Coffs Harbour to Mildura

Well it did stop raining eventually,but it turned out to be an interesting day.Its amazing what you find when you are on the net,we never dreamed that when we left coffs it would be in a differant caravan.We only went to Jayco's to see about a service but we found our new van with all the things we wanted,so Im now sitting on my new club lounge looking at the Murray river meandering by.It was an exhausting day moving everything,even a glass of wine couldnt revive us.Its been a hectic week,our first day after changing was a real test on Jeffrey's driving skills ,one of my famous short cuts!!We had spent the night at Port Macquarie and we were heading to Tamworth,the counrty music capital of Australia,(at least not both types of music country and western!!)The road wound up and up over the mountains,can anyone tell me when you see the sign Danger falling rocks,what are you supposed to do!!The road into Tamworth is 6ks of steep descent,from 1550m straight down,I told you I really tested jeff's driving skills!We had a nice surprise of catching up with a friend and spending the night in a house,a very boozy night for some of us!The highlight was be taken by Jeffs friend Phil to an aborignal site to see the cave paintings,not known by many.Only a few goats and roos,such a spiritual place,I wonder what had taken place over the years.There are some lovely country towns in NSW,Gunnedah has the highest population of Koalas in the world and are often seen in the main street we werent so lucky unfortuantly.Parkes was also a surprise,if you remember themovie "The Dish" it was bases on Parkes Dish.It will be 50 years old next year and played a huge part in beaming the moon landing to the world,Houston was so impressed with the quality they switched transmission to Parkes.It also played an important part in bringing back Apollo 13,its surprising what you come across in the country!But that was it,nothing more, no more towns just nothing!

Explorer John Oxley wrote that the area of country on the way to Hay is so bad no man would want to ever go that way again!How right he was,no trees,flat nothing,though the swarm of Locust did make things a bit more interesting especially the one that hung on the cb aerial for ages before spinning of into oblivion!We are now in Mildura,a town with many old buildings and the magnificent Murray river flowing through it.We have never seen so many houseboats,ther are 11 differant companies here,and are nothing like Mandurah boats,imagine a floating luxury apartment!Our stay in Victoria is brief back to South Australia tomorrow,so I am making a bucket full of potato salad to use up some spuds,so I can take them across the border.It seems strange to think we will be back in W.A. in just over a week.My new bigger freezer is so stocked up we certainly will not starve on the Nullaboor,potato salad anyone?

Mackay,Yeppon,Burnett Heads,Caloundra,Coffs Harbour

The gaps between blogs seems to be getting longer,the days seem to speeding by faster and its November already.Well we left the rain behind,though some parts of Mackay were still underwater,its very low lying and has a large river system with creeks popping up everywhere.Over 200mm of rain fell in a few hours,thats a lot of water to drain away.We stayed at Bucasia the northern beach part of Mackay right by the water.No not flooded but overlooking the ocean,though the tide goes out so far there its hard to see it in the distance. You have to walk a fair way out,armies of solider crabs part into groups as you walk along the sand,they are bright blue and look a bit like eyeballs on legs!I try not to look I think they are bit creepy looking.Well the dry weather didnt last we left after a few days and stayed at St Lawrence a free camp spot very nice and dry when we arrived,then the rain started again.The next morning we played a new game count the puddles and then watched them form a lake,enough of that we headed for Yeppon .Big mistake,never again will we drive in bad weather like that it was awful,not relaxing at all and the free camp spot we had planned to go to was flooded out!Hurray the weather changed the ground started to dry out and the sun was shining Yeppon has a nice coastline loads of places to stop and eat the pie or cream donut you have bought in the local bakers!the monument to Capt Cook is called the singing ship when the wind blows the pipes play a tune,strange but interesting.We have left the cane fields behind Rockhampton is a huge beef producer ,I never knew Queensland produced so much sugar,beef,crops and mining.Another storm before we left Yeppon what spetacular lightning but poor Barney hated every moment.Queensland has had its wettest winter for 40 years,which is wonderful for the land but not so good for us travellers thought the countryside is so beautiful and green.We crossed back over the Tropic of Capricorn at Rockhampton and the donna had to go back on the bed,who would have thought that line could make such a differance ,no more humid nights!Stopped off at 1770 but so so busy with loads of backpackers so headed to Burnett Heads a tiny place on the coast 15 mins form Bundaberg.Great homemade ice cream at Bagara Beach we sat there in the sunshine yes I did mention the sun eating our icecream,we felt like we were on our hols!The land here is all veggie growers,lovely just pull in and stock up on fresh veggies and lovely strawberries yum I was happy.Childers has the most perfumed Post Office I have every been in the door tinkles as you open it then the perfume hits you,its cram packed of craft,jewellry,lavender soaps I couldnt possible say all that was in there ,but I did notice the post office counter.We have had enough of the Bruce highway the road surface is getting worse and too many trucks so we detoured through th Mary valley and so glad we did ,we would have missed some of the most beautiful countryside.The rolling hills are so green (all that rain)we stayed at Kenilworth showground a lovely little town nestled among the hills ,the weather was hot and sunny hurray we came across a hippie shop with clothing from Katmandu!!Another great drive through more mountains to the coast we could see Brisbane in the distance and the coast of Caloundra below us one of the biggest places we had been to.We stayed on the shores of Pumice Stone passage a narrow piece of water between the mainland and Bridie Island you can see just the bridge of huge container ships going past on the open ocean.I had to go to the U.K. for 2 weeks so left poor Jeffrey and Barney on ther own, the night I left they had one of the worst storms ever with 100k winds,I must admit I was glad I missed it!Well Im back now and fully recovered from my trip,we are heading back to Mandurah for christmas so down the coast of NSW.We crossed the border inland the Jacaranda trees are in full flower and against the green hills the blue purple colour is breathtaking.We had a very scary journey on one of my shortcuts,it was supposed to be a A road but whoever graded it must have been new to the job!It was so narrow and full off holes and very very winding,with a long drop down the side 50kph seemed very fast we were very relieved when we reach Woodenbong,what a great name,and a great free camp spot.Now we have arrived in Coffs Harbour and its pouring of rain!!Oh well Ive made some chocolate muffins, so we will put a movie on make a cupa and enjoy a muffin!!

The Whitsundays

Well when these photos were taken the weather as you can see was beautiful,but as I write this the rain is so hard its bouncing back up,the noise from the thunder and the rain on the caravan roof is deafening!!Oh well time for a coffee a home made scone and sit at the computer and tell you whats been happening.The whitsundays are so beautiful they deserve a page of their own 74 islands and 52 weeks to explore them,we have been here 3 weeks now and have had an amazing time.The trip on the seaplane flying out to Hayman Island landing on the blue clear water then driving up the ramp to pick up 2 passengers ,turning around then down the ramp to the water and taking off was very strange.We had to sit and wait about 10 minutes as the passengers were late, but as the pilot said this is 5 star Hayman,holiday island for the rich and famous.I must admit I did wonder who was behind the baseball cap and sunnies when they got on!We landed at Whitehaven beach rated as one of the best beaches in the world, the beach is not sand but silica. The area is volcanic and spewed out silica which made this lovely white beach it does not get hot underfoot and reflects the sun so much you have to put sunblock under your chin and arms!The beach was deserted only a few people in the distance the water warm and the champagne chilled wow what a place and how lucky are we.I have always wanted to go in a seaplane and it really lived up to my expectations it is so exiting landing and taking of on water,why ?I cant explain it just is!Everyone knows we love boats so these islands are the place to be,so another sailing trip was a must do,this time on a 80 foot 0r 24 m maxi yacht!Everything on these are big big big thats me at the helm in the photo, George our skipper was watching me very closely!We went to Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island there I go name island name dropping again!We have snokelled in loads of places but this must rate as one of the best so many fish surrounding you.We did an introductory scuba dive,Jeff had done one before so was ok,but it takes a bit of getting used to.Was I really 5m under water relying on an air tank to stop me drowning apparently I was for a whole 20 minutes,it was amazing,a busy city of colours the fish oblivious to my awe or excitment.When I came back on board I was grinning so much you would have thought I had won lotto!!Well what next?its still raining and we have had our coffee must be time to plan lunch and plan when we leave here tomorrow where to.We are having a great trip and seen some great places but here has been the best so far.

Mission Beach to Airlie Beach

I am getting very slack staying in Mission Beach was so so relaxing zzzzzz oops sorry there I go too relaxed again!!We are going south we thought Townsville but it was such a culture shock after sleepy Mission Beach its busy busy busy.So much traffic,so many people,planes and chinook helicopters we decided not to stay as planned and headed on to a tiny little place called Giru to free camp.The Burdekin bridge between Ayr and Home hill is a massive structure with crisscross metal struts along the side and top it was built to stop the two towns being cut off when the river floods.

The Bruce Highway goes through acres and acres of sugar cane with the train track crisscrossing across the road and dissapearing into the fields,I wonder how many acres of cane there are.You know you are coming to a sugar town when you see the chimney belching out smoke,its a busy time of year now the cutting season.It makes you stop and think when you get a spoon of sugar how much work and time it takes to produce it.Next stop was Bowen I was so looking forward to seeing it,I was so dissapointed,there are some lovely scenic bays,but very little boating.Though we did have a very interesting chat with a lady in the info centre,she had been a volunteer on the set of the Australia movie.She had met them all Hugh Jackman,Brian Brown,Nicolle and Keith Urban she had some great stories to tell,we have a great story to tell about Bowen too but thats not for all,far too shocking!!!Well now we are in Flametree just along from Airlie Beach and the beautiful Whitsundays it is so beautiful,boats boats and more boats,heaven!We went out sailing just 5 of us out to a tiny island,snokelling,lunch on a deserted beach,and Jeff took the helm nearly all the way back which made his day,it really was a great trip.We are here for a few weeks,well thats the plan but things do seem to change quite a bit,more sailing we must go to the most famous Whitehaven beach and I want to go in a seaplane to Hayman Island more of that in my next blog.Whats next?well we have just stuffed our faces on the most delicious strawberries,then a swim then some lunch I think,and the good news is we have missed the winter completly yay!

Cooktown to Mission Beach

Well I have been very slack my last blog was on 5th July and today is the 1stAugust!What have I been doing and where have we been?We spent 3 days in Cooktown,the Capt.Cook Musuen is a good place to be when its pouring of rain!The mountains disappear completly just a heavy veil off rain,thats rain forest for you!!at least its lovely and warm.We headed south to just north of Mossman,the road from Mt Molloy to Mossman is a very steep drop with hairpin zig zag bends that we negotiated very slowly or should I say Jeff did.It was so humid when I got out of the air conditioned car my glasses fogged up .We never book ahead for a site as we never really know where we will be or when we will get there,but Cairns area in the school hols what a nightmare!!We arrived at Lake Placid as we knew they took dogs but ther was no room at the inn!!We must have looked in need of a place to stay as they took pity on us and set up an area in the car park for us oh well it was only one night.Cairns doesnt have free camping the council think we caravaneers are messing people its not us but the wiz bangers(little camper vans)We moved on to Babinda free camp as long as you like hurray,but it is in competition with Tully for the golden gumboot award for the wettest place in Australia!While we were there it gave it a fair go of winning it,they can have 4Metres of rain a year!!its another place where the mountains dissapear completly.We are now in Mission Beach right by the beach opposite Dunk Island the nights are warm 19-21 degrees and the days sunny except when our son Thomas came to visit 3 days of very heavy rain as I said earlier thats rainforest for you.We did have a great trip out to the outer part of The Great Barrier Reef and saw 2 Humpback whales which was an amazing site.Mission Beach is a very laid back place,swimming,walking on the beach and happy hour and watching the skydivers jump the beach.I watch them everyday and I am starting to think I could do that 14000feet and 60 seconds of free fall,tandem of course,or perhaps I might just stick to walking on the beach.Well another day has passed by and its already time for happy hour so cheers everyone.

Karumba to Cooktown

Well the few days in Karumba turned into 10 days!what can I tell you about Karumba?The fatest juiciest prawns,great food at the pub,fantastic Barra and chips from Ash's and the best sunsets.We can see why a lot of people stay for 3 or 4 months every year enjoying the warm sunshine.After 10 days we were all prawned out and ready to travel we had planned to go across to the coast but had heard so much about the Atherton Tablelands thats where we headed off to.As we drove off Jeff asked me if I had seen the photo of the croc in the office taken only a few weeks before outside the caravan park!!WHAT I shrieked thats where I walked Barney several times a day and a few times in the dark.One thing I hate that gives me the heaby jeebys is crocs its amazing the amount of people that have a croc story to tell and I do not want to be one of them.We stayed at Georgetown for a few nights made famous by the goldrush its very rich in gems we met a few people who were off gem fossicking .The dingos really howl during the night here, sounds very creepy glad we were'nt in a tent,we saw an awful lot of roadkill on the way here after seeing the cows walk all over the road on the main bridge we can see why.The drive to Ravenshoe is beautiful its the highest town in Queensland very green and lush and 2 supermarkets!!the first place since Karumba to buy fruit and veg.The scenery is amazing on the tablelands ,mountains,waterfalls ,lakes and lush grass and of course loads and loads of avocados and bananas for sale at little roadside stalls yum.The town of Atherton is a very old town surounded by mountains we free camped again here at Rocky gully which in the 1940's was home to the largest military base in Australia the complex had the largest military hospital in the southern hemisphere you cand still see the foundations of a few of the buildings it is now a memorial park.It was a bit grey and cloudy so after a drive to Granite Gorge were the wallerbies are so tame the come right up to you we thought we would head north to Cooktown.The drive from Mount Molloy to Cooktown must be one of the most scenic in Australia I know on previous blogs I have said that but this drive is through the Great Dividing Ranges so very steep in parts its beautiful no towns just mountains and rivers, I really can't explain how stunning the countryside is ,breathtaking,amazing ,wow. words do not do it justise.We have been here in Cooktown for 3 days now surrounded by mountains, there are beautiful totally unspoilt bays that probaly havent changed since Captain Cook was here in 1770.Now to the important stuff there is a great bakery!!We can't go any further north from here,its the end of sealed roads and our caravan is not an off roader so we will be heading south in a few days

Mount Isa to Karumba Gulf of Carpenteria

Well after a lot of thought we are here in the gulf of carpenteria at Karumba the weather here is lovley its about 32 degrees at the moment.We left Mount Isa last Monday and headed towards Cloncurry,several people had told us what a great drive it is,definatly one of the best very up and down with the road cut through rock in places.Cloncurry has several claims to fame one being the hottest place in Queensland 54 degrees!and home to the founder of RFDS.The road started to dissapear once we left the town!down to one single lane though sealed the rule is if a road train heads toward you we give way why would'nt you?they say its easier to pull a caravan out than a road train!!I must admit I did feel a bit tense at the prospect and not the right time for me to have a go driving!We stopped overnight at free pull in only us there not a town for over 100ks bit spooky when we turned the lights out! the weather had warmed up we were in shorts for the first time since leaving sitting by our campfire looking at the stars wonderful.Great exitment the next day we saw water lots of it we crossed the Norman River at Normanton and there was water in it!!Now we are here in Karumba on the coast very low lying and once it rains cut of completly.The sunsets are magical sitting by the water or on it with a glass of wine mmm.The prawns here yum,so so big and cheap,prawns wine and sunset what more could you ask for?We are staying in a site while here ,has a nice pool which is good as you cant go in the ocean here,crocs may cause harm or death ,thats what the signs say.Poor Barney can't understand why he cant run on the beach and go for a swim we really can't take the chance he could become an entree !!Free fish barbie tonight just supply your own salad and wine and Jeffs playing the drums with the other muso's here,I did'nt offer to play my didgeridoo,might clear the place!Well its warming up,nearly time for a beer and a prawn or 10,we are kicking back here for a few more days here,then off to who knows