A rainbow coloured beach, an island and two dolphins

Hello! We’ve had a great, action packed five days since I last posted! We went north from Mooloolaba to Rainbow Beach and stayed in a little, and very busy, caravan park right on the beach. Rainbow Beach was a lovely quiet seaside town- a haven for fishermen and 4WD enthusiasts. We saw the famed coloured sands on the long long stretch of beach and drove along the beach and had a picnic lunch.

We also took a two-day 4WD tour to Fraser Island- a really great experience! We saw long stretches of empty beach, plus, the highlight, a swim at Lake Mackenzie…which is a sand bottom lake, filled with rainwater---probably the clearest water we have ever seen…the lake dropped off quiet quickly to deep water, and it was the bluest of blues!
We also saw Lake Wabby, and walked over some amazing sandblows, which looked like moonscapes! We traveled up to Indian Head with great views over the island, and saw some huge manta rays in the water. We also saw a pocket of rainforest in the middle of the island…and were lucky enough to see a few dingos, plus lots of sea eagles, osprey, kites etc (I was happy seeing so many birds and consulted my birdbook when we returned to the van! J )

While at Rainbow Beach we also visited nearby Tin Can Bay- a small place on a little inlet…the main reason for our visit was to see a couple of tame, rare Indo-pacific Dolphins, which swim right up to the shore to be fed at 8am each day (apparently they don’t show EVERY day, but normally). The story goes that one of the dolphins (Mystique) mothers was injured many years ago by the propeller of a fishing trawler. The local community wanted to help the dolphin recover and began feeding her fish….after she’d healed she kept coming in, and one day brought in her calf, Mystique. Mystique also now brings in a lady friend, Patch, on some days.

We went to Tin Can Bay yesterday and this morning to see and feed the dolphins. You stand in knee deep water and hand them a fish, which they take, ever so gently! Yesterday both Patch and Mystique arrived…and today is was just Mystique. It was a great experience and quite low key!

After the morning dolphin feeding, we drove up to Bundaberg. We initially had planned to continue on right past this area, however decided we might do a tour of the rum factory…so we turned off and drove to the coast from Bundaberg and arrived at Bargara…to our surprise it’s a really lovely little place and really nice and quiet…with a large, green caravan park- so we’ve decided to stop here a couple of nights. We went for a really long bike ride this afternoon, around the coastline…some sections so undeveloped, we were riding on small mountain bike tracks and through fields…lots of fun. We’ll check out Bundy more tomorrow. Oh, and tonight I spied a tawny frogmouth owl in the tree right next to our site! Wonderful to see.

Our next stop from here is The Town of 1770. Many people have told us it’s very pretty and we plan stopping a few nights there….I am hoping to do a day trip to Lady Musgrave Island, where the snorkeling is said to be excellent.

Meanwhile, we haven’t killed each other yet…so all going well on the homefront too ;-) Sending you our love and best wishes…pls keep in touch, Love, Em &Ad xoxo

p.s. tried loading some photos but it didnt work this time...hopefully next post!

A perfect sunshiney day!

Hello…our final day on the Sunshine Coast today and it was absolutely perfect weather! Not a cloud in the sky and only a slight off shore breeze. It was a little cooler, but really warm sitting in the sun. We went for a surf at Sunshine Beach, which is just south of Noosa. Fun, steep, barreling shore-breakers! Lots of fun on the boogie board today and Adam and I pretty much had the spot we picked all to ourselves.

We then sat in the sun at Noosa’s main beach for a while, before having some lunch and heading back south to pack up the annexe and tidy things up in the van. Tomorrow we aren’t traveling too far- going up to Rainbow Beach- will stay overnight at Fraser Island one night. Looking forward to it!

Yesterday was cloudy and we climbed to the top of Mt Coolum- excellent views north and south along the Sunshine Coast. Then for a change, we had a relaxing afternoon not doing too much at all. Adam did some further hunting for his elusive new surfboard but didn’t find quite what he was after so he has decided to hang off on buying anything new for now. I meanwhile continued to read Mao’s Last Dancer, which I am enjoying (just have been busy doing other things this week and haven’t done as much reading!).

Last night we met with our friend Leila again for dinner out- a nice Asian meal and good to catch up further. The meal didn’t match up to the Tibetan meal we had though- that was truly superb! We tried a variety of dishes and they were all good.

Anyway- hope all’s well back home (and over in Perth Marcus).

Love Emma & Adam xoxo

Noosa and Glasshouse Mountains

(Noosa NP) (Glasshouse Mountains)









Hi everyone- well, life on the road continues to be lots of fun and full of activity. Fortunately the sun came out on Saturday and we took advantage of the good weather and headed into Noosa and went for a bushwalk in Noosa National Park- it was very pretty and we even saw a big turtle in the waters below. Went to the beach and ate our prepacked lunch and indulged in a nice dessert in Noosa, before heading back down to Mooloolaba.

Yesterday I went for a morning run and then we went for a bike road to some morning markets nearby – Adam then went shopping for a new surfboard (he sold two of his old ones while we were on the Gold Coast) and I went to the beach for a swim. It was very relaxing, I sat and read my book for a while. Last night we saw the Da Vinci Code- not nearly as good as the book in my opinion, but OK.

Today we started with a surf…only average waves, but still nice to be in the water. Then headed into Glasshouse Mountains National Park. We climbed most of the way up one of the mountains…the top part was “for experienced climbers only” so we didn’t go all the way to the summit. I get a bit nervous as heights when on uneven ground or steep rock faces! Nevertheless, we got quite high up and had our lunch up there- excellent views!

Tonight we are eating out at a Tibetan restaurant…should be yummy! More news soon.

All the best xx

A surf then a day exploring the hinterland...

We left our scenic site by the beach for a before-breakfast surf this morning just out from Alexandra Headland...wasn't too busy and good waves...prob 4-5 ft on the sets and some steep take-offs, off-shore wind and a whole lot better than it had looked from the beach!
Then we set off for the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and caught up with our dear friend Leila, who played an instrumental role in our meeting each other. :-) Was lovely to see her and visit her shop at Montville. Also had a yummy lunch there and looked around, enjoying the views etc.
We also did a couple of bushwalks to some nearby waterfalls and visited Mapleton and Maleney in the afternoon, before heading back down to the coast.
Another long day for us...we got back in the dark at about 5.30 pm- as usual trying to squeeze as much as possible into the day.
It was cloudy with sunny breaks and rain showers...so not too bad and we were able to enjoy the day.
I dont think the weather is expected to totally clear for a little while...about to check the forecast!
All in all having a great trip and enjoying having this freedom and also more time together- we were so rushed before we left and Adam especially was so busy with work etc, we often didnt have that much time together- so this is really great. Sometimes of course, it's toooo much time together...hehe...but we are learning when to give each other space!
Plan on spending time at Noosa and other towns such as Caloundra etc.... will keep on updating.
Thanks for the emails and comments so far. It's nice to feel in touch with family and friends while we are on the road.
Love to all..

Adam's Snapper Surf report (Gold Coast)

The surf on the Gold Coast was not as big as predicted, as such we wandered down to Cabarita (which catches any sniff of swell, just like Duranbah, but without the crowd) for day one and two of our Gold Coast visit. Day one was a gorgeous 3ft day, sun shining with great right and left hand breaks all down the beach. This day we surfed with a long time surf buddy Jason Wright. The second day pushed through at 4-5ft, so we surfed closer to the point to avoid getting belted on the super shallow sand banks. A nice surf.

Days three and four saw an increase in swell, but still not as big as predicted. These days were surfed at Snapper Rocks with 4ft sets on day three and smaller 3ft sets on days four. Surf was busy both days as the Gold Coast had not seen much swell for the last 3 weeks. Joel Parkinson was showing how it was done, along with a few of the hot locals , taking off well behind the peak, sliding effortlessly past the rocks, with everyone hoping they would be too deep and come off, so they could snavel a set wave without the danger of the deep take offs.

Desite the large Snapper crowd we both got quite a few waves. Emma scored one of her longest waves, starting at Snapper and almost touching the rocks at Greenmount......she was pretty happy with that and has had a massive smile on her dial ever since. A couple of piccies to show the size and conditions:

The first is me coming through rainbow Bay on the final section of a Snapper peeler. That nice little peak in front of me became my floater of the day (I made it.....honest!)......it broke so quick once you got through to this section.......As you can see, at the Rainbow Bay stage the wave broke into sections, showing that the SUPERBANK is not linking all the way through, maybe needs more size, as there is definately tonnes of sand there.





The piccy below is of emma on the second day, where she took off and nabbed a little barrell and is lining herself up to get another.....I remember this wave it was a nice little one that went on and on and on.......








I don't know who this is in the third piccy, but this was on the second smaller snapper day and it looked like a nice wave to take a piccy of








The guy below was taking off (on the second smaller Snapper day) in Rainbow Bay and had so much speed over the shallow bank. At first it looked like Mick Fanning (similar Style), but what I thought was white hair was actually a bald head, so Mick it was not.............regardless the guy was super smooth and throwing heaps of spray........not a bad shot off the top hey!!!!!!!

Anyway, we are on the sunshine coast now. Smallish waves on this first arvo, with predictions of a 3-4ft swell for the weekend......there is a consistent South wind blowing, so here's hoping.......

Over and out, Adam

Now on the Sunshine Coast!

Hi- now on the lovely Sunshine Coast- Adam has been here before, but I haven't and first impressions are good. Sadly the weather isn't great- very rainy and not expected to clear for a little while..fortunately lots to do here aside from beach stuff.

Last day on the Gold Coast was fun and have posted some piccies below (if you click on them they will enlarge). It began with a surf- well actually with me surfing at Snapper Rocks and Adam taking photos! Adam far exceeded my efforts at taking photos of him and decided not to surf and snapped a few pics of me which I thought was pretty good :-) !
Surf was busy and a bit smaller than the day before, but I got some good waves...one kept going and going all the way to Greenmount (for those who know surf spots here)...it was exhilarating!

Adam and I then went into the hinterland for a long drive...we went all the way to O'Reiley's Plateau in Lamington National Park- a very windy road up to a lovely sub-tropical rainforest. We did a couple of walks- one was a canopy sky walk (a suspension bridge basically through the top of the rainforest...there was also a ladder to the top of a tree, where a viewing platform was set up- awesome!). Plus, there were parrots everywhere- we bought some seed to feed them and had them on our arms and our head..it was good fun.

Today we drove up here and set up our site in a fantastic park right on the beach at Mooloolaba...it's right on the ocean and we managed to get a site on the beachside....5-star views here! Just hope we get some sunshine during our week so we can see it in its full glory.

(Lamington National Park)

(view from tallest residential building at Surfers Paradise)

The World's Tallest Residential Building and my first Gold Coast surf

Today was a good day. Rain showers on and off but also sunny breaks so not too bad at all.
I went for an early jog around the beaches...then we went for a surf...our first on the Gold Coast itself, and my first ever surf on the Gold Coast. We went in at Snapper Rocks for those of you who know the breaks up here. It was busy but surprisingly we both managed to get quite a few waves. It was about 2-3 ft in Rainbow bay and about 4-5ft off Snapper, with a southerly wind. I found I needed to be on alert the whole time- making sure noone ran over me, and also always at the ready to get a wave if I happened to be in position, or if a guy already on the wave happened to fall off and I was able to pick it up! The water is so blue and so warm up here, it's really lovely. And some good waves came through too.

I got a bit cold as the wind was cool and came out of the water first...dedicated wife that I am, in my shivering state I ran to the car and got the camera and dashed back down onto the rocks to try and get some photos of Adam surfing before he came in. I managed to catch his last wave. :-)

After our surf we had a great lunch at the Palm Beach surf club...great spot, then we headed for the first time up to Surfers Paradise...Adam is searching for a new surf board and even I bought a new bikini, before we went up to the top of the newly built, world's tallest residential building. Amazing views. We sat and had cake and coffee and watched the sunset and the Gold Coast light up.

Been trying to catch up on some caravan chores tonight...cleaning up a bit and washing etc (and of course updating our blog site). This van is just too small to live in if it gets messy!

Hopefully another surf in the morning and then if the weather is OK we plan heading into the hinterland for a bushwalk.

On Thursday we'll set off for the Sunshine Coast.

About to try and upload piccies...sometimes it's too slow, so if not this post, there'll be some in the next one!

Love and Best wishes to all. Emma and Adam. xx

From clear sunshine to pouring rain in a day

Some piccies today from the southern end of the Gold Coast and also Cabarita Beach where we have been surfing the past two days. Swell expected to pick up on the Gold Coast in coming days.

Our day started with another good surf before breaky down at Cabarita- a bit bigger than yesterday..prob 4 ft, but also a bit windier. It was a lovely morning and we sat in the sun for a while after the surf.

We drove back to Kirra and had some breakfast before driving into the beach at Coolangatta- I went for a walk and read my book (fellow Bookclubbers, I have just started Mao's Last Dancer...enjoying it so far!) in the shade for a while, and adam sat under a tree playing guitar. Then we went to Sushi Train for lunch- yummo, before setting out to get a few jobs done. We have bought a mini tv and today got an antenna etc. plus I finally got a new pair of hiking boots.

After this morning's sunshine, the rain has started to pour down. Hopefully it clears up soon- it's never fun packing up in the rain and then having a car and caravan full of wet towels and a wet annexe etc. It can certainly be a bit patience testing ;-)

Tonight we are having dinner out at a Mexican place with a few of Adam's friends from his day's living up here. Should be fun. Hope all's well in your part of the world :-) xx

A few extra photos...

Lake Ainsworth at Sunset, plus our breakfast spot on the lake... birdwatching, Lennox beach in early morning, and the echidna at Broken Head!

Golden days on the Gold Coast...

All's going well! We arrived on the Gold Coast yesterday and we are staying in a nice caravan at Kirra, just a couple of blocks back from the beach. Here are some pics of our laid back lifestyle (adam playing guitar at Byron Bay...dolphins at Yamba and me holding the moon at the Gold Coast )

Our last couple of days at lennox were relaxing. It stayed a bit rainy and we drove to Evans Head one day which was lovely, we also went to the movies in Ballina and saw Mission Impossible 3, which was really entertaining (plus Tom wasn't too hard to look at either).

This morning we went for a great surf at Cabarita, as there wasn't much happening wave wise on the Gold Coast. The water was so blue and clear and a nice temperature- it was busy but Adam and I both got lots of good waves and had fun. One of Adam's mates up here, Jason also met us for the surf which was good. Plus, after the surf we met up with our friends Lynn Davis and Ian Pascoe for breakfast and a coffee- it was great to catch up with them! They were on their way back to Port Macquarie from Brisbane.

We've actually just been resting a bit today as we are tired after this morning's surf. But, true to form, I am about to head out for a walk on the long pathway that stretches around the Gold Coast's pretty southern beaches- Adam will probably be content playing guitar. :-)
It's a beautiful sunny day up here and a little warmer than at home.

We saw a fantastic full moon rise last night over the ocean, just as the sun was setting. Beautiful!

Miss mum today- Happy Mother's Day Mum!

Uploading a few piccies of our new laid back lifestyle...enjoying ourselves!

Love to all. Emma and Adam

Echidna encounters

Our stay at Lennox has been great so far. We had a picture perfect day at Byron Bay...went to the beach and for a walk , before having a delicious cafe lunch.

The next day we had a good surf at the breakwall at Ballina, before heading to Broken Head for a picnic..we also walked up around the headland and came upon an echidna...it was so close to us we could have touched it and it didn't seem to mind us being there at all! Just kept on sticking its snout into this old bit of log and eating ants! It was great and of course we took a few pics of the little thing with ants crawling all over it.
We finished the day with a drink at Lennox pub overlooking the beach.

Today we saw the first clouds and a couple of rain showers, of our trip so far. We drove to Evans Head and had some lunch there, before getting some grocery shopping and other bits and pieces done in Ballina. Now kicking back in our palace ;-) We have knicknamed our van Molly (it's a Millard Caravan, so it seemed appropriate...and yes, it was really me who wanted to give the van a name ) ...anyway, Molly is so far usually the oldest and smallest caravan in the parks we've stayed at! hehe...but she suits us and we are usually out and about anyway. Not sure how we'll be if it rains for a week or something...hehe.

In another day we are leaving here and heading to the Gold Coast, followed by the Sunshine Coast. Hope all is well with you!

Love Emma and Adam.

Now at Lennox Head and the sun keeps shining...

Hi! Some images of Yamba and Angourie... so pretty. Haven't posted for a few days as we were running low on internet time, but should be posting more regularly again now. :-) Once every 2-3 days hopefully.

We are a little further up the coast now at pretty Lennox Head, staying in a caravan park right next to Lake Ainsworth- very nice! We arrived here today.

The rest of our stay in Yamba really was wonderful. Slowly but surely we are both unwinding and slowing down (and getting used to living in the little van and being with each other 24/7.. hehe). The sun has been out every day. We went into neighbouring towns of Maclean and also Iluka, where we did a rainforest walk and then had a picnic lunch on a beach- we were the only ones there and it was a weekend!
We also had another great surf at Angourie Point. According to Adam I scored the 'wave of the day' and I was happy with that! Just a smooth 3ft wave which perferctly curled in front of me and kept going and going.... :-) Ad also got some great waves and it wasn't too crowded.
Our owls stayed with us all week too! We have had a few Scrabble challenges too- so far Adam has been beating me! Hopefully I can redeem myself in a rematch tonight.

Today we drove to Lennox and set up- much quicker with putting up the annexe this time too!
The wind picked up so no surfing, but we walked and had a swim, before eating lunch and cake and coffee ;-)

We'd love more time to spare on the east coast, but we know we dont want to hit the NT and WA too late in the dry season, so we can't simly lounge about too much 0n this part of the journey. It's such a beautiful part of the world it would be easy to spend months right here!

I do miss my family and friends, and thanks so much to those of you who have left comments so far. It's great logging in and seeing them, so please keep checking in. :-)

Will write again soon. Love Emma and Adam

Dolphins and owls

Hi- another perfect sunny day here in Yamba. Surf not quite as good today, but we still both got some good waves off the point at Angourie.
Before that however, we road our bikes to Pippie Beach for an early walk in hope of seeing some dolphins (they are often there) and we saw so many! Surfing the waves, leaping out and generally putting on a show- it was great. Will put in a few pics we took.
Also, the tree next to our van has three tawny frogmouth owls in it now! I just love it- you look up and there are these owls just perched over us. Will also put up a pic of them later hopefully. (it's pretty slow to upload).
After surfing we were both tired and came back here to the van for lunch and have been reading, playing guitar etc. Tonight to the pub for dinner and then a movie...
Love Emma and Adam

Yamba- sunny days, good surf..relaxation

Hi! Here's a pic of us in our "dining room" haha. We put the camera on timer.

Today was another totally clear day..sunny with light SW winds until this afternoon when the wind turned onshore. We had a relaxed morning and then went back to Angourie. The point was no good for surf today so we walked about 1k down the back beach and surfed right at the southern end- a really good surf! It was also beautiful, the surroundings adding to the joy of the experience. No houses, no cars, just the natural headland, two sea eagles soaring in the vibrant blue sky overhead and a small group of surfers. It was about 3ft again and good fun.
We walked back and had a picnic, then came back to Yamba and spent the afternoon wandering around the shops, before buying fish and chips and eating dinner early while the sun set. I think we'll be going to bed early and rising early most nights!
Hopefully more of the same tomorrow! We do have plans for tomorrow night though- dinner in the Yamba pub overlooking the beach and a movie! hehe... i think we like this life. :-)

Hope all's well with everyone. Keep in touch.

photos

setting off from mum's place a dunbogan




A beer at sunset at our caravan park on the river at yamba

Photos...day 1 and 2

Hi- having trouble uploading pics so they didnt appear on the other post...here are some!

Our site at Yamba-setting up on May 1st, monday arvo.

The journey has begun! At Yamba ...

Hi! We are finally on our trip! Yesterday we had a lovely breakfast with mum and dad and did the final packing of the car...then it was a teary farewell for mum and dad and I, and off we went. Mum clicked a few pics of us as we drove off...I hope to upload them here.
We arrived at Yamba yesterday afternoon and had our annexe and site set up just before dark (i'm sure we'll get quicker as we go along!)...we went for a quick bike ride, did some shopping, had dinner and some champagne (in our plastic cups).
Today was a great first day!! Sunny and so so clear. A cool SW wind, quite strong in the morning. I started the day with a jog and checked out the surf. The wind had knocked it down a lot, but after breakfast we drove to Angourie and had a look at the point- it was 3 foot and clean. We got out there and at first there was only us and one other guy surfing. We both scored some great waves. After a couple of hours came in for a picnic on the beach. I read a book and Adam played his guitar. Perfect. Came back and got to the ammenities early for a shower (I am equipped with a little bathmat, thongs and plastic carry bag for the ammenities trips..hehe) then set up our chairs by the river at our Calypso Caravan Park and watched the sunset.
Which brings us to now- I am on the internet and Adam is reading our National Parks guide.
Our van is tiny!! And quite overflowing with things...we will eventually develop a system for everything I am sure.
It's still sinking in that we are on an extended trip and not just a weeks holiday!
Hope you are all well. Please keep in touch and leave us comments! We love to read them..

Love Emma & Adam...wandering up the east coast.... xoxo Below there are photos of our first couple of days....