Malcolm is Jamie's brother , husband of my niece Tanja...

On our road we have a stop at the Big Mango in Bowman, and at lookout Mt Inkerman.

Around 12h00 we have lunch at the Billabong Sanctuary near to Townsville for a crocodile feeding, very interesting , especially what to espect with crocodiles in wildlife...it's better to stay far away from them...they're so fast!!!!!!

We find a lovely camparea at Rowes Bay  and after a refreshing shower we drive to the Marina Yachtclub where we meet Malcolm, Sylvie and the crew ....for a social race.

It was a lovely sail during sunset , thanks Malcolm and Sylvie....Back in the yachtclub we had a nice dinner all together ...

I discussed with them about the cyclone and all of them advised to stop our journey up North and we'd better go West, so exactly what we're going to do tomorrow,Mt Isa here we come...

There's no limit to the wonder of the Whitsundays, lying in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef in the warm water of the Coral Sea.

74 tropical islands all together, a true paradise where you can expect the unexpected and feel the freedom we're all searching at, whether it's about relaxation, action or  adventure...you got it all in one place.

Most of the islands are deserted islands, but 8 of them have holiday resorts with coral reefs and the Great Barrier Reef at their doorstep...some of them Hamilton Island, the one and only one Hayman Island, Daydream Island...what a name !!!!!, Long Island etc.....

We sailed away from Abel Point Harbour at Airlie Beach with Ocean Rafting's "Thunderstorm" to Hook Island's Maureen's Cove rafting with high speed on the big waves...awesome!!!! arrivin at Maureen's Cove we get things organised , put a stingersuit ,masks and paddles and off we go for our first snorkel in the coral reef...what can I say, hard to find words to describe this feeling....45 minutes in a big aquarium.

We move on to Mantaray Bay for another snorkel....this is paradise or very close to it.

Time for another waverafting experience to the Hill inlet of Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island, where we get off the boat for a bushwalk to a lookout point over the inlet...no comment....and around the corner I find heaven , Whitehaven Beach, sand as white and pure never seen it before....

I'm confused by it's beauty and it doesn't take very long before I start daydreaming...what  a lovely spot and even better we had lunch on that virgin sand....Our most friendly guides Brooke and Tim have most difficulties to get everybody back on board to sail back to Abel Point ...

This was as Aussies would say an awesome day!!!! some time left to dream on....

Do some stretching on the beach, a last view at Clairview beach and off we go further North...

Latest news about Cyclone Nathan he  probably can make  a turn and hit the coast around Townsville on thursday... Nathan is classified as a category 3...so when we spoke about it with local people where and how we can find shelter for the motorhome, bikes and ourselves they advise us to turn around and drive as far South as we can or inland...Tomorrow we will take a final decision.

We follow the A1 Highway to Mackay, quite boring and all we get to see is fields of sugar canne,sugar canne and sugar canne...

Mackay is Whitsundays region largest city and one of the fastest growing population center of Queensland.

Just to the west are massive mining ventures that export minerals worldwide, further there is a lot of agriculture(sugar canne) and beef .

It's also a jumping off point for the Whitsunday Islands that lie just offshore.

We have a look at Dolphin Heads and Sunset Bay before driving to our end destination Airlie Beach... where all different kinds of cruises, watertaxi's etc... start at the Whitsunday Islands.

We start looking for a camping and get ourselves organised to find the right cruise for tomorrow...once this is all done , some time left for a game of tennis...a lovely swim in the pool  and a good shower...Looking forwards at the excursion tomorrow....

While having breakfast a Kookobarra drops by to say hello...after breaking up camp we continue driving further up North  to Gladstone, well known for it's aluminium industry but further nothing to see...all I can tell it is getting hotter and hotter...we reached 37° today...

Arriving by the A1 at Rockhampton with it's impressive Fitzroy River we go back to the coast towards Emu Park and Yeppoon where we have lunch at a lovely spot with a nice view on the Great Keppel Island but also witnessed what the latest cyclone caused here...hard to tell what dammage nature can cause...

A little bit further we stop at The Coves, originally found by Mr Olsen a Norwegian and kept hidden until he was able to buy the land ...later on he opened the Coves for public and late 1980 his family sold it to another private person that still is running the business...weddings are very popular in the Cathedral cove where we had an amazing sound and lightshow...great!!!!!!! 

With another 170 ks left to go, we'd better get on the road again...the road between Rockhampton and Mackay is rather straight and boring but arriving at Clearview and it's beach we do forget that boring part .

We now have reached the Great Barrier Reef and today I'm the cook and I've got a green curry chicken in mind...

First stop at Bundaberg and a little further, more specific at Mon Repos Turtle Sanctuary where it is actually the hatching season, but the turtle bay's only make their run to the ocean in the evening.....so we only could take a stroll on the turtle beach where the first snake crawled in front of me....gosh I don't like them...

We get on the bikes again and drive to Miriam Vale with a stop at a Oldtimer gathering...found a new van, and a coffee stop at Rosedale at the tiny tea pot...great coffee.

Arriving in Miriam Vale we see there is an Australian Football weekend going on, so we stop for lunch and buy some tickets to see the game..what a hard game it is, no protection and full contact...no wonder there are so much chiropracter's in Australia...lol...

The day end's in Tannum Sands at a camp area at the border of the Ocean, so a swim can't be denied ...a strong current and probably our last swim as we're entering Crocodile and Marine Stinger area...

First camping with a tennis court , so I challenge Martin for a game..well the game itself was good...but my muscles warned me it's been a long time...

After a good shower our Mastercooks of the day Luc and Dorine cooked us a lovely meal and we end the day with a game of cards, as usual won by Luc and me...lol...

Tomorrow we'll cross the Tropical of Capricorn that runs through Rockhampton...

On time at Riverhead to board the Ferry for a cross sail of 45 minutes...arriving at Fraser Island we hurry to the Aussie 4x4 rental shop where we hire "Helga" a Toyota four runner for the day. We start at Kingsfisher Bay and after 500m we get on the sand roads theat leads us to the East Coast of the island where we get to play with our boy toy...lol...75 miles of sand beaches...we change nearly every 1/2 hour so everyone get's to drive in different conditions...lot's of fun...to give an idea, we have driven the complete Belgian Coast 65 km on the beach and another 100 km on the sandy roads of the island to bring us to some mystical places...

On the beach filled with creeks of fresh water streaming in the Ocean we stopped at the Mahono Shipwreck, the Pinnacles, Stonstool sandblow and Eli Creek...we had lunch at Eurong Beach resort and left inland to the Lakes.

Frazer Island has an amazing number of freshwater lakes and creeks...over 40...Hard to imagine Lakes clearer than those on Fraser Island...

A wonder that the water doesn't drain away as Fraser Island is made up nearly completely out of sand...they are called perched lakes because their bottom consists out of sand rendered impermeable by very slowly rotting humus...quite interesting...and the freshwater is so pure.

We stopped at Lake Boomangin , the biggest perched Lake in the world, Lake Birrabeen and top of the bill a lovely swim at Lake McKenzie...what a spot...On our way to the lakes we found some German youngsters who got stocked with their 4x4...we had to use all our intelligence and know how to free them ...which we did and all back on the track a few km further another problem, a tree on the road...but with joined forces w e get rid of this as well...all i can say today was awesome and everyone that considers coming to Australia should put it high on his list...I can tell you will not regret it..Time to drop off "Helga" and with another 3h left before we sail back to main land we treat ourselves with a nice dinner at the Mahono Resort.

At 20h30 we get on the Ferry and it looks it's been a long day...everyone take's a nap...Around 22h00 we're back in the caravanpark...catch up some sleep

Fill up drinkable water, empty grey water and we're all set to go...Martin and me on the bikes taking a first left to The Glasslookout point at The Glass Mountains...Martin was hot today , so he did a little burnout on the park spot...lol...

Next stop at the Australian Zoo in Landsborough home of Crocodile Steve Irwin.

Back on the road to the coast, Mudjimba, Coolum Beach, Peregian Beach, and Noosa Heads, best known as the Sunshine Coast....

For the moment no appartment buildings but I noticed a lot of boards voting against buildings , locals prefer to keep it as it is and I sure can understand why...but I think they'll loose the battle against the dollars that project developers will bring along...a shame, mankind keeps on ruining nature...

Next stop at Tin Can Bay a nature ecologic reserve that's very important for the region ...a shelter for lo'ts of birds,dolphins, turtles....

Arriving at our destination Hervey Bay , we go straight to the information desk to rent a 4x4 and get tickets for the ferry at Fraser Island.

When all is fixed we look out for a campervan park for the night....

Tomorrow we have an appointment with the Ferry Fraser Down at 6h45 to bring us to Fraser Island, so time to get some sleep...

Oohps... forgot to tell we're entering Crocodile territory...but good news about Cyclone Nathan, it moved up to a 100 km above Cooktown and is going West so normally no longer a problem for us.

Today we all split up...Martin and Dorine went to see a Koala sanctuary in Fig Tree near Brisbane, Luc suffered with tooth pain yesterday and look's for a dentist and I drive with the Motorhome at the Kea Branch in Brisbane for some small repairs .

It takes a while at the Kea Branch and apparently Martin and Dorine got lost in Brisbane and arrived at noon in at the Koala Sanctuary, Luc found a dentist and he's back with us.

They meet in Brisbane @Victoria Bridge while I'm a little fed up with the jammed traffic in Brisbane so I decide to drive ahead to find a camp site for tonight,  Beachmere Beach it is at Deception Bay North of Brisbane.

While I'm waiting time for some laundry and a lovely swim in the Ocean....I heard on the radio that there is a cyclone coming so we have to try to avoid it, otherways we're stucked for some days...this really will keep us busy the following days...

Normally tomorrow we should head for Hervey Bay to take a Ferry to Fraser Island...

Thanks Rob for the nice company en let us stay at your house...hope to see you one day in Belgium or France.

Time to leave Mooney Beach behind us and Rob gave us a tip to take a back road to Grafton along the river Orara where we have to take a Ferry across the river in Ulmurra a historic port on the river...we need fuel but can only find a dried out pomp at "The Old Garage"...no fuel but worth a picture...Lot's of canna plantations  here and even more on the road to Maclean, a Scottish town with it's Pinneacle Rocks and a stunning view over the Orara River.

We jump on HWY 1 to Ballina and take a right on the old coastal road with a lunch stop at Flat Rock Beach  with a great view on Lennox Head as we are floating in the Pacific Ocean...

We keep on following the old coastal road to Byron Bay with it's lighthouse that is the most Eastern lighthouse and point in Australia.

The coastline is way to much for words ...it's like your driving from one postcard to another...passing Brunswick Heads,Pottsville,Bogangar, Kingscliff....to end up in Tweed Heads, last city in New South Wales .

Time to discover a next state Queensland, the sunshine state with Coolangatta as first town before we hit The Gold Coast ...viewing at the skyline you can tell construction company's and project developers made their little fortune here...and we haven't seen such a lot of people together since we arrived in Australia.

We end up at Surfers Paradise where we find a lovely camping right at Main Beach theat demands a refreshing swim in the Ocean...

We follow the Waterfall Road with stops at Wollomombi Gorge and Falls and Ebor Falls on till now one of the nicest roads.

It goes to Dorrigo and all the way down from 1000 m to sea level at Coffs Harbour, the banana city with off course a Big Banana.

Time for a picture and a banana milk shake before we're heading at Rob's house in Mooney Beach.

Rob welcomed us with a nice cool beer and we waited for Luc and Dorine with "Coco".

Once they arrived we quickly put on our bathers and went for a swim in the Pacific at Mooney Beach with Rob.

After our refreshing swim and nice walk we take out Rob to the local pub for dinner, we had a lovely evening all together and Rob is such a wonderful man...a good cup of coffee and time to hit the sack...

Thanks tante Klara and Uncle Glenn for all you've done for us, we were spoiled so much...and I'm really happy we could make it on time ...

Lovely to see back Tanja,Jamie,Finn,leo and my darling Lievetje and Shaun,Kristy,Ruby and Kyle...such wonderful kids.

All the best family Ingall...and we're on the way to Hunter Valley , a well known wine region North of Sydney.

Martin and Dorine sold the Tulloch's wine of Hunter Valley in their butchers shop and wanted to visit the Tulloch Winery, so we did...

We had to taste their white and red wines and I must say that the quality of Australian wines has improved a lot since my last passage and especially the white Verdellho surprised me, so we took a couple of bottles along.

Riding out of the hill's of Hunter Valley on our way to Gloucester we find some nice windy roads in between the Great Dividing Range and the Barrington Tops. After Gloucester the roads become smaller and even more windy, just the way we like it..The road ends at Tamworth, the country music Capital where we find a nice free camp spot for the night at the entrance of the city.

After a lovely breakfast, a nice cup of coffee from tante Klara and Bacon and eggs Martin the three boys went along with Uncle Glenn for a chiropractical adjustment, followed by a guided tour around the retirement village Lakeside View.

Ron, Uncle Glenn's sailing mate was waiting to drive to Wyee where "Chablis" shines in the water , ready to take us all for a sail....

Captain glenn and Skipper Ron sail "Chablis" out of the harbour in the Lake and we all enjoy the lovely day and sail....We were out on the water for about 4 hours and tante Klara prepared us the real Sydney Biscuits and Scones...mmmmmmmhh...

Glenn and Ron spoiled us with this lovely sail and it really was a good break after all the days we spent on "Edda" , "Katrien" and "Coco", they all deserved some rest....

Coming back at the house, my niece Tanja, Jamie , Finn,Leo and lovely Lieve(she picked me a flower and said aurevoir when she went home...such a nice girl), cousin Shaun, Kristy,Ruby and Kyle and Alan and Noela where all arrived and we had a beautifull afternoon together and chef Martin was chef BBQ today...good on you Martin for the well cooked meat, good on you tante Klara for the nice vegies and Noela , best cakes ever...I cheated and had 4 pieces ...

We ended the evening with a nice chat and a glass of wine ...It was just lovely to meet the family Ingall again and see how well they are all doing.

Start the engines and off we go working our way through the morning traffic to get on the Pacific Highway to Gosford.

From Gosford we drive to the Entrance where we had a stop at Tuggerah Beach to spot the surfers playing with the big waves.

We drive on along the Pacific Coast on one side and the Tuggerah Lake on the other side up to Budgewoi and Morisset where we meet up again and had lunch ...

Another 3 km left  at nonkel Glen and tante Klara..I'm so happy we arrived on time so we can spend a day or two together as in a a few days they leave for a cruise to South Africa.

Klara had to work all day but Uncle Glenn showed us the Lake Macquarie, the largest salted lake in Australia and his mistress"Chablis" and some nice beaches as Caves Beach and Blacksmiths Beach and a look at dozens of Kangaroo's on the grounds that once used to be a Mental Hospital in Morisset...well if you want to see kangaroo's, this sure is the place to be

Back in Bonnell's Bay tante Klara cooked us a delicious meal and we had a very nice evening all together

Arrived in Sydney and as I know Sydney quite well since my previous passages here, we went to Circular Quay to see Sydney Bridge and The Opera House and a nice coffee on the Quay, they say Sydney has the best coffee in the country and It might just be the case....

I suggest to take a ferry(it's like taking a bus) to Mosman Bay and off we where with the best views over the city , the Opera House and Sydney Bridge...lot's of pictures...

Arriving at the ferry wharf we walk down to Balmoral Beach, a quiet beach well known by the locals and me...where we had a nice swim and we met a flemish couple from Bruges...they asked us how it is possible we knew this beach...well I asked them the same question and their daughter lived here already for some years and twice a year they spend holidays here...

Time to catch a bus to the Tarangoo Zoo Wharf to jump on another ferry that will take us back to Circular Quay.

From there we walk through George Street to Martin's Place ...a tribute to our Martin

I have a appointment with Catherine who I missed in Kangaroo Valley and by luck she's in town today, so I rush myself to the Art Gallery to see her

It was so nice to see her back after all those years, Catherine and Bert spoiled me so much last time and showed me all the nice places of the city.

We had another great cofee and a slice of cake...yummie  in the Art Gallery's Cafe, we only saw each other for an hour but it felt so good...thx Catherine ...

I went to see Julius at his work in Elisabeth Street right in front of Hyde Park and got to see a lovely view over the park, Cathedral....from the 10th level...time to meet my friends again, they were having a drink at the entrance of Chinatown, so I had a good half an hour walk to get there, but I just love to walk between the crowd in the city...finally I see them, joined them for adrink before taking back the bus to Ryde where we invited Julius and Yvonne for dinner , Julius suggested to go to a pub where you have a nice view on Sydney.

We had a lovely dinner, dito evening and ended it with a walk to the water to admire Sydney by night...

We have a short look at the information desk and quickly we take the decision to take a daypass that give's us entry to the 2 telecabins and the steepest train in Australia( Telecabins were constructed by Dopplmayer, a Swiss company), first we took the train ....

as the driver spoke it seemed to be like a hell of a drive...well can tell that sensation never came...anyway once down we read the story about the Katoomba mining industry that started in 1863 with 40.000 ton's of charcoal a year...a lot of old materials are exposed along the excellent walktrails..

well done job here ...

We took a walk of 1 1/2 h to get to Queen Elisabeth's lookout at The three Sisters named "Meehni", "Wimlah" and "Gunnedoo", they once lived with the Gundungurra people in the Jamison Valley and the maidens were in love with 3 brothers from the neighbours, the Darug people, but marriage was forbidden by tribal law, so as the brothers were warriors they decides to take the maidens by force, tribal war forced the Kuradjuri(clever man) of the Gundungarra tribe to turn the sisters into stone. He intended to restore them after the danger had passed, but unfortunately , the Kuradjuri was killed in battle and to this day nobody has been able to break the spell....

Time to take a telecabin  that takes us all the way over the valley twice as high as Sydney Bridge with a lovely view on Katoomba waterfall and Orphan Rock, followed by another walk to Prince Edwards lookout, another telecabin and another walk..

But why they call it the Blue Mountains...well because there is always a distinctive blue haze present that is quite different and of a deeper blue than anywhere in the world. Although constantly changing in intensity, the haze is always present...

As it turned 13h00 time to get back to "Coco" for lunch and off we are to Ryde , a town close to Sydney where we'll meet Yvonne and Julius.

Yvonne is my Uncle Glenn's sister and also sister of Catherine who live's in Kangaroo Valley.

A cold beer was very welcome after a very hot day and ride...and we popped out for dinner all together...so nice to meet Yvonne and Julius .

Tomorrow we go to Sydney all day and at lunchtime I'll meet Catherine who I missed in Kangoroo Valley...looking forwards for that.

Today the ride goes to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, but our first stop is in Kangaroo Valley at Jumbuck Cottage, the lovely home of Catherine and Bert...To bad they where not there, they are in  Canberra till wednesday...but as much I would have loved to see them again, I really love the emplacement and the house ...sorry Catherine and Bert, I felt so free to enter and have a look, I was quite curious after all the talking on my previous visit in Australia...Great job and it surely invite's to drop by another time...

We crossed the road and had a walk down to the river, if we had more time we surely would have rented a kayak ...but even on holidays duty calls and we got to get on moving...adieu Jumbuck Cottage

We drive to Moss Vale, with a stop at Fitzroy Fall's and lunch...Next stop is Thirlmere with its old steamtrain collection....the real stuff...gosh, they really do a great job here.

From there we turn on to little country roads with some breathtaking views, driving by The Oaks, Warragamba and its dam, Wallacia, Glenbrook the entrance of the Blue Mountains , to hit The Great Western Highway to Katoomba where we tried to fiend a campspot for the night, but first time ...no vacancy...so they send us to a village 11 km further called Blackheath where we found our place and the guy at the desk was a young frenchman from Bretagne...it felled good to change some words in French...

Tomorrow some walks in the Blue Mountains on our program, probably the Three Sisters ...suggestions are still welcome

As we leave Nimmitabel we keep on riding on +/- 1100 m above sea level for  about 60 km...brrrrrrrrrrrr...but once we start to go down the sun quickly warms us up...a brilliant day today, blue sky without a cloud...

I noticed that the east side of National Park Kosciuszko is much greener  than the west side...plenty of water here and a lot more of stock

From Bega we drive to the southeast coast , first stop at Tathra with it's historic Wharf...we spot a lot of fishes from the jetty .

We follow the touristical coast road to Bermagui and Narooma driving through different National Parks and lovely roads and scenery's

We stop for lunch at Tuross Head with a refreshing swim in the Tasman Sea.

All freshed up we ride on to Malua Bay, Batemans Bay and have another stop at Pebbles Beach in the Murramarang National Park, known for the kangaroo's you can spot on the beach...and yes we did ...I even got so close I could touch them aswell I had a couple of Lori's on me...just wonderful

We decide to camp at Culburra beach where our mastercook Martin prepared us a nice Kangaroo filet( I know...) with mashed potatoes and cauliflowers....and off course we'll end the day with a game of cards....may the best one win...

We ride to Wangaratta to take the Great Alpine Road to Myrtleford where we have our fuel and coffee stop...After a nice cup of coffee the real work starts as we turn left to Happy Valley...what's in a name, they sure didn't missed it as you only get happy driving through this most beautiful valley with its Mt Beauty( no this is not a joke)  

From Happy Valley it goes to Lake Hume, and on Murray Valley HWY to Tallangatta, a new modern town which appeared when the original town was drowned in 1956.

Th e road takes us to Corryong, home of the Man from Snowy River, Jack Riley a famous horseman  that lived in isolation in a hut high up in the hill's .

He loved the Snowy Mountain country and enjoyed a social drink or two...It was after that Banjo Paterson spend some time together with Jack Riley in the Kosciusko Ranges he wrote the poem "The Man from Snowy River".

We 've now come very close to our goal, but first lunch in the Kosciuszko National Park to get strong for the last end....up to Cabramurra , Australia's highest village, the roof of Australia at 1488m....we've made it.

As there are no overnight permitted we drive on to Cooma and keep driving between 1500 m and 1100 m , with temperature that drop's to 12°

In a little village 40km  after Cooma, Nimmitabel we find a local campground for the night...it is quite chilly, never thought to be cold that cold in Australiua....brrrrr

What to tell about the roads we drove today...hmmmm...heaven for every biker comes the closest ...

A lot to do today...fill up "Coco" , do some shopping for a few days , change a light bulb....but finally we're on our way through the Yarra Valley, also a vineyard region up to Healesville, to get on road  B 360 to Taggerty, a road filled with high trees with some lovely views...From Taggerty it goes to Lake Eildon, the entance of the Victorian Alps with Mt Buller as alpine ski resort...we found a nice spot at the lake to have lunch and enjoy the lookout.

From there it goes to Alexandra,Merton, Mansfield and all the way to the top of Mt Emu to drop down again in King Valley, another wine region to find a wild camping spot at King River for the night...I'm the cook today and I served a Macaroni cheese sauce...

Tomorrow our intention is to reach Australia's highest village Cabramurra in the Kosciuszko National Park.

Good night...