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.

28-04-2013 - Port Fairy

After talking to some people at Halls Gap, we found out that Port Fairy was supposed to be a good place to visit. Well, we are here today and there is not much here. Good for a getaway weekend at the end of a busy work week but nothing much else here. Cute quaint town :-)

27-04-2013 - Halls Gap, VIC

Here we are at Halls Gap. The base of the Grampians. The weather is quite fresh. I've dug out the winter clothes. Not many of those :-( In fact, can't seem to find any for E. He mustn't have packed any. Done about 6 loads of washing. Kids are off with friends they have made here.
Now we are about to go for a walk in the mountains ;-) Went up to the Pinnacle lookout. Phew! What a walk! It was an interesting walk, something new to climb over round every corner. Whole walk was 4.2km. Kids did great. D was the only one that complained but my legs were sore at the end and his are half the length of mine. He didn't complain too much though. At one point I commented on how tired my legs were and his comment was he had put that tiredness out of his brain so he wasn't tired anymore ;-)
They made friends with some other kids that had previously been around oz so they had lots to talk about.

25-04-2013 - Peterborough

Free camped 2km just outside Peterborough. Gone from a comfortable 24º overnight to a very cold 6º. We were okay, but the kids were a bit cold in their cheap licensed sleeping bags. D ended up in bed with us. On the big plus side, no flies;-)

Went to the stream train museum. The only place in the world that still has a turntable that works.  Some of the carriages dated back to 1860's. First time the kids have seen a train with beds and dining car's.

2013-04-24 - The Flinders Ranges

& Mt Remarkable

23-04-2013 - Coober Pedy

Arrived in coober pedy yesterday. Talk about fly city :-( Didn't seem to bother the kids though, still running around outside on the play ground. Much more comfortable in regards to comfort in the Caravan though ;-)

Paid a visit to the Old Timers Mine complete with underground home from the 60's. So cool underground and no flies either. Saw the underground church and the pastors wife invited us in to have a look around her underground home. It was very big and spacious. She was originally from Port McQuarie and desperate for company ;-)

20-04-2013 - Uluru

20th
Uluru
Saw the big rock about 150km out of Uluru on the horizon.  Lol! What a mistake! The Rock we saw was actually Mt Connor..Ha! No one tells you anything about that rock.  The amount of people that stopped to take a photo believing it was Uluru. .....lol!

21st
Early morning start to try and get a good view of Uluru and the sunrise. Now at 5.30pm, we are on our way back to the van and D is fast asleep.  Lots of walking and fresh air had really wiped him out. We're all quiet too, ready for an early night ;-)

Uluru, seeing the whole of the rock against the flat bushy landscape,  is magnificent. Close up, not so magnificent. Didn't walk it as it was closed. Not sure I would have if it wasn't closed but I didn't have to make that decision. Kids were disappointed they couldn't climb it, but after some discussion I discovered they were expecting a full on rock climbing session. ...lol!
Walked amongst the Olgas (or as E says ogres) instead ;-) ps. Los of flies. Bought fly nets, made such a difference in comfort ;-)

18-Apr-2013 - Alice Springs

Made a rash decision (much to E's horror) to go with our original plan and visit Uluru. Then back out via Mel and Syd. E is over the traveling. He just wants to get back and see his friends. Guess this trip will make them appreciate school. .....lol!

19-Apr-2013
Went to the reptile farm today. Saw a large goanna. Got to hold a bearded Dragon and an olive tree python. So cool! The bearded Dragon looked spikey but wasn't as spikey as expected. The python was heavy.  2.5m long. About 30kg. It was soft and smooth.
Had plans of going to the didgeridoo show in town. Purchased tickets too, but due to low nos it was canceled. :-(
Guy said after 19yrs he was closing cos of what goes on in the mall - vandalism :-(

17 Apr 2013 - Attack Creek (freecamp)

Named for where John McDouall Stuart, the famous Explorer,  was attacked by natives.

We are about 50km N of Tennant Creek. Free camping. While the sun was out there was heaps of flies, then came a shift change when the sun went down, with the mozzies. Not a bad place for a free camp. Right on the highway so could hear the road trains throughout the night :-(

16 Apr 2013 - Kakadu NT

Argh!!! We are to early! Everything is closed due to the Wet Season just finishing.  Now they have to scout the area for salt water crocodiles that may have found their way inland due to the flooding, prior to opening the areas.  The lookout was open though, so we had a walk to that and saw some aboriginal art en route ;-)

There were lots of flies much to the kids disgust. It was very hot and humid in there. They grumbled a little about the walk, but I enjoyed it ;-)

Free (cheap) camping at a place called Pussy Cat Flat near Pine Creek. 90km outside of Katherine. $22 a night with power. No charge for the kids. Extremely happy with that since it means we can still have air con ;-)

10 Apr 2013 - Darwin NT

Wed
Went to the Crocodylus Farm today. E fed a crocodile. Some of those crocodiles are massive. They also had a little zoo. There were monkeys, tigers and Lions. The monkeys were cheeky and cute ;-) We all got to hold a crocodile and have our photo taken.  E chopped my head off though :-(
Then we spent the afternoon at a FREE water park complete with water slides and a bucket.

Thurs
Went to the military museum and learned about the bombing of darwin. There was a room you went into and watched a movie of the bombing. Declan was a little scared.  He wanted to know why they were bombing darwin. Lots of interesting details. 

Fri
Went to the art gallery today. It included information on cyclone tracey, the before and after. A prehistoric gallery and a discovery for the kids. Then on to the wave pool. Just like wet and wild wave pool but a little smaller and not as crowded.  We all had a ball.

08 Apr 2013 - Katherine NT

Went on a boat cruise through the Katherine Gorge today. Spectacular. The kids loved it too. The driver drive the boat under a waterfall so those that wanted to get wet could. E and J were keen for that :-) We had lunch in the picnic area afterward. Took some rolls and sausages. We were feeding a couple of little birds some tidbits when along came a great big Hawk. It swooped in and snatched D's roll. Scared the heck out of us. D cried his little heart out. Said he wasn't finished with it. I think he was a bit traumatized. He said he felt the Hawks wings touch him :O

07 Apr 2013 - NT

Crossed the border about 9.30am WA time.  Lost an hour and a half. So, now only half an hour behind everyone

05 Apr 2013 - Kununurra WA

Staying at a place on the shore of Lake Kununurra. There is a resident croc there called "George". He is missing part of his bottom jaw and half of one of his arms. Every day he comes to visit the shore at about 5pm.  Kids think it is great :-)

Great! Overnight, battery charger decided to stop. If its not one thing its another :-( Fortunately, Paul brought all this useless stuff with him and he had a battery charger in his kit and caboodle ......lol;-) which means we can wait till we get to Darwin to fix it :-) New Age have to get back to us. It's still under warranty.

Visited a lookout called 'kelly's knob', then we went to the National Park and climbed the mini bungle bungles. Went out towards Wyndham and checked out the Ivanhoe Crossing (they have it on postcards here). We went to The Grotto - a swimming hole and waterfall. Then we took a drive out to Wyndham. A very old town. Most of the establishments are made from corrugated iron. In fact, I can't remember seeing any brick. That was where we found the Big Croc ;-)

04 Apr 2013 - Leaving Broome

Went and got the car checked yestersay morning. Apparently, the land Rover agent has to have access to the Internet to connect the diagnostics up to the car. Well, they weren't getting any response from land Rover and can't say how long it will be before they get back on line. Could be days, could be weeks. So, we're making the break tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. Fingers crossed.

29 March 2013 - Broome WA

Broome WA
Not sure if I'm a little disappointed with Broome. Haven't seen much yet, but of what I have seen, I don't much like it. Feels disorganised.

Staircase to the moon
Last day in a run of three days to see the staircase to the moon. The first two were stormy nights. Tonight was a beautiful night. A couple of clouds in the sky. It was like watching the sun rise but it was the moon. The reflection of the moon on the water gave the effect of a staircase to walk up. J wondered if we were talking about a real staircase cos she had seen a staircase the night before when we were looking for it. ...lol!

Camel ride
EasterSunday

Rode the camels today. Took the morning option since we left it too late to book a sunset ride. One nearly took my hand off when I touched it's head. ....lol. mine and Ds was called Alice. Ewan was on one by himself. His was called Baza. Paul and Js was called Raj. It was different ;-)

The easter bunny managed to find us in Broome.  Kids were a little concerned that he wouldn't ;-)

03 Apr - Broome
Stuck in Broome now. The car keeps displaying errors, we're not sure what they mean. Because of the Easter weekend, nothing was pen for 4 days. We rang the mechanic this morning but can't be seen till the morning. We haven't had the error all the days we've been here. But today, the day before we are sure to head off, we get another error. Don't know yet, but there is no telling how long we are going to be stuck in Broome :'(

27 March 2013 - 80 Mile Beach

Sea snails were devouring what looked like some sort of clam.

The sea was a long way from the beach when the tide was out. Hmm, I reckon about 80 miles away. .....lol

26 March 2013 - Dampier, WA

Grr! We're in Dampier. Woke up to millions of tiny ants all through the van. They were all through the food cupboards. Had a look outside. They're getting in through the power lead, water hose and Grey waste hoses. Went to see Red Dog today. Don't blink cos you might miss it. ......lol! Wouldn't have missed seeing it for the world though ;-)

21 March 2013 - Exmouth WA

22nd - Spent today in the Cape Range National Park. Snorkeled at Torquiose Bay. Current was a little strong. We had to start up the beach and travel down with it.  Ewan was a little panicky about it.  Managed to buy an underwater cover for my camera, so spent a little time testing it out.  D's birthday today so his choice was to not snorkel, but play on the beach with his birthday present. Went to dinner at Pinochios. Sumptuous pasta and prawns Paul had pork ribs. Very tender.

23nd - Today was the day to swim with the whale sharks. What an experience! Started the day off with a practice snorkel. Hard pressed getting D in but eventually he got in.

We had morning tea whilst we waited for the spotter plane to find a whale shark. We headed out to the whale shark and the boat dumped us out in front of it. We put our heads in and waited for it to swim past us. Then we had to swim along side it and look in awe. When we couldn't keep up with it anymore, the boat would then pick us up and we would do it all over again. The ocean was very choppy. Swells were about 3m high. D didn't get in at all. E did it twice and J did it the times. By the 4th  P and I were exhausted too.
It was a wonderful experience. I would definitely recommend it to anyone ;-)

19 March 2013 - Coral Bay

Yeh! We're in Coral Bay. We got here late but with just enough time to check in. Hung around carnarvon waiting for a water filter to arrive. Water is s#@t in Coral Bay. Tastes like the ocean :-( Walked on the beach and paddled our feet only to be surprised by a sting ray swimming so close we almost stepped on it :-) BEAUTIFUL! Can't wait to snorkel tomorrow.

20 March 2013
Went snorkeling this morning. Saw lots of fish but was a little disappointed that we didn't see as much as quobba blow holes.  No sting rays this morning :-(

19 March 2013 - Quobba Blow holes

Saw the blow holes, not blowing much. Bit early in the day I think :-(
On the plus side, we stopped for lunch just a bit down the road. We took a swim and there was heaps of coral with loads of colorful fish swimming around.  We loved it. A taste of what's to come in Coral Bay. Can't wait ;-)
Paul and Declan saw a sea turtle.  Paul said he thought it was a Loggerhead Turtle and it was huge! He wasn't quick enough to catch it on camera. E, J and. I tried to find it in the water but no luck finding it :-(

16 March 2013 - Carnarvon WA

Finally decided to leave Denham. Wetsuits didn't arrive and next delivery isn't until Tuesday. We're not waiting any longer. Onto Carnarvon we go.

The Anderson plug snapped off during our trip to Carnarvon,so I guess we have to stay here long enough to fix it. Don't think there are many places we have been that something hasn't happened :-(

Oh and a visit to Woollies to stock up on food that is soooo expensive everywhere else ;-)

$500 later and we're ready to roll.

12 March 2013 - Monkey Mia/Eagle Bluff

Went back to Monkey Mia. Managed to see two of the three feeds they have before 12pm. Ewan was asked to feed the Dolphin the first time, then jenna was asked to feed them the second time. Both times Declan hid behind his Dad so that he wouldn't get picked to feed them. ....lol. Went to the lookout at Eagle Bluff saw a tiny black floater that we think was a shark. Then we went down to the shallow water further down the road and there were heaps of sharks swimming around. Well worth the trip ;-)

Been fishing of the Denham Jetty over the last two nights. We've managed to catch a few different kinds of fish that were too small so had to throw back. And lots of squid. We cooked one lot. Still trial and error. Was a little tough. I'm sure it will be better next time ;-) kept one for bait. Named it 'hayley'. Tis in the freezer waiting for another fishing day.

04 March 2013 - Nature's Window/The Z-Bend Gorge

It was stunning to see they way water/floods can change the layout of the land in such an extreme way.

02 - 07 March 2013 - Kalbarri WA

Lovely place to visit and spend a weekend. Again, too many shore rocks to surf. Thought we'd try snorkeling but visibility wasn't too great either.  Spending some time here awaiting the delivery of the laptop.  Post Office advised me that they don't except deliveries from couriers. There started a world of trouble! We had to find out how the laptop was being delivered and where to. I tried to get a redirect on the delivery of the laptop only to be told that the redirect had to come from Toshiba, who I could never get to answer their phone.
Anyway, long story short, Toshiba delivered via Star Track. Australia Post do except deliveries from them!
Laptop arrived safely, but the wetsuits didn't arrive. After contacting the wetsuit place, we learned that they had sent them to the wrong address. They'd sent them to Geraldton. We asked them to redirect them to Denham.

20 Feb 2013 - Moore Bridge

Took the caravan to have the fridge fixed. It had shaken out of its cubby hole by about 10cm. We had managed to push it back in but had discovered some pipes lying on the floor of the caravan. Anyway, it needed to be fixed. While it was getting fixed we went to Rebel Sports and bought some surf boards for the kids. ;-) We free camped at Moore Bridge for the night. Lots of flies. .. . Yuk! And very hot. No power, so no air con :-(
Jenna was missing her girl friends so much and wishing she had a sister that she decided to do Declans hair. ....lol

09 March 2013 - Paul's Birthday - Denham

It was also very hot. We spent the day inside, the air conditioner on, doing school work. Did cooking as the subject and baked an upside down pudding for Paul as his birthday cake. Paul spent the day relaxing with a book. Took the kayak and boat out in the afternoon. It was windy and the sea was choppy, so the kids rode the boat over the waves and had an awesome time. Went to the local restaurant for dinner. Paul and I shared a seafood platter. The kids say and watched the guy singing whilst Jenna got serenaded by him. ......lol!

07 March 2013 - Denham WA / Monkey Mia

Monkey Mia WA Went to Monkey Mia today. The dolphins come in up to the times between 8am - 12pm. They had been in twice already when we got there. We didn't get there till about 10am. Needless to say, the didn't come back today :-( We fed a couple of emus our sole cores while we were there. Kids were freaking out cos the emus wanted their Apple cores before they had actually finished them so they were getting chased by them occasionally. .....lol! Declan found a starfish on the shore line. They had a little hold of it before putting it back where they found it.

01 March 2013 - Wagoe Chalets (free camp)

Wagoe Chalets Quite an unusual place to free camp. It wasn't free. It was power and water for $35 with 3 kids. It was out in the middle of nowhere. 1.2km from the beach. We could see it from our site, but it would have been a 4×4 drive on sand and after our recent bogging we didn't want to risk it. Great view though.

25 February 2013 - Geraldton WA

Geraldton WA Spent a week here. Received or wetsuits by mail. Wore them once and some derelicts came by that night and stole 3 of them off or washing line! :-(

22 February 2013 - Dongara/Ellandale Pool

Dongara WA and Ellendale Pool Stayed in a caravan park at Dongara. Tried a little bit of surfing but the waves were quite dumpy. There are a lot of sand bars and rocks. The water was beautiful though if you were happy to get dumped.
Ellendale Pool was a free camp. Really nice spot. Too many flies though. As with Lake Indoon, there was a sign saying not to put your head under the water because, depending on the temperature of the water, you would be at risk of getting meningitis. There were a lot of people there. It was a popular place. There were a lot of people putting their heads under the water, even the babies, but our kids were not allowed. It was a risk Paul and I were not prepared to take.

21 February 2013 - North Cliff Head

North Cliff Head Oh dear, disaster! We arrived at the free camp, about 40km outside of Dongarra. It looked like a really good place to stay. Right on the shore of the ocean. Paul located the sight he was happy to set up for the night in. Well! The worst think happened! We got bogged! In the sand, with the caravan attached. What a fiasco! We couldn't get out, so we tried to dig ourselves out with the aid of chocks and wood and bricks. But we were well and truly bogged! We had to unhook the caravan from the car and we managed to get the car out. But the caravan was still stuck. We had nothing to help us get out of it. So Paul went and asked some guys for anything they had. With the aid of those guys and their equipment we managed to drag the caravan onto harder ground, but it was late and everyone had had enough. We all went to bed. Our beds were heavily inclined. .....lol so we slept in our beds upside down. In the morning we managed to dig the Jack under the tow part of the caravan, get the jockey wheel into the van, hitched it up and away we went Phew! All without the aid of RACQ.. kol!

21 FEBRUARY 2013 - Lancelin WA

We stopped here for the kids to have their first surf. They did very well! They even managed to get up on their very first day of it. They had more perseverance than I had that's for sure. ....lol! I couldn't get up on the board at all! We were treated to the appearance of a pod of dolphins too. There were about ten of them riding the waves. It was a lovely surprise! ;-)

13 - 19 February 2013 - Perth WA

13th - arrived in Perth.  Nice van Park. Thought about taking the laptop to be fixed but were a little late in motivation.  Went to the pool first.  Beautiful.  Feels like we haven't done much swimming on this trip at all.

14th- dropped off the laptop to be fixed then went to the jetty with the hope of a speed boat ride. Declan, who we were trying to please with a ride in a boat, wasn't into it.  So out the window went that idea. Paul was not happy. We went home (to the van) and spent the rest of the day home schooling.

15th - went to the maritime museum. Kids loved it. Paul loved it too, I think.
Got to check out a submarine. Pretty squeezy in there. Spotted some sales at target, so bought some new things for the kids.

17th - We took the kids to the Perth Mint. It was very informative. The best part was when they melted the Gold and made it into a bar. We all loved that :-) Then we went to the Science and Discovery Centre. So much to do in there. Picked a good day to go there, as it was our first rainy day.