How's the serenity

We were really looking forward to Big 4 Tweed Billabong. It has a 4 and 1/2 star Big 4 rating which is a big deal. There's a pool with slide, billabong with canoes, go-karts, kids club, and tennis court.

What the ads don't tell you is that the park is about 500m from the Gold Coast airport runway, and adjacent to the Pacific Highway.

As loyal Jerra residents the planes haven't bothered us too much. But trucks constantly thundering past at 2am makes it really hard to get back to sleep. On day 2 we wondered why they hadn't put in noise barriers. Then we realised that there ARE noise barriers, about 50 metres from our caravan. 4 nights of little sleep is enough. I tried earplugs last night which helped a bit but not enough!

So it's farewell to Big 4 Billabong and the Gold Coast. Tomorrow we're heading home, via the Waterfall Way to Armidale, then Wellington or Dubbo, then Canberra.

Back to reality in a week's time.

The planes actually look a lot closer in real life

Sunset at Coolangatta beach

Speed demons on the go karts

Us and about 50,000 others had a great day out at Wet n Wild

Canoeing adventures

And....breathe.

After 9,000kms, 42 nights in the van and counting, I kinda feel like we're on holidays. We've 'seen' and done all the things we set out to do, and now it's time to chill at the beach.

We really liked Airlie Beach, the kids took to snorkelling with great enthusiasm and there is a massive lagoon in the centre of town, so you can swim without stingers. It's backpacker central, so I did feel a bit old :). However we were staying at the most luxurious caravan park I've been at, our ensuite site had a bathroom bigger than ours at home!

Now we're in Mooloolaba. We've been here a couple of times before, so it has a familiar feel which is nice after so long. And, this trip is turning into a version of Meet the Fockers....guess who is showing up today? Chris' parents! Looking forward to seeing them.

After here, all the commercial glory of the Gold Coast (well, Tweed Heads). Planning a trip to Wet 'n Wild, depending on the weather. We couldn't go there last time because Matthew had his arms in bandages. Then probably home. Missing: family and friends, Dougal, my dishwasher, a washing machine that doesn't cost $4 a load, and a bit of personal space. Loving: everything else.

Airlie Beach

Whitehaven Beach, Whitsundays

The crab was dead. Eeww!

Hervey Bay

Let's play statues!

Today (near Yeppoon) I saw my first 'big thing' for the trip - a big whale made out of concrete. He was Soooooo ugly. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera. Queensland seems to be home of the big thing. I'm looking forward to stopping at the Big Pineapple. It holds many fond memories, although I know from a visit a couple of years ago it is sadly in decline. I have a friend whose Year 12 formal was at the Big Pineapple. Now that is a classy formal (Hi R!).

Anyway, in spite of not seeing any big things until today, we've seen lots monuments, statues, markers and other funny things. Of course every town has a war memorial. In Longreach we saw the war memorial which has the names of two of my distant relatives - great great uncles I think, brothers who were killed wihin hours of each other in France, World War 1.

In Barcaldine I paid homage at the Tree of Knowledge monument. The Tree of Knowledge is honoured in the labor movement as the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party - in 1891 striking shearers met under the shade of the tree. In 2006 it was poisoned. However, the proletariat has ensured that the Tree of Knowledge will live on - in a very elaborate monument. It was opened by Anna Bligh in October 2009. No mention of who funded it!





The Singing Ship, erected in 1970 by a patriotic local family of Yeppoon, in honour of Captain Cook's naming of Keppel Bay in 1770.



Camooweal, just over the border from NT



Tropic of Capricorn marker, north of Alice Springs





And again! in Longreach







Tree of Knowledge monument, Barcaldine QLD


















Country capers in Longreach

Look who we met in Longreach! (My mum and dad, for those who don't know them). The kids (and us) were very excited to meet up with Granny and Grandad. We spent time at the Stockman's Hall of Fame, the Qantas museum, and the RM Williams muster which was in town. We also went for a cruise on the Lincoln River which was lovely. The van park wasn't too flash, red gravel everywhere without a blade of grass or a tree. Not much fun in 35 deg temperatures.

So today we're in Emerald (coal mining town, Central Qld), and heading to Airlie Beach tomorrow. Can't wait to see the coast. I'm a bit sad that the 'country' aspect of our trip will be ending. But very glad to think of the prospect of a decent coffee. Australia's a big country alright, with a lot of very bad coffee out there. I could probably make a fortune opening a chain of decent cafes in outback places.

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Sunset Cruise with Mum and Dad

I can't get the captions function to work. Any suggestions?

Right turn ahead

When I uploaded these photos we were at Three Ways Roadhouse, just north of Tennant Creek. Then my Telstra connection dropped out. Now we're in Mount Isa and it's 36 degrees. That's hot in a caravan.

Three Ways was the highest point in the NT that we travelled. At Three Ways we turned east and headed into Qld. The highlight of the drive from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek was Kalu Kalu (Devils' Marbles). There's hundreds (maybe thousands) of these rockes stacked on top of each other, right next to the roadside. They were pretty cool.

We enjoyed Alice Springs. There was a massive thunderstorm on the first day we were there, and we just got the annex up in time. It was a triumph of teamwork and no cross words were exchanged (bah to the marriage tester!). We hung out in Todd Mall, did a fair bit of shopping at Coles (a long time since we'd seen a decent supermarket!), and spent a day in the West MacDonnell Ranges. We saw a bit of the sadder side of life in Alice, lots of indigenous people camped in the riverbed, which started flowing after the rain so we don't know where they went then. Lots of people lined up at the grog shop at 2pm on the dot when it opened. There was a riot at the local footy grand final but luckily we didn't come across any aftermath of that.

Anyway, we're into our 4th state, heading to Longreach tomorrow and then finally onto the coast. Looking forward to a swim in the ocean!

Livin La Vida Volvo

Silverton, outside Broken Hill - replica Mad Max cars in the background

From Canberra to Alice Springs, we've spotted LOTS of Toyota Prados (hi J&J!), some Pajeros, a few Territorys, and even a Porsche Cayenne. But there's only been one Volvo XC60.

It's attracted a few comments. Mostly along the lines of "no wonder you can afford a Volvo" when people find out we're public servants. I'm attempting to spread the word about the professionalism of our wonderful public service of today. Sometimes it's an uphill battle :) The election shenanigans aren't really helping my cause.

Taking in the sights in the packed out Coober Pedy caravan park (lots of people on their way to the trucking hall of fame reunion in Alice)

Flinders Ranges clay

Taking on a road train on the way to Uluru

Red Centre adventures

We've spent the last 3 days at Uluru/Kata Tjuta. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, a bit worried that it would be over-run by tourists. While it's busy there's still the chance to find some solitude and enjoy the beautiful area. We seem to have packed quite a bit into our 3 days but are also feeling quite relaxed so something has definitely gone right (apart from our van - housekeeping has gone downhill today and it's a bit of a bombshell. sigh).

Day 1 (M's birthday)

The morning was devoted to magic aqua sand (penguin palace), a little pet handbag, and me doing a mountain of washing.

I can't believe she's 7

In the afternoon we paid our first visit to Uluru. I was surprised how beautiful it was at the base. We struck it lucky in that the rain had just cleared the day before. Lots of little waterfalls were still running off the rock. I couldn't believe how many people were choosing to climb, and how steep it was! We saw a kid Matthew's age nearly fall down the side, trying to get down.

At the base of Uluru

Day 2 - Valley of the Winds (Kata-Tjuta)

This walk was amazing, words and our pictures don't really do it justice. We walked th whole circuit, 7.4 kms, which was about 4 kms too far for the kids. Lots of whingeing. However it was worth it (just).

Valley of the Winds, Kata-Tjuta

Day 3 - Camels at sunrise

Part of M's birthday present was a camel ride at Uluru. Unfortunately they were booked out on her birthday and the only time we could get was a sunset ride. It was cold but lots of fun, the views were fantastic and the camels were quite lovely, not smelly as I had imagined.

Sunrise

Their camel was called Wombat (because he's a bit fat)

A very tired M after walking 13 kms in 3 days

Behind our campsite is a lookout to Uluru. I love that we can just wander up there whenever we feel like it, to have a peek.

Our beautiful 7 year old

Action man Chris at 'our' lookout

Fun in Flinders

We had a great three days in the Flinders Ranges. The highlight for the kids was probably the campfire behind our van site. The park was in a beautiful setting, a valley surrounded by red rock ranges. We took the Volvo for some off-roading (pretty tame by some of the region's standards, but lots of fun).

The kids completed their longest bushwalk ever - 7.5kms in Wilpena Pound. M was our tour guide for 3 hours.

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Emu mum and some of her 8 chicks - what are Emu babies called again?

Elder Ranges

Tonight we're at Uluru. 4 nights with no travel, woo hoo! Looking forward to relaxing and a good look around. Camping opposite us is two busloads of teenagers from a college in Adelaide. Wish us a good night's sleep!

Fighting down panic at 100 ft under

Broken Hill: When we went to the visitors' centre and they told us that we would probably enjoy a mine tour, we were imagining a modern mine - down in a lift, good lighting, steel girders holding up those rock walls. Aaaahhh...no. We found ourselves 100 feet underground in a 100 year old mine, with tiny headlamps to light our way, an over-enthusiastic guide telling us all the different ways people died down there, bending over nearly double and trying not to think about the fact that there were some 100 year old gum logs and rusty nails holding up the rock. I could feel panic rising but realised there wasn't much to be done, so just held my breath and counted the minutes till we got the hell out of there. Chris was feeling the same way, I found out afterwards. The kids seemed to like it though.

Apart from the mine tour we really liked Broken Hill.

Tonight we're in Port Augusta, after a great three days in the Flinders Ranges. Off to Coober Pedy tomorrow then Uluru for M's birthday. Today was a long day, but that's other day's story...

Muddy water, red dirt

Captains M and M had a great time on the PS Melbourne, Murray
River, Mildura

 Then we went to Orange World. Not as p***sweak world as you might expect.

 Entering red dirt world, outside Broken Hill.

Studiously doing their journal entries. Wonder how long it will last?