1 Jan 10 - Carnarvon Gorge

By Lou: From Rubyvale we headed to Carnarvon Gorge which was a place of contrast. On approach it was sparse and stark due to recent fires yet in patches carpets of vibrant green foliage were springing up and some roads were under water. As we approached the first water-over-road situation of the trip I sucked in my breath with dread. Was it too deep, I wondered? Could the speed of the flow wash us over the edge, I worried? Obviously my thoughts were diametrically opposed to Craig’s as he let out a “Yippee” and proceeded without hesitation over the crossing. And just as I was marvelling at how well equipped we were with our Landcruiser a little Hyundai Excel approached from the opposite direction and entered the same crossing with barely a splash. Oh. Right.


Managed a 9km walk through the flat gorge one day and an uphill-all-the-way-4km trek to the Bluff the next. We were deluding ourselves that Samuel would be struggling with the distance. For the latter walk he was the mountain goat while Craig and I were bent over heaving from the exhaustion! Our planned rest break at the top was short-lived as the clouds quickly obscured the magnificent view and the heavens opened. (Will refer you to a link for the speccie shots as the camera batteries ran out after the first few shots we took. Of course the back up batteries were packed neatly in Box 101 back at camp.) We were grateful that Craig had lugged all our coats in his backpack and it was a scramble to put them on. However the downpour was so intense we were drenched immediately and retraced our steps through a watercourse that only 10 minutes earlier had been a dry walking track teeming with bull ants. We were wet but happy for the slippery descent.


Back at Takarakka Resort Sam had a ball riding his bike through the mud with other kids in the park, while Craig and I soaked up the realisation that our big trip was really underway. It was 11 years ago when Craig stood in front of a 2 acre block in Wallan and thought to himself, we can build a home here and then subdivide later and use the proceeds to travel around Australia. And here we are. I love our little home...alfresco dining, no vacuuming or mopping and no toilet cleaning. What more could a perfect housewife want?

By Craig: Two hours to service the bike. Not happy Jan.

29 Dec 09 - Rubyvale

By Lou: Next we headed to friends in Rubyvale and fossicked for sapphires. If it was up to me, I would have told you that the bag of dirt Craig's holding was a bag of dirt. But Craig and Sam had quite the eye for the hidden gems and thanks to their efforts and the expert eye of Katie we may well have come up with enough treasures for a charm bracelet. It was also a chance to come to a grinding halt after weeks of hard work organising our departure. Comfy couch and Austar did just the trick. Thanks Katie. No thanks to Wal - he was off sailing in the Whitsundays. Great timing.

27 Dec 09 - And so we begin

By Lou: Welcome to our website. It's been a while since we departed Airlie Beach and thought you might like to know what we've been up to. First night's stop was a whole 2 hours from home. Yes, intrepid travellers are we. We didn't head off until 4pm on 27 Dec 09 and we just wanted to get out of the shire. Camped for free next to a pub in Homebush just south of Mackay and Sam was wide-eyed with the colourful language of an inebriated jilted lover gent (and we thought we'd taught him all he needed to know).

By Craig: The Minister for Finance has released the purse strings and we're off.