Judy & Brian Tour Oz

 Bowen Qld. August 2nd 2024 Left Rollingstone a little reluctantly, because despite the incessant wind and the near frigid pool, it was a very pleasant place to stay. Here's what we left behind. Are we crazy? Tasman Caravan Park, Rollingstone Qld Tasman Caravan Park, Rollingstone Qld Anyhow, left it behind we did. Travelled south through Townsville, which seems to get bigger every time, something like an hour and a half to finally clear the city, and then an easy sort of run down through Ayr to Bowen. Road is rough in patches but a reasonable sort of run got us into Bowen at 1pm. We set up and went to get some groceries but got side tracked and had lunch at Horseshoe Bay in the cafe, which I have to say has really come on since last year. Nice food though, good coffee and some great rock and roll from the 60 and 70s playing. They know their target market. This year we lucked into a front row spot, which faces straight out onto the ocean: Guess we'll just have to tough it out fo...

  Lightning Ridge July 9, 2023 Easy run up from Armatree, through Coonamble to ‘The Ridge’. Road no worse can last time, maybe better in places, although there were plenty of “80 kph, Reduce Speed, Rough Surface” signs. Not that you could tell the difference. At one stage we amused ourselves by  taking   snaps out the window of the mirage you always get here. Mirage, somewhere south of Walgett Lightning Ridge doesn’t seem to have changed any: favourite coffee shop has gone, another one has opened around the corner. My old house on the corner seems even closer to collapse, but apart from that, nothing much different. Been snapping this old house since 2011 We approached the Info place to see what was new around town to find that there was a new tour, a bit out of town, so we booked that, and the ‘old lady’ whose house we toured many years ago was back, and open for tours again, so that’s a starter as well. To finish off the day we cruised out to the Ridge proper to wa...

Agnes Water / Town of 1770 28 August to 2 September 2019 In some respects, Agnes Water is the main attraction for us in Queensland. And with a spot in the van park on the beach with this view and access, who can blame us? Judy relaxing into the 'vibe' that is Agnes Water The shortest of walks down the grassy path brings you to this: Agnes Water Beach, looking north from our van park as the moonlight plays upon the gentle ripples... Or you can take a 3km stroll up the beach before breakfast, take a snap and stroll back. Breakfast can wait, may as well have a swim in the crystal clear waters as well... My favourite beach is Chinamans, just down the road, just a quick drive and park right at the beach. Provided the tide is not too high, it's a delightful walk, and before 730 in the morning, deserted.  One set of feet out, and the same ones back. Chinamans Beach, Agnes Water Or if you are early and can take the time to sit and play with your...

Having been to Hervey Bay a few times we just wanted to chill out. We toyed with whale watching, but settled for walks on the beach, the esplanade, the marina, the pier and the 'big shops'. I tried the van park pool, but decided I didn't want to chill out quite that much.... Here's some snaps Sunset. Hervey Bay Qld Oddball creepy thing on the beach.  Hervey Bay Qld  Hervey Bay Qld No points for guessing the name of the beach.  Hervey Bay Qld Urangan Pier.  Hervey Bay Qld Tides out.  Hervey Bay Qld

A lovely relaxing day awaits us. I started with a nice long walk along the beach and around the fishos marina before breakfast. After breakfast we both went and had a massage, Judy in the Brilliant Massage place and myself in the Geraldton Thai massage centre around the corner. After two weeks driving my shoulders were pretty well knotted up but the masseuse was onto it and got me sorted out really well. We have been having a conversation with a Centrelink assessor person from the Adelaide office regarding our pension claims, which was confusing at best, but his last comment was that he had what he needed and would send his findings to the process people to put up on the system. Surprise surprise, we both received a request this morning for more information, all of which we have handed in at least twice to date. Not to worry, you can't buck the system so we had to go find the local library and use their computers to access the web and some of my files and print it all out again....

Tewantin Qld August 18 2015 One trick I have learnt when travelling, is to go to the i-place and get a birdwatching guide. Not that I want to track down birds particularly, but the guides that they supply usually have tracks and trails that lead you all over the countryside, to places to which you wouldn't normally go. And so it was that we found ourselves at a place out the back of Tewantin called Lake McDonald, starting with the ubiquitous bird hide, so named because the moment you step into them, the birds go and hide. Just hold the camera still taking snaps until a bird flies past. Lake McDonald. Tewantin Qld Judy harassing dragon flies. Lake McDonald. Tewantin Qld They are kinda cute though.  Lake McDonald. Tewantin Qld Brian being snap-happy. Lake McDonald. Tewantin Qld From here we were led up to the top of the volcanic plug called Mt Tinbeewah. well not quite top the top, there was still a 250m walk / climb to the actual top. We were p...

Hayden WA April 17, 2015 (Wave Rock to be precise) Didn't take too much to tear us away from Esperance, even though the sky was a cloudless clear blue and it looked like it was going to be a cracker of a day. We headed west toward Albany, but turned of at Ravensthorpe after a coffee and raisin toast. Mind you, they had to duck out the side door and run up to the next shop to get some raisin bread to make the toast, but we didn't care, we were just sitting in the lovely sunshine and watching all the road trains rumble by. They are very big on the double and triple trucks on this road, lots of ore and gypsum and grains being taken to railheads and ports for shipping. It’s interesting that they dont appear to have set trucks for set places, each truck seems to go wherever it thinks the best loading is to be had. Mind you, that might be a 200k round trip for nothing if the silo has cut-out or the mine has stopped mining. The minor road up from Ravensthorpe, through Lake ...