Janet and John Sign Off

Back to Melbourne for our last night before heading off we still managed to fit plenty in.

Firstly our last night out for beer and pizza in Brunswick. A great night had by all! We caught up with Craig and Eng, Susie and Ben Jones (sadly I got so excited about chatting to them all, I neglected to get a photo with them), Josh and the great Trudini. 

For our last full day we checked out the Old Melbourne Jail 

Before a last explore around town. 

So that's it for our Australian adventure. See you all again soooooon

Janet and John on a Roadtrip part 5

Our arrival back in Rockhampton marked the end of our epic road trip and what a nice way to end it. Janet's folks looked after us once again as we tried to make the most of our last day in Queensland.

My initial plan had been to walk the 12km footpath down Mount Archer only to find it was closed for the day for controlled burning. Instead we headed out of town to the Capricorn Caves, which is a dry cave system that is home to some do the worlds rarest bats and some cool Indiana Jone styly rope bridges

That evening we had our last night out in Rocky with Janet's friend Zac before a lovely meal with Janet's folks to end our stay.

Janet and John on a Roadtrip Part 4

Our last leg of our road trip was the twelve hour Townsville to Rockhampton leg via the beef road... Which for any non Aussie is via the middle of nowhere....

Our first stop was the fascinating mining town of Charters Towers. An original Aussie gold rush town it had some fantastic period buildings and the most attentive museum volunteers I've ever known....

The next leg after Charters Towers was a 380 km!!! Straight road to Clermont where apparently after 5 hours drive you still can't eat on a Sunday!. So after a quick stretch of the legs, we embarked on our drive to Emerald.

After another 4 something hours, we finally arrived in Rockhampton with a viewing tally of 4 wild Emu's, copious amounts of Kangaroo road kill, gorgeous skyline and amble air conditioning. Janet's folks were up to meet us when we arrived in Rocky.... More about that later.

Janet and John on a Roadtrip Part 3

After what was a much calmer return to land we hit the road for the Townsville leg of our trip. Janet's Nan Nola put us up in a lovely hotel for the few days and we set out to explore.

First up was the barrier reef aquarium and turtle hospital. This was our substitute for not actually making it out to the reef.

Lizzy in this picture was in the hospital after being hit by a propellor and being attacked by crocodiles...

Townsville was lovely but felt like the Newcastle of Australia. Every evening the town centre was descended upon by youngsters wearing very little. God I felt old....

The strangest experience was the day I doing the heritage walk along the old Main Street and realised whilst reading the info plaque that I was staring at a strip club! Honest Gov was reading the plaque...

This old building was designed by Tunbridge and Tunbridge which is close enough that I'm claiming it.

The nicest part of our time in Townsville was at Janet's Nan meeting five of Janet's cousins who were in town from the country for a bucks night (stag do) a great bunch of lads it was a pleasure to meet them.

I had a great walk up Castle Hill to stretch my legs before we hit the road for out next leg...

Yes I was as tired as I look...

Janet and John on a Roadtrip part 2...

Next up was one of the most exciting parts of our entire trip, our night camping on Whitehaven beach!

Janet had never been camping before so was quite wary when we arrived at Shute Habour to catch our water taxi to the beach. It didn't help that it was blowing a gale and raining for the first time on our trip....

This was before it got er... Interesting....

We were told the journey out would be wet but by the time we got to Whitehaven Island we were both a bit green around the gills! We settled into our campsite and were the only ones camping on the island!

It was busy during the day but in the evening we had the place to ourselves!

So in a rough order... Campsite

beach...

Goanna trying to eat our food....

private beach I found...

Sunset...

Following day...

Next stop Townsville!

Janet and John on a Roadtrip part 1...

Its been a while and it's our last night before catching our flight home but we finally have some internet!!!

So what have we been up too?!?

Well we were at Airlie Beach have just driven the 5 hours up from Rocky. We settled into our cabin on the strip in Airlie and set out to explore. Because we had the car we were able to drive the half an hour out to the Cedar Creek Falls in the National Park on the peninsula. It had been a wet few weeks in Queensland with the cyclone so it was perfect time for visiting falls

And Wight the weather being nicely warm we were able to go for a swim.

The area around Airlie Beach is lovely and we were able to find a few isolated windswept beaches.

But back to party Central we made the most of our evening by joining the backpacker scene for one last time before heading out to sea!

Janet and John are Silenced

In case you wondered we've been without any internet for the past few days and are not likely to have any access until Sunday.

Promise we'll update you as soon as technology allows...

Janet and John on a Roadtrip

Today was a transit day really but because Janet and I are so excited about the start of our road trip through Central Queensland I thought I'd do a quick update.

The first leg was from Rockhampton to Airlie Beach which is about a 5 hour drive.

We broke up the trip by visiting Mackay for lunch overlooking the harbour.

Mackay harbour was lovely and most notable for the mutant oysters they served us for lunch!!

We arrived in Airlie beach just in time to catch the sunset. Our bargain cabin at Magnums Backpackers  has turned to to be lovely overlooking a creek teaming with wildlife as well as mosquitoes (reaches for the DEET)

I'm enjoying a brief return to the backpacker scene that took up much of my year travelling so cheers!

Janet and John do Rockhampton Day 4

With another auctioned packed day ahead off us Janet and I set off early for a trip to Rockhampton Zoo in the Botanical Gardens. It was closed off in a lot of places for renovation work, but as it was free we couldn't complain too much!

They did least have some kangaroo. Proving to me once an for all that they're not a myth....

Next up was the Archer Park railway museum.

bizarrely this was recommended to us by a tram driver in Melbourne as it contains the only remaining working steam tram in the world. We especially went along on a Sunday as it's the only day it runs. Yes I am sad!

Next up was a trip to the seaside! Firstly to Yeppoon for yummy fish and chips then along the coast to Emu Park for the Festival of the Wind. A family day on the beach with many kites. First though we stopped to view the plot where Janet's folks are building their new house. The views are amazing!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=laHiGH-ujKw

The Festival of the Wind was a treat with lots of niknak stalls and a little funfair along with kites being flown on the beach.

We escaped the crowds by heading up the coast slightly for a dip in the sea 

For our last evening in Rockhampton, Andrew cooked up a steak BBQ, a fitting end for now in the beef capital of Australia.

Janet and John Do Rockhampton Day 3

We had another action packed day in and around Rockhampton.

I started off going solo whilst Janet and her Mum went shopping. I went for a slow stroll around the main high street in Rocky as well as exploring the riverfront with the oldest buildings in town.

Rockhamptons riverfront is a great insight into early Queensland colonial development, it feels almost unchanged in 150 years, well bar the pleasant boardwalk added along the river.

I managed to squeeze in a cheeky scooner (okay pint...) before heading off to lunch with Janet's dad's brother, sister and other family.

In the afternoon we scaled Mount Archer just outside Rocky (in a car unfortunately, I'd have loved to walk up) for some amazing views.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bPNrRK28BVg

We then headed back to Janet's folks for a lovely walk in the Botanical Gardens to see the sunset over the lagoons. I have to say Australia certainly knows how to do sunsets!

Janet and John Do Rockhampton Day 2

I've mentioned a few early starts not his trip so far but nothing will top the 3.30am start I had today to attend the ANZAC day dawn service with Janet's dad and uncle. The 4.30am service was incredibly moving and I was astounded that it was attended by over 2000 people. The service itself was similar in many respects to a Remembrance Sunday service back home but was a little less formal and certainly better attended. A truly incredible way to experience the pride Autralians have in their country.

Today was an exploration of Rockhamptons local history and we started off with a visit to Janet's Great Great Grandfathers grave. He was an early Rockhampton businessman and it's first mayor.

This was followed by an trip to Mount Morgan, the disused goldmine that was key to Rockhampton wealth. Mount Morgan was a great example of the impact on world history that a small place like Rockhampton has had. One of the first shareholders in Mount Morgan was a young Rockhampton lawyer William Knox D'Arcy, who returned to England once he had made his fortune from gold to invest in early oil exploration in Persia. This expedition was successful and the resulting company became BP, the energy giant we know today!

Mount Morgan the town sadly has more in common with many North East English towns with a feeling of decline that comes when the only employer disappears.

As if that wasn't enough to make anyone sad...

It had been a long day but we still found time that evening to head out for a few beers with some of Janet's old friends.

Janet and John rock the Hampton's (Rockhampton Day 1)

With a very early start, JT and I boarded the Virgin Airline flight to Rockhampton, where more warm weather awaited us. Mum picked us up from the airport and gave us a quick drive around town so JT could get his bearings...

Mum took us back to. Their new house where a familiar face appeared. Celedon the cat came to greet us. 

JT and I spent the afternoon driving around, and I did showed him our old family house, my old place and other key sights of the Beef Capital.

When Dad finished work, we had a feast of oysters, bug and raw mushroom salad and ice cream... Not all together of course!

And that was our first day in Rocky!

Janet and John do Brisbane Day 2

Hi guys! I have hijacked the blog to tell you about what we did on our second day in what the locals call Brisvegas! I think from JT's last post, you could tell that Brissy was pulling out gorgeous weather for us. 

The little one's were recovering from a bout of illness, so we had the delightful Amanda as our host for the morning. We started our chauffeured tour of Brisbane at a well knowned boutique bakery called Brumbies where we stocked up on coffee and Lamingtons. Our first point of call was driving into the city and across the bridge to see Kangaroo Point and views of the city coming over the Story Bridge in the Valley. We travelled through to New Farm park and had a little picnic after exploring the Brisbane Powerhouse, which as the name suggests is an old powerhouse converted into various theatre, performance, bar and restaurant spaces. It's raw finish is delightful. Then it was on to St Lucia where we visited the University of Queensland campus and the colleges that surround it. Amanda toured us through a few of the houses where John, Amanda, Alister, Margot and I rented.

We had a yummy lunch (A burger with beetroot! Yum!) and a walk in the afternoon. In the evening we went to the Regatta and caught up with my old friend Sarah Landis and her boyfriend John. It was great to catch up!

It was a great night but an early one as we had to get up to head to Rockhampton! 

Stay turned for our road trip portion of the holiday! 

Janet and John do Brisbane Day 1

So onto steamy Brisbane. Again we seem to have brought the weather with us it has been steamy hot!

 

Janet's sister Amanda and brother in law John have kindly put us up for our time in Brisbane and I got to meet Janets nephew and nieces, Monty, Peggy and Sabinewho have kept us entertained. Or us them!

We started the day with a trip to the Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art. GOMA which had so fantastic interactive kid areas

Here is the disc that Monty and I made...

And here is Janet's effort....

After we explore the GOMA, Janet and I had an explore of Central Brisbane, keeping out of the sun... We strolled along the south bank, wandered in the City Botanical Gardens and visited the Commissariat Store. Which is a convict built reminent of the original Moreton Bay Penal Collony that predates Brisbane. 

That evening whilst Janet's was on babysitting duties I found the time to go for a bit of an evening walk  down Mt Coot-tha

Here is the amazing view from the lookout point.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8su-dW62RTQ

The walk down to Slaughter Falls (which was more a Slaughter dribble) was a lovely way to spend an evening. It included an aboriginal art walk which was worth a look.

After that we still had time for a lovely night out with Amanda including some fantastic food and a few drinkies!

Janet and John in The Mountains

Today was a road trip to the Blue Mountains on Easter Sunday. Alister and Amy kindly drove us to the couple of hours from Sydney for us to get a taste to the Blue Mountains national park.

We headed to Katoomba to visit Scenic World where we were able to see the iconic Three Sisters as well as head down into the cool valley for a bit of an explore.

Janet handled herself with great decorum as we caught the steepest railway in the world to the valley floor.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VcHsuMxd5sc

But not before some fantastic view across the valley of the Three Sisters

And some serious business exploring the old coal mine!

The Blue Mountains were lovely somewhere I'd definitely go back to.

We the headed back for a last exhausted night in Sydney before our flight to Brisbane.

A huge thanks to Alister and Amy for hosting our entire Sydney stay especially their stearling driving efforts on Sunday. Thanks also to Andrew and Penny who put up with us in a lovely hotel in Surry Hills and to John and Sally who it was a pleasure to meet.

We've had an uneventful flight to Brisbane. Queensland has been quiet so far it's certainly warm but a chilled out day was exactly what we needed!