It's a long way South

Oh boy, here it is, the last week of the adventure. So far we've been able to still enjoy sunshine & warm temperatures. Today as we drove through outer Sydney the rain came down. Still in shorts, T's & sandals so far. We are stopping here in Casula for 2 nights with Maree's family & then it's the long haul south where I'm sure the cold weather is going to meet us. I'm worried the tan will have worn off by the time we get back to Tassie as it seems to be fading a little; not happy Jan.

Last week we visited Byron Bay, Ballina, Wardell where we stayed with friends, Nimbin - now there's an interesting town, Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Heads which is absolutely beautiful where the river meets the ocean, Port Macquarie where we watched part of the National Surf Carnival, Newcastle, Caves Beach where we stayed 2 nights & had personal tour guides to look around the beaches & waterways, thanks Dave & Pat.

Hope the rain stops soon back home or else we will need our kayaks to get around.

Sun, Surf & Fun

Today marks 6 weeks since the beginning of our adventure & what an adventure it has been so far. From rough seas & being sick to cruising on the highways that go on FOREVER we have trekked around the countryside so much that we feel like the Leyland Brothers.  I think our favourite line is "on the road again".  A lot of the main highways in Nth & Central Qld are well.... they should be called tracks 'cause they sure are hum dingers.  Our country roads back home should be called highways compared to some of these.  The main Hwy into Brisbane from the Sunshine coast, Bruce Hwy, is pretty big & that's what I call a highway in comparison.  We are in Brisbane for a few days with family & head off down to the Gold Coast on Tuesday for overnight stay with family & then we start the trek into NSW.  By then we will be bracing ourselves for cooler climates.  

The weather has been magnificent.  The Bays that are hidden off the main roads are truly glorious & we have spent quite a lot of time in the past week or so walking, sitting, swimming, paddling on beaches & waterways.  A few of our camp spots where we have just pulled up & parked have been awesome.  The sunsets we have seen have been lovely & to top it off last week as we drove into a town we saw the sunset & while we were having dinner & chatting with 2 gents from overseas the moon was rising above the ocean in front of us.  Ahhhh, all this within about 3 hours; magic, just magic.  And just in case you're wondering, NO we didn't chat up the guys.

The town of 1770 is a must see place; it's beautiful & Hydeaway Bay is like being on a tropical island resort without all the hoo ha & fancy buildings.  While in 1770 a roar of little motor bikes came into the bay & stopped for a meal break & watched the sunset & then rode off.  It was a guided tour & you could tell that some don't normally ride motor bikes by the way they took off.  We had brekkie cooked for us next morning by our overnite neighbours & sat on the riverbank in the morning sun watching the boats go out & people standing in the river fishing; it was hard to leave this spot.

We are both well.  The M & M's (mossies /midgees) like Maree, so she tries to take cover come evening although they seem to be about in the middle of the day in some areas.  I've had a few but only in this last week.  Eating fresh produce from the roadside stalls; pineapples, bananas, strawberries, mandarins, avocados & vegs & home made mango chutney & the Mandarin marmalade is scrummy, should have bought another jar of that.

I can't win with loading photos at the moment so have to wait a day to get instructions on transferring them onto the blog as I need a licence to drive this particular computer, so sorry I can't share photos yet and I know you'll all be waiting to see something!!!  Soooooo hopefully 3rd attempt will produce the goods.

What a journey

Well it's been 2 weeks since we left Devonport & we have travelled some km's. Sick of these long straight roads. We've managed to dodge kangaroos, stock, emus, road trains & anything else.
Our voyage on the Spirit was memorable to say the least, if you call chundering in the toilet fun. We both did our fair share of hugging it. At least I managed to sleep but Maree stayed awake all night. Our first day we covered a big amount of km's & our first night we meet up with a Tasmanian, quite a character, at a town called Young. Having fun, Maree is going crook because I take too many photos, ah well them's the breaks. Van travelling well & so are we. Stayed in a magnificent National Park this week, Carnarvon Gorge, absolutely paradise or as I called it, the Garden of Eden. Photos later as on a time limit. Off to the outdoor movies tonight.

The Countdown is on

Welcome, welcome. Time is nearing fast before we hit the high seas and are on the road exploring.
The plan is to keep a record by blogging, so we'll see how I do. Anything could happen or NOT. Stay tuned for updates & thanks for popping in to the blog.