Author: Bill

First stop on our four country Bucket List Tour. Arrived in the afternoon, picked up by a hotel car, taken to the hotel and checked in. Nancy arranged a couple tours with one of the Bell Captains and we went to our room, checked in, then took a walk downtown to see what’s what. Found out you shouldn’t drink the water so we hydrated with a couple local beers.

They must have worked well as we never suffered from dehydration or food poisoning.

Our first day out, after a good night of sleep, we went to the Grand Palace where the King of Thailand lives. Thailand has had a spattered mix of kings and civil leaders in its history. If you are into that kind of detail I recommend you look it up. Quite involved and way too long for me to describe. Besides, I’m sure you are aching to see my pictures! Here we are at the Grand Palace. We were picked up by a driver and driven to the palace. As we walked in this little old lady offered to be our guide for a small sum of money. Her english was good so we said “Okay!”. She took us in and proceeded with her three hour tour. Very ornate, extremely decorative and a great dal of fine detail. Quite interesting. The first few pictures are on the drive from the hotel to the palace.

We went to another Temple. The Temple of the Sleeping Buddha. Not nearly as opulent or well kept but worth a walk through.

Those were our two tours for the day. We did not have a guide during the second temple but much was the same as the first. Thousands of temples in Thailand … all a little different but basically the same. All interesting to see … at least the first hundred or so.

So fearing the heat, humidity, and dehydration we went back to the hotel. Walked around a bit and found an Irish pub … just what you would expect in Bangkok. Had some refreshment and a bite to eat.

We had a pleasant dinner at the hotel and turned in. That was our first day in Bangkok, Thailand. Interesting place. Next up tomorrow … the Train Market, the Floating Market, and an elephant ride. Stay Tuned. More posts coming.

Here we are, another day in Thailand. Today’s activities were booked by Nancy a couple months ago. She wanted to ensure she would get to ride an elephant while we were in Thailand. Many places have stopped providing elephant rides due to pressure from animal rights people and organizations. They claim it is cruel to the animals so most “camps” now provide an opportunity to feed, bath, and walk with an elephant but not ride one. Nancy found a tour service that would provide an elephant ride and assured her the animals were well cared for, loved, and not abused. So, Nancy booked a full day tour (the only choice) that included the Train market, the Water market, and an elephant ride. We were told to meet the tour at a specific intersection in Bangkok and we would be whisked off on an exciting full day tour of Thailand.

We took a cab to the appointed spot at the appointed time and met up with our group of about 5 people. We had about an hour drive to a location where there was a very large market that had a set of train track running right down through the middle of it. We were kinda dumped off at the edge of the market and told to be back to the dump off spot in one hour. I don’t think anyone knew what was going on or what to do. Nancy and I walked into the market and strolled along looking at all the stuff they sold and figured out (from a train schedule) that the train comes through every 30 minutes or so, then returns. Most of the market stalls that were next to the tracks had a row of chairs that you could sit on to watch the train go by. We had no idea what kind of train it was so when everyone looked like they were getting ready for a train to come by, we rented a couple seats and waited. Soon, all the merchants with stalls along the tracks started taking down the awnings they had in front and making sure everyone sitting on their chairs were behind a line. No one stayed in their chairs, they all walked out onto the tracks to see if they could see that train coming. Soon it did. A full sized train, not long, maybe ten cars, but full sized engine and cars, with people in them, slowly went by. As it neared people would return to their seats behind the line, sit down, and wave at the train as it passed. When it had passed, the merchants reassembled their awnings, put their displays back out front, and life went on. Have a look!

Ok then … we made it back to the van by the appointed time and we were whisked off to see the Floating Market. I wasn’t sure what to think after the train market so I just waited to see what would happen. Another drive through the country and we came to the “Little Venice” of Thailand. Situated on the edge of a large lake, canals were dredged out and people started selling things along the edge and from their boats. Many different kinds of boats and most anything you can think of to buy. Before the pictures of the Floating market are a few window shots as we wheeled our way across rural Thailand.

That was the Floating Market … interesting. So those who had booked the elephant ride, or wanted to go because everyone booked all three adventures, were loaded up in the whisk van and taken to the elephant camp. There we queued up on a platform and prepared to step up onto our seats on top of an elephant. The driver, or Mahout, sat in front on the back of the elephant’s head. We sat in a seat saddled onto the elephants back right behind the Mahout. The Mahout was friendly and talked during most of the ride describing his life, how he cared for the elephant, etc. Interesting. Let’s have a look!

And that was the end of our ride. Nancy had her elephant ride … I’m happy. Happy wife, Happy life you know! From dismount we were given the opportunity to buy 400 pictures of our ride. Wd declined and loaded up in our van, went back to the Floating market and picked up those on our tour who chose not to abuse elephants and drove back to Bangkok. Another interesting day. ON the way back to the hotel we saw this German restaurant so we walked down to if and had dinner. On the way back from dinner we stopped to make sure Fitzgerald was doing okay. All is well.

The next day was Sunday. We decided that as long as there was a church very near by offering an English Mass we would do that to start our day after a quick breakfast.

After Church we took a Taxi downtown … the new part of downtown that hosts one of the tallest buildings in the world. The Cube. We took an elevator to the top and viewed Bangkok.

There was a large glass floored area you could walk out onto and look down. Camers were not allowed but phones were so I took some pictures looking down.

So that’s The Cube. Nancy wanted to see China Town and a big gold Buddha they have there so we took a taxi to China town. Traffic was heavy and our taxi driver said he was not going any further. He pointed in a direction and said China town was that way and not very far. It was that way but a bit farther than he indicated. Anyway, we found it. The trials and perils of travel and all that you know! Here’s some pictures.

China town was not like any China Town we found in the US or other countries. It was basically just another big market. The temple was interesting with an interesting history of the Buddha. Thailand has many temples housing giant golden statues of Buddha but Wat Traimit houses a giant statue of Buddha made of pure gold. Although the statue is several centuries old, its identity was only revealed only 67 years ago. It weighs 5.5 Tons. Go to telegraphindia.com to read MUCH more about it. An interesting history.

This was our last day in Bangkok, for now. Tomorrow we fly up to the Golden Triangle. Don’t miss it.

Here we are at the Golden Triangle of Thailand. Its called the Golden Triangle because three countries come together when two rivers (The Mekong and The Ruak) converge. Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), Laos, and Thailand are all in this one little corner. It’s called “Golden” because the area was used heavily by drug smugglers and dealers and a great deal of money and gold passed through. We had planned to spend three days up by the Golden Triangle but when we arrived there we found there was not really a great deal to see there and the other stuff we wanted to see was back in Chang Rai. So I cranked up booking dot com and booked two nights in Chang Rai. We would be much closer to the temples we wanted to see there and close to the airport when we flew back to Bangkok. We arrived at the Golden Triangle fairly early so we walked around a bit and found there was really no where to go. We booked a driver for the next day to take us up to the Golden Triangle site, let us tour a bit, then drive us back to Chang Rai. We had dinner at the hotel, took a ride to the center of the community we were staying in and walked around in the market, then returned to the hotel.

The next morning, after breakfast we proceeded with our plan and our driver took us to “the Golden Triangle” which is really just a gathering of businesses, Temples, and concessions. That worked though because we ended up having an interesting morning.

The next morning we grabbed a bit of breakfast, met our driver, and we were off to the Golden Triangle. We took our bags with us because we planned to spend a couple hours touring the Golden Triangle then head south to Chang Rai.

We drove down to Chang Rai which was about an hour drive. along the way, Nancy had read up about a village where they had long Necked Karens and she wanted to see it. This scared me a bit due to all the bad press about Karens lately but I put my trust in Nancy and we went there.

That was the long necked Karens. The path was about a kilometer long linking up the three villages. The Karens were all selling things they had made. I looked like they lived there. From here we were taken to our hotel which was a very nice resort. Nancy arranged for a driver and some tours for tomorrow and we settled in for the evening. I’m going to end this post here. It is getting too long and slowing down. I will pick up from here with a post call “Chang Rai and the three temples”.

After several years of attempting to check off a couple of Nancy’s bucket items we finally planned and executed a trip to Thailand, to ride an elephant and see the Golden Triangle; India, to see the Taj Mahal and the Ganges River; Nepal, to visit Kathmandu; and Indonesia, to revisit Bali. I know that was a long sentence but it was a long trip. None of these places are in, on, or anywhere near my bucket list so I told Nancy that where we went and what she saw was to be entirely up to her. I would take care of the logistics i.e. … flights, hotels, VISAs, etc. With that agreement we took out maps, search engines, and advertisements and worked out where we would go, for how long, and what we would see. Here’s a MACRO map of the trip.

In a nutshell, we drove down to Brisbane and caught a flight to Bangkok, Thailand. We overnighted in Brisbane before our flight and celebrated our anniversary at Gino’s Italian Cafe … nice evening. We departed from Brisbane, had an aircraft change in Denpasar, Indonesia, and arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. A couple days and an elephant ride later we flew up to Chiang Rai, rented a cab, drove up to a little village by the Golden Triangle and spent the night. Later the next day we traveled back to Chiang Rai and spent a couple days visiting temples and other sites there. From Chiang Rai we flew back to Bangkok just for an overnighter and a connection to New Delhi in India. Once in India we spent one night in New Delhi and flew to Agra the next day to see the Taj Mahal. After two nights in Agra we flew to Varanasi, India to see and visit the sights there including the Ganges River. From Varanasi we flew back to New Delhi and took a day off, spent the next day touring, and prepared to travel to Nepal the following. We flew to Kathmandu in Nepal, spent two nights there, and then flew to Denpasar on Bali, in Indonesia. After two nights there we flew home to Brisbane and drove home.

Saw and enjoyed many things during the three plus weeks we were traveling. To avoid this post from being too long I am going to post each country separately. They will be listed under this initial post, will include many pictures and a more inclusive description of what we saw and did.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the trip. While there were many hotels, flights, and VISAs we were fortunate to have not encountered any difficulties so we had a good time, saw many interesting things, and are pleased we took the trip. All in all we had 10 different hotels stays, 10 different flights, and three sets of VISAs to get during the 24 days we were “on the road”. See you in “Thailand”!

Sailing the Whitsunday Islands, located between the Great Barrier Reef and the Australian mainland is a very popular activity of sea going, island hopping, kayaking, boarding, relaxing, boating, sailing, yachting Australians …. and people from many other parts of the world.  Sailing the Whitsundays is something Nancy and I have often talked about and had a great interest in doing.  We agreed that sailing the islands in either a monohull or catamaran would be the way to do it.  However, there was a doubt on one of our parts regarding my ability to safely operate and navigate a large sailboat over this vast and rugged part of the Australian coast.  I did not want to hire a Captain.  We came up with a solution both of us were happy with.  We would get a boat big enough for the two of us and the five people in our son Andy’s family.  The doubters or faint of heart members of the groups were comfortable with the combined sailing capabilities of Andy and myself and it looked like we had a window of opportunity over the last two weeks of the young folk’s Summer School break, in mid to late January.  I found a company willing to lease us a 12 Meter (40 Foot) Catamaran for the period and we were ready to go.  This all occurred during the September through December period. So where are the Whitsundays you ask? Lemme show you.

So now you know where we went. Now a bit about the boat. The Catamaran, “Mandala”, was offered for charter by Carter Yachts Australia, located in Arlie Beach, Queensland.  The Mandala has four staterooms, two bathrooms with showers, (one on each side servicing two of the four staterooms), a large galley/living area, a large outdoor seating area, and air conditioning in the main galley.  Plus it had a large flat area, part of which was a net, in front to use for relaxing.  We figured it would meet our needs.  Nancy and I got one bedroom and the five other Rumpel’s got the other three bedrooms.  All bathrooms were available for all to avoid long waits.  Here’s some pictures of the Mandala that I borrowed from their website.

The time that passed between September and 9 January was used to complete our planning and preparation. First, Andy and I needed to present our sailing qualifications to the charter company for their review and approval.  This helped satisfy the state government and insurance company requirements.  Then everyone had to submit a list of height, weight, shoe size, and IQ to be fitted for sting suits, flippers, goggles, snorkel tubes, and a paddle board and a kayak.  Lastly we needed to decide how we were going to feed this small crowd over the seven days and nights we would be sailing.  The charter company recommended we review the Whitsunday Provisioning website.

Mandala has a fairly generous freezer and refrigerator.  One option we looked at was making a list of what we needed for the 49 dinners, 49 lunches, 49 breakfasts, as well as morning and afternoon tea, and snacks and drinks for all in between.  We would then descend upon a grocery store when we got to Arlie beach (A five hundred kilometer drive), buy all the stuff, and bring it on board the night before we sailed.  The charter company allowed us to board Mandala the afternoon before our charter started and stow our gear, food, and kids, as well as spend the night on board before Andy and I would attend a 4 hour brief the next morning before we sailed.  The next option was to prepare all the meals at home, before we left, package them, and bring them with us.  The third choice was to use WhitSunday Provisioning which offered three levels of provisioning with the highest level being Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch, Afternoon Tea, and Dinner being provided for each day for each person.  They had a planned menu that listed what foods you would have for each eating event, and instructions how to prepare it.  Everything was fresh and eating/dietary restrictions were accounted for.

Not knowing if we would find all the groceries we planned to buy when we arrived, nor how expensive they would be in this high density tourist area ruled out option one.  I didn’t really feel like (call me fussy) dealing with 98 precooked meals as well cereals, juices, bread, chips, etc for breakfast, teas, and snacks, then eating what would equate to eating leftovers for the week, ruled out option two.  Whitsunday Provisioning was our choice.  Bring your own drinks and extra snacks, everything else was there, fresh, packaged by meal, and ready to go.  I’m sure it was most likely a bit more expensive, but not knowing the cost of groceries in Arlie Beach, and getting everything at one time in one place was well worth the cost if it was more.  That took care of provisioning.  Lorna, at Whitsunday Provisioning was exceptionally helpful, cooperative, and had a great deal of advice.  She made it obvious that our needs would be met … and they were.

We had everything pretty well nailed down by the holidays so all we needed to do was enjoy Christmas and New Years, then get packed and ready to go.  We would leave early on the morning of the 9th of January and get to Arlie Beach by mid afternoon … and that’s pretty much how it happened.  So  here’s the story … and a few pictures.

9 January, 2024 – We hit the Bruce Highway (A1) just outside of Tannum Sands and headed north.  We were on the road within 15 minutes of our proposed departure time, traffic was light, and the weather was cloudy but not raining.  We made occasional pit stops for food, fuel, and relief but stayed pretty much on schedule.  Around noon we started picking up rain showers that were squally at times but kept pressing on.  At MacKay, Andy and Candy decided to stop and feed the family, Nancy and I elected to press on, get to the boat, check in, unload our stuff in case Andy and Candy were late and needed a car to pick up some groceries they had ordered from a local grocer in Arlie Beach.  As it turned out, Andy and Candy elected not to eat in, did a pit stop, got some carry-out and were on the road about 30 minutes behind of us.  We drove through some really heavy rain storms, including road flooding, but made it safely.  We had just checked in and were finishing unloading our car into a cart when they arrived,  It was still fairly early so they unloaded as well and we all hauled our stuff out to the pier where Mandala awaited us.  We had about two hours to unload, unpack, find places for all our stuff, get a briefing on how to live through the night on the boat, get to the grocer, and find some ice … as well as pick up our diving gear and make sure it fit.  We then ordered pizzas for everyone, relaxed on board our yacht, and enjoyed a relaxing dinner.  It was an early up the next morning for our departure prep, pre departure orientation and operating instructions so we went to bed early.  Let me mention here that when you are north of the tropic of Capricorn, in the middle of January, it is HOT.  Mandala did have air conditioning but very little of it got into the staterooms.  Consequently we quickly learned to take advantage of the sea breezes and wind direction.  Helpful but still a tad on the warm side.

10 January – The day has arrived!!!  The adults were up before six seeking coffee and cool air.  The younger ones were sleeping in.  It was raining outside but looked like it might stop  in a while.  Our briefing was scheduled to start at 8 and our provisions were supposed to arrive before ten.  Our guidance was we were to be out of our spot before 10.  We were enjoying some morning coffee and some cookies one of the Mom’s had brought when Lorna from Whitsunday Provisioning showed up with a massive cart filled with boxes of produce, and many styrofoam boxes of frozen products.  All we had to do was transfer it onto Mandala, and the Mom’s find room for it all in the fridge, freezer, cupboards, and stow spaces.  Whilst Nancy and Candy were stashing the food products, Steve, from the Charter Company showed up to start our brief.

Steve was a self proclaimed surfer who worked a couple months a year briefing people who rented or chartered yachts for the many yacht leasing companies in Arlie beach.  He had been sailing the Whitsundays for many years or had listened to enough briefings to have a standard spiel about where to go what to do, and what not to do.  Most of it was common sense but then I would guess there are many people who charter these yachts who don’t possess that attribute.  He did make a big impression on the folks who knew little about sailing and that proved to be the hurtle Andy and I had to deal with each time we made a decision regarding the boat.  “Steve said we needed to do this”, or “Steve said we needed to go here” … jeez, it was like tides, depths, currents, and winds were something we had never heard of.  I finally figured out Steve sought admiration and his limitless knowledge was most assuredly a source of admiration from a few of our party.  He ate that up like a self licking ice cream cone and it was only when Andy or I asked a question that he would focus back on what he was trying to tell us.  

At ten we sailed, with Steve, to do mooring, anchoring, starting, stopping, and man-overboard exercises so we would know what to do if we moored, anchored or someone fell overboard.  I guess he figured the certifications Andy and I had from the American Sailing Association didn’t cover those remote or unimportant events.  Finally, by noon, he called it done, jumped in the dingy we had been towing all morning, and left in a cloud of dust … or something. 

In all honesty, I think he was seriously concerned that we all enjoyed a safe vacation, he just didn’t read his audience very well.  Mostly lost the ones who needed the info and spent too much time telling things to people who had no idea what he was talking about and couldn’t remember what he said a day or two later but were fascinated with what he had to say..

We continued on and motored across a rather expansive bay and tied up to a mooring ball in a sheltered cove.  Part of Steve’s briefing included the types of Jelly Fish that live in the waters around the Whitsundays.  He emphasized a certain type that was smaller than your finger nail, you could not feel it when it stung you, and there were no side effects until a hour or so later.  Then pains immobilized your arms, stomach and back.  You had to be rushed (by Helicopter) to a medical facility that could treat you.  Most people survived, if treated quickly enough.  I asked him how many cases of these horrible stings occurred last year here in the Whitsunday’s.  His answer was a vague, “maybe 4 or 5 out of the two million visitors they had last year”.  More people than that had been struck by lightening but he had made his point.  Now everyone was afraid to go in the water.  We had sting suits, boots, etc.  Finally the younger Rumpel family took our tender/dingy and drove over to the Island we were moored next to and did a little jungle hike (no danger there!)  They did see, and we saw a few times after, wild goats that lived on these islands.  I explained to them that the goats had walked across the ice during the glacial period to get from the mainland to the island.  My input was greeted with skepticism but no one else had a better answer.  I will stick to my story.

Okay!!  So now we are on the boat, fully checked out, fairly settled in, and ready to explore the Whitsundays.  The things to do were, sail or motor to and around the various islands, explore the islands on shore (several had hiking trails to lookout points on top), snorkel to view the coral reefs, fish, kayak, paddle board, or just chill out on the boat enjoying the breeze and tranquility.  We had the boat for a week so there was ample opportunity to do all of the above … and we did.

In order to keep the galley from getting over crowded or the same people being stuck with cooking all the time I made up a roster for the kitchen. We had six adults so two were in charge of KP each day. Worked out each person worked two days during the trip. Christian, our Grandson had “Fish Watch” every day, and Andy and myself, in addition ot doing our share of the KP, alternated being Skipper and First Mate.

Looking at my pictures I find the scenery a bit redundant so rather than do this post day by day, the rest of it will be a summary of the days we were sailing the Whitsundays.  Steve did tell us that the coral reefs had been killed by a severe storm a few years back and were in the process of regenerating.  That kinda killed the coral viewing part but people in our group did snorkel, some reported seeing coral.  So, here are the rest of the photos.  Many of the pictures are of the islands with many trees and rocky shores. The beaches are not sand but actuall coral that has broken off and washed ashore. Enjoy.

Australia sold one of its islands to China. Here is China’s attempt to build a resort on that Island. It appears finished but no one was there.

We docked at a resort on Hamilton Island (HI) for two days. We had originally planned to dock there just one day but everyone was kinda salted out and wanted to enjoy a little shore time so we extended a day. We ate at the resort, swam at the resort pool (no jelly fish), and spent the time kinda recharging.

Here are some photos I took at Hamilton Island. There are no private cars on Hamilton Island. Golf carts are the principle mode of travel and you can rent them, or just take one of a couple buses that take you around the island. The resort there is big and there are other establishments to provide food, drink, and souvenirs.

So that was our trip. We made reservations at a hotel in a town named MacKay that was about an hour south of Arlie Beach. We turned in the boat, transferred all our gear, and headed south to MacKay. The reason for the hotel was two fold. One, we were all tired and a six hour trip on a hot road after getting off and unloading the boat was just asking for problems. The other was everyone wanted to take a long hot shower, maybe swim in a freshwater pool, relax for a while, have a nice dinner, and drive home the next day. That’s what we did and it all worked out fine. Had a nice family dinner right at the hotel dining room and turned in early. Driving this far north is a challenge because of all the big mining equipment they move around. The roads are all narrow two lane roads with passing zones every ten miles or so. Here’s a sign I saw along the way that highlighted the problems.

And they all drive on the wrong side of the road!!!! Thanks for coming along. Next trip to Thailand, India, Nepal, and Indonesia.

We finally got our new Caravan. Campers, of any kind, are in big demand here in Oz and the waiting lists for new ones are long. We picked ours up in October and have finally both found the time to set it up so we would have everything we need while traveling. It’s been fun setting it up and getting it ready. Australia has very strict laws about towing trailers so we had a lot to learn and many “T’s” to cross and “I’s” to dot.

We decided our first formal trip would be to Cairns in northern Queensland, about 1200 kilometers (720 miles) north of where we live.

We planned the trip following the A1 or Bruce Highway with overnight stays in Mackay, Townsville, and Cairns, with our stay in Cairns being two nights. Looking to mix in a little exploring we decided to find a more inland route to return by. We selected the Gregory Development Highway for that adventure. Development highways are part of a larger plan for Queensland highway development. Some are paved, some not. The Gregory, at least the part we traveled on was all paved and a fairly decent road. If you recall previous posts I describe how quickly paving ends once you depart a main road. This road was all paved but just recently so there are stories on the internet about how treacherous it is. Took a great deal of research but decided to take the road to The Lynd from Cairns, then down to Charters Towers where we planned to spend the night. Then on down to Emerald and Biloela where we planned to spend the second night. Range was a big factor in these choices because once you are inland on these Development Roads there can be stretches of six to seven-hundred kilometers of no facilities. Running out of gas along these roads is not a good thing. To tip the scales in our favor I purchased and mounted on the caravan, two twenty liter (5 Gallon) fuel containers. This extended our range for another 250 to 300 Kilometres. We have a Hyundai Tucson Diesel which normally gets exceptional milage. Howerver, once you start towing a two ton caravan, the milage drops radically, it actually doubles our gas consumption. That’s what made the fuel cans so important.

Anyhow, we got all that figured out, loaded up everything we thought we would need and headed north.

We arrived in Mackay early in the afternoon so we took our time setting up making sure we did it all correctly. Of immediate and obvious importance was the Air Conditioning we had elected to have installed in our caravan. We were traveling north but towards the equator not away from it. It is also getting into late Spring so Summer is starting to show up with high temps and very high humidity. About half way to MacKay we crossed the tropic of Capricorn … as a matter of fact, the area we traveled is called The Capricorn Region. The air conditioning worked good and was very welcome.

Once we got set up, we drove downtown and walked along the old main street to the Thursday afternoon market. It was just being set up so we settled in at a small river side Bistro and thought about what we would do for dinner.

It turns out we decided to have a selection of share servings the Bistro offered so we had plenty, a good variety, and a nice dinner. Back to the campground and our first night of sleep in the caravan.

I guess this would be a good time to mention that I did not take a lot of pictures along the way. I kept my focus on driving the Tucson and keeping the trailer in tow on the narrow, two lane road that had a fair amount of traffic on it. Besides, they would look just like the hundreds of window shots I’ve posted from our earlier trips. One thing I did notice. As we went north, everything became more tropical, lush, and green. As I mentioned, they were harvesting the Sugar Cane so there was a great deal of activity with that. Long ago they set up a series of narrow gauge railroad tracks that go all through the fields and eventually to the processing plant. There were hundreds of little cars specially designed to haul the cane on it was cut.

We left MacKay moderately early headed north to Townsville. While the area along the way to MacKay from home was mostly crops and farmland, much of the second leg from MacKay to Townsville was dry and rocky. The area is called the dry tropics and it is that. There were some sugar can fields that were being harvested but not many cattle and more rocky terrain. The east coast of Australia, especially Queensland, has several small mountain chains that run the length of the state. They start about 30 to 50 kilometers in from the coast and occur every 20 to 30 kilometers creating valleys that run north and south parallel to the coast line. There are three or four of those chains, then the land goes flat across what is called the Outback.

Townsville is largely a military town with a large Army installation there. The city is bigger than Gladstone and bigger than MacKay. Each of these cities are located on a major river that runs into the Coral Sea. The cities were originally established where larger ships could dock and unload and smaller ships or boats could take supplies, stock, and people inland. We went to the local K-Mart to buy a couple pillows. We found the ones we brought to be a bit shy of what we found comfortable. We made dinner at the caravan, took a walk, and turned in.

Made it to Cairns early in the afternoon, checked into the campground, set up, and set out for downtown. Located on the coast, Cairns is noted as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and all it has to offer. We wanted to see the park and businesses along the sea.

The next day we went Platypus hunting. There is a small town about 40 kilometers west that has two Platypus viewing platforms. It is hailed as the best place in Australia to see Platypus. These unusual and bashful animals are very difficult to find and see, plus they have become very rare. The drive there was over one of those mountain ranges I mentioned earlier. It was 40 kilometers of uphll curves followed by downhill curves. It was one of the ways we had considered for our trip home. Anyhow, we made it to the town, found the platforms and spent about 45 minutes to an hour at each one trying to see a Platypus.

We never did see a Platypus. As I said, they are difficult to see and like looking for any wild creatures, sometimes they are just not there. Anyhow, there is a wild life park on a different route back to Cairns that we stopped at. The visit included a ride on a “DUCK” (just like Wisconsin Dells!” and a walking tour of the animals.

So that was the game park. Nice afternoon … nothing real glamorous but well presented. We left the park and returned to Cairns following the second route. Had to cross the mountains again but better road, fewer curves. Decided this was the way we were going when we left tomorrow. Meanwhile, when we got back to the city we again went downtown looking for dinner.

We had a wonderful dinner at a Greek Restaurant that we found. Our server was a young lady from Germany that was working her way around the world. Had a nice time and a great meal. The owner was even familiar with Hella’s in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

The next morning we packed up and headed out for home. We made it all the way to Charters Towers the first day. Long trip but absolutely nothing to do along the way. We stopped at every Roadhouse we came to (two of them) and filled up with fuel.. Spent the night in a nice campground, had dinner downtown at a hotel pub. Charters Towers is a very old mining town. The town, like most small towns in Australia, was well kept, clean, and pleasant.

After filling up with fuel in the morning we headed south towards Emerald, our planned second stop. As we got near to Emerald, it was still early and we were anxious to get home so we decided to go all the way to our house. We did, a long day, a little over 900 kilometers, but we made it safely home.

That was our first trip in our Caravan and our first long trip since we moved here. Many more to come. Stay tuned and Thanks for coming along..

Brisbane is the Capitol of Queensland and the third largest city in Australia (Sydney and Melbourne being 1 and 2 respectively). It hosts a population of just over 2.6 million people. It is the only really large city in Queensland with other populations centers having significantly less people.

I had some business in Brisbane so Nancy and I decided to make a weekend of it. We were able to get a room at the Royal Albert hotel right down town so we were all set.

Friday morning we got a Nine AM start and completed the 505 kilometer (just over 300 miles) drive Friday afternoon checking into our hotel and getting settled. We walked about a bit later in the afternoon to get a feel for the “Vibe” of downtown. It is a very active city and the sidewalks were packed with people all weekend. After I completed my business late Saturday morning we decided to a bit of serious looking about and, after putting on our walking shoes, departed to see the sights and participate in the life of Brisbane. Here are a bunch of pictures from our walk.

Soth Bank was very nice with so many things to do. The weather had warmed up a bit so people were out in droves to get some fresh air and sunshine. We had two really good dinners (neither was a Parmy). One Friday evening and one Saturday night. Our hotel was over a hundred years old and was an interesting, and enjoyable place to stay. We had a nice roomy room that was quiet … what more can you ask for?

Sunday morning we got up, attended mass at a parish where the priest we came to know in Coomera now presides. Always good seeing old friends. He is not old, is from Nigeria, and a very interesting man. After church we drove back to Tannum Sands, stopped by Andy and Candy’s for a quick catchup, and went home. It was a very nice weekend which we intend to repeat sometime in the near future. Hope you liked the pictures.

In late June, Nancy and I were getting tired of unpacking, hanging, arranging, etc in our new home so we decided to take in a little local color. Mount Larcom is a small community North of Tannum Sands and is basically a small town along the only highway that leads north along the coast. They do put on an impressive Fall fair (they do it in the Fall because of the heat during the summer is unbearable) so we decided to go there and see what it is all about, We spent about six or seven hours there. Took a couple breaks because it was still quite warm, walked through the animal barns, and wandered through the midway. The festival was much like a county or state fair where you have displays of equipment, animal shows and judging, and contests. Plenty of food, fun, and entertainment. Take a look:

So that was our day at Mt Larcom. We will go again next year. Interesting things to see and do. Hope you liked it … we did.

K’Gari is the new, socially correct name for Fraser Island. We went there several years ago to celebrate an anniversary and had a very nice time. Now, while we patiently wait (maybe not too patiently actually) for our Caravan to be ready, we decided to take a few days and go there again for some sightseeing and relaxation.

Fraser Island, at 125 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide and with 120 kilometers of beaches, is the largest sand island in the world and is home to its own eco system. It hosts Lake McKensie which is a beautiful clear lake located well inland on the island. The lake has no source of water other than rainfall but continues to be clear and full.

I will add a few pictures here but most of them will be added to my larger post for our first trip to Fraser. That way I won’t have a redundant post. It has not changed a great deal so the old and new pictures will compliment each other. I’ll rename it K’Gari. Those pictures that follow here are just a few “teasers” to give you a taste of what we did over our three day stay there.

We had three events planned and booked for our stay. We were scheduled to arrive mid afternoon on Tuesday so we booked a Sunset Cruise for Tuesday evening (can’t do that until sunset right?). Then on Wednesday we booked a day long rental of a Suzuki Jimney, a small jeep like four wheel drive vehicle, that we planned to tour some of the hotspots on the island. Then on Thursday we booked a half day whale watching cruise from seven-thirty till noon. We had did the Jimney thing before but the two cruises were new. I got a bunch of pictures from all three events but you will need to go to my K’Gari post to see those.

Tuesday we checked in at the center, checked our luggage, parked our car in the secure parking provided, and caught the ferry to K’Gari. A pleasant 45 minute voyage on a car ferry. Many people bring their own cars, campers, camping gear, etc so the ferry takes all comers. We arrived at Kingfish Bay Resort right on time, our room was ready so we dumped our stuff and set out to look around. To be able to rent a vehicle on the Island you must attend a briefing that tells you of all the dangers, perils, and fixes available while you drive around. The roads are sand, deeply rutted, narrow, steep in places, and difficult to drive on. No worries … its all fun. Because we had time we knocked out the briefing Tuesday afternoon rather than waste touring time on Wednesday. We finished the briefing in time to walk down to the pier, have an afternoon toddy, and board the sunset cruise boat.

So we cruised up and back down the west side of the island. They served some nibblies and wine, we saw a few boats, and of course, the sunset. Pleasant evening. Nice cruise.

When we returned to the dock, Nancy and I made our way up to one of the dining areas that was open. Had a little dinner and proceeded back to our room. We have a big day planned for tomorrow in our Jimney

Wednesday morning we got up early, dressed in our finest four wheeling clothes and went up to the resort for breakfast. The rooms at the resort are spread out along a large ridge facing the bay. There are covered, board walkways connecting all the rooms and the resort lobby. Breakfast was included.

After breakfast we went over and picked up the Jimney. Another, not quite as long, briefing on how to operate the vehicle (jeez) and we were off.

We explored many of the roads. They were all very narrow so you had to find a place to get off to meet other vehicles, or let faster ones pass. We went to the east side of the island and drove up and down the beach, we stopped off at an old timber camp, visited Lake McKensie, and stopped for a treat at a resort on the east side. It was a fun day. We had dinner and called it a day after a brief stop at the hotel lobby. We had an early up on Thursday because we had to catch the seven-thirty whale watching cruise.

Thursday morning found us at breakfast early and walking down to the pier to catch our boat. We were not real excited about this tour because we have been on a number of other ones and the whales never got very close to the boat. But, it was a half day at sea, the weather is still cool but sunny. After all, it is the middle of winter.

That was our whale watching cruise. We saw a number of whales, males fighting, a Mom and baby, and a curious guy that kept us entertained for quite a while. Best whale cruise EVER!!

We had a special dinner that night at the resort. They have a dining room that seats reservations only and has some specialty dishes. Had a lovely, tasty dinner to finish off our three days on the Island.

Friday morning we got up, had breakfast, checked out, and caught the ferry back to the mainland. Bailed out our car, loaded up our bags, and headed north to home. Four hours later we were back in Tannum sands with all kinds of fine memories.

As I mentioned before, there are many more pictures. They will all be in a post called 2023 K’Gari. Some from our first trip and many new ones from this trip. Go back to the menu and find 2023 K’Gari … you might not be disappointed.

We left Ubobo on Sunday morning right after church so we could get home and make the turn to leave Monday morning for Hervey Bay. So Monday morning we got up, packed, loaded the car and headed south to Hervey Bay … a three to four hour trip. No hurries, no worries!!

Hervey Bay is a small town located on the Sunshine Coast between Brisbane and Gladstone. We have reservations to catch the noon ferry to Fraser Island (K’Gari) on Tuesday and we decided to get in the area the day before instead of worrying about being delayed and missing our ferry. We spent the night in a nice Motel and went “downtown” for dinner.

So the next morning, Tuesday, we got up, had some coffee, and drove the short way to where the Kings Bay Resort Check-in Center was located. See you there.

We have got to know and associate with a number of people in Tannum Sands. Many of them are from the church we go to. Each year this church, which is quite active, holds a camping weekend in a small town called Ubobo. Ubobo is located in the Boyne Valley (See Boyne Valley Drive) along route 69 and has about twelve people that live there. The church we attend in Tannum Sands, is part of a larger Parish that includes a number of small towns around the area. The main church or Parish, Star of the Sea, is located in Gladstone. Two priests are assigned there and they conduct services at all the little churches each weekend on a complex schedule. Ubobo has one of those churches and a Mass is said there once a month on the third Sunday. Our campout was scheduled for that third Sunday and the weekend culminated with all of us joining the parishioners from Ubobo in celebrating their monthly Mass. The campout was not a religious outing, it was just a social outing that ended on Sunday morning.

The weekend started Friday afternoon as people started to show up. Nancy and I were invited so we went as well. We are still waiting for the Caravan (Camping Trailer) we ordered so we slept in a small room in a large “dorm” type facility. The Dorm was actually and old rail station where passengers could get a bed to rest for a while. The train does not go there anymore but the Dorm remains. The city put a campground beside it and they call it a Discovery Center.

Anyhow, we had a lovely time. Australians love to play games so there were card games galore, Chinese checkers, board games and I introduced them to Horse Shoe Pitching. I have a fine set of horse shoes that our Son Andrew bought me for Father’s Day some years ago so I brought that and two stakes along.

Friday afternoon was spent getting settled in, acquainted, etc. Friday night dinner was a collection of dishes everyone brought to share. Saturday morning we took a trip to an old abandoned rail line that went through some tunnels. The tracks have been taken up and a path made so it was comfortable walking.

The tunnels were interesting. Nancy and I intend to go back and explore a bit more. There are supposed to be some high trestles farther along. But for now … Back to the camp.

Saturday night we heated up a couple grills and everyone grilled whatever they brought for dinner. We were supposed to have a big bonfire but the local Ranger said it was too dry and too windy so there were to be no big fires … only in fireplaces. A couple folks made Damper which is an Australian camp bed made over an open fire or a special pot. Quite good and many varieties.

Sunday morning everyone got up and had some version of breakfast. Then we all filed over to the little church for Mass.

We had a very nice service. Everyone hung around a bit after. Some went back for lunch before going home, we left as we needed to get ready for our trip to Fraser Island, now known as K’Gari on Monday morning.

The campout was very pleasant. A great opportunity to get to know folks better, do some relaxing, learn more about our new home.

This was a Sunday afternoon picnic that we all went on. All being Nancy and myself, Andy, Candy, Cathy, and Christian. Candy thought we would all enjoy seeing Awoonga and doing a few “Snags” (a special hot dog type sausage that Australians love grilling) on the grills they have in the day use areas around the lake. So, we loaded up the cars and drove out. The lake is beautiful with a very nice drive around it. It also hosts a Fishery where they grow many of the fish they stock Awoonga Lake, and other lakes, with. We didn’t take many pictures this time but in the near future I’m sure we will go out again and I will supplement this post with new pictures. These pictures are of two types of birds that have come to love picnickers (Like Yogi and Boo Boo Bear). The first is the Kookaburra. Yup, the one that sits in the old gum tree. They are a carnivorous bird and enjoy eating picnic snacks … and snags I guess. I had never seen more than one or two at a time but on this trip, we had at least five stop by, all at one time, in hopes we would feed them. They really do have an unusual song. Try googling Kookaburra and see if there is a sound recording of them. The other bird that came by was the Blue Faced Honey eater. We see them every so often but not commonly, quite beautiful. Lastly, as we left the lake we came across a couple Wallabies beside the road to see us off.

It was a pleasant outing. Thanks for the idea Candy. Awoonga Lake is quite large and offers many camping and outdoor opportunities. I have no doubt it will become a favorite.