Oneeasygeezer

Geo: 1.3, 103.85It's now 5 days since my (for want of a better word illness) and I'm still no better and feeling weaker as each day passes and certainly I'm not looking forward to the 12hr or so flight home. Jacob was upset this morning as there were no pancakes at the buffet today, so he settled for cereals, and fresh fruit followed by pastries all washed down with fruit juice and coffee, the rest of us had a wonderful breakfast again with lashings of fresh fruit. After breakfast Shell took the kids to the pool whilst Linda completed the last packing of the cases and it was off to the pharmacy for me. When I get there, it was more like a pharmaceutical warehouse than a store, after 5 mins I had to give up ... read more

Geo: 1.3, 103.85Well there's no change in my condition which is a bit worrying but there it is. After a leisurely start we loaded the mini bus for the last time and set off to the hire depot in Brisbane, I must admit was expecting an argument over the state of the vehicle. We pulled into the car hirer's checking bay and was immediately welcomed by a smiling representative I apologised for the state of the vehicle and told him I thought the Melbourne office had done the dirty on them and palmed them off with their worst vehicle, he looked over the original defect sheet and we walked around the mini bus together with him going erm, ooh, argh. As we completed the inspection he turned to me, gave me a knowing smile and said ... read more

Geo: -25.2836, 152.836It was an early start for the drive up to Hervey Bay for our all day Whale watching trip, whilst we waited on the pontoon for everyone to assemble we were given buns to feed the Pelicans who had gathered obviously knowing a free meal was on hand. Hervey Bay is the Humpback Whale's nursery they come each year between July and November to give birth in these safe warm waters, so expectations are high. having set off we were given a briefing about what to expect the history of the area and what Whales we could possibly see, the vast majority being Humpbacks. The skipper and his wife put on a magnificent mid-morning spread of tea, coffee, scones, jam, and profiteroles. Shortly afterwards we were in amongst the Whales, it's difficult to describe ... read more

Geo: -16.4838, 145.467We were up early to get everything packed because as soon as we got back from our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef we needed to set off straight away for Cairns in order to return the car, get it checked over and get to the airport in time for the only flight back to Brisbane that evening. The journey time from Port Douglas to the car hire drop off is 1½ hrs so allowing for 1hr for having the vehicle checked any traffic problems and the trip from the car hire to the airport we should make it with 1/2 an hr to spare before the gate closes on the last flight out, tight I know but I'm reasonably confident we can make it. Our day trip is aboard Quicksilver's wave piercing ... read more

Geo: -27.4676, 153.028When we woke up we were taken back by views from our villa over the creek, we would have loved to have spent the day on the patio watching the wildlife that abounded there but Brisbane was calling. On the out we made a stop off to take photos of the Big Banana which is a famous tourist attraction in the city of Coffs Harbour. we were hoping to have lunch at Cape Byron Lighthouse but time was against us so we settled for having lunch on the beach which the kids enjoyed. The journey up to Brisbane was horrendous slow going because of road works diversions which were badly signed and left us on desolate cratered roads with fuel running low ( before taking the diversion the next fuel stop was only 20Km ... read more