As some of you know we had some trouble settling in Canberra and decided to make a seachange.  It didn’t take us long to start yearning for somewhere closer to the sea, warmer weather and to be away from the rat race (not that Canberra is really a rat race compared to other big cities).  We had always planned to move to Queensland at some stage to be closer to Michael’s family as he had joined the Navy at 17 and moved away.  We quite fancied Hervey Bay because of its location and size as well as the fact that you can buy a property close to the beach for much less than the average price of a house in Canberra.

By May we were making it happen.  We had a weekend in Hervey Bay to look around and by Sunday night we had decided where we wanted to live and had an offer on our house.  We were very lucky that the house sold to a neighbour’s sister without putting it on the market.  Michael arrived here in August and I got here in September after completing some work commitments and visiting Laura in Cairns for the birth of her second baby – a little girl called Leila.  Here is Laura with Leila less than a day old and Leila last December.

I’ve had a few trips to Cairns over the last 12 months.  One was for Ebby’s first birthday when I made him a Wiggles Big Red Car cake as he is mad about the Wiggles.

We have bought a house in a seaside village called Toogoom (said ‘tg um’) which is 15 mins out of Hervey Bay.  Here’s our new house.  We didn’t like the anchor at first as its pretty tacky but we have got used to it now (and I have given up asking Michael to take it down).

We are 600m from the beach which we walk on almost every day.  Its like being on holidays everyday.  Here’s a photo of the beach.

This is the pier.  There’s a  pub on one side of the pier and boat ramp on the other side.

The fishing is pretty good.  We have caught quite few fish.  Michael also has his much wanted boat now.  Its a 4.55m Quintrex Escape.    Here is the boat anchored on the beach at Moon Point on Fraser Island.

While we’ve had some lovely trips on the boat we have had far more success fishing off the beach where we catch flathead and whiting.  Here’s the 51cm flathead Michael caught this morning.  Its a bit bigger than the one he caught yesterday.

Michael is enjoying life not working but has recently started looking for work.  There’s not much going here so it may take him a while to find something.  I have been very fortunate to have kept my job with the same consulting firm in Canberra.  I do a mix of work from home, interstate and back in Canberra.  I go to Canberra about once a month for about a week which is terrific as I get to catch up with famil ywhile I am there, including my daughter Sarah who recently got her Grad Dip in Midwifery and is loving being a midwife.   I have just signed up as a volunteer at the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery to do a couple of hours a fortnight on the reception desk. 

We frequently reminisce about our trip and we both agree that we would head off at the drop of a hat if we could.  The poor old camper hasn’t been used at all since we got home.  We have  plans to do some short trips within only a few hours from here once the summer heat and rain has left us.  We are not far from places like Agnes Waters and 1770 (to the north) and Rainbow Beach and Tin Can Bay (to the south) and of course its just a ferry ride to Fraser Island.

We love having visitors and showing them around the area which we already feel is our home.  Michael’s parents and sister, both of my girls and my mum and step-dad have all been to stay. Mum and Tom  will be moving here shortly as they have just sold their house in Canberra. 

Anyway as you can probably gather we are very grateful that we had the chance to have our big trip and that it led us to the wonderful place that we live now.

Take care everyone.  I’m sure this will be our last blog until we head off on our next big adventure which is not likely to be for quite a few years.

Karen and Michael.

Well this is our last blog entry.  We arrived home on Sunday afternoon.  We found the house in very good order as Sarah and Nev had done a lot of work to make it spick and span for our arrival.  Charlie and Brinkley, our dogs, were really excited to see us. 

We have had a fantastic time and feel very fortunate that we were able to to do it.  We travelled a total of 44551kms (Michael drove all but a few of these kms).  Here’s a map showing our route.

 Our favourite places (in no particular order) were:

* Shark Bay, WA
* Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks, NT
* The south coast of WA from Denmark to Esperance
* Carnarvon Gorge, Qld
* Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park, Qld

Other highlights were staying at Barn Hill Station,WA and Kingfisher Camp on Bowthorn Station, Qld.

WA was by far our favourite state.  There is so much variety from the ruggedness of the Kimberley’s to the forests in the south and the gorgeous beaches.

There’s still so much we want to see especially the centre of Australia (including Uluru) and Tasmania and we really need to spend more time checking out  SA, Vic and NSW.  (And then there is overseas as well).  We aren’t sure where our next holiday will be to, but I expect we will be starting to think about this in the next few weeks.  In the meantime Michael is excited at the prospect of getting a boat in the next few months and taking it down the coast on the weekend.  Of course he has to find a job first as this is the deal we have made.

We have been really pleased with the camper and car and are glad that they have arrived home relatively unscathed.  We haven’t done a proper count but we estimate that we set-up and packed away the camper over 100 times. The only visible damage to our car is a small dent (like a small pox mark) in the passenger door which is a result of a branch on a narrow 4WD track.

At one stage we thought that we wouldn’t travel for such a long time again.  As the trip came to an end we both realised that we had adapted to the lifestyle really well and with a little more luxury (like a caravan) we could easily stay on the road for a year or more.  The hard part is being apart from family, but this can be fixed with short trips home.  Perhaps the best thing about being on the road is that time seems to slow down.  This probably comes from not having the usual demands on our time (like work, doing stuff around the house etc). 

If anyone is interested in the logistics (eg. costs and budget, equipment needed, best timing etc) of travelling we are happy to provide any info we can.

Since we arrived home we have been busy moving our stuff out of storage, unpacking and cleaning the camper ready for future weekend trips.  We have enjoyed having a proper kitchen and our own bathroom (no showering in thongs, yeah!).  The downside has been coming to terms with how much stuff we have that we don’t really need- we both enjoyed the simplicity of having very little.

We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog.  We have enjoyed sharing where we have been and what we have done.  Its been a great way for us to record our trip.  We estimate that we have taken over 5000 photos.  Our next challange will be to pick the best as we are planning to have a series of photos mounted and framed.

Well that’s enough waffle. If you are interested here is the story of our last 2 stops:

26 February to 2 March 2010 (day 344 to 348)
Shady Glen Caravan Park, Mallacoota, Victoria

It rained almost every day while we were at Mallacoota so we didn’t get to do or see an awful lot.  Mallacoota is located at the entrance to a large lake and estuary system.  We were expecting it to be very like Lakes Entrance but discovered that the water is very brown and murky so it isn’t very picturesque. 

This photo shows what the weather was like for the 4 days we were in Mallacoota:

We managed to do some fishing in between the wet weather but had no luck as we only caught several small fish.

2 to 7 March 2010 (day 348 to 353)
Narooma Shores Caravan Park, Narooma, NSW

As we drove up the coast from Mallacoota we crossed the border into New South Wales.   There wasn’t a Welcome to NSW sign, like there has been to mark other state, but just up the road there was a sign saying we were in the South Coast of NSW.

We decided that Narooma would be our last stop as we did a weekend camping trip to Narooma just before we headed off on our big trip and were keen to do more fishing here.  Unfortunately the fishing wasn’t good to us.  On one day we hired a tinny for 4 hours.  We caught lots of little fish including lots of baby pink Snappers which were all undersize.

We took the chance to visit Cathy, my step-mum, in Berry which is north of Narooma.  I enjoyed looking at the photos of Dad and Cathy’s trips around Australia.  They visited many of the same places we have been to in the mid 1990’s.  It was interesting to see that many of the places are still very much the same.

We packed up on our last day with a mix of excitement at the thought of coming home as well as sadness that the trip is over.

Well we are almost home.  We are currently in Mallacoota which is on the coast just south of the Vic/NSW border.  When we were travelling here yesterday we saw our first ‘Canberra’ roadsign at Cann River.  It said ‘Canberra 293kms’. 

I have included some photos of our ‘home away from home’ so you can see how we have been living for the last 11+ months.  We are certainly looking forward to the comforts of home but I think we will also miss our camper.  While we live in a tent it is certainly more luxurious than many tent set-ups we have seen.  We have had lots of interest in the camper.  Just about every place we stop people come and ask for a good look and ask questions about it. Lots of people are intrigued by how it sets up.  At Caranarvon Gorge a group moved their chairs and sat drinking beer watching us setup.  At Croyden one couple took photos as we packed it up as they couldn’t believe how it all folds away into a box.

This is our kitchen, dining and living room:

This is our bedroom

The bed is kingsize and very comfortable.  We have coped really well living out of a bag.  Actually having less means less stress.

_________________________________________________________________________

Here is the next instalment of our trip so far. I will include Mallacoota in our final blog entry as we only got here yesterday.  Our next, and final, stop is in Narooma.  We will be arriving home on 7 March so that we have a week to get ourselves organised before I go back to work in 15 March.  

Hope you are all well. 

Karen and Michael 

11 to 14 February 2010 (day 329 to 332)
Sea-Vu Caravan Park, Robe, SA

This was our last stop in SA.  As we got closer to Robe it rained harder and harder.  We ended up setting up in quite heavy rain which wasn’t much fun.  The more we tried to do things quickly the more things slowed us down so we were pretty wet by the time we finished.

Robe is a very pretty, historical sea-side village.  We would like to come back here another time as it has a lovely relaxing feel.

While the weather wasn’t fabulous we managed to have a good look around.  We did a scenic drive that took us to the town’s historical and geographical landmarks, had a walk around the village and visited Little Dip Conservation Park.  At Little Dip we did a few short walks and also had a go at fishing at Little Dip Beach.  Michael caught a lovely flathead that we had for dinner.

Here is a photo looking back towards Robe.  It was overcast so it doesn’t do it justice.

This is an obelisk that is used as a navigational  marker.

14 to 17 February 2010 (day 332 to 335)

The Gardens Caravan Park, Port Fairy, Victoria

On the way to Port Fairy we crossed the border into Victoria.

I was keen to stay in Port Fairy as I had visited it briefly on a day trip of the Great Ocean Road about 12 years ago and thought it was really pretty.  The town is along the Moyne River, just at its entrance.  The river is bordered by a mix of old stone cottages and luxury homes with boats parked at little jetties. 

In Victoria, Port Fairy is famous for its folk festival which is held in March and increases the population from 2500 to 40000.

We visited the Tower Hill State Game Reserve which is situated in an extinct volcano.  We did a couple of walks including a walk to the peak of the hill.  Sadly it was overcast and very misty so we didn’t get a great view.  Despite the weather it was a really pretty spot and there were lots of birds around.  This is one of the ‘Superb Fairy Wrens’ that we saw.

There is a small island, Griffith Island, just at the entrance to the Moyne River.  We walked around it one day and in the evening went to see the Short-Tailed Shearwaters (aka muttonbirds) return from their day at sea.  These birds are amazing as they fly 15000km from islands near Alaska every September to nest on Griffith Island.  They arrive on almost the same day every year and return to the same nest.  They dig a small burrow in the sand to use as a nest.  Each day the adults go out to sea to feed and return at dusk to feed their chicks.  They leave again in April with the adults leaving a few days before the chicks.  The chicks get hungry and leave a few days later, somehow following the same migratory route as their parents.  Unfortunately we didn’t get any photos as it was almost dark and each bird flew in very quickly.

This is one of the Swamp Wallabies that lives on Griffith Island.

And the sunset

We did some fishing along the wall at the entrance to the Moyne but didn’t have any luck.  The water was so clear that we could see lots of fish swimming around but none of them were hungry.

17 to 20 February 2010 (day 335 to 338)
Apollo Bay Holiday Park, Apollo Bay, Victoria

On the way to Apollo Bay we travelled along the Great Ocean Road calling in at each of the stops along the way.  The coastline is really rugged but beautiful at the same time.

This is the Bay of Islands

The Grotto

The next 2 photos are of Loch Ard Gorge which is named after a ship that was wrecked here.

This is London Bridge with the middle section missing.  When I saw it last there was a bridge from the mainland on the left to the rock on the right.

Here are the Twelve Apostles (you can only see all 12 at the same time from the air).

These are the Gibson Steps which lead to the beach just past the 12 Apostles.  That’s me at near the bottom.

When we arrived at Apollo Bay we discovered that it was the start of a mountain bike marathon on the weekend.  By the time we left on Saturday morning the place was packed.  Apollo Bay is nestled in a forest area called the Otways and is about 20kms away from the Great Otway National Park.

This is a view of Apollo Bay from the breakwater at one end of the bay.

We walked up Mariners Lookout for a great view of the bay. 

We also did a 3.5km walk along the Barham River to Mariners Falls which is a really pretty small waterfall.

We drove out the National Park and loved seeing the koalas that sleep in the trees alongside and across the road as you drive in.  In the park we visited the old Cape Otway telegraph station and lighthouse.

We had heard that the jetty was the place to catch squid in the late afternoon so we tried this on both evenings.  We each caught one which was enough for a lovely meal of salt and pepper squid.

20 to 23 February 2010 (day 338 to 341)
Dromana Holiday Park, Dromana, Victoria

Our next stop was the Mornington Peninsula.  Rather than take the long drive around Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne we caught the ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento.

This is a photo we took a couple of days later, from the other side of the bay, of the ferry passing the Spirit of Tasmania.

We were struck by how many people and how much traffic there was on the peninsula.  Clearly it’s the weekend playground for people living in Melbourne.  The north-west side of the peninsula is dotted with holiday towns including Portsea, Sorrento, Rosebud and Mount Martha.  We discovered that we should have planned our visit ahead of time as the caravan park we wanted to stay in was fully booked and we ended up in a pretty ordinary park that was a few kilometres from the coast.

As well as driving along the coastline we drove up Arthurs Seat.  This is a mountain in the middle of the peninsula.  Its was named by Captain Flinders after a similar mountain in Scotland.  We did a circuit walk around the top of the mountain which provided great views over the peninsula. 

We also visited Cape Schanck and Coolart Homestead and Wetlands.  Coolart Homestead is a Victorian mansion surrounded by lovely gardens and wetlands.  The last owners turned it into a sanctuary for birds in the 1960’s by constructing the wetlands and several walks.

Point Nepean National Park is located at the end of the peninsula, and the opening into Bass Strait, and is the home of Fort Nepean which operated from the 1880’s to 1945. 

This is the ‘heads’ from Port Phillip Bay leading to the Bass Strait.

This is a view of the fort.

The first shots of both WWI and WWII were fired from the fort.  You can walk through the underground tunnels to the gun emplacements.  You can’t drive to the fort and have the option of walking or riding or catching a shuttle for the 3.6kms trip to the fort.  We decided to walk there and back as there are a number of other walks and points of interest to stop at along the way. 

One of the points of interest is Cheviot Beach where Prime Minister, Harold Holt went missing in 1967 and eventually was presumed dead. 

For anyone not in Australia, there has been lots of speculation about his disappearance because his body was never found. Michael and I were surprised to see how treacherous the beach was and couldn’t believe that people would swim here as it is very rocky and the sea was pretty rough.

While on the peninsula we visited Michael’s longtime friends, Oby and Leisl.  They made a lovely meal and we really enjoyed visiting them.  Michael hadn’t seen them for 5 years so he really enjoyed the chance to catch up.

The time on the peninsula was a bit of trip down memory lane for Michael as he went to recruit school at HMAS Cerberus when he was 17 and had a posting there for 3 years from 1992.

We tossed up weather to make Wilsons Promontory National Park our next stop.  We were keen to go to the southern most point of the Australian mainland, which is in the park, as we have done the northern, eastern and western most points on this trip.  We discovered that there are only 2 ways to get there.  The first is a 19km, each way, bushwalk.  While you can stay in the lighthouse cottages once there you have to carry all of your supplies and bedding in.  As well as not having the right gear we couldn’t be sure that we are fit enough to make it so we decided to leave this for now.  The second option is a boat trip but this only runs several times a year with the next one being in March.  We’ll plan to do the boat trip sometime in the future.

 23 to 26 February 2010 (day 341 to 344)
Eastern Beach Tourist Park, Lakes Entrance, Victoria

Lakes Entrance is another very touristy town on the Victorian Coast.  We explored the area by walking along the foreshore into town, crossing the footbridge to the beach and driving up the coast to Lake Tyers and down the coast to Metung which is a really sweet little village. 

This sand sculpture was created to raise funds for charity.

While at Metung we saw a couple catch 5 large flathead so we decided we would come back and fish here.

We spent the next afternoon fishing on the boardwalk along Bancroft Bay at Metung.  We didn’t have any luck (other than an undersized King George Whiting that I caught) so we moved a little jetty around the back of Metung.  Michael caught a terrific flathead on his second cast and then managed to catch another one about an houre later.  We shared our catch at a BBQ with our next door neighbours and another couple.