Aqua Parks and Noosa!!

Elke, myself and our girls 

After Liz left, the rest of us stayed on the Gold Coast for another couple of days. We revisited some of out favourite theme parks and also had a great afternoon out at "Aqua Splash."
An inflatable water park full of slides, trampolines, rope swings, walls to climb and platforms to jump off of. 

Gold Coast Aqua Splash 

From here we packed up and drove back up to Eumundi to let Elke and the girls explore the famous "Eumundi Markets" before heading to Noosa for a few days of fun in the sun!

Dad playing along with a local musician

 
Noosa beaches are just stunning. We spent the first day driving around checking them all out before settling in at our favourite for the afternoon.

Noosa 

Look out over with views of the Noosa River Mouth 

Having seen some photos of our fun at Aqua Splash, my sister in-law Shiralee messaged me to say that there is a even bigger water park just down the road at Coolum!
So on the Thursday we all headed here. Wow... This one was huge and had everything a big kid like me could of possibly dreamed a inflatable water park should have!!!
Unfortunately I may have gotten a little too excited... As I had barely been on it more than 2 minutes when I slipped and badly sprained my ankle.. Ouch!!!!
Doing my best to ignore the pain I still managed to have a great time! Huge slides, giant rope swings, towers to climb, hamster wheels, wall climbs and my favourite... The Giant Blob!! We had a great time laughing as we launched each other off the end of this giant pillow!  After our 50mins was up the girls even asked to head back out for another turn! Who was I to say no? ;) 

Family :)

After returning to dry land, that's when I noticed that my ankle hurt a little more than I realized.. (I think the cool water may have numbed it!)
By the next morning it had well and truly swelled up and I couldn't walk on it. Not wanting to miss out on the days events, I visiting a local Op shop where I managed to pick up a pair of crutches!
For the next two days I hobbled around with the family and got more than a few laughs from people as I negotiated the soft beaches with my crutches! 

Beach days :) 

Ella and Imogen ;)

Scarlett and Tori

Mum and Dad :)

Typical QLD... Sunny one moment... Huge storms rolling in the next!! 

On the Sunday it was time to say goodbye to Elke, her girls, Mum and Dad. With Elke flying home in a few days, Mum and Dad heading south towards NSW, and us headed back up to Cairns for Xmas!
It was sad to see them all leave, and felt strange after traveling on and off with Mum and Dad for quite a few months now to realize we would not be bumping into them for quite some time now.. Maybe not even before we arrive back in Adelaide!

Next stop for us... Inskip National Park and onto the beautiful Fraser Island!!

Xx

A quick trip down the East Coast

A quick trip down the East Coast 

After spending so long up Cape York we were in a hurry to make our way down the coast. With plans to catch up with my sister, her girls, my Aunt Liz and Mum and Dad all in just a few weeks on the Goldcoast, 1700km away... We had to make a move! (We weren't to worried about what we missed on the way down this time... As after all, we will be travelling back to Cairns in December anyway, so we can see what we missed then!) 

We spent the first few days after leaving Mt Carbine travelling through the Atherton Tablelands. Visiting the many Waterfalls and visiting lots of fresh fruit markets! Yum!!!

Millaa Millaa Falls

Ellinjaa Falls 

Tori and Ella at the Curtain Fig Tree 

I love the huge trees in far North QLD! 

From here we headed to Misson Beach for a couple of nights. The weather was a little on the average side the second night with quite a wind blowing the van this way and that.

Views over Mission Beach 

Travelling further down the coast we made a unplanned stop just south of Bowen.. 

15kms out of Bowen the Brake Master Cylinder on our car decided to jam on... Eeekkkk.... This meant the car would not drive. It just slowed to a stop and I had to 

Rev it out in low 1st gear to get us 100m up and off the road. Not cool!!! 

Now as handy as Gary is... This time we had no choice but to make use of our RAA membership! (Never have I been so glad to have this!) 

We ended up having the car and caravan towed to Bowen and we were put up in a Motel for the weekend as no mechanics were open being a Saturday afternoon... All paid for by the RAA! 

Hitching a lift on a tow truck... 

We soon met the very friendly family who own the motel we were staying in and they invited us to join them the following day for a BBQ whilst watching the Bathurst races on TV! Great! 

On Monday the car was finally looked at by a mechanic and the car issue was confirmed. Gary was able to order the new part and spent the afternoon installing it. Monday night we were back on the road! 

Our next stop was Mackay where we set up right on the beach for a couple of days.

Beach camping at Mackay

 Beach fun 

The girls loved Mackays free Waterpark! 

We got the boat out and explored around the nearby islands. We put our lines in the water.. But failed to even get a bite! 

Boat time! 

Our next stop was Mt Hay. Tori especially had been extremely excited to visit here as we were there to find Thunder Eggs! 

These rocks are millions of years old and come from the centre of an extinct volcano. 

After a good 2hrs of sorting through rock and dirt we were thrilled with our finds. 

Tori searching for Thunder Eggs

The girls sorting through their thunder eggs 

Some of their favourite finds 

That night we headed to Lake Victoria. Here we spent the next couple of days fishing and Ella managed to find lots of huge black mussels! 

Lake Victoria 

The mussels Ella collected

 

Tori fishing 

Evenings at Lake Victoria 

Tori catching up on some school work lake side! 

Ella helping change Brake Pads 

Heading further south we stopped in to visit our friends Roy and Margaret in Bundaberg. But before this we took a slight detour past the Bundaberg distillery  for a tour of the ins and outs of what's involved in making their rum. We even got to sample some of their many different flavours... Gary.. Well he loved this ;) 

Gary relaxing with a bottle of Bundy ;) 

Catching up with Margaret and Roy we enjoyed having dinner out with them at their local pub. We also spent some time exploring the lovely beaches here and a 4x4 track. 

Next, after a quick after browsing through the Eumundi Markets, we finally caught back up with Mum and Dad in Brisbane where they were staying at their friends home. 

Eumundi markets 

As their friends were going away on holidays they invited us all to house sit their beautiful home. Complete with pool, spa, huge outdoor kitchen and multiple outdoor entertaining areas this place was huge! 

We spent the next 5 days relaxing pool side, cleaning our vans and Gary spent some time giving our car some much needed TLC! Some of which included a 2 inch lift kit and 4 new tyres! 

Pool fun! 

Pops, Ella and Tori making the most of the spa 

We also caught up with friends Bryan and Pauline for a delicious home cooked dinner in their home. 

Dinner with Brian and Pauline 

From here we travelled down to the Treasure Island Big4 Caravan park on the Goldcoast. With everyone else arriving the very next day, we made sure we did a big shop to fill our fridges and cupboards up with enough food to feed an army! 

All we had to do now was wait... For the kids... This seemed like a enternity!! 

Xx 

Old Coach Rd and The Creb Track

After 5 weeks together and a nights stay at Bramwell Station we said our goodbyes to Tina, Paul, Zaeja and Alari. Paul had a few car issues he needed sorting out and decided to fast track it back to Cairns. 

Us on the other hand still had The Old Coach Road to Maytown and The Creb Track that we wanted to still complete. 

Bramwell Station

Ella's cheeky new friend

Saying goodbye to friends 

Old Coach Rd/Maytown

First stop was the Old Coach Rd to Maytown. 

After a quick stop in the town of Laura to stock up on supplies we were soon headed towards our next 4x4 adventure! 

A car the same as this was the first at ever to drive to the Top of Cape York! 

On the road to Maytown

After driving roughly 20kms down a dirt road, we officially arrived at the start of the rocky 1st gear, low range rock hopping track. 

The next 5hrs were spent negotiating steep hill climbs and descents over large jaggered rocks. 

At one stage we saw thick, black smoke ahead. Rounding the corner we ran straight into what was quite a intense bushfire that was right alongside the track. With nowhere else to go, we managed to make our quickly past the flames and away from the raging fire. 

Negotiating the track 

Arriving in Old Maytown we explored what was left of this once thriving mining town. 

Driving down the Main Street we loved reading the plaques that had been erected on each site to explain what each ruins represented. 

Maytown 

From Maytown and the end of the Old Coach Rd, we headed over to Palmer River Roadhouse to spend the night. 

After such a intense day of driving we decided to treat ourselves to one of Palmers famous Steak Sandwiches. Wow... They were huge!!! And just delicious! 

Steak sandwiches at Palmer River 

The Creb Track

The next morning we drove back towards Cooktown and after an over night stay at Archer Point we then down towards The Creb Track. 

This way to the Creb! 

90km of extremely steep 4x4 tracks that wound through the stunning Daintree Rainforest. This is one track I would not like to be on after any form of rain! 

The track itself is mainly clay, and after even the smallest amount of rain becomes extremely dangerous to drive on. 

Lucky for us we had clear skies! 

After another full day of driving we decided to have a overnight stay near the end of the Creb. 

Setting up along a river crossing we had the place entirely to ourselves. 

We had a huge bonfire and swam in the crossing. Laying in bed that night I fell asleep listening to the sounds of the Rainforest. 

The Creb Track

The next day we made our way back to Mt Carbine and our Caravan.

After 6 weeks and 4550km of amazing four wheel driving, we had completed what we set out to accomplish.

What an adventure! On our travels around Australia we have had so many amazing adventures and seen so many breathtaking sights.. But I think Cape York has to be up there as one of our favourites! 

Next stop... A 1700km race down the coast to catch up with all the family on the Goldcoast!! 

Xx