Now in Gladstone

Hi All

Here I am in Gladstone with Josh.

After leaving O'Çonnell River I went to McKay but there wasn't anything there, didn't even take a photo. From there I drove to St Lawrence which is part of the Broadsound Range which probably doesn't mean anything to you cos it didn't to me until I got there. This was a free park at the Recreational Oval and there are showers which you have  pay $1 for a 4 minute shower. This place so clean and I think volunteers look after it. Quite impressive.

Next was Yeppoon which I thoroughly enjoyed. The weather was fantastic and the Caravan Park was very close to 2 beaches, one for general public and the other is a dog beach. The latter was 2kms long but the dogs had to stay on their leads which didn't stop my 2 from swimming. I scootered to the marina which apparently is the largest in Nth Queensland. I met an English couple at the caravan park who I first met in Carnarvon WA. They are also travelling in a Motorhome the same as mine but it is much newer. They are travelling with a Bulldog and they also have a scooter on the back!!

I'm now in Gladstone but Josh wasn't here when I arrived as he was on his way back from Gold Coast. On my way here Chardy started coughing and dryretching. I had given, both of them, chicken necks with their dinner and so I thought part of one was stuck in her throat. I found a vet, here in Gladstone, and the young vet who looked 16!, said that it could be an obstruction or an upper respiratory tract infection but will need an xray. I had to leave her there for 2 hours so Kaiser and I went to a dog park. To cut a long story short, it did turn out to be a 'cold' and Chardy is now on antibiotics and I was left to pay $249.00 ( 140 of that was the xray which is cheaper than an anaesthetic) She certainly is better'

It is great to see Josh. He lives in a 3 bedroom townhouse, on his own. He is not meant to have dogs in the house which is a bit stressful for me, as I have to keep them quiet and every time I go out, I have to make sure no one sees us. Luckily his neighbours are away. I've done lots if washing but haven't had to do any housework as a cleaner comes in once a week - no charge to Josh.

I leave here tomorrow and head for Hervey Bay where I will be staying with a friend's ( Julianne) brother

Marina at Yeppoon

Dog beach - Yeppoon

At Yeppoon Marina

Beach at Yeppoon

Well that's it. Hope everyone is well

Lots of Love

Jo, Kaiser, Chardy and Shiraz

xx    woof     woof         woof

Toomulla to OÇonnell River

I know I know late again but as I've said before I don't seem to be doing anything exciting.

As you know I'm now travelling on my own which is a bit lonely but I'll cope!

I stayed in Townsville for a couple of days. I've been there before but had planned to visit a friends daughter who I haven't seen for many years. Her mum and I nursed together and as Paz ( mother)  is from the Phillipines, my parents became her parents here in Oz. Anyway I thought Rebecca was still in Townsville and we talked on the phone. It wasn't until we arranged to meet that I realised she lives in Cairns!!! boy how embarrassing and it shows you how well I communicated with Paz!

Whilst in Townsville I took the dogs for a walk. The caravan park was on a main road and in the afternoon the cars are bumper to bumper. Well suddenly there were 2 dogs 'attacking' my two. I had no idea where they came from but I was quite anxious. They weren't really viscious ( ? spelling ) but my 2 were pretty scared.  Chardy who was quite distressed, and Kaiser tried to protect her - nthe hero!!. Apparently the dogs jumped out of  one of the cars ( the windows were down) and the owner was screaming at them. Another car stopped and she was with the RSPCA and checked out my 2 and told the other lady that she could be fined and loose 3 demerit points for not having her dogs restrained. Here I am having travelled 23,000kms and I'm ashamed to say, my 2 haven't been restrained!! Kaiser and Chardy then refused to continue the walk, they wanted to get back to the security of the motorhome., so did.

So after Townsville I drove to Ayr, where I thought I would stay. I did a detour to a place called Alva which is 15kms east of Ayr. It was a great place. It's on the coast and the caravan park is only small and luckily for me a lot of people had left. It was 150mtrs from the beach and the dogs loved being off the lead and being able to run around. They also enjoyed swimming. I stayed there 4 nights and a lady, who lives there, sold fresh fruit and veges - 5 x bananas - $1, 2 x avocados (decent size) - $1, whole pumpkin - $1, a large bag of small ( for pickling ) onions - 50cents, plus other veges.

From there I went to Bowen where it was really windy. My motorhome backed onto the beach so I was hoping the wind wouldn't be around the next day. One guy at the park said that Bowen is known as 'Blowy Bowen' .

The next day was perfect. I took the scooter off and rode to Horseshoe Bay which really is magnificent, water, crystal clear and perfect for swimming and snorkelling. Did a bit of a walk, around the 'point', and then went to the Co-Op shop and bought some fresh fish which I cooked that night and was delicious.

I left Bowen this morning and drove to Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour. These areas are very touristy, with prices to match, so decided not to stay. I'm now at OÇonnell River which is 22kms south of Prosperpine and is very pleasant. I'll probably stay here 2 nights as it's only $20 per night and the surrounds are very relaxing

 Alva Beach. The ocean is in the background with one of the lagoons in the foreground.

 The kids

 Sunset from Bowen

 Horseshoe Bay

.View from my Motorhome

Well that's it. Hope you weren't too bored. Till next time

Lots of Love

Jo, Kaiser, Chardy and Shiraz
xx     woof    woof          woof

Cairns to Toomulla

Hi there

I know I'm late but because I spent one week in Cairns doing 'not much' there's not much to tell you. It was nice not doing anything but after a week I felt I had wasted the time.

I did have my motorhome serviced as did Linda. We drove to the place and then they drove us, including the 3 dogs, into Cairns. I had arranged to meet my friend Denise and her husband, Zeno, there at 9.30am. They were up from Mt Eliza ( Melbourne ) and staying 10 days. We had coffee and a great chat.

From there Linda and I walked to Cairns Central ( The shopping complex in Cairns ) where Linda bought a new camera. By this time it was nearly 2pm and when I rang about the motorhomes they said mine was ready but not Linda's. At 3pm they picked us up. They did make the comment that they hadn't 'done' a Fiat before which worried me a little. The reason was that they had obviously rang Fiat about what oil to use and of course were told some Italian stuff. Can you believe that they got the italian oil and it cost me $133.00 for 7 litres, and no it's not gold!!

Whilst waiting for Linda's motorhome to be finished, I took Linda to Dan Murphy's as she had never been in one before and boy was she impressed. We did spend up and had to wait till 4pm to buy cask wine, as that is the ruling when you are less than 10kms from the city centre. We eventually got Linda's 'home' and got back to the Caravan Park at 6pm - way past happy hour.

We had been into Cairns earlier in the week and went to the markets. The fresh fruit and Veges was terrific and they had an amazing variety of tropical fruits. The night markets weren't anything special.

We had planned to leave Cairns on Friday but went on a Tour of Cairns instead. It was great and we really should have gone on it when we first arrived but not to worry. We went to the Botanical Gardens, Barron Gorge National Park and an outback Opal Mine to name some of the areas we went to.

We left Cairns yesterday and drove to Cowley Beach which had been recommended to us by another camper. It was only 100kms from Cairns and by the time we got there it was blowing a gale and raining - not very pleasant. We booked in for 1 night but would stay longer if the weather improved. We played scrabble and drank, of course which meant we forgot to get dinner!! The showers were set up like stables so you could see the tops of peoples heads when they were showering.

Next morning the weather was just the same so I decided to move on. Linda wanted to stay so we are no longer travelling together. Hopefully we will catch up again down the track as I really have enjoyed the company. I'm now at a free camp which is about 45kms north of Townsville. It is near a beach and it is still windy but not raining.

My scooter after travelling over unsealed roads. Yes it was covered!!

With a friend in Cairns

 Cairns in the background. Notice my haircut at long last.

 This is at Barron Gorge and the Surprise Creek Falls. Note the bridge at the top. The Kuranda Train travels over this

Sunset at Palm Cove

Well that's it for now. Hope everyone is well

Until my next blog

Lots of love

Jo, Kaiser, Chardy and Shiraz
xx    woof     woof          woof