Agnes Waters Queensland 1st September

Agnes Water QLD 1st September

Hello to our dear family and friends. This week we find ourselves in a lovely spot called Agnes Waters, right next to 1770. We are very excited as this is the first place we have had surf for a while. We are at a really nice bush camp beside a great surf beach with nice protected waves and warm water. We plan to stay here a couple more days before we head to Fraser Island and Noosa to meet up with Dawnie and Brucie which will be great for a week.

Well last time we blogged we were up at the Daintree and the stunning Cape Tribulation where the rainforest truly does meet the sea. We drove to Cooktown along the Bloomfield track. This dirt track follows the cliff edges up the coast, stunning and entertaining 4WD trail.

Cairns was a huge city for us! We saw the sites like Skyrail and Kuranda railway. Rode our bikes km along foreshores and marinas. Stayed at the most expensive caravan park in Australia $70/night!!!! It was like an adventure park for the kids though. We were going to go out to the reef from here but the weather was too rough.

Next we head down to Mission beach and the lovely Dunk Island. Really pretty. The day trip to Dunk Island was a lovely respite from caravanning, felt like we were living it up in an island resort. Mission was also stunning and Melis met up with one of her primary school teachers Robyn and her husband Ian which was great.

Harry and Piper did a tour of the Sugar cane refinery at Tully, which they found very interesting. Off to Townsville to catch up with cousins, Hi Mandy! Museum of tropical Queensland was fantastic, Marlon just loves museums!

Airlie beach was our next destination. Here we caught up with a Melbourne family the Gouldings that we traveled with across the bottom of oz. We stayed at an amazing caravan park which was like a kid resort, lagoon pools, waterslides, parks, mini golf, jumping pillows. The kids were in heaven and we caught our breath for a few days. From Airlie we went out with Crusing Whitsundays to Knuckle Reef on the Great Barrier reef. The huge high speed catamaran took us 80 odd km out to see to the reef. We saw numerous breeching hump back whales at close range which was great. The cat arrived at the Knuckle reef pontoon. Here we proceeded to snorkel the reef which was great fun. Piper was trying to swim down to all the huge maori wrasse (fish). Marlon liked the wrasse too! Harry decided to do an introductory scuba dive. We were able to snorkel above him and watch and then watch him from the underwater observatory which was fab as the kids got to see there dad diving close up. (see the pics) Next out on glass bottom boats, semi submersible vessels and water sliding between snorkeling and buffet lunch. Needless to say we had a really special day and were exhausted afterwards.

We left Airlie just as the Outlaw biker gangs were arriving into town which was great. We drove further south, skimming the huge industrial areas of Rockhampton and Gladstone and aiming for the smaller towns of Yepoon and Agnes Waters.

Thinking of you all and hoping Melbourne is blossoming with spring time. Go Saints!!
Lots of Love

Melis, Harry, Piper and Marlon XX

Cairns August

Cairns Queensland 20th August

Hello Family and friends. Well we have done an incredible amount of driving in the last week or so. Last time we blogged we were in Darwin. We had a great time there. This included watching the Olympics opening ceremony. The Olympics have been great; we have been listening to ABC radio all the time on the road. Hope you have all been enjoying it too!

Well we spent a week in Darwin. The weather was a clear and glorious 32-35 degrees which was lovely. We did the usual site seeing around town, loved the Aviation museum, NT museum, Mindal Markets, Wild Life Park to mention a few. The notable feature of Darwin would have been the constant overhead noise from the aircraft. Between the domestic planes and the RAAF jet fighters and cargo planes. All day and all night really low overhead. Harry thought he was in Top gun!@#?! Seriously a great place to visit, at this time of year.

We had a fantastic time at Litchfield National Park too. The stunning water falls and walks were lovely when they were croc free. Crocodiles everywhere. The scenery was just spectacular to say the least with plenty of amazing swims below majestic waterfalls, which has become one of our favorite pastimes while away from the coast.

Speaking of crocs we then head off to Crocsville, Kakadu. We didn’t really know what to expect but were very pleasantly surprised. We arrived and went to Fogg Dam which was a stunning floodplain full of birdlife. Next off for an Adelaide River ‘jumping croc’ tour. Sounds touristy was touristy but fun. Plenty of bang for your buck as the grey nomads would put it. You head off on a large double storey barge looking for crocs, within 500m crocs are swimming for the boat. HUGE 3-5 m salties (saltwater crocodiles). Then in great NT style they dangle a huge chunk of buffalo meat over the edge and tease the crocs until they jump out of the water for us to gork at. Corny but a great way to see these fearsome creatures especially for the kids.

Off to Jabiru in the north east edge of Kakadu we head. The mining town built for the Jabiluka Uranium mine. It was OK. We tripped up to Umbirr and the aboriginal rock galleries in the north of the park. It was stunning, a completely new experience. The rock art was clear and large with lots open for the public to appreciate. The whole area is based around a large group of huge rocks. At the top of the rocks you climb to a point where you get 360 degree views across Kakadu and Arhnem Land. Spectacular site to say the least especially at sunset.

Cooinda was the next stop, yellow water billabong, beautiful and full of huge crocs. And more stunning aboriginal art galleries. From here Piper and Melis went on a bush tucker Safari for the afternoon with an aboriginal lady Patsy. It was a fantastic experience. Off we went and spent the afternoon searching for freshwater mussels, turtles. We feast on Water Lily stem and seeds, Heart of the mini palm, Green ants (yes we ate them and they were great like sour warhead lollies!!!) Also bush honey which was some of the most decadent flavours I have ever taste. To finish off we prepared and cooked Magpie geese and Barramundi aboriginal style with damper. Piper and I were in charge of plucking the feathers off the geese, we looked like feather dusters at the end. All eaten on the edge of a huge floodplain with a million plus birds. It was awesome, especially considering National Geographic were filming and Piper, only child on the tour, was the star of the show. Kakadu was great!!

Off we head south to Katherine Gorge and Matarankas Bitter springs. These springs were the best of many we have been to. Imagine a winding river about 5 metres wide curving gently through a majestic palm forest. The water is croc free, 34 degrees and crystal clear and the sun is shining. We spent hours just floating down the current and relaxing in this serene setting. It was difficult to leave.

Off we head for Queensland via the Daly Waters. We drove for 4 days about 3000 + km on some of the worse roads we have experienced. Finally we arrived in tropical, overcast Townsville. Not content to stop we continue to drive north to the Daintree. The contrast in landscapes over this time was incredible, dry dusty central queensland to tropical rainforests.

We drove as far as Cooktown, the furthest north we will travel in Queensland. The Daintree and Cape Tribulation. The rainforest really does meet the sea, and from the beach you cannot see any signs of buildings, it was stunning.

We are now in Cairns, enjoying the perks of a large city after the rural life. I think the small time scene is much more our style though. Weather is cooler than Darwin 25-28 degrees but we are not complaining as we have heard you are having the worse winter in years, sorry we missed it, NOT!!

It is a strange feeling now, heading south as before Darwin we were always traveling away from home, but now we are on our way home in a long way round. Don’t be mislead however we won’t be back until Christmas.

Thanks again for all your lovely emails, texts and phone calls, we miss you all very much and think of you often.

Until next time. Love to you all.

Melis, Harry, Piper and Marlon XXXX

PS. Check the waves Harry surfed on a secret outer reef from Arhnem Land, see if you can spot the crocs in the line up!

Darwin

Monuments Cable beach Broome

Yardie Creek Exmouth

ElQuestro Zeebeedee Springs More pics.

Riding camels in Cable beach Broome

Darwin August 2008

Darwin August 4th 2008

Well we find ourselves after an amazing couple of weeks since leaving Broome in very warm Darwin. We are pretty close to as far north in Australia as we will go. It feels a long way from home when you have driven.

We last signed off at Broome. We spent our last few days riding camels on the beach at sunset, watching the Staircase to the moon (reflection of rising moon on Roebuck mudflats) really stunning and swimming at Cable beach.

From Broome we head off to Derby and the start of the Gibb River Road and the Kimberley. We are now well and truly in Crocville. We arrived at the amazing Winjana Gorge. At first just an impressive gorge, at second glance home to 100+ large freshwater crocodiles that you can walk very close to. The kids loved it. From here we head to Tunnel Creek. This 750m long creek tunnel runs under a mountain range. Sounds nice except you have to wade through cold water in pitch black darkness that is home to Fresh water crocodiles and bats just to top off the scary experience. It got the heart racing especially with Harry the prankster. Kids loved it.

Over a week we then head through Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek, to the Purunlulu National Park or the Bungle Bungles as we all know. We left our van and took in our tent and drove some pretty crazy tracks to view this impressive site. The walks here we stunning and the Bungles breathtaking to say the least.

Off to the East Kimberley, Kununara, regroup and fuel up. Scrub ourselves of red dust. Kununara was moist and green after the red of the Kimberley. Off the El Questro next. This special station was incredible. Amazing gorge walks with refreshing pools to swim in and water falls. Also Hot Springs amongst palms and gorges. The camp ground was one of the best we stayed at complete with croc free swimming hole. Grassy sites and tall trees. Wyndam was a drive. Next off to Lake Argyle, an amazing inland sea and dam wall. We did some huge kilometers from here and finally crossed the border and entered the Northern Territory. Exciting as we have been in WA for a long time. We loved it but it is huge.

Our first stop at NT was Katherine. Again stunning warm Hot Springs, we will return here to do the National Parks. Nice to swim in the 35 degree weather. So here we are now in Darwin. The Kimberley was amazing, especially for sea lovers like ourselves who struggle inland.

Darwin is a lovely city, warm, green lots of places to swim and feels similar in size to Geelong.

Thank you for your emails they are great, we miss you all heaps. Can you believe we left home over 6 months ago now!!! Until we next write love to you all.

Broome WA 20 july 08

Broome WA 18 July 2008
Well we write again from Broome. A lovely station on beautiful beaches with a fantastic climate. Weather is nothing short of perfect. 28-30 degree breathless days, no flies or bugs. Last time we wrote we had just arrived at Exmouth. Exmouth initially appeared to be a bland and seemingly uninteresting place, but after 10 days here we all feel the complete opposite. We stayed at the lighthouse caravan park out of town on the edge of Cape Range National park. Here we met up with our friend Frank Hayter. Frank went to Peru with us. We had several good surfs at the dunes about 5 minutes away and Harry surfed Yardie Creek several times and enjoyed it. We went into Cape Range National Park every day where the kids could surf a great surf break at Wobbiri in clear warm water with turtles to keep them company. We did lots of snorkeling particularly at Turquoise bay where you do a drift dive. We saw lots of turtles, sharks, dugongs and fish. Really fantastic. Nice warm clear water too!!

Half way through our time at Exmouth we decided to snorkel with the whale sharks. Initially only Melis and Piper were going but we decided all to do it, which was fab. With another family we have been traveling with the Schindlers we embark on one of the most amazing experiences of our life. It was incredible. You are on a boat about 3 km off the coast, at the back of Ningaloo reef standing on the marlin board (step at the back of the boat) waiting for the big GOGOGO!!! Off you all jump, look down at a bottom you cannot see then focus ahead, within 30 seconds a huge 10 metre long 4 m girth whale sharks swims straight for you. You are within 3 metres of the shark with your heart in your mouth. Moments later you are right beside the shark and swimming frantically along side trying to keep up. Which you do for 10 minutes then group together like bait and wait for the boat to pick you up. Incredible. We do this 6 times which was amazing getting longer each time and on different whalesharks. Second time we could see the bottom of the sea which was a bit weird, along with turtles and reef sharks swimming by, but you are way too busy being gobsmacked by the whaleshark. You could see the outline of the whaleshark from the boat. Piper loved the experience. She is one brave kid not hesitating for a second at any point. After we finished diving the whale sharks, the boat went in search of Manta Rays. Apparently they had been scarce this season, but not that day. The boat found 4! All of us including Marlon went looking for them. After 3 false starts we were amongst these huge flying sea giants. The swam figure eights around the group coming close enough to touch. Incredible. Piper said after getting out the water that the Manta Rays were better than Disneyland!! We were all stoked!!

After a few more days hanging at the Cape Range National Park, surfing and snorkeling we said goodbyes to our mate Frankie and head 600km inland for Tom Price and Karijini National Park. Tom Price is a huge mining town, we did a tour of the Rio Tinto Open cut Iron ore mine, the tonka trucks were huge, Marlon thought it was great. Then we head further on to Karijini National Park. We camped at Dales camp and spent our days hiking and swimming the labyrinth of gorges. Wading freezing cold water with kids on the shoulders through ducts and ladders and tunnels to beautiful pools. We were going to stay a day and stayed 5 hiking different gorges everyday.

Then onto Eighty Mile beach via Port Hedland. Port Hedland is a huge mining port and not a place we choose to pause. Eighty Mile was a great place to shower and wash after lacking these amenities for a week. Huge wide beaches with 8 metre tides. Then to Barn Hill a cheap camp outside Broome. Really pretty beaches with red cliffs.

Yesterday we arrived in Broome. We were expecting the worse but pleasantly surprised. Really pretty, like Byron Bay a little. Cable beach is nice, kids have been surfing here and having a blast. Tonight watched the sunset and then watched the moonrise over the mud flats and reflect on the mudflats ‘Staircase to the moon’. Suprisingly stunning. The next few days we will finish exploring Broome then head onto Derby and Gibb River Road.

We hope everyone is well back at home and enjoyinglife. We miss you all very much and think of you often. We love getting you emails. Keep in touch. Speak to you soon, Mel, Harry, Piper and Marlon XXXXX