Once out of Townsville we quickly get on Flinders Highway and once past Charters Towers the A6 becomes a long long long straight road ....

We have lunch at the White Mountains National Park +/- 600 m above sea level and i t is bloody hot ...43°

The landscape changes from green fields and bushes with cattle to a complete dried out desert and it only starts.

We stop at Richmond for the night, it's most famous for its marine fossils and its world renowed museum Kronosaurus Korner.

It has a man made lake known as the Lake Fred Tritton named after the former mayor Fred Tritton, we wanted to take a dive to cool down after a very hot day but there's so much weed into the lake that it is not possible to swim so our eyes fall upon a kid's water fall center and that's just fine for us....

Tomorrow our goal is Mount Isa....

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...