Sunshine State? Don't think so! - Carmila Beach

Since we have been in the so called 'Sunshine State' we have not seen much sun!! To date we have been lucky because most of the rain or drizzle has occurred while we slept or while we were driving, but not when we moved onto Carmila Beach! We were lucky that there was a break in the rain for us to be able to find a campsite and set up camp, but otherwise it was very windy and plenty of rain!  So we set ourselves up in the tent and did the puzzles that Alan had made, did some homework, watched a DVD and played cards.

It would have been a very beautiful place to stay - right on the beach and looking out towards a number of islands. Very private campsites but the weather wasn't much fun. We were able to light a fire the next morning and cook up breakfast and lunch but as soon as we headed off the rain came down in bucket loads again! From here we are heading to Mackay to stay with friends again.

Rockhampton - Yaamba

After leaving Lake Awoonga we headed up to Rockhampton, the weather wasn't the greatest so we used to time to sort out the renewal of Michelle's drivers licence, which took a bit of fiddling around seeing as we are no longer in NSW! We also had to make a few phone calls as Cody discovered that he left his wallet at Rainbow Beach! No luck in recovering it though!
We decided not to stay at Rocky as we were a bit unimpressed with the place, so we headed a little further and pulled up camp for the night at a small place called Yaamba.
Talk about noisy - there were hundreds of Rainbow Lorikeets here which decided to set up camp for the night in the trees above us as well!

Lake Awoonga

Due to the lack of fish, we decided to move on from Monduran Dam to a free campsite just a little further north at another place known for their Barramundi - Lake Awoonga. Of coure, they haven't been catching them there either, but we did catch a few Red Claw Yabbies and had a couple of beautiful meals out of them!
We meet a lovely old guy Alan at Lake Awoonga, he had been camping there for the last month and has been on the road travelling around for the last 8 years! He has a truck set up like a caravan and then tows a trailer which he has called his 'Hobby Shed' which is set up with all his wood working tools. He spends doing whatever takes his fancy that day- eg making musical instruments, making wooden problem solving puzzles, painting etc. Alan pulled out a whole lot of puzzles for Aidan and Cody to have a go of and ended up giving them both one for free and then they purchased another 2 puzzles from him.

Cody doing some puzzles with Alan

There was not a lot to do at Lake Awoonga except relax, we didn't have phone/ internet access here and the fishing was no good so Jaime decided to bake some scones and a loaf of bread in the camp oven - both turned out very well!!

Jaime's loaf of bread cooked in the camp oven

Our campsite at Lake Awoonga

Hervey Bay and Monduran Dam

After leaving Fraser Island we went to Hervey Bay for lunch and then went onto Monduran Dam just inland from Bundaberg which is known for giant Barramundi. The only problem is that no one has been catching them since all the rain! Just our luck! But a very nice camp spot all the same.

Our campsite at Monduran Dam, west of Bundaberg

Aidan and Cody up a tree again

Fraser Island

Wow what a place! Fraser Island is fantastic, recommend that people go and visit. It is the largest sand island in the world, is world heritage listed, is 4WD only and a beautiful place!
We spent a couple of nights over at Fraser, camping on the beach and explored just a small part of the island, but saw enough to know that we would love to go back and spend a week or two there another time.
We did a lot of driving along the beach, went and checked out a ship wreck, spotted a few dingos and explored along some of the 4wd tracks. We stopped and swam in one of the most beautiful places you could ever swim. Lake McKenzie is one of the many fresh water lakes on Fraser Island, it has stark white sand and crystal clear water, it was tough to leave!

Apart from Lake McKenzie we did not swim at Fraser Island or Tin Can Bay as that is where we saw our first Crocodile Warning Sign! The crocs are only occasionally seen up river but it was also strongly recommended that you don't swim in the ocean due to the large number of Tiger and Bull sharks that live and breed in the area - that was enough warnings for us not to swim!

Tin Can Bay - Feeding dolphins

From Huck and Kel's place we travelled onto Tin Can Bay so that we could surprise Aidan and Cody by taking them to feed wild dolphins. Every morning a couple of dolphins come up to the beach at Tin Can Bay wharf and you can get in the water with them and feed them. By law you are not allowed to swim with them or touch them, but you are allowed to feed them. Quite a few people came down to do the feeding but the staff down there, who control it, commented about how much the dolphins loved Aidan and Cody, but Cody inparticular. One dolphin wouldn't stop watching Cody and kept edging closer to him all the time. Then when he took fish down to feed it, the dolphin started to purr. The lady said they don't react to visitors like that normally, the dolphins must have been able to tell how much Cody loves animals!

Aidan and Cody in with the dolphins

Cody feeding the dolphin which really liked him

Michelle feeding a dolphin

Aidan feeding a dolphin

Australia Zoo

From Surfers Paradise we moved on to other friend's place, Huck and Kelly who are up near Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. We had a great couple of nights there catching up while Aidan and Cody nearly grew web feet swimming in their pool! Conveniently Huck and Kel only live 15mins from Australia Zoo so we used their place as our base to go visit the zoo one very hot day!

In the pool at Huck's place

Despite the heat, Australia Zoo was fantastic, very interactive. We got to pat an alligator, a koala, and a snake, got to feed an elephant and got up close with a big wedge tail eagle. The main show in the stadium, was brilliant, lots of different types of birds were flying all around us, massive snakes were swimming through the pool and then out came a crocodile and they had him jumping for food.

We also watched the very amusing otters being fed, but best of all was watching the Tiger trainer play with the Tigers. He had the tigers leaping through the air, across the pool, to catch a toy and landing with a huge splash in the pool right in front of us at the window. The Tiger would then be in the pool with the trainer up against the window looking us in the face!


Aidan and Cody both bought wrist bands, to become Wildlife Warriors and help save a Tiger each for a day.

Sea World and Wet n Wild

We had a fantastic couple of days at Sea World and Wet n Wild. We really don't need to say much else, just look at a couple of photos we took. We were very lucky that we were there mid week outside school holidays, as we did not have to queue for any rides, which meant even more fun!

We were looking to go to Dreamworld or Movie World, but it rained for the next couple of days, we enjoyed time relaxing with Kent and Carmel, Will and Emily. We also spent a day in Cavill Ave at Surfers, shopping, playing some cool games in the games arcade and meeting the Meter Maids!

Cody and Aidan with some Meter Maids in Cavill Ave Surfers Paradise

Aidan, Michelle & Cody on the board walk at Surfers Paradise

Michelle's Birthday - Surfers Paradise

We headed up to friends Kent and Carmel's place at Surfers Paradise on Michelle's birthday to have a great birthday celebration and plan to spend a few days here, visiting some of  "The World's"

At Kent and Carmels with Will and Emily, celebrating Michelle's birthday

Lismore and Byron Bay

After Iluka we headed up to friend's place in Lismore - Hammer and Carmen, which we used as a base for a couple of days to enjoy the Byron Bay area. Aidan and Cody also enjoyed some slip and slid fun with Hammer and Carmen's son Jack.



Up on Cape Byron, eastern most point of Australia



Looking back over Byron Bay

After a very enjoyable swim at Byron Bay

Slip n Slid with Jack at Lismore

The incredible view from Carmen and Hammer's veranda at Lismore

Iluka

Doing homework, at the beach at Iluka

Having a game of footy after dinner

Nice view from our campsite!! Looking across towards Yamba

We enjoyed a few days at Iluka, just relaxing by the water. As seen by the photos we had a million dollar view from our free campsite! Not a bad place to do school work either, followed by a game of footy on the beach.

Coffs Harbour - Iluka

After leaving Repton, we spent the day at Coffs Harbour and then moved onto Illuka, which is on the northern side of the inlet to Yamba.
At Coffs we went down to the wharf where the kids enjoyed jumping off into the water. Aidan was braver jumping off from the top, while Cody jumped off from lower down. We went and did the tourist thing, getting our photo taken at the big Banana and watched candy being made at the lolly shop next door - the boys enjoyed the samples!

Aidan jumping off the wharf at Coffs Harbour

Cody jumping off the Wharf lower down

The Big Banana!

Watching candy being made at Coffs Harbour in the lolly shop

South West Rocks and Repton

We locked them up for a while!

After leaving Laurieton, we headed up to South West Rocks and checked out the old Trial Bay Gaol, it was very interesting and we enjoyed watching a large pod of dolphins surfing and leaping out of the waves and spotting a number of sea turtles swimming around in the water by the rocks.

Trial Bay Gaol

In a cell

Trial Bay Gaol

We camped that night at Repton (near Mylsetom) in the yard of friend's parents place (who were actually away) they have a beautiful place and it was very handy as it was a wet  night that night but we were able to be very comfortable out of the weather on their back vehranda.

We went and watched the Rabbitohs and Rooster's play down at Mylestom Bowling club - unfortunately Rabbits lost, exciting game in the second half though. We all enjoyed a the hot outdoor shower next morning.

Laurieton with the "Moore's"

We travelled onto Laurieton to spend a couple of days with friends Moore and Amy. Enjoyed a fish in the boat in the inlet and went up the top of 'Big Brother Mountain' to check out the awesome view where we watch a couple of paraglider taking off. We also spent a great day up in Port Macquarie, we really liked Port.

Up the top of Big Brother Mountain with Moore looking down on Laurieton

At Port Mcq. playing with the cannon, set up to stop convicts escaping

Aidan found his name on one of the painted rocks on the break wall

Cody rock hopping along the painted rocks on the break wall at Port



Enjoying a boogyboard at Flynns Beach, Port Macquarie



Flynns Beach, Port Macquarie

Photos

We will upload some photos soon!

Forster

We are currently in Forster. Spent two nights here. We walked along the water's edge the first night and couldn't believe how many fish you could see in the water, from millions of different types of bait fish, to bream, flathead, and a few longtoms, we even spotted some dolphins.

At Forster checking out the fish in the water

We enjoyed a meal out that night by the water's edge for a change.

Out to dinner

The next day we spent the morning on the boat, although we did hook a couple of fish it was not a successful fishing trip - I guess we had to have day like this some time!
While mum worked in the afternoon, the three boys enjoyed a swim at the beach.

Up on the headland looking back over the inlet at Forster towards Tuncurry

Seal Rocks to Forster

After leaving Myall Lakes we went and spent a great part of the day at Seal Rocks, enjoying the sun on the beach, and snorkelling and the boys went body surfing. It was a very beautiful spot here and the water so clear.
From there we drove up to Forster.

Posing at Seal Rocks after our snorkel

Bit more posing

Looking down over the beach at Seal Rocks