The Australian Bloom Contingent

---

Another flight, this time with Virgin Blue, to Brisbane, then a 4 hour bus journey in our 12 seater charabanc and we reach Hervey Bay. And guess what? Another 5 star place of luxury, staying at the Allegra Mercure apartments, estimated at being worth $1.2 million! How the hell are we gonna go back to slumming it I do not know!
Hervey Bay is very picturesque, the beach was so tranquil and on the day we stopped there, there was no one on it. What a lovely place to live . . . and some of the Bloom clan also obviously thought so too as Gina's Aunty Pat, Uncle Emil and cousin Ann and husband Tim live in this very beautiful part of the world.
It was lovely to have a family reunion and experience some of Emil's fantastic cooking (agreed that this was definitely the best meal either of us had experienced since being away, including eating out in posh restaurants!) and marvel at the family's beautiful, spacious houses.
With an entourage of 8, we took a ferry over to Fraser Island and booked into our very own treehouse at the Kingfisher Resort. Not a bearded pig in sight but plenty of mozzies and giant flies that bite to keep us company.
We paid $160 for a tour of the island, which included Lake Mackenzie, a fresh water lake with silica sand (out came the jewellery again), that our guide promised would restore youthful appearance and glossy hair if we cared to take a dip. We literally threw ourselves in that water and stayed there til our fingers n toes were wrinkled. Gullible, us? We also saw our first dingo and got a bit concerned when it made a beeline for Geen's bag. Must have known there was an animal lover in the vicinity.
On to Central Station rainforest (where we were told that if we drank the water in the lake, we would look another 10 years younger. Thats us looking about 5 then), Euron, the Shipwreck (so famous I couldn't remember the name of it), and then a long drive in the 4WD on the 70 mile beach (its really 60 miles long but who's counting?) to our final destination, The Pinnacles. At this point it started to hammer down so we headed back to the treehouse for a nice cuppa and biccy.
And so, back to Hervey Bay the following day, we bade a sad farewell to Aunty Pat et al and drove down to Brisbane for one night in preparation for our next bus journey. Whilst in Brisbane, Team Bloom met up with another couple of family members (they get everywhere, don't they?), Marcel and wife, Sarah and enjoyed a nice evening out.
At this point, the intrepid travellers had to bid a further sad farewell to Mother and Father Bloom and (so we thought at the time) Brother Bloom.
On our own again, we felt like newborn lambs being thrust out into the cruel world . . ok, bit dramatic but we really weren't relishing those hostels again. However, as you will read further on, luck was on our side when we got to Coolangatta on the Gold Coast. Intrigued? Read on . . .

---