The Last Post!

Well it is time to say goodbye to the blog - at least for the time being. We have had 3 fabulous days in Yamba, including Craig's birthday yesterday. The weather wasn't the best, but we still managed to have prawns for lunch by the beach, and a walk along the breakwater where we saw dolphins, and we went out with our friends Jenny and Bruce from the 'Firesiders' caravan club for dinner.

Today we awoke to the most beautiful blue skies, so Craig started the day with a bike ride as usual, I did the 'Holly Tri' again - though its a bit further here to the beach, but I get to have a coffee at our favorite cafe on the way back - and then we hired a boat for 2 hours and cruised around the Clarence River. After lunch we headed into town for a bit of retail therapy and afternoon tea, then we took the surf mat down to the beach, and while Isabella is still not keen, Craig and I were happy to catch a few waves on it, though I'm sure we look quite ridiculous! We finished our final day off with BBQ salmon, and the latest Indiana Jones movie at the van park - one of the perks of being in a flash van park is that they have a huge conference room that they show movies in every evening.

Isabella is tucked in bed, and it won't be long before the adults are too after a big, but absolutely wonderful last day. This has been an amazing trip. I feel very very lucky that I've had the chance to see and do everything I have, and that it has all gone so very smoothly. I did wonder how the three of us would go, spending 2 months together 24/7, but it has been very easy 99% of the time. And luckily we had Mum and Jarred at home to hold the fort - Jarred looking after the house and dogs - including cleaning up after Pele, who decided to show how much he misses us by pooping in various rooms around the house! And Mum has been great - keeping an eye on the house (and Jarred!), collecting mail, paying bills etc.

We are home for a few weeks and looking forward so much to catching up with friends, and then we are off to Bargara for 10 days at the end of January! Got to suck every possible opportunity out of these 3 months off that we have!

Thank you friends for reading the blog! MERRY XMAS!!!

Shoal Bay and South West Rocks

Shoal Bay is officially the most beautiful place we have stayed. We only had 2 days there and would have been very happy to have had a week or two. The caravan park was a council owned one without many 'bells and whistles' but it was across the road from the most fantastic beach - all aquamarine and turquoise colours with the striking feature of the heads in the background. I'm clearly no poet so look at the pictures and see what I mean. We got the surf mat out at one of the other beaches and I must have looked a complete sight daringly catching those 1/2 metre waves the 50 m to shore. Isabella woudn't have a bar of it, not being keen on the surf, so I had to make sure she was nearby so that it was clear that while I was sad enough to be using an inflatable surf mat that at least it was my child's.

South West Rocks is also spectacular, managing to combine a village feeling with an amazing headland and little protected beach called 'Horseshoe' due to the shape. I did the Holly version of a triathalon this morning - rode 500m to the beach, walked 50m down to the beach, jumped about in the surf for 15min. Then we all went for a drive and had a look at the ruined Trial Bay jail and the lighthouse. Isabella is now officially completely OVER looking at 'sights' and was slumping around the jail so I tried to make it more dramatic by telling her that 100 years ago, her Daddy could have been sent there because of his German background (his grandmother) (the jail was used to intern German citizens during WWI). This strategy was somewhat successful, but I think it's good that our sightseeing is officially over now - next stop is Yamba, which we have been to 3-4 times now, so no need to see 'the sights' any more!

Craig's birthday on SUNDAY for any who would like to ring and wish him well!

PS. Apologies to those who thought the 'Princess Toe' photo looked like Isabella's foot had been in a horrible industrial accident. Princess Toe is actually wearing a red scarf made of knitting thread - and a ring on her 'head' as a crown.

Congratulations, Russian Bears and Princess Toe

To my sister Wendy on her engagement to David! They are in Hawaii on holiday and he 'popped the question'. No date for a wedding and I'm hoping there is no need for a 'matron of honour' because as David has no sisters, so I guess that would leave me in the role. Anyway whatever sort of wedding it ends up being it will be fantastic, even if Wendy makes me wear a shiny pink satin and taffeta frock that someone has decorated with a 'bedazzler'! Very pleased for them as they are both lovely people and I think will make each other very happy.

Meanwhile, back here in Kiama it's been a very mixed bag of weather from wet all day yesterday to sunny and hot today, but with gale force winds. I'm not exaggerating about that - the wind has actually torn our annexe off its mounting despite it being tied at multiple points to the ground! Luckily it only landed on the grass next to the van and didn't behead anyone.

In the interests of balance I'm including evidence of some of the things that happen when caravanners get wet weather. Little girls take to drawing characters on their toes, and big girls go shopping and come back with 2nd hand carved wooden souvenirs from the Soviet Union, thanks to St Vinnies. It's so ugly I HAD to have it. Craig is still perplexed, but given my collection of West German vases, I think he is starting to understand my love of 'unusual' momentos of countries that no longer exist.

Made it to Kiama!

No photos this time - long, long drive to get here - drove from Apollo Bay to Wodonga in one day, then yesterday we had a day just lolling about at the shops in Albury and took Isabella to see 'High School Musical 3' - which we shamelessly all enjoyed!!!!

Today was another very long drive from Wodonga to Kiama - the last part down the most terrifying mountain road I have ever encountered - one corner was literally a 'hairpin' in shape and the caravan wheels on one side left the road as we turned it - thank God we were driving DOWN the mountain not up it - might have had to do some Flinstone's style foot actions out the door to help us up the mountain otherwise!

I've had 3 glasses of wine (yes still drinking the cheap merlot from the IGA! I'm so common that I LOVE it!) and Nigella is on the TV, so my nerves are starting to settle. Fantastic van park on the beach - now we just need the clouds to leave! Do my posts improve when I drink????

Apollo Bay

It's been 5 cold/windy/overcast days here on the Great Ocean Road. Of course the 12 Apostles, London Bridge etc were all as beautiful as I'd hoped and the sun was shining as we spent the day driving from Port Fairy, stopping at every possible spot along the way to view them.

We also spent a day on the Otway pensinsula seeing both the lighthouse and the "Otway Fly" which is 600m of treetop walkway through beautiful temperate rainforest. The sun has shone on us intermittantly and Apollo Bay is indeed very beautiful when it does! Isabella has found many friends to play with here at the caravan park - including some kids from Wurtulla! Small world.

Craig had the biggest coup however - he went fishing with a great bloke called David also staying here at the van park, and caught 3-4 salmon, which we BBQd for lunch today and enjoyed greatly with a bottle of very cheap merlot from the IGA. We are right classy we are!

Hall's Gap - Port Fairy

'You must see the Grampians' says EVERYONE it seems. Being slightly contrarian by nature this almost made me NOT want to see them (I still haven't see the movie 'ET' for this reason!), but I'm not as dumb as I look, so off to Hall's Gap we headed. Fantastic caravan park full of kangaroos with joeys - so I'll include a photo taken by Isabella who was very taken with them.

We did a couple of short walks and of course it is very beautiful, or perhaps 'majestic' is a better word. My favorite part was actually the 'Venus Baths' rock pools at the base of the moutains where Isabella, like all the other kids, stripped down to her 'smalls + shirt' to have an impromptu dip. And on the walk back we were very excited to see an echidna on the path - we stood right next to it and watched it snuffle around for ants for about 20 min, then it waddled up to us, sniffed our shoes, and slowly ambled back into the undergrowth. Of course this was the one time I didn't have the camera, so no proof of our 'close encounter of the monotreme kind'.

We are now in Port Fairy which is such a beautiful little town. The weather has been rather 'English' but it cleared yesterday long enough for us to walk out to the lighthouse. Today we drove to Tower Hill, which is an old volcanic crater and the first national park in Victoria - here we saw emus wandering around in the flat area of the crater and were able to get quite close to a mum and babies, and then we rescued a turtle which was on the road.

I haven't seen 'Australia' the movie yet, but I feel like we are seeing the real thing - we've seen so many native animals now in 'the wild' so to speak, and such beautiful and diverse scenery. Port Fairy is the furthest point of our travels, so it's 'homeward' from here I guess - still 3 weeks to go though! Tomorrow we head east along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay, which will be a trip highlight I'm sure as I've always wanted to see it.

Ballarat

A 'by request' post, as my dear friend Mrs Choko has requested a photo of the van set up. She has strange tastes, but we shall not question her!

We have had a great couple of days in Ballarat. Yesterday was Sovereign Hill which was really good - it's the sort of place that if you didn't have kids you'd possibly not think of going, but it was so worthwhile. An exhausting day as its a huge site, and panning for gold is actually quite tiring! Didn't find any, but parted with lots of virtual gold ie money, buying souvenirs of course! By the end of the day all I could do was lie in bed muttering 'my knees, my knees' like an old woman. And no gin left in the van to comfort me!

Today was a bit quieter - went to the Eureka Centre and learnt about the famous stockade. I know more now about the gold rush period than I have since Grade 4! Actually I now appreciate it all too - I think it's all a bit lost on you when you are a kid, but now I can actually imagine what it must have been like, and how hard conditions were for the diggers etc. Not too crash hot for all the original inhabitants of course either who of course were forced out of all the areas that got a population boom thanks to gold being found.

Meanwhile it's still hard being me - Isabella and I had a swim as it's warmed up, I had a lovely G&T and Craig is now cooking dinner (BBQ most nights - such bliss to not have to cook!) and we have one more day here then off to the Grampians.

PS Update - my kind kind husband looked after Isabella today (Thursday) so that I could go to Hepburn Springs and 'take the waters'. It was lovely of course - floating about at the ultra modern Hepburn Bathhouse which is an addition to the historic baths. Sadly there aren't really any 'springs' as such in the gardens area as it seems the drought has dried them up!

Beechworth - Echuca - Bendigo

Loving Victoria! Maybe cause it's my 'return to country' since I was born in Melbourne or maybe its the amount of historical buildings and slight Englishness of the towns, combined with beautiful scenery as we drive through the countryside. Had the BEST couple of days in Beechworth - a perfect syncronicity of carbohydrates and history ie it's the home of the famous Beechworth Bakery and it's 'Ned Kelly country' as well as being a Gold Rush centre.

We did a great guided walking tour of the town in the daytime, and then at night, I did a 'ghost tour' which was at the now closed Beechworth Asylum, which housed up to about 1200 'insane' people from the mid 1800s through to the 1990s. Very atmospheric and creepy, but no I didn't see any actual ghosts, though I heard some amazing stories!

Of course, insanity often meant no more than post-natal depression, post traumatic stress disorder for returned soldiers, or even just depression, and so there were also a lot of sad stories of people committed by husbands, families or a judge after committing a crime, and then spending the next 80 years there. Apparently it was considered a revolutionary step forward when after the place had been operating for about 80 years one of the Superintendents allowed the patients to wear underwear under their canvas uniforms!

From Beechworth it was off to Echuca which is also very very lovely. We did a day cruise on the Murray and then - after a horrible day of freezing cold, gale force winds and two hailstorms - the skies cleared and we were able to go on a fantastic sunset dinner cruise. And the plus of the bad weather was that enough rain had fallen that the Murray was about 1 1/2 feet higher than its been for a year so the paddlesteamer was able to go further along the river than it had in a long time.

From Echuca it was off to Bendigo, where we did a 'talking tram' tour of the city - basically an hour long trip on a tram that runs as a tourist attraction with a commentary on the beautiful old buildings and history of Bendigo. And the weather has improved so while I'm still getting my head around the idea of wearing jeans and a jumper in late November, as long as the sun shines I can cope! Next stop Ballarat.

Bateman's Bay and 'Music at the Creek' festival

We leave sunny Canberra behind and head east, bound for the Music at the Creek acoustic music festival at Major's Creek, which is basically a tiny village (one pub, no other shops) halfway between Canberra and the coast, up high in the hills. Hills = cold = mist it seems - was like being in Scotland or Ireland! 'You call this summer?' I found myself yelling at the sky as the temperature dropped to 11c in the daytime! But it was very moody and romantic I must admit.

We had left the van parked behind the Major's Creek pub lunchtime on Thursday and headed down to Bateman's Bay, deciding to spend the night in a cabin at the caravan park rather than haul it down and then back up the mountain range which has some wicked hairpin bends and an 1 in 8 gradiant. We had a great day in Bateman's on Friday doing a section of the Eurobadalla coast (can't spell that but too lazy to check it) as far south as the pretty town of Moruya. Apparently I own a beach at Bateman's Bay - well maybe some ancestors did! Coast in this area is very lovely and unspoilt - have to say that generally speaking the NSW govt has done a much better job of protecting their coastline from overdevelopment than has the Qld govt (apologies to my employer - you are great - no REALLY).

We headed back up to Major's Creek and had Fri night through Sunday at the festival - very good - as seems to be the case at these things you happen upon some amazing acts that you've never heard of - I was very impressed with an eccentric ensemble called Mr Fibby with their hilarious Eastern European pseudo-Gothic tales of misery and despair set to violin, cello and guitar. Very entertaining! (They have a MySpace page if anyone is interested). Craig liked The Go Set - more in the tradition of a good Australian pub band. Isabella was kept entertained at the 'kids' tent' which had story telling, craft etc.

We met some great people at the festival who were camped near us at the pub - the pub had HOT SHOWERS and proper loos and was also one of the venues for the festival. A lovely experience all up.

So that's us officially done with the ACT - next stop Beechworth, Victoria!!!!

Dubbo - Parkes - Wagga Wagga - Canberra

Well it's been a really busy week again. After leaving Dubbo we headed for Cowra, where we visited the Japanese Gardens which were very lovely of course, and went to the site of the actual 'Cowra breakout' by the 1000ish Japanese P.O.W.s, which is marked just by a plaque and a replica watchtower. For those who don't remember their history from school, the breakout was an attempt by the POWs to die with honour attempting to escape, rather than suffer the disgrace of being a POW – so it was basically a suicide mission as they didn't seriously expect to just disappear into the local countryside of course. The Japanese soldier who was one of the masterminds of the breakout was shot during the breakout, so he smoked a cigarette while he lay on the ground, then cut his own throat.

On the way to Cowra we stopped at Parkes to see the famous 'dish'. Very BIG. I am a science ignoramus so that is all I can say. BIG. DISH. Worth a stop though, especially if you can appreciate the science of it all.

We then had a couple of nice days in Wagga Wagga to catch up with friends who recently moved there from Noosa. So I guess that makes it the Noosa of the Murumbidgee! Nice big country town and we caught up on the dreaded schoolwork and had a nice cycle along the Murumbidgee. Off to Canberra then!

I'm really NOT SURE about Canberra. It's either a very lovely city OR its strangely like driving around an extremely large lawn cemetary – ie. lots of grass and trees and monuments and a bit lacking in people. To be fair we arrived on a Sunday, and since then I have seen actual living human beings.

Today we went to the War Memorial, which is fantastic, though a bit overwhelming for some I think. Isabella and I hurried through and Craig is going back for the full tour. I was very pleased to be able to find my grandfather's name on the Roll of Honour. Hard not to think about how different life might had been for my dad, had he not lost his dad at the age of 3 (he died in Borneo). For a change of pace I then went SHOPPING and Craig took Isabella to the Australian Institute of Sport, which they thought was great. Tomorrow it's a cycle around Lake Burley Griffin and then Question Time at Parliament House. We get to see the K. Rudd in action hopefully (is he IN the country????).

Coffs - Tamworth - Dubbo

We left Coffs (seems like forever ago now!) and did the terrifying drive up to Dorrigo - 15 km of what seemed like a vertical climb up the Great Dividing Range - absolutely breathtaking scenery but we needed a stiff drink after we made it to the 'top' - except all we got was more hills as we headed west towards Tamworth. We also saw yet more beautiful countryside and a fantastic waterfall - Ebor I think it was called from memory.

Tamworth - well we have mixed feelings on this town - I thought it was lovely but Craig was underwhelmed - it was only a quick stop on route to Dubbo in any case where we had the single best tourist experience that I can remember - staying at the Zoofari lodge at Dubbo Zoo (Craig queried whether it was better than my travels in Europe, but since that was nearly 20 years ago, I can't remember most of it (as my friends know, I can barely remember what happened the day before yesterday usually!)

I could go on and on about Dubbo Zoo - it was a fantastic experience staying at the zoo in their 'safari tents' which I'll post a picture of rather than try to explain. What was best was that the deal includes 3 guided tours of the zoo, where you get taken behind the scenes and visit the animals in their 'night quarters' (yes at night in the dark with a spotlight) rather than just seeing them out in the open areas. We got to hand feed giraffes, a rhino, the meerkat and a wombat and echnida - quite a mixed list, as well as visit the lions, hippos, wolves etc. And there was a great 3 course dinner and hot breaky too - and yes the opportunity to sit at the safari lodge sipping a gin and tonic. Happy happy me!

Hastings Point to Coffs Harbour

First stop at Hastings Point was fabulous. Whoever heard of a caravan park with a day spa? Well North Star at Hastings Point has one, so after Isabella exhausted herself at the pool and waterslide, we headed to the day spa where I did a desultory 5 (yes 5, I KNOW you are impressed) laps in the new lap pool, and then we had a spa. We accidently chose the wrong one - ie the cold one, but a kind lady informed us of our mistake and we relocated to the hot spa.

Next morning I went for a walk on the beach and saw an injured sea turtle - the wildlife service were just turning up to rescue it as I got there, thanks to a lady who rang them and waited an hour for them to turn up - that must accrue some good karma! After breaky Isabella and I both used the waterslide for an hour then it was time to hit the road (yes poor Craig was packing up the van while we played). The drive to Coffs turned into a bit of an epic as the highway was closed at McLean due to an accident, so we had to drive via Casino and Grafton, which added an hour or so over horribly bumpy 'b' roads to the trip. The jacarandas were in full bloom in Grafton though, which Isabella in particular loved, as even when she was very little she loved them in Brisbane, but there aren't many in Caloundra.

So we've had one day in Coffs - so of course it was the Big Banana that was first on the agenda. It was very good - actually a lot better than I expected - high tech theatre show and tour of the packing area, but not too long winded, and it reminded me of my short lived career in a banana packing shed on a Kibbutz in Israel, many, many years ago. We had a bludgy afternoon back at the park and tomorrow its off to Bellingen and Dorigo for a day trip.

Fumigation THEN fun!

Well the packing has officially begun...well unpacking really, as we had to take EVERYTHING out of the House of Windsor (ie the caravan) so we can spray for insects, and then re-pack for our 2 months away. Such is the glamour of travel...fumigation comes first! We've only had the van for a year, and Craig is a neat freak, but there is still a fair bit of undefinable grot and specks of what looks suspiciously like cockroach poo! errrgggghhhhh

Countdown 5 weeks till we leave for the southern states on our 'big trip'. 8 weeks of travelling from Caloundra to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria and back, through coastal and rural NSW. The list of 'things to do' before we leave isn't too bad - mostly little repairs to the Wagon. What else? School supplies for Missy Moo so she doesn't fall behind in her work. Craig will take care of the more technical aspects of towing the van, autoelectrics etc, while I'll worry about packing! It's all good!