Arrived in Yeppoon today and took ourselves up to Byfield State Forest to set up camp. The mozzies here are prolific, we doused the kids in insect repellant but they both have small patches on their foreheads covered with about 20 bites....poor buggers.
And cold, holy!, this weather is following us. I thought by the time we got to the Tropic of Capricorn it would be starting to warm up. Ah well wrong again so we dragged out the heavy jumpers.
On a more exciting note, we did get a visit fom the local emus who were quite an inquisitive bunch.
WEDNESDAY, 8th June 2010
Spent todaying touring around Yeppoon and beyond. Went up to the singing ship, but it didn't want to sing.
So we then went down to the causeway to give the fishing lines another go, this time with hooks, bait and all ;-)
Ash looks completely professional.
Ella and Jace managed to nab a crab, and every time Jace tells the story the crab is getting bigger.
This dog was trying to get the kids attention to throw the stick, but the branch was bigger than the both of them.
THURSDAY, 9th June 2010
Today we ventured further into Byfield National Park to check out Five Rock and Nine Mile Beach. The beach was absolutely covered in rubbish but we found a clear stretch for the kids to get out and play.
They have been getting along so well together.
Ash is becoming more adventurous with his climbing, and I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing.
We've taken advantage of being able to have fires at this campground and have filled our bellies with dampers, marshmallows and a fire cooked pumpkin soup.
The kids were thrilled when another family of campers showed up to stay the night, finally having some young friends to play with. They also are travelling around Australia, so we bump into them again sometime soon.
FRIDAY, 10th June 2010
Another shift North today to Mackay, we pulled in late - well in our terms anyway 4.30pm is too close to dinner time and has now been coined "Ratbag Hour" for the kids - and it was bucketing down, so we took the easy option and stayed in a motel.
SATURDAY, 11th June 2010
We headed out in the morning to set up the tent, and arrived just as the last rain of the morning was finishing. We had prime front row position at Seaforth, just metres from the beach. But were once again shocked at how cold it was. Jace had me for a liar after I'd said that Mackay had warm weather all year round, but the care-taker backed up my story saying that it was the coldest he's seen it in 11 years.
We spent the afternoon checking out Cape Hillsborough from the warmth and dryness of the car, which was blissfully quiet with both Ella and Ash asleep.
SUNDAY, 12th June 2010
Today was a stroll through memory lane for me as we checked out old schools and houses and haunts. There were some surprises, like the horse riding school that has now become a firing range, but for the most part it was still the same.
We went down to the Harbour Park which still had a bunch of the old statues that I know are in pictures from my childhood.
Later on Jace was happy to finally get to use his winch to pull out some locals who got themselves well and truly bogged in the sand.
MONDAY, 13th June 2010
I woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning, and actually managed to drag myself out of bed without waking the kids.
Because it finally ended up being sunny we took the kids back into town to Bluewater Lagoon which is a free council run pool and water park. It was still quite cool though, so they were both shivering within about 10 minutes.
Later on we collected some coconuts off the beach, and gave the kids some fresh coconut. I think it was more fun watching Jace get them open though!
TUESDAY, 14th June 2010
We've had quite a relaxing day, I managed to catch up with a few school friends and Jace treated himself to a massage. I think he needs to invest in some stronger insect repellant though, cause he is getting a shocking reaction to the mozzies here.
We also managed to stock up on a few important things, like DVD's for the kids. We were going slightly insane listening to the same DVD's on repeat right behind our eardrums.
The kids as usual had all the oldies wrapped around their fingers. Ash has now caught on to Ella's sayings which go "Hello, What's your name, Where's your caravan", so now he shouts out "Hello, Name?" So as a result they know everyone in the camprgound. This time the neighbours of choice were Bill & Jenny who gave the kids some hand-sanded walking sticks, and fed the lorikeets and ducks with them.
The kids have also decided they don't need beds anymore and are downsizing to a suitcase....that trick might come in handy when we fly back to Gold Coast in September :-)
Till next time, take care.
xx Carlie.
