It's Show Time!

On Sunday the kids and I went to the Finch Hatton Show, just 1/2 an hour from Mirani. It was a beautiful day, and as you can see from the photos, the kids had lots of fun. We saw horse jumping, wood chopping, a cow dressed up as a horse, and all the other usual show things. Of course we ate too much, but noone threw up so that was OK.

Will and Laura slipping down the slide.

Having a blast up the front, hurtling around on the roller coaster.

Laura with a good grip on things.

Laura (in pink on the far right) seeing the sights from up high.

We are settling in to life in Mirani. Chris is doing very long days, leaving at around 3.30am and not getting home before 5.30pm most times. He works 6 shifts on and then gets 2 off. I don't even hear the motorbike any more...loving wife that I am! Did I tell you we decided to lash out and get Chris a bike (with an engine), so I could have the car to get kids here and there and everywhere. It's about 20 years old but he really loves it and it goes like a beauty, even on these chilly mornings. Brrr!

The hot rod!

Yesterday Chris had the day off and went fishing, caught 2 "sooty" (don't ask me what sort of fish they are exactly, but they tasted lovely).

We heard from our friends Mark and Sam this week and they are hoping to get up for a visit in a few months time, can't wait! Laura also got a big fat letter from her old 1/2K class at Elliminyt primary school, full of postcards and photos of all the kids. She was so pleased and read them over and over.

We found a really great park in Mackay. This video is brilliant if you want a good belly laugh!!

Well cheers until next time!

MIRANI

We moved camp on Sunday to be a little closer to Pleystowe, where Chris is working. Our new home is a caravan park ajoining the local pool in place called Mirani, a half hour west of Mackay. At the moment the pool is closed for winter but we have been told that we can be the first ones in when it opens in September! As soon as we drove into the park there were people there giving us directions on where to park and coming to say hello. It was very nice. It's a small town and everyone knows everyone so I'm sure we won't have any trouble making friends.

Everywhere you drive there is sugar cane as far as the eye can see. It blocks a lot of the landscape, but not for much longer. Monday was the first official day of the cane season so there were tractors getting started with the harvesting and trailers loading it on the wagons for the trains to take to the mills. Need to be careful now of all the rail crossings, the trains are very long but at least they go quite slow. Chris started his new job this week, and according to the stories he tells me it's not too bad and he's quite good at it. Unfortunately the weather has slowed work down and according to the locals it is "unseasonally wet" at the moment, which makes it hard to get on the paddocks to harvest the cane. What a surprise! Everywhere we go it's "unseasonally wet"!!!!! Starting to think we have created some kind of black hole which dumps Victoria's rain on us wherever we are!!! But it is nice and warm still, so that's a bonus.

Chris, I've lost the kids!!! Can anyone see them?

The kids decided to go dunking for apples. Here is Laura's attempt...and then the camera goes flat before Will can get it.

Finally VICTORY!!

There are lots and lots of green tree frogs around here. I had to chase one out of the shower cubicle yesterday before I was game enough to close my eyes and put my head under the tap! Chris also found this lovely little gecko who we thought might like to eat some of the ants and mozzies we get in the bus from time to time, so we put him up near the bag rack and every now and then we see him. Much to my disgust he has been named "Norbert", a very ugly name for a very cute little critter, but he doesn't seem to mind.

NORBERT, our resident gecko!

Well my windows are grotty and I am heading out to give them a scrub. Hi to you all and if anyone wants to write you can send mail "c/o Mirani Post Office, Mirani, Qld" (not sure of the post code) and they tell me it will find us! Chow for now, love the Stevenson's x x x

Touring around Mackay

Hi there friends and family, time to catch up on our news. This week has been a touristy week, showing Lynne all the sights around Mackay. We organised a hire car so we could travel in style (and no one needed to be tied to the roof rack!) and on Tuesday we headed off to Dolphin Heads and Blacks Beach. Only a short drive down the road and lots of beautiful scenery. Sand, sea and...OK, not much surf, but still it was nice. Went to the local pub for a delicious lunch (I recommend the prawn caesar salad, mmmm!), the kids collected shells and we found a playground so the adults could have a little down time. All in all, a very relaxing day.

Does it look windy much?!! Laura having a bad hair day.

Lynne and the kids on the beach near Mackay.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Next day we were off to Eungella National Park, about a 1 hour drive west of Mackay. We stopped along the way at Finch Hatton Gorge and went for a walk through the rainforest to "the wheel of fire" (no idea where the name came from, no wheels or fire seen by any of us!). It was a lovely walk thru' the rainforest and although it was mostly uphill and involved climbing about a million stairs, the kids didn't complain and we got to enjoy an icy cold drink from the stream when we got there. After recovering we trekked back out and went to The Pinnacle for lunch. They are advertised (by the lady in the tourist information centre) as "the best pies in Australia", and I must say they weren't far wrong. BIG and home made, yummy!


Can anyone spot "rock Willaby"?

Lynne and Will on the track heading out.

After filling our tummies we went up to the Eungella Range, a very steep drive but well worth the view. At Broken River we went for a walk to try and spot a platypus, but alas, just like the dingoes at Fraser Island, we saw not-a-one. Not sure whether it was the small, noisy people we had with us or whether the little rascals were just all out for the day, but no platypi (or as Chris says "platypusses") were sighted. Still, it was a beautiful spot to visit, lots of interesting plants that we don't often get to see.
Laura wanting to climb the "ladder", and Chris wishing he was Tarzan!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Thursday Chris took Lynne and the kids down to Sarina whilst Deb opted for a day of peace and relaxation on her own. I went to the shops and got a book which I came home and made a good start on! I also got 3 loads of washing done and spent a considerable amount of time wondering what the kids were doing, but mostly I relaxed! It was lovely. Lynne took some photos of the kids playing in the waves and generally having a wonderful time.

MACKAY

We arrived in Mackay last Thursday and are staying at The Andergrove Caravan Park. It's a lovely big park with lots of room for our bus but unfortunately they may not be able to take us long term. We are having problems finding anyone who can fit us in, first of all, and even less who can also keep us long term. I guess they can squeeze 2 vans into the space we take up and charge them more to be there short term, so it all comes down to the money. What a surprise! We went for a drive yesterday and found that our options are very limited, so we will keep our fingers crossed and keep looking and who knows what might turn up.

Haven't had a chance to do much sight seeing yet, just getting settled in. Yesterday I took the kids to the shopping centre to spend their pocket money. It's the first time they have been paid since we became unemployed so they were happy little shoppers! Chris went fishing at the harbour on Sunday but came home empty handed. He had a good bite I hear, but alas, no food for the family! The kids have been for a dip in the pool a couple of times here at the caravan park but I haven't been game as yet. The water is freezing and the kids go blue after half an hour or so, so someone has to be on hand to revive them! The weather has been in the mid-20's most days but it's too cool for me. Brrrrr!
Will and Laura taking the plunge!

Saturday the kids went to play softball. There's a softball field right next to the van park and Chris went over for a look on Tuesday night to watch them training. They were looking for new players and we thought it might be a good way for the kids to make some friends so we joined them up. The only problem will be if Chris is working weekends I won't have a car to get them to the game but one of the ladies said she can pick us up if I need it, so that's good. They had lots of fun and although they were quite shy at the start they soon got the hang of it and showed their style!! They wanted Chris to play in the mens team, but although he was extremely tempted he doesn't want to get an injury. That's all we need, Chris out of work injured, arghhh!

This week Chris is off doing the UD driving course he has to do before starting work in a fortnight. We (the kids and I) are catching up with school stuff before we get our first visitor later in the week. Lynne is coming on Thursday and we have been marking the days off on the calender until she arrives. The kids are hardly excited at all!!!!!!!! I don't expect much work to get done on Friday so we will do a little extra over the next few days. Today they made a butterfly kite and have just been out to test it. It's pretty windy but perhaps there were some issues with the aerodynamics because it just didn't want to stay up in the air! Now we are doing some sums using the dominos so I had better go supervise. See you next time...

EMU PARK

We moved on from Maryborough yesterday after a good look around the area. It was a very friendly place and one day we might come back to settle somewhere around here. Chris actually found a house for sale on "Stevenson Street" which we drove past to have a look at. We thought about the irony of it but decided to keep moving and following our travel plans. Maybe next time around! It's amazing how the landscape has changed from being very green and lush, to now being quite dry, it reminds me of the Darwin landscape. We are having a few nights in Emu Park now, at a lovely little caravan park just a stones' throw from the beach. In fact someone with a good arm would hit the beach from our bus!

This is the beach I walked on at 7am this morning, and a spot to have a quiet relax if you need one.



Today we went for a drive through Yeppoon and Byfield, very pretty scenery. We took the kids to Cooberrie Park, a wildlife sanctuary where they could see and pet lots of animals. They even had spiney-leaf stick insects, just like our Bindi Anna Jones! There was a cute little wallaby that loved having his neck rubbed and looked like he would roll on the ground with his legs in the air if he could. The kids patted snakes, lizards, koalas, kangaroos, even a crocodile. We saw dingoes (not like at Fraser Island!) a wombat, peacocks, a fox, and lots of other things. Chris even showed me the mysterious "whistling tree duck", long story!!

Tomorrow we are off to Mackay where we will hopefully settle for the next 6 months or so. But first a walk on the beach for Deb and a quick race down the bike track for Stevo and the kids.

FRASER ISLAND

On Saturday we got up at the crack of dawn (literally) and went over to explore Fraser Island. We caught the barge from River Head and took Jimny over for a little 4WD ing. It was great!

The tracks were amazing through the forests. The enormous trees we are looking at are called "satinay". They are a hard red wood. The rivers were so clear they don't even look like there's water in them. This one had about a foot of water running through it and a lovely sandy bottom.

Then we went for a zip along the beach. Look how far you can see, and that's only a little strip of it. It actually goes for 75 miles but we only had the one day so we couldn't go too far. The island is enormous and you could easily spend a couple of days exploring it. We were hoping to see a little wildlife but other than a few birds we saw nothing...not a dingo or a lizard or anything.


Next it was off to find Lake Mackenzie and have a little dip. To look at, it is paradise but unfortunately it was freezing the day we went so we weren't in for very long. Chris said when he came here many moons ago you could see a lot more clear water, but now the leaf matter is covering the bottom. Still it was beautiful and well worth the bumpy drive to get there. Will was propositioned by a gorgeous blonde lady, she asked if she could help him build his sandcastle - but he turned her down! That's my boy :)

This is Chris on the pier at Fraser Island, waiting for the barge to come and pick us up. And these are Deb's feet, having a lovely relax on the beach, boy it was heaven!

on the road again

On Wednesday we said goodbye to Lismore, GOODBYE! We had a BBQ lunch with about 8 other tennants in the caravan park on the Sunday before we left, which was lovely. We also were given a little "gift" from the owner...a bowl of tadpoles. Laura was thrilled. Fingers crossed they are FROGS and not anything else. The day we left it was pouring rain so I must be honest (when am I not?) and say I was glad to get the hell out of the place!!! Chris and Will in the Big Rolling Turd, and Laura and I in Jimny. We left after brekkie and were in Maryborough by 3pm or so, with a short break in Burpengary to pick up our lovely new trailer and have a bite of lunch. What a relief to be back in my beautiful, comfy navigators' seat.Here we are all relaxed in Maryborough, minus Will the photographer.

A school experiment:

Before we left Colac this magic tree was given to Will by Aunty Jenny. We finally got it out to see what it does and we were amazed. This shot above is how it looks when you first set it up. You just add water to the tray at the bottom.

Then 2 hours later it looks all puffy like this one above...
Then in the morning we checked it and it was all finished and some of the crystals were starting to fall off. It was great to see it growing, although the kids checked it every few minutes so that got a bit tiring!

We went over to Ballina had one final stab at fishing before we left the area and came up trumps. Although Chris spent most of his time replacing bait and hooks, the kids and I pulled in some lovely bream, and couldn't leave until Chris had caught a few too. Laura even snagged this little beauty which was a lovely addition to our evening meal. MMMmmm, mudcrab!
Chomp, chomp, chomp!