thecheesetour

Well it is the final day and our entries certainly slowed down in the last few weeks. Busy and tired I guess. We did 3 theme parks in 3 days-the kids were on fire and I was exhausted. They loved it, especially wet and wild as they met up with friends. The novelty of Gav and I had worn off. We then headed to a great park on the beach just north of Coffs Harbour. The weather was not the best and it was a shame we didn't have longer. We had seenmour first rain in nearly 7 weeks during this previous weeks. I had been thinking how well we had done with no illnesses, coughs or colds. I spoke too soon. One flip (by accident) on a small waterside at the caravan park saw Will ... read more

It has been some time since the last entry and we have been forgetting to take the camera, so the photos are scarce. After Yeppoon, we spent 2 days at Hervey Bay. We tried our luck again, fishing off the pier but no luck! The beaches were beautiful. Unfortunately the huge stinger warnings (including the fact that some are life threatening and the need to call emergency if stung) plus the bottles of vinegar at many coastal spots has made the water a little less inviting). We have seen some spectacular swimming spots. However, the reassurance at the caravan parks that all is generally okay at this time of year has not been enough for us to send the kids in. The only exception are beach areas specifically designed with stinger nets. There are many Queenslanders ... read more

On the 15th we took a ferry to the Great Barrier Reef. It took a long time to get to the reef because on the way we had to go via the Witsundays and pick up extra people from Hamilton Island. It took around 3 hours to get there. Lots of people got sick on the boat because it was soooo rocky I didn't though-we took travel sickness tablets. When we got there we arrived at a pontoon. It had a waterside that actually landed in the sea! First we went in the submarine. You could see all the coral and fish through the windows. Once we got out of the sub we had to get changed to go swimming in the reef. We had to wear a stinger suit to protect us from the ... read more

We made our way from Townsville down to Airlie Beach. The landscape changed quite quickly with the appearance of large sugar cane fields. Gav was in his element, explaining to the kids about the cane cutters, how the sugar cane becomes sugar and showing them the sugar cane trains. He had completed some work on this area when investigating impacts on the Great Barrier Reef so was interested to see it all again. It was good for them to see the beginning of the sugar process. Many sugar can farms look like they have just been left-a sign of the hard times for many working on the land. We can't get over the number of road works that we have seen since hitting QLD (even through the outback). We think that much of this is probably ... read more

Last Sunday my family and I caught a 20 min ferry to daydream island. Daydream Island is a small island that is part of the Whitsundays. It has heaps of palm trees and it is good because they drive around on golf buggies. The whole island is the resort. They have a cinema size movie screen outside on the bay. Everyday, when you want to have breakfast, they have a MAAAASSIVE buffet breakfast, with juice, pancakes, cocopops, anything that you can think of.But........then Dad took as jet skiing and tube riding. Mum was having a massage done. The tube riding was very painful and fun. It is called a tube ride because there is something shaped like a triangle that was blown up like a balloon and we had to sit on it and it was ... read more

It is about the half way mark, so I thought that it was time for a little summary of things. By Georgina Since Tennant Creek (5 days ago), we have moved with fairly rapid speed over what is known as The Overlander's Hwy. We have seen a lot of dust, huge cattle stations (in the distance) and endless road ahead of us. We have stayed at Mt Isa, Cloncurry (where I was able to catch up with my Aunty and Uncle who I have not seen in nearly 4 years-they left Perth in May for a 12 month around Oz and we miraculously managed to meet up for a night in the middle of no where), Charters Towers (a really nice gold mining town with many of the old buildings still operable in the main street) ... read more

We spent 4 nights at Alice Springs and had the best time. Every night the Aboriginals lit a big fire on the McDonnell Ranges. They did it so that they could have new growth for food and medicines. At times it got really smokey. We stayed at a Big4 Caravan Park and met lots of people. Some were from Vic and some from Qld. Together we went on the Go-karts, Jumping Pillow and in the pool. We went on a walk in the Stanley Chasm which was beautiful. At 12 noon every day the sun goes straight overhead and shines through the Chasm. When this happens the walls of the Chasm go really red. When you go through the McDonnell Ranges you think you will get trapped but you eventually go through a gap and end ... read more