26 - 1 August 2010

Bushy Parker Park 27 July 2010

Outside Laundromat at Townsville 26 July 2010

26 July 2010

We were up and going early as it wasnt a very exciting capmsite - we are trying to find somewhere that we can stop for a couple of days and relax!!

We travelled through to Townsville and stopped to do some washing. Us girls were in charge of the washing at the laundromat while the boys went to Supercheap looking for bits and pieces that they needed for cars and caravans. Seeing as we were going to be there for a while we made ourselves at home and set our chairs out on the footpath outside the laundromat and put the kettle on - may as well be comfortable! Boris was a hit for some reason - everybody wanted to pat him and feed him - he didnt seem to mind!

You wouldnt believe it either, towards the end when we were drinking cuppas and eating cake i said to mum - we should put a sign up - cuppa and cake $2 and we could make some money back for what we paid at the laundry and she did and people were actually interested!!

We moved on and found a great little park about 45 ks north of Townsville called Bushy Parker Park - strange name but the guy they named it after was called Bushy Parker. There is a 48 hour limit for staying here, it's free and, there are cold outside showers and a great little creek for swimming in - ahh - we have finally found somewhere that we can stay and rest for a ccouple of days!

27 July 2010

Nice relaxing day today - swimming, bike riding, Ross did a few jobs on the caravan, etc. 

We had a great casserole made on in the camp oven and then sat down to play cards afterwards only for it to start raining.  We only had a couple of very little awnings up to sit under so we were having trouble staying dry!! It was fun though and the temperature is great at the moment with us being in shorts and T-shirts all day without it being too hot. 

Mum and dad are definitely out of their comfort zone in the car and trailer rather than their usual motor home - they are being great sports about it though - I keep telling mum that she must be having a good time - Im sure I will convince her of it one day! 

Paronella Park

29 July 2010

We decided to stay one more day as it is such a lovely place and headed off fairly early today.  We had heard about Paronella Park- http://www.paronellapark.com.au/ - so we headed towards Cairns and there is a turnoff at Silkwood to go there. 

We arrived at around noon and from the moment we pulled up there were ladies out the front making sure we had somewhere to park, offering to look after Boris while we were in the park and generally not being able to do enough for us. Once we got in there it was the tour guide was great, she knew heaps about the place and great to listen to. The place itself was just incredible and I cant even begin to imagine what a brilliant man Jose Paronella was. What a FANTASTIC place to visit!! I can't even describe it - it was like a fairytale - I would have loved to have seen it in its heyday.  They are working on restoring it as much as the Heritage Listing will allow. 

It had been raining quite a bit when we arrived and we could have stayed in their carpark for free overnight and used their amenities but mum and dad had found a quiet little park down the road that had been recommended by one of the locals so we camed there for the night - great little spot with a creek running through it for swimming, etc.  There was a sign up saying no camping but the locals reckon people camp there all the time so we didn't take any notice of the sign. 

Mum and dad had been to Paronella Park before so they didn't go again but we decided to take the night tour which was on offer too because we couldn't get enough of the place - it was a totally different experience again with lots of wildlife spotting including snakes, frogs, turtles, etc.  We also went to the "bamboo forest" and turned out all our lights and it was almost like "Avatar" with all the mushrooms and fungus glowing in the dark - it was great!  They also lit up the waterfall and the main buildings - we got some great photos. 

We would definitely go there again, absolutely loved it. 

30 July 2010

We headed off again to go to Cairns for some last-minute shopping - we thought we would only be there for a couple of hours - BIG mistake that was!  Trying to navigate your way around an unfamiliar town (thank goodness for the GPS) - trying to find the shops you need and it is such a BUSY place - it was a total nightmare!!  We didn't get out of there till about 4 pm after a whole day of driving around in circles trying to do what we needed to do in the last big town before heading up the Cape. 

We originally were going to go to Mount Molloy campgrounds  for the night - a great little freebie camping spot but by the time we got up the mountain it was getting late so we stayed at Mareeba Rodeo grounds - you wouldn't believe how many caravans, RVs, etc were there - very popular spot with $12 unpowered and $14 powered sites with a laundry and hot showers - it was great to have a hot shower at the end of the day and we did some washing and made some new friends with the people we were parked next to. 

31 July 2010

Up early again because our neighbour was an early riser and decided to unzip and zip up his annexe several times - in the end we decided it must be time to get up! 

We took Boris for a walk around the park and there were kangaroos everywhere!  Boris of course thought that was great but we had to keep him on the leash so he didn't get in a fight with the big buck that was there looking after his harem - we had been warned by the caretakers that he was notorious for standing up to dogs.  Saw some hot-air balloons - it was a beautiful morning. 

By the time we got our washing dry and headed off it was 10 am and by the time we stopped to refuel, grab some shopping and water it was 12 so we headed for Mount Molloy which was only about an hour's drive away and set up camp there.  We are going to be dropping the trailer at Cooktown at our next stop so we decided we had better make camp for a day or two and do some sorting out.  Went for a walk down to the creek and Boris had a great time swimming.  Cooked on the campfire again - chicken satay - big day!! 

1 August 2010

Far out - what hit me??!!  What a night! Started out with some of the locals deciding to come and visit the park after they had gotten themselves well and truly smashed at the pub and going out of their way to wake up the enitre campsite including banging on the sides of peoples vans etc.  After that a stoned/drunk woman spent most of the night driving around the campsite alternating between wailing/singing/making a lot of noise.  After she left at about 3 am I did manage to get some sleep but then at 6 am one of the neighbours, for some unknown reason, decided to start their 4x4 right next to our van and leave it running.  After that there was a REALLY noisy bird in the tree above us.  At about that time I gave up trying to get any sleep and got up at about 6:30. 

I worked in the morning and the rest of the camp spent all morning organising the stuff that is going to be taken to the Cape and the stuff that is going to be left behind in the trailer - I helped after I finished work.  We were all pretty buggered by the end of the day and really appreciated Happy Hour! 

19 - 25 July 2010

Carmila Beach 24 July 2010

20 July 2010

We were originally planing to leave last Saturday but after we bought this we had to delay for a few days so in the meantime we decided we had better try to sell the old van and also pack the new one. With the new one being so tiny we had to leave a lot of stuff out of the new one (Ross’ knex – kinda a cross between Leggo and Mechano), clothes, etc etc which means we had to work out what to do with all the extra stuff. We packed it all up and were going to store it all at Deb and Steve’s place until we could organise to get it back to Port at some stage. The other problem was the tyres on the old van needed to be changed over because the ones on it are the ones that match the Land Rover and he wanted to put the original ones back on it which were down in Port Macquarie – he priced buying some second-hand ones in Brissy and it was going to cost him a couple of hundred dollars and he didn’t want to let the caravan go with the Land Rover wheels on it as they are several hundred dollars worth. Anyway, the van sold to a couple down in Tamworth and they were going to drive up to Brissy to pick it up and we said – prolly just going to be easier for us to bring the van to Port and you pick it up from there so we jumped in the Land Rover this morning and started heading down! Mum and dad had a few friends up north to catch up with so they wandered off this morning and we will catch up with them. The people are coming tonight to pick the van up.

We were making great time until we hit Coffs Harbour when we stopped to get fuel and the car wouldn't start! We spent an hour there trying to chase elecrical problems there with fuses blowing and finally got on the road only for a fuse to blow again so we had to stop in Macksville for another hour. Ross wasnt sure if it ws the car or the caravan that was causing the problem so Ross rewired the entire caravan!! We were originally planning to arrive in Port Macquarie at abou 7 and were going to stop off at Coles to get a couple of microwave meals for dinner and some other basic supplies but because we were so late and the lady was there waiting for us we just went straight home. Ross still had to change the tyres over before she could take it. Luxkily David (our neighbour) was there to help unpack the van and he even went and got some of his bread and coffee/tea and made us some toast for dinner otherwise we would have had nothing!

By the time we got everything sorted it was 11.30 and Kim was safely on her way with the caravan. We had showers and hit the hay pretty tired by then!

21 July 2010

We were up at 7.30 and on the road by 8ish, only to be delayed at Kempsey by huge trucks moving huge things (not really sure what they were) but it ook 40 minutes for them to get past. In the meantime Boris had decided to spew in the car - charming!!

The trip normally takes about 6 - 6½ hours but with the stop in Kempsey and all the roadworks along the way it ended up taking us over 8 hours to get back to Brisbane - big couple of days!

22 July 2010

We got up this morning - finished packing the van (a bunch of stuff just got thrown in at the last minute including the new awning which will need to be dealt with later) and finally headed off on our journey!! I can't believe we finally got going - so happy to finally be on the road!!

The new caravan towed beautifully and we caught up with mum and dad at Gympie at about 1ish - just in time for lunch.

We decided to camp the night at the "Duck Ponds" rest stop and the boys spent the afternoon getting the new annexe sorted out - called a QuickTent" - I can tell you now it's false advertising! We spent hours trying to get the thing right - total nightmare!! We got it in the end which was lucky because it was FREEZING! We played cards for a while and then decided to head for the warmth of our beds - couldn't believe how cold it was!

23 July 2010

We were up with the sparrows this morning due to our early retirement to bed last night - still very cold.

I sat in the car and worked while the boys were still sorting out the annexe - once it's sorted out properly it SHOULD be easy to set up - its just the initial setup thats a pain.

We got on the road by about 12 - not bad going - hehe! We stopped at a small roadside servo for lunch and kept driving until we got close to Miriam Vale and mum suddenly realised that we were close to our cousin's place who have a property just out of Miriam Vale so we called them up and they told us to come on in for dinner. I had never met them before that I could remember - Alison is my dad's sister's (Norma who we stayed with in Broken Hill) daughter and her husband is Eric. There are a great coulple probably about 10 years older than Ross and I and they are on a property all run via solar, gas, etc - no power lines or sewerage out there - so secluded and quiet and peaceful. They do a lot of travelling too but last time they went they took their motorbike with a sidecar on it - that would be fun!!

Boris being Boris had a fight with their dog as soon as we got there but they soon learned to stay away from each other and it was peaceful after that - cranky old sod!

Much milder weather tonight.

24 July 2010

We were up fairly early this morning and found there was a flat tyre on the caravan - nice thing to wake up to! Ross had it changed pretty quickly and after bacon and eggs for breakfast were on the road by about 9. 30 - we would have loved to have stayed longer at such a beautiful spot but we are on a mission!

Stopped for lunch at Rockhampton at a little park with a water fountain and while we were there another couple pulled up in a TVan (teeny tiny camper even smaller than ours). They had lunch with us and they had just come from the Cape so we caught up on all the happenings up there and road conditions, etc. They had successfully towed their TVan through the Old Telegraph Track so we were hopeful we would be able to tow ours through without any problems.

They also told us of a good place to stay overnight at Carmilla Beach - about 3 hours drive away so we packed up and headed off again. We also learned while we were talking to them that the lady used to live in Port Macquarie and probably played netball with mum at one stage - small world!

We arrived at Carmila Beach just before dark - lucky we already had curried sausages cooked for dinner :)

It's a beautiful spots with HEAPS of campsites and heaps of people there. The tide goes out for a kilometer or so at low tide and it makes for beautiful photos with the full moon shining off the water - Ross got some great shots.

The people in the same little camp are with us were lovely and the lady gave Boris her chicken scraps - Boris thought they were just wonderful people! Their van was called Crumpets and Honey :)

25 July 2010

We were up early and went for a walk and found an estuary - Boris had a lovely swim - the water was crystal clear. The campsite we chose to stay in probably wasnt the best choice as it was quite windy where we were and when we walked around there were heaps of others we could have chosen that would have been out of the wind. We decided that although it was a lovely spot that it was too windy so we packed up and moved on.

Had a pretty big drive and ended up in Guthalungra at a rest stop there - boy was it crowded!! Its right next to a service station so I would imagine that they would do pretty well out of it.

12 - 18 July 2010

It was a big week. Debbie was in hospital when we arrived - she had a fever and had to be hospitalised because her immune system is so weak due to the chemo so she can't fight of infections on her own. We helped look after Ethan for a couple of days before she arrived home.

Lee (my other sister) came around to visit one afternoon - she is the one in pink in the piccie above - she spoiled the "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" pose in the photo because she was laughing too much.

We went and watched Ethan play footy on the weekend - his team creamed the opposition - it was a great game!!
Ross and I had been wanting a new caravan for quite a while as we have been worried that our caravan has been getting a little long in the tooth for what we wanted to do with it - ie take it on corrugated roads, etc. We had been keeping an eye out for ages for a suitable replacement and nothing had been coming up - I mean, there are heaps of offroad caravans out there but most of them are way to heavy or way too expensive or both. We had had our eyes on some "crossover" caravans recently which are kind of like a cross between a camper trailer and a caravan but they also were very expensive but then one came up on ebay for only $17, 000 - which is still expensive but it ticked all the other boxes for our needs so we put an offer on it of $14, 500 and they took it so we are now the proud owners of a Jurgens Crossbow (or Xscape) caravan - it's a little beauty with LITTLE being the operative word!! We were originally planning to be away by Saturday 17th July but we've had to postpone it for a few days to get everything ready to go again. We have had to dump a lot of excess gear that we had been dragging along with us in the other caravan - mainly because we had the room for it but now we have to cull, cull, cull! It's a purpose-build offroad camper designed in South Africa. It has an external kitchen, it's got heaps of storage room inside, the bed folds out from the side of it and it has a big pop top on it with great ventilation. We are stoked with it and just hope it does everything we hope it will :)

5 - 11 July 2010

8 July 2010

Well, we're finally back on the road again!! Phew! It's been a while!

We originally were planning to be travelling for the whole of this year but my sister, Debbie got cancer so we went up to Brisbane for a couple of months to help out while she went through chemo, operations etc. We then decided to go back to Port Macquarie after we bought an offroad trailer with a canopy to turn it into a camping trailer with a pull-out kitchen, etc and mum and dad bought a 4WD the same as ours and are going to travel to Cape York with us when we go up in July. The time spent in Port was used to build the trailer and do work on both cars to get them ready for the trip to the Cape - sure put a lot of work in to all of them - hope its worth the effort!!

Today we finally headed off and arrived at our long-time friend's place - Joi, along with her hubby Greg and gorgeous daughter Madeline. We had a lovely visit, they are such a great family - so down to earth and Joi has such a great sense of humour!!

Joi and Greg's farm is in Goolmangar which is near Lismore in NSW so it is a good stop between Port and Brisbane. They showed us their new "Aquaponics" setup they have going where they have a big tub with fish in it and the water filters out of there and waters their vegies and the nutrients that the fish poop out is the fertiliser to grow the vegies - what an ingenious idea!!

Madeline also had a beautiful brand new pony to show off to us and we picked mandarines and lemons to our heart's content from their trees - what a great life they have!

We only spent one night there and then headed up to Brisbane.