We have had a very busy couple of months since we packed up and shipped out of our semi fixed abode at Tannum Beach near Gladstone, after finishing our jobs.
Two very excited parents saw Rebekah our daughter arrive 28th August. Helping us pack.. we sent 57kg in first lot across to Sarah followed by another 3 smaller boxes as we left, man what one can accumulate in 6 months, an espresso machine for one(deemed essential to life equipment given the choice baristas seem not to have opted for this part of Australia)
We set off inland to Cania Gorge riding through many controlled burn offs..I fail to understand this term though as I have yet to see anyone in charge of these burn offs and some are burning right up to road edges, makes you feel a little uncomfy
We camped here for a couple of days enthralled with the bird life and wallabies and Bettongs(small kangaroo like animals, kangaroo rats ) that entertained us. Did some walks up round the gorges scenic rock formations then headed off toward the coast staying a night on the beach front at Bargara just out of Bundaberg. Next day we rode down to Rainbow Beach, busier than we had anticipated as had some big triathlon in town.We booked a bus tour to Fraser Island ( unique in that its a sand island)which was beautiful- the bus driving on the beach to a ship wreck, it's stark but quite intact bones rising from sand, and it wasn't the only dead thing on the beach...the sand has claimed many many vehicles of those not so savvy with their driving getting stuck and believe me it wasn't for the want of trying to get out or having them towed, they just don't budge, next you know the sea has claimed them. We were lucky enough to see a couple of dingoes running up the beach and a green turtle that was sadly on its last legs. Had lunch at a resort, the drove inland through lush rain forest to Lake Mckenzie, where Rebekah took a quick dip in its cool but crystal clear waters, watched by her woosie parents :-) We also got to walk through rainforest, not unlike NZ bush. We heads back to the ferry and back to Rainbow beach and delicious woodfired pizzas..Mmmmmmm
There were some massive sandhills(mobile parabolic sand systems.. Impressed?) nearby - one called Carlos Sandblow that we walked to,huge and impressive
Next we rode to nearby Tin Can Bay before heading to the Sunshine Coast, riding through pretty Noosa and to a camp on beach front at Mooloolaba.Had 3 Nights here, the highlight , catching up with friends Jackie and Neil Burton, didnt have long enough but was awesome none the less.The main reason for us staying here was to visit Australia Zoo. Our lovely children gave us vouchers for all three of our birthdays as well as a voucher at a lovely cafe in Beerwah a few mins away from zoo, so it was a yummy breaky there first. The zoo is a real credit to Steve Irwin and his family,we all had an awesome day.
Rode on down to Mudgeeraba on the Gold coast. Sent Rebekah off on shopping trip with Kylie our host and an awesome shopper while we looked after one of her babies Xander, 20 months. We whipped down to Byron Bay with her for another cool catch up with the friends, the Borland Family who were visiting there for a week.
September 12, saw us sadly waving goodbye to Rebekah at Brisbane Airport after having a wonderful almost 3 weeks with her
Hung about at Shane and Kylie's for another week, bought another tent(our 4th, our homestead one too large for the long haul ahead) We climbed Mt Warning with Shane on the Sunday, (no mean feat when stricken with giardiasis ..thanks Queensland Water!, our main problem..no energy, sent poor Rebekah home with it too) and did a spot of babysitting before heading off to Iluka
Iluka is a hidden spot, across water from Yamba, our friends Deb and Neal from Tannum said you gotta go stay, we have a house there and the apartment underneath is empty.. It's magic, so we took them up on that for a few days, catching ferry to Yamba one day, whale spotting another ..yes we did see them out at sea.. Migration time! And just soaked up the peace
Off again we headed inland, well away from the coast, up to Armidale and some very cool temps, night time down to the low single digits..saved by hot water bottles!!
Armidale had some cool buildings, big brick and to me mostly English looking
Next it was off down Thunderbolts Way..sounds exciting aye...nice twisty roads though, stopping at a nice cafe in Gloucester before hitting friend Mary's at Newcastle
A couple off days spent here then it was off to Sydney to house sit for friends in Frenchs Forest for a week and wait for son Ben's arrival...excited parents! we did stuff like fit new tyres to the bikes, 2 for me one for Bevin, ride out through KuRing Gai National Park , bike accessory warehouse..again! Just in case anything had changed. Ben arrived the day after Robin, Gillian & Luca arrived back from their New Zealand holiday. We took Ben back to you know where...motorcycle accessory warehouse and other awesome bike shops. Took him round Sydney and then we did a trip up to the Blue Mountains. Awesome scenery, we camped at Katoomba, walked an awesome track at Wentworth Falls, through the cliff face, and next day doing the 3 sisters lookout and Katoomba falls, where we took a skyway cable ride, steepest train( it was almost vertical and resembled a roller coaster car) to bottom of the gorge, then cable car back up after walks at bottom..very cool though, how they used to mine coal and get it out is almost beyond belief.
Next the trip that was Bens reason for coming over..apart from his lovely parents I mean, was the ride down to Phillip Island to go to MotoGP. We along with friends headed off at 3.30 am, Ben riding my bike and me now two-up with Bevin
(a first for us as have vowed never to ride unless after sun- up and before sun down) thankfully uneventful in the wildlife sense. We rode through Queanbeyan(Canberra) and up and over the Snowy Mountains, through Threadbo and down to Jindabyne, through to Benalla where we stopped for night(on road from 3.30am till 6pm)Next day off through Marysville over Black Spur and other twisty roads taking us back down to the flat and onto Phillip Island..long day!
We had a couple of awesome days at MotoGp, watching Casey Stoner take out another GP win and cementing his World Champ status as Jorge Lorenzo sadly crashed in practice badly injuring a finger... some reattachment necessary we heard :-( We were so well looked after by our awesome hosts Brian and Gail it was hard to leave but had to get to Melbourne ASAP as Ben had an early morning flight back to NZ, and arrived at the Melbourne apartment of Alex and Bex's just as the NZv Aus world cup game was just ending..sorry to all our Aussie mates, and a week later on eve of our departure saw NZ take out the top spot but at least it did indeed end up staying Down Under if not in Australia than who better than your lovely neighbors ...New Zealand...AllBlacks you so totally Rock!!!!
Sent from my iPad 2
Bevin & Felicity Lealand
http://bikersfromdownunder-lealand.blogspot.com/
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