Toasty warm home - finally - in Canberra.

For quite a few days it has been cloudy and raining in Canberra. Nice to be home after testing the (crumy) health system.... for those that don't know -We finally got to go for a paddle in Noodle, in Lawn Hill Nat. Park. A beautiful spring creek lined with palm trees and pandanus running between towering red sandstone cliffs in a small mountain range in the middle of miles and miles of open savannah grasslands. The creek being a National park is full of fish, turtles and fresh water crocs in far northwest Queensland. We booked for 5 days as it is beautiful in the park -great settup. We paddled Noodle up to a small waterfall and I went for a swim....seemed very deep under the falls and there was a way to climb up the side so I did and then decided to jump in. Foolishly I managed to crash into a tufa deposit (the water is cloudy from all the calcium carbonate and it forms strange limestone outcrops)just under the surface with my right foot and broke my ankle.
So here we are up a creek except we did have a paddle.........
I was wearing plastic boat shoes which supported my foot and as long as I held my heel it didn't hurt too much. Christian was in Noodle so I held on to the side and he took me to a small dock near the falls. I could sit up on the dock and another couple came along and helped make a back country splint. We used Christian's neoprene knee brace (he has a stuffed knee from hanggliding) with two sticks and a length of rope cut from Noodle to support my ankle. It was very impressive and certainly gave me some comfort. Christian, Jim and Lorraine helped me into the bottom of Noodle-sitting on a lifejackets and a towel-very comfortable looking very elegant and spoilt. There were a group on a tour out paddling and the women would say, 'look at her, why can't I be paddled like that'! There are canoes to rent in the park.
Christian paddled me down to the launching area and by then a few more people arrived to help get me into the back of the L'cruiser (as we sleep in the back it was a good way to transport me). He drove 10 kilometres out to Adels Grove where there is a telephone and a small grass airstrip.
The Adels people were fantastic and called the Royal Flying Doctor and looked after me until the plane arrived and flew me to Mt Isa.
Mt. Isa hospital was good but is quite small and does not have an orthopedic surgeon. They x-rayed and set my ankle but it needed plates so instead of going to Townsville (they were ony taking urgent cases because half the hospital was closed as it had flooded during a storm a few days before) I decided to fly back to Canberra for treatment.
Christian drove out the next day after packing up, 4 hours drive down to Mt Isa, half over rough dirt road. Half way down he came to a road closed sign, the team were grading the road after the wet. He told the guys he had to get to Isa as I was in hospital so the they cleared a special track for him to drive along beside the road! Otherwise it would have been a very long drive to go the other way around.
I flew back a few days later and intended to go to Canberra Hospital, I had to go through Emergency as there was no way I could be transferred interstate but ended up going in earlier than planned as my foot was swelling and toes going numb. There is a blood clot in my calf muscle probably from flying.
6 hours I waited to see a doctor, 24 hours to see an orthopod, 2 days for a bed in a ward, 4 days nil by mouth before I was finally operated on.
So I decided I was in a health farm, fasting.... lost 5 kilos!
What a stuffed system, this is only a small part of the disaster that is my experience of our health system. Tried to switch to use my private health fund and that would not have helped at all! It only works for elective surgery!
During my secornd night in emergency, at around 11pm the builders started working behind the wall where I was. Can you imagine the noise of the drills and angle grinders... there were 6 of us waiting for beds in wards and it was like being inside a drum...took 3 hours before someone got them to stop.
Anyway finally home after nearly 2 weeks in hospitals. Finally was able to lie in the sun and pretend I was still in sunny Queensland. Can get around with crutches...no weight at all allowed... strange how long everything takes. Mikki, Indi and Sasha are great - helping heaps - Mikki is now my MOTHER.
Christian has gone to Mareeba, if you read French you can follow his version. His daughter and granddaughter will visit him in July and I will return to the Grande Promenade when I can.
Promenading is a really great thing to do... I have really enjoyed just meandering around. Because of the late wet we have missed a few places so when I return we will head to Cape York.

Mon retour a Mareeba...mes amis

comme deja dit je suis donc retourne a Mareeba pour plusieurs raisons...
dans le meme campement que precedamment...

Lorsque Mary sera retablie nous pouront repartir de la sur le cape york dont les pistes endommagees par la saison des pluies etaient fermees...meme aux 4/4..
je peux y attendre tranquillement mes girls ma fille et ma petite fille debut juillet..
Mes amis....
Mon combat pas tres loyal avec les bats..vampires..fruits bats..flyng foxes
chauve souris geantes aux ailes de plus d1 metre d envergure....

Je me suis donc reinstalle cette fois sous un enorme bouquet de bananiers
l avantage est qu il tourne le dos a tous les..touristes venus dans le nord se rechauffer du froid relatif du sud...
aussi il y avais 6 gros regimes de bananes en cours de murissement...
apres que 2 regimes aient ete mis a sac je me suis decide a intervenir
malgres les demandes express de Mary de partager avec les bats...le probleme est que lorsquils font une descente...il ne reste rien..

Donc apres 3 nuits et ces 2 premiers regimes anentis quelque soit l heure
entre minuit et 3h30 du matin lorsque dans mon sommeil j entends ce bruit d ailes carcteristiques je me leve d un bond les asperge d un spot puissant
et comme cela ne semble pas suffire je me mets a les photografier le flash
les dissuade et elles s envole...quelques fois elles reviennent...je ne sais pas pourquoi je les mets au feminin les oz les masculine...mais je suis de veille reflash et reenvol.
Pour l instant j ai sauver 4 gros regimes et espere bien que ma petite fille tout comme moi pourons en profiter....pourquoi ne pas mettre un sac plastique comme dans les bananeraies...les regimes sont trop haut mais je trouverai bien un moyen lorsque...le moment sera venu...patience

Mon 3eme ami est un tres jeune kangourou...il a ete extrait de la poche de sa mere....sur la route dit le chasseur du camp pour en faire..un esclave
Alors ce monsieur...l animal...se promene en toute libertee dans le camp
apres avoir ete biberone 3 mois.
Je crois bien qu il me prefere..le matin lorsque j ouvre ma tente il est deja la et ne me lache plus...ce n est pas de ma faute , peut etre mon accent l amuse mais je ne le nourit pas du tout...
si je m absente quelques instants je le retrouve sur mon lit ou il semble t res a l aise....

Je ne vous ennuis pas avec mes oiseaux qui a 4h30 l apres midi viennent
chercher leur pain quotidien...en particulier les kokubara..oiseaux chanteurs sont les plus fideles...ainsi of course que les tres nombreuses
varitees de perroquets...blanc..agressif...geant noir..multicolores..vert..bleu..rouge..jaune...

quelle menagerie que tout cela au moins j ai des amis fideles...et je n oubli pas les mouches dont j ai deja parle et qui commence a me couter cher
en vin rouge...
a l occasion je vous mets toutes ces photos sur l invitaion de Mary qui se retablie en famille a Canberra mais les bequilles ne sont pas son..truc
elle est impatiente de rejouer Tarzan....

Ce matin dernier dimanche du mois marche a Mareeba tres fermiers et artisanal l occasion pou moi de faire le plein a pas cher du tout de papayes rouges..il n y a plus de mangues depuis 1 mois..mais reste les bananes..fuits de la passion..et legumes verts
C est en plus un beau spectacle en attendant les journees rodeos en juillet...voila je m occupe....

retour mareeba

Bonjour, j espere que vous avez bien dormis ....je me precipite donc.apres le saut de l ange de Mary avec le canoe auqu elle elle s accroche et la ramene au bord....fais une attele rudimentaire avec 2 morceaux de bois
et l allonge dans le fond du canoe sur nos gilets de sauvetage....retour au camp ou les rangers prevenus nous attendent...je cherche l auto et une chaise..les rangers la mettent dans l auto..grace a la chaise....conduite lente jusqu a la base ou une infirmiere a la retraite tente de joindre les flyng doctors...medecins volants..de la celebre royal flyng doctors qui ne vivent que de dons
Apres e heures d attente sur une piste en herbe....heureusement Mary ne soufre pas trop...
Ils atterissent sur la dite piste et la prenne en charge....
direction l hopital le plus proche....MOUNT ISA..mais cet hopital ne semble pas avoir ni les competences ni le materiel pour une operation de brochage des 2 os tibia et femur qui se sont separes...apre 3 jours a attende dans cet hopital nous decidons de rapatrier Mary sur Canberra ou les chirurgiens sont supposes l attendent pour l operer
retour sur Canberra galere ...4 heures d attente a Brisbane pour le changement d avion

Entre temps je suis retourne de lawn hills a mount isa....7 heures de pistes encore defoncees par la saison des pluies...traverse une dizaine de criques sous les eaux ainsi que 3 rivieres en crue a fort courant...brave land cruiser....
ensuite sachant Mary en ...bonnes mains a Canberra des chirurgiens apres aussi bonnes que celles des medecins volants , nous decidons que je retourne sur Mareeba au lieu de continuer sur Darwin...nous pourrons reprendre le cape york lorsque Mary sera retabli
ma fille Valerie et ma petite fille Anaide n auront qu a changer leurs destination en juillet
1600 km me separe de Mareeba que je m avale en 2 jours1/2...performance sachant que la ..route...piste est a une seule voie et que circulent les fameux road train qui obligent a s arreter toutes les 10 minutes pour les laisser la place....ils sont beaucoup plus lourds que moi....entre 400 et 600 tonnes...chaque....
et donc depuis 2 semaines je suis a nouveau a Mareeba..pres de Cairns..65 kms...dont je connais deja la region ce qui me sera plus facile pour recevoir ma fille et petite fille

Quand a Mary elle a ete finalement operee...12 jours d attente...et de lit sans manger car en prevention de l imminante operation....elle me dit par telephone avoir beacoup maigri malgres les exercices musculaires....
elle est costaude et ne soufre pas trop elle est soulagee d etre a Canberra ou sa famille s occupe tres bien d elle  et qu enfin elle a ete operee

elle se retablie..peut etre moins vite qu elle ne le suppose....nos ages les os ne se reconstruise pas aussi vite et
envisage deja de revenir a Mreeba d ou nous pourons continuer ce voyage interompu et cette fois les pistes du cape york seront reouvertes....des que ma fille sera rentree en France 3eme semaine de juillet..........

pour que nous puissions continuer notre  GRANDE PROMENADE....en esperant que cette mauvaise experience l aura un peu ...calmee..........a bientot donc quelques nouvelles de Mareeba...

Retour a la case Mreeba

Nous avions trouve un campement...nature..LAWN HILLS...tres bushy mais avec douches et eau a profusion...randonnees  ET  canoing dans des gorges sublimes..la riviere ayant traversee ces gorges s arrete sur 4/5 cascades de 4/5 metres de haut sur un barage ..naturel de la riviere possibilite de transporter le canoe...un peu lourd tout de meme... de l autre cote des cascades ou la riviere continue sur un super decor....gorges maiscrocs d eau douce en masse....
1er jour nous arrivons apres ..un peu de pagaies....3km...jusqu aux cascades..nous rencontrons un biologiste type CNRS....sciro..ici..avec barque a moteur electrique qui noua apprends que la 1ere partie de riviere sur laquell nous sommes regorge de tortues qui ne vivent que dans cette riviere et nous apprends a les voir...genial nous en cotoyons des centaines

le2eme jour nous recanoeing jusquaux cascades...TARZAN   je veus dire MARY....entreprends de se baigner dans le courant puis prends une longue douche sous l une d elle...ensuite pour m epater....je reste dans le canoe pour prendre de pres.....des photos....elle escalade le mur de retenue et..pose en haut de la cascade....photossss...puis decide de sauter..du bon cote...pas du cote..crocs...
je lui conseil de se mettre sur les fesses et de se laisser glisser car elle s est deja ..douchee sous la cascade et je sais qu il y a de l eau
NON...elle saute au moins a trois metres de la cascade juste la ou rocher est legerement immerge mais pas visible ma dira t elle dans la remou

elle SAUTE donc et....fractures vilaines a la jambe droite qui vient de subir une varisectomie.....
desole il fait nuit ...6 heures du soir je reprendrai cette episode demain matin....suspens....

Coucou c est Christian

Desole je fus long a revenir ...causer de nos aventure en francais j ai pris beaucoup de retard ...a bloguer pour differentes raisons....d abord maintenant nous utilisons le pc de Mary .....mon temps d acces est limite car elle embolise la bete ......elle a tant a raconter....en anglais...donc je suis oblige de trouver un moment de libre...il faut dire aussi que nous ne savons plus ou donner des yeux car chaque moment amene son experience... et son aventure...il est donc dure de se rappeller de tout se rappeller meme en prenant des notes.....c est pour cela que j ai pris tant de retard que je comblerai en juillet car mes vacances vont recommencees Mary retournant a sydney pour un mois...enfants..travail...si ma fille et petite fille m en laisse l occassion je comblerais ce retard.....mais deja les photos que nous envoyons maintenant tres regulierement....causent d elle meme..donc nous reviendrons sur Mareeba..les goges de granit les cascades
pour nos douches...les explications des regions traversees les innondations...les forets vierges...notre debut de domestiquer le cape york que nous n avons explore qu a moitie car les routes etant impraticables...nous avons fait demi tour car il nous aurai fallu attendre quelque part et aurions rates notre rendez vous eventuel avec ma fille et petite fille debut juillet ...nous reprendrons la route du cape ulterieurement...


a ce jour...apres 2 jours de SAVANE..vraiment africaine avec pour seul difference les animaux tout autant originaux comme le sont ceux d afrique....d ailleur la piste que nous utilisons provisoirement s apppelle
savanha way et traverse toute l australie du nord ...de cairns a brome...1 nuit dans un campement de brousse
ou l eau chaude est realise dans un tonneau....feux ouvert pour barbecul sur grill ...bonne odeur d eucalyptus pour demarer le feu...Nous arrivons en fin dans un endroit civilise ou 60o/o de la population est abborigene
continuons notre chemin pour rejoindre les GREY NOMADES...ces retraites qui passent l annee sur la route
surtout que nous avons officiellement quittes la saison des pluies pour la saison seche...dans le nord il ny a  que 2 saisons....effectivement...cette ville de 1300 ames passe l hiver a 12000/15000 habitants...vous voulez en connaitre la raison....peche meme de la plage du celebre Barramundi....le meilleur poisson du monde vous dira  importe quel australien...c est vrai qu il est bon et abondant....mais il faut le meriter car l embouchure de la riviere timor sea dans le golfe est infestee de ...saulty  ces crocodiles mangeurs d hommes.......cette ville de cow boys s appelle KARUMBA...cela ne sinvente pas...details la taille minimum pour le deguster.... est de 70cm cela donne une idee de la taille moyenne de ces monstres..poissons...1 a 1,4metrepour 50 a 110 kilos
vaut mieux etre bien avec ses voisins pour partager.....je reviendrai sur la region car c est le debut des crocs agressifs...les autres de rivieres ont arrive avec un peu de prudence a vivre avec...d ici la faite de beaux reves

Westing

Karumba is a busy place for the grey nomads........the caravan parks are quite full already, most of the parks we have been to so far have been quite empty and the roads have only been open for a couple of weeks.
We left the Chillagoe and headed south back to the Savannah Way - planned to stopped at Tallaroo Hot Springs but it has been closed. On private property and the owners got tired of people stealing their stuff! sad I was looking forward to natural tufa (what ever that is) hot springs. We had passed through Mt Surprise, small old gold mining town, lots of history so after Tallaroo headed to Georgetown, another old and current goldmining town. Lovely old buildings and interesting history. The next stop was Cumberland lagoon, the remains of a rock crushing plant for finding gold looked hopefull for a paddle in Noodle, but no, to many waterlillies, very picturesque though with an old chimney. The next paddling chance was the Gilbert River but that was only sand! Our next chance was at Croydon where there is a manmade lake but NO, the lake was closed because of some sort of weed they were trying to eradicate.
We overnighted in a bush camp, privately owned, beside the Leichhardt Lagoon. It was beautiful with lots of water birds and lillies but we were not allowed to paddle. They made us sign a disclaimer and their signs warned of crocs. and snakes! very reassuring. We do sleep in the Landcruiser, thank goodness.........
Normanton has the big barra and Krys the biggest croc ever shot (copy) is on display, it is BIG! Normanton is also very historic with great old buildings but we headed out to Karumba to feel at home with all the 4WD, caravans and oldies. It had lots of water in the river BUT we are not paddling....the butcher told me that there was a 6 metre croc resident around the bridge? Noodle is 4.5 metres..........
Karumba is lovely, on the shores of the Gulf of Carpenteria and the entrance to the Norman River. No swimming but great shells on the beach and a good beach to wander along and watch the sunset over the gulf.  Lots of people with tinnies or fishing off the beach. Christian caught his first barra off the beach but it was too small at 45cms. One guy walked by with a barra that was as tall as he was!
Tomorrow we are westing again headed for Burketown. Not sure about our next chance to update the blog because of coverage.

Go west oldies...........

We headed out from Mareeba on Saturday following the Savannah Way (alternate) to Chillagoe. What an interesting area....... after driving for a couple of hours on a good road through open grassland with small eucalypts and lots of termite nests one comes to an area with limestone outcrops which have sharp edges. There is the remains of a coral reef that formed around a volcano 450 million years ago. After millions of years the sea dried up and the volcano erupted and pushed the reef vertical. Marble is now mined here and sent to Italy. There are large  blocks in paddocks alongs the road in circles....don't know why they are in circles! The old reef covers an area 45kilometres long and 5 wide and has many caves and outcrops. The limestone is so sharp and textured one needs good shoes to stop from being cut!
We stayed a couple of days and visited the different interesting places and caves then headed out south along 200 k of dirt with roadtrains belting by. The longest dirt road so far parts of it were wide but often very narrow. We came down to Mt Surprise - an area of old gold mines -now fossicking for garnets, agates and fossils. Bought lots of samples of interesting bits and pieces and posted them down to Sasha who is the keeper of the treasures.
Planned to go to the Tallaroo Hot Springs but they were closed so we headed to Georgetown to pick-up the mail. Such a small town , but nice people. They are waiting for the grey nomads to arrive on their way to Karumba and parts west.
We damaged Noodle manouvering around the caravan park but stayed here today and fixed her. We have been trying to paddle but it has been difficult with no access, to far to carry, no water in the rivers or not enough....etc. also a few places have been run by private enterprise and will not allow one to use ones own boat...bummer but now with Noodles new trolley and repair we hope to paddle in a small lake tomorrow before heading west to Normanton, Karumba and Bourketown.

Cape Tribulation

On Tuesday we left Pt Douglas and had lunch in Daintree village before heading for Cape Tribulation. During our three days in Pt Douglas we had quite a lot of rain - Monday night 48mils in 2-3hours - and it did not stop. Cape Tribulation has the most amazing rainforests, the vegetation is different from the other Wet Tropics we have seen, and everything was dripping.ir..during April over 1000mils have fallen at the Cape.
On the drive in we saw a cassowary and his chick foraging beside the road, all the cars just stopped and we were all looking until one car speeded up so the cassowary just walked into the bush, sad for us.
We stayed overnight in the Nat Park but the dripping really was hard - not cold at all just everything was wet.
Had a fantastic ride along the beach just south of the Cape - love riding those beaches. The bike is really showing the bad treatment it gets, though I do spray it regularly, but it gets showered by the rain, often!
We went on a couple of the boardwalks into the rainforest, just so interesting, did not see many birds or butterflies. Perhaps it was too wet/
Drove  back to Cairns and stayed at Lake Placid and once again tried to paddle Noodle but the access meant we would have to carry her over 100 metres and I don't do that. So we decided that we needed to make a dolly to trolley her around. So off to Bunnings - we bought a trolley on special and just took the wheels, axle and washers - much to the amazment of the checkout chick, left the rest with her. We headed to Mareeba, where Christian was staying when I was away to see his friend, Bill, to borrow his drill. We now have a dolly so tomorrow we will head west to Chillagoe first then more west.
Don't know how internet access will be for the next couple of months but will try to blog when I can.

Climbing Granite Boulders

Sitting at the back of the Landcruiser typing this, we are in Pt Douglas and it is hot and humid... must be around 25c now even though it is around 8pm. We arrived here on Saturday after spending a few days climbing all over lots of  boulders at Granite Gorge and Davis Creek falls. Granite Gorge has huge boulders that are the gorge, they are piled everywhere and rock wallabies live there, jumping all over the boulders. There is a small creek at the base but mostly it is boulders piled all over.
Of course some have wonderful names like Arch - a boulder lying across two forming an arch - Dinosaur, a broken off slab sitting sideways resembling a Steggosaurus (I think I have the spelling right) Footsteps, the hollows resemble a series of footprints???
We also went to Davis Creek, another great Nat. Park with a tumbling waterfall.
Swam in both places in cool water pools, great when in but difficult to get in.
Headed out of Mareeba on Saturday after taking many hours to pack up the camp. Could not remember where everything went before but eventually left. Stopped at the wetlands on the way north - lots and lots of waterlillies but not allowed to paddle Noodle there. On Sunday, as planned we went out to the Low Isles on a large sailing cat. Another great day with spectacular snorkling.
The Low Isles are a Coral Cay with a beautiful old lighthouse on the small island. The other is mangroves but the little isle is a coral cay with some vegetation. The biologist on the boat told us that the sand is made up of 30% fish poo and the rest fragmented coral, shells and seaweeds with a some pumice, probably from the pacific islands.  Did you know that beaches are 30% fish poo!!!!
It was a calm though cloudy day so we did not take any photos but had a great day. Of course the 'sailing' was motorsailing.
Today we went on an old wooden ferry, Lady Douglas, for a trip along the mangrove lined inlet looking for salties. We did see 4, 2 small and 2 larger. The largest was swimming to a crab trap which it proceeded to raid! Apparently they have learnt that there is food in crab traps so they raid the traps, occasionally a croc is seen with a trap caught over its head! Tomorrow we will head for Cape Tribulation before heading back this way and then out west.  Cape York will have to wait for another visit as it is still the wet.

Stage 2, Cairns to Darwin

Time to start again - Christian has been in a very quite camp outside Mareeba on the banks of the Baron River - there is not a lot of water in the river - Mareeba in on the other side of the mountains and is open grass and eucalypt country - Savannah - it is amazing how quickly it changes from Tropical Wet to Savannah. 30k to the south is Atherton which is in the mountains has rainforest around and has a higher rainfall that Mareeba.  Sunday, Christian's birthday we spent a lovely day climbing up a waterfall at Emerald Creek just to the east of Mareeba. We had a great time climbing all over the rocks at the side and were able to swim in a couple of the pools.
I climbed out along the top of the falls for a great view down the falls.Sounds dangerous but it was not, just physical.
We have been trying to get Noodle wet but because of the dense growth everywhere it is difficult to access rivers. Yesterday we went to Tinaroo dam, a huge water irrigation area for the district, but the wind was (OF COURSE) blowing 20+knots and paddling would not be so pleasant. One day we will get a quite day for a paddle. Why does the wind blow all the year around up here. I wrongly thought the trades were more during the dry..........
Up here they seem to grow lots and lots of food. Lots of vegiis and fruits. Great red papaya at present which we feast on everyday.
As we did not paddle we went into the Crystal Caves in Atherton. Great geodes and fossils on displayed inside a (foam and paint) cave. One is required to wear a miners helmet + light but there are beautiful pieces. Some of the geodes have the most amazing crystals inside.There is lots of advertising for this place, which is really a shop, all over the tablelands so it is hard not to go there.
We will leave Mareeba Friday and head down to Pt Douglas.
According to seabreeze.com.au Sunday is going to be light winds, under 10knots (the only day for the past 10 days) so we will go out to the Low Islands (by commercial cat) for the day.

Sydney with NO RAIN........

I wonder what Christian is saying..........

les mouches

les mouches parasites de l australie...l un de mes amis me visitant ici il y a quelques annees me faisait remarque que la plupart des aur straliens devaient etres un peu homos sur les bords car pour les chasser de leurs visages avaient des gestes pretendant a confusion....
prout ma chere....aujourd,hui jour de grandes pluies j ai trouve la parade...je ne pouvais manger tranquil de leur presence sous ma grande bache dans mon camp du nord de l astralie je vient de faire une decouverte plutot que de jouer leur..prout prout geste habituel je leurs sert....aux mouches 3 gouttes de mon plus mauvais vin au fond d une tasse et place cette tasse a 2 metres de moi pendant que je dejeune
cela marche...elle me fiche la paix ...pas besoin de passer ax ...gestes....elles doivent venir de France sauf qu au lieu de la m.....elle prefere le vin ...doivent etre un peu alcolo ces mouches ...mais cela marche ..je vous fais cadeau de la recette a bientot

We have Levi Brown, he and his mum are both well and happy

Levi and his mum went home on Tuesday and I came to Canberra Monday. It is strange to be home in Canberra........ the garden is overgrown, must have been lots of rain here also....... but it is good to see all the family.
Plan to go back and join Christian around the middle of April....... just need to do some work before I go  back to our gypsy life. Christian is in Mareeba now.
Jim has been helping me with compressing the photos, of course it was very simple, so will be able to put up more.
More when I have something to say.........

hard life 2

Mon intention etais de reste a Cairns car il y a beaucoup d activitees malheureusement cette experience de la ville depuis 1 mois se revele catastrophique...nous n avons pas pu fermer l eoil de la nuit bagarres vols police...des abborigenes mal percus par ...les autres nousont rendus la nuit impossible donc le lendemain j accompagne Mary a l,aeropport et prends directement la route vers le nord ou je trouve un refuge hyper sympa dans...la country a environ 100km de Cairns..camp compose de kangourous et un millier de varietes d oiseaux qu on ne vois que dans le nord et le out back...une petite riviere poissonneuse ou je pourais mettre Noodle...le big canoe a l eau....les seuls campeurs sont des retraites plein temps dont les ..pensions ne leur permettre que ces 100 dollards par semaine...tres rustiques et sympa
voila l exploration de la region a commencee...champ de cafe..90o/o de la production australienne..cascades..grottes..et Cairns seulement a 100 km....montgolfieres..capitale de l australie..ultra lights...gorges dans la montagnes..un tas de photos attrayantes seront bientot sur le face book...en attendant il est 6 heures du soir la nuit est tombee ...l hiver apres les tropiques les jours sont courts d autant que le queensland se refuse a avoir des heure d hiver....je vais donc me reconstituer avec une video car avons pour distraction un lecteur portatif
bonne nuit

hard life

Townsville a Cairns via la route interieur nommee Gregory development road faite pour le transport de minerai des differentes mines...
1 seule voie bitumee les bas cotes  sable et caillasse...l un des deux en se crroisant vois arrive l autre de loin a cause du sable et les routes sont tellement longues que l on ne peux rater l autre....mais nos ..croises ..sont a 90o/o des trains de route  4/5/ remorque de chacune 100 tonnes plus le gros tracteur...mon 4x4 de 3,5 tonnes ne fait pas le poids ...donc en general nous respectons la loi qui consiste a se ranger sur le bas cote...et attende avec radio grande ouverte...les truckies sont comme dit la chanson bien sympas et les thanks mate sont toujours leurs ...reponses a notre ...devouement.merci mr uhf.
cette nuit la malgres seulement 350 km dans la journee nous nous arretons tres fatigues...donc arredans une road house qui nous offre un parc pour installer notre auto couchette...dans le parc il y a un source d eaux chaudes avec 6 piscine a temperatures differentes dont un spa....quel repos bien merite...nous nous regalons Mary se pai meme une trampette dans le courant de la riviere chaude avec 3 enfants abborigene qui aussi font trempette elle leur montre comment se laisser deriver par le courant fort...les proprio nous appennent qu il n a pas plut depuis 5 ans et que l,a nnee dernier eils ont ete ev acue de l endroit car toute la region etais hypper innondee...ca c est l australie et son out back...Maintenant la region est a nouveau a sec malgres la mousson du moment....
Nous devions a regret quitter la place car le lendemain Mary a son avion a Cairns qui la ramene pour un mois a sydney et Canberra pour la naissance de son 5eme petit enfant....route pour cairns toujour tres chargee..interieur ave visite obligatoire des nombeuses chutes d eau qui jalonne la route des arbres plus que geants dont les racines retombent des branches pour former des troncs de 50 metres de diametres
appelles...cathedrales....incroyables...a voir absoluemenenfin Cairns pour la nuit nous trouvons un camp pres du centre ville aubaine car
demain matin ...l avion
c

2 days to babyday.........

This afternoon we arrived in Cairns after 5 days travelling from Townsville via the inland way, we though we would get away from the rain! We drove the Gregory development road, one of those (in part) one lane of bitumen with dirt on either side - one gets off the road for the oncoming vehicles.... which are usually the road trains.  We pulled over and stopped for the road trains and the drivers were very nice and came back over the radio with a "thanks mate"! or "there is another truck behine me".... it was very long and tiring - bumpy and a sameness about the country, small eucalyptus trees with open grasslands - we will have many other long drives to do.  One night we camped at a road house and were told that it had been dry but last year they were flooded in for more than 3 months by the Burdekin River flooding, we had crossed the Burdekin about 30 minutes before we arrived at the Roadhouse. Another night we stayed at Undarra Lava Park - the whole area is one large lava plain with the extinct volcanos sticking up out of the plain. Cattle wander through the trees - seem to be very large stations and National Parks. But the best was the last two nights the first was at Innot Hot Springs where we swam in the 6 different temperature hot pools - one was a hot spar, that was fantastic. The pools are beside the spring and pump the water directly through.
After the pools I wandered down to the spring creek and saw 3 little aboriginal children playing in the creek with their mother. I decided to go for a swim and ended up playing with the three children in the creek. The flow was quite fast and we were floating down the creek and struggling up again. It really was a lovely thing to do, the children were 4,5 and 6 years old.
Reminded me of my grandchildren and our new one will be here soon...............
Yesterday we went to Lake Eachem, the crater of an extinct volcano with a blue lake so I went for a swim there. Very clean, fresh, warm water. The lake has a turtle which is only found there that is able to breath through its bum, it still has lungs but is also able to absorb the oxygen from the water.........interesting............ they are called saw shelled turtles and if one stays quite they come to the surface.
Today we drove down from the tablelands after wandering into the Wet Tropical Rainforest to see a couple of strangler figs that are so huge one is called The Curtin Fig and the other Cathedral Fig. The rainforests are so dense and the variety of plants incredible. The ferns, staghorns etc. all growing all over the trees. We saw two huge Kauri trees and old Red Cedars. Incredible, the plants are amazing but the birds are more so. Every bird seems to sport a different vivid colour - bought a bird book and it is getting dogeared from all the use - and then there are the butterflies........ probably because of the wet season they are everywhere and so colourfull. Everything is dripping.
Off course we have had showers everyday..... people tell us that it has been dry but we arrive and down comes the rain.......but up on the tablelands it is a lot cooler at night, this morning I had everything on to stay warm, must have been around 12-15c (I really don't know) but by 9am it is in the high twenties. Now it must be 25c and quite humid. Though no bugs........ a cane toad just hopped by. There was one in the toilet this morning! just went next door.........
Just booked a flight back tomorrow to be there for the birth.......

Finally a boat trip.......... beautiful day, very warm water and stinger suits.........

Since Bundaberg we have trying to go out to the Reef to snorkel but because of the weather, I am not complaining about the rain, we have not. Even in Mackay, the weather was good BUT the boats were  not running in March for maintenance...... where else but Queensland! But today, we did it!!!! It was wonderful, we were fully equiped with stinger suits which give sun protection also, from neck to sole(feet)!
We snorkeled or is it snorkled, at Hook Island, went in a glass bottomed boat then swam and wandered, after a good lunch, Whitehaven, then to Daydream to visit the coral lagoon on the island and shop.... it was a great day, I will put up the photos, just need to charge the battery for the camera.
We are now in Airlie Beach after staying one night at Cape Hillsborough Nature Retreat, mark that place in your book to visit..... a beautiful National Park with good accommodation just north of Mackay. We went there after getting the new Coopers fitted to the Landcruiser..... we are now REAL 4WDers.... the tyres are quite chunky but the Lcruiser is much better on the blacktop than with the old tyres - we should have changed them before.
8 days to Babyday.... we head for Townsville tomorrow.

Mackay

We have just had two beautiful  blue sky.... where else but Queensland....days but where else but tropical Queensland one cannot swim in the sea because of the stingers or the crocs! Noodle is now on the roof until we find some fresh water.  The weather is hot and humid, really nice... though hard to sleep in the Lcruiser as it is usually 25degrees + and humid at night.... but I am not complaining just getting used to living the life we have chosen. One just washes lots.....
We had a slow leak in one of the tyres and it turned out to be a problem.... we needed a new tyre and as we had planned to buy those chunky off road tyres in Cairns it seemed sensible to buy them here... BUT the local guy where we were said don't buy Coopers - he is not a dealer - anyway thanks to Dino we are now getting, tomorrow, new Coopers, at a good price so we will look like a REAL 4WDers.... 
Mackay is a nice town... though lots of ships waiting off the coast for the coal loader... which has a very long jetty visible from the town beach (along with a sign warning about crocs) there seems to be quite a few people here in the caravan park that work in the mines.
Funny to see all he ships around all the islands........
After the new tyres in the morning we will head for Cape Hillsborough NP and then to Airlie Beach.
Now have a date for the new grandchilds birth, March 18, so I will return then for a few weeks. That is so exciting to have a new baby in the family. We should be in Cairns by then so Christian will do lots of fishing until I get back.

notre nuit avec les tortues

il y a deja 2nuits nous etions encore a BUNDEBERG installe pour la nuit sur une plage nommee ...mon repos....en francais dans la realite....avant de realiser qu il s agissait de la plus celebre plage....au monde et des environs pour ses couvees de tortues..nous ne pouvions manquer cela....Donc apres avoir installe notre base comme chaque jour nous suivons les RANGERS  du coin lesquelles pour
..une poignee de dollards nous emmene...rever pour quelques heures....
apres 1 heure d attente a leur base pendant qu eux sillonne la plage de nuit a la recherche de...l evenement...pour nous en faire profiter ....apres 50 minutes etais pret a penser que je faisais partie d un canular....attente confortable dans un lieu ou des posters et une super video vous racontent comment les tortues se reproduisent...font des oeufs..les femelles...qu apres 80 jours les 140 a 180      les oeufs eclosent et les bebes tortues sortent du sables et COURT le plus vite possible vers la mer..MAIS
que seulement 10 0/0 y arrive car certaines ne trouve pas la mer et les autre se font manger par les predateurs qui attendent leurs sorties..oiseaux..serpents..etc..Nous sommes donc la pour les aider....a trouver la mer les proteger des 1er predateurs les mettre a l eau en toute securite....avec la benediction des rangers et d une delegation des chercheurs du monde entier qui continuent a chercher pourquoi les rescapees reviennent 30 ans plutard au meme endroit souvent pou y deposer leur oeufs a leur tour.....
MAIS....les rangers que nous avons bien aides cette nuit la ne nous avoue qu apres qu en fait 9 0/0 des 10 0/0 restant se font aussi manger ...par les poissons qui attendent leur tour.....drole de vie que la vie de tortue mais il faut reconnaitre que l eclosion des oeufs de ces petites choses leurs course contre la mort ...leur tentative de trouver l eau et leur histoire est belle mais dramatique  .
ah by the way BUNDERBERG est aussi la capitale Australienne du RHUM grace aux cane a sucre mais cela n a rien a voir.....

to continue on .....

We left Stradbroke and drove north along the Steve Irwin Way,  passing by the Glass House Mountains but could not see them because of the rain....as it was raining so much we decided to go into Caloundra and tried to set up our camp but the wind and rain were so strong that we ended up renting a van for the night!
Felt like failures...... but we watch the winter olympics for the first and only time, so it was not too bad.
The next day was not so wet so we headed  back to the Australia Zoo and I must say it is impressive. Just so well organised reminded me of the parks in Florida. The crocodile show was good to see..... those crocs are so huge, learnt a  bit about them, lets hope that we don't see any.
We went into Bundaberg and read about the turtles hatching now so decided that was a thing not to be missed. We stayed at Mon Repos beach, a conservation area for loggerhead turtles and watched the hatchlings emerge from the nest and head for the water. One actually crawled across my foot, how special was that.... these little things are so very cute.
As I am such a poor sleeper I was listening to my radio (I use a headset) and during the night the ABC were putting out emergency flood warnings (reminded me of the Canberra fires) for Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast - apart from the monsoon low that was in western Queensland they were expecting an East Coast low to form off Frazer Island the next morning. High winds and rain on top of the usual rain squalls coming through so we packed up and left.
Drove to Rockhampton in heavy rain until we arrived but have only had one squall during the night. Today is cloudy - the Fitzroy is in minor flood - very brown, fast flowing water running by the camp we are in on the banks of the river.
Tomorrow we will head out north - the weather should improve by the weekend, we hope. Hate to complain about the rain and I know that it is the wet BUT this is more than the usual wet. The gardens are so lush and lovely.

Today is Monday and we are in Bundaberg!

Finally moving a little quicker... though I have been trying to post a new photo on the dashboard page of a koala asleep though it might suit our speed BUT sometimes it is very difficult to upload photos on the blog..... techno troubles......
So after a couple of very showery but lovely days on N. Stradbroke, one was walking to the Blue Lake, which was grey because of the grey ski,  in the only National Park on the island, through wonderful weedfree vegetation and around Point Lookout, a great walk around the ocean side, we spent a couple of hours walking out along the sandbar off the southern end of Amity, at low tide.  What a lovely island North Stradbroke is, we really enjoyed our days there in a great campsite with few people and our nightly entertainment of the dolphins harassing the fisherman by stealing their catch!
Opps, here comes a rain squall.... must close

The beautiful Amity

Amity...mmmmm.... what a delicious place..... the water is so many shades of blue/azure/etc...... we are staying for a week in a lovely spot with water views from our bedroom in the big tent! A short walk from our site is a camp kitchen with electricity outlets - which we are using lots. I cannot believe how much time it takes me to do the blog, organize the photos, etc..... Thank goodness today it very windy so we are lying low.  Perhaps we will drive over to the Point Lookout for a fish and chip lunch!
On Monday paddled over to Peel Island in Noodle - we did get some help over in a very light SE wind so we could sail but returning was quite hard, even in the light wind because one just had to keep paddling, nowhere to hide in a lee, but it was a great thing to do - only a couple of kilometres but it seemed like a long way.
We also went for a walk through an area where one can see the vegetation of the island - really good to see the variety of plants and lots of mushrooms growing.
Yesterday Christian was fishing and caught a squid for lunch and had a cormorant steal his fish! and then a dolphin stole another. Last night because of the lights on the jetty one could see the dolphins coming in and chasing and steeling the fish off the lines! The water was so clear, a large stingray came by also. There a koalas in the trees here in the park and lots of birds, including curlews, like a very small emu, that have an extremely loud call during the night! One can complain about people keeping one awake but not birds.
Also we have many french (according to Christian, because they have a black top head) birds come by wearing their berets! They are some sort of wader with white body, grey wings and long yellow legs. We have been seeing them on the beaches all the way.
More soon, having trouble changing some of the photos but I will keep trying........

canoyng

Hier nous nous sommes bien ...defonce...avec NOODLE     notre canoe indien nous avons decide de traverser la bais de brisbane pour joindre une ile avec des coraux pour une petite plongee digne de la barriere de corail...5 miles nautiques avec du vent de 10 noeuds et des vagues de +de 2 metres qu elle torture surtout que le canoe transportait nos cameras pique nique etc....avons ete recompenses par la merveille des oceans...frontiere pacifique sud et corail...la baie est reputee tres poissonneuses aussi j avais emmene  une ligne et les deux squids attrappes ont fait les frais de notre lunch....de retour a notre campement avec de plus en plus de gros muscles des pecheurs sur une jetee nourissaient 2 dauphins feneants mais trears amicaux...nous avons joint le mouvement pour un moment puis rejoint notre campement sous 2 gros eucalptus ou la une autre surprise nous attendait 2 koalas satures d eucalyptus dormais a deus metres de notre tente....sans etre deranger par les nombreux oiseaux de ce parc....ibis...canards tres copins venant manger dans la main...perroquets de toutes sortes et plein d autres sortes dont je vous fait grace des noms....encore une bonne journee....a ce rytme nous aurons boucle ce voyage dans 5 ans car en un mois de trajet na vons ..boucle que 2000km en hors piste pour n arriver que dans le queensland Brisbane900 km par la route il y .. a encore un morceau a faire..........WHO CAIRE?.....

le temps passe

Desole je n ai pas vu le temps passe tant les evenements se precipite un jour ici le lendemain ailleur avec son lot QUOTIDIENT de bizareries...3 ou 4 jours avnt ce jour.nous decidons d aller en un village ou notre navigateur nous indique qu il ny a pas de route. pour raillier ce village notre autre satellite engin avec un ordi plus puissant nous dit....si..si il y a une route....nous croyons ce dernier et apres une belle randonnee dans la foret et heureux d avoir un 4x4 nous debouchons en haut dune crete sur une descente endiablee et...sur une PLAGE...pourquoi pas si cela est ..la route pour ce village.....apres 20 km de galere nous nous decidons de tomber la pression des pneus de 4kg a 2 ,4kg et d engager la 4 w4 a fond ..ouf cela va mieux..et...nnous arrivons a ce village...malheureusement ce que nous venions y chercher es notre canoet de l autres cote de la baieavec un bon 30 metres de profondeur entre les deux.....retour par la plage et grand detour pour retourner de l autre cote...en discutant avec un autoctone il nous apprends qu il ny a pas d autre solution dans le village...ne pa oublier son sel ou son lait 40 km de sable et de maree vous attendent...incroyable ..non 2400 personnes habitent ce neammoins charmant village
le facteur nous apprends quil fait une partie de sa tournee en 4w4 et l autrre en bateau....tous les jours nous vivons ce genre d evenement
Il y a 3 jours nous visitons une petite ville qui a eut la reputation d heberger les 1er hyppies australiens dans les annees 50 RIEN N A CHANGE les enfants ressemble a n importe qui de la communaute....tout le monde sa cigarette d herbes aux levres...bon pretexe pour ne rien faire d autre..que de vendre cette herbe aux touristes venus visiter...ce passe de l ile......woodstock les differentes generations vivent la du plus vieux originaire du mouvement jusqua la 3eme ou 4eme generation toujours habillees de fleurs et de couleurs arc en ciel.....le temps c est fige la..

We were in Jacobs Well, sorry about the typo! Now in Amity!

Had a great day, no rain, well during the day, noodling around the mangroves. We went up the creek in the photo and saw masses of little black and white crabs with one big, orange claw. There were also masses of little blue crabs and a few other varieties. Tried to take a photo but they would disappear as soon as we came near the shore, I have put up the best one. That area is a..mazing... and so large, from the map it looks smaller than it actually is.
We packed up and set Kate, the navigator, for Cleveland and came over to North Stradbroke Island in the vehicular ferry. We are at Amity... dou dou, dou dou, dou dou, (hope you realise I am trying to sound like Jaws, they do have a reputation for bull sharks, but I know why, sharks know a good place when they see it) WHAT A MAGNIFICENT PLACE...... and with the sun setting over the water..... beautiful azure water, calm seas, different from the NSW coast, we have decided to stay for a week. The wx is looking calm for a few days so we hope to head out to Peel Island tomorrow. We have the large(r) tent out and our bed now looks out over the calm waters of Morton Bay, at night all the markers are flashing and the airport beacon is visible, really beautifull.  Yesterday the dolphins were stealing the fish from the lines of the guys on the jetty. Apparently this is a common event.
 Hard to imagine that life could be better............ 

Where else but QUEENSLAND

So finally after leaving Sydney 3 weeks ago we have crossed the border into Queensland - we were going to paddle, firstly at Lake Ainsworth, Lennox Head but of course, the weather, once again, this time it was not just the rain but the 30knot SE wind! Have you tried to set up a tarp in 20-30Knots! 
This morning with yet more rain we headed to Brunswick Heads, also thinking of paddling there, but wind and rain put a stop to that, after having coffee with Louise and Beth. How is technology - last night I was on Facebook updating photos and noticed my nephew in the USA on also so I had a chat with him. He asked where were we and when I told him Lennox Head he said, Louise if there! (his partner is in Oz for a few weeks) what is her phone number? I called and gave Louise a surprise - she was staying just around the corner - so we all met this morning......Amazing.....!
We are not in Jacobs Well and tomorrow we plan to paddle around the mangroves. For non CCC members it is in the area between Southport and the south end of Morton Bay, a maze of winding channels through the mangroves. By boat one can go from Southport to Morton Bay either via Jacobs Well or up the Caniapa Passage - I went up the Caniapa when I was on Flamingo in 2001.
I am always amazed when coming around the corner at Coollongatta one can see Surfers across the water - driving through Surfers I am sure that the buildings are even taller than a few years ago. Still many cranes on top of half completed buildings to add to the view over the water.
Just realized that we are an hour behind so I need to go and get dinner..... more later

Return to the 70's

Today, because of the wind and rain we decided to "return to the 70's" and drove up the
to Nimbin, the home of the hippies and it was like stepping back in time. Even the twenty somethings looked like they did in the 70's along with lots of older hippies looking exactly the same... perhaps wearing the same clothes... the shops seemed to sell exactly the same things that one would have found in the 70's... though I did buy a very nice porcelain (thrown) bowl made by a local ceramist.
Had to leave the Nimbin Museum, which was very interesting, because out the back there were a couple of youngsters smoking those funny cigarettes! I don't think I have smelt that since the 70's!
But, the countryside is really beautiful with the rolling GREEN hills and dramatic mountains, which today had their tops covered in cloud. The Nimbin Rocks just out of town, are spectaclar, the remains of something, probably a volcano plug that just stick straight up out of the surrounding slope of the mountain. They are quite high with lots of holes where the softer rock has weathered.
All the countryside is just so GREEN, all the way along the coast the paddocks are so lush and the green is so  bright, lovely to see and we are not complaining about the rain, just learning to live with it! - but the locals tell us that they have had 6 months without rain before all this rain arrived.
Staying in a caravan park with good facilities just south of Ballina. Tomorrow we will go to Lennox Head and hope to paddle in a fresh water lake there.

Hat Head, Woolgoolga,Yuraygir NP and Iluka

Funny how one cannot remember where one has been in the last week.........need to look at the map - we have had lots of rain up to Woolgoolga so kept missing places that we thought would be good for Noodling. Hat Head was great a lovely clear afternoon, a lovely swim in warm water and a walk around the head - the bay would be good for an overnight if sailing, in S or SW winds.
Our next stop was a stay in a caravan park on the banks of Woolgoolga Lake for 2 nights so we could go for a paddle, the morning was clear and looked good BUT not far out down came to rain we tried to ignore it but Huey won in the end and we returned wet, very wet but it was good.
The bikes have been great for riding to the shops or the best is riding along the beaches.... what fun.... what with riding and paddling I will return with rippling (more than usual) muscles.......
Our next stop was Yuraygir NP, near Minnie Waters for more beach riding and finally a great day and a terrific paddle along the Wooli River. Had always wondered about Wooli as it is a section mentioned in the weather areas for NSW coastal waters. Very beautiful - nice little coastal village - we wandered along the sand spit in the middle of the river and saw lots of sting rays. Noodling is a great thing to do.
After a couple of days in Yaraygir we decided to follow a road, marked in the park BUT not on any maps to Sandon Bluffs to paddle in the Sandon River - we found a NSW beach road to Sandon so we set off along the beach, I have always thought that cars should not be on beaches but like bikes, it is a lot of fun. Well we did get stuck in the soft sand at the exit BUT, with our 4WD training we learnt that one lets air out of the tyres and engages low range and one just drives out!!! Well we powered up the sandy hill and out along a very rough track to Sandon but found that there is only a few houses there and no where to camp and no way accross the river so we returned along the beach, and then pumped up the tyres with the compressor that Christian installed under the hood.
Planned to go to Maclean and stay there and paddle that part of the Clarence but there is no where to camp there so we came down to Iluka and amnow staying in a caravan park on the banks of the Clarence. Today we paddled up the river - scratched our way over the training wall at Iluka - then had a great sail back. Tomorrow we will go to Yamba on the ferry and Tuesday check out Evans Head. The Clarence River is so big, think that it is nicer paddling on the smaller more picturesque rivers.
More when we are next on power..............

mon tour....

Apres avoir laisser parler l autre membre de l equipe je m exprime a mon  tour en effet je m inscrit en entier sur le blog de l equipe
Nous sommes deja a plus de 15 jours du depart pour le ..grand tour...et ne sommes qu environ 300km de Sydney....le tour risque d etre tres long trop de choses fabuleuses recontrees ca et la l auto bien preparee se porte tres bien et les embuches 4x4 n ont aucune prise sur elle...ce matin nous nous sommes mis a la tache tres tot car la mer tant en maree haute le lac qui en depends etait a peu pres navigable
donc mise a l eau de Noodle notre canoe indien ecarte de 100metrs du bord la pluie tropicale tres drue s est mise de la partie apres 1/2heure nous nous sommes decides de revenir...au campement.....bien sur....des que noodle a ete a l abri...la pluie s est aretee....murphys law qu il appelle cela ici...la loie de l emmerdement maximum demain partons..plus loin pour se rapprocher de l ile qui nous avais contraint a rebrousser chemin  il y a 1ans lors de notre precedente balade en voilier....il parait que les plongees sont fabuleuses ausssi impretionnante que la mer de corail...je reviendrais donc demain apres l experience des coraux de la mid coast...

Ce soir des amis marins viennent nous rendre visite a notre campement depuis leur bateau

Housing in Port Macquarie

Whilst waiting for the rain to clear on Sunday in Shoal Bay we realised that Christian's laptop had some sort of virus and my phone was not working at all, so on Monday after packing up, a 2 hour job,  we headed for the shopping centre - the phone was fixed very quickly but the computer required more expert help so we took over a corner in Maccas, set up the inverter and quickstart battery pack, logged on and the technician back in Sydney took over the computer and cleaned it. Well sort of helped but today it has gone into a technician here in Port for more help. Too much technology....
Because of the wind rain we missed our planned trip over the Myall Lakes....  we went to Elizabeth beach, south of Forster, for a night at the beach. Just slept in the back of the Landcruiser and the next day after early morning swim headed for Crowdy Bay National Park.
We spent a couple of days there with lots of rain in the mornings but managed to swim, ride the bike pretending to be a 4WD, along the beach and rode back to the fish co-op at Crowdy Head to buy prawns and fish for lunch on the barbie and a fantastic, icecream on a stick called a Heaven.... highly recommended but filthy. Perhaps we should do a tour de ice cream......
We camped in Crowdy Gap in a great set up with new barbies and we were alone... except at night cars would arrive and leave early the next morning. During the day it was very quite. Christian used the prawn heads to try beach fishing but the fish won in the end! After packing up we continued past Diamond Head to Laurieton where we planned to have fish and chips at the Tour de pomme fritte #1 fish shop along the coast BUT they have moved to Port. Laurieton fish co-op was not as good but Christian enjoyed his fishermans basket.
Robyn and Ian came down to the bridge to meet us and Robyn joined us in Noodle for a paddle on the Camden Haven up to Watson Taylors Lake. We spent a few hours initially sailing at great speed and paddling along the shore line. A few new scratchs on the bottom from running into an oystyer covered rock just under the surface.
We are now in Port for a couple of days washing, charging up all the techo stuff and slightly changing a couple of thinks on the Landcruiser. Trying to fit everything one needs and wants in such a small space is a little difficult but the way we are going we will be replacing many things along the way - so far we have left =  2 life jackets in ShoalBay! 1 taupaulin in Crowdy Gap! 1 hairbrush in Crowdy Gap! .... wonder what we will leave at Rob and Ians........

we are finally on our way............yes..........

what an effort it has  been to get away, packing up the house and boat and getting the stars' (Iam the bookkeeper to the stars) BAS's done has been a bit frantic, but with the help of Mikki, who is cleaning my house, we finally make it out of Sydney on Friday and just headed for Shoal Bay where we are staying in a caravan park for a few days to catch up with Clara and Mike and sleep.....
We did go for a paddle on Saturday am - we headed out the heads for Fingal spit at the top of a very high tide, it was a small swell and a light SE blowing with clouds and the promise of showers but we thought we would try until a jetski with 2 lifesavers came along side and warned us of the fast tide flow out of the entrance and suggested we should return, so we did but it was great to get the nose of noodle nealy into the Tasman Sea. We returned to the bay and not long after one could see the waves at the entrance from the outgoing tide and the SE wind. After a great lunch on Mike's sport cruiser we went for a walk around Tomaree Headland.
It is warm and humid here with lots of rain squalls coming through so today Sunday we are catching up on all the emails and the blog. Comfortable and dry inside the big tent with an added tarp over the top of the entrance.
Tomorrow heading for Mungo Brush, hope to paddle on the Myall Lakes 

don't quite know who to make the photos smaller............

Getttttttttting ready...........

La bleue is looking better everyday..... now has a basket on the top and logo on the side.... 3 aerials now..... UHF fitted AND we have a small Waco, decided to go the fridge option ........ also instead of a second battery we have a quick start pack that we can run 12v plug ins off.
Off to Tathra for a practise run in a couple of days - except we will leave Noodle in the back yard - but we will take the bikes. I have to work for one of my stars for a day but we will stay in the Mimosa Rocks Nat. Park. It is beautiful down there and a great run down the escarpment.

Getting Ready

lots to do to get ready but slowly getting there.... la baleine bleue has new suspension, even higher now, a snorkel, uhf radio and basket for the roof. Looking more like a greynomads home..... am trying to post a photo of the new logo (thanks Jay) (but instead you get a photo from our first trip in the canoe, Noodle) that is on the side of the car, equipe escargot, 2010 Grande Promenade. having trouble downloading from the camera.............. help Jim.........