CAR PROBLEMS

Well, the start of our big journey didn’t go that well. We had booked the Prado into a garage in North Lakes while we were at Nicolas. Jim had a list of things he wanted checked before we hit the road. The end result of that was a bill for $1600 which included a new cam belt and a new water pump plus a lot of little things as preventative measures. We had already budgeted for a new set of tyres for the van so thought we were all set to go. We managed to get out of Noosa between cyclists and marathon runners about 90 minutes earlier than expected so we were in high spirits as we headed up the Bruce Highway. Just after passing through Gympie the water temperature started rising alarmingly high and we had a boiling radiator. After a couple of stops we decided to back track to Gympie and get the problem sorted. There was no way we were heading off into the unknown with car problems. The upshot was, the radiator was in a right mess and needed replacing. Another $680! There won’t be too much dining out and drinking done for the next few weeks till we recuperate some of these cost blowouts!
We enjoyed our stay in Noosa again. It is such a lovely spot. We caught up with Trish and Llew, friends who now live in Noosa, and we all went out for a lovely Thai meal. It was good catching up with them.
The first few weeks of this trip are going to be spent meeting up with people we either met in NZ., or on the road over here. After we finally got the car sorted out it was on the road to Munduberra. This little town is north west of Brisbane and is in a citrus growing area. On our first road trip to Australia in 2008, we met Wendy and John. He had been in the NZ Police and is now doing a similar thing to us. We met them in Bagara, then last year we caught up with them in Nambour just before we flew home. They are now working in Munduberra in a citrus packing shed for 8 months of the year. We stayed a night with them and John cooked a huge BBQ on his new Webber. It was lovely but once again Jim got reflux. Thank goodness his medication has now kicked in and he seems to be having no trouble. There were lots of laughs and jokes shared that night.
The next morning we said farewells to Wendy and John as they went off to work and we left for Moura where we were going to catch up with Sally, Kent and their twin 6 year old sons, Callum & Connor. Kent is in the Queensland Police and Sally is a nurse at the local hospital. We met them on our whale watching trip from Hervey Bay in 2008. We have kept in touch and last year they joined us for a night in Cania Gorge. Kent is stationed in Moura, which is a small mining town of about 2,500 people. They were so pleased to see us and had decided they were going to hitch up their caravan and join us for our first experience of bush camping. We were glad they were there to show us the ropes but it was a magic experience. We camped by the Dawson River about 10 kms. out of Moura. We cooked a BBQ dinner and lit a huge campfire then Jim & Kent went back into Moura to see the first of the State of Origin, while Sally put the boys to bed. We then had a couple of glasses of wine sitting around the campfire in the moonlight just chatting. I loved it and can’t wait to do it again. It looked like rain the next day so we took the van back into Moura and Kent, Jim & I had a game of golf. I must admit it definitely wasn’t my best game but it was a lot of fun on a lovely 9hole course. We all went to the local RSL that night for dinner and my memories of Moura will always be the friendliness of the local people and the community spirit. It was great spending some time in a small local community with such great friends.
Our next stop was Carnarvon National Park where we caught up with Neale & Cathy, friends we met on the road last year. They were already at Takarakka Bush Resort when we arrived so after catching up with them Jim & I went for a couple of small walks in the park in readiness for the big one the next day. We all had drinks that night and the next morning Jim & I set off. There are all sorts of combinations of walks that one can take in this National Park but as we were both feeling quite energetic, we decided to do the 15 km. walk. This involved walking along the floor of the Gorge for about 5 kms. and then taking side tours to different walks on the way back. Most of the main walking track is level but there are lots of steps and the side tracks involve river crossings; climbing a 4 tiered ladder up to an amphitheatre and lots of steep uphill walks. We did it but the last 2.8 kms to the car park was a killer! There were no markings on the track to tell us how far we had to go so we were both very pleased to see the car park. There was a great feeling of achievement when we finished it though. This gorge wasn’t as spectacular as some of the gorges we saw last year but it was definitely the hardest. The sound of the birds in the bush was just fabulous and we even saw an echidna, something like a porcupine with a long snout and strong claws. We were concerned how we would both feel the next day but amazingly our bodies coped very well, although we were both in bed very early.
It was then onto the Gemfield areas of Australia; Emerald; Sapphire and Rubyvale. We both envisaged something quite different from what we found in these areas. I know of lots of people who come here, year after year, just to fossick for gemstones, especially sapphires. There are hundreds of small claims all across the land here and most of them have a caravan with a lean-to attached, an old car (usually a wreck) and lots of machinery and equipment all around. Visitors can buy a bucket of wash, where the digging has all been done for you, and you can sieve and sort out the gems, if there are any. They usually leave a few small uncut stones in most of the buckets. Or you can buy the stones either set or unset for quite reasonable prices. Judging by the quality of the houses, shops and cars, there is not much money to be made from fossicking at the moment!! It was quite an eye opener though and I’m glad we had the experience. On the road from Emerald we saw a huge paddock just covered with sunflowers. They looked so lovely with all with their faces facing the sun. We also passed a paddock of cotton. There is lots of cotton grown in this area but most of it had been picked by the time we arrived. It was good to see a paddock of the white cotton balls.
It was then on to the real outback of Queensland and Longreach. It was a long trip and the roads leave much to be desired. Lots of humps and bumps and goodness knows what sort of damage it does to our spines. Longreach is famous for the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and for being the birthplace of QANTAS. We spent one day at each of these complexes and enjoyed both. They are two different concepts but lots of imagination and thought has gone into providing interesting and enjoyable venues where we learnt lots about the struggles of the Aborigines; convicts; early settlers; and the hard times to get QANTAS accepted by the Federal Govt. All the things that are part of Australia’s history and make it the country it is today.
Had to laugh at the sports news this morning. They were commenting on the selections for the Wallabies rugby team (which is rare indeed) and called the coach Robbie Dingo Deans!! I suppose the media have to do something to make him sound like an Australian.
We have been out of range of most forms of communication over the past week; no radio; no TV; no internet; no mobile phones and even no newspapers. It was good to get back into the real world once again. We will probably be non communicado again next week so I will get the next blog done when and where I can.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Here we are at the beginning of our third and longest caravan tour of Australia. It should be as good as last years and, hopefully, a lot better. We have such a long way to travel, from the east coast, up to the top and across to the west and back down to the south coast, across the Nullabor and back to Melbourne.
We arrived in Brisbane on 10th May and had 9 days with Nicola, Adrian, Brodie & Kaley at their home in North Lakes, north of Brisbane. This is a new satellite city only about half an hour from the centre of Brisbane, depending on the traffic of course! It was great catching up with them all and to find that they have settled in well at their jobs and schools. Even Raz the dog has finally got used to the change of temperatures.
Last Sunday we all went up to Caloundra for a picnic. That was the only day when the sun didn’t come out, but it wasn’t cold (for us anyway). We had a lovely day and Jim & I played soccer on the beach with the rest of the family and the girls hired kayaks. I found out very quickly that kicking a soccer ball with bare feet isn’t the best exercise. My big toe suffered for the next few days but it was all in a good cause, I think!
The photos are showing some of the building growth around North Lakes. This is all within a few blocks of Nicola’s home. We saw 4 new houses being trucked in within half an hour one morning. All the tradesmen start work about 7am and it is all on from there. There are new developments being opened up all the time and all the roading, medical services, shopping malls and parks are put in at the same time so that all services are up and running when the houses are ready. The growth is phenomenal. Mr Key, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, would give anything for this to be happening at home.
The other photo is of me taking Raz for a walk at 7.15am, please note 7.15 AM. My friends and family will be amazed at that as most days at that time I am still in my bed, waiting for my breakfast! It’s beautiful and sunny at that time of the morning here and, with Jim urging me on, I had no choice.
We picked up our 4WD the day after we arrived We had put covers on both the Prado and the caravan but with the heavy rain and wind that Queensland had over the summer, we were advised by the storers that they both tore and blew off. We thought both vehicles would be dirty but they weren’t too bad. We had put all sorts of pest repellents in the van and there were a couple of dead huge cockroaches in the van, so obviously they worked. We gave both vehicles a good clean and tidy and we are all back to normal once again.
We are now in Noosa and parked in a lovely park that we used last year. It is right on the Noosa Rived with lots of passing boats and ferries. There are plenty of walkways along the river. Tomorrow, Sunday, there is a huge bike race, triathalon, and half marathon so the whole of Noosa is almost in lock down from 4am to 2.30 pm. We are due to move on tomorrow to Mundubbera but can’t get out till 2.30pm so it will be a late arrival time.
We are catching up with 3 couples that we met on our first and second trips over the next 10 days so we’re looking forward to that. We will then head to Longreach with a stop at Emerald where we hope to do some fossiking. We may be lucky!
Our next blog will probably come from Longreach.

Getting Ready to go Again

On 10th May 2010 we will be flying to Brisbane for nine days with Nicola, Adrian, Brodie & Kaley. While there we will be preparing for our third trip in our caravan and 4WD. This year we will be travelling north west from Brisbane to Katherine again and then onto Kunnanara in Western Australia, across the top to Broome and from there down the west coast to Perth. After 2 weeks around Perth we will continue south to the bottom south west corner of Australia and then across the Nullabor Plain to South Australia. Our final part of this year's journey will be across the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne where we hope to arrive at the beginning of November.