NORTH QUEENSLAND

It was very sad leaving Bowen. We had all made some wonderful friends there. It was starting to feel like home. It's also a bit strange getting back in the habit of packing up/setting up every day or two. Our next stopover was a little place just north of Townsville called Saunders Beach. It's a free campsite and obviously quite popular. We managed to just squeeze into a spot next to the playground - which the kids were very happy about.

I was worried about heading north as it had been very warm in Bowen and I thought it's only going to get hotter from here. Strangely enough, on the day we left, the weather turned quite cool with showers and a bit windy. We went for a walk along the beach at Saunders Beach, right next to where we were camped.

The kids loved looking in the rock pools. They couldn't work out how the shells kept moving until we turned them over and little legs started popping out!

Before we got to the campsite, we decided to have a look around Townsville. We drove to The Strand on the waterfront. It's a beautiful area. This is a photo of the boys looking across to Magnetic Island.

There is a fantanstic free water park on The Strand. It will give you some idea how cool it was when I say that I wouldn't let the kids get wet, and they didn't complain about it too much at all!

We left Saunders Beach yesterday morning and drove to Cairns. One of the other campers told us that you can pull caravans up at the Cairns Showgrounds for only $65 per week. It's right in the centre of the city, only a few blocks from the waterfront. We have power, showers and toilets. We've decided to stay here for a week and use it as a base to do some day trips around the area - so next blog....photos from Cairns!

BACK TO EMERALD

We left the caravan at the caravan park and drove 6 hours back to Emerald for my niece Emily's naming ceremony. When we were there 2 months ago, we said we wouldn't be able to make it back because we thought we'd be further away than Bowen and possibly somewhere where we wouldn't be able to just leave the van. Emily didn't know we were coming, so it was a big surprise for her. She also didn't know her cousins were coming from Victoria. I wrote something for Emily and read it out on the day. It was a lovely weekend because my whole family was together for the first time in a year and a half, and we don't know when we'll all be together again.

Gran and Pop with all their grandkids.

Tara has overcome her fear of dogs since we've been on the road, and she got very attached to this one on the weekend. She carried him around like he was a handbag!

As soon as the ceremony was over the kids got into their swimmers and jumped in the pool.

We got back to Bowen on Monday - it's so warm - I can't believe we're about to head north! The kids have made some great friends here and are going to miss them so much.

6 MONTHS ON THE ROAD

This week marks six months on the road for us. In one sense, time has gone really quickly. In another way, it is sometimes difficult to remember what it was like living in a house together! After nearly two months in Bowen, we will be heading on next week. The plan is to stop somewhere north of Townsville for a couple of days and then Cairns. We need to keep moving to avoid wet season. Last Tuesday was so hot I had the air-conditioner going most of the day. That night we got a fairly heavy downpour with a bit of wind behind it. We stayed dry, and the weather cleared in the morning, but it was a gentle reminder that being stuck in tropical rains in a caravan with three kids would not be a lot of fun!
You will notice there are no photos this week - an indication that nothing very exciting happened. The boys had a much-needed haircut, and Brodie learnt to tie his shoelaces. That's about it. I just thought I'd better let you all know that we are still here.

ANOTHER WEEK IN THE TROPICS

The kids had a great weekend, meeting some of their cousins for the first time. Their dad, Scott, is Darren's cousin and they all came down from Townsville to see us. There was a very short period of shy awkwardness, and then they spent hours running around and going crazy, like they'd known each other all their lives!

It has been a fairly quiet week - just lots of school work and more Zumba classes! Not much to write about on my blog, so I took the kids out this morning to get some photos to post. They were quite happy as it meant the morning off school work. We went up to the lookout which gives 360 degree views of Bowen. The photo above shows the main part of town.

Thie was taken to the east, with some of the islands of the Whitsundays in the background.

We haven't seen the movie yet, but Baz Luhrmann's film "Australia' was shot in Bowen.

We also went for a walk along the jetty.

We've been in Bowen for almost 3 weeks now. It's a lovely place, and the weather is still amazingly warm, but I'm starting to get itchy feet. We'll have to head off around the end of the month so we can get across to WA before the wet season hits.

OUR HOLIDAY WEEKEND

We spent the weekend at Whitsunday Sands Resort - the night's accommodation that Darren won. It was only a five minute drive from the caravan park. We were in a motel-style room, so we were still all in the one room together, but it was twice the size of the caravan!! Brodie was so excited to have a separate bed all to himself, and I enjoyed having our own bathroom. We had a beautiful view from our room. The photo above was taken just outside our room.

This photo is looking back at our room. The weather was sensational and we all went for a dip. The kids also had a swim in the pool there.

We sat outside and had fish and chips for dinner. Tara kept screaming every time the bush turkeys walked towards us. Then we watched the sunset across the bay.

This photo was taken from the other side of the resort.

I've never seen a sign like this before. Casey wasn't too keen about sitting there while I took his photo!!