April 2014 Visit to Victoria

 

Hi All,
We have had a very eventful month.

We had a late season Cyclone - Ita come through on April 12th. No damage here thank goodness but a fair bit of wind & rain:

 

 

 

 

 

The next day everything was back to normal.

 

 

 





Dave had a great Idea on how to make mowing the lawn more fun,

 Luckily he can mow 1 handed :)

 

 

We also had a Trip to Victoria for Daves Mum's 80th Birthday.

 

We flew into Melbourne where our good friends Rob & Marg picked us up & took us back to their house for a few day in Tooklarook - near Rosebud.

As expected the weather was freezing - for us anyway!

But Rob & Marg took us sight seeing along the Peninsula it was beautiful:

 



You can see how rugged up we were!

Absolutely Beautiful. Thanks Rob & Marg for a great few days!
 

On our last night in Melbourne we caught up with Dave's Niece Emily & her husband Alex for a lovely dinner at the Rosebud RSL. It was really great to see them both.

 

 

 

Then the next day we picked up a hire car & drove to Wodonga to see Dave's Family.

As we grew up in Albury/Wodonga we always catch up with a few of our dearest friends whose friendship has survived many years & thousands of Kilometres between visits.

 

We had a lovely dinner with Narelle before she flew out on holiday to Perth, had a cuppa with Karyn & a great catch up chat - unfortunately because we were so happy to see them & so involved in chatter didn't take photos of either of them :(

 

Then there was my night out with Mem - lets just say a lot of drinks involved there, but a great night out dancing at the Carriers where her husband Shane is the DJ - lots of ACDC - thanks Shane :)

 

This was taken at dinner before things got messy :)

Then of course the reason we were there for Dave's Mum's 80th. A lovely dinner at the Asian Restaurant at the SS & A Club in Albury.

 

Dave's Mum & Dad

Dave's brother Graeme & his sons Thomas & Liam



 

Dave's Sister Leonie & Husband Colin



& Us :)

 

The next day we drove back to Melbourne to fly home - a very hectic week!

 

Now Both back  at work, not too much planned for this month but who knows :)

 

Cheers & happy Travels Shell

 

 

 



March 2014 - Trip to Cooktown

Well this has been a busy Month & we actually got the van out of the shed!

We had 5 days off so Dave picked me up with the van after work on Tuesday 4th March & we drove straight to the Babinda Boulders. About 1/2 an hours drive away.

It is a free camp with showers & toilets & it has 6 or 7 sites set up for camping.



It started pouring rain about an hour after we arrived but we didn't care, we had everything we needed in the van. Felt really sorry for the people in tents though.


The next morning the rain cleared up for a while so we walked down to the Boulders to have a look, it was beautiful.







It was really beautiful & the water was crystal clear.



After that we packed up & headed up to Mossman.
We spent 1 night there catching up with friends & then headed up to Cooktown.
It was very overcast but atleast it wasn't raining. We spent 2 days there sightseeing:

Cooktown Lookout

The View

Great view from this picnic table

The next day we drove out to Archer Point it was extremely windy.

Then we drove down the Bloomfield Track to the Bloomfield Falls. The road wasn't too bad but there were a couple of really big pot holes on 2 sections, glad the van was safe & sound in Cooktown.





The falls were roaring!



We avoided this fella



Just Magical

Of course on the way back to Cooktown we called into the Lion's Den for lunch

Another Iconic Aussie Pub!

Then back to the van for a Bundy or 3 :)

Big 4 Cooktown - great park had the whole place to ourselves.

Saturday we headed down to Mareeba & spent the night at the Granit  Gorge Nature Park.
It was a lovely little spot , with heaps of wallabies, a couple of horses, Turkeys & a Cockatoo

 





 Then it was Back to Etty Bay & Work :(
We really miss travelling in the Van.

It has pretty much rained non-stop since then ( 2 Weeks) nearly time to build the Ark :)

This is what the yard looks like when we have the huge down pours - luckily its all gone 10 minutes after its stops, sandy soil & good drainage.

 Well that's all for now,

Cheers Shell






January & February 2014

Hi all,
Well the year started off quiet, Dave & I even got to take a drive down south & Check out A few beaches. The weather was pretty yuk though so pictures aren't that great.




 

We saw these really unusual birds nests in a tree & there were dozens of them: 

Couldn't really see what kind of birds they were though.







 

 

Dave & I also decided to mulch our Garden Beds - Wow that turned out to be a huge job! We got a 6 cubic metre load delivered while Dave was home, then I had to get another one delivered after he went back to work - & do it by myself!!!! But the garden looked great when it was finished:)

 









 Australia Day weekend was next & I went down to Kurramine Beach Resort With a friend from work - Silvana & her twin daughters
Danae & Jacinta







Danae & Jacinta

 



Me & Silvana



 

Tractor Pull

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a really good weekend, but when we got back home there was a Cyclone brewing off the Coast. We didn't get any damage but it was a King Tide as well & poor Etty Bay Beach got hit big time:

 

 

 

It made quite a mess

 

February Dave & I flew over to Perth to see the girls, it had been about 6 months since we saw them last.

we had a lovely lunch with Bec & dinner with Teigz & Aaron

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



Then we got to all catch up together for a picnic with precious little Ruby:

 

Ruby telling Poppy bubbles are more important then lunch!





I want Mummy!



 

 We took some photos of Mandurah:

 

Dawesville Cut

Marina Apartments



War Memorial

Sunset on the Foreshore

 

But of course the highlight of our trip was seeing little Ruby:

 

Cool dude in Nanna's sunnies

Beautiful Girl!

We also got the chance to catch up with our friends Jas, Jo, Jacob & Isabelle - can't believe I didn't take any photos while we were there :( But anyway their big news is that they have sold up & are moving back to Denver USA!!! - Guess we will just have to go visit them over there :)



 

 

Well that's all for now - nearly up to date. I think I will try to do this monthly to keep on top of it.

 

Cheers & Happy Travels

Shell