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Albert Heights Apartments, Melbourne, Australia. 3275 km 

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Australian word of the day:  Maxi-taxi. A mini-van/van taxi. The only vehicle that can fit all of us including our luggage.

Greetings from Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, and a lovely city indeed. We arrived last night and spent our first day sweltering in an unusually hot (30C) spring day. Nevertheless, we had a superb day. (more…)

First Sun Holiday Park, Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. 3070 km

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 We left Murwillumbah rather early today on an overcast and slightly rainy morning. The drive to Byron Bay took about an hour and it was very scenic. Byron Bay is a very popular town. It is the easternmost point in Australia and it’s where the tropical waters of the north meet the colder water of the south. There is great surfing and great views from Cape Byron. There has been a real estate boom here in the last few decades and the town feels very vibrant, like Carmel in California but with an average age 25 years younger. (more…)

Green Cascades Caravan Park, Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia. 3005 km 

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Australian word of the day:  Walking Track – Hiking Trail. As in – today Shir and Orr completed a 1km walking track using solely their feet. Hooray!

Yesterday morning we had an enjoyable drive to Brisbane, passing by Glass House Mountains, a collection of small protruding mountains named by Captain Cook 250 years ago. Arriving in Brisbane in the late morning we tried to spend time in the center, but a big city is unwelcoming to large vehicles such as our RV. Just to find a place to park near downtown took us 20 minutes and when we did, it was a spot limited to 2 hours. (more…)

Dicky Beach Holiday Caravan Park, Caloundra, Queensland, Australia. 2690 km

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Australian word of the day: Crikey. Oh my Goodness! Coined by the late Steve Irwin, famous Crocodile Hunter/Conservationist.

The last two days were heaven for Shir Ron and Orr. Yesterday we visited Underwater World in Mooloolaba, and today Australia Zoo near Nambour. We saw almost everything Australia has to offer, and then some.

Our Sunday morning started too early at 5:45am with Orr crying for no reason at all. (more…)

Big 4 Palms Resort, Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia. 2600 km

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Australian word of the day:  Ripper. As in: have a ripper of a day

Today we visited Rainbow Beach, a beautiful piece of coast with colored cliffs that contrast wonderfully with the deep blue and turquoise ocean water. We drove up through a nice residential neighborhood that borders with a national park and after lunch hiked to Carlo Sand blow. (more…)

Big 4 Fraser Resort, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. 2263 km

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Australian word of the day: Dummy – a baby’s pacifier. “Don’t lose your dummy” means don’t lose your temper and can be used for adults as well.

We just got back from a magnificent 2 day guided tour of Fraser Island. This is the world’s largest sand island, having formed over millions of years, one grain at a time. The island has a variety of vegetation and wildlife including ancient rain forests and dingos (Asian wolves). There are no paved roads, only sand on the island, so the only vehicles that can manage on the island are 4×4. To get to Fraser Island you take a 30 minute ferry from Hervey Bay. (more…)

Big 4 Fraser Resort, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. 2263 km

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The last 2 days were nothing very special. We continued driving south along what is called the Capricorn Coast. The Tropic of Capricorn, at 22.5 degrees South is the halfway marker from the Equator to Antarctica. Yesterday we stopped for the night in 1770. Yes, a town called 1770. It is the year Captain Cooke discovered Australia’s Eastern Coast. (more…)

Cool Waters Campground, Yeppon, Queensland, Australia. 1738 km

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Australian word of the day: Stubby – a beer bottle. As in: I’ll have one.

The last few days we have covered a great amount of distance driving south. We left Townsville on Friday morning and got stuck in a 3 hour traffic holdup. The highway was blocked due to a timber truck overturned on the road. Thank goodness for a motorhome in such a situation. The kids watched a movie and played while we were waiting. (more…)

Rowes Bay Campground, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. 778 km

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Australian word of the day: Nappies – Diapers. As in: Hope we won’t run out of nappies for Shir and Orr today on Magnetic Island.

We spent the last two days learning more and more about Australian wildlife. Yesterday we visited the Billabong Sanctuary, a great Aussie zoo a few km south of town. The main attractions were crocodile feedings, koala petting, cassowary feeding, fish feeding, dingo feeding etc…We passed from one guided feeding to another, and tried to pick up as much of the explanations as we could despite heavy local accents and rugby jokes.
Here are some interesting Koala facts – they sleep 18 hours a day (more…)

Big4 Campground, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. 712 km

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Australian word of the day:  How’re You Going? – How are you? Asked without really expecting an answer.

After reaching the northern apex of our Australian voyage in Cape Tribulation, we started progressing southward on Saturday. After crossing the Daintree river southward, we drove through Mossman to Mossman Gorge, also part of Daintree National Park. They have some rainforest walking tracks (trails), and a few swimming holes along the Mossman river. At one such swimming hole a crazy old Aboriginal with a very high pitched voice was making all the white folks laugh. We had a little problem with Orr, as one of her crocs shoe strap broke off. Each time we made a makeshift solution, she kept taking her shoe off and checking out the problem by recreating it. (more…)