BUNDABERG..BARGARA 20-04-2011

We had an awesome time catching up with great friends in Gympie but it was time to venture further north to Bargara.
We have had some problems with our vehicle and after a service at Gympie we were told we needed some repairs done to the clutch and fly wheel. We are not overly happy with our Nissan at the moment considering it has only done 30000km. We would happily swap it for our old rodeo.
We have had to stay here at Bargara longer than planned to get the problem fixed. The ute has gone to the service centre today and we are hoping to be back on the road by Friday.
We stayed at Bargara Beach Caravan Park for the first 5 nights. The park is huge and the best part is the skate park straight across the road from our site. Levi was VERY impressed. It felt like we didn't see him for days. He even got out of bed at 6.00 the second morning just to meet his new friends.
Both the boys are getting experts at meeting new friends now. Zac, who normally relies on his big brother to make initial conversation, has come ahead in leaps and bounds and is so proud when he comes back to the van to anounce to Peter and I how many friends he has made. It is moments like these that we treasure and can assure ourselves we are doing the right thing by our boys.

Our second night at the caravan park was very eventful. Peter was feeding the friendly possums making them dance for their food.

It was about 9.00 and the park was quiet until we saw some kids come into the park and start pushing over wheely bins. They then started throwing rocks and smashed one of the grey nomads caravan windows. They all took off except one got left behind because he was too drunk and stoned to run fast enough. They called the police and he sat there prisoner on the grass in front of there van. By this stage there were about 5 other nomad couples gathered around talking about the event. The boy left behind then jumped up and started to sprint off across the caravan park. Peter, being the only man below the age of 60, than took off after the boy in his boxer shorts and thongs. It was quite a sight and one of the nomads nearly came at Peter with a block of wood thinking he was one of the rock throwers. The police soon arrived and I think the boy was relieved to see them after receiving the ear bashing off the grey nomads. The boys were super impressed the next morning after I told them the story. Dad was a super heroe who chased down the baddy.
The first five days of weather here was perfect. Sunshine every day and around 28 degrees. The water here at the beach is soooo warm. We are glad we made the most of it because the weather was to turn nasty.
We had to move to a caravan park just up the road because our sight was pre booked. The managers put us on a gorgeous site over looking the ocean. They did advise us to maybe face our van towards the road in case of high winds. We did not listen cause we were too excited about the view.
That night we soon regretted not taking the advice. The caravan rocked all night in the wind and at 6.00 the next morning, Peter and I were standing out in the strong wind and rain trying to save our awning from being ripped and blown away. With some help from our good neighbour we were successful but drenched.
We have met so many great people on our trip so far. Everyone is so friendly and full of great advice for our travels. As I am writing the boys are next door in a cabin watching movies with the other kids. Mel and Karen are from Toowoomba and are such great people. We coffee and chat together daily. I love hearing about other peoples life experiences. Everyone has a story to tell.
A couple of days ago at the Bundaberg info centre we ran into the Malpass family. We have been following them on the blog for a couple of months. When we pulled up and saw there vehicle, we recognised them straight away. We had a quick chat and I am sure we will catch up with on our way to cape. To check out their blog - http://malpassadventures.wordpress.com
Thanks for reading.

"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

BRISBANE...TIN CAN BAY....GYMPIE....11/04/2011

It has been a while since I last posted and so much has happened. To break it down we have had some awesome times with family and friends, nearly lost our bikes off the back of the van, fed wild dolphins, had a close encounter with a snake and nearly got bogged trying to drive on the sand.

Brisbane was a great few days with family. I had the luxury of using an automatic washing machine again and caught up with washing all our linen. It was such a treat to sleep in fresh sand free sheets again. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and enjoyed having a TV to watch.

We left Brisbane and headed to Tin Can Bay. Just outside Gympie we noticed a few cars beeping thier horns. Both Peter and I commented to each other "wonder who they are beeping at".
It was a little further down the road, when we made a fuel stop, that we found out what the honking horns were all about. Our bike rack on the back of the van is usually horizontal. It was now more a 45 degree angle facing downward toward the road. Our bike wheels were cm from touching the road. Peter (who made the bike rack) had an explanation for the reason behind the broken bike rack. I was driving too fast and the bounce from the van had bent the rack. After me explaining we were driving on a bump free highway, I put all my effort in arguing the point and we made a truce. We still have no TRUE explanation for the broken bike rack.

Instead of heading straight to Tin Can Bay we had to made a detour to Gympie and drop the rack and bikes off at our friends house.
Tin Can Bay has population of 2000 people. This quiet little coastal village was beautiful. It was here that we had the opportunity to feed wild dolphins. Zac was very enthusiastic about the experience. Levi was not so happy to be woken for the event at such an early hour in the morning. It WAS 7.00. It cost $5.00 each person to feed the dolphins and was well worth the money.

The weather at Tin Can Bay was very different to what we are used to. The day would start sunny, within 10 minutes of sun it would be raining, then sunny, then rain. It would continue like this all day and night.
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon so we thought we would go pump some bait at low tide. We arrive at our destination, got our equipment all organised and headed for the flats. After about 15 minutes of pumping the wind rose, the clouds moved fast and it poured down rain. We continued pumping till we were freezing cold and the rain was stinging our face. The kids love it and were estatic with our fresh bait.

Camp kitchens seem to be a great place for meeting new friends. We met a lovely couple and their sister who were also heading in the same direction as us. We were amazed at how fast they set up there tent. We swapped travel,life stories and mobile numbers over our morning cuppa and I am sure we will see them again.
While staying at Tin Can Bay we drove to Rainbow beach adn then on to Inskip point. It is here that you drive along the sand to catch the barge to Fraser Island.

The kids are getting better and better at making new friends. At the start of our trip they were a bit reserved at going up to other kids and introducing themsleves. They will talk the ear off any new adult. Levi is now more comfortable with introducing himself and Zac follows behind him. Big brothers are awesome!.
We left Tin Can Bay after 2 nights and headed back to Gympie to have a night with our old friends Scott and El and their 4 kids. Scott is a champion and had fixed our bike rack for us. He had cleverly re inforced the racked really really well. Sadly my bike has not recovered from the ordeal and has two bowed wheel rims. Our family bike rides are again on hold. We had a great night of laughs and reminising.
The next day we met up with one of my oldest and closest friends Kylie and her partner Neil along with their two boys. We followed them out to their property about a 10 min drive outside Gympie.
Our first impression of this place was WOW. Everything is green and lush, the veiws are AMAZING. I have never been to Tasmania, but this is what I picture it would be like.
Our first stop before the house was a huge shed fitted out with conveyer belts, cool rooms and a granny flat. The property used to be used as a cannery. We must have seen at least 20 SNAKE skins. Some were over 6 foot long. Fortunately we seen no live snakes, this came a few days later. Peter and I were walking up to the van and I had taken the first step to enter. It was than that Peter told me not to move. I instantly removed my other foot off the ground and onto the step before I asked him what is was. It was a black snake with a light pink belly about half a metre in length. The snake did not last to see the mornning. We have been extra extra extra careful since that encounter.
We then ventured further up the hill to the house. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! WHAT A VIEW!!!!!. I have taken numerous photos but nothing can explain the pure beauty of this place.

The houses and sheds have not been utilised for years, hence the friendly wildlife. There is evidence of huge landscaped gardens that would have been magnificent in there time. We have been slowly pulling back vines and bushes to find numerous concrete paths and steps that would have previously been used to walk and work around the garden. This place has so much history and Kylie and Neil are finding out more and more each day.

They have huge amazing plans for this place and I look forward to returning later down the track to see what they have created. We will be here a few more days before heading off to explore Bunderberg.

KEEP SMILING :)

Bye Tweed..Hello Brisbane

Today we said good bye to Tweed Heads. We really enjoyed our time in Tweed. Boyd Caravan park was a great place to stay minus the midges. We were so excited the first day at Tweed because we thought we got away from the Yamba mosqitoes. Well we discovered midges that were 100 times worst. All these biting insects seem to love levi and I but not so much Peter and Zac. These pesky little things are about the size of a pin head and have left their little red mark before you even get the chance to squish them. Levi and I look to have chicken pox and have had many restless nights scratching.
Our fishing was not so successful, there are no big catches to report. We resorted to going to a fish and chips shop for lunch. While having lunch on the back verandah, over looking the tweed river, we had some friendly (or so we thought) competition for our lunch. There were numerous signs noting to NOT feed the seagulls. As we flapped our arms around us shooing them away they were very persistant. The kids thought it was hilarious when one seagull swooped by Peter and stole his chip out of his hand. Next thing Zac was just taking a peice of fish to his mouth when another seagull went in for the kill. It grabbed Zacs peice of fish out of his hand scratching his face as he flew by. This, Zac did not find so funny. He sat under the table for the rest of lunch refusing to sit where he could be attacked again.
We have been without TV for 2 weeks now and I am loving it. The kids have not complained and we were very impressed that we THOUGHT they weren't missing it. This was until we were at an OP shop in Brisbane today and could not find either of them in the store. Finally I heard Levis loud laugh. I turned around to find Levi purched up on the lounges and Zac on a stool, making themselves comfortable, watching the Simpsons on one of there old TVs.

I LOVE op shops. Having limited space, if I find somehting I want to buy, I need to donate something out of the van. Zac found a bag of mixed toys with little plastic indian figurines, an army truck and a couple of toy plastic crates to put them in. In the middle of the Vinnes store Zac shouts out to me " Two bucks mum,is that a good price? MUUUUUM I said is two bucks a good price?. I replied "Yes Zac that is fine".
We will be Staying in Brisbane a few days then we will be off to Gympie to catch up with some old friends.
We are very happy with our Goldstream camper and were even happier when we set up in only 15min. A quick set up is soooo important when you have been traveliing for hours in the car with the kids. The quicker the set up, the quicker we can sit down and relax with a nice cold beer.

Thanks for reading!

An activity for a rainy day. Boys blasting out a tune at one of the many toys shops we visited on the Gold Coast.