Blogs from Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 8

Hey there, Well we finally left our wonderful (and free) accommodation in Noosa. First stop in the backpacker trail is Hervey Bay, which is a couple hours north of Noosa. Hervey Bay is known first and foremost for being the gateway to Fraser Island. When we arrived we realized pretty quickly that 99% of tourists are here for that reason (the rest to fish on the 1.4km pier). So we were preparing to head out to the big sandy island (biggest and sandiest in world), and then we got a taste of the prices. Very expensive! We couldn’t find a deal for less than $300 so we decided to skip Fraser for now and spend the money at the Whitsundays (which are strangely a lot cheaper). The hostel at Hervey Bay was nice with a pool, ... read more

Hello, A must do when in Australia is to go to a crocodile farm, we went to Koorana farm, a place near Rockhampton, where they keep the animals for breading, and learn the visitors the facts and the myths around the crocs in the wild. By farming them for human use, leather and steaks, the animals out there stay alive. When people find crocs in their neighbourhood, they warn people from the farm to come and take them away, those ones are not killed, but survive on the farm in a breading program. Hallo, Bij het bezoeken van Australie, Queensland en the northern territories is het bezoeken van een crocodile farm een belevenis apart. Wij bezochten er een in de omgeving van Rockhampton. Op deze farm worden de crocs gekweekt voor hun leder en vlees en ... read more

Friday 18th we drove 340 kms up to Bundaberg (home of the Australian rum) and visited a few places - a Botanical Gardens which was fairly meagre but held the sugar museum and a small track railway with an old sugar cane train doing two circuits of the gardens. There was also the house of Bert Hinkley (an early pioneer aviator), which had been transported brick by brick from Southampton. It looked incongruous - brick and pebble dashing set amongst palm tress and rosellas. I wondered what the residents of number 37 and 41 thought when it was being dismantled. Travelling on towards Gin Gin (I love Australian place names) we stopped at 27 unexplained craters discovered under farmland in 1971. They have foxed geologists ever since- volcanoes, geysers, meteors have all been ruled out and ... read more

Sooo... i leave tomorrow.off to south east asia -first stop, bangkok, thailand. not too sure what im gonna get up to while im there...head north and see where i end up. got a new shiny camera for many happy snaps. I am somewhat nervous - 4 weeks in a foreign country by yourself....should be interesting. im sure it can only end in success. Ha or miserable failure. We will see.... read more

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. We just got back from Cairns yesterday, had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Thank you to Don's family Lynn and Allan and Don's daughter Shaz, for putting up with us during our stay. Would also like to thank a great couple Bill and Gladys Wall, who live near Proserpine, for their assistance for getting us back on the road yesterday after our breakdown, after our fan gave way. Three hours later and two cups of coffee we got it repaired. I apologize to Barb Napier in Mackay for not being able to visit but will catch up with you next time as time was getting away from us. We hope everyone has a prosperous New Year. Love Jo and Don... read more