Parked Up

HOUSE SITTING We are lucky enough to be house sitting whilst we are home on the Gold Coast over Christmas/New Year. Feel like we are rattling around after living comfortably in 21 foot, might even lose weight with all the walking. In the van I can check what's cooking from my seat. Lovely having the pool and of course to have family and friends over for Christmas.

We envisage being back on the road by the 10th January and I look forward to sharing our amazing journey with you. Have a great Christmas and we wish you good health and happiness for 2010!

Far East

CAPE BYRON This is the most eastern point of Australia. The area sure does know how to take your money, caravan parks seem to charge per person, first time we have struck this and nearly every bit of beachfront, national parks and the lighthouse charge for car parking. It certainly does not deter visitors and the streets are bustling with a lot of young people and a variety of them, we feel like old fossils.
BYRON BEACH It was a bit overcast yesterday morning, but later on the sun burnt off the cloud to a lovely day. The back drop of the hinterland is really nice.

CARPET PYTHON about 2 metres long on the road at Nightcap National Park, thank goodness for a good zoom lens. We visited the Minyon falls, a lush valley but alas no water, would be very spectacular when there is.

The snake was not at all concerned about us and made no effort to move, who were we to argue?

Oh Yes, we do like to be beside the seaside

YAMBA Yesterday we arrived here, it is on the southern side of the Clarence River, a really nice seaside town, again a lot of waterways, new homes and famous for it's prawns. ILUKA BLUFF Iluka is across from Yamba and on the northern side of the Clarence River, more sleepy than Yamba but still some nice beaches and the coast north of here is National Park abutting the southern side of Evans Head.

Today we followed the Clarence River through Maclean and on to Grafton, the area has a lot of sugar cane and a few cows. Maclean looks like a really nice town with great views of the river.
YAMBA GOLF COURSE home to kangaroos once the sun starts to set.

Coasting Along

BALLINA Visited here today and surprised at the amount of waterways in the area with the Richmond River, estuaries and several creeks, a lot of new homes and a highway bypass under construction to save traffic going through the city. CHINAMANS BEACH, EVANS HEAD We have been here the last few days, the weather has been warm enough to feel like swimming but the wind has not made the sea very appealing. Yesterday there was a pod of about a dozen dolphins frolicking only 30 metres off shore.
HASTINGS POINT, TWEED COAST this is where we stayed prior to Evans Head.

Border Ranges National Park

TWEED VALLEY Today we drove through some lush countryside to the National Park, once there we enjoyed spectacular views with lookouts across the valley at a similar height to Mt Warning. A quiet spot and only came across two other vehicles, presume it is busier at the weekend. Can't get over how lovely and green everything is after the drought stricken areas we have been through. Saw lot's of wood pigeons, rosellas and willy wagtails. BRINDLE CREEK and some water!

SPIDER WEB just loved the way it glistened with the dew.

CARPET PYTHON? no, we didn't run it over.

Green, green, grass

MURWULLIMBAH inland from the Tweed Coast, how nice was it to see the green countryside after all the drought stricken ground we have travelled over. Today has been overcast, we are staying at the coastal town of Hastings Point, so not quite beach weather.
TWEED VALLEY lovely rolling hills and the area has cattle, tea, bananas and sugar cane.

Bustling Brisbane

BRISBANE CITY you can just make it out through the heat haze, yesterday it was 34 degrees, really muggy after being on the coast. The city is so busy; could not handle that traffic every day, we are definitely not big city people, really like small towns. This is the view from Mt Cootha where all the TV channels are based. ST MARYS CATHOLIC CHURCH in Ipswich which is about 40kms west of Brisbane. The city has some magnificent buildings and was established around coal mines in the area. We were surprised at just how hilly Brisbane and Ipswich are.

Inside St Mary's Catholic Church which was built in 1904.

Former residence of the Christian Brothers and now St Edmunds College, Ipswich.