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