Week 33

Gold coast to Coffs Harbour 12th - 16th August

Monday
We spent the day exploring the surf outlets in Ashmore, then into surfers for lunch and time for fun at Time Zone, Jake didn't know where to go he was a little overwhelmed, we all had a lot of fun even Curtis got into it and gave it a go.

Tuesday
We decided to make use of our VIP passes and take one last trip to Movie World. This time Amity got more adventurous she went on the Batman ride, Asylum, Road Runner. Curtis did extremely well having a go on the dodgem cars by himself and even drove the taxi ride, our baby boy is growing up so quickly. Wet n wild again to do all the rides that didn't get done last time, this time it was Guys turn to go on the flush drop.

Wednesday
BBQ lunch at the playground with Barb and Russ, it was lovely spending time with them before we continue our trip.

Friday
We moved on to Yamba for lunch.

We arrived at Coffs Harbour. The weather changed from sunshine to rain and wind.

The Big Banana was a must see by the kids. Then with the good eyes that they have they spotted the lolly shop, after watching them make personalised lollies for a wedding the kids got their tastings, we didn't leave empty handed with a mixed bag of lollies for all to share.

How amazing are these?

The kids made use of the amazing van park, even though it was on 24 deg they had to go in the pool. Played on the jumping pillow, games room and kids playground. We went for a walk on the beach, Zach tried his luck at catching his own bait with the jar that he got from Russ, and nope no luck at that. Guess we are not meant to fish!!

Week 32

Gold Coast  / NSW north coast 5th – 11th August 2013

 On the  Monday it was a visit to Wet an Wild and then a stint of shopping at Harbour town.

On Tuesday we changed caravan parks and stayed at the Broadwater foreshore park. We then popped into Sea world for a look and then dinner with Aunty Marion. Zachary loved being able to play with Toby again.

 

On Wednesday we spent the day at Sea world

 

Thursday we caught up with Barb and Russell for Morning tea and lunch. It was wonderful to see them again. It had been so long since we parted ways in WA.

 

On Friday we had to move on, there was no sites left for the weekend as the park was booked out. We headed south through surfers and on past Tweed Heads... oh... we're in NSW.... we stopped in Kingscliffe for lunch and looked for somewhere to stay.

 

Saturday morning we checked out the local markets and then spent the best part of the day in Byron Bay relaxing on the foreshore after visiting the Byron Bay cookie factory outlet and eating sushi rolls for lunch. Clothes are optional here on the beach!

Sunday was spent doing the school work.

 

Week 31

Noosa 30th July to 5th August

Monday was school day…all day….

On Tuesday we left Pomona and moved to Noosa heads and stayed with Nigel and Jodi at Yve and John’s for 4 nights. The kids have been so excited to see their Uncle Nigle and Aunty Jodi, welcoming them with big hugs.

 We went shopping at Hastings Street, where Amity picked up a bargain of One direction thongs for $5....

 

On Wednesday after school, we drove around the area exploring Maroochydore and Buderim again. We found “Guy’s Avenue”  lol..

Thursday arvo we all tried a spot of fishing at Noosa spit. Jodi managed to catch a bird after the birds kept diving and trying to eat the hooked bait just after we cast out the line.

 

 On Saturday we said good bye to Nigel & Jodi and headed south for the Gold Coast. It was great catching up and Zachary and Amity enjoyed being spoilt by their Uncle and Aunty. It was great seeing family again. We look forward to the next catch up.

We stopped at Bribie Island for lunch and then visited one of Rachel’s Cousins nearby.

We stayed at the Mt. Tamborine Caravan Park so we could visit the theme parks which Zach and Amity have been hanging out to visit all year.

 On Sunday we spent the day at Movie world!!!

Week 30

Sunshine Coast

Tuesday 23^rd July

We stopped at Gympie and let the kids have a play. As demonstrated by Curtis, the playground kept them very busy!

 Using the Camps Australia wide book we found budget accommodation at the Pomona showgrounds and stayed for 7 nights.

We dropped in to see Yve and John in Noosa and ended up staying for dinner. There were lots to catch up on. Jake was more than happy to entertain Yve’s with he’s adventures. Yve’s gave the kids a teddy bear each to look after. Jake loves he’s green bear.

On Wednesday we went out to find some local big things. First the Big Shell.

Then the Big Gingerbread man and the Ginger factory.

Then onto the Big Pineapple!

Thursday and Friday were spent exploring The sunshine coast and doing the all-important school work.

On Friday night we caught up with the Kibble family (Guy’s work mate Ben & family) We felt so welcomed and enjoyed dinner and the chance to be out of the van for an evening.

We visited the infamous Eumundi markets on the Saturday morning, parking was almost impossible it was so big and busy. The rest of the day was filled up driving around the Maroochydore area checking out the sights.

Sunday brought the annual Pomona King of the Mountain festival and the crowds with it. Ben and his family came up for a look too.

 

In the  afternoon we lazed about at Noosa Beach playing beach cricket and soccer with the Kibble family it was a great way to see the week out.

Week 29

Fraser Coast 15th - 20th July

We left on Monday and drove south to Maryborough. After a BBQ lunch we drove onto Tin Can bay. After exploring the small sea side town and having a look at where the dolphins are feed, we decided to drive further to Rainbow beach which was booked out so we stayed at Carlo point caravan park just down the road.

 

 

For the next four day we camped at Inskip point. The days were filled with many hours of fishing, walks along the beach.... relaxing watching the Fraser island barge's take the many vehicles to and from the sandy shores. 

 

 

 

On Saturday we melted marshmallows over a camp fire and spent the afternoon driving up and down Rainbow beach collecting samples of the many different colours.

 

 

 

 

 

The weather was all over the place until the forecast for Sunday and Monday looked good to go and enjoy a visit to the island. 

Fraser  Island

This was Guy’s top item on his must do list on our travels.  We had waited for the weather to clear up and for the tides to be just right. The kids were just as excited when they saw we were going on the barge and driving on the beach.

 

We watched dolphins swim by as we departed from Inskip point.

Off the barge we hit some soft sand but didn’t get bogged and on we went, from hook point north along the beach.

There is a 80km speed limit on the beach…. We were overtaken by quite a few tour bus drivers who were more worried about keeping to a schedule than the speed limit it seemed.

 

We didn’t realise planes landed on the beach too.

 

We saw our first Dingo trotting along the beach and saw a few more during our visit.

There were a few obstacles and after watching a bus go over these rocks we thought it would be safe enough to follow too.

We made it to the ship wreck and joined the many tourists taking photo’s and watching the fish swimming in the natural aquarium under the hull. 

We still had a few hours before the tide came in so we ventured further north towards Indian Head.

We stopped and the Pinnicales and Zach spotted whales breaching in front of the horizon..

 

It was time to for Rachel to have a go driving on the beach but when we got to Indian Head she didn’t want to go any further due to the You tube videos we have seen of people getting stuck. So we swapped and after a successful drive up we came across a rough section on top. In hindsight we should have approached the section slower and with more caution. Guy managed to get the car airborne and the rest is history… the pictures below shows what happened as there was no video or photo’s of the event.

 

The main casualty was Jake’s sandwich which flew out of his hand and he was most upset about it. Zach just laughed…. Rach’s look was priceless…..you know….when words aren’t enough but if looks could kill?  

We kept going and stopped on top of middle rock and walked down to the Champagne pools. It was too cold to go for a swim for us. (oh  yes …and Rachel fell down some stairs… all good.)

With time running out (tides coming in) we decided to leave.  This is when a mud flap got caught on a piece of timber in the sand and ripped off. (Rachel gave Guy another one of those looks…..)

 

On the way back we stopped at Eli creek .

 

It was only mid afternoon when we arrived at the Eurong Beach Resort so we decided to go and do Lake McKenzie. Halfway there we came across a large tour bus blocking the one way track. Not knowing what was going on Rachel went to investigate. A 4wd was bogged on the track ahead. We were advised it was not safe for us to continue and that only they had enough clearance to continue.

So after the bogged 4wd was pulled out we watched the two tour buses negotiate the very boggy sand. I’d hate to be in those buses. They bounced and twisted and almost tipped over against a tree but they made it through.  With no winch and by ourselves we decided to reverse a km back down to a cross road and head back.  Well we couldn’t. another 4wd just then came around the corner and blocked us in! we had a chat to them and explained what was around the next corner. The nice more experienced person behind us showed us how we could traverse ahead. So we made it through, thumbed our noses at the bus driver when we saw him at the next stop and checked out the lake.

It was amazing to see a rainforest in the middle of the island. We drove back and by sundown we checked in to our apartment and got ready for dinner. The kids were so excited to be staying a night out of the van they asked if we could live here.

The buffet dinner was great and we looked forward to the comforts of separate bedrooms and a comfy couch to relax on.

Zach and Amity had a swim in the resort pool the next morning before we left . we then spent the rest of the day fishing the beach on the way back to the barge for the boat ride back to Inskip and our van.

We stayed another night at Inskip and left Tuesday morning and headed for the Sunshine coast.