Lightening Online

*sigh*

We’re feeling a bit like we can’t win a trick right now.

I mean, who gets robbed twice in the space of a week????  Less than a week actually.

So many places have had warnings about theft and we’ve managed to avoid it.  The last few places have had nothing and they’re the places we’ve been hit.

The first was our cash that was taken out of my purse at Hervey Bay.  Okay, we had a very slight lapse in security (like, the first time we’ve left our caravan unlocked - and we were still in the caravan park).  So, you accept that.  We got a little complacent.  Makes you wonder how many other times we might have had attempts made on entering our van.

This second time was our kids scooters. :(  This time we were actually IN the caravan and the scooters were UNDER the caravan.

We discovered they were missing just before going to underwater world Saturday morning.  Princess Singstar found out by accident Saturday night and boy did we have tears.

Trailer Boy was asking to go to the skate park (next to the caravan park and likely where the culprits came from) this afternoon (Sunday) and we managed to put him off.  However, we knew he would be the most upset as he LOVES his scooter (and misses his bike).  Thankfully, we managed to find a Kmart and get there today while it was still open.  He didn’t find out until we were in the process of buying him a new one.

That softened the blow a little.

We softened it even more by allowing him to buy a Ben 10 one.  About $10 dearer than replacing it with exactly the same one but worth it if you ask me.

I guess I figure that in some small way we’ve been able to put into practise the saying “when life throws you a lemon, make lemonade”. 

In the meantime, is it wrong to hope the kids that stole the scooters stub their toes while riding them????

Next Post: Hopefully some photo’s from our time on the Sunshine Coast. 

I’m tired.

Soooooo  tired.

If anyone thinks you come back from a trip like this all refreshed and rested… WRONG.

Not me anyway.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great fun.  AWESOME in fact.

But it is tiring.  Especially with 3 kids!

I think perhaps we’ve been overdoing the whole “sight-seeing” thing.  So much to do, so little time.

Of the 4 days we were in Hervey Bay we had 3 full, action-packed days.

It was great and I’m glad we did it but now we all need a couple of days to recover.

You just can’t keep up that pace for as many weeks as we’re away.

As we were leaving Hervey Bay, I discovered that my purse had been completely cleared out of cash.  Even the hidden pockets.

Thankfully they left the cards behind so I’m not having to go through the whole rigamarole of replacing them all.

It still leaves you feeling so violated though.

And annoyed that we let our guard down even for a bit.

Anyway, such is life.  I just hope they needed the money more than we did.

But I think the whole experience has taken it out of me a bit.

So, we’re now on the Sunshine Coast.  So many things to see and do here.  But I think we’ll concentrate on the Sunshine and the Coast for now.  We’re in a lovely caravan park very close to the beach.  I don’t think it’ll hurt any of us to just “chill” for a few days.  That’s if I can last a few days.

I don’t do “chill” very well I’m afraid.

After much deliberation, we decided to go on our whale watching tour with Freedom III, a reasonably new vessel that is already fast gaining a reputation as the best in the fleet of whale watching tours on offer.

We were attracted by the extra time they offered out with the whales, the more personalised, smaller group they take and the great reviews we’d heard about the food!

And we were not disappointed.

I’ve always wanted to go whale watching so this was quite an exciting day for me.  And to think that we almost didn’t do it!  Some had told us that we’d see whales on the way to fraser island and I had wondered if it was a waste of money paying to go on a specific whale watching tour.  That was another reason for selecting this particular boat.  We figured at the very least we’d have a lovely day out on a boat with nice food.

The whale watching experience was absolutely AMAZING.  Every single one of us LOVED it.  We didn’t just see a whale or 2 in the distance like I expected.  They were swimming under the boat and many got quite close.  The hours we spent out there just sped by!!!

Different whales did different things and we were lucky enough to see a mother with her baby, along with an escort that didn’t want them getting too close to the boat.  We also had a couple of males come along and start performing in an effort to get the attention of the female.  It was all very interesting and fun to watch!

The hardest thing was trying to capture any of it on the camera.  They’re so fast and unpredictable.  We did better with the video but I can’t upload that here.

Anyway, here are a few that I did get.  They don’t really do it justice though.

Three whales swimming together.  They moved between our boat and this smaller vessel for a while.

It created quite a bit of suspense when they would dive down into the water, everyone trying to guess where they would come up again.  Sometimes they went under the boat and other times they’d come up on the same side again.  There was certainly a lot of movement from one side of the boat to the other as people spotted them and called out.

Tail Slap:

Singstar Princess looking at a nearby whale:

Whale poking it’s head out of the water.

Later in the day we had one that kept opening and closing it’s mouth at us.

The baby did a lot of showing off for us but was almost impossible to get on camera.  I have a lot of photographs of splash trying to get the baby.  It was a much paler colour than the adult whales.

I happened to be in the right place at afternoon tea to get a snapshot of the food.  It was a wonderful feed and felt like we were eating most of the day!  :)  Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, water and soft drink was also available throughout the day whenever you wanted it.

The day wasn’t limited to what spotting either.  In fact, our first visitors of the day were a couple of dolphins who swam right to the front of the boat where we were standing.

And as you can see, the ride out there and back was such a hardship!!!!  :)  When we first arrived, the owner told us about this padded area at the front of the boat which was a great area for the kids.  We could kneel up at the rail and watch as the boat cruised along or lie down and enjoy the warm sunshine.

It was a truly great day and one we’ll remember for many years to come.  Trailer Boy found a boat on a playground while we were out today and was playing “whale watching”.  He was the captain and telling all his passengers about the whales they could see.  It was SO cute (if only you could video that kind of thing without them getting self conscious).

Today we had an early start to go and see (and feed) some wild dolphins at Tin Can Bay.  I haven’t downloaded the photo’s to the computer yet but it was another unforgettable experience.

Tomorrow (Sunday) will hopefully be a quieter day.  We’ll go out to church in the morning and then expect to be joined here by some friends we made in Port Douglas (a family from Adelaide that we’ve enjoyed meeting up with a couple of times).  On Monday we’re heading over to Fraser Island together which should be great.  Farmboy can’t wait to do some 4WD-ing over there!

Last night was night 50 out of our 100 nights away.

The half way point!

As expected, it’s going fast.

Although, when I look back over all that we’ve done in the past 50 days, we’ve done a lot of things.  Created a lot of memories.  Made some new friends.  Learnt heaps.  Laughed together.

There have been plenty of moments of frustration with one another.  But the benefits of the trip have been growing with each week that we’re away.

The other day, Farmboy and I started discussing future trips we might take.

Getting away from the farm isn’t an easy task so it’s not looking good for us to do another trip longer than about the 3 weeks we’ve done before.

I’m sad because it took us about 4 weeks to really get in the “groove” this trip.

I’m worried we won’t ever get in the “groove” again.

Well, at least not until the kids leave home and we semi-retire (which is coming up quicker than I can blink anyway).

Oops, this post wasn’t meant to be doom and gloom and whinging.

It’s supposed to be reflective and celebratory.

This trip is achieving even more than I expected it to.  Which I guess makes me a little sadder at the thought of it ending.  But also makes me so much gladder that we made it happen.  Thankful that we’ve had this opportunity and this time with our kids.

We might be 50 days into our trip but we still have 50 days to go (well, almost 49 given today is almost over as well).

We packed a lot into the first 50 days and I think we have as much to come.

I do think though, that all this trip has really done is whet my appetite for more travel.   What an amazing and beautiful country we live in!

Today we arrived in Hervey Bay and tomorrow we’re off on a whale watching cruise.  Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  Hopefully it’s good.  I’m sure it will be (they pretty much guarantee you’ll see a whale or you get another trip free).

Did you know that the whales here can be the size of 11 elephants?  I didn’t until I read the brochure.  That’s big isn’t it?  Hopefully it doesn’t decide to attack the boat!

Mission Beach has by far been my favourite place we’ve stopped so far on this trip. I did enjoy Cairns but Mission Beach well and truly topped it. So far, it’s top of list of places to return to one day (for a much longer stay next time!).

As promised to River, here are some pictures I took while we were at Mission Beach.

It is a coconut/palm lined beach - just like in the “movies”:

And has the bluest water I have ever seen!!!!!  This picture doesn’t really do it justice.

The kids had a wonderful time playing in the water.  It wasn’t very deep but was nice and warm!  Here are the boys playing skimball:

And Singstar Princess enjoying some sand play (after seeing many beaches that just weren’t sand in Northern Queensland!):

Farmboy couldn’t help himself.  He really wanted to drive on the beach.  We couldn’t seen any signs saying you couldn’t (and people had to launch their boats), so we took a little drive.  Slowly of course as there were people on some parts of the beach.

And you feel like you could just about swim to Dunk Island.  We didn’t go out there.  You have to pick and choose your islands when you’re paying for 5 people!

Distances can be a little deceiving I think.  It is close but not sure how many people could actually swim out there.  I went for a run on the beach and misjudged distances too.  Think I must have ran almost twice as far as I usually run.  Boy was I exhausted by the time I made it back (and a little bit heat affected too I think).

Anyway, that’s just a little glimpse into our stay at Mission Beach.  We do hope we’ll get the chance to visit again one day but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

I feel like I’ve been a rather bad blogger of late.  The thing is, we haven’t been doing much travelling which is when I’ve been writing my blog posts.  We’ve spent the last 3 weeks travelling around the Cairns area (Cairns, Wonga Beach, Port Douglas and Atherton Tablelands) and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.  There is so much to see and do that we feel like all we’ve done is gotten a taste of what there is on offer.

While I dearly LOVED Cairns, if I was going to move up here, I’d choose Atherton.   It’s not quite as wet (although wet enough) and while they do have cyclones come through, I don’t think there is quite as much risk of a serious cyclone like the coastal towns have.

Mind you, if I lived in Atherton, I think I’d be the size of a house!!!!  So many YUMMY things to eat up here!  We had awesome tea/coffee and cake at the Coffee Works in Mareeba, gourmet chocolates and cheese platters at the Gallo Dairy between Atherton and great scones with jam and REAL cream at The Falls Teahouse near Millaa Millaa.

The scenery around here is amazing too with waterfalls, craters and so much to take in.

After catching up on our sleep early in our trip, I’m feeling a little sleep deprived with nights of sitting up talking into the early hours of the morning.  We were staying with a very special friend of mine and her family in Atherton and time flies when you’re chatting.   We also met a lovely couple in Port Douglas (who are from Adelaide) and got along really well with them from the moment we met (so sat up late talking).

DAY SPA

While in Port Douglas, I booked myself in to a Day Spa.  I’ve never been to one before so promised myself I was going to treat myself while we were away.  I saved up all my birthday money to do it.  I booked in for a session called an “unwinder” which went for 2.5 hours and included a foot spa, swedish massage and facial.  According to my therapist I should go for a massage more often as I’m rather tense and tight across the top of my back.  Not sure it’s all that surprising travelling around with 3 kids!!!!  LOL.

CROCODILES

We were very lucky to actually see a couple of crocodiles in the wild (from a distance).  We chose not to take a boat ride down the river as we weren’t convinced we’d not lose a child overboard (and it was very expensive for 5 of us).  So, it was great to see these 2 sunning themselves below the bridge over the Mowbray River near Port Douglas.

We then spent a day at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures which was fantastic!!!!  It included a croc spotting boat ride and several feedings and shows.  We ended up spending 8 hours there and it went so quickly!  We even tried crocodile meat at the cafe there (bit chewy for me but Lleyton really enjoyed it).

INNOT HOT SPRINGS

From Atherton, we did a slight detour inland along the Great Savannah Way to Innot Hot Springs.  We all enjoyed the Moree Thermal Pools so we thought it would be worth the extra 40km each way to spend a night at Innot.  The park wasn’t quite as nice (a little “tired”) but was still more than adequate and we really enjoyed relaxing in the warm pools.  It was also interesting to get a little glimpse into some of inland Queensland.

HEADING SOUTH

The time has come for us to begin our descent South.  In another week we will be halfway through our time away.  We’ve covered a lot in the 6 weeks we’ve been gone so far.  Although time is passing reasonably quickly, it does feel like we’ve been away for a while now.

Today (Wednesday) we’re heading to Mission Beach.  Tomorrow we’re planning to be south of Townsville then will stop overnight somewhere in the Whitsundays and be in Mackay on the weekend.  Hopefully it doesn’t get cold as quickly as it got warm on the way up.  We’re hoping that as Spring approaches, the southern areas will be warming up enough that we have nice living weather the entire trip.  It’s certainly been lovely living weather up here.

Hopefully I’ll get some more photographs downloaded to the computer soon so I can show you some of what we’ve been seeing.

We’ve had lots of awesome experiences so far on our trip but the Great Barrier Reef would have to be top of the list so far as a favourite with everyone.

There are so many options up here for visiting the reef that it makes your head spin.  We were considering going on a sailing boat for a different experience but in the end it’s probably a good thing we didn’t as weather conditions are not their best at the moment.

Instead, we took the recommendation of the Visitor Information Centre staff who suggested Sunlover.  They were having a special on kids travelling with a paying adult going free so we only had to pay for 1 child.

It was an interesting start to the trip when the ship’s captain (? is that what they’re called) told us the conditions were rough and people could choose to hop off and transfer their tickets to another day if they wanted to.  He then went on to mention that the conditions were going to get worse throughout the week.  We decided to take our chances and brave it.

It was fairly rocky on the trip out there.  So many passengers were seasick.  Lleyton was the first of ours to feel crook, following by Singstar Princess.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen my kids take on a green tinge.  Farmboy and Trailer Boy were fine and I was borderline.

The staff were fabulous and very supportive.  They were quick to help the kids move around the boat when they needed to and one even gave Singstar Princess a piggy back when we were trying to get her out in the fresh air.  Now that’s service given she could have thrown up all over her!!!!

As soon as we arrived, everyone was fine.  In fact, the worst of it was only about half an hour so it wasn’t too bad.  None of us lost our breakfast so that was good!!!!

Riding on the semi-submersible was one of the first activities we did and it was AMAZING!!!  The Great Barrier Reef was passing right before our eyes as the boat slowly moved through the water.

At that point I felt completely satisfied with the day.  We’d come and we’d seen and we’d been there.  Whatever the rest of the day brought, I felt I could go home happy.

After a buffet lunch, we headed out on the glass bottom boat.  This time we were looking down on the reef and you saw different things from that angle.

Then it was time to snorkel.  We left this until last as we didn’t want to be changing in and out of wet bathers.  We figured the kids would last maybe half an hour in the water.

I’ve never snorkelled before and I’m not a strong swimmer so I wasn’t sure how I would go.  Most people were wearing life jackets which made it a lot easier to just float along the top of the water.

It was the most AMAZING experience I have ever had in my life.

We’d seen it all in the Reef HQ Aquarium and through the glass but to actually be swimming with the fish was an experience that words just cannot do justice to describing.  I evern swam over the top of a big clam.

The younger two wanted to go in the kids pool so I took them in there and we had a heap of fish come swimming around in there with us.  Feeling a fish’s tail brush against you in the water is just amazing.

I couldn’t take my camera swimming with me (the kids did have disposable underwater cameras) but here’s a couple of shots through the viewing window they have out there:

If you ever get the opportunity to go and see it, I highly recommend it.  It’s not a cheap exercise but in my opinion it was worth every cent.  I really hope I get another opportunity to go again one day.