Closing the Gap

On the wall of our caravan is a big map of Australia with our travels marked all over it. There is only a small gap now between where we are and where we started. Oh well. 

Since the last post, we visited family in Townsville and have wound our way down the Qld coast.

At Uncle Rod's Farm in Townsville

E finally got to ride a horse on her own.

Near Airlie Beach.

Finch Hatton Gorge.

E at the Pine Islet Lighthouse at Mackay.

Rockhampton Zoo

It might look like the Thunderdome, but it's just a big bird cage.

The boys right at home.

Not happy about a haircut from Mum (with good reason too!)

We climbed Mount Archer at Rockhampton for the sunset (climbed in the car that is).

No trip to Australia's beef capital is complete without a trip to the bull sales.

Auctioneering. Sorry, we missed all of that. Can you repeat it please?

Today we are camped at the showgrounds at Goomeri. Lucky for some.

Route since last post.

Tomorrow we will pass through the 27 degree latitude on our way to Broken Head in NSW for two weeks of sitting in one place. 27 is Brisbane. So it's fair to say that tomorrow we will have done the lap of Australia! But we still have two and a half weeks until we hit Brisbane, so more to come.

Goin' Slow

After the mega-long hauls throughout nearly all of Australia, we slow down throughout North Queensland to savour the sights. We've covered less than 500km in two weeks. Unheard of! First stop - Wonga Beach and the Daintree.

Little F and E at Wonga Beach

Munching on some sugar cane.

Just in front of camp.

Daintree Roads

And we were lucky enough to bump into this little fella along the way.

The Daintree bug museum. It has a real name, but darned if we can remember.

Then off to Cairns, where the kids watched their cousin on the track.

Cousin Paddy in action.

Big F had great fun learning the guitar.

Babinda Boulders.

J goes for a dip.

Josephine Falls.

Paronella Park

For the last week, we've had the privilege of staying in the Family Islands group off Mission Beach in a very quiet resort.

Big F on his way to the island

Solitary resort.

Coconut Beach

Big F returns from a big  paddle

Feeding the island pigs

Hitting the jetty for the return water taxi journey.

Route travelled since last post.

It's All Downhill From Here

No really it is. Ravenshoe, elevation 930 metres, is Queensland's highest town. So of course it's all downhill. But there's still nearly two months of our great big adventure to go and heaps of our home state to see.

The lush grass, tall trees, rainforest and even the frigid air of Ravenshoe was a welcome change for us after the 8000km of dust that we have done since Perth (not that we didn't enjoy it, but the change was welcome).

Since our last post, we have driven from Cloncurry to the Atherton Tablelands..........

The Normanton life size replica of "Krys the Savannah King"

Cara-vanning is not all beer and skittles. There is the toilet to take out. 

Inside the "Oldest shop in Australia" at Croydon.

Just to prove that we are still attempting school!

Our camp at Ravenshoe - at the train station.

It's been a while since we have seen dandelions.

J and E at Milla Milla Falls.

E's 11th birthday, celebrated at Lake Tinaroo.

Lake Tinaroo

Route and stops from Cloncurry to Mt Molloy.