Brisbane, 2010

August 7th, While driving to Brisbane we decided to stay at a better Caravan Park than the two we had used previously, when staying in Brisbane. We booked into the Gateway Village Resort (Big4) at Rochedale. Very impressive Park, so we were pleased with our choice and will now make this our place to stay, whenever visiting Brisbane. We couldn’t believe how cold it was at night here, much colder than Tweed Heads.

August 8th, Went to Brian (Val’s brother) & Julies place at Thornlands for a BBQ lunch. Rebecca, Nigel and little Sophie were there also. Brian, Nigel, Val & myself are all dieting so we had a nice steak, seafood and salad lunch, very healthy. It was good to catch up and Val was looking forward to meeting & playing with Sophie (Rebecca and Nigels 11 months old daughter). She was very cute and a happy smiling baby.



August 9th, Took my Centrelink Rent Assistance form to the Caravan Park Office for signing only to find that this Park does not sign off any Centrelink forms. So, off to Centrelink I went armed with my receipt to prove my payment of site fees. After lunch I decided to find the cause for the slow drainage of water from the sink in our Van. Lo and behold, I not only found the cause of the problem but also Val’s missing peeling knife. It had slipped down the small drain hose until it reached the bend that then ran underneath the floor to the back of the Van and there it was stuck. I tried to get the knife to come back up the hose using a straightened wire coat hanger but that didn’t work, so I had to remove the fitting on the outlet end of the drain hose, crawl under the Van to remove the clamps holding the hose to the floor, allowing me to open the bend in the hose then flush the knife through. That worked, so it was only a matter of putting it all back to-gether.



August 10th, It rained all last night and stayed with us right through the day and night. We went shopping in preparation for an arranged family BBQ at our Caravan Park to-morrow.



August 11th, It stopped raining around 8am this morning but still looked likely to rain some more, so a quick phone call had us packing all our BBQ food up and heading to Brian & Julies for lunch. As it turned out the skies cleared to a fine afternoon, typical. We went to Redlands Bay RSL for a flutter and left having made our donation to the Clubs continued financial success.

August 12th, We went to Garden City Shopping Centre at Mt. Gravatt, to keep our 12 noon appointment, at the Post office, to have our Passport Applications processed. That went without a hitch and my Australian Passport will be at Cardiff in 2 weeks, Val’s British Passport will be there in 4 weeks. We then made our way to Forrest Lake to visit an old friend, Doreen, who had moved up here from Salamander Bay to be with her Family. Our navigator (Doris) was totally confused as the road works in progress were not known to her and we arrived much later than expected and rather frustrated. It was great to catch up with Doreen and she took us to see the site where her new house is being built and was pleased to find the Concreters there pouring the slab. Doreen then took us to the Golf Club, within the Estate, for a very nice lunch. On the way back to her place we stopped at her Storage Shed and picked up 2 “Porcelain” Dolls to take back to Sydney for Jessica & Annaliese. Doreen had promised a doll for each of the girls before she moved up to Brisbane. After a coffee with Doreen we bid her good-bye till next time and headed for “Spotlight” on the way back to our Caravan Park.

August 13th, To-day we headed for Redland Bay to visit our friends, Nerida & Rob, who we met last year while travelling through WA & SA. It was good to catch up and to have a few quiet drinks with them. We drove into the City to pick up Nikos from the Emporium Hotel at 7.30pm and walked across to the Makabah Restaurant (Turkish cuisine) for a very enjoyable meal. After Dinner we went to the Airport to pick up Steven, whose flight from Sydney had come in early, and then all went back to the Emporium bar for a few drinks and to catch up.

August 14th, Picked up Steven & Nikos from their Hotel and brought them back to the Caravan Park for lunch. After lunch we all went over to Brian & Julies place for afternoon tea then back into the City to have dinner at the Liber-Tine Restaurant (French cuisine). After a great meal we dropped Nikos back to the Emporium and Val, Steven & myself went on to The Treasury Casino to try our luck. Our first problem was to find a street parking spot, I had the boat on top of the car so Parking Stations are out. We eventually found a place to park down by The Botanical Gardens and walked back to the Casino. Val went off to play the poker machines and Steven & myself headed for the $15 minimum, Blackjack Table. We were both doing well, at one stage Steven had well over $200 in front of him and I was holding my own. We called it quits around 10.30pm, Steven was down to his $100 starting money, I had $170 so had won $70 and Val had lost all her $100 to the Pokies. It was a great way to finish off a great day.

August 15th, To-day Steven, Nikos, Brian, Julie, Rebecca, Nigel and Sophie all came to our Caravan Park for a BBQ lunch. Sophie ran all around the concrete paths, in her walker, and wore right through the toes of her leather shoes. It was a great family get together, enjoyed by everyone, with Sophie being the life of the party, of course. We have never seen a more happier baby, always smiling. We dropped Steven & Nikos back to the Airport at 5pm for their 6pm flight back to Sydney.

August 16th, Caught up on our washing in the morning and went to Brian & Julies for afternoon tea, to say our final goodbyes. To-morrow we travel further north to Benaraby (just below Gladstone) with an overnight stop at Maryborough on the way.

Gloucester, 2010

May 13th, 2010. To-day we left Anna bay and travelled to Gloucester. The Bucketts Way hasn’t improved a lot, too narrow in places and used by a lot of Timber Jinkers. We are here for the Shakespearean Festival, so picked up our tickets for the “Feast and Show” from the Information Centre. After a nice lunch in Town, we drove around Town then up to Barrington Township. Lovely countryside, rolling hills nestled in amongst the mountains.

May 15th, After a quiet day yesterday we had a big day to-day. We went to the Fair/Markets at the Bert Gallagher Oval, a short walk from the Caravan Park. They had food, wine tasting, craft and the main entertainment was the “Jousting” Displays. We had fresh home made sausage rolls for lunch, very delicious. 5.30pm we were back for the Play and feast. The Hall was decorated in a medieval theme and the feast was excellent. The play was a modern slant on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, which was disappointing in as much as, the sound did not carry to the back of the hall, so we had a lot of difficulty in hearing the performers. They really need individual microphones for each of the players. A saving grace was the last 10 minutes of the play, it was extremely funny and had us all in tears from laughing.

May 16th, We went for a drive through the Barrington Tops, passing through the Village of Barrington and taking in the great views from the Kia-Ora Lookout and then on to Gloryvale Reserve, where the gentle sounds of the shallow rapids contributes to a relaxing atmosphere. A very enjoyable drive. To-morrow we are heading back to Newcastle, as Val is having more trouble with her teeth and we can’t continue our Travels until her problems are permanently fixed.

Port Lincoln 09 to Anna Bay 2010

Hello family and friends, it’s time to start recording our ongoing “travel adventure”. We have been through a trying period, which I will outline in this posting:




We left Port Augusta, SA, on the 8th December, 2009, to make our way back to Sydney for Christmas with the Family. Val’s Mum had told us that she wasn’t feeling well and the Doctor was sending her for a scan. Val was worried about her Mum’s health, so we decided to get back to Sydney to be with Mum for the cat scan. With overnight stops at Orraroo, Cobar, Dubbo & Lithgow, we arrived at Sydney Gateway Holiday Park on the 13th December. Mum had her scan and unfortunately it showed that she had a nasty, very aggressive stomach Cancer and the Dr’s estimated she would only have 8 to 12 weeks. We took her to numerous tests that the Dr’s sent her for, all to no real avail. We packed up her belongings from her Cardinal Gilroy unit and moved her into the Hostel. On the 30th January, Greg & I flew down to Melbourne to see the Woman’s Final at The Australian Open Tennis Final. Val & I had already purchased our tickets and felt that they could still be used, as Mum was still holding up well at that time. Greg volunteered to go with me. It was a great trip and exciting to watch a live final. We appreciated the support given to us by our Family during this trying period. Mum passed away 9 weeks later on the 21th February, 2010.



We organized Mums Funeral through Hills Family Funerals, held on the 25th February, using a Celebrant recommended by the staff from Cardinal Gilroy Village. It was a lovely Service held at the Village Church hall, with 120 friends attending and the close Family Members from Brisbane, Mt. Isa, Port Macquarrie and Sydney.



We left Sydney on the 11th March, having finalized all of Mum’s affairs and on our way to Bays Holiday Park at Anna Bay, called in to The Entrance to spread Mum’s ashes on the water, which was her final wish. After 2 days in the Bay, to put some of our excess gear into our storage shed, we moved to Dunleith Caravan Park, at The Entrance, for a 5 week stay. A relaxing time, fishing and generally doing nothing. We booked a 14 day Cruise around NZ, leaving Sydney, on the 2nd January, 2011. Something to look forward to for next year. We moved back to Sydney Gateway Holiday Park at Parklea, to welcome home our Boys. Greg, Dianne and the girls had been on a 4 week American holiday and Steven was holidaying in China. They all had a great time.



On the 27th April we moved up to Bays Holiday Park at Anna Bay, to visit our Dr’s, Dentist and Skin Cancer Clinic for our annual check-ups. We will leave here to follow the sun, heading north, to who knows where, on the 13th May. We will keep you posted.