Airlie Beach (via Mackay) 4th - 17th May

Airlie Beach (via Mackay) 4th - 17th May

We spent 2 nights in Mackay on our way to Airlie Beach, this was 2 nights too long ! The caravan park was awful the worst we have stayed at. It was tiny and full of 'workers cabins' with fairly unsavoury looking tenants the sites were no more than just a patch of grass and dirt with no character what so ever. Couldn't wait to leave. Mackay had nothing to offer either although we didn't go to the beach which I believe is quite nice.

We weren't sure what to expect at Airlie Beach. One because we had never been that far north before and two because cyclone Debbie has hit Airlie Beach just 5 weeks

earlier. As we were approaching Airlie Beach from Proserpine we started seeing the damage, stripped & fallen trees littered the roadsides. There was a huge vacant block of land about 1 acre with mountains of 'mulch' about 2 stories high. This was from the fallen trees & branches that council and SES had mulched. Locals could deliver their garden debris free of charge. They could also collect the mulch to use to help rebuild their gardens. The caravan park was beautiful like a resort with an amazing lagoon pool, full of huge palm trees. A lot had been stripped of their leaves but there were still plenty with all their branches.Not too far from the park is Cedar Creek Falls a lovely waterfall with a swimming lagoon at the base. The water was freezing which didn't seem to bother the many European back packers that were swimming and jumping from the falls.

Airlie Beach main esplanade was a bit sad with their Major Lagoon pool fenced off & closed for

repairs & also quite a few of the restaurants & shops closed looking like they hadn't been touched since the cyclone. Locals told us they're still waiting for insurance claims to be approved.

A couple of guys Trent & Shane set up camp with a couple of swags across from our site. They were mates going on an extended fishing trip. They were very friendly and would ask what was for dinner when I would be cooking outside on the Weber. One night I was making pizza so I told them if they bought the ingredients they could cook their pizzas on our Weber (unfortunately I didn't have enough stuff for them). There was a Coles next door so they went over and bought everything they needed for their pizza's and they joined us for tea. We discovered they were the same age as Colin and Tim which amused them so they started calling us Mumsy and Dad. They had chartered a fishing

boat for the next day and invited us along but we preferred to eat fish rather than catch it we declined preferring to spend our day lazing by the pool. They returned late the next afternoon with a bounty of Coral Trout they had caught. Trent had filleted the fish & we had a beautiful meal of Coral Trout that night for dinner. It was easily the best fish I've ever eaten. As they were travelling light with just an esky they left us with the rest of the fish which we really appreciated. We really enjoyed meeting them & have stayed facebook friends.

We went for quite a few drives including Proserpine and neighbouring Shute Harbour which was very badly affected by the cyclone there were still yachts perched on the side of the road & three mast poles sticking out of the water at the wharf which looked very bazaar.

Next stop ....Townsville

Yeppoon & Rockhampton 26th April - 4th May

Yeppoon & Rockhampton 26th April - 4th May

Yeppoon is a small beach side town 40km from Rockhampton.

The caravan park is lovely, its very long with just 2 rows, beach side or roadside. We were lucky enough to score a beach side site with beautiful views right out to sea. While entering Yeppoon we saw our first 'cyclone shelter' sign which showed us we were getting further north and had entered cyclone territory we vowed to not be north of Brisbane between November and April to avoid getting caught in a cyclone or the tropical wet season.

We spent the first couple of days exploring Yeppoon and going for walks

along the beach. At the visitor centre I saw a flyer about bull riding every Friday night at a pub in Rockhampton. Its actually where the bull riders practise so is more low key competition there. Sounded like fun so we went. The Great Western Pub is a typical country pub on the inside but out the back is a genuine bull ring with a small grand stand at one end & chairs & tables at the other end. We had a beautiful steak (ironically) while watching them warm up then at 7pm the action started. It was so much fun & something so totally different.

Yeppoon was very relaxing with a lovely beach & beautiful sunsets. Will come back again! 
Next stop ...Airlie Beach

Coolum - Happy Easter with some family

Coolum - 1st - 18th April

Back at our favourite place on the Sunshine Coast for the next 18 days.
We just love it here as it has everything we want. The caravan park is right on the beautiful beach with crystal clear blue water & soft white sand. There are cafes, a surf club right next door that does great meals with spectacular views. There is a Coles & Dan Murphy’s only 500 metres away ..... what more could you want?

The downside is that it was school holidays & Easter so the park

was packed with kids who’s idea of a sleep in is 6am.
The upside is that our niece Kelly, hubby Greg & two daughters Audrie & Ava came to spend Easter with us (in their tent). We had a lovely time swimming, hanging out together & Gary even did some boogie boarding thanks to a nice family camped behind us who loaned us a boogie board. Gary’s now hooked & wants his own boogie board.
It was so nice sharing a little bit of our caravanning life with family.

Next stop ........ Bundaberg (Elliot Heads)

Brissie ....... Beautiful one day, cyclonic the next!

Brisbane (Scarborough) - 25th - 31st March

We spent 3 nights in Yamba on our way to Brisbane. Yamba is a small town halfway between Coffs Harbour & Byron Bay. The caravan park was huge with a fantastic waterpark. It was very quiet while we were there but I'm sure it's packed in the holidays. There are a lot of prawn farms in Yamba & just at the end of the road was a large farm that sold direct to the public. They were the freshest, tastiest prawns we have ever had. It's worth visiting Yamba just for the prawns.

Scarborough is 38km North of Brisbane on a point, next to a large marina. The caravan park was very clean & neat but felt more like a carpark with a lot of concrete. We met some lovely couples & enjoyed lots of chats & a few drinks. We stay connected via Facebook with a lot of people we meet. It's great to follow their travels while they follow ours. Hopefully we will meet up again somewhere.


We caught up with Gary's mate from Futuris, Clayton & his wife Bernie. Clayton now works for a company that builds buses. He took us To see how the buses are built. It was so interesting. As usual, we cannot comprehend the work & detail that goes in to building the buses we see on the streets every day. We then had a beautiful lunch at the café attached to the caravan park.

That night I was still full from lunch so decided to just have a couple of Vita Weet biscuits with
Vegemite for tea. All of a sudden I felt a crunch that was very in biscuit like. I'd broken a piece off my wisdom tooth! I phoned Bernie who gave me the number of her dentist. I phoned first thing next morning & thankfully he could see me that afternoon. He did a patch up job that could last a year or a day. Unfortunately, 2 days later it broke again so I was left with no option but to have it pulled.
The dentist wasn't confident to remove it as he said it would be a very complicated extraction due to the roots being 'hooked'. He referred me to a dentist in Chermside who was able to do it later in the week.

In the mean time Cyclone Debbie was about to hit a bit further north in Airlie Beach. We paid Close attention to the news bulletins as we were going to Airlie Beach in 4 weeks time & they were forecasting torrential rain & winds for the whole east coast..... Rain & wind is the natural enemy of the caravanner.
We packed up everything outside & pulled the awning in as did most other people. A few people either didn't know about the impending storm or decided to risk it. Either way they were soon going to regret that decision. An ex Tip Top work mate, Lyndsay who lives in a nearby suburb, messaged me offering a bed for the night as she was a bit worried about us. That was so lovely of her, but we decided to stay put and caught up with her and husband Brian for a coffee later in the week.

Next morning I had to go to the dentist for the extraction, all schools were closed & everyone was advised to stay home & avoid all non urgent road travel due to the dangerous weather conditions. I had no option but to keep my dentist appointment. Luckily, it was in the morning & the worse conditions weren't expected to hit till around 4pm.
That day I have never seen so much rain on the roads, it was pretty scary driving the 26km to the dentist on unfamiliar roads in pelting rain. The tooth extraction itself wasn't too bad, the dentist was fantastic but took over an hour due to the curved roots.

Back at the van the heavy rain continued & we braced ourselves for the winds that were on the way. We were watching on TV the devastation Cyclone Debbie was causing to the Whitsundays.
The really strong winds started around 5pm. We couldn't do much but sit inside our rocking & Rolling Van watching TV (with the volume up due to the crazy noise of the rain on the caravan roof) & knitting Trauma Teddies. I was glued to the 'Willy Weather' app on my phone following the weather & could see it was going to last a few hours. At one stage we could hear some commotion outside & looking out the window one of the neighbours who didn't pack away was outside scurrying around putting things away in the torrential wind & rain. Around 7pm I could hear a strange banging outside. We kept listening out in case it was coming from our van but it couldn't be because everything was packed away. Around 8pm the rain & wind had all but gone & the rain was light enough to go outside & check for any damage. 2 caravans down from us a poor couple were soaking wet sorting their gear out & we discovered that their awning started collapsing in the storm.That was the banging we could hear. They then stood under it literally holding up the roof for 2 hours till the storm had passed. Poor buggas! We heard later the winds were up to 120kmh. The Next morning the sun was shining again & apart from the soggy ground there was no sign of the previous nights Storm.
We spent our last few days in Scarborough going for walks around the marina & chatting with other couples at the park.

Next stop........ Coolum!

Port Macquarie - Bonus visit with newest Grandie Emma

Port Macquarie - 6th - 23rd March

Port Macquarie is starting to feel like our second home with this being our third stay in less than 12 months. When we visit here it's all about family time rather than 'sightseeing' as such.
The added bonus of this trip is we we able to spend precious time with our youngest grand daughter Emma (& her mummy Amy) as Amy has brought Emma all the way from Perth for a holiday with Amy's mum & to visit with Amys friends.


The fear of being long distance grandparents is that Emma being only 7 months old, she won't know who we are or even worse, cry when she sees us. Well, Emma put those fears to rest straight away as she smiled as soon as she saw us & was more than happy for lots of cuddles & kisses. We had a lovely week seeing them every day & even babysat a couple of times.
Of course it was fantastic getting to spend time with my sister & nieces & great nephews & families too. Michelle, Nathan & Nixon came up from Newcastle which was great.  Jo is pregnant with her second child so we will get to see another new baby when we visit them at Christmas.

Just a short blog this time.

Next stop .............Brisbane

Cruising the South Pacific! - Family Memories Forever.

12 Night Cruise on Voyager Of The Seas to
Noumea, Vila, Mystery Island & Mare' - 5th - 16th March

As everyone knows if there's anything we love more than travelling around in our caravan is going on cruises, so it is no surprise that we jumped at the chance to go on a cruise with Colin, Megan, Ashleigh & Lauren. Our 'farm friends' Karen & Steven very kindly offered to store our car & caravan  on their farm. On the day of departure Karen & Steven caught the train to the city with us to ensure we knew where to go to board the ship.

Once we boarded we did what most cruisers do.....went straight to the buffet! We had lunch while

waiting for 'the kids' to arrive who flew in to Sydney from Adelaide. After they arrived & we'd all finished lunch we spent the rest of the day checking out the ship. It even had an ice skating rink!
Eating is a large part of cruising. We had breakfast & lunch each day in the buffet & dinner in the main dining room. It's funny that even though there is just about every kind of food you can think of at the buffet we always went for the same thing each day. My breakfast was Bircher muesli & toast or a pancake for breakfast & a hot dog or burger for lunch. Gary still had WeetBix every morning (heaven forbid he deviate from WeetBix) & he had a burger each day for lunch. Dinner was amazing every night. 3 courses, or four if you're Gary & Colin who would sometimes have 2 entree's or main courses when the couldn't decide. The meals are always quite light so having four courses is not as bad as it sounds  The Butter chicken was a hit with Gary asking each night if he could have it. Even if it wasn't on the menu for that night they would still get it for him. Ashleigh took a liking to the Poppadums & wasn't very hungry one night so just ordered a plate of poppudums for her dinner. Lauren had a plate of green beans one night.
The fantastic service can only be understood if you've been on a cruise. The staff literally can't do enough for you.

Day 2 the girls were eager to go to kids club & Colin, Megan, Gary & I had a game of mini golf on

the top deck. The weather was warm & the seas were calm. We watched people do rock climbing & body boarding on the 'wave rider'. We picked the girls up for lunch then they went for a swim in the pool. We went to trivia & to our surprise we won! After dinner we went to the show in the theatre & then went to bed for a good nights sleep. We always find we're so tired after a day or activities that we're well & truely ready for bed by about 9pm.
They have various kinds of trivia three times a day & we would always go at least once. There was a group of ladies that went to every trivia & took it so seriously they won just about every time. It became quite irritating very quickly.
The rest of our days at sea were spent playing shuffleboard, checking out the shops on the promenade & just generally relaxing.
Our first port of call was Noumea. We caught a bus to the aquarium which had the usual giant fish tanks full of all kinds of marine life. The highlight was the outside aquarium with giant turtles. We looked around the markets on the dock where Colin & Gary bought some $5 board shorts.
We had lunch at the onboard Johnny Rockets 50's themed burger bar. The waiters danced along to Love Shack which was great fun. The girls had their first ever soft drink float or 'spider'. Don't think they were too impressed, especially Lauren who, halfway through said those words no parent wants to hear... 'I feel sick'

We spent the next day at Mystery Island which is a tiny, uninhabited (unless there is a cruise ship visiting) island surrounded by crystal clear blue water that felt amazing to swim in. The locals from the large neighbouring island come across to make money from the cruise ship passengers by running tours, markets & hair braiding. It is their only source of income & they are extremely poor. The girls had their hair braided, they do an amazing job, so perfect & so quick.
I took 30 beach balls & some stickers to hand out to the island children. It was lovely watching Ashleigh & Lauren give the gifts to the children.

Our next port was Vila. We ran the gauntlet of the taxi drivers who yell & try to convince the

passengers to go on tours. It is quite intimidating but they have plenty of security so is quite safe. We caught a taxi into the main street for some duty free shopping & then caught another one back to the ship with another couple. The driver tried to rip them off saying he didn't have any change so kept their $20 for a $10 trip. Colin sorted it by giving the driver the correct money for all of us & then getting the heck out of there. There is a huge market at the port which was good fun to look around. The weather was very hot & humid & pretty yuk until the heavens opened up & the rain came pouring down. The market ladies were beckoning us to the shelter of their stalls but the warm rain felt beautiful & refreshing.

Mare was another beautiful island we visited. We had to catch a bus to the other side of he island to swim. Again, the water was crystal clear blue & warm. We just swam & enjoyed the water for a few hours before heading back to the ship for lunch.

Some of the other things we did were Ice skating, galley tour, volleyball, table tennis, Karaoke (who'd have thought that 'Let It Go' was so difficult to sing)?! Lauren enjoyed it which was all that mattered.
On our last day the girls did the rock climbing wall. They went up & down many times. Michael, the Canadian instructor was lovely & convinced the girls to have a go at boogie boarding on the Wave Rider. They took to it so well, staying on the board for ages. I think we enjoyed watching them as much as they enjoyed doing it.

The cruise was over too soon but we were very grateful to be able to spend this time together & make some fantastic memories. Can't wait to do it all again.







Next stop .........Pt Macquarie

Lane Cove & Berkley Vale - more catch ups & a project for Gary

Lane Cove - 22nd - 27th February

This is now our third visit staying at Lane Cove Tourist Park. We still cannot get over that we are 12 kms from the heart of Sydney but this place is surrounded by trees & wildlife & is so tranquil.
Our main purpose to stay here is to break up the drive ( we try to only drive around 300km's per day) & also to catch up with my brother & family & our good friends Kristen & Ron.

We didn't do a lot here, Gary went to the movies one day while I browsed the shops at Macquarie Park shopping centre. Usually I drop Gary off at the movie to find out what time it finishes then I go to a cafe & enjoy a latte while writing out a postcard for Ashleigh & Lauren. Then I just wander around till it's time to meet Gary.

On The Sunday We went to Danny (my brother) & Robyns who live near Cronulla. We all know

about Sydney traffic but I couldn't get over the amount of cars on the road on a Sunday morning. Don't these people sleep........ or garden?? Danny, Robyn & Olivia took us for a nice drive around Cronulla & we enjoyed a beautiful lunch at Cronulla RSL club. We then drove around the beach side. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the best so we didn't get out of the car.
We went back to their house & chatted till bedtime. We stayed overnight so Gary could have a couple of drinks & also to spend some more family time.

We had a lovely catch up with Kristen & Ron & also dinner with our niece Phoebe & Toni.
Our time here went very quickly & before we knew it it was time to move on to Kelly & Gregs


Berkley Vale - 28th Feb - 2nd March.

We only spent  couple of days with Kelly & Greg (with the caravan parked up on their front lawn as usual) mainly because in a few days time we were going on a cruise with Colin, Megan & Ashleigh & Lauren. ......... More about that later
Gary had a job to do here. Greg has his own garden maintenance & landscaping business & needed his trailer enclosed. Greg purchased all the materials & Gary spent 2 days welding it all together with Greg as his apprentice. I spent the time cooking, knitting & generally hanging around.

I picked Audrie & Ava up from school & enjoyed helping them with their homework & playing

games.





Next stop ........ South Pacific Cruise!!!!!