West Coast to East Coast Mad Dash 2 weeks Coast to Coast
October Update and YAY its on time.
October see’s our biggest change and challenge to date, and yes even bigger than the initial decision to go on the Loopy Lap. You will have all read the last entry by Sue that see her and Ryan farewelled from Perth Airport to return home and start a new job and Ryan to start at a new school, leaving Myself, Luke and Ryan to continue the adventure for the next 3 months till we are reunited as a family in Brisbane.
So the last weeks of September and the start of October had us planning like mad, finding a home in Brisbane, organising removalists to help out Sue. The decision to store our furniture in 20 ft shipping containers has worked out to be one of the best ideas to date. We simply advised them of the new address and had them delivered to the front door. Sue arranged 2 big blokes to empty them and do all the hard work ( well heavy work) I wont go into the usual horrors of unpacking cause we've all done it before and hated it, so you get the picture, Sue has done an amazing job setting up our new home and settled Ryan into a new school and started a new job. She is wonder woman and amazing, whilst i am so proud of her I can honestly say I miss her and Ryan here on the trip. It has been very different going from 5 to 3 in many ways. Firstly I have had to portion meals to cater for 3 ! the first few dinners fed us for 3 days but I have it sorted now. Space in the van has made it feel like a penthouse ! good in ways but has that empty feel to it. Noise levels have dramatically dropped, and I strangely miss the noise that 5 makes. Washing and washing up- no issues there is a lot less :)
Lots of other things but wow after spending 24/7 for 10 months as a family in a shoe box you get to bond and be a family, to change all of that is like loosing a leg or 2. However the journey must continue -
We did get out and about in Perth,visiting the Maritime Museum and I got up and close to the Australia II Americas Cup Yacht, I had model one when I was a kid and remember sitting in front of the TV watching that moment when we won the cup. We also did the Submarine tour and I recommend that to everyone, you get to go through the whole thing front front to back, very well worth it !! Other attractions were the Old Ships museum which has so many artefacts from the Batavia Ship and any other old ships that wrecked off the WA coast. We did the Kings Park Botanical gardens and managed to finally get a swim at the beach however it was a bit rough and I rescued a swimmer that was caught in a fast moving rip.
So as 3 we departed the hills of Perth and said our farewells and thankyou’s for the generous hospitality to Renee, Adam, Ethan and Breanna, all the dogs, cats, chickens and the Emu and started to head east for the first time on the trip.
A solid days drive and we arrived at Wave Rock at Hyden WA, setup in approx 8.5 minutes and of we went to surf the rock. It was a 3 minute walk from our van to the rock which whilst being an amazing formation it is quite small. We scaled the wave and explored the surrounding features ( other rocks ) and coupled with winds of approx 60 - 70 kms per hour we held on tight as our hats flew off into the distance. With the Rock ticked of the bucket list and nothing else there we bailed out the next day taking a dirt road shortcut that saved us about 200kms off the trip to Kalgoorlie.
Big hole in the ground town, Kalgoorlie. We stayed at the Prospector Caravan Park, were the kids were free !! so only $30 per night ( Another benefit of being 3 ) we set up in 7.5 minutes as we are getting better at this gig. Then off for a quick explore around town and to go and find that hole in the ground. One does not need to look far to find it !! the entire township of both Kalgoorlie and Boulder is on the rim of it !!!! We drove into the Super Pit Lookout carpark, with the kids saying it doesn't look big from the car, WELL didn't that change as we walked to the edge of the Super Pit, A few OMG’s and HOLY CRA#’s soon followed from the boys mouths. Now in the pictures it looks massive - cause it is - but up close and in real life it is Humongous !!! We stayed for an hour just in awe watching very large Haul Trucks drive deep into the pit empty and slowly crawl out full of rock that may or may not contain Gold. On the bottom the pit they looked like matchbox cars.
As we strolled around the carpark, Luke picked up a rock that had a little shine to it, is that GOLD ! well yes it was, Jarred then launched into a frantic search for our riches, only to find one more rock with a small seam of gold in it, We are going to need a lot more rocks of gold.
Back to camp for dinner which I over catered for again and will see it being lunch tomorrow as well.
Next day we went to the museum in town, wandered around THE VAULT which contains some 3 - 4 Million dollars worth of real gold, lots of history about the town and some cool artefacts. But just being the 3 of us we were in and out in under 30 minutes. Off to the Hannans North Tourist Mine to get up and close with some big boys Tonka Trucks. We paid our $18 ( another upside of being 3 is entry prices to attractions ) then headed straight to the Caterpillar Big Haul Truck and Digger, The boys sat in the wheel of the truck then scaled the ladder to sit in the cabin, these things are massive and impressive( oh and yes I did the same thing feeling like a big kid with a new toy ) the Digger next to it was also massive however not as appealing as we weren't allowed to climb up into it. We self toured the rest of the museum / displays etc which had that Sovereign Hill feel about it without the actors and crowds. A quick run around all of them as Jarred was itching to go gold panning and make us millions. With pans swirling we managed to identify 1 speck of gold, we tipped it into a young kids pan who was having a hard time swirling rocks around, One big smile from the kid was worth more than the value of the gold. With that done we returned to the park after a bit of a drive around town and nothing else really we needed to do.
Next day we headed South to Esperance for a few days to maybe fish and swim, the weather on the other hand had different ideas, blowing a gale and freezing cold we were restricted to driving around the area and jumping out for a few pics. The scenery is stunning and similar to Albany, Denmark and also Wilsons Prom over in Victoria however I believe summer would be the ideal time for more water activities. So back to the van were I was able to scrub it clean from the last few dusty roads and also use there carwash bay in the caravan park to give the car some care as well. All clean we were of to begin the journey across the Nullarbor. I have been in touch with The Smiths who were heading across from the authorised of the Nullarbor and we decided to meet up along the way. Fraser Range Station is where we did just that, timed perfectly we pulled up beside each other as we checked in, a reunion that sees almost 6 months since we travelled the Oodnadatta Track together. We spent 2 days catching up and the kids resumed their friendship like it was only 2 days ago. The weather turned and we had a spectacular storm and light show for our final night ( always rains when the Smiths aren town ) Nik was playing the Nullarbor Links golf course - the worlds longest golf course which spans the entire length of the Nullarbor and as one of the holes was at the station I played my only hole of he course, 2 over and Im happy with that. We said our farewells and we look forward to seeing them again in Qld some time in the future when they arrive on theEast coast.
We pushed off and headed east, stopping at all the view points along the road of the Great Australian Bight - Or as I call it “The Big Aussie Chomp”. The road is long and flat, and we soon approached the 146.6km straight road - the longest straight road in OZ, half way across the straight we had to move over for some very large mining equipment ! they are big and they win - we moved over. Lunch stop at Caiguna and we came up to a unique old vintage car towing a modern camper trailer ! That is going to be one slow trip. We pulled up for the night in a small town of Eucla for the night and stayed for 2 as we adjust to the time zone differences. Next day we crossed the border into South Australia exactly 5 months to the day that we left SA to enter the NT. Quick border crossing pic and we were of again stopping in at the many view points of the Big Aussie Chomp, we stopped in at the small town of Nularbor for a break and some cool drinks, it was 41c outside and one huge headwind that had me driving at 80kms an hour just to conserve fuel. We came up to the head of the bight and did the detour, ran down the 2 viewing platforms and hi tailed it back, the flies were horrendous as was the now 42c. Back to aircon we punched out a big day and stopped at the small town of Penong, took the last spot in the caravan park, setup in 1 minute ( power lead out and aircon on ) no legs down, no unhitching - this was our new record, then over to the pub for a cool drink. As we were only 40kms away form the quarantine inspection point at Border Village we used up what we could of the fresh veges and fruit - much to the boys horror. Up early and the park was empty - opps forgot to change clocks, well I guess it wasn't that early. We flew through the quarantine in a matter of minutes, the inspector looked at us and said Hmm all boys, Guess you wont have any fruit or veggies - off you go. A little further down the road we rolled into Ceduna, quick wikicamps check, we chose the Foreshore caravan park in the centre of town, rolled in and took the last camp site. Several vans rolled in and turned around as it was full.With a few days here waiting for Jarreds next lot of school books to arrive we headed out to explore all of the bays in the region, Decres Bay, Laura Bay and Smoky Bay all of which are clear waters and beautiful. We did a snake count on the way back to Ceduna which came to 7 in total !! we thought it best not to do any hiking around the dunes etc. One more day of washing and restocking then we are off.
Off early and barrel down the Eyre Peninsula we drove out to Point Labatt to see the largest mainland population of sea lions. We were the only ones out there and we spotted heaps of seals lazing on the rocks, well worth the drive out there to see them.Next stop was the Wool Shed cave on the coast where the ocean has worn away a large cave now inhabited by 1000’s of swallows, so the smell was ripe, luckily the winds were up and the flys were somewhere else. Next we headed over to the Haystacks, a series of eroded rock formations preached on a hill. Very cool wave shapes, we now know where the flys went to and they saw us in and out of there fairly quickly !!
with a big days drive we rolled into Port Lincoln at 5:01pm to find ourselves locked out of the van park, Id tried to ring all afternoon but no answer. So we headed out of town and came accros the Port Lincoln Caravan park, the mangers were sitting out on the deck have a beer and saw us arriving, walked out and said they office was shut but just go and setup by the waters edge and sort it out tomorrow. Perfect, they said the pub had great meals, so of we went, along with them and chatted away for hours over dinner. Love the friendliness of the smaller parks over the BIG ones. Up and away the next day we zoomed up to Whyalla and out to Point Lowly to camp, $6 per night and there were plenty of other travellers here taking in the scenic surrounds. Flys !! yes there are lots but the weather was nice . Only an overnighter then were off, Passing through Port Augusta saw us cross our loopy lap path for the first time. Having been to Port Augusta too many times we hightailed through and made for Peterborough. Then the car decided to go crazy on us, the dashboard lit up like a Xmas tree and the engine went into power saving mode. I limped into Peterborough pulled up and began the google search to see what is going on !!! Not wanting to have to go back to Port Augusta for the 10th time I found out I needed to have the computer codes reset. Rolled into the only mechanic in town and asked if he new what to do? yes was the answer but nor for a few hours. We strolled around town, had lunch in the old cinema with antiques everywhere, visited the motorbike museum for a bike fix then back to the car. The mechanic came out reset it all and in 10 minutes and $25 we were back in action. We planned on getting to Broken Hill but the hiccup put us behind, so instead we pulled into Cockburn and tiny town with a pub and a population of 18 if they are all there. They have a campground across the road from the pub, we pulled up plugged in and went over to meet Nick the publican for a well needed watering. The kids still talk about Nick as was character and chatted for hours, he was meant to shut early but decided we were having fun. Another couple Bron & Scott rolled in as well, we chatted away and they decided to camp here as well. We had a great time chatting, Luke cooked all of us dinner and it topped off a wonderful stay in one of the smallest places we've visited.
Crossing the border into NSW we stopped In to Broken Hill the next day to visit Silverton and the Mad Max museum. With that ticked off the list we continued to head East with a road side stop at Spring Hill. Up earlyish as we are yet again in another time zone !!! 3 hours different from the other day it seems and we headed for Nyngan. Camped up by the river all on our own we stayed for days here to rest up and do some school work. We sat watching people water ski right up until 8:30pm at night and then the rains began ( this will happen a lot from this point onwards) We did a quick whirl around town, visiting the BIG Bogan ( see pic) and also the smallest horse we've ever seen ! Jarred thought we could buy one as it would fit into the car, then he noticed it poo’s like a big horse !! All rested up we headed off early with the beaches of the east coast on our radar, crossing our loopy lap path again in Dubbo we kept on rolling along the Barrier Hwy ( the most boring highway to date) we arrived at Stockton Beach for a few days of swimming at the beach, fishing and catching up with some old friends. The weather however decided to change a lot of those plans. We still tried fishing and a quick swim. we took the Ferry over to Newcastle CBD and met up with old friends at the Newy Burger Co for dinner. Best burgers in OZ !!! supporting the Breast cancer awareness we all had the Burgs for Boobs which had Pink Buns. Sue and I used to live in Newcastle so I took the kids on a drive to show them our old house, the old restaurant and around Lake Macquarie. Washing and school all up to date we were off - Only 140kms to Tuncurry for a few more days. We stopped in at Nabiac to visit the National Motorbike Museum for another Bike Fix, My Grandparents used live in Tuncurry and again I took the kids on a drive down memory lane. Caught up with very old friends, The Bakers whom I grew up with for the afternoon and back to camp. The rains again decided not to let us swim or fish. So away we go up the coast, did a detour through Taree again for nostalgic purposes and rolled out heading to Coffs Harbour. This is where we are as I type and we are only 400kms away from home and only a few days left of the trip. The rain followed here as well making the beaches wild and fishing off the list, so we had to do what everyone does in Coffs, we hit the BIG BANANA I will leave this chapter here and give a full wrap up for the finale. Thanks again for reading our journey and we hope some of you have been inspired to go out and SEE AUSTRALIA ! Cheers till November.
October Update and YAY its on time.
October see’s our biggest change and challenge to date, and yes even bigger than the initial decision to go on the Loopy Lap. You will have all read the last entry by Sue that see her and Ryan farewelled from Perth Airport to return home and start a new job and Ryan to start at a new school, leaving Myself, Luke and Ryan to continue the adventure for the next 3 months till we are reunited as a family in Brisbane.
So the last weeks of September and the start of October had us planning like mad, finding a home in Brisbane, organising removalists to help out Sue. The decision to store our furniture in 20 ft shipping containers has worked out to be one of the best ideas to date. We simply advised them of the new address and had them delivered to the front door. Sue arranged 2 big blokes to empty them and do all the hard work ( well heavy work) I wont go into the usual horrors of unpacking cause we've all done it before and hated it, so you get the picture, Sue has done an amazing job setting up our new home and settled Ryan into a new school and started a new job. She is wonder woman and amazing, whilst i am so proud of her I can honestly say I miss her and Ryan here on the trip. It has been very different going from 5 to 3 in many ways. Firstly I have had to portion meals to cater for 3 ! the first few dinners fed us for 3 days but I have it sorted now. Space in the van has made it feel like a penthouse ! good in ways but has that empty feel to it. Noise levels have dramatically dropped, and I strangely miss the noise that 5 makes. Washing and washing up- no issues there is a lot less :)
Lots of other things but wow after spending 24/7 for 10 months as a family in a shoe box you get to bond and be a family, to change all of that is like loosing a leg or 2. However the journey must continue -
We did get out and about in Perth,visiting the Maritime Museum and I got up and close to the Australia II Americas Cup Yacht, I had model one when I was a kid and remember sitting in front of the TV watching that moment when we won the cup. We also did the Submarine tour and I recommend that to everyone, you get to go through the whole thing front front to back, very well worth it !! Other attractions were the Old Ships museum which has so many artefacts from the Batavia Ship and any other old ships that wrecked off the WA coast. We did the Kings Park Botanical gardens and managed to finally get a swim at the beach however it was a bit rough and I rescued a swimmer that was caught in a fast moving rip.
So as 3 we departed the hills of Perth and said our farewells and thankyou’s for the generous hospitality to Renee, Adam, Ethan and Breanna, all the dogs, cats, chickens and the Emu and started to head east for the first time on the trip.
A solid days drive and we arrived at Wave Rock at Hyden WA, setup in approx 8.5 minutes and of we went to surf the rock. It was a 3 minute walk from our van to the rock which whilst being an amazing formation it is quite small. We scaled the wave and explored the surrounding features ( other rocks ) and coupled with winds of approx 60 - 70 kms per hour we held on tight as our hats flew off into the distance. With the Rock ticked of the bucket list and nothing else there we bailed out the next day taking a dirt road shortcut that saved us about 200kms off the trip to Kalgoorlie.
Big hole in the ground town, Kalgoorlie. We stayed at the Prospector Caravan Park, were the kids were free !! so only $30 per night ( Another benefit of being 3 ) we set up in 7.5 minutes as we are getting better at this gig. Then off for a quick explore around town and to go and find that hole in the ground. One does not need to look far to find it !! the entire township of both Kalgoorlie and Boulder is on the rim of it !!!! We drove into the Super Pit Lookout carpark, with the kids saying it doesn't look big from the car, WELL didn't that change as we walked to the edge of the Super Pit, A few OMG’s and HOLY CRA#’s soon followed from the boys mouths. Now in the pictures it looks massive - cause it is - but up close and in real life it is Humongous !!! We stayed for an hour just in awe watching very large Haul Trucks drive deep into the pit empty and slowly crawl out full of rock that may or may not contain Gold. On the bottom the pit they looked like matchbox cars.
As we strolled around the carpark, Luke picked up a rock that had a little shine to it, is that GOLD ! well yes it was, Jarred then launched into a frantic search for our riches, only to find one more rock with a small seam of gold in it, We are going to need a lot more rocks of gold.
Back to camp for dinner which I over catered for again and will see it being lunch tomorrow as well.
Next day we went to the museum in town, wandered around THE VAULT which contains some 3 - 4 Million dollars worth of real gold, lots of history about the town and some cool artefacts. But just being the 3 of us we were in and out in under 30 minutes. Off to the Hannans North Tourist Mine to get up and close with some big boys Tonka Trucks. We paid our $18 ( another upside of being 3 is entry prices to attractions ) then headed straight to the Caterpillar Big Haul Truck and Digger, The boys sat in the wheel of the truck then scaled the ladder to sit in the cabin, these things are massive and impressive( oh and yes I did the same thing feeling like a big kid with a new toy ) the Digger next to it was also massive however not as appealing as we weren't allowed to climb up into it. We self toured the rest of the museum / displays etc which had that Sovereign Hill feel about it without the actors and crowds. A quick run around all of them as Jarred was itching to go gold panning and make us millions. With pans swirling we managed to identify 1 speck of gold, we tipped it into a young kids pan who was having a hard time swirling rocks around, One big smile from the kid was worth more than the value of the gold. With that done we returned to the park after a bit of a drive around town and nothing else really we needed to do.
Next day we headed South to Esperance for a few days to maybe fish and swim, the weather on the other hand had different ideas, blowing a gale and freezing cold we were restricted to driving around the area and jumping out for a few pics. The scenery is stunning and similar to Albany, Denmark and also Wilsons Prom over in Victoria however I believe summer would be the ideal time for more water activities. So back to the van were I was able to scrub it clean from the last few dusty roads and also use there carwash bay in the caravan park to give the car some care as well. All clean we were of to begin the journey across the Nullarbor. I have been in touch with The Smiths who were heading across from the authorised of the Nullarbor and we decided to meet up along the way. Fraser Range Station is where we did just that, timed perfectly we pulled up beside each other as we checked in, a reunion that sees almost 6 months since we travelled the Oodnadatta Track together. We spent 2 days catching up and the kids resumed their friendship like it was only 2 days ago. The weather turned and we had a spectacular storm and light show for our final night ( always rains when the Smiths aren town ) Nik was playing the Nullarbor Links golf course - the worlds longest golf course which spans the entire length of the Nullarbor and as one of the holes was at the station I played my only hole of he course, 2 over and Im happy with that. We said our farewells and we look forward to seeing them again in Qld some time in the future when they arrive on theEast coast.
We pushed off and headed east, stopping at all the view points along the road of the Great Australian Bight - Or as I call it “The Big Aussie Chomp”. The road is long and flat, and we soon approached the 146.6km straight road - the longest straight road in OZ, half way across the straight we had to move over for some very large mining equipment ! they are big and they win - we moved over. Lunch stop at Caiguna and we came up to a unique old vintage car towing a modern camper trailer ! That is going to be one slow trip. We pulled up for the night in a small town of Eucla for the night and stayed for 2 as we adjust to the time zone differences. Next day we crossed the border into South Australia exactly 5 months to the day that we left SA to enter the NT. Quick border crossing pic and we were of again stopping in at the many view points of the Big Aussie Chomp, we stopped in at the small town of Nularbor for a break and some cool drinks, it was 41c outside and one huge headwind that had me driving at 80kms an hour just to conserve fuel. We came up to the head of the bight and did the detour, ran down the 2 viewing platforms and hi tailed it back, the flies were horrendous as was the now 42c. Back to aircon we punched out a big day and stopped at the small town of Penong, took the last spot in the caravan park, setup in 1 minute ( power lead out and aircon on ) no legs down, no unhitching - this was our new record, then over to the pub for a cool drink. As we were only 40kms away form the quarantine inspection point at Border Village we used up what we could of the fresh veges and fruit - much to the boys horror. Up early and the park was empty - opps forgot to change clocks, well I guess it wasn't that early. We flew through the quarantine in a matter of minutes, the inspector looked at us and said Hmm all boys, Guess you wont have any fruit or veggies - off you go. A little further down the road we rolled into Ceduna, quick wikicamps check, we chose the Foreshore caravan park in the centre of town, rolled in and took the last camp site. Several vans rolled in and turned around as it was full.With a few days here waiting for Jarreds next lot of school books to arrive we headed out to explore all of the bays in the region, Decres Bay, Laura Bay and Smoky Bay all of which are clear waters and beautiful. We did a snake count on the way back to Ceduna which came to 7 in total !! we thought it best not to do any hiking around the dunes etc. One more day of washing and restocking then we are off.
Off early and barrel down the Eyre Peninsula we drove out to Point Labatt to see the largest mainland population of sea lions. We were the only ones out there and we spotted heaps of seals lazing on the rocks, well worth the drive out there to see them.Next stop was the Wool Shed cave on the coast where the ocean has worn away a large cave now inhabited by 1000’s of swallows, so the smell was ripe, luckily the winds were up and the flys were somewhere else. Next we headed over to the Haystacks, a series of eroded rock formations preached on a hill. Very cool wave shapes, we now know where the flys went to and they saw us in and out of there fairly quickly !!
with a big days drive we rolled into Port Lincoln at 5:01pm to find ourselves locked out of the van park, Id tried to ring all afternoon but no answer. So we headed out of town and came accros the Port Lincoln Caravan park, the mangers were sitting out on the deck have a beer and saw us arriving, walked out and said they office was shut but just go and setup by the waters edge and sort it out tomorrow. Perfect, they said the pub had great meals, so of we went, along with them and chatted away for hours over dinner. Love the friendliness of the smaller parks over the BIG ones. Up and away the next day we zoomed up to Whyalla and out to Point Lowly to camp, $6 per night and there were plenty of other travellers here taking in the scenic surrounds. Flys !! yes there are lots but the weather was nice . Only an overnighter then were off, Passing through Port Augusta saw us cross our loopy lap path for the first time. Having been to Port Augusta too many times we hightailed through and made for Peterborough. Then the car decided to go crazy on us, the dashboard lit up like a Xmas tree and the engine went into power saving mode. I limped into Peterborough pulled up and began the google search to see what is going on !!! Not wanting to have to go back to Port Augusta for the 10th time I found out I needed to have the computer codes reset. Rolled into the only mechanic in town and asked if he new what to do? yes was the answer but nor for a few hours. We strolled around town, had lunch in the old cinema with antiques everywhere, visited the motorbike museum for a bike fix then back to the car. The mechanic came out reset it all and in 10 minutes and $25 we were back in action. We planned on getting to Broken Hill but the hiccup put us behind, so instead we pulled into Cockburn and tiny town with a pub and a population of 18 if they are all there. They have a campground across the road from the pub, we pulled up plugged in and went over to meet Nick the publican for a well needed watering. The kids still talk about Nick as was character and chatted for hours, he was meant to shut early but decided we were having fun. Another couple Bron & Scott rolled in as well, we chatted away and they decided to camp here as well. We had a great time chatting, Luke cooked all of us dinner and it topped off a wonderful stay in one of the smallest places we've visited.
Crossing the border into NSW we stopped In to Broken Hill the next day to visit Silverton and the Mad Max museum. With that ticked off the list we continued to head East with a road side stop at Spring Hill. Up earlyish as we are yet again in another time zone !!! 3 hours different from the other day it seems and we headed for Nyngan. Camped up by the river all on our own we stayed for days here to rest up and do some school work. We sat watching people water ski right up until 8:30pm at night and then the rains began ( this will happen a lot from this point onwards) We did a quick whirl around town, visiting the BIG Bogan ( see pic) and also the smallest horse we've ever seen ! Jarred thought we could buy one as it would fit into the car, then he noticed it poo’s like a big horse !! All rested up we headed off early with the beaches of the east coast on our radar, crossing our loopy lap path again in Dubbo we kept on rolling along the Barrier Hwy ( the most boring highway to date) we arrived at Stockton Beach for a few days of swimming at the beach, fishing and catching up with some old friends. The weather however decided to change a lot of those plans. We still tried fishing and a quick swim. we took the Ferry over to Newcastle CBD and met up with old friends at the Newy Burger Co for dinner. Best burgers in OZ !!! supporting the Breast cancer awareness we all had the Burgs for Boobs which had Pink Buns. Sue and I used to live in Newcastle so I took the kids on a drive to show them our old house, the old restaurant and around Lake Macquarie. Washing and school all up to date we were off - Only 140kms to Tuncurry for a few more days. We stopped in at Nabiac to visit the National Motorbike Museum for another Bike Fix, My Grandparents used live in Tuncurry and again I took the kids on a drive down memory lane. Caught up with very old friends, The Bakers whom I grew up with for the afternoon and back to camp. The rains again decided not to let us swim or fish. So away we go up the coast, did a detour through Taree again for nostalgic purposes and rolled out heading to Coffs Harbour. This is where we are as I type and we are only 400kms away from home and only a few days left of the trip. The rain followed here as well making the beaches wild and fishing off the list, so we had to do what everyone does in Coffs, we hit the BIG BANANA I will leave this chapter here and give a full wrap up for the finale. Thanks again for reading our journey and we hope some of you have been inspired to go out and SEE AUSTRALIA ! Cheers till November.