Home Stretch

Wednesday 25 August
Time to move on again. The cool, wet weather made it a bit easier to leave Elliott Heads – great quiet spot for a holiday. We headed into Bundy, had a quick look at the ginger beer factory and then hit the shops to restock for the last stint of the trip. It was great weather to catch up on school work so we decided to head for a free spot about 25kms out of Bundy and set up for the afternoon. The Wallum rest area was a nice quiet spot with a great park for the kids to run around. The dump toilets were not the cleanest we had experienced on the trip, so luckily there was lots of bush around as well.

Thursday 26 – Saturday 28 August
All of the ‘Heads’ we have stayed at on the trip have been great places so we decided to check out Burrum Heads at the northern end of Hervey Bay. Wow, this is grey nomad city! Looks like a nice spot, but in wet weather we weren’t going to spend much time at the beach so after a walk around town we kept going south to Hervey Bay where we had a few friends we could visit. After checking into a caravan park we headed down to the marina and called in on Billy and Sandra who live on a boat there.

What a great afternoon! It was great to see them again and the kids love “Silly Billy” and Sandra’s Irish accent.

We were then very lucky to be invited back the following day for a trip out into the bay.
Friday was a beautiful day to be heading out on the boat. Bright and sunny with a predicted top of 24 degrees, slight breeze…ideal. With all supplies on board, the first job for the day was to plot the course.

We headed out around Woody Island destined for Kingfisher Bay.

On the way we spotted a pod of humpbacks making their way south…lots of excitement from the boat. It’s funny how the excitement turns to concern (from Ella) as they get closer…”They’re not going to jump on the boat are they?”

As we neared Fraser Island it was time to get the fishing rods out and test out which fish like to eat sausage.

We caught one of those vicious looking pike but that was it. The lures were no good either…just chips for tea tonight.

After lunch and a bit of relaxing on the deck for the ladies…

…we launched the dingy and putted our way in to explore Kingfisher Resort.

Well, didn’t we feel like toffs, relaxing by the pool! We explored a few of the resort buildings before heading back to the beach…and there was our ride looking like a postcard.

Back out to make the return journey.

On the way home the skippers in training had a stint at the wheel…

…and steered us towards another beautiful sunset.

Skippering a boat isn’t really hard at all.

Billy and Sandra came ashore to check out the land yacht before we said our farewells. Thanks for a great day!

The Smithies all crashed very early on Friday night after such a big day on the water and in the sun.

On Saturday morning we checked out of the caravan park and spent the morning at a park on the waterfront where we enjoyed lunch. Luke also showed a few of the other people around (who stopped to watch him) that humans definitely evolved from apes as he swung with ease around the ropes course in the playground.

We were lucky enough to have another free camp spot at Mike and Debbie’s place just out of Hervey Bay. The kids enjoyed feeding the sheep.

Sunday 29 August
Not too far down the road again (well it’s not that far to Brisbane and we don’t really want to get there). We were on the road after breakfast and called into Maryborough for a look around. There’s not too much open on a Sunday (as to be expected when you are not in a big city). We love it because it gives us the chance to walk around town without much traffic. Depression is starting to set in as we near home so we cheered ourselves up with some bakery treats. The ladies and gentleman of the town (saw them at Warwick and Port Germein) were out and about.

After checking out what looked like the dump markets under Woolies, we continued south and pulled into another great free camp in the middle of town at Tiaro. Plenty of room, there’s a free hot shower and a playground and skate park right near the camp spot. We had driven through Tiaro many times on our way north and had always wondered why people would live here, but we loved it! Lots of friendly people. After some more school work we wandered into town and looked around the shops. The tourist info centre had some great stuff for sale at really good prices. We decided to splash out on a souvenir when we saw they had “Fat Boys” for sale for $60. We have loved our camp fires around the country when they were allowed – the Fat Boy would allow us to relive some of those moments at home. The kids burnt off plenty of energy collecting sticks and twigs from around the camp area.

We had dinner outside that night and were then joined by some of our neighbours for chats around the fire.
Every kilometre closer to home was another one wishing that it was a year earlier.
The Tiaro area is known for growing macadamias. Ashley was very keen to sample a bag during our stay.

Monday 30 August – Thursday 2 September
On to our final stop before reaching home. Tarnia’s sister Kirsty and her daughter Nyah live at Perigian right near the beach. We had a great few days catching up and playing at the beach…

Searching for pippis…

And pippi races (which pippi was first to dig back into the sand)…

On Wednesday we walked to the top of Mt Coolum – great views from up there. We spotted a few whales heading north.

After lunch we had a play at the skate park – gotta keep those skills up.

Thursday was it – the end of our nearly 12 month journey. The drive back into Brisbane left us with a bit of an empty feeling (although it’s great to be seeing family and friends again). What an awesome time we had. It was great to spend so much time together as a family, with everyday a new place, new people and new adventure. There are so many fantastic places around this country and plenty that we would love to go back to. For now though it’s back to the old routine while we plan the next adventure.

Holiday from the holiday

Wednesday 11 August
On Wednesday morning we packed up in the rain. Not a bad day to be hitting the road. As we pulled onto the road we noticed the van had a flat tyre – the first one for the trip. Could have happened in a lot of worse places than this so we sort of felt lucky. It wasn’t totally flat and being a dual axle van we were able to drive to the nearest tyre place to have it fixed. Wasn’t long and we were on our way again.

About 45 minutes down the road we stopped in at the Sarina Sugar Shed to find out how cane is turned into sugar. With all the cane fields we have driven through from north Qld down we have been wanting to do a tour for a long time but unfortunately the factories we have seen that do tours don’t allow young kiddies. This tour was perfect for us though. They had a mini factory and the tour guide was fantastic as she really spoke to and involved the kids. We learnt all about how sugar is made, from planting and harvesting the cane, to the crushing and refining processes.

Luke especially loved tasting the pure cane juice and molasses (not). Best of all for the kiddies, the tour ended with fairy floss of whatever flavour they wanted. They all agreed that this was one of the best uses for sugar.

After lunch we moved on to check out a camp spot at Carmila Beach but unfortunately recent rain had covered the road into the camp site with huge puddles (lakes) so we decided to just play on the beach and then keep going. We ended up at another great free spot at Clairview. The kids were very happy with this decision.

We had our own Clairview bird sanctuary. The lorikeets were all over us.

A few tried to pinch Ella’s apple.

Once again our camp spot was right next to the beach. The tide goes out a long way here – sand flats for 400-500 metres.

Thursday 12 – Monday 16 August

Next day we continued on towards Rocky. On the way we were held up for about half an hour just south of Marlborough while police and the SES cleared an accident. Traffic had been stopped in both directions. This stretch of road is particularly bad for accidents as travellers coming from Brisbane try to make it to Bowen or Airlie Beach and those from Cairns/Townsville try to make Rockhampton (that’s what the truckie we were chatting to while waiting told us anyway).

We eventually moved on and drove through Yeppoon to Emu Park where we stayed at the caravan park next to the beach. Emu Park is a great spot – nice beach, friendly people in the little town and a bit quieter than up the road at Yeppoon. This caravan park is very popular with the grey nomads (and they are the friendliest grey nomads we have met in the country) but unfortunately there’s only one night available. We’ll come back in a couple of nights though after staying at Yeppoon. We spent the afternoon walking around town and having fun at the skate park. Emu Park is home to the ‘Singing Ship’which is a monument to Captain Cook (we’ve seen a few of them now).

Luke’s confidence on the skateboard has been growing with the increased access to concrete pathways down the east coast. He walked along the top of the half pipe and looked down. With his typical lack of fear he looked over at us and said ‘Mum, Dad…I’m gunna try this”.

I was standing close by ready for the catch…

…but I wasn’t needed. Nailed it first go. The grin on his face was huge. Guess where we’re going to be spending some time over the next few days?

Thursday was a beautiful clear day with excellent views out to Great Keppel Island. Apparently it is 16kms out to the island but it doesn’t look that far.

After another quick skate park session on Friday morning, we moved up to a caravan park at Yeppoon and then had a look around. The half ironman is on this weekend so there are lots of fit triathletes around (just to make us feel even more like slobs). Looking at their bikes makes us miss ours though. We walked up the main street which looks very nice and then played along the beach front. Yeppoon beach was a good place to hang out. The pathway next to the beach was great for rip sticking.

We drove the 5kms up the road to check out the triathlon course at the Capricorn Resort and were wishing we were cashed up to buy some of the bargains at the expo…next time. Then it was back to Yeppoon to check out their skate park (for a few hours). Their half pipe was tame!

Saturday was a quite, relaxing day. After a picnic at one of the bays between Yeppoon and Emu Park…

…we headed back to the Yeppoon skate park.

Sunday morning we drove back down to Emu Park and checked into the caravan park for another couple of nights…better. The monthly markets were on. Luke and I stayed for nearly five minutes. The skate park was calling! In the afternoon Tarnia and I both got to go for a run (tag team effort) while the kids were playing.

Monday – another sensational day. Bright blue sky and ocean, practically no wind, warm in the sun. Great day to spend at the beach on the kayak and fishing.

We caught a few fish. Ella pulled in a little whiting on the beach while Ashley and I caught a few pike off the kayak.

There were heaps of huge turtles out there. Luke said they sounded like Darth Vader breathing.

The grey nomads came down for a swim too. It was great watching them in their slow procession to the water, noodles in hand. They were having a great time.

Tuesday 17 – Wednesday 18 August
Time to move on. We enjoyed our time on this part of the coast and will come back again in the future. We headed into Rockhampton to restock on groceries and then spent a while at the free zoo at the botanic gardens – excellent! Thanks Rocky Council.

We continued south and drove through Gladstone for a look…not quite the idyllic location…and then made our way out to a free camp spot near Calliope. What an awesome spot! Right next to the river, huge open space.

We met some people from Redcliffe (about 20 minutes from our place) who were also travelling around the country. Unbelievably Emery, Meagan and their kids Riley and Leila had left home two days after us and were getting home the same week. We worked out that we had been reasonably close to each other for lots of the trip. We spent a couple of days relaxing and trying to forget that we would be home soon. We had camp fires…

Bocce…

Fishing…

Tobogganing down the grassy hill…

More camp fires toasting marshmallows…

Lots of fun.

Thursday 19 – Saturday 21 August
On Thursday we left the excellent Calliope rest stop and moved down to 1770. Emery, Meagan and their kids were heading to Agnes Water just up the road from us so it wasn’t goodbye just yet.

We stayed at the 1770 camping grounds right on the river – fantastic spot, especially with the kayak.

On Friday we drove the 5kms into Agnes Water for a look around and ended up playing on the beach with Emery, Meagan and the kids.

Saturday was another beautiful day for playing on the beach and relaxing back at our camp spot.

Beautiful…

On Saturday night we tried out a new recipe we had been told about – bananas with chocolate pushed in through slits in the skin, cooked on the camp fire…yum. The camp fire on the beach was lots of fun too.

Sunday 22 – Tuesday 24 August
From one great beach spot to another.

After saying goodbye to our new friends we headed south, checking out Bundaberg on our way to Elliott Heads, another beautiful, quiet beachside town. More fishing, kayaking in the river and playing on the beach. Great value at the caravan park at $23 a night for a powered site.

A big grassy spot meant there was plenty of room for the pole tennis.

On Monday we drove up the coast to check out Bargara. Looks nice...not as quiet as Elliott Heads (we like our spot). The kids loved the big turtle play ground next to the beach.

On Tuesday we had another relaxing day playing on the beach. Following an afternoon run/ripstick/scooter along the beachside path the girls were far too tired to stand up while playing tennis!

It’s been great to be able to slow down for the past few weeks and relax at some fantastic spots.