Blogs from Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

:Packed and ready - 3 days until we are off: Well and truly on the countdown now bags are packed (just!) and we are counting down the days - 2 days left of work and 3 days until we fly out .... We decided to pack early to test how it would all fit into our new Kathmandu backpacks ... lets just say its lucky we packed when we did as it took MUCH longer than expected and was a rather stressful task. We set out all of our clothes and started trying to fit them in - Duane has a 75L backpack and I have a tiny 65L! My bag was full only for me to look over and find half my clothes still sitting on the bed unable to fit in. Lets just say ... read more

Hey und Hallo ihr am anderen Ende des Bildschirms, Jetzt ist schon wieder ein ganz schönes Stückchen Zeit seit dem letzten Eintrag vergangen. Puh Gott sei Dank haben wir ein handgeschriebenes Reisetagebuch was mir jetzt zu Gute kommt. Also macht euch mal auf einen gscheit langen Bericht bereit! 24.02 Okay: Ich hoffe es langweilt euch nicht noch ein bisschen mehr vom Wilsons Prom zu hören, aber es ist einfach eines der schönsten Fleckchen auf dem südlichsten Kontinent der Erde.Wir erreichen den Promontory National Park und schlagen unser Nachtlager auf. Bei einem kühlen Ginger Beer an den Ufern des Tidal Rivers hat uns ein waschechter Wombat einen Besuch abgestattet. Chris hat es sogar geschafft ihn zu streicheln. 25.02 Haben drei Franzosen und ein Mädl aus Bayern als Freunde gewonnen. Ein Special waren die Croissants zum Frühstück, zwar ... read more

Hi all We are now heading north again up the coast towards Cairns. After getting the van serviced at Caboolture, we spent 3 nights at Mudjimba, on the Sunshine Coast. It was good to catch up again with Jan and Rowan, and Chris and Kurt, but the weather was mostly drizzle and rain. It's the first time we've had to hook up in pouring rain in almost 2 years of travelling. Chris had to change his clothes before we drove off as he got so wet, even with a jacket on. Jan and Rowan decided to come with us (with their van), and we headed off to Hervey Bay for 2 nights in a council caravan park on the beachfront. Unfortunately, the birds had found it too - thousands of rainbow lorrikeets came in each afternoon, ... read more

This is our very first entry into our travel blog! Horray!!! So very exciting! We have finalised all of our travel accomodation and flights and are super excited to go! We leave in less than 8 weeks... We fly out to Brisbane on the 10th December stay overnight in Brisbane and then head on to Los Angeles at midday on the 11th December. We have started to get out packing list together - as it is going to be cold!!! What am I looking forward to most - Disneyland!!!, New York and all the amazing art spaces and museums, Madame Tussauds, riding in a carriage through Central Park, doing a spot of celeb spotting, staying at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, shopping, seeing all the wonderful christmas decorations and christmas window displays in the department stores ... read more

Greetings from across the globe! We landed safe and sound at dawn this morning after a 14 hour flight to brisbane. I think it is Wed July 1st, which means we leap-frogged Tuesday. We spent the day driving up inland of the coast toward the Great Barrier Reef. Very beautiful countyside with brilliant sunshine and hills and forest. It's hot here! Winter my foot. We have stopped for the night in a town called Gladstone, which leaves us about a five or six hour drive tomorrow morning. It's a little scary driving on the left side, but we've managed so far. Also the metric system causes unnecessary math, which Megan actually enjoys which is even more unnecessary. Oh and Burger King is called Hungry Jack. The best part of the driving is when we try to ... read more

Days 31=34 (+ probably a few weather days) Elliot Heads (35 miles), South of Baffle Creek (39 miles), Agnes Water (n of) (31 miles), Gladstone (50 miles) Cyclone ' Hamish ' is closing on land south of Cairns. Though I'm well south (in Gladstone), I think I'll wait out the winds and rain from it (rather strong), will probably be here a few days - as the weather isn't supposed to get here until tomorrow (and I don't want to be paddling in the Shoalwater Bay area when it does get here. On my last trip (in '06), Cyclone 'Larry' ('Hamish' is being compared to it) had me pinned down in Mackay a few days. I've been seeing quite a few sea turtles - but they spook easily (just as the camera is ready to shoot). ... read more