saw Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake – very rugged mountains. Would have been nice to spend a bit longer there and gone to the Tassie Devil Encounter. Spent the 18th at a dismal hotel in Queenstown which smelt old and musty. Still, we had a bed and hot water – luckier than many. It is amazing how much roadkill there is on the road, (including this poor Tassie Devil!). 
It’s no wonder they sell a recipe book for roadkill!
March 16th- took the caravan out to Geelong to leave there while in Tasmania and get a water tank gauge fitted. Went into Melbourne city for a short while by tram, until the car was ready to go on the Tasmanian ferry. Spent the night on the ferry in a tiny cabin in separate beds – sacrilege!! Slept terribly. Very calm waters so easy sailing and arrived on the 17th at 6 am.
March 15th– took the Prado in to get new stabiliser rubbers and back suspension springs. Seems like a new car and we were separated for the first time since leaving Bunbury for 7 hours!
March 14th – was really lazy – just a good catch up after all the driving. Is amazing how tired you get from driving all day sitting down!
March 13th- was spent at the C and C Show and then went out to friends (Pete and Jane Dannock) in Ringwood North. Had a lovely night there with their family and hope to maybe catch up again.
March 12th- arrived in Melbourne staying at the Dandenong Big 4 caravan park. Discovered that the Garmin hasn’t been updated with recent changes to highways in Melbourne, which was quite frustrating. Victorian roads in the country leave a bit to be desired.
March 11th- Crossed the border and stayed the night at Horsham – was a long day. Was crazy having to travel through Adelaide CBD on ordinary streets with the caravan. No city bypass or freeway! Visited the oldest German town in Australia, Handorf, just out of Adelaide – it was gorgeous, tree lined streets and seemed like a real community.
March 10th- set off for Melbourne – going across quickly to catch the end of the Victorian Caravan and Camping Show and go across to Tasmania before the cold and school holidays start on 1st April. Spent the night at Port Pirie, which reminded us a lot of Bunbury.
March 7th – travelled and stayed at Streaky Bay. Nice spot with beautiful clear water, some rugged cliffs and calm waters. Brice got 2 dozen oysters for $12 – he was in heaven! Really enjoyed stopping for a bit there and catching up on jobs and washing etc. This was where we left the Lange’s. We really enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them – a gorgeous family (of six). Hoping we will catch up with them again in our travels.
March 5th- crossed the border to South Australia and arrived in Ceduna. We liked Ceduna, a nice little friendly town. Stayed at Shelly Beach caravan park for 2 nights which was really nicely done. Looked around the place and local bays. Brice was SOOOOOOOO looking forward to oysters (the best in Australia), but there were none available for another week or two!!! We visited a Wombat Orphanage and cuddled “Bruce” who was 2 years old. Had a 2 month old baby as well – cute.
March 4th- travelled to an overnight stop called Jillah Rockhole. Only a longdrop toilet available with no door. Nice posy though and nice to be out in the bush. 
March 3rd– Travelled to Norseman and on to the Eyre Hwy. Reached Fraser Range Station Overnight stop – great little park!. Lange’s from Bunbury travelled with us and we really enjoyed their company.
Feb 23rd- Arrived in Esperance. Weather was windy, but had a really nice stay with a couple of perfect days for swimming! 
Caught up with friends who have been working in Warburton the last 3 years and spent time looking around and going to Cape Le Grande National Park. Also caught up with Lange’s from Bunbury and decided to cross the Nullarbor together. Was pleased to see Sammy the Seal still hanging around the jetty and saw a new younger seal also starting to hang around.
Feb 22nd - Drove to Ravensthorpe via Albany. VERY plain caravan park, the feature being the different style toilet bowls on display! Feb 19th – Travelled to Walpole. Caught up with Lyn and Alex and spent time with them.
Feb 11th- Left Bunbury for Busselton, caught up with Mike and Valerie there and Pips parents. Settled into caravan life, rearranged everything and worked out excesses and needs.