Boat Harbour Beach, Tas

by Miriam | Dec 18, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments

Magic. This one word sums up where we are, and where we wish we could stay for more than the one night we had planned for.

From the moment the ocean glimmers into view as you wind your way down the road to the minute your toes hit the cool, blue water washing over the white sand, everything about this small coastal village is pure magic.

Tucked away between 2 rocky headlands, Boat Harbour Beach is every bit what you’ve read about or seen in countless photographs. It’s no wonder that it was voted one of Australia’s top 10 beaches!

Boat Harbour is located on Tasmania’s north coast, 176 km north-west of Launceston and 31 km west of Burnie and interestingly, exists in a micro climate where frosts are unknown and tropical plants can be found.

We arrived just before 11am to find most of the free camp spots had been taken, but Chris hopped out and had a chat to a lovely guy in a camper trailer who said we could pull in next to him.

And what a spot we pulled into! It is overlooking the rocks and water, right next to the green, grassy area in front of the toilets that is blocked off by wooden posts. Our van is sitting alongside the posts and our awning is in the grassy area, so we only have neighbours to the back of us.

We set up and hit the beach straight away. Aylah was the first in without even ‘testing the waters’. My toes dipped in and straight back out! It was icy; but the longer you stayed in, the warmer it got. There were a few comments like ‘do you have any blood left in your feet?’ from the kids though.

They had a ball burying each other, playing in the waves and ended up spending most of the day on the beach.

It’s the middle of December and we are so lucky that today was a beautiful one. 27 degrees meant we were out enjoying the sun during the day, yet as the sun fell the temperatures dropped rapidly and the winds that had been gusting steadily throughout the day brought a chill with them. It was jacket and beanie weather for me as we wandered down the rocky beach below our caravan and around the bend.

The camp ground is quite small, but absolutely stunning as it overlooks a little bay and winds around behind some trees. We spoke to one family who have been here for 2 weeks as they fell in love the first day they arrived and couldn’t bring themselves to leave.

We debated staying another night, but we hadn’t allowed for it and sadly don’t have enough water in the tanks.

There is a toilet block, a couple of undercover BBQ’s, some tables scattered around and a playground.

Down on the beach is the Boat Harbour Beach Surf Club with a restaurant that I wouldn’t mind having breakfast in tomorrow morning.

This is a gorgeous, unspoiled piece of the North West Tasmanian coast that is tucked away with a handful of houses perched up on the surrounding hills.

Due to the limited parking and camping spots, there doesn’t seem to be a high chance that this the pristine beach could ever become too crowded, although I imagine more people would be around during the school holidays.

You will always find your own little piece of paradise here that is guaranteed to steal your heart.

It is a photographer’s dream, so bring a huge external drive to save those once in a lifetime shots you are guaranteed to be snapping during your visit!

The weather did turn for us; overnight the winds picked up and by morning it was overcast, drizzling and chilly. It looked like an entirely different place. This is still a beautiful place, no matter what colour the skies are! These are some ‘rainy day’ pics.

CSIRO Telescope Adventures

by Miriam | Dec 15, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments, Reviews

Our kids love learning, especially when it’s hands on. And for Cooper, anything ‘sciency’ is right up there on the list.

So when we were planning our trip from Brisbane to Tassie and back, and the Paul Wild Observatory (home to CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Centre) popped up on our radar, we knew it was going on our itinerary. When we kept looking and found that ‘The Dish’ at Parkes was not much further down the road, the deal was sealed.

We left Brisbane at about 4:15am and headed straight down to Narrabri. A quick set up and lunch when we got there gave us enough time to jump back in the car and find where we were going – 25 kilometres west on a fully sealed road.

Just the name ‘The Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), at the Narrabri Observatory’ had the kids excited and peering out the windows as we got closer.

There were dishes scattered around all over the dry woodland along with quite a few signs asking you to switch your phones off or to airplane/flight mode, and turn off other WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled devices before you enter the facility.

Apparently ‘the ‘noise’ created by our modern gadgets can overwhelm the weak signals from space our telescopes are trying to detect.’

When we first got there we were a little disappointed as it appeared to be closed. It said quite clearly on the website that it was open every day, so we were a bit puzzled. We had a look around and things just seemed ‘old’.

But the closer we looked, the more it made sense, and the more little signs we read – the more amazing the place became.

CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array is a world leading instrument for radio astronomy and deep views into the universe.

I must admit that when you see those 6 huge 22 metre dish antennas, weighing 270 tonnes each, located on a six kilometre road and railway track (or ‘telescope track’ as Chris called it)- you get kind of ‘blown away’ – especially when they start moving! They move either a lot or just a little every few minutes or so. It’s pretty impressive.

All together these 6 dishes simulate one very large antenna!

While the kids and I were wandering through the outdoor astronomy exhibits, Chris opened a door and called out that it was open! Maybe we didn’t pull the door hard enough? 🤔

The Visitors Centre is unstaffed but open from 8:00am to 6:00pm daily. Just keep trying the door!

Inside there are many more exhibits to look at and lots to read.

The kids did some activity sheets, had a look at the puzzles and Cooper did some reading. There is also a theatrette showing free films on space and astronomy. Chris and the kids spent some time in there while I headed back outside.

When the others came out it was all fun and games! There are a few interactive exhibits including a dish that you can spin and tilt with a wheel and our favourite- the ‘Whispering Dishes’.

This was a set of 2 smallish dishes set a long way apart and facing each other.

Chris and Cooper ran to one end and the girls and I stayed at the first dish.

We decided to play a ‘Simon Says’ type game where one ‘team’ would whisper into the dish what the other had to do.

There was hysterical laughter all around as the girls started running around the dish, jumping up and down and acting crazy as instructed by the boys.

It was heaps of fun! The way it works is that the sound waves produced by your voice bounce off the dishes surface and travel in a straight line over to the other dish. This other dish collects them and directs them to its focal point – the ears of the listener!

It was fantastic – especially when you could hear how quietly they were speaking into the dish and how loud it bounced back from the other end!

It’s free to wander around and to get into the visitor’s centre. There are also BBQ facilities to use if you feel like having a bite to eat while you’re there.

We had a great time and were excited to see how ‘The Dish’ located near Parkes, was ‘so much bigger’. Chris has been there and told us enough about this Australian icon that we were keen to check it out.

It was the next day, on our way from Narrabri to West Wyalong that we stopped and saw the huge dish that played a key role in televising images of the Apollo 11 Moon landing on 20 July 1969.

On the way we saw lots of three-dimensional planet models in various rest stops and it wasn’t until we stopped at Gilgandra did we get to find out what they were.

They are all part of the Worlds Largest Solar System Drive! The planets are displayed on huge billboards with the size of the planets and the distance between each billboard scaled relative to the dome – the Sun – along the five main roads that lead to Coonabarabran in regional NSW. You can also learn interesting facts about the Solar System and the unique features of each planet. Incredible!

These only increased the excitement as we approached our next destination.

With a diameter of 64 metres, Parkes is one of the largest single-dish telescopes in the southern hemisphere dedicated to astronomy so; it’s no wonder that we could see it from the highway before we even took the turn down the road that led us to the centre.

There is a big carpark that had only a handful of cars and lots of lovely shady trees. We walked through the gardens and outdoor exhibits (not unlike the ones we had seen the day before) and the kids were pretty excited to see bigger and what appeared to be newer Whispering Dishes.

Inside the visitor centre is amazing – there is an abundance of things to see and do including a theatrette, gift shop and café. Needless to say, the kids headed straight to the counter and ordered themselves some lunch which was eaten with a pretty speccy view of The Dish right out the window.

We read the signs that were dotted around and once again were completely astounded by the vast amounts of pretty crazy information.

“By almost any measure, the Parkes Radio Telescope is the most successful scientific instrument ever built in Australia. The telescope is unsurpassed in terms of the number of astronomers, both national and international, who have used the instrument, the number of research papers that have flowed from their research, and the sheer longevity of its operation (now over fifty years),” wrote Peter Robinson for the 50th anniversary of the telescope, in 2011.

There is so much interesting information about ‘This Dish’ that I could go on forever! But I won’t. I found 4 very interesting facts on the CSIRO website that I’m going to share with you.

1. The dish is not fixed to the top of its tower, but just sits on it.

The moving part of the telescope weighs 1000 tonnes – as much as two Boeing 747s – but it is not fixed to the tower, and instead sits atop it with its own weight holding it down.

2. The site was bought from a farmer named Australia.

Australia ‘Austie’ Helm (named as such because he was born on a special wartime Australia Day in July 1915) was the owner of a 360 hectare property known as Kildare in the Goobang Valley. After the site of Parkes had been selected, negotiations began and, in the end, Austie sold 70 hectares to the CSIRO for the radio telescope.

3. It has listened for ET

The Parkes radio telescope was the first stop for US researchers from the SETI Institute in California when they launched Project Pheonix – a search for extra-terrestrial intelligence by analysing patterns in radio signals of 800 nearby stars, similar to ours.

4. In the famous cricket scene from the The Dish, the actors used a tennis ball, not a cricket ball.

One of the problems the directors had with The Dish movie was showing how big the dish actually is and came up with the idea of playing a game of cricket on it. As a real cricket ball would damage the surface, they were given a soft tennis ball instead.

These 2 places are incredible … and if you are heading north or south and have to choose which route to take, be open to the inland road and all the adventures it has to offer, like this one! You never know what your kids will remember from your adventures; perhaps it will be the huge dish towering above the cafe, or it could be just the fact they had some pretty tasty chips and a sausage roll for lunch!

Sawn Rocks

by Miriam | Dec 14, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments, National Parks

When we were planning our trip from Brisbane down to Tasmania, there were so many factors that came into play. Of course, we wanted to spend Christmas with my family in Grindelwald, a gorgeous little Swiss Village just 15 minutes north of Launceston, but we also wanted to see things we haven’t seen, visit places we haven’t been and show our kids something completely different.

For the last 3 years we have ventured to Far North QLD and loved every second of it! We have some wonderful memories and visited some magical places. See trip one here, and trip two here – I still haven’t written up our trip from last Christmas! Slack, I know.

So, this year we finally decided to ‘just do it’ and booked our tickets across on the Spirit about 6 months ago. Then we had to choose coast road, or inland. So, we had a look at what there was on both routes, and we decided that inland was the way to go. It turns out that the coast road is flooded from Sydney to Melbourne, so we definitely made the right choice!

One of the deciding factors was what we could visit while staying in Narrabri – the CSIRO Telescope Centre and the Sawn Rocks. And wow – we are so glad we came this way!

We’ve heard so much about Sawn Rocks, and have seen so many spectacular pics, that we really wanted our own happy snaps in front of ‘nature’s castle ruins’ as the kids have called it.

This meant leaving Brissy about 4:15am, booking in at the Narrabri Big Sky Caravan Park, eating a quick lunch upon our arrival at about 1:30pm and then jumping back in the car to make the 45 minute (or so) drive to see this natural wonder for ourselves.

We stopped off to check out the telescopes at the CSIRO centre on the way for a while (which was insane! Stay tuned for those pics 😁)

Once you get the location correct in your GPS, Sawn Rocks can be easily found in the northern section of Mt Kaputar National Park and is an amazing reminder of Kaputar’s volcanic past. It is one of Australia’s best examples of the geological formation known as ‘organ-piping’.

I can remember being taken to see the The Organ Pipes National Park in Victoria when I was no older than 3 or 4, and I can still remember it! I know the Sawn Rocks have had the same impact on our 3 youngest.

To get to the rocks from the car-park it’s just a short 750 metre walk along a lovely track that was dotted with little signs filled with information about the park, and according to one of these signs, once was lined with gorgeous flowers and shrubs. Today we saw some tiny purple flowers amongst lots of burnt trees. It was still beautiful ♥️

Once you get closer, there is a viewing platform which gives you the perfect photo opportunity of the towering wall of pentagonal basalt pipes that is the sheared off remains of a basalt lava flow from the Nandewar Volcano many years ago, and then some stairs that wind down to the base.

This is what we found the most intriguing … all the huge broken clumps of pipes that have crashed to the ground at the base of the wall. Home to many snakes I would imagine! Not that we were lucky enough to spot anything other than ants, moths, birds and a cute little lizard that Aylah tickled until it ran (really fast!) into the scrub.

Over many years, huge chunks of rock have tumbled down to rest on the bed of the (now dried up) Bobbiwaa Creek. I’ve read that these are buried about 60 metres into the ground below!

Cooper said that it reminded him of ancient ruins of a temple or castle – he was absolutely right! It was just like that.

There is also a great car park, toilets, and BBQ’s and tables/chairs.

What a top spot! We totally rate it 👌🏼

FUNdraise for Farmers 2018

by Miriam | Dec 5, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments

FUNdraise for Farmers 2018 was a huge success and we are so humbled by everyone who pulled together to help make one of our dreams become a reality.

A recent trip to Birdsville was the catalyst for the idea to put together a family friendly outback themed camping weekend to raise money for our struggling Aussie farmers. We saw, first hand, the devastation wreaked by the ongoing drought that we are facing not only here in QLD, but across Australia, and wanted to do something to help.

We spent quite some time researching what was the best way to ensure the funds went straight where they should, without anybody taking a cut of the profit on the way. We found out some shocking truths about ‘fundraising’ and settled on the Burrumbuttock Hayrunners – volunteers who deliver donated hay across Australia. Each time they do a run it’s a mammoth task and costs an unbelievable amount of money. Our funds are deposited directly to the Rotary Club of Sydney who give it straight to the Haryrunners with no fees or money deducted.

This year we have managed to raise $7830 which we are really proud of.

Within an hour of making the decision to take on this somewhat daunting yet very exciting task, we came up with the name FUNdraise for Farmers, made sure the hashtag was available, and Chris designed our logo.

From there it was simply asking people we knew if they’d like to jump on board, and I honestly can’t think of many people who said no. Bigriggen was our first and only choice for location and they were keen to get involved straight away.

Bigriggen is one of our favourite camping parks, filled with shaded grassy areas, a beautiful swimming hole and flowing creek/river. Since the Eberle’s took over about 7 months ago, they have completely transformed the park into a camping oasis and it’s evident how much pride they take in what they do.

The campground is big enough for people to spread out and do their own thing, or park in groups next to others, or in their own little space. We found out on the Saturday morning that one group of about 5 families headed back down the other end of the park, plugged in the generator and cranked the tunes until 2am … and we didn’t hear a thing as we were up the other end in the powered sites!

I know those who entered our Farmer Fun Run on the Saturday got a pretty good idea of how large the park actually is!

We can’t thank Dave, Sheree, Trent and Toni enough for generously offering up the use of Bigriggen for our event, at absolutely no cost. They feel as strongly as we do about giving as much money as possible to our farmers.

Our pile of prizes kept growing right up until the day before the event and volunteers kept putting their hands up offering to help.

There were so many who contributed by sharing, including radio stations and local councils and businesses.

When I arrived on the Thursday, Chris was pretty excited as he’d just been on air with the guys from River 94.9! We’d like to say a huge thanks to them for sharing our event.

Then there were those who helped out by sharing on social media – businesses, individuals, families, couples who travel and share like we do … it really was so good to see. It’s amazing what we can do when we all pull together.

The weekend was the perfect combination of relaxing, fun (and somewhat challenging!) activities, eating, drinking, swimming, resting, riding, dancing, talking, sharing and enjoying the company of friends both old and new.

And you can’t forget the prizes – we had so many to give out we had more prize draws than songs during Tyson Colman’s set on Saturday night!

Louise won the Engel fridge just by buying her ticket!

Everyone had a great time from the youngest of kids right through to the ‘oldies’ and everyone in between. Our aim was to make it fun for everyone, and that’s exactly what it was.

Everything about FUNdraise for Farmers was a huge success and we want to once again thank everyone who helped out. An invitation is extended to anyone who would like to be involved next year, to contact us. It’s a great feeling to be a part of something so worthwhile and we would love to have you on board.

We are aiming for a weekend late in October, but the date hasn’t been confirmed yet, so please stay tuned.

The Eberle’s from Bigriggen are as excited about running FUNdraise for Farmers again next year as we are! This is us with Dave and his daughter-in-law Toni.

These people gave their time/money/products/services and we want to say

THANK YOU!

Bigriggen for providing the most beautiful location free of charge and purchasing obscene amounts of tickets in the raffle

Shorties Espresso Bar for raising $1040 in raffles in November and assisting with organising the event

TJM 4x4 Megastore for donating 4 TJM Tyre repair Kits, 4 Trailhead tyre deflators, 4 GME Uhf Radios, a couple of MSA tinnie tubes and an MSA winch dampener

Caravan RV Campingfor donating 1 GoSun Pro Pack, 2 GoSun Go’s, 2 Dometic Can Inverters, a Porta Potti Excellence and an Ampfibian RV Power Adapter

Laser Electrical Loganholme for donating a Weber BBQ

Liquid Life and Leisure for donating a weekend at Couran Cove, an Engel Fridge and 2 Muk Mats

BBQ ARM for donating a BBQ Arm Tray Bundle Pack

North Star Resort for donating a $750 Voucher

Beauty Oasis for donating 2 Nakhair Shampoo and Conditioner, Rusk Miracoil Hair Curler and Wahl Ionic Hair drier

LSKD for donating a duffel bag, Hat, T-shirt and Sock Pack

Giant Nerang for donating a Mountain Bike (2019 Giant Talon 3)

Caravanning with Kids for donating Pegless Clotheslines and sharing on social media

World Gym Southside, Aussie Fitouts & MiMFiT members for donating a 30+ bottles of mixed alcohol (spirits, wine, champagne)

Autobarn Loganholme for donating a Car Washing Bucket of Goodies

MiMFiT Members for donating over $300 in cash at various MiMFiT classes during the month of November.

The Lions Club International of Underwood for bringing their BBQ trailer out of the weekend and raising over $400!

River 94.9 for giving us an on-air shout out

Tyson Colman for donating his time and musical talents on Saturday night

Celtic Cowboys for playing up a storm and getting us all dancing Friday night

Visit Scenic Rim for promoting us on social media

Scenic Rim Council for promoting us wherever they could

Vaughn from AMM Engineering and Ange for helping at the event and selling raffle tickets

Trip In A Van for plugging us shamelessly on social media

Aussie Family Roadtrip for coming along helping us set up and sharing on social media

BUSHMAN TENT CHALLENGE

If you only watch one video, let this be it! We laughed so hard our bellies ached and I feel some may have even peed their pants a little. Please note: no one was harmed in the making of this video.

FUN RUN

This was an epic race around Bigriggen, which is not a small place! Such enthusiasm and so many exhausted sweaty smiles at the finish line made for an awesome start to the day 🙂

WEET-BIX EATING

Have you ever tried eating a dry weetbix? These guys had to eat as many as they could in 3 minutes!

TALENT SHOW

The kids did a fabulous job of keeping us all entertained with a talent show on Saturday afternoon.

BOOTSCOOTIN’

We had a great time with no less than 3 dance classes!

North Stradbroke Island

by Miriam | Oct 3, 2018 | Adventures Couples, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Miriams Moments, National Parks

Straddie – this trip for me can be summed up in one word. SMELLY! Let’s just say Chris won’t be eating salami and sleeping in the rooftop again any time soon. It’s making my brain work overtime to gain enough oxygen to think straight so I can write! My goodness – sorry. That wasn’t how this blog was meant to begin. Ok, let’s start again …

It’s been back to back adventures for us lately with the Adventure Bash at Imbil wrapping up 4 days ago, Chris and I working just 3 days (technically 4 for me as I had to teach a Zumba class this morning) and now here we are at North Straddie, parked on the sand listening to the waves crashing around us.

It’s been many years since we’ve been to North Stradbroke Island, and we felt it was time to revisit this slice of Queensland holiday paradise.

Last time we came I was fairly new to Queensland and Chris brought me over to show me around. We had recently sold off our camp gear and were in the process of researching camper trailers, so we booked an apartment (what a foreign concept these days!) and spent our time exploring in the old black Hilux we were driving at the time.

Before we got together Chris used to come over every year for the Straddie Assault, a surf comp that attracted a large number of local surfers and spectators. He tells me stories of what the old Point Lookout Pub was like (apparently it had so much more character ‘back in the day’, and then the bowls club was ‘the spot’ to go for dinner).

Thanks to all those visits, he knows his way around, and lucky for me – he can take me straight to the best bits! That’s what he did last time and I can remember falling in love with the place as I saw whales and turtles in the crystal clear water under the endless blue skies.

The old 2005 Hilux

Us … 6 years ago!

We were lucky to make it onto the 3:00 barge as we’d forgotten to declare that we are over 2.2m in height and the barge was fully booked. We waited in the far left lane behind another 4WD (aka leaning tower of camp gear) who had done the same thing. Talk about an entertaining half hour wait! We watched as he unpacked bikes, scooters, ladders, boxes, tarps etc in what appeared to be an attempt to reduce the height, only for him to wind up with an even higher pile of stuff up top.

It’s a fairly quick, quite spectacular 45 minute trip through Moreton Bay as you head South East from Cleveland towards Coochiemudlow Island to avoid the shallow waters, then make a sharp left and head East/North East passing Peel Island and into Dunwich.

The great weather, calm waters, blue skies and sun dropping low behind us set the perfect scene for a GoPro Fusion (360) shot. We love this camera so much, it produces the most insane footage!

Before long we were on the island (with Chris pointing out the bakery and reminiscing about how ‘epic’ it was as we drove past), heading directly East driving past the golf course, Brown Lake and Blue Lake, onto the short gravel road and straight onto the beach from the access track stopping only to let the tyres down.

The bright yellow westerly sun, misty ocean spray coming off the water and kangaroos on the dunes watching us drive past instantly reduced our stress levels as the ‘real world’ started to fade from our minds.

In less than 10 minutes we’d found our spot and just 8 minutes later the Alucab rooftop tent was up and the Batwing awning was out. I love this set up! It’s so quick and easy.

Chris grabbed his first Big Head and we took our camp chairs to the edge of the dune where we sat and watched some playful whales splashing around out behind the swell. The sky turned a dusty pink in front of us while the brilliant yellow sun set behind the dunes at our backs.

We had a platter (which included the chilli salami that Chris will not be eating ever again!) and relaxed until we realised how many mozzies were buzzing around. It’s quite strange to see so many this time of year, especially with the cooler temps. We got out the ego insect repellent (all natural of course) and sprayed ourselves and then set about cooking the lamb chops.

It was dinner, dishes and a quick tidy up as rain was expected over the weekend, and we weren’t sure when or how much. We climbed up into the rooftop where I began to write, and Chris began (and continued) to gas me out.

One of my favourite parts of getting away is that both of us like to go to bed not long after the sun goes down and get up when the sun rises. It’s proven that people are much healthier and happier when we live like this, and we don’t need the studies to show us! We feel it within a couple of days. We are pretty good at home with early nights and early mornings but climbing into bed as early as 7:30pm is usually something that happens when we are away from home.

Night one was spent listening to the waves, anxiously waiting to see what the next day would bring (hopefully not the gusty winds, rain and thunderstorm that was predicted!).

I peeked out of the window about 8pm and what looked like a full moon was shining brightly over the ocean and in through our window. The stars were scattered across the sky and there was a gentle breeze.

We woke with smiles on our faces as the sun came up and set the scene for a magnificent day.

It was warm, sunny and there wasn’t much wind until later in the afternoon. We had planned to head off exploring, but sometimes it’s nice to just ‘be’. So that’s what we did. We had brekkie, then set off on a 5k walk. The rest of the day was spent relaxing (in our KNOBBYs!), getting our tan on and watching the odd 4WD get bogged.

This VW was highly entertaining! They got bogged so the guy camped next to us headed down with his maxtrax to help. In the second pic it looks like Chris was going to help as well, but that’s an illusion! He was just wandering down the beach to wash his hair. Haha – you should have seen him dancing around! Turns out the bogged VW didn’t want help anyway as they sent everyone away and dropped their tyre pressure. At the end someone came down and tried to get it up the access track. They failed and went to the next one. It was all quite amusing 🙂

What would a blog post be without a few good KNOBBYs pics? 🙂

Afternoon entertainment 😉

The winds picked up in the afternoon and Chris was getting storm warnings coming through as his phone went in and out of reception. We managed to pull up the local radar and could see some pretty impressive systems going on around us.

The couple parked next to us had spent the day over at Flinders Beach on the other side of the island and came back saying it was like Armageddon over there with people pulling their annexes down and trying to keep things secure. They had expected to return to their campsite being obliterated! But no, it was calm over this side thankfully.

The sky turned black and then orange as the continual lightening flashed around and thunder cracked and boomed across the sky. I love storms, and this was one of the best I’ve ever seen! The rain held off until we were almost done eating dinner and it was a bit of a mad rush to close up the back of the car and drop the legs of the awning so the rain that was pooling up could run off into the sand.

We had to wait for the rain to stop before drying off, dusting the sand off our feet and climbing into the rooftop, so we watched a movie. It was perfect timing as the movie ended at the exact same time that the rain stopped.

I woke at 2:05 to the sound of rain belting down on the roof, and the side of the tent pushing into my back as the wind howled around us. The winds had changed direction to South, South Easterly as predicted which meant that the Main Beach side of the island was no longer sheltered. When we got up the next morning, it was obvious that our decision to move to Flinders was a good one.

We tidied up what we could before moving our chairs to the other side of the car to eat brekkie. As I was about to take the last few mouthfuls, Chris (who is the fastest eater on the planet and was already washing his dish) told me to hurry up and help him pack. When I looked out across the ocean, I could see why! The dark clouds and rain were coming heavy and fast.

We packed up as quickly as we could but forgetting to put the ladder into the rooftop meant we had to open it a second time to slide the ladder in, and then it wouldn’t close so we had to open it up again to take a pillow out. Even with this little mishap we managed to get everything sorted before the rain hit.

All around us tents were bending and giving way, people were scrambling to catch flying gazebos and dogs were running around spooked. We exited down the access track past a lady who was holding onto her toilet tent for dear life!

The rain started to fall as we drove down the beach, onto the sealed roads and into Point Lookout where we stopped so Chris could get a coffee.

Chillers is a great little café with gluten free and dairy free options (yay!) so we stayed for a while, grabbed a bite to eat and watched the storm clouds roll in.

The sky got darker as we left Chillers and headed to the Bowls Club to have a wander through the local markets. There were a few stalls outside and some inside – I knew where I’d rather be! One of the stall holders who was set up selling t-shirts outside was having a laugh with the lady next to her saying her hubby had sent a screenshot of the BOM radar and a laughing emoji. Yes, we all knew that some serious wet weather was about to come our way! Still, moods were high and plenty of people were wandering through.

There were some amazing paintings for sale, old records, used clothes, kids toys, local honey, and lots of other fun and quirky things. I loved the stand that was selling bags that were ‘handmade in Indonesia from waste collected by trash pickers’.

We walked away with a Straddie stubby cooler (as we’d left all of ours in the caravan).

We were almost done when the rain started to fall; Chris wanted to wait it out, but I wanted to make a run for it. As soon as the rain lightened up we raced to the car and made it just before the torrential downpour began. Chris was pleased as this meant a lot of the sand would be washed off the Hilux.

We went to Foodworks to grab a few things and as we were driving down the road, I caught a glimpse of the storm pushing in across the ocean and I desperately wanted to stop and take a few pics. Chris kept driving, eventually stopping at Headland Park telling me the views were just as good from there.

He wasn’t wrong, but this meant I had to go on a bit of a hike in my thongs in the rain and gusty winds down a windy path, up some stairs to the viewing platform. I’m always up for a bit of an adventure so I set off to snap some pics. Once I got there I recognised the place immediately. It was where he’d brought me all those years ago and we had seen wales and turtles! While there was definitely no whale watching going on this time, the grey clouds and stormy ocean made for a pretty spectacular view. I snapped a few pics and raced back to the car.

We went to Amity Point Jetty and sat and watched the storm out on the ocean, grabbed some fish and chips for lunch, went back and watched the storm some more (well, I did while Chris had a snooze), and then we headed to Adder Rock Campground for showers.

We had paid $10 extra with our camping fees to use the showers, and man – what a rip off! We had to push a button to ‘turn the water on’ and by the time I’d taken my clothes off and hung my towel, the water had shut off already. So, I had to wrap my towel around me and head back out to push the button again.By the time I’d gone back into my cubicle, the drain also blocked and filling quickly with other people’s dirty water.

The showers were full, and everyone was complaining about the cold water and how it was cutting out before they were done. I had goose bumps while I was showering which resulted in my legs being completely hacked by my razor, and lots of blood. Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed.

I met Chris back at the car and he’d had a similar experience, minus the bleeding legs!

We headed down Flinders Beach to our campsite, a lovely little spot right on the water, far away from the winds that we knew were smashing the other side of the island.

There was quite a bit of space between campsites here too which definitely wasn’t the case at some of the other campgrounds. It looked like the tents were peg to peg in some places! I guess it’s to be expected on a long weekend taking place at the beginning of the second week of school holidays.

We set up camp, relaxed, had a few beers and cooked dinner before heading up into the rooftop for the night.

We (I) only had one ‘incident’ during the night when during our ‘pee break’ about 2 am we climbed down from the rooftop to be greeted by grunting and ‘squealing’ from the GROUND! So we (I) had a little panic and thought PIG (I think I’m permanently traumatised from the pigs at our campsite up in Cooktown) – when in fact it was just a koala as Chris continued to assure me.

To reassure me, Chris shined the light on 2 sparkling little eyes and we watched as her fluffy butt bounced back into the bush.She was cute and I’m pretty sure it was the koala we saw near here yesterday. Chris has named her ‘K-Lo’ as she has a big butt.

The next sound we heard was birds chirping, and as I unzipped the window I could see the sun rising over the ocean, hardly a cloud to be seen.

It was bacon, eggs and all sorts of other deliciousness for breakfast as we sat and took in the serenity of the place. The trees were fairly still, the sky was blue, and the ocean was a sparkling turquoise. We decided that as much as we loved our spot, we wanted to head off and explore a little, so we packed up and went for a drive.

We started at Chillers café grabbing another cappuccino and chai latte, both made with coconut milk, because they are insanely good. We can’t figure out why other cafés can’t make their drinks taste this amazing.

We parked the car and were about to head off when Chris noticed some wetsuits hanging in a gazebo out front of the surf shop. A couple of hundred dollars later we headed off on our walk (as usual).

We had come back to the lookout I was at in the crazy weather less than 24 hours before, and it felt like an entirely different place – much more like I remembered from our trip all those years ago. Magnificent views kept our cameras busy as we wandered along the boardwalk and ventured down the cliffs.

After about an hour we headed into the bakery to grab some lunch before heading back to Flinders to see if our campsite was still available. It wasn’t, but that’s OK because we found an even better one! Within 8 minutes we were set up once again and having a beer.

We went down to the beach for a few hours which was incredible, aside from the occasional gusts of wind that blew sand all over us.

The one thing I will never forget was when I was sitting in my chair and Chris was lying on his belly on his towel facing me. He said, ‘Crazy wind thingy!!’ and pointed behind me. I turned and could see a whirlwind of sand heading straight for us!

I held up my magazine and took cover and watched Chris get completely hammered. It was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in ages!

We had showers at about 3:30, and no, we didn’t return to the caravan park that we had paid to use.

We used our camp shower and even though the water was luke-warm, it was still better. Besides, who doesn’t like stripping naked and showering at the beach? We were totally able to do this as our camp spot had nobody anywhere nearby at all. Over half the holiday makers had packed up and headed back home this morning, leaving us all the privacy we could ever want. Perfect!

The winds were pretty cold as we discovered when the sun disappeared behind the trees and the shadows crept over the sand. It was time to rug up and get dinner sorted.

We were all packed up and in bed by 7:00. We had plenty to keep us occupied, we just wanted to be out of the cold!

Our last sleep on the island was deep and we both woke up with the sun, feeling well rested. It was another big brekkie before our final pack up. We headed down to the beach for a while so Chris could surf, but the waves weren’t quite what he’d hoped for, so we headed back to Chillers Café for another round.

We drove back across the island to Dunwich where we pulled up, had something to eat and then lined up to board the Sea Breeze. The ferry was delayed by 15 minutes – we are guessing it was due to the windy weather and choppy seas.

We were sailing back across Moreton Bay by 12:30 and back in Cleveland a bit after 1:00. We had a great time on the island and have vowed to get back over to Straddie again sooner rather than later, regardless of what the forecast says!

Adventure Bash 18

by Miriam | Sep 24, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Couples, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments

Adventure Bash 2018

#adventurebash18

‘A camping festival for young families, who share in the love of Caravanning, Camping & Music’ is how this event is described on the website www.adventurebash.com.au – and that’s exactly what it was – plus so much more!

We have been looking forward to this weekend, the Inaugural Adventure Bash, since we first heard about it and bought our tickets as soon as they went up for sale months ago.

Chris and I both arranged to take the Friday and Monday off, and we took the kids out of school for the day, so we could get on the road early Friday morning. Traffic wasn’t a problem; the weather was perfect, and everyone was in a good mood. It was a great start, and it only got better from there.

Our destination was Imbil; a tiny little town in the Mary River valley, 160 kilometres north of Brisbane.

We checked in to the Imbil Camping Retreat about 10:30am and were welcomed by Brett and Cheryl, the loveliest of hosts!

We pulled in within 10 minutes of the other two families we went with (Ribics on the Road and 4xgouldsgetaway) and we were parked and set up fairly quickly. The kids took off to explore and Chris and I went for a bit of a wander.

It’s a gorgeous little spot set alongside the beautiful Yabba Creek, with 12 acres of shaded parklands ranging from secluded areas to open spaces for larger groups.

We had heard many good reviews, and it’s easy to see why. The trees and grassy areas are just magic! Everywhere you looked a photo opportunity seemed to present itself. It was the perfect location for the bash.

It wasn’t long before Justin from Trip in a Van rocked up to our van with a sore butt on a kids BMX selling raffle tickets. We had a chat, bought some tickets (the first of many sold to our group!) and he left on Chris’s electric bike. Let’s just say that he left a whole lot faster than he arrived and the smile on his face was a whole lot bigger.

We checked out the tents down in the ‘common area’ and had a chat with Adele from Caravanning with Kids and a few others. It was great meeting people we had previously ‘met’ online – it really felt like we already knew each other!

The weekend was ‘officially’ opened at 2:00 by Justin and Bec from Trip in a Van, Renee from Caravan RV Camping and Adele who gave us the rundown on what was going on and all the important info. Chris paid special attention to when the Round and Round Coffee van opened for business each morning.

Mark Maroney was the first of a fantastic line-up of artists to take to the stage, and his acoustic set really created the mood for a relaxing arvo in the sun.

Our kids took their inflatables down to the river while the adults relaxed and listened to the music until the sun started to sink behind the trees. Campfires were lit, platters were shared, and conversations started flowing along with the drinks in everyone’s hands.

The temperature dropped pretty quickly so we all took showers and changed out of our shorts and into warmer clothes. We had dinner and then traipsed back down with our jackets and drinks and settled in for a great night of live music which included some awesome tunes by Octavian, an amazing band who we have since discovered were featured on Triple J Unearthed.

1 kilogram Donut Challenge

Saturday started off right with a coffee followed by a 1 kilogram jam donut. Say what? Yep. You read it right. Kenilworth is just 19km from Imbil and is home to the Kenilworth Country Bakery which is famous for its 1kg donut challenge.

As if we could let that opportunity pass us by!

Ange had seen on Facebook that they do a 1kg donut challenge – and had signed her hubby Mick up for it. Gian (the Ribic’s eldest son) was chosen for Team Ribic and Chris represented team ADU.

The challenge is to buy a donut for $20 and if you finish it within one sitting (which can take as long as you like) you get your money back, plus your name on a silver plate mounted to the walls. There is a gold plate for those who can eat 2. Wowsers!

They all chose Jam and Cream donuts and all regretted the cream almost immediately. Chris was the first to bow out eating just half, followed by Mick also eating about half, and Gian gave it a red hot go but was also defeated by the giant donut. Not even the staff cheer squad complete with “Eye of the Tiger’ blaring from the UE Boom could spur him on to victory. When I turned back around, the other kids were eating the leftovers and the challengers were lying down in a food coma in the kiddies play area. Nice effort boys!

When I ordered my donut (a more sensibly sized vanilla slice donut) the staff were amazing and took me on a kitchen tour! The new fryers they have are awesome and my donut was picked fresh off the tray in the kitchen. Um YUM!

If you are ever in heading out to Kenilworth or even Maleny I would definitely recommend making a trip (or two) to this bakery. It’s one of the best I’ve ever been to.

We headed back to the caravan park with 3 extremely full men and settled in for another relaxing afternoon. Poor Chris was recovering from his sugar hit and spent a fair but of time snoozing on the towel.

More people started to roll in as the day went on and activities were what woke Chris from his sugar induced slumber. Tug ‘o’ war was well underway and Chris was needed to help even out the teams. After that he was up and back to his normal self.

He even won the Stand Up Paddle Board Comp for fathers and sons, and came a very close second in the adults division. It was a serious business this SUP racing! Some of us preferred to watch 😉

After showers it was time to think about heading back down to the main area with our warmer clothes and drinks for another epic night of tunes and chats.

We all had burgers from the BBQ tent which were delicious! Those guys did an amazing job keeping everyone fed over the weekend.

The fires burned brightly, and the conversations got louder. The music was great and after the kids went to bed, the real party started and continued on past midnight.

Hilarious conversations became a crazy reality when ‘The Travelling Mo’ was born, domains purchased, and Facebook and Instagram pages set up thanks to the outrageous Adele. Be sure to look her up (Caravanning with Kids and now – The Travelling Mo) Most of the conversation from that point on was done via a thumb acting as a mouth on everyone’s hands. You kinda had to be there. Lol.

It was a slow start the next day for many, but everyone came good and enjoyed the hottest day of the weekend. 27 degrees had most of us in swimmers and dipping in and out of the creek.

I took Cooper and Charli up into town and we had a look at the local markets and had a wander through the antique store. Seriously, if you want to see something funny – let your teenagers loose in rooms filled with old stuff.

We only had to walk 2 minutes down the road to find the old Imbil Railway line and Bridge. This captured the kid’s attention for ages! They were ‘diverting trains’, walking along the tracks, and I could hear their imaginations running wild. The old bridge is just beautiful, and the whole experience brought out the inner child in our 2 teenagers 🙂

We would have kept exploring for hours had Chris not called asking for lunch, so walked back and ate before more swimming, relaxing and good music.

The Adventure Bash is a fundraiser for ‘Buy a Bale’ to help our farmers and all throughout the event raffle tickets were being sold, winners being announced, and Mel Ribic was telling us how she wanted to win the fridge. She bought hundreds of dollars’ worth and won all sorts of things (including an eski, a pegless clothesline and a solar cooker), but sadly for her and funnily for us, not the fridge!

Sunday night was as much fun as Friday and Saturday. The fact that all the leftover food at the BBQ tent was ½ price and we all ate dinner around the campfire together, made it even more memorable. The talent on stage were insane with the Dennis Sisters (who were on X Factor), and a 5 person Reggae Band to really set the mood as they finished off the night. I spent so much time dancing and singing and cartwheeling with the kids, it was fabulous!

Monday morning meant time to pack up and say goodbye to our new friends. It may have only been a weekend, but it was one of the best weekends we’ve had in our van so far. We’ve met people we know will be lifelong friends, even if we correspond online more than in person. Catch-ups will be happening randomly throughout the year as we occasionally cross paths, leading up to when we do this all again next September.