Having a whale of a time!

---

Hello all,

Hope you are all fine and dandy etc.

An update, partly to tell you about probably our greatest experienced yet. On Thursday we went whale watching in Hervey Bay. We were told it is one of the best spots in the world as the whales are 'funnelled' into the Bay as they migrate south - and they did not disappoint. It was amazing! We must have seen about 20 of them.
Not really much else to say - words can't describe etc.

Except... Bella spotted a few tiny jelly fish and although clearly as mesmerised at seeing humpbacks in the wild as we were, when asked - the tiny sea cretins came out on top. Worth the money then.
We’ll try and post a video at some point. When we do, you may hear a woman who either gave out sa dreadful mock- mating call to attract the whales when they appeared (no doubt some swam away as a result). When they were brave enough to come closer to her she screamed. This was no doubt through excitement although it was as if the whale was going to attack. It meant I spent the rest of the trip either stuck in awe at these beautiful creatures, or fantasizing about dunking her head in the loo.

To be fair though everyone on the boat seemed blown away by the size and grace of them. Incredible.

Other things worth a mention include that Noah has taken to singing a few lines from Bob Marley's 'don't worry, about a thing... etc etc' We'll try and get a shot on video for you to see - dead cute.

Secondly, a quick up-date on the interim vote count just in from Gallup.

Shave: 23% Stroke: 77%

Keep those votes coming - have your say! Oh and buy the way we keep seeing quite a few OTHER YOUNG blokes with facial growth. Looks like I'm setting a trend.
We also had the input from Judy that (following a thumbs-up 'stroke' vote) the beard makes me look older. I think she meant older than 30. And very distinguished. Actually she didn't say either of these but I'm reading between the lines.

As for the photos - the first couple are from our walk in the Noosa National Park. Noosa (the town) was lovely and the walk itself had fantastic views. The final bonus was to see a koala in the wild on our return to the van. The only thing was, whilst I appreciate they supposedly sleep 22 hours of every day, did he not realise how far we've flown and the fact we had our children with us? Anyway, after 12 pebbles he got the message. Little cherub was doing star jumps by the time we left him.

And finally we spent today at Australia Zoo. Fantastic. We saw a croc show, fed an elephant and stroked a Koala and kangaroos. Then, as we watched what is apparently the largest bird in Australia coming into land, Noah asked if there are any ducks?

Again - worth the bloody cash.

Love,
Steve, Shelley plus kids xx

p.s. A huge congrats to Mark on winning his gold medal at the transplant games. We're extremely proud mate. Well done!

---

Photos

and it's hello from me
Yeah Yeah, enough already, it's just another beach -what's all the fuss man?

The pier at Hervey Bay
even longer than it looks when you walk it. Should have left the kids in the van