The Final Chapter

I guess this will be the last time that I will be adding to my blog. I have really enjoyed writing up about our travels and we have had a really good trip, seeing lots of interesting places and catching up with many friends and family and reading every notice board in every conceivable place in the country. Another one of Keith's delights!
It has been great. Not sure what our travelling plans for the future are but if anyone is wanting to buy a bus in almost perfect condition, please let us know............!!
We now wait in anticipation for our grandchild due to be born in August.......only about 9 weeks to go.
Thanks again to everyone who commented and read the blog. It is nice to know there are some ardent readers out there.

Home Again

It is very nice to be home. We had only been here for half an hour when we had a surprise visit from Cee and Terry, our friends who travelled to Ayres Rock with us. They are on another road trip, just in the car this time, and have come for a very short visit.
Now comes the hard work, unpacking, washing, cleaning and repairing. Oh well, it's all part of the journey.
Never a Dull Moment

Sad but True

Due to our budget constraints Andy kindly brought us home on the back of his truck. If only.........
Yes we broke down again.......the gear box again, just not as bad as last time, we hope!!
Luckily it happened in Emerald so we were able to finish off our holiday with Josh and Rachel and Travis.

The Celebrations Continue

27 Today

Happy Birthday Rachel
We just can't believe our beautiful girl is 27.
Here she is opening her presents with Travis.....and yes it was cold at 6.30am

Blackwater......

......home of Rachel and Travis

.........and Ninja

Emerald.........Home of

........Van Gogh's Giant Sunflower Painting

......and Josh's and Bernadette's new house

Mining Gone Mad

We could not believe the number of mine sites between Eton and Moranbah which is 160 klms and then between Moranbah and Emerald. There are mine camps set up in the middle of nowhere as well. Apparently there are also 24 new mines proposed for this area. We also passed so many of Greyhound buses which are the buses that transport all the mine workers to and from work. There must be a huge fleet of buses just for that purpose.
It is a whole different world out here.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Actually we have been very lucky with the weather and this is the first lot of rain we have had. ........ although it is v-e-r-y cold. We are in Eton about half an hour from Mackay staying with Matt and Tracey so very thankful to be in a house. Keith is like a pig in mud helping Matt sort out his shed.

Bowen from Above

Bowen is a nice little town on a lovely harbour. This is a photo taken from Flagstaff Hill.

Bowen has become famous for having the movie Australia filmed there. It is also still famous for tomatoes as it was when I went to school and of course Bowen mangoes which I have only just found out are Kensington Prides. I have seen them in the shops and thought they were a fancy new breed.

Bowen wowuld have the smallest Target I have ever been in and I have been in a lot!!

My Review of Caravan Parks

Ribas Underground Caravan Park

Wonga Beach Camping Ground

Palm Cove Camping Ground

Yulara Caravan Park

I am sitting here thinking about all the caravan parks we have stayed in and thought all you wanna be travellers out there may be interested. Keith has gone snorkelling so I am filling in time.

RIBAS UNDERGROUND CARAVAN PARK, Coober Pedy
We didn't actually stay underground but they did have camp sites and accommodation underground. Pathetic showers in the block and mice running around the camp kitchen but other than that.........
The owner/manager conducted an underground mine tour and the site fee was halved if you did the tour. We did it but wouldn't recommend it.

YULARA CARAVAN PARK, Ayres Rock
It is actually sitauted about 20klms from Ayres Rock but is the only park there so they can charge the $41 a night. It was a very nice park though. There is no camping in the national park....probably since a dingo took a baby!
WINTERSUN CARAVAN PARK, Alice Springs
A nice clean park a couple of kilometres from town. We felt very safe there as there was barbed wire on the fence and a security gate closed at 8.30pm. It was a Top Tourist park of which we are members.
PALM COVE CAMPING GROUND, Palm Cove
This is a council owned park right on the foreshore and we had water views so the position was fantastic and at $24 a night was cheap but the amenities block was disgusting.....lucky the water was hot. I don't think it had ever been cleaned. Luckily we wear thongs in the shower. The whole park needed a lot of care and attention.
WONGA BEACH CAMPING GROUND, Wonga Beach
This is another council camping ground and was 100% on the one at Palm Cove and was only $20 a night. It is also right on the beach. The park was full of huge wonga trees which are beautiful and shady but they dropped big seeds and everyone had their cars covered up!!
CAPE TRIB CAMPING, Cape Tribulation
This was a nice grassy camping ground with fairly new amenities with a nice big camp kitchen. We often take advantage of the bbq's in the camp kitchens and we did at Cape Trib.
SUNLAND CARAVAN PARK, Cairns
This is probably the best caravan park we have stayed in and at $26 a night was good value. We stayed there 2 years ago and it is just as good. The amenities blocks are very clean and there are plenty of washing machines. The whole park is very neat and tidy. It is also in a very good position, close to lots of different shops and also the bus stop.
HARBOUR LIGHTS CARAVAN PARK, Bowen
This park is right across the road from the harbour so I think I was conned as it was an easy walk to have a look at all the boats. It was quite a nice park though and in a good position also close to the town. They have unisex ensuites which I am not keen on as I don't like going in to the bathroom after men I don't know! Fussy I know.
HORSESHOE BAY RESORT, Bowen
Not sure how it got it's resort status....must have been back in the 70's. This park is near the beach so I guess that is why they can charge $32 a night. It is a very old park and the amenities blocks are in urgent need of an overhaul. I hate amenities blocks that are left wide open and subject to toads entering...which is exactlywhat happened here. Keith has to frequent ladies toilets searching for any hopping critters before I enter....not his favourtie thing to do but he just has to. There is not a lot around here either.

Sorry if I have bored you. I just realised I should have put the photos on before so they are now altogether. Actually when you look at them they all look the same so I think I will stop there!! I don't have photos of them all anyway, aren't you lucky. Keith has survived his snorkelling expedition and is back already not very impressed with what he saw and also the water was cold!! Poor baby.

Herbie returns to Townsville

Harley with his new mate Herbie

We have been in Townsville for three days now and Keith or Herbie as he was affectionately known back in the day has had a trip down memory lane catching up with some friends he hasn't seen for many years.
We are staying with Jean and George who we haven't seen for quite a long time and it has been great catching up with them.
Leaving here today and heading south......getting closer to home but looking forward to seeing everyone on the rest of the journey.
The weather here is fantastic....wouldn't know it is winter.....27 degrees. Jean and George have a great spot close to the Ross River so river walks with their dog, Harley, have been the order of the day.

For those of you who haven't been to Cairns...a couple of photos

How do you like this one Tania?

Gone Bananas!

We have driven through many banana plantations and not seen one for sale! They are still $13 a kilo up here although I did buy some in Coles in Cairns for $9 a kilo. What a bargain!

Paronella Park

This is a must do if you are in the Cairns area. We had never been before even though we have been to Cairns a number of times.....we had actually never heard about it until last year. It is a fascinating park that was built by a man who had a dream....and no it is not Kamhal .....and is now really only ruins on 13 acres of forest. It was built back in the 1930's and parts of it have withstood a few cyclones and floods and fire. He was an innovative man way before his time and had the first hydro electricity which he installed himself. The story is probably best read on http://www.paronellapark.com.au/ I will put up a couple of photos eventually but the photos really don't do it justice.

Sunny Cairns

We thoroughly enjoyed our few days in Cairns and did a trip over to Green Island. Keith did some snorkelling in might I say not so warm water and we both went on the glass bottom boat and did some fish viewing.....very adventurous.

We thought of you Tania watching this ocean race on Green Island.

Surprise, Surprise......

I am fortunate that we are staying with friends in Townsville and able to use their computer but maybe no photos for a while. I am distraught over losing my computer again and will be into Harvey Norman tomorrow to see if they can fix it....again.
Thanks again Tania for helping me out.

We interupt this blog......

Gail is up the creek with out a computer. It seem her laptop has died another death. She asked me to let all of her many followers know you will have to get by without your daily dose of 'life on the road' till further notice. I know I'll miss keeping up with their nomadic fun and games. At least it's only a few short weeks and they'll be home, momentarily!

Skip Bo

We have found a new game to play. We were told about it by some people along the way who recommended Skip Bo as a good game to play with two people. You can also play with more so hope you are up for the challenge, Craig and Sandy.
We had our first game last night and took a while to master it but with a little practice....... Keith of course beat me but we are about even with our games of Scrabble. We have no TV with us this trip so need something to fill in the nights until bedtime at 8pm!!

First Day of Winter....

.......although you would never know it here in Cairns. It has been a beautiful sunny day here today but I spent most of the day in the Myer centre so anything could have been happening outside.
I did get to catch with my friend Jan who I used to flat with in Brisbane many moons ago ( when flats were flats not units)! Always good to catch up with friends.
We think we might just take a boat ride to Green Island. It is probably about 40 years since I have been and Keith has never been. He really wants to do some snorkelling so hopefully he will get to do some tomorrow.
He tried to go to WAGS....Wednesday Afternoon Gentlemans Sailing...for you non boaties....unlike me who knows all the yachting talk. Unfortunately there weren't enough boats for him to go and the young, female backpackers were chosen first. I wonder why!!

Where the Rainforest meets the Reef

We saw little fellows like this lurking in the Daintree River on the cruise that we did.

Cape tribulation at the end of the bitumen on the coast....a nice place to visit but a long and windy road to get there as well as a ferry ride. There is no shortage of water in the Daintree. Last year they had 8 and half metres, yes metres, of rain. This year they have already had 3 and half metres. They do love a blue sky!!

Happy Birthday Keith

Today is his birthday. He started the day off with some fun in the sun and thoroughly enjoyed it.

FNQ

We left Palm Cove today after having a very nice few days there. We are travelling to Cape Tribulation and on the way stopped at the Mossman Gorge pictured above.
It is a strange feeling travelling north as you feel like you are going into the wild blue yonder. Cape Tribulation is actually only about 50klms from where we are staying tonight at Wonga Beach so we are not going very far north at all before we turn back to go to Cairns.

The Wedding Party

Kayla, Nikki, John, Michael

The Wedding

Nikki and John with Russell and Sharyn and the rest of their clan after the wedding. The wedding was lovely and everything went off without a hitch except for the wind upsetting some of the plans. A good time was had by all

Nice Day for a White Wedding

It is a beautiful day here today in Palm Cove although quite windy which is upsetting to the bride. It is a lovely place for a wedding. We are staying at the not so well maintained camping ground which is right on the waterfront and we have water views so we can't ask for too much more. The rest of the family is staying at a lovely resort.

State of Origin in Mareeba

We thought what better place than the Leagues Club to watch the State of Origin last night. We called up the trusty Courtesy Bus and off we went hoping we would get a seat on such a popular night.
Not a problem.....the crowd of 50 went wild when Queensland won. At least we got to see it on the big screen.
Back home (we are staying at the rodeo grounds out of town) we came on the Courtesy Bus with the best entertainment of all from some of the local yokels on the bus.
A big night out for us with a good result and as the bus driver said "Never a dull moment".

A Whole lot of Bull

Here is Keith practising for the Mareebo Rodeo. It was almost as hard for Keith to climb the bull as it was for him to climb Ayres Rock!

A Free Car Wash

We took advantage of the free car wash in the middle of nowhere near Mt Surprise. It is really used to wash the weed seed off your vehicle.

Sounds of Silence

We do experience it in the bus at times, ha, ha......... but I think you were meaning the flash Sounds of Silence dinner at Ayres Rock, Brian.........unfortunately it was not in our budget but we did go to the Memo Club in Alice Springs. Caught the courtesy bus and had a bonza night! The Task Force was even in town to control the bad behaviour and we saw nothing.

Joke of the Week

An older aboriginal lady was sitting on the seat outside the shopping centre in Mt Isa. She said to a younger aboriginal lady walking past "Don't work too hard" and they roared with laughter.
We did too.

Three Weeks Down

but who is counting...........not Keith!
I am looking forward to the next leg of our journey from Palm Cove when we catch up with Keith's family for Nikki's wedding, my friend Jan in Cairns, our friends George and Jean in Townsville, Matt, Tracey, Nick and Sheridan near Mackay, Barb and Ian in Moranbah, Josh in Emerald and Rachel and Travis in Blackwater. I can hardly wait!!

The Shitbox Rally

We saw a number of these cars stopped in Cloncurry and didn't know what it was all about. Most of the cars then passed us on the way and then when we stopped at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse were able to ask some questions. There are about 110 cars travelling from Brisbane to Darwin and they are raising money for the Cancer Council. The cars were all from the 80's (so we could actually qualify).
We thought this car was pretty cool with the occupants in matching outfits.......even though it was a Ford!

Retracing our Steps

We are currently in Cloncurry where we have been a couple of times before..........not a lot has changed. We stopped briefly in Mt Isa this morning and now on to Normanton as we travel across to reach Palm Cove by Thursday or Friday. We are going this way to save 150klms. Yes...I like the sound of that. There is not a lot to see out this way.

Just a few photos......

(1) Keith playing shadows at the Devils Marbles

(2) Can you see the chain up Ayres Rock

(3) The sheer cliffs of Kings Canyon

(4) You can camp underground here in Coober Pedy

(5) Keith next to the Canberra he has worked on

(6) Just me at Woomera

(7) Saying farewell to Wayne & Katrina at Orange

Back in Queensland

It has been a pretty quick trip through the Centre as we only left home 3 weeks ago on Tuesday. We have covered almost 6000 klms and seen a lot in that time. There is also a lot of nothing to see along the way. I have spent a lot of time looking at the backs of my eyelids!
The strangest sight we have seen was the NT police standing at the T junction where you turn right to head to Qld or keep going to Darwin. We were pulled up and Keith was given the breathalyser. Luckily it was in the morning and I hadn't driven him to drink at that stage!
The next strange sight we saw was three backpackers in a van arrive where we were staying at a free camp, they pulled the futon out from the back and that is where a couple of them slept under the stars. They also had a not so comfy lounge to sit on. Ingenious!
We are stopped in Camooweal, which is 13 klms from the border, for lunch before heading on to another lovely free camp before we get into Mt Isa tomorrow.


Oh the joys!!

Farewell Cee and Terry

We spent a week with Cee and Terry when they decided to head for Darwin instead of making the trek to Cairns. They were in a camper trailer and Terry had not long had his knees operated on so it was all a bit much for them. We enjoyed their company while they were with us.

So it is on on by ourselves.....

The Devils Marbles - More Rocks

I think we have seen just about all the rocks that the NT can offer.
The Devils Marbles though were marblous! ha! ha!
We camped right beside them for $6.60 a night and then had a walk all through them this morning. Quite interesting.
We are now in Tenant Creek where we have phone reception but not sure what else there is to see here. I guess we will have a look.
This afternoon we turn right to head across the top towards the Qld border...yay.

The Not so Red Centre

The Red Centre is actually very green at the moment......even water lying in some places so it has been a good time to visit.
We still see very little wildlife and apparently that is because there is so much food out there. The only road kill we have seen is a few cows! Poor things!

I am hooked..........not really but I have just learnt to crochet and am passing away the time...... it could end up to be a knee rug.

Oh what a beautiful morning

Oh what a beautiful day............a few words from Oklahoma for you oldies out there!!

And so it is here in downtown Alice Springs where .........
They speak a different language
The caravan park we are in is very safe, it has a security gate and barbed wire along the fence
Fencing contractors would do well here
There are hardly any flies
There are a couple of nice shopping centres
You apparently have to wear shoes to enter one
You don't have to wear a bike helmet

A view from above.

A Town Like Alice

We haven't seen too much of the town yet as we only arrived this afternoon, did some grocery shopping and drove to the caravan park. I reckon we have a pretty good picture of what Alice Springs is like......much like all the other towns in the NT.
I actually had to pay 50 cents to go to the toilet in the shopping centre but felt that was the safe way to go!!
Tomorrow Keith has a fan belt to replace after it broke a few days ago. I have bags of washing to do so we will be here for two nights.

Kings Canyon

Yesterday we made the trek into Kings Canyon.
I decided that I would prove the doubters wrong and tackle the 6 klms rim walk. 6 klms.... I can walk that no worries. I am sure I walk that far on a Sunday morning with the girls.
The first 500 metres was easy, a stroll in the park, the rest of the 5.5 klms was very different. I almost turned back after the first 100 stairs but I battled on.
It was the longest 6 klms I have ever walked, took 3 hours, with a few stops along the way. It was rugged terrain with lots of steps but I did it.
It was well worth the walk and the only way to see it.
I am such a hero!!

Wildlife of the Red Centre

We are very surprised by the lack of wildlife out there.
So far we have seen:
2 herds of camels
1 snake
2 eagles
1 kangaroo
thousands of flies
hundreds of mice
1 pet emu

And now for some bush poetry as requested by Brenda!!

AYRES ROCK (ULURU)

It stands alone

In all it's glory

Every picture

Tells a story

An awesome sight

To behold

Nothing can compare

So big and bold

A huge, red, rock

So foliage free

A sandstone wonder

A must to see

Uluru

It may be

But Ayres Rock

It is to me

Awesome Ayres Rock

We drove into Yulara which is the resort about 20klms from Ayres Rock and straight to the rock but it was closed due to high winds. Keith was very disappointed and ended up doing the 10 klms walk around the base.....as Tania has already mentioned. I walked for a few klms but decided that was enough.

I had already decided to respect the wishes of the local folk and pass on the climb...........you should see how steep it is!

Ayres Rock was not disappointing..........it was an amazing sight. Just as I imagined and as all the photos depict.

We also went to The Olgas and they were spectacular too but my favourite was definitely Ayres Rock.

We spent one night at Yulara and at about 3pm decided to ask one more time before we left if the rock was open to climb. When she said yes, Keith raced off to do it and did it in record time. He is very happy to be able to cross that one off his bucket list.

I am back

Hopefully I will have no more problems.

Thanks to Tania for filling in for me. Unfortunately I haven't mastered photos since the 2011 crash but will keep working on them.

Up the Centre

Tonight we are in Coober Pedy..........we have done a tour of an underground house and also a tour of the opal mine at the caravan park we were are staying. We also watched little mice running around the camp kitchen. Lovely!

Coober Pedy is in vast contrast to Woomera where we visited this morning. Woomera is a very neat, clean and tidy town. Woomera is a Defence town as I was told and virtually not to ask any more questions. It has a population of about 250 with all the facilities inclcuding a 3 lane Ten Pin Bowling Alley which is a legacy of the "yanks" when they were based there. There are also a number of static areoplane displays and Keith was very happy to see a couple that he had worked on.

Coober Pedy on the other hand looks to be a very dusty, untidy town and we plan on having more of a look around tomorrow. It has some very intersting characters hanging around the streets!

Fun at the Rock

As you might have guessed Gail is still having trouble with her blog.

So, I'm just letting you know they have arrived and are doing their best to have a great time. Keith hiked around the base of the rock, Gail sat the 10kms out, surprise, surprise!

Hopefully tomorrow the rock will be open so Keith can upset our indigenous cousins and climb the monster.

Pic via flickr

Testing, testing 123

Just trying to post a test blog for Gail, bear with us!!!!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Yes it is a touch cold down here in the south.
We saw a lovely white frost in Orange which brought back memories of living in Warwick.
We are now in SA ................yes we are moving very quickly, doing a drive through tour of the towns along the way, although we did stop today in Morgan and Renmark and marvelled over the mighty Murray.
We are camped in Burra, another cold SA town. We were surprised by our friends Cee and Terry who were waiting for us here when we were only expecting to meet up with them tomorrow.
We are moving on tomorrow, not wanting to stay long in one place, and heading towards the centre staying at Woomera tomorrow night. A trip down memory lane for Keith who did a stint in Woomera back in the RAAF days.

DISASTER STRIKES

The worst thing that could possibly happen to a computer, happened to my computer......my life line.
It had an irrepairable problem that could only be fixed by starting over again which meant losing everything.
I now have no email addresses so if you are reading this please send me your email address.

Happy Birthday Bernadette

Happy Birthday to Bernadette who celebrates her birthday today.

Also, Happy Mothers Day to Mum and all mothers for tomorrow. Hope you all have a lovely day.

Today's Journey

Today we have travelled through Dubbo and on to Orange where we are staying with Wayne and Katrina in luxury. I won't want to leave this lovely warm house again. Yes, it is quite chilly here......a bit of a shock to the system.
We are here until Sunday.

It's All About Football

Yes, Brian you will be pleased to know that we are in Orange for the Test tonight so Keith can watch it with Wayne. I know we will be in Emerald with Josh for the second one, not sure about the first one but am sure we will be somewhere with power.

Horsing Around in Gundy

We stopped and had lunch with Gunsynd in Goondiwindi. Have travelled on to Narrabri where we are staying at the showgrounds for the night. Unfortunately the show is not on!!

It is starting to get cooler.

On the road again.......

Well, we left Hervey Bay for Toowoomba at 10.30am not 9am as planned but not as bad as last time.....
Toowoomba was mainly catching up with family and a little bit of shopping....never a bad thing.

Test Run

Just a test run to make sure I know what I am doing again..........
Looking forward to the next leg of our journey, leaving here for Toowoomba on Tuesday, staying there for two nights.
We are heading south first so may need our winter woollies before we head north again.
A lot of packing yet to be done.