My Australian Journal - 2007

Friday 19th January 2007 - Day 1

Landed at Sydney airport at about 8.30, just over an hour late. We have been travelling for 5 weeks now, and come to the last country on our honeymoon. We have just spent 4 weeks in Canada, and just under a week in the UK.

We booked a hotel over the internet, looking for hotels in Sydney. We found one that looks nice, not too bad a price. Then we got into the cab, and found out it was 57kms and A$150 fare. Bit hacked off, but as I had paid online we decided we had better book in. Warning to fellow travellers, Rooky Hill is not a few minutes from the city centre as Holiday Inn says in its ad, it is over 40 minutes by train. Got an internet connection - thank goodness - though at a price.. A$19.95 a day!

Booked into hotel, went to the RSL club next door for some lunch, and then decided to have a nap at about 3pm.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Saturday 20th January 2007 - Day 2

Woke up at 8am.. The nap turned into a marathon sleep for all of us. I cannot remember the last time I slept so long. I guess the multiple flights and time zones took a greater toll on us than we expected. Once we were awake we took a taxi to a nature reserve called Featherdale, which was only a couple of minutes from the hotel. The taxi driver was a friendly, chatty chap, and said we had been ripped off by the driver on Friday, and that the fare should have only been A$90-100.

Jo and Kevin loved the park, and they got to see their first Kangaroos and Koalas in OZ.

We next took a bus and train to get into Sydney, where we found some lunch and did a spot of shopping. Jo also managed to get her hair thinned out a bit. She is trying to grow it long again, but it is at the messy stage right now, and she gets frustrated with it.

Got back to the hotel, and hit the problem with eating in Australia - everything was shut by 9pm. We managed to get a pizza and chips delivered by room service, and at in our room.

Creatures seen: Kangaroos, Koalas, Tasmanian Devil, Dingoes, Emus, Fruit Bats, Alligators, Wombats and various lizards and snakes. Kevin Loved the reptiles, and Jo loved the Koalas, and having the kangaroos eat from her hand.

Sunday 21st January 2007 - Day 3

Lazy day. Stayed in the hotel all day watching TV and working on emails.

Ordered room service for dinner.

Monday 22nd January 2007 - Day 4

Took a train ride into Sydney, walked through the park down to the harbour. Had a look at the outside of the Opera house and sat and had a drink outside beside the ferry docks and looked at the bridge and watched the boats.

Sydney Opera House

Stopped and watched a street entertainer hammering nails into his sinuses.

Came on back to the hotel caught up on the emails and then ordered a takeaway.

Tuesday 23rd January 2007 -Day 5

Collected the camper. Its a 4 berth camper on a Toyota Hi lux 2.7 petrol truck. It is starting to show its age, but it will suit our needs OK.

Matilda - Our home for 8 weeks

I drove it back to the hotel, passing the airport on the way. My total journey to the hotel was less than 57KM, it took me less than an hour, and my tolls were only A$2.20, so Cabbie 2 was correct, Our driver from the airport was a rip off artist.

We loaded our bags and hit the road, and managed to put 187kms behind us and stopped for the night in a town called The Entrance.  We found a camp site, and went looking for food. It was only 8.30, but everywhere was closed or closing. Even McDonalds was shut! So we ended up grabbing a take away from a Red Rooster, and eating in the camper.

Distance Travelled 55km to hotel, then 132km's up the coast.

Wednesday 24th January 2007 - Day 6

Hit the road about 10, and got as far as a shopping centre where we stocked up on supplies, and lighter clothes. Day a bit miserable and damp, so we decided to just drive northwards and try to get out of the weather.

We got as far as a town called Old Bar where we set up camp for the night.

Scrub Turkey

Kevin and Jo met their first scrub turkeys rummaging through the hedgerows.

Distance Travelled 248kms

Creatures seen: Scrub Turkeys

Thursday 25th January 2007 - Day 7

Resumed our journey North, weather still a bit wet, but clearing slowly. We found a Koala breeding station called Billabong where we stopped and took a few photos. Sadly the place looks a bit run down, they obviously started out with high intentions but the place is looking very tired.

Koala

We resumed our journey, stopping for lunch in Kempsey. We were going to go and do some diving at South West Rocks, but when we telephoned we found out that the water was still cold and the visibility very poor. So we kept on driving.... We ended up in a town called Coffs Harbour. Jo fancied a break from the van, as we are not very organised yet, and we need a break from being on top of each other, so we booked into a hotel for 2 nights.

Distance travelled: 247kms.

Creatures seen: Koalas, Kangaroos, reptiles, wallabies, spider monkeys, peacocks, there were a lot of lizards on the loose, and you could not walk more than a few feet before you saw another one.

Friday 26th January 2007 - Day 8

Went into town today and called into the dive shop. We have booked refresher courses for the three of us. We do the classroom and pool exercises tomorrow and the open water dives on Sunday.

Today is Australia day, so expected to find most shops closed, but the town was very busy. Lots of parties going on in the parks, and lots of people wearing Australian flags and temporary flag tattoos on their faces.

Went to the Porpoise Pet Pool to see the Dolphins and Seals. Jo and Kevin got their pictures with the dolphins "kissing" them. They run a rehabilitation facility at the pool, helping various sea life recover before they are re-introduced to the ocean.

Jo with snake

Spent the rest of the day mooching around, doing some shopping, sorting out what we need to wear and use, packing the rest away, and watching Steve Irwin on TV.

Stayed in the hotel again tonight, will be back in the van tomorrow.

Had a Dominos Pizza take away for dinner.

Distance travelled: about 30kms.

Saturday 27th January 2007 - Day 9

Started the day doing a spot of shopping bought Kevin a tent and air bed so that we would not be all cooped up in the van.

Kevin and I also got our hair cut. Kevin was highly amused with mine, as there were no hairs left over half an inch long! This is probably the shortest my hair has ever been.

Then went and found a camp site - and found our plot

At 1pm we went to the dive shop and watched the PADI refresher video, then kitted up and went to the local swimming pool for the underwater tests. We all three managed fine, and we are all set for the boat dives tomorrow.

Went to dinner in a restaurant called "The Hogs Breath" where I had my first steak since coming to Oz. Very nice.

Went back to the camp site and Kevin pitched his tent, he did well only needing a little help from us.

Distance travelled: about 30kms

Sunday 28th January 2007 - Day 10

Got to the dive shop at 7 as requested, only to find that due to a southerly wind coming through diving was off for the day.

We set off to find something to do, and by 9am were at an attraction called the "Big Banana"  This is a banana plantation with a few rides (a monorail-closed because it was no longer reliable, an indoor ski slope-closed because it lost too much money, a sky walk to a viewing platform to see along the coast, the climb was open, but the viewing platform was closed due to vandalism, a zip line-closed, no explanation) a working toboggan run, where you ride small wheeled toboggans down a steel chute, this was fun, I rode once, Kevin did the run 4 times. There were also a few shops where we bought banana themed souvenirs and a sweet shop where they make sweets while you watch.

We only lasted an hour, and then we needed something else to do. We pulled out the guide books and found some horse riding about 25kms away, so we headed south to the stables. Jo and Kevin had a couple of hours fun riding through the forest while I took a while to read the Sunday papers. I am allergic to horses, my eyes were streaming from just sitting in the waiting area about 50 metres from the stables.

Jo on Echo

Kevin on Sunbeam

We returned to the camp about 7pm, and played Crib. I cooked up some pasta for dinner and then we had another early night ready for the early start (7am) tomorrow.

Distance travelled: 85kms.

Creatures seen: Horses.

Monday 29th January 2007 - Day 11

Got to the dive shop just before 7, and found that we were fine for diving.

We got kitted up, and headed out for an island called South Solitary where we would be diving.

Jo had forgotten her sea sickness tablets, so we asked if anyone else had any, she was in luck, as they had. She didn't suffer at all.

We all got in the water for the first dive, things were going fine until Jo got a heavy knock on the head from the mooring buoy, which unsettled her. Then she could not sink, and started to panic. Sadly she had to abort her dive and return to the boat.

Kevin and I continued, and had a pretty good dive. It didn't last very long as one of the other girls on the dive had  the wrong sized mask, and we had to return to the surface after only about 20 minutes.

Butterfly Fish

The second dive went better, though sadly Jo decided she was not yet ready to try again. We went down with the dive master so that the instructor could concentrate on the students. We saw a fair amount of sea life including sharks and rays.

Kevin Diving

After we cleaned the kit, we went and bought some rations and returned to the camp for a lazy afternoon. Kevin and Jo played in the pool, while I updated my dive log, then we cooked up a barbeque

While Jo and I were sitting by the camper Jo suddenly noticed a pair of Owls sitting on a branch above us.

Owls at the campsite

We were all in bed again by about 9.30, the days end so early out here.

Distance Travelled: about 10kms on land, about 20kms on the boat.

Creatures seen:

Tuesday 30th January 2007 - Day 12

Left Coffs harbour and headed north on the Pacific highway heading for Brisbane. We had in the past talked about going to the theme park just outside Brisbane, but we had forgotten about the plans, and were surprised when we suddenly spotted them from the Freeway. We decided to pull off and investigate.

We have a choice of Wet and Wild, Movie World, Great Australian Outback or Seaworld. After much discussion we have decided that if Kevin knuckles down and gets his homework done we will visit Wet and Wild tomorrow, and Movie World on Thursday.

We found a camp site about 1.6kms from the parks and booked ourselves in. We then started work on getting Kevin to do some homework! It took him almost 3 hours to read 4 pages and write a summary, if he had not argued with us he could have had it done in about 45 minutes.

We went searching for a restaurant for dinner, we found a plaza which advertised Pasta, an Irish pub and various other eating places. We managed to find a Thai restaurant open, so Jo and Kevin both had their first experience of Thai food. Kevin enjoyed it more than Jo, she found it a bit too spicy for her palette.

The people on the camp site are very friendly, and Kevin has already made 2 new friends. The adults are very chatty as well, and everyone stops and talks to us as they walk by the van.

In bed by 9.30, as whole camp site dark and everyone else in bed. Very hot and sticky night, didn't sleep very well as I appear to have picked up an ear infection.

Distance Travelled 359kms

Creatures seen, just lots of different birds.

Wednesday 31st January 2007 - Day 13

Very early start... I was up at 5am, serious ear ache. Took a few pills and sat outside answering emails, updating this journal, listening to the dawn chorus and watching the sun rise. Lots of other people were up by 6am, and by 7 almost the whole site were up and starting their day.

Watched the Ibis walking around the site getting their breakfast, and the skinks chasing each other through the bushes.

Kevin came and did his homework at about 7.15 - he has now been told that unless he does his homework without a fuss, first thing every morning, he will not be doing any of the parks, diving etc that day. Face like thunder, as he feels he should not be doing homework. He was astonished to learn that one of the other kids on a similar trip to us has to do 2.5 hours of homework every day, where we are only asking him to do 30-60 minutes a day.

Went to Wet & Wild. Kevin and I went on all the rides, some were very fast. Jo tried a few of them and spent the rest of the time sitting in the wave pool.

We went to the shopping centre and bought a hot chicken and some salad stuff for tea.  On the way out of the car park I hit an overhead height bar with the van skylights and broke one.

Sat outside the van and talked to one of the neighbours for a while, and were tucked up just after 9.30

Woke in the night because I was getting wet. It had started raining and the broken skylight was leaking onto me.

Distance Travelled 11 kms

Thursday 1st February 2007 - Day 14

Went to Movie world theme park. Kevin and I again went on all the rides. The best one has to be Superman. This ride accelerates from 0-100km/hour in 2 seconds going uphill!

The day went well and quite fast.

In the evening we were going to have Pizza, but when we got to the shopping area we found a take away curry house and a subway. So Jo and I got curries to take back to the site, and Kevin got himself a subway.

Distance Travelled 15 kms

Friday 2nd February 2007 - Day 15

Packed up at about 10am, and started driving to Brisbane. For the first time since we started our trip in Australia we have a destination in mind - The oldest Koala sanctuary in Australia founded in 1927.

Kevin feeding Kangaroos at Lone Pine

They have over 130 Koalas in residence, along with kangaroos, wallabies, cassowary's, lorikeets, birds of prey, dingo's, wombats and lots of reptiles.

Jo feeding Kangaroos at Lone Pine

Jo had her picture taken with a koala and a crocodile, Kevin had his taken with a wedge tailed eagle.

Jo and a little snapper

We left the park just before closing time, and found our way back to the pacific highway and continued driving north.

Kevin with an wedge tailed eagle

The weather closed in and we ended up driving up though heavy rainstorms. Darkness fell very early because of the weather.

Big Lizard

Wombat - My Favourite Australian Animal

Stopped for gas at Noosa - when we camped we found that I left the petrol filler cap on the pump.

Ended up in town called Tewantin, just north of Noosa Heads. Booked into a site called Bougainvillia. Spent over 2 hours trying to get Kevin to do some homework. We have now told him that we will be staying in the van all day tomorrow until he gets some of his work caught up.

Had to let Kevin back into the van in the night as the rain was leaking into his tent.

Distance Travelled 238km

Saturday 3rd February 2007 - Day 16

Spent the whole morning working on Kevin's homework. We cannot get into his head that if he works on it without messing about and complaining it would be easier on us all, and he would get it finished more quickly.

Went back to the petrol station where I left the petrol filler cap, luckily someone had handed it in, rather than take it (I think its because its an unusual size and would not fit many other vehicles.)

Drove into the town of Tewantin and got some lunch at a hotel, then sat in the sunshine for a while. Went shopping, came back to site and had a BBQ and Kevin got some more of his homework done. Tried to get some diving booked, or some fishing trips for Kevin. Not much luck, as the weather reports are not good and they are expecting heavy seas. We sat on the Marina eating, drinking and watching the river life and the birds flying around. There are loads of huge Pelicans here.

Pelican

While we were cooking the BBQ we were visited by a tiny frog, about the size of a 50 cent piece.

There are lots of Lorikeets flying around the site, its almost as if they are playing tag, as they are darting round from tree to tree over our heads.

Lorikeets in the camp site

Distance Travelled: 22kms

Creatures seen: Tiny Frog, Ibis, Scrub Turkeys, Honey eaters and lorikeets and lots of un-identified birds.

Sunday 4th February 2007 - Day 17

Well the drought has certainly broken, there are 13 flood alerts in the area, and lots of reports are coming in of towns being flooded and reservoirs filling for the first time in 7 years! Its put a bit of a damper on our holiday, but we cannot begrudge the aussies some water.

We are going to the under water world at Mooloolaba today, as its an indoor exhibit and we can get out of the rain. The temperatures are still holing up in the high 20's, so its still nice here.

We visited the aquarium at underwater world, I think that this has been Kevin's favourite day of the holiday. He is a typical teenager - whatever we try to do for him he is bored. He wanted to watch the seal show twice - these seals were probably the best trained seals I have ever seen, and he spent ages talking to the girl running the rock pool exhibit.

Went for lunch at the Hogs breath Cafe, and found a site for the night just outside the aquarium car park.

Site has wireless broadband, so we downloaded our mails - well over 2000 junk mails as usual, and Jo got online to chat to some of our friends. I will have to do some work on Monday, as I have a few customers waiting for jobs to be finished.

Distance Travelled: 49kms

Creatures seen: Sharks, Rays, Crocs, Otters, seals, turtles, seahorses and sea dragons and hundreds of different fish. On the camp site there are the usual scrub turkeys, lorikeets and honey eaters.

Monday 5th February 2007 - Day 18

All up early - just after 7, today is a work day... Washing to be done, Shopping to fetch, and some site work for customers.

Kevin did his homework, and then got a free loan of a boogie board from the manager of the camp site, so he was in the water just after 9.

Tuesday 6th February 2007 - Day 19

Went to Maroochydore for Kevin to have some surf lessons.

I visited the doctor again for an update on my ear. The infection is going down, but is not gone yet. I am allowed back into the water but not allowed diving yet. I have to keep putting drops into my ear until next Monday, then if my hearing is back I can dive, if not I may need to get my ears syringed.

Lizard on a Tree

Went back to Mooloolaba and went out for dinner at an Italian Restaurant. We all had nice meals.

Creatures seen: Birds, Lizards,

Wednesday 7th February 2007 - Day 20

A quiet day, me working on web sites for customers and Kevin and Jo lazing on the beach. I went and joined them in the water for a little while.

Jo and I went for a drink in one of the bars on the wharf, then we got some chicken and salad for tea.

A very quiet uneventful day.

Creatures seen: Birds and our first possum

Thursday 8th February 2007 - Day 21

Drove back to Tewantin, so we can join a safari to "Rainbow Beach and a Rainforest"

We found a new campsite and set up Kevin's tent, then headed for the marina where were to meet the guide. We were an hour early, so we had a drink and watched the boats come and go.

The guide "Terry" was a young guy who has started out on his own doing these tours in the last season. He has a new, large, comfortable 4 wheel drive which had enough room for 6 passengers in comfort.

We set off catching the ferry across to North Shore, then drove along 40 mile beach - a regulated road! The beach is one of the widest and straightest in Australia, and is the only piece cleaned twice a day.

The main road on 40 mile beach

We veered off the beach after about 30 miles and headed inwards and upwards into the sand dunes - the dunes reach 260 metres high, and 100 metres below sea level. They are the second highest coastal dunes in the world.

The dunes are very special because they are one of only 2 places in the world where there are tropical rainforests growing on sand dunes.

We saw some incredible trees where the roots were like huge blades. Very tall hardwood trees, strangler vines which have killed their hosts, others which are killing their hosts. Because it is a rain forest the undergrowth is very dense, and the trees all grow very straight and tall as they fight to reach the light.

On some of the trees we saw lots of squiggly lines, Terry gave us 2 explanations for these, one he reserves for Americans -  The lines are ancient Aboriginal writings where they left messages to each other, the other explanation (the truth) is that a beetle lays its eggs just under the bark of the tree. The larvae then gets nourishment to grow from eating the tree just under the bark, the top of the line is where the new beetle ate its way out and flew away.

Aboriginal Tree Messages

Just before we left the rain forest we saw a wild black, Dingo. Black dingos are very rare with less than 5% of the population being black.

We also met a family with a Jeep who had broken their radiator. He wanted a tow out of the forest as he has no road side recovery agreement. The problem is that it would be too difficult to tow him on a sand road. He refused the offer of us calling him help, as it would cost him $A500. We have no idea if they got out, or if they are still sitting in the forest.

We saw our first wild dingo here as well. It was a black one, these are quite rare, as less than 5% of the population are black.

Rare Black Dingo in the wild

Next we went to Rainbow Beach, so called because there are many colours of sand, Reds, browns, oranges, golds, blacks, whites. The colours are created by the rain leeching out minerals from the sand.

Different coloured sands on Rainbow beach

We stopped to take a picture of the sands and have a swim, while we were changing, we spotted a big Goanna. Took a whole load of pictures of it until it got bored and wandered off up the dunes.

Goanna on the sand dunes

Visited the oldest structure in the area - the lighthouse which was built in 1884. At first it was manned by 3 keepers who lived at the point with their families and a school teacher. The light is now fully automatic and run on solar power so there are no longer any keepers. The area is now looked after by a conservation group based in Noosa. Who let the old keepers cottages out for $A300 a week, as long as the holiday makers do 2 hours of conservation work a day. While we were standing at the lighthouse we looked down into the water and watched Turtles browsing in the sea weed.

On the drive back we stopped to pull a PiPi  out of the sand. These are a type of shell fish that are found in their thousands in the area. They have been available in great quantities for thousands of years, and aboriginal midden's have been found full of the shells. We saw a Sea Eagle hunting over the downs as well.

Sea Eagle

Not long after we were flagged down by a woman holding a baby. Her husband had got bogged down in the soft sand on one of the side roads. We spent a while helping to dig him out, while getting bitten by Marsh Flys, after we had removed a load of sand we managed to drag his 4wd out of the sand, then give him a push through the soft sand and sent him on his way.

Our last bit of excitement for the day was seeing our first Kangaroos in the wild. First we saw a large male, soon afterwards 2 groups of females, a few of them carrying Joeys in their pouches.

We then returned to Tewantin and bought some supper, returned to the camp site and ate it.

We all went to bed early, as we have to be up at 5.30am tomorrow to send Kevin off on a fishing trip.

Creatures seen: Pelicans, White Parakeets, Lorikeets, Seagulls, Terns, Magpies, Turtles, Goannas, Dingo, Kangaroo, Marsh Flys, Frogs, 

Friday 9th February 2007 - Day 22

Early start for my birthday, with my Spanish phone ringing at 4.30 am, with a withheld number. I missed it because the phone was in the cab.

Then the Aussie phone went off at 5am, with the fishing company calling to say that Kevin's trip is off because of bad weather at sea.

We moved camp today, and while we were putting Kevin's tent up he spotted a huge spider on the tree behind the camper.

Spider on campsite

Got up at 7.15 and went into Noosa Marina to find out if we could Kevin onto another fishing trip. We visited the dive shop again, but they cannot offer anything for a few days. Weather on land not great either, so we just mooched around doing chores and shopping.

Distance travelled: 10kms

Creatures seen: just the birds

Saturday 10th February 2007 - Day 23

Had a BBQ in the evening, where we met a couple from Canada (John and Chantelle). We stayed up talking with them until about 10.30, while doing so I drank 2 bottles of wine plus a couple of beers, so I went to bed quite merry.

Sunday 11th February 2007 - Day 24

Kevin went fishing with John, so Jo and I did the laundry! Wow, what excitement.  Weather still not great, so diving out of the question.

Lots of pretty birds flying around as usual, but no other creatures seen today.

Suddenly remembered that we had 13 episodes of CSI we had not watched, so we spent the evening sheltering from the rain watching a few episodes on the computer.

Monday 12th February 2007 - Day 25

Kevin got his boat trip at last. We had to have him at the marina by 7.15, so it was another early start. Jo and I then went back to camp and watched a couple of episodes of CSI. We suddenly realised that the clock had stopped and we were late for picking up Kevin. We rushed around getting the van secure for travel. We were just leaving the site when Kevin called asking where we were. We spent the rest of the day in trouble with him because he had to wait 20 minutes for us.

After we met him he wanted to fish some more on the jetty, so Jo and I went and had lunch in a restaurant over looking the river.

After lunch we decided to go for a walk in the Noosa heads National Park. We Saw our first Koala in the wild, also saw a couple of goanna's.

In the evening we had dinner, then I spent over an hour trying to get some money sent from my HSBC bank in England to us out here in Oz. In the end I had to get my friend Iain to send it via Western Union to a branch office 45kms back in the direction we have come from.

Creatures seen: Koala, Goannas, Spiders, Lorikeets, Huge beetle, Pelicans, Terns and gulls.

Distance travelled: 15 kms.

Tuesday 13th February 2007 - Day 26

Set off at just after 9 and headed back to Maroochydore to collect some money from the Post Office. Got there at about 11.30, as we spent over half an hour sitting in a traffic jam.

As soon as money collected we got onto the road again, heading north once more. We stopped for lunch at a town called Gympie. Thought we would try something other than the usual fast food for a change, and visited a little bakery/cafe. I opted for a steak and kidney pie and chips, Jo and Kevin both selected the pizza and chips. The steak pie was pretty good, but the chips had been cut from cardboard. Jo and Kevin's Pizzas had both been made from wooden disc and cold sauce and cheese. We left the shop and Jo went straight to McDonalds to get a cheese burger to alleviate her hunger.

Got back on the road again, and continued the journey. We had only been driving for about 10 minutes when a huge truck started tailgating us. He was so close he filled the mirrors, and Kevin could see the colour of his eyes by looking out the rear window. We were pushing the speed limit, but whenever I could I would pass other people to get a car or two between us. He would then harass those cars until he got behind us again. In the end I pulled off the road and let him go. I did not fancy ending up as a hood ornament for his truck.

We stopped in Childers and had a drink, and watched the world go by for a while. We then did the last few miles to our destination for the day, a town called Bundaburg. Bundaburg is famous for its sugar cane plantations and Rum factory.

We came here to dive, and as soon as we had found a camp site we headed into town to find the dive shop. We booked a shore dive for Jo tomorrow, and a wreck dive for us all on Friday.

We then went back to the camp and waited for a ranger to come and collect us to take us to the turtle rookery. We got there just before dark and then waited for some action from one of the nests.

We eventually went onto the beach at just after 8pm, and went to a nest that the conservationists were excavating. They had already pulled about 100 baby green back turtles from the hole in the sand.

Baby green turtle just hatched

By the end of the dug they had found 121 baby turtles that had hatched, 11 eggs that were still born, and 4 eggs that were not viable. The turtles were taken in buckets to the labs to be weighed, measured and photographed. Then they took us to the beach again to watch them being released. Everyone who had torches (including Jo and Kevin) were lined up with their legs apart shining the torches up the beach. The turtles were then tipped onto the sand. They followed the line of lights down the beach into the sea. The turtles investigated toes as they went, and everyone in the line were excited by the feel of the babies crawling over their feet.

We took some pictures of the babies in the hands of the ranger, and again as they rushed down the beach.

The numbers are incredible, There are 330 females that visit this beach to lay. Each visits 4 times and lays an average of 130 eggs. The turtles remain endangered because so many of the babies are food for other creatures before they grow to maturity (30) They only breed every couple of years, as from when the female starts laying until she finishes she does not eat at all. After she has laid her final batch she heads to her home feeding grounds to fatten up.

Big Spider - This one was about 2.5 inches long

We also saw green tree frogs, a bandicoot and a huge spider at the ranger station. At the camp site we saw some interestingly coloured birds and the usual lorikeets.

Green Tree Frog

Distance travelled: 323 kms

Wednesday 14th February 2007 - Day 27

Got up early and went to the dive centre for Jo's dive. Its cancelled. the sea is a bit lumpy so it has been postponed until tomorrow.

So we got out all the pamphlets about things to do in the area.

We decided to go and find a camp site out the beach. We were driving out when we spotted a site with pool, internet, and en-suite facilities. So we booked in for a couple of nights until we have done the dives.

Kookaburra on the site

Jo and Kevin did the laundry and went for a swim while I downloaded hundreds of junk mails, then went shopping for dinner.

We then spent the next few hours listening to Kevin moan as he did his homework.

I cooked Chicken Tikka for dinner - what a romantic Valentines meal. Curry and Kevin.

Distance travelled:

Creatures seen: Kookaburra, heron and Lorikeets.

Thursday 15th February 2007 - Day 28

Woke up to rain again, dives cancelled again.

Bundaberg is famous for 5 things, sugar, turtles, Ginger beer, Rum and an aviation pioneer called Hinkler. The town makes the most off all of these and has "attractions" where you can find out more about each of the 5 subjects.

We started at the Ginger Beer factory, where you can find out how they make it, why they make it like they do, and then try a few samples.

Next we went to the Rum factory, learnt and smelled how Rum is made from Sugar, sugar and more sugar. Jo managed to lock us out of the van, and I found how quick and easy it was to break into.

We went into town and found a Sizzlers restaurant where we ate, good food and good value.

Played a few hands of cards and went to bed, as we are supposed to be diving tomorrow.

Friday 16th February 2007 - Day 29

Went to the dive shop - all diving cancelled.

Went to the sea coast to let Kevin go into the sea. It was too choppy, so we went to the basin - a lagoon that gets filled at each high tide and mixes with fresh water from a small stream.

There are lots of fish, and often turtles caught in there, to swim with, but Kevin decided it was too cold - he is in a grumpy mood again today.

We drove back to Bundaberg and found the Botanical Gardens, where the we did a tour of the Hinkler Museum, Hinkler was one of Australias first aviators and has a lot of firsts for long distance flights.

Pretty orange flowers in Bundaberg

We then walked around the gardens looking at the different birds and lizards, and watching the fish, eels and turtles in the lake.

Fresh Water Turtle

distance travelled in Bundaberg: 112kms

Saturday 17th February 2007 - Day 30

Went to the dive shop. diving cancelled again, so we got our money back. Decided that it was hopeless going any further north, as the weather forecast is for heavy rain all the way from Bundaberg to Cairns. Looking at the radar there is better weather in the south, so we have decided to head back and stop and dive where we find places that are still going in the water.

We were going to head to Brisbane tonight, but remembered that we had not been to Australia Zoo yet, so we decided to stop at Mooloolaba again, as it is only about 30kms from the Zoo.

When we camped we went to the beach and caught the very end of an inter beach kids competition.

Went to Hog's Breath for dinner, then thought that we would go for a drink. When we got to the bar they were carding everyone. I passed the carding OK, but was denied entry because I was wearing sandals, and men had to wear enclosed shoes. A very strange rule, as most of the girls wear open sandals.

Distance Travelled: 284kms

Sunday 18th February 2007 - Day 31

Got up early and drove to Australia Zoo, getting there just before opening time.

Got inside, and managed to lose Kevin for a few hours.

Zoo very good, lots to see, good size enclosures, and lots of information about the animals.

Tiger at Australia Zoo

Watched the displays, took loads of pictures, Jo and Kevin did a photo shoot with some Dingos, they wanted to do the display with something more exciting, but even though we were at the booking place at opening time, the other animals were already fully booked.

Jo with Dingos

Kevin with Dingos

We stayed until we were kicked out, then continued our drive South. We decided to stop again at Helensvale, so that we can visit Sea World and Dreamworld. We got there at about 7pm, just before dark. Got the camp set up, then went and got some food. Kevin had a Kebab, Jo had KFC and I had a pizza.

Distance Travelled: 174kms.

Creatures seen: Crocodiles, American Alligators, Saltwater Crocs, Koala, Elephants, Tigers, Lorikeets, Komodo Dragon, Otters, Snakes, Wombats, Possum,  Enchida,

Monday 19th February 2007 - Day 32

Got to Sea World just as they opened, and went straight to book an encounter with an animal. Jo and Kevin decided the would visit the Polar Bears.

Polar Bear

We wandered around and looked at the creatures, took loads of pictures.

Near the end of the day we were at the dolphin pools, and the dolphins came to play with us, splashing us with water, and waving to us.

Dolphin that played with us

Jo & Kevin at Seaworld

Distance Travelled: 52kms

Creatures seen: Dudong, reef fish, rays, penguins, frogs, dolphins, Pelicans, Cormorants, Various other sea birds, Sea Lions, Polar Bears, Lots of different Sharks, starfish.

Tuesday 20th February 2007 - Day 33

Today we spent the day having fun at Dreamworld. Kevin and I managed to do almost every ride, Jo managed about half of them. The big part of the day for Jo was the animals.

They have half a dozen Tigers who have a huge enclosure. They are very beautiful, and we took loads of photos of them. They have one white Tiger who likes to perform for the crowds.

White Tiger

They also have a mountain Lion (Cougar) that they brought out to show off and to let people take photos.

Wednesday 21st February 2007 - Day 34

Yippee we are going diving today. The downside for Jo is that we have to be at the dive company at 6.15am, and she hates mornings.

Anemone fish

We got to the town where we were to meet on time, but the lady who runs the dive company then spent 15 minutes guiding us through the race course and commercial areas to he dive shop.

We got kitted up, then climbed into her van for a 20 minute drive to the launch site.

One of the divers never arrived, so we ended up with us 3 and one other diver, and Jane the owner doing the dive.

Everything went well, and we had 2 good dives with lots of fish to see. Jo loved it, as it is the first dive she has had in warm water with good visibility and lots of life. After all the problems she has had with her diving in the past I think this made her see why I love the sport so much.

In the evening we went to see the Great Australian Outback Adventure. This is a sit down dinner while watching a horse show. The food was excellent, and the show pretty good. I started getting wheezy as the night went on, as I am very allergic to horses.

We were not allowed to take pictures, but we managed to get 1 of the auditorium.

Stadium for Australian Outback Adventure

Creatrures seen: Wobbegong Sharks, domino clown fish, clown fish, moorish idol, green and loggerhead turtles, lion fish, 3 banded bull fish, trevally, long toms, pipe horses, banner fish, surgeon fish, angel fish, anemone fish, plus hundreds of other reef fish. In the evening, Horses, sheep and cattle.

Distance travelled: 120kms by road, 10kms by boat

Thursday 22nd February 2007 - Day 35

Kevin Horse riding at 9am in a country park. Our map is not very detailed, Australian road signs are not very informative, and the maps on the brochures are all too often very badly drawn. Our journey was quite fun with us taking guesses as to which road we should be on. We got to the place where Kevin needed to be with a few minutes to spare.

My eyes are streaming, my nose is running and I am sneezing a lot. My allergy to horses is so great that even being in the same auditorium as them last night has effected me badly.

Jo and I drove to a small town where we wandered the shops for a while, found a bar and had a drink, and then found the place where Kevin was being dropped off. We were told he was being returned to the railway station, so we found station road, and drove the length of it twice. We then found out that the station is about 2k from station road, on a different road! Guess the town planners must have been drunk when they named the streets. We found a chemist and got some anti-histamine tablets, and within about an hour I was able to breath again properly.

We then drove down to the coast, to find a site near the sea and where they have internet access so I can do a bit of work.

We found a site in a town called Miami beach, but after settling in, I found that the internet will let me look at websites, but the filters were locked down so tight I could not upload anything to my servers, and could not open my Yahoo mailbox.

We went for a walk on the beach, and Kevin went for a swim.

Friday 23rd February 2007 - Day 36

Kevin went fishing. The trip was very early, he hat to be at the dock at 5.45am. Jo got up and had a coffee sitting beside Kevin's tent while I drove Kevin the 20kms to the wharf.

Jo and I did some cleaning and house work while he was gone, then went and collected him.

In the afternoon we went shopping at a mall. I think Jo was just looking to add to her shoe or bag collection, but as I had just got some money through, I took her to a jewellery shop and bought her a belated valentine gift. Kevin also bought her a gift, a gold ankle chain.

In the evening we went for dinner at a Sizzlers restaurant, and then returned to the camp.

Saturday 24th February 2007 - Day 37

Got up at 7, and headed back towards surfers paradise where we are to board a boat called blue fire and go for a trip to South Stradbroke island.

The Blue Fire

Before we boarded we had a photo taken with a parrot and a lorikeet.

We found a table and watched out of the window while everyone boarded. There are some fantastic boats in the harbour, some must be worth millions.

We sailed along the channels off surfers paradise looking at unspoilt islands on one side and the homes of the rich and the famous on the other. The thing that struck me was how despite all the money these people have, their homes are all on tiny plots and the houses have just a few metres between them.

We had a barbecue on the boat which was good, then landed at the island. Kevin was booked to be towed behind a boat on an inflatable chair, Jo and Kevin were booked to do a speedboat ride. Kevin got his ride, and then wanted to go again.

Kevin and David on the Inflatable

He managed to persuade me to go with him, I must be mad. The ride was fun, the driver had two inflatable's, with Kev and I on one, and a young couple on the other. He kept crashing the 2 together, until Kevin lost his grip and ended up in the drink.

While we were on the island we saw some wild golden wallabies, that are only found on the island.

Golden Wallaby

On the return trip, they let the kids do wakeboarding and boom netting from the boat. The speed boat never arrived, so Jo never got her speed boat ride.

Kevin posing

Kevin Boom Netting

Kevin Wake Boarding

No more Kevin

Sunday 25th February 2007 - Day 38

Left Miami this morning and drove to Byron Bay, one because the weather is nice there, and two because there are some good dive sites. Got to the town at lunch time, and found a camp site overlooking the beach, and within a 2 minute walk of the town. This is brilliant, because it means I don't have to drive for a few days, and we can have a drink without worrying about getting back to the site afterwards.

We went for a walk around the town, then spent a while on the beach. Found somewhere that I will be able to get online in the morning, so I will be able to check my sites at last, and do a bit of work for customers.

We collected a few brochures to find some activities, looks like we can have quite a bit of fun here, as there is a lot to do.

Distance travelled:

Monday 26th February 2007 - Day 39

Up nice and early, as Kevin is going kayaking at 9. We were not exactly sure where he was supposed to meet the rest of the people, but we knew where the road was. I stopped to get some cash to pay for him, and then headed off to catch up with Jo and Kevin. They had disappeared! I found the Kayak company, they were waiting for Kevin to arrive, I looked along the beach, then walked back to the camp and back to the kayak people again before I found them, they had decided to walk along the beach, and had gone to another kayak company. Despite being quarter of an hour late, the let him join them, and he went off and had a great morning. He had a fantastic time, he surfed the kayak, fell off a few times, and saw some dolphins.

Jo and I retired to the beach cafe where I managed to get online, did some work for customers, and downloaded over 4000 junk emails, and maybe 4 or 5 mails with work. The only problem with having so many web sites is that everyone of them gets flooded with junk mail. When we get back to Spain we will probably have over half a million junk mails waiting to be downloaded from the sites that don't have a regular email address. If I believed and took up all the offers I receive, I would be having sex 24 x 7, and have a penis that reached from Spain to Oz. I would be a bulti millionaire, and never have to work again until the day I die.

After we had finished work, Jo and I went diving. Fantastic visibility, and Jo got to swim with sharks for the first time. We saw Loggerhead and green turtles, Leopard and wobbegong sharks, rays, and loads of different reef fish.

The trip to the dive site is pretty exciting as well, as the ribs are launched over the beach, through the surf. The water was pretty lumpy so the boats were flying for half the trip and on the water for the other half.

While we were waiting for the last of the divers to get back onto the boat we saw a couple of turtles on the surface.

Distance travelled: by road to dive site 6kms, by boat 5kms.

Tuesday 27th February 2007 - Day 40

Had a quiet day today. No activities other than lying around sunning ourselves on the beach. Cooked ourselves a curry in the evening.

Distance travelled: 0kms

Wednesday 28th February 2007 - Day 41

Woke up to find that we had had a lot of rain in the night, but the morning cleared fast and the day turned out to be another scorcher.

Jo and Kevin went horse riding this morning. The company they went with is called Sea Horses, as the ride is along 7 mile beach. When they stopped for lunch they took the saddles off of the horses, and rode the horses bareback into the sea.

I went diving. the launch into the sea and trip through the surf was even more exciting than Monday, as the seas were running at 3+ metres. My buddy for the trip kept me waiting in the water for quite a long time, as he forgot to put his weight belt on, and could not get under the water until he realised what was wrong, so I spent almost 5 minutes on the surface getting battered by the waves while I waited for him. Once under the water the dive was great, huge Leopard sharks swimming beside us, a huge loggerhead turtle about 1 metre across and with a head as big as a man. Groupers, damsel fish, lots of wobbegong sharks, green turtles, lion fish, lobsters and crays, domino fish, and dozens of other colourful reef fish.

Turtle resting

I was booked for a second dive as well, but when we got back to the beach with the boats the water was low, and sand bars had built up in the launch area, so the captains were unable to find a safe launch site. The dives were aborted. I am now booked on a dive at 1.30 tomorrow.

Got back to the camp and found that Jo and Kevin had just got back as well. We sat around and swapped stories for a while, then Kevin decided he would like to try a dive with me tomorrow.

We went and got some provisions, used the camper, as all the bottles of coke and water weigh so much we would have stretched our arms by a metre trying to carry them back here.

When we got back we went for a walk to find a jeweller to repair Jo's ankle bracelet, and stopped at the beach bar to watch the sea. A storm was brewing up, so there were white heads as far as we could see. Not looking to good for tomorrows diving.

When we got back we cooked up chicken in mushroom sauce with mash and veg. for tea, played a few hands of crib, and were in bed by 9pm

Distance travelled by road: 9kms, by boat 5kms.

Thursday 1st March 2007 - Day 42

A quiet day around the camp today, as the dives have been cancelled due to lumpy water caused by the tail end of a cyclone further north in Queensland.

Went shopping, explored the idea of new tattoos for Jo and me (too expensive her) and Kevin got another ear piercing.

Grabbed some steaks and cooked up steaks with pepper sauce, corn on the cob  and chips for dinner.

Played a few hands of crib, added the pictures to this journal, and hit the hay about 10pm.

Friday 2nd March 2007 - Day 43

Went diving again... Saw lots of great wildlife including Turtles, Leopard Sharks, and huge Bull Rays. The actual list of different fishes is too long to write, as on every dive we see in excess of 50 different colourful species.

Small Bull Ray

2 large Bull Rays

Leopard Shark

Leopard Shark

The Leopard sharks are between 2 and 2.5 metres long, the Rays were between 1 and 1.5 metres across. We also saw huge shoals of other fish taking shelter from the stormy waters, along with the usual hundreds of different reef fish.

Kevin was on this dive with me, and he enjoyed himself as well, we spent about 43 minutes on the dive at a depth of about 16 metres.

In the afternoon I went for a walk up to the lighthouse.

Distance travelled: by car - 8kms, by foot 12kms, by boat 5kms

Creatures seen: Leopard sharks, wobbegong sharks, bully rays, sting rays, cod, moorish idols, banner fish, angel fish, groupers, sergeant major fish, jew fish, clown fish, pipe fish, sand flathead, box fish, domino fish and anemone fish.

Saturday 3rd March 2007 - Day 44

We did nothing except, go to a cafe and have some breakfast while I did some work, did a little bit of shopping, ate far too much.

In the evening we went to Hogs Breath Cafe for dinner, and by 10pm we were in bed.

Sunday 4th March 2007 - Day 45

Jo woke early - almost unheard of for her!, and she got Kevin and me up as well. We had the tent down and packed, the caravan ready to roll, and were on the road by 8am.

Jo spotted a few Kangaroos in the wild as we drove, but apart from them and the usual variety of birds, no other wildlife seen today.

We drove to a town called South West Rocks which has some incredible dives, and some good snorkelling in the bays nearby as well.

Booked a couple of dives each for the morning. Looking forward to this, as there are currently about 50 nurse sharks in the dive zone. I got some great close ups of them last time I did this dive, and I am hoping to get some better shots tomorrow.

Booked into a nice quiet camp site on the edge of a nature reserve, got a really good lunch in the camp cafe, and then spent the afternoon lazing in and beside the pool.

Got online, and downloaded over 2000 junk mails, and did a few site updates, apart from that a nice lazy afternoon and evening.

Sitting here updating my journal beside the camper I have just been joined by a few wild Kangaroos who let us get within about 8 feet to take pictures.

Kangaroos in the site

Distance travelled: 358kms.

Creatures seen: Roos, various birds.

Monday 5th March 2007 - Day 46

Went diving at Fish Rock Cave, a great dive that I did when I visited here in 2000.

We had to be at the dive shop by 7.30am. We got kitted up and headed for the boat ramp.

There were 10 divers on our boat, 2 instructors had come down for some diving from Coffs Harbour, 2 divers who were making a documentary about the grey reef sharks, Jo, Kevin and me, 2 dive masters and the shop owner.

The trip to the dive site involves sailing down a river then crossing a sand bar into the ocean. The waves coming in were quite large but we got out without any problems.

When we reached the dive site we finished kitting up and entered the water. Lovely, it was still 23C so it was a nice warm entry.

I was buddied up with Kevin, and we started our descent. I was in trouble with equalisation as soon as I started going down, and could not get my left ear to clear. Jo and our guide passed Kevin and I, and despite several ascents attempting to clear my ear I just could not equalise.

I sent Kevin on with the guide, and started my lonely ascent up the guide rope, and my ear cleared within about 10m seconds. The rest of the group were out of site, so I just descended the rope and did slow circles around the mooring taking pictures.

Clown and white spot bull fish

Butterfly Fish

Jo and Kevin had a great dive and saw loads of fish, and about 10 grey nurse sharks. They were both very excited, and looking forward to the second dive.

White Spot Humbugs

Stripey

Comb Fish and Green Moray

Jo Diving

Comb Fish

While we were sitting our our surface interval, Kevin got some teasing from the dive guides, and ended up getting thrown overboard three times. If I had done this to him we would have had buckets of tears, but he was laughing and enjoying the attention. The boat captain decided to take a dive while we were all on the surface, and used one of the second dive tanks, so Kevin also ended up swimming to the other dive boat to collect a spare tank. His reward for that was 3 shark teeth collected at the dive site.

A couple of turtles came to the surface to eat Jelly fish while we were sitting on the boats.

Kevin between dives

Happily my ear problems were over, and I was able to do the whole dive. We saw so many creatures that we cannot list them all. This was also the deepest dives they have ever done, and the first cave penetration dives they have done.

Wobbegong Shark

Shoal of Bulls eye fish in Cave

Jo and Kevin with a blue grouper

Jo and Blue Gro6uper

Cruising Grey Nurse Shark

Wobbegong Shark

At the end of the session both Jo and Kevin said it was their best dives so far. Jo saw dolphins on the way home so she was even happier.

Stripey

Painted Flute Mouth

Lion Fish

Blue Grouper

Once back on land Jo and I went for a walk. We saw several more wild kangaroos, and several different birds, and found a mangrove lagoon right behind the camp site.

Wild Kangaroo

Creatures seen: Kookaburras, Painted Flute Fish, Anemone fish, Wobbegong Sharks, domino fish, bulls eye fish, Clown fish, moorish idols, lion fish, butterfly fish, wrasse, stripeys, grey nurse sharks, turtles, moray eels, damsel fish, nannygai, bat fish, comb fish, gropers, silver drummers, white trevally, snappers, goat fish, zebra fish, crested morwong, white spot humbugs, kangaroos and kookaburra.

Distance travelled: by car 20kms, by boat 20kms

Tuesday 6th March 2007 - Day 47

Woke to a very damp camp this morning. There is rain all the way up the east coast so we can do nothing except sit it out. Kevin woke early, but instead of getting his homework done decided to play computer games - KIDS!!!

Kevin has a lot of homework to catch up on, and Jo is feeling wiped out (she has just halved the dosage on her tablets and it is leaving her very tired). So she is flat out on the seat beside me.

Kookaburra in the rain beside the camper

Good (if rather expensive) internet connection here, so I am catching up with as much work as I can, while helping Kev with his homework and in between listening to him whinge.

Did the shopping yesterday so I don't need to move the van today. 

Creatures seen: Wet Kangaroos and Wet Birds

Wednesday 7th March 2007 - Day 48

Struck camp at 8am, and hit the road. The weather here has closed in and threatens to be bad for a few days so we are heading south again.

We were going to stop in Port Macquarie, but we saw what looked like nice sites beside the beach a few kilometres down the road so we continued our journey.

Kevin in his tent

We stopped in a little town called North Haven. The local RSL/Bowling club has daily specials for lunch, so we had chicken curry and rice for just $6 each.

On the way back to the camp we stopped at a bait shop so Kevin could get some bait, then he went off fishing for the afternoon. He didn't manage to catch anything, but a guy he was fishing with gave him a few fillets for him to cook for tea.

The beach is long golden and almost deserted.

There is no diving here for a few days, so I have horrified Jo by giving her a load of leaflets for country walks.

Spent the evening with Kevin playing catch up with his homework, and Jo and me playing cards. No internet connection here, so I will be out of touch with people for a couple of days.

Distance Travelled: 119kms

Creatures seen: Lorikeets, Honeyeaters, stone curlews, pelicans, cormorants

Thursday 8th March 2007 - Day 49

Jo and I spent the day trying to help him translate geography questions to English so we could help him sort out the answers, then we did the same with maths.

We had to take a couple of breaks as his attitude was driving us mad, so we went to the local bowls club for lunch again, then I got my hair cut, then we went for a walk along the beach.

North Haven fish in the rain

David on North Haven Beach

Jo & Kevin on North Haven Beach

Crabs on the breakwater on North Haven Beach

We got some good photographs of some of the Pelicans here, they seem to be eating seagulls in some pictures, and talking to them in others.

Pelican Instruction his class of Seagulls, not sure of the topic of the lesson

Pelican telling his class to fly

Pelicans eat seagulls?

Well fed Pelicans, no seagulls!

The river Haven at North Haven

Pelican on the river Haven

Bouliagana Tree

In the evening we went to Woolworths to do some food shopping, then to Port MacQuarie for dinner in a Mexican restaurant. The table mats were all in Spanish, so we thought the staff would speak Spanish, but the only person who does is the owner and he was not there.

Distance Travelled: 98kms

Creatures seen: Lorikeets, Honeyeaters, Pelicans and Seagulls.

Friday 9th March 2007 - Day 50

We were driving along highway 8, when the road got narrower and narrower, and then the bridges went from concrete and steel to wooden structures.

Bridge on Highway 8

This one was a nice solid one

This was the crossing that the picture above replaced.

Not long after we took the pictures above the road started climbing, then the tarmac ran out, and we running on an unsealed dirt road (whoops, don't tell the hire company - they gave strict instructions that we must not take Matilda off road)

We had no warning that the road was going to turn into a dirt track

Matilda in the rainforest

We were heading for an area called Wilson River Reserve, but when we got into a little town (roads all nicely paved) in the centre of the forest we were told that the book was wrong, and that the reserve was about 100kms North of where the book said!

A gap in the canopy of the rainforest

They pointed us in the direction of some other waterfalls in the rainforest only 25kms away called Ellenborough Falls. We left town and the sealed road quickly turned to dirt again, but the falls were a nice distraction.

The view from the top of the falls

They are 200m high, and there is a walkway down through the forest to the bottom. So Jo, Kevin and I decided to take the walk. There was a warning that it was a 700 metre walk, with 621 steps. We all three made it to the bottom and back up!

Walkway through the forest

Kevin at the bottom of the falls

The falls were so high I couldn't get them in one picture, so I have joined 3 together to make this picture

Walking down and back up we all got attacked by Leeches. We pulled them all off when we got back to the car park, but somehow one managed to get back into my shoe. When we stopped for a bite to eat on reaching civilisation again, the leech decided it had drunk enough of my blood and let go. Not seeing it I stepped on it, and left a great big puddle of blood, and a series of bloody footsteps on the floor. I didn't have my camera with me, so you are spared those pictures. All we found in the way of wildlife was a little lizard and a scrub turkey.

Little lizard at the bottom of the falls.

We headed on back down the coast to a town called Forster, and set up camp. We are staying here 2 or 3 days hopefully Jo and I will be diving on Sunday and Kevin will be going on a fishing trip. The seas are running at about 2.5 - 3 metres tonight, but the forecast is for things to improve by Sunday.

Kevin went fishing at 4pm, we started cooking dinner as dusk, by by 8.00 when it was very dark he had still not returned, so I went walking along the beaches and breakwaters looking for him. He went back to the caravan at 8.30, so I got a phone call to make my way home.

No internet access on this site, but I have found an internet cafe that is open for a few hours on a Saturday morning, so I will be heading there as soon as I wake in the morning (without Jo).

Distance Travelled:

Creatures seen: Pelicans, Scrub Turkeys, Lizard.

Saturday 10th March 2007 - Day 51

I went to the internet Cafe to download mails, and upload files.

Kevin went fishing until 11.am.

Jo and I did the laundry.

Then we went to buy some nuts and bolts to repair the caravan table which keeps falling apart.

Kevin and Jo were hungry so I took them to McDonalds, and while they got their junk food boost I repaired the table (hopefully this is a permanent fix this time)

We then went to a family fun centre called "Ton o Fun" where we rode go carts, quad bikes, water slides, pedal boats, bumper boats, and took pictures of the dragon flies over the lake.

On the way back we took Matilda to the car wash to remove the mud from yesterdays journey through the rain forest.

Back home we went for a walk along the river bank, then went to hogs breath for dinner. We all over ate as usual,.

Distance Travelled: 28kms

Creatures seen: all the usual birds, plus dragon flies and a peacock.

Sunday 11th March 2007 - Day 52

Got up at 6am, as Kevin needs to be on the dock at 7am for the fishing boat, and Jo and I needed to be at the dive centre by 7.30 for kitting up.

We met the owner of the dive shop, and got on great with him, the shop is a bit of an Aladdin's cave, but the kit was all in good condition, and the boat is great. For some reason I still didn't feel happy about the dives.

We got all the kit sorted, then we had to drive for 40 minutes to the dive site at Seal Rocks, while the skipper took the boat there.

When the boat arrived we put our wet suits, fins and masks on and swam out to meet it.

It was only a 20 minute trip to the dive site, and it was a nice easy trip with no big swells. As the boat was the biggest we have been on since we got here it was also a comfortable trip.

The other divers consisted of a group of Russians from a dive club in Sydney, a Ex-Pat Brit and a German. Oh and the skippers dog - called Skinner.

The dives were fantastic. Over 50 Grey Nurse Sharks swimming beside and above us, along with a few Wobbegong sharks, and thousands of smaller fish.

Had no problems with equalising this time, in fact all I had to do was swallow and my ears cleared. Jo was a bit light the first dive, so I had to pull her under, good job she had her air on, or it could have been murder!

We didn't take pictures on this dive, as the camera would not work. One of the Russian girls is going to burn some of hers onto a CD for us, so we should have some in a couple of weeks.

So, despite my forebodings this turned out to be 2 really good dives, Jo enjoyed them so much she cannot wait to get back into the water.

On our return to Forster we spent an hour searching for Kevin who had decided not to meet us where we agreed.

We then went to the other dive company in town, and booked ourselves 2 dives each for tomorrow, while we were there Nick, the owner, gave us a beer, had a laugh and a chat, and I parted with a couple hundred bucks buying Kevin new fins and mask (so he can stop using Jo's) and bought Jo a new pair of boots.

We went to get some food next, while Kevin went to the wharf fishing. On our return we went down to the river to snorkel. I got all kitted up, but as I am not a strong swimmer decided I had better not get in, as there was a very strong current flowing.

Jo went into the water, and took the now repaired? camera. She snorkelled around for about 45 minutes taking pictures of the life inside the river. While she was snorkelling, a dolphin swam up the river a few yards away.

We returned to the camper at dusk, and sat and played cards until bedtime.

Distance Travelled: 92kms

Creatures seen: Grey Nurse Sharks, Wobbegong Sharks, Lion Fish, Angel fish, (see through fish with lights along the side) websters fish, Humbugs, squid, red scorpion cod, Dolphin, lorikeets, pelicans, seagulls, cormorants, honey eaters, etc.

Monday 12th March 2007 - Day 53

Good start to the day... I looked at my phone to see the time, thought I saw 6.30 so got up and put kettle on, made Jo a coffee then started putting the bed away, It was not until I looked at the phone again and saw it was 6.03 did I realise I had woken Jo at 5.30! Ah well, its nice sitting here listening to the birds sing their morning chorus while I update this log.

Jo didn't kill me, and we went to the dive shop on time at 8am. We kitted up, and met the other people who were diving with us. A couple Sue and Gary who have just emigrated here from the UK, Nick the owner and Paul the Dive Master.

The trip out to the dive site was only 20 minutes, and the bar crossing was nice and easy.

The first dive was a bit messy, as we were dropped into a very strong current, Jo got swept away from the site before she could grab the mermaid line, and was very tired and frustrated when she managed to get back to the line. She climbed back onto the boat and aborted the dive, though when we resurfaced she said she wished she hadn't, as she was fine as soon as she was back on the boat.

Sue had managed to get to the end of the mermaid line, and had a long swim to get from there, the length of the boat and onto the anchor line, she was gasping from the exertion. I was lucky and managed to hold the mermaid line about halfway along, and used it to pull myself back to the boat. After I had helped Jo back onto the boat I grabbed the line along the side of the boat and pulled myself to the front.

Kevin was wearing new fins, while he was waiting at the surface one came off, so I grabbed onto that, then he found the mouthpiece of his regulator was a bit frayed so I had to swap his air supply for him.

We went down about 5 metres, and Nick helped Kevin put his fin on.

The rest of the dive went well, though visibility was a bit poor due to a lot of red weed being swept through the site. We saw a fair amount of sea-life including the wobbegong sharks, a few numb rays, some port Jackson sharks bundled into a small cave with a wobbegong, lion fish, groupers, star fishes and all the usual reef fish. The water has a lot of tiny jellies in it, they come in several different shapes. Some have lighted bands along the side which flash as they swim.

Yellow (Female) Grouper

Green Moray Eel saying hello!

Fish I have not identified yet

Numb Ray

Rock Cod

A nice camouflaged Yellow Star - about 20cm across

A blue spotted Rock Cod

A wobbegong shark at the bottom, with Port Jackson Sharks on top

A Red Starfish - about 15cm across

In between dives we went to a calm area where I went snorkelling, saw a few fish, but nothing exciting like a shark. When I had got back on board a dolphin swam past us! Missed by 2 minutes.

Jo between dives

Our second dive was at "Inner Latitude Reef". The water was a lot calmer, and everyone got to the bottom without incident. We all did a free swimming descent as well, which was a first for Jo and Kevin, as all other dives have been holding onto the anchor/mooring line.

The water was pretty clear, with visibility of about 20-25m. There was a slight surge in places which was fun.

We didn't see any of the grey nurse sharks we were hoping to see, I guess they must all be hanging out over at Seal Rocks. We found a nice little cave with a stack of numb rays looking rather like a pile of pancakes. With 2 adult cuttlefish and several babies, The yellow fish are called "Rough Bullseye"

Numb Rays, cuttlefish, Rough Bullseye,

Cuttlefish on patrol

We think this is a Morwong, but we are not too sure, so we call it the "angry"fish.

Damsel fish protecting its territory - these fish will try and fight divers even though its only about 10cm long

Baby Jelly Fish

Creatures seen: Lots of different fish, Sharks, Dolphins, seagulls, cormorants, pelicans, Lorikeets, Honey eaters, pee wees, crows.

Distance travelled: Land, 20kms, Sea 10kms.

Tuesday 13th March 2007 - Day 54

A quiet day today, just enjoying the weather, and letting Kevin fish. He took out a kayak and explored a bit of the river. He caught a lot of bream, a few leatherjackets, a parrot fish and a few flatheads. As we are not keen fish eaters (we prefer to watch them in their natural habitat) he threw them all back.

Kevin in Kayak

We looked around at a few camera shops to see if we could find a digital camera with underwater housing, but no luck here. We will have to wait until we get to a larger town or city and look for a specialist shop.

We sat on the river bank to eat our lunch, and were soon surrounded by Pelicans and seagulls. Jo soon had the Pelicans coming and eating out of her hand.

Pelican taking bread from Jo

Pelicans

We moved camp to a site which has internet access so that I could do a bit of work. We are also waiting because tomorrow Jo is booked to go diving again. She wants to get some pictures of the grey nurse sharks.

This site has lots of lorikeets, a few white parakeets and hundreds of flying foxes. We spent lots of time trying to capture them on the cameras but it was too dark.

At 8pm we got a message from the dive company that the other divers on tomorrows trip had cancelled, so there would be no diving tomorrow. I called the other dive company, they are going out, but only doing deep dives which Jo is not yet qualified for, so it looks like I will be diving tomorrow.

Distance travelled: 30kms driving around town and shopping.

Creatures seen: Pelicans, sea birds, lorikeets, white parrots and flying foxes. We also saw a few of Kevin's catches.

Wednesday 14th March 2007 - Day 55

Got up at 7.30, and got the van ready for moving. I then called the hire company about extending the hire on the camper. The van was due back at Sydney tomorrow, and we were going to move into a hotel, but we are enjoying our travels and don't want to return to Sydney yet. The company has let us extend the hire until next Wednesday morning, we will then go straight to the airport from there to fly back to Spain.

Went to the dive shop at 9am, and found out that due to the currents, the deep dives have turned into shallow dives and the company is diving at "Latitude Reef" (where we dived on Monday). The dive master assured us that the sharks will be visible today.

Jo on dive boat (at back in purple and black with red life jacket)

As the dives are now shallow dives I have let Jo go, and I am writing my journal while fielding questions from Kevin who is doing his homework.

In Australian parlance, bugger, bugger, bugger.

Jo did her 2 dives, but there were no nurse sharks around. The camera stopped working again as well, so she would not have gotten any photographs anyway.

When I took the Camera apart this time it was in brilliant sunshine, and I spotted the cause of the problems right away, it took 2 minutes to fix, and we tested the camera and it now works great!.

We went and got some food for dinner, then returned to the site where I helped Kevin do some more homework while Jo went to lie by the pool and catch a few rays, Kevin soon went to join her, which meant that Jo was soon in need of rescue. We sent Kevin off to fish while Jo took a nap to recover from her morning exertions.

Loon on a post reflected in flat calm lake

Jo in the stocks

David in the Stocks

Pretty Trees

Kevin Fishing

Ducks in the camp site

White Cockatoos

We had a nice quiet evening at the site, trying to get pictures of the birds.

Distance travelled: On land, 8kms; on water 10kms

Creatures seen: (us) White Parakeets, lorikeets, flying foxes, pelicans, (Jo) wobbegong shark, big loggerhead turtle, Port Jackson sharks, "angry" fish, Damsel fish, white eyed moray, Southern fiddler ray, shovel nose ray, numb rays, cuttlefish, silver bream, female and male groupers, comb wrasse, stripeys, sand flathead, red rock cod, damsel fish, lots of different kinds of wrasse, nudibrancs, surgeon fish, banner fish, bulls eye fish, goat fish,

Thursday 15th March 2007 - Day 56

Left Forster and drove to Nelson Bay. We need to start heading back towards Sydney ready for our departure next week.

Nelson bay is beautiful, Its a bigger bay than Sydney, with loads of small bays with sandy beaches. Much of the bay is a protected Marine Park which is great, as the waters are full of fish.

In the winter months its a great place to come Whale watching as they pass very close to the headlands on their way north to calving grounds.

While we were checking in we saw a Kookaburra sitting on top of a statue in the reception garden. This is different from the others that we have seen as it has blue wings.

Blue winged Kookaburra

After we found a camp site we went into the town to do some shopping, and then went and snorkelled in Shoal Bay which was joined to the camp by a short path.

Distance Travelled: 188kms.

Creatures seen: Lots of the same birds as yesterday plus a blue winged Kookaburra, Jo saw lots of fish while she was snorkelling, I only saw a few small whitings.

Friday 16th March 2007 - Day 57

We decided to have a day of excitement, and booked ourselves a trip on a 400hp Speedboat ride.

The ride was 45 minutes long, and on most days would have involved lots of wave jumping, just our luck, the lakes and ocean were flat calm, and we only got about a dozen good jumps where the boat fully left the water.

On the return trip to the harbour we were crossing the bar when we started seeing dolphins. We slowed right down and drifted in the waves over the bar and watched the dolphins surfing through the waves. We must have seen well over 20 dolphins, some with baby calves swimming beside them - that alone made the trip worth the money.

We explored the marina for a few minutes, and had a pizza called fat Tony and some wedges, Then we returned to the camp site and Jo and Kevin went snorkelling again while I went shopping.

At the boat ramp beside the camp the fishermen were cutting up their catch, they were surrounded by about 30 huge Pelicans all waiting to get their share of the catch.

Back at the site I got into a strop and went on strike, so Jo and Kevin cooked dinner for me, which we sat and ate in the BBQ area with a crowd of older people who appear to meet up every year for a reunion. In the kitchen area we were visited by some flat flying beetles.

Flat Flying Beetle

We saw a different kind of bird tonight, they are like little old ladies in Pink Dresses, Grey Coats and White hats. I managed to get a couple of good pictures of them.

Pink Parrots

 After dinner we played cards until bedtime.

Flower in the camp site

Distance Travelled: 188kms

Creatures seen: Pink Parrots, Flat beetles, Dolphins, Pelicans,

Saturday 17th March 2007 - Day 58

Left Nelson Bay and drove to The Australian Reptile Park. This was the first place Kevin wanted to visit when we left Sydney, but as it was raining when we passed it we decided to leave until we were on our way back.

Kevin has a fascination for snakes, Lizards and spiders, and is nagging us to let him have one as a pet when we return to Spain. His room is big enough, so I guess we will have to work something out when we get home.

Jo and I were hoping that they would still have a Platypus, as all the other parks no longer have them due to the difficulties in keeping them. When we got into the park we were pleased to see they did, and it was the first place we visited.

Duckbilled Platypus

The pictures didn't come out great as we were not allowed to use flash, and he was moving very fast.

We left the park at closing time and went looking for a camp site. We looked in all the guide books and found 2 in the town of Woy Woy just a few minutes from the park. We drove around for ages, but could not find them. In the end I went to the police station and asked where they were. Very helpful young policewoman told me where they were, photo copied maps for me, and recommended one above the other. It turned out to be the most expensive site by far at almost double the rate of all the others $60AUS for one night.

When I left the police station I was walking past a bakery who was just about to close, so I grabbed a loaf of bread and asked for 3 cakes. The girl was just closing so she piled 2 big bags with all the reamaining cakes! For 2 dollars we had over 10 big yummy cakes to feast on. Got me out of trouble for not finding the site earlier.

Distance travelled: 227kms.

creatures seen: roos, snakes, spiders, crocs, koalas, platypus, loads of different birds, emus, turtles etc.

Sunday 18th March 2007 - Day 59

Today we thought we had better see some original Australian culture. The guide books showed some aboriginal sites nearby, so we decided to go and investigate. We went to a site where there are about a dozen Aboriginal Rock Carvings. These are scratched out of an exposed piece of fairly level rock, and consist of depictions of people fishing. I was surprised that apart from a raised wooden pathway to stop people walking on the engravings nothing had been done to protect them from damage by weather of vandals.

The weather was horrible all day. So we just drove around the area looking for anything different to do. We found some waterfalls which were fun to climb.

went to first camp at the entrance

found strange stars on beach

Monday 19th March 2007 - Day 60

packed our belongings - managed to get into 5 bags (we arrived with 4), got rid of tent, air bed, towels, storage boxes, boogie board, I threw away almost all my clothes and have now got 3 shirts, 1 pair of jeans, 0 shorts, 0 swimmers, and 1 pair of sandals so I am returning with less than I arrived.

Went to beach, saw stars, crabs, octopus and wading bird

Tuesday 20th March 2007 - Day 61

Drove to a camp site just outside Sydney, about 8kms from the airport.

Had a quiet day just chilling and walking along the beach.

Distance travelled: 111kms

creatures seen: cockatoos, lorikeets and honeyeaters

Wednesday 21st March 2007 - Day 62 - Last Day in Oz

Scrubbed caravan floor, and washed walls, drove Kevin and Jo to the airport, then headed back to the hire company with the van, and went to a detailing company who managed to make the van look better then when we headed out.

Got a lift back to the airport from the owner of the hire company. While we were waiting to check in I found an abandoned bag, security very lax here, I reported it to a security guard, a check in clerk and an airport policeman, all looked at me as if I were mad to be bothered. Its so different from the UK, USA and most other countries I have visited. I had to report it 3 times before anyone did anything, it took about half an hour to respond.

Set off back to the UK on time.

We are sad to be leaving Oz, but glad to be heading to our home comforts for a while.

We will be back.....