Sunday, May 31, 2009

Drama's On The Highway

Hello There
Well the good mechanical run couldn't go on forever and it finally happened 35km outside Emerald on our way to do some fossicking for saphires out around Willis gem fields.
The trailer bearings seized thankfully on the outside of the road as the trailer dropped and noises occurred.
AS I started to slowdown Debs looked at me and said "Whats that"
I pointed out the window so she could see the wheel overtake us in a ball of flames.
It started a couple of fires on the way which I managed to put out and travelled about 500m coming to a rest about 200m in the bush over a railway line in a paddock.
So we ended up after much frustration getting a tiltray to come and pick it up the next morning .
Thankfully know one broke the locks and stole anything!

We ended up staying at Lake Maraboon and had a OK time out there managed to catch a few Red claw, and Debs had some nice paddles in the Yak.
The birds were really friendly and if you had toast on the deck you got mugged by the Rainbow Lorakeets.
We ended up 6 nights here and now we have arrived at a beautiful spot in the rain forest called Eungella which also has a great launch and one of my last chances for a thermic flight the weather has turned to crap, hence the blog catch up as we are directly under the tower and have the fastest connection we have had on the whole trip:).


Roadworks aren't going to be happy



The Site - I Have Crossed The Rd As Safer


The Damage
Another View



Loading On


Loaded

Fraser Is





Fraser Is was pretty amazing, we had good weather for all but the last couple of days, I even managed to get a flight in Here's a link to a small video I have posted on You Tube Click Here

We fished a lot (not much luck) Mostly just hung out and toured most of the Island.
Lake McKenzie and Lake Boomajin were amazing and crystal clear.
Anyway we had a great time the dingo's never harassed us, well worth a visit.
I guess the only disappointing part was the amount of rubbish washed up on the East coast:( it was everywhere and of course the morons who couldn't walk an extra 3oft to put there bags in the bin and left it out for the crows and Dingos. Morons!
Enjoy the Pics
Galvo



Maheno Shipwreck


Maheno


Sandblow-One Of the Many


Lake Boomajin


Dingo


The Beach Highway


She is So Cute


Eli Creek


Launch


Enjoying the Elevated View

Em's 9th Birthday



Our home at Inskip Point near Rainbow Beach while Deb's was in PNG delivering babies for a couple of weeks.
The beach was only 50m away.



Time For Some Fun


Debs got back on Emily's birthday What a present.


Time For A Movie


The Girls Just Love The Beach

Tin Can Bay Dolphins

Hi There Tin Can Bay was great as the girls got to feed the dolphins three times each as there was not many people there. The dolphins names are Mystique and Harmony but don't ask which is which.
Turned out to be a really fantastic day.



Captain Grace


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Northern NSW to QLD






Hello to all my followers (All 3) :)

Well it has been a long time once again but due to pressure I have to rise from my beach towel and put finger to key.

Well I think I left you hanging while we were in the Goldcoast, from there we headed south again to a friends house, Madison and Karens property just inland from Byron Bay.
At this stage the weather was still not so good but not to wet. Everyone had a great time and Madison was great with the kids, they got to have rides on a big quad bike, play with the chooks and cows, I got a surf at Byron, Debs got some shopping done and everyone got on really well.

We got some amazing pics there as they were high on the hill and the valley filled with cloud but clear above and there were some awesome sunrises.

I got an invite to Killarney from Mad's as there was a group going and the weather looked good so off we went for a week flying with other pilots, it was a great experience and launch was stunning. The town was small and not a lot there and our caravan park was very noisy (roosters,crows,trucks and loud bangs from the fields to keep the birds away) but the flying was great and the local farmers very friendly and helpful.

From there we moved onto Canungra where we had a great camp along side a creek with platypus in it which we saw most days and could get fairly close in the Kayak.
I had some great flights here as well and the kids loved liloing down the creek, heaps of canetoads here and alongside Heinze Dam there were literally hundreds of thousands of toadlets.
I managed a personal best here flying 26km from Beachmont to Beaudesert (Pauline Hanson Country), I should've gone further but made a wrong decision which put me on the ground.
While we were here we drove into Sea World and spent the day there, it was a rip off but the kids had a great time and the shark pool was awesome. It was here that some low life stole Debs camera...

By now the rain had started to fall a bit more regularly and we spent our last night anxiously watching the creek rise after the caretaker mentioned that a caravan had been washed away where we were camped a couple of years ago, needless to say no sleep for me that night but we were prepared with a fast pack up as we had put everything away already. the creek only rose about 1.5m and still had a couple to go before it affected us.

After Canungra we went and stayed with some friends from Broome, Belinda, Mark, Zacharia, Samuel and Bridie, the rain didn't let up and the mould moved into the tent with a vengeance so out with the bleach and a resealer, took a full day and we were lucky that it didn't rain most of the day and there was a breeze blowing so it could dry out, but then it poured for another week and we had to hit some trouble spots again but now all good. In the end I think it was 22 days straight of light and torrential rain, not good when in a camper trailer. :-(

We were glad to get out of the mud and move onto the Glass House Mtns where Chris and Bill met up with us we only had a couple of days rain then the weather improved and has been great ever since :-)

The Glass House Mtn's were pretty awesome , amazing structures and make for some interesting scenery.

We were just a short drive from Australia Zoo so we were off to check that out as the kids have wanted to go since the start, I was very impressed with it, in fact the animal enclosures are the best I have ever seen and have way more space than any place I have ever been, they had a wide range of food selections (even healthy stuff unlike most zoos) and was at a reasonable price in fact normal price. We were also lucky to have Bindi there and Terry and Bob made an appearance as well. The bird show in the Crocautorium was fantastic as they released a whole heap of native Australian birds to fly around the audience and land at various places, it was funny seeing black cockies and rainbow lorikeets dive bombing the audience and just flying around close to everyone then the trainers would give a hand signal and they would land on there arm and they were gone. They included a fair bit of humour in the show as well. It was a great day.

So Chris and Bill left and we headed for Rainbow Beach where we are camped now. Just me and the kids as Debs is in the PNG highlands with the headhunters,we don't have any contact so hope is all going well and I am sure it is.

So it's me and the kids I would love to say it is all going smoothly but Lucy is missing mum and is playing up a fair bit but Em and Grace have been behaving themselves, I think I will just have to wear them out more.


We are camped at Inskip point about 40m to the beach and the weather is great and the water is starting to clear up, I had a small flight the day before Debs left and the coastal scenery is awesome as it gets it's name from the different coloured sands along the cliffs.
Well Debs is back in just under 2 weeks but I'm not counting and we are off on a boat to Tin Can Bay tomorrow morning to feed the dolphins so hopefully should be a good day. We have been fishing heaps but absolutely nothing :(


See ya later and will right again soon promis (yeah right)


Gold Coast Camp




Madisons and Karens Property And our New Camp 4 Days



Morning Mist




Sunrise Mads House



Mads Clowning Around



The Girls


Emptying The Rubbish Farm Style



Sunset Profile Mads and Lucy



Killarney East Launch



Killarny East Launch



Camp Canungra



Satin Bower Bird





Waterfall






Em Grace Lucy




And Then It Started To Rain- Canungra

Sea World







Polar Bear at Sea World



Big Bird Sea World


Lucy's Reaction to Big Bird


Sea World


Aquarium
4D Movie -You get wet as well and smoke fills the room. This is where debs camera went missing :(

Still Raining Glass House Mts (About 20 Days Straight Now)


Australia Zoo

If Left Alone It Is Possible For A Salt Water Croc to Grow This Big, Scary



How Cool Is This


And This


Terry Irwin Made an Appearance


The Bird Show Was Awsome. We were Graced With Heaps of Birds Flying Around And Joining The Crowd




Bindi And The Crocmen (kids Loved It ,But Way to Naf For Me)



Dingo- The Animals Here Are Treated Like Royalty



Emily Was Terrified


Mary Caincross Rainforest


As Above
Glass House Mountains

Galvo