2 Oct 10 – Sydney to San Francisco

By Lou: Fortunately we were all seated together for the 14 hour flight despite the other families checking in from Melbourne and us in Sydney. The first few hours flew by with excited discussions and then a yummy dinner was served. The kids watched some movies and played on their DSs for a few more hours and then we all settled in for a bit of a sleep. I’d say our family got about 4 – 5 hours sleep and then we were up again chatting. Breakfast of eggs was served to a resounding ‘oh gross’ (I suspect they were powdered eggs) and the movie playing at the time was of a bar scene complete with pole dancer. Good morning to you. We had a few more hours of chatting until we landed.

All the crew on United Airlines were American and I was looking forward to some over the top customer service…but it never came. They were really blunt and unhelpful. We got told off for using the buzzer to order a drink as it was expected we had to walk down to the galley and order drinks there. And even there it felt like you were really putting them out. Helen needed some assistance with turning off the air vent above her seat which she couldn’t reach because her daughter Ella was asleep on her lap but the summonsed steward just said she couldn’t reach it and walked away. There was probably one exception and that was when one steward hunted down the results of the AFL grand final replay for us.

By Craig: The flight started well but by the end the skin was crawling and I needed to get out of that little cigar tin. I guess coming out of the Northern Territory with its wide open spaces and into a seat for 14+ hours can do that.
A little red wine helped but I must say the service on US planes is a bit strange or they just don’t get the good old Aussie need for more wine at 3am in the morning.

2 Oct 10 – Sydney Airport

By Craig: Before we knew it, it was time to hop on the shuttle bus and head to Brisbane airport. With a 5.30am rise I don’t think I was truly awake until I was throwing my passport at someone in the Sydney International and catching up with the two other families we are heading to California with, the McConchies and Whites.
















By Lou: It was hard to believe the day had finally arrived to head to America. It was very exciting and all went well with the first leg of the trip, Ipswich to Brisbane airport.






The anxious nerves kicked in when our flight was delayed an hour and when we arrived in Sydney we felt we had to rush through the dazzling ‘city’ of duty free shopping, scoff down a quick burger lunch as we raced along the concourse listening to the boarding call for our flight….only to discover the call was for the flight to LA not San Francisco and in fact we had a leisurely 1 hour up our sleeve.








We met up with the McConchies and Whites and it was excited greetings all round. The boys didn’t skip a beat in reconnecting after an interval of 6 months.

1 Oct 10 - Ipswich

By Lou: It was lovely to catch up with some family in Ipswich. We also hit my mother in law Margaret’s washing machine pretty hard and marvelled at how many bags and ‘things’ we had packed away in the car as we emptied it for a clean.


Jaime is recovering from pneumonia but true to her fighting spirit she whipped up a brilliant spag bol for us and Dave one night and we had a great evening chatting. Grandson Seth is nearly two years old and just adorable. He was a bit shy when we first saw him but some Tonka trucks soon brought him out of his shell. After he saw us the first day he was asking Jaime for Sam and Poppy. I slipped her $50 to repeat ‘Nana Lou’ 50 times a day in his presence.



Sam was rapt to see Nana, sister Jaime, nephew Seth and cousins Beau, James and Hope. I was delighted that the week-long nagging of ‘when are we getting to Ipswich?’ was finally over.

Apologies to friends we didn’t have time to catch up with…perhaps it will be less manic when we return from our trip.



By Craig: Longreach was the last stop in holiday mode however on the way through to Ipswich we were able to stop over in Dalby and catch up with an old Whitsunday colleague. Aaron and his wife-to-be Katrina were very welcoming and we all enjoyed a dinner at the local tavern before camping in their driveway. In the past from time to time, Aaron and I had enjoyed a spot of fishing in Shute Harbour and had enjoyed catching Sweet Lip and Coral Trout but unfortunately time did not permit a fishing trip.


On to Ipswich with arrival at mum’s meaning it was finally time to unpack the trailer, fridges and clothes, check out damage to both vehicle and trailer and store all our stuff away for the 4 weeks we plan to be away in the USA and Melbourne. It was also an opportunity to catch up with Jaime-Lee and Seth (our beautiful grandson) and Dave, Seth's dad. Jaime was generous with her time and it was great to see Seth who was a little shy at first but his gorgeous little character shone through. Uncle Sam was also taken by the little man (Seth) and they played together well.
Sam was treated to an outing with his big sister and although it included a trip to the doc’s for Jaime he didn’t mind at all although upon return Jaime commented on the number of questions a 7 year old could ask in one outing. Our answer was simple: plenty and you have it all to look forward to.

25 Sep 10 - Longreach

By Craig: The Stockman’s Hall of Fame is a magnificent place full of history and information of a by-gone era. We were a tough breed back in the old days, work and life was hard and not an opportunity to do another man a favour was missed, a hard but good life in deed.








Go the Pies. What a match, a nail biter right to the end and with both teams on my favourite list how could I choose a winner! Well as it turned out I didn’t need to as the game was a draw. YeeeHaaa!




The game may have been over but our fun was about to start. Queensland is known for its storms and the one that hit us this night was no exception. Dark sky in the distance quickly became strong gusting winds and heavy rain right on top of us. You get that eerie sense as the sky darkens, the air becomes still and then as the sound of gushing wind approaches the word that comes to mind is ‘Shit’ as you run to save the camper tent from blowing back over itself. Well on this occasion a neighbour having seen our tent lift as the wind hit, stood and held our awning down until we got there. Bugger I was having such a good time at the after game drinks, playing pool and dissecting each quarter with the other experts and then found myself mopping water out of a tent.

24 Sep 10 - Winton

By Lou: There were a couple of things I wanted to see in Winton – the Waltzing Matilda museum and a collection of dinosaur fossils discovered relatively recently.
















Time was against us so we skipped the museum (Sam had covered that bit of Oz literature in school. Tick.) and headed out to the Age of Dinosaurs facility out of town.


















It was interesting to learn that locals had discovered new species of dinosaurs and to see the painstaking work taken to separate bones from dirt.




By Craig: Other than the road into Winton being long and dry, I didn’t know what to expect going from an add suggesting that new dinosaur fossils had made the town of Winton famous.
My one and only experience in the town of Winton was not a pleasant one as my father in law at the time, Jimmy, had passed away and help was required to return a car and caravan back home.

However this time I was pleasantly surprised and very interested in my visit to see some of the most unique fossil ever found in Australia.

23 Sep 10 - Mt Isa

By Lou: There wasn’t anything in particular that I wanted to do or see in Mt Isa, I just wanted to see it. Fortunately a lookout was provided to do just that.










I made Sam promise he’d hold off eating the soil , we took our photos, and then motored on out of there.







By Craig: We had one overnight stop on the way to Mt Isa. Fountain Springs, not much to say about that except as it was much like any other road side rest stop.











We had crossed the boarder into Queensland and were making tracks back to Ipswich.









Back on the road and heading to Isa it became obvious that the nights road kill was being cleaned up by Eagles. Frequently we would approach and have to slow down due to the stubbornness of the bird leading to a very slow take off. One particular Eagle left its run too late attempting to get its fill before take off it needed two hops to get airborne but unfortunately we collected it as it made a mid flight turn 3foot off the ground and straight into the front of our vehicle.





Large birds such as Eagles hit hard and as we pulled up looking back at the bird spread eagle on the bitumen (Pardon the pun) a trail of broken glass and plastic lay scattered across the road. Cruiser 1 with damage Eagle 0

21 Sep 10 - Mataranka

By Lou: Given we had limited time in Mataranka (just an overnighter) we got the heads up from Deb and Luke as to which of the artesian springs to visit, and headed to Bitter Springs.




You jump in the water at one point and float about 100m along to an exit point. It was quite warm and slimy bottomed and stank of moss but was fun.




















By Craig: The road into Mataranka was dry and smokey with controlled burning happening along the roadside.











Not much to do here, I say, except for a quick walk around the Barra Dam. Nice Barra!












The resident Peacock was in fine form trying to attract a hen playing hard to get.







Well you could take Sam and go cane toad collecting, says Louise. Cane toads, I say. What the…!



Ok, so we had a ball collecting toads. Sam donned the gloves and I grabbed the torch and bag.











I spotted the toad, held the torch light on it and Sam jumped into action: 50 toads and Sam got the certificate to prove it.






A great night out, hey Sam!?