Andy arrived late last night so stayed up chatting. Wilson decided the change of routine was not to his liking and got up at 5.30 so not the best start to a day for Sharon. Drove to Cowes. Pretty town and bay. The girls took time out to do a quick look around the shops whilst Moe entertained Wilson making balloon models. Moved on to Nobbies Point to try and see the seals on Seal Rocks. Could make out their shape but not that close. Good visitor centre though. After grabbing some warm clothes and dropping off Andy and Wilson back at the house we went to experience the Penguin Parade. At dusk, hundreds of fairy penguins come ashore and waddle in groups to find their burrows and mating partners for the night. Amazing experience watching ... read more

Today was not as eventful as others and we took a leisurely drive back to Melbourne stopping at Lorne for lunch and coffee. After feeding the kids and getting Wilson to bed we left Kay and Chris to babysit for the evening while we headed out for a meal at a local Cambodian resturaunt. The food was great and it was nice to get away from the kids for a few hours.... read more

Here we go again, life as a traveller seems a little like groundhog day. We packed our cases and set off for the airport dropping the car in the general carpark and checking in. This time our carrier was Qantas and a flight time of 3 hours. We arrived to meet Sharon, Andy and their two and a half year old son Wilson. They had hired a large people carrier so getting all the bodies and the luggage in was no problem and we were soon at their home in Seddon a small suberb of Melbourne. After a good nights sleep we sorted ourselves out and the Pearce family along with Sharon headed off for Apollo bay leaving Andy to look after Wilson (lucky him). The drive to Apollo Bay took us along the Great Ocean ... read more

So a drive to Brisbane and a night in a very nice hotel near the airport started to make things look like our luck was on the up, until I then lost my phone! We dropped the car off to the airport on Wednesday night which saved us 80 bucks so got a taxi to the airport Thursday morning. The fight to Cairns was just over two hours and we arrived mid afternoon and again jumped into a taxi to our hotel, this time a Comfort Inn. Our dinning that evening was spent at Outback Jacks and although a little expensive we all left with bloated bellys. Today was Friday 13th, what could go wrong? We had booked a day trip on the Great Barrier Reef on Osprey V a dive/snorkel boat and awoke at 6.30 ... read more

Drove up to Tin Can Bay famous for its dolphins coming up to the bar to be fed. Unfortunately that occurs at about 8am and we arrived at 11. Took our chances and went out on a boat cruise for an hour. Lovely scenery and very relaxing but no dolphins. Had some lunch and then drove round the bay to Rainbow beach. Found an apartment for the night which had an added benefit of washing machine and dryer. Went for walk along long sandy beach, also used by 4x4's.Town named over the many colours of sand found in the cliffs. In reality different shades of yellow and red with white and black mixed in. Chris was brave enough to go for a swim in the waves. Cooked our first meal in 3 since leaving UK. Moe ... read more