Kokoda Challenge 2014

25-05-2013 Brisbane

So we come to the end of an exciting trip around Australia. Whilst we don't want the trip of a lifetime to end, this winter weather is putting a little misery in the lifestyle. Too much indoor time. We love the surf so have decided to make our new home on the Gold Coast. Perth was a place we both thought we would have liked to lay down our roots, but is too far away from family and friends.
So alas Australia. ...... is been fun. It's been exciting, refreshing, wonderful. We will miss you. But hope to do it all again.
Goodbye ♥

11-05-2013 Sydney NSW

Arrived in Sydney today.  Just finished setting up the van, and Paul was just trying to move the car, there was absolutely no power to the car at all when he tried to move it. The windows were down and it was late Saturday afternoon.  He tried for a while to see if he could fix it. Rain was on the way. I got out the plastic garbage bags and started to tape up the windows.  Paul rang RACQ.
Sydney's version of RACQ arrived much faster than Qld's. It turned out the terminals were lose Obama the battery so after some tightening up, everything worked a treat.

Visited Madame Tussands, a wax museum of movie stars. It has only been open 3 days. That was fun.

Went to visit Terry, Pauls mum. She's not very well. On mother's day we took her Red Rooster for lunch as per her request. We sat downstairs in the garden in the sun. It was a lovely afternoon.

Caught up with family and friends. Paul caught up with friends he hasn't spoken to four at least 8 years!

09-05-2013 Canberra

Lots to see and do in Canberra. Good job we had already been last year and knocked a couple of things to see off the list :-)

We went to the Dinosaur Museum. Lots of life size dinosaurs. We weren't really expecting to see much more than we've already seen in the museums we'd already visited, but it was well laid out. The kids got do an activity sheet of questions supplied by the museum, which made them do a bit of Q and A.

Fri. Woke up to temperature of 1ºC! So cold. Turned out to be a lovely day though. Went to the Questacon.  Paul was expecting a half day visit but there was lots to see and do. It took us all day. The kids really enjoy the science and discovery places. They really learn lots. And so much hands on, they love it. E and I experienced the free fall slide. Initially it was a little scary but we did it ...... twice! Couldn't convince anyone else to do it
:-(

06-05-2013 Ballarat

Arrived later than we expected. Had just enough time to check out the Eureka Stockade Museum. It had only been open for 3 days. Was a little confusing trying to understand what the Eureka Stockade was all about. I got more of an understanding after I had a look on Wikipedia. Didn't feel I learnt anything from my visit here.

On Tuesday, we went to Sovereign Hill. I loved it. There were people dressed like in the olden day. There were a couple of demonstrations on life back then. The underground mine was good. D, as usual, was a little concerned about the darkness. There was audio down there and we had to stop at the edge of the darkness before it would light. Nothing to be scared of :-)

30-04-2013 - Melbourne

Arrived Tues afternoon at a friends place, staying for the week. The car needed a transmission service so decided to stop at Melbourne a little earlier than planned.

Thurs
Ventured into the Melbourne Museum. Kids are a little over the museum scene. J was just lying around on the ground. They went to the wooden playground on the way home. Much happier with that environment.

Fri
Caught up with a couple of Kim's friends. Went out for dinner and hot chocolate. Was a good night.

Sun
Went to see Anne, Steve, Jacqui, and Fiona and Mick. Was really great to catch up with friends. I love how when you see friends after a long period, you can just fall back into the way it was before you left. Can only do that with true friends.

29-04-2013 - Torquay

Traveled along the Great Ocean Road today. Weather wasn't very good for photos. Saw the following sights:
◆ The Bay of Islands
◆ The Grotto
◆ London Bridge; and
◆ Twelve Apostles.
Stayed at Torquay for the night.