traveling0z

December 6th 2008

We head for the south, due to the fact we are all exhausted after not getting a lot of sleep last night because of the heat we only get as far as Blackall.  We only plan on staying one night however the van park owner is also the local a/c - refrigeration mechanic,  so we wait till Monday and phone the A/C people, they advise that we can get it fixed in Blackall so we sit and wait for the unit to arrive.  The only problem is Blackall is a VERY small town with not too many Air Cond shops ect (the local newsagent is also the bank and post office!!!) and the temps are high 30's low 40's even a night.  We spend some time at the local pools and have a spa in the artesian waters.    Wednesday arrives and the unit is still not here, after phoning the company again we are told it probably wont be at Blackall till Friday..................:(.  We told them not to bother and we head further south at 2.30pm on Wednesday 10th December feeling rather disappointed (to say the least).  Blackall has some really nice Brachychiton (bottle) trees.

5th December 2008

Arrived at Longreach (after narrowly avoiding many road trains on the road in) the heat is unreal, we decide not to free camp and check into a van park so we can hook up to 240V and use the air conditioner!!!.  Longreach is a lovely town and all the streets are named after birds. We head off to the Stockmans Hall of fame - wonderful place and well worth the trip and entry fee (and the A/C is on full boar!!!!) the girls had a wonderful time learning all about early times in Australia and Caroline now wants to become a drover!!!!!.  We visit the QANTAS area however we do not go on the tour (we are about 2hrs late and its really expensive) we got some good pic's of the big jets though!!!.

We get back to the van only to discover the air conditioner has died....:o.   It was a Loooong HOT night at Longreach, we decide to head south were its cooler and get the A/C sorted - once again its a Friday and we can't do a thing about the problem till Monday (pattern forming here......)

3rd December 2008

Left Rockhampton and got as far as Emerald - we are free camping at the Botanical gardens underneath the railway bridge!!!! - We got a good nights sleep only one train passed through at 8.30am.

4th December 2008

Its Caroline's 39th birthday (really she is only 30yrs because we got married on her 30th Birthday so she no longer has birthdays just wedding anniversaries!!!) we wake up in Emerald under the rail bridge!!!  The botanicals gardens are nice and they have a good playground for the girls to play with.

We leave Emerald and arrive at Barcaldine in the early afternoon, we stay at the Top Tourist Park for 2 nights - its a very nice park, set out well, and FREE washing machines - so Caroline catches up with the washing.  Its rather hot here.  We walk through the main street and look at all the pubs.

1st December 2008

We arrive in Rockhampton today The Beef Capital of Australia!!!!!  Seems like a nice town, neat and tidy and of course its the sub-tropics and hot!!!  even the pool at the park is warm.  Went to the local gardens and saw the wonderful falls.  Purchased a couple of packs of rib fillet before we leave!!! Yummo

30th November 2008

We arrived at Biloela today we will stay one night, park is cheap and has a pool (except its green......) and of course its a scorcher of a day so we bundle the girls in the car and head for the local pool - it cost us $10 just to get in.............................. anyway the water was wet and cool.

29th November 2008

Arrive at the caravan park at Cania Gorge very expensive $45/ night.  They have a giant jumping pillow, pool and bird feeding - the girls are in heaven!!!!! They spend no less than 5 hours on the jumping pillow - I was worn out just watching!!!

Cania is a beautiful place with lots of wildlife, local cows - very fat, happy looking cows and lovely bush walks.

28th November 2008

We leave Ban Ban Springs and head further towards Cania Gorge, we free camp at the Coominglah Range rest area, we bump into Bob and Phylis - we met them at the Bundaberg Caravan Park Glenlodge.  They are headed for Townsville.

27th November 2008

Well we finally have the fridge problem sorted out it needed a new cooler unit (bad batch apparently) and whilst at Bundaberg we discovered we had a gas problem, seems there was a lot of oil through the lines, we also discover that our brand new van has 2005 gas bottles on it mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Anyway long story short we paid to get it fixed, we brought brand new gas bottles and the guys at BCF Bundaberg were kind enough to fill the 2 bottles for free, Good On Ya guys!!!!!

We are now headed for Cania Gorge, we drive through Childers, Biggenden then free camp at Ban Ban Springs for the night, unfortunately there are no longer springs here - I am told they have been drained.

Beautiful sunset.

22nd November 2008

We are having issues with the fridge in the van it won't seem to run on gas, we need to get to a caravan park to see if it will run on 240V, we head to Tannum Sands - the park is really expensive at $43 per night.  We meet up with Bruce and Leeanne again (they think we are following them!!!!! (we met them at the Agnes Waters park).

Turns out the fridge doesn't work on electricity either..............mmmmmm so we live out of the esky for a few days.

Tannum Sands is a nice place and they have an AWESOME playground for the kids!!!:D

We phone re: the fridge and discover we have to travel back to Bundaberg to get it fixed...... not happy Jan.

20th November 2008

We arrive at Calliope River - can't swim as there are apparently Crocs and stingers - although the locals don't seem to worry about it!!!  Nice rest area and you can stay for 2 days!!!  The girls are loving it and toasted marshmallows on the camp fire.  We met another family towing a Windsor Rapid - they are doing the same thing as us and travelling they have 2 younger children.