Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Up early and into the (heated) pool for a few laps. Breakfast in the sun, bit of a read. Judy had a massage at the massage-by-the-pool, which is when the action really started. First there were the lizards doing unseemly things on the rafters above her head, then the snake made its appearance in the garden and then Judy discovers that the sapphire has gone missing out of her ring.... Meanwhile, I managed to back the new truck into a pole.... And then we went down to Airlie Beach proper to have a look at the markets. First thing that hits you is OMG!!! Where have all the roadworks gone? For the first time in years the township proper is free of all roadworks and looks a picture - good on them. We had some good news, they found the sapphire, which was a relief. Time for more swims and a bit of a sit by the pool, where we had our lunch. Later on we went for a wander back down town and out to Shute harbour for a bit of a wander around. For dinner we had the beef / bison sausage w...

Yesterday was a transport day. We left Kinka Beach at 8am sharp, stopped at 10am at some completely forgettable choke and puke for a coffee, then again at a truckstop north of Mackay for lunch at 1230.  3pm came and saw Prosperpine coming into view along with 500k on the odometer, which was quite a welcome site, having crawled along at 85k for the last hour, stuck behind blasted caravans and old trucks laden with either gypsies or carnival equipment, or maybe both. Thankfully, we turn off immediately and slide down toward Airlie and our Big4 which is rated at the best in Australia. After a bit of a rest and a walk up to the shops, we had some afternoon tea and then bit the bullet: The Proserpine Show was in full swing! Back up to the highway we went, following the others out through town to the west and the showground. Its an odd thing, this is the biggest thing to hit town every year, and there are no signs whatever to indicate that its on, let alone where it is. It must be a ...

Apart from doing some exploring in the area between Airlie Beach and Proserpine, finding out some of the locals hidden secrets, we have been on two more ‘cruises’. The first was a sunset cruise on board Illusions. Any illusions we might have had about a nice comfortable relaxing cruise watching the sun set slowly in the west dissipated from the moment we were picked up. The little bus was hot and stuffy in the back and had the oddest smell – like paint or turps, and you couldn’t open any window and the air-con didn’t work. Once on board, even though it was crowded we found a comfortable enough possie and drank the complimentary plastic of champagne and munched away on the crackers and things. No mention was made of the sunset, which plopped down of its own accord behind us as we steamed out toward the headland. For whatever reason, they just kept going, for more than an hour in the same direction, only turning back after dark to retrace or steps. Now I don’t mind a boat ride, but ...

Derwent Hunter Cruise Today we went out at the crack of dawn on the 22m gaff rigged schooner, Derwent Hunter. Our luck was in, the wind, which had stayed away for the Hamilton Island race week, was up and blowing strongly. Up went the Fore, up went the Main, the Head and the Stay sails. For an old girl, this old tub cuts a pretty fine swath through the briny main! We anchored at Black Island and went snorkling; sadly the water at 20C was too cold for my liking even with a 2mm wet suit on. Talking of wetsuits, and snorkling in general, these people need to do themselves and their clients a favour and dump the whole rotten, worn out, perished lot and get some new gear. Anyhow the snorkling was good, not great, well not up to the outer reef, and in my opinion, not as good as the Low Isles. A second site, Caves Cay, was better, with more colourful coral on its small bommies and some good looking friendly fish. The crew were great, the boat is a good old timber craft, the...

*** Happy Birthday Paul *** Who's a cutie then? Made our way down to Airlie Beach, negotiating the non-stop road-work from Townsville to Ayr – they may even be duplicating the Bruce in places, one can only hope so. We thought we’d go into Bowen and find a nice place by the water for lunch, all we found were empty streets as it was after 12 noon on a Saturday. Finally we found the bakery and had our choice of 1 pie and cake, but hurry, they closed at 1pm, even while other lost vans were prowling around looking for a feed that didn’t involve large yellow ‘M’s. Our van park is actually at Cannonvale, about 2km from Airlie Beach itself and is excellent by van park standards. It even has a … heated … pool, which needless to say was full of people swimming and sunbaking and generally having a good time. Can you imagine that, a van park providing amenities that you can actually use, what will they think of next? We grabbed a few brochures on day trips and now can’t decide w...