We have booked a camper van!

I have made arrangements to rent a camper van to travel north starting Jan 8th 2018 to Feb 19th. We will pick up the van in Brisbane and head up the coast to Cairns. The van comes with everything. We will be starting the trip in the hottest time of the year but we like the heat. We have been told when we get farther north don't go into the ocean because of sharks, boxer jelly fish, and crocodiles! We will have to look for small fresh water ponds for swimming. It should be fun!

 

We have been away for the last week in Tarragindi, that's a suburb of Brisbane. We have been visiting with my son Ken and his girl friend Sharron. They took us out to Brisbane our first day there and this city is beautiful.

Here are some pictures from the top of Mount Coot-Tha with Brisbane in the background

We then went down town Brisbane to where they have a man made beach next to the river.

It a nice walk between the beach and the river.



We saw a lot of the city on the weekend

 

Laurie and I stayed at there home while Ken and Sharron went to work and did our on line scuba course. This worked out great because it took us 4 days to complete it and we are glad that part is over.

Laurie hard at work!

The front deck was a great place to do our course. It was a great view.

Some times we would have to stop and watch the Lorikeets right in front of the deck.

 Beautiful birds but very noisy!

 

After a long week of doing the on line course Ken and Sharron wanted to take us to Sharron's mothers Tea Tree farm. Here's the link for there web site.                  https://www.jenbrook.com.au/

 

But first on our way we had to stop in a small town called Nimbin. Nimbin is known for being stuck in the 60's and that's what we found. Every where we went people asked us if we want to buy some pot.

The local bar

Hemp Store



Road side shops

 The doctor was not in when we passed by!

 

 Town rules.

After Nimbin we were on our way to Sharron's mother's home near Alstonville just a few houses down from one of Olivia Newton John's homes. It was a beautiful house with a great view.

Laurie's new friend

 Standing next to the Rosemary

On Sunday we all went to the Tea Tree farm to have a look around. This was about an hours drive south in the middle of no where.

One of the workers used to live in here

 This is were they get some of there water from.

Sharron's step father Brian put some chairs in the back of the pickup truck and drove us around.

You have to cover up here in Australia because the sun is very intense.

And away we go

 

Today is Monday Dec 18 and we are back at Mark's home in The Pocket. Tomorrow we will start our in water scuba course. We expect it will take 2 days, should be fun!



 

 

 

 

 



 



 



We have been busy!

We have been going some where every day whether it's just to the beach or to a tourist area. I like the quiet town Brunswick Heads. It's next to the ocean and there's also a river in town for swimming. I like to sit in the out door bar and enjoy a beer and a bowl of fries!

Looking down the river

 Sitting at the out door patio

 Laurie and I

 Mark and I

 

It's not all drinking and eating. We all went for a hike to a National Park called Minyon Falls. It was a 2 kilometer hike down and of course back up again. It was like being in a rain forest. When we got to the falls it was a great view!

 

It was a long way up!

 

All the roads here are narrow and never straight!



Mark dropped us off in town so we could have our scuba diving medical When we were walking to the doctors we saw some bats, BIG BATS! They are called Flying Foxes and they are as big as a cat.

 

On Wednesday we went to the Currumbin Natural Park to see some Australian animals. Laurie very much enjoyed this day.

Laurie loved this guy!

Here's a pine cone, the size of a baseball and just as heavy.

 Cockatoo

 Lorikeet

 Tree Kangaroo

 Tasmanian Devil

 Kangaroo

Laurie and Mark feeding the Lorikeets.

Yesterday we went back to the river. It was very busy for a weekday

Strange looking pine cones.

 Cherie

 I'm taking Blue for a paddle

 Just me

 

Still Jet Lag!

It's been hard getting over the jet lag. We both have naps when ever we can. Since Mark has been home from work we have been going places every day. Cherie still has to work every day. The other night we all went to the state park called the Natural Bridge to see the glow worms. This was very exciting!!! The best time to see them is when it's been raining and so the conditions were perfect. Although it has been raining that means it's cloudy and very dark so it was hard to see walking around the park.

Only one flashlight and one phone for light. We had to stay close together.

 

We entered a cave and looking up it looked like we were looking at the stars. These are some of the brighter glow worms. In the picture you cant se them all. You could also see them in the dirt on the  side of the trail.

Yesterday we went to Brunswick, this is my favorite place so far. Its a beautiful small town and very quiet. It has a great down town area and a great beach and also a nice river for swimming.

 

Here we are sitting at the Brunswick Hotel over looking the river. Cherie was at Taekwondo so we met her later at the river

 

Sitting next to the river we had a small passer bye!

 

 

Byron Bay is a very nice town but it's so crowded. Right now the Back Packers are starting to come to the area and collage and university students just got off. Most of the people in these small towns are hippies young and old. It's a great place to be but because the people demand more natural products everything is very expensive. It's a great place to visit but you can't afford to live here.

 

Here's a panoramic view of the front of Mark and Cherie's house