Great! Barrier Reef

Posted on July 21, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

Today we first packed our bags so fast that I couldn’t keep track of what was happening but still we drove out to the marina and walked down to the barge . We then boated out to the famous da da daaaaaaaaa LADY MUSGRAVE (said in a Spanish accent).

" Here comes the royal, the great, the one and only LADY MUSGRAVE!"

It made us sea sick! But luckily none of us spilled the beans over anyone. The cruise ship took us to the lady musgrave island and did you know that the island is not made out of sand or soil? It is made out of coral.

First we went on a glass bottom boat to the Lady Musgrave Island for a walking tour. We found out that when Posonia trees fall over their shoots still grow upwards. They are the main trees on the island.

"Mummy , can we see a shark?"

Next we boated back and through the glass bottomed boat, we could see a tiny sting ray.

Now it was time for snorkelling. Yaahee! Put on your flippers and let’s dive in! It was an amaazing sight. It was breathtaking. We saw many fish. My favourite fish were the rock cods and the tiny glowing blue ones. At one stage you could see the coral and it was only a centimetre away from the surface. Spike was my snorkelling buddy. He was prickly!

"Let's dive in folks!"

Galley time! It was a yummy afternoon tea, bikkies drinks, even a packet of salt and vinegar chips. My favourite.

On the way home we sat out on the back deck. No one felt at all seasick.

" We even saw a whale!"

p.s. Stay tuned for the underwater snaps that I took with my underwater camera. They haven’t been developed yet.

By BloggiE Ë

Posted in BloggiE | 3 Comments

The One That Got Away!

Posted on July 18, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

Our collective fishing experience as a family now totals about 1hr, and already we have great tales of the one that got away. It all started one twilight, in the evening glow of Hervey bay. We had picked up a few rods from Bix, bought a starters pack of tackle and most importantly a little book of fishing tips.

So on the evening tide, full moon rising and all, we cast off from the end of the pier. It seemed the fish were biting and soon we were trying to reel them in. We all hooked some big, and I mean big, fish but four times they got away as we pulled them out of the water (true story!)

Soooo close!

I've got a bite !

Oh, I suppose you’re wondering what the tally was ? One Whiting, 20cm by axo1000

Our goal is to learn some fishing skills over the next 6 months as we will be visiting some hopefully pretty hot fishing spots. Our holy grail is to reel in a Barra in the top end (no harm in dreaming).

Help wanted – any tips welcome and please send through those top spots you have discovered or heard of.

Posted in Spike | Tagged | 7 Comments

Hervey Bay

Posted on July 17, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

Although not in our original plan, we were inspired to visit Hervey Bay to do some whale watching and break the journey on our way to 1770.

The first fabulous thing about it was the weather – wind was low and sun was high. The second fabulous thing about it was that they had space available in a caravan park ON the beachfront. The third fabulous thing about it was that we knew there was a cycling path along a rail trail somewhere near the centre of town.

We were not disappointed.

Our camping spot was just behind those trees! This photo is taken from the pier below.

Boy on Pier (Photo by Spike)

Each time we set up, we try to arrive early enough to get a quick look at where we are before night sets in – so we were stoked to discover an 18km bike path along the beachfront at Hervey Bay – and we promptly rode (part way) along before the sun went down.

The next morning we worked out the we could connect the beachfront cycling to the rail trail and although it didn’t have the same fitness challenges of Bobbin Head – the 12k loop gave us all a great chance to see the town. We discovered that Hervey Bay has the highest number of lovely old piers per capita and at sunset the residents fish off them. In a nod to the Sunday morning riders, we even managed to find a good coffee.

The pier at Urungan. (Photo by Spike!)

Boy on Pier II.

Wide, sealed Rail Trail - even BloggiE made it up the gentle hills.

Best coffee of the trip so far!

Axo1000 found a live starfish on the beach that afternoon!

Looks idyllic doesn’t it?? Well the whales didn’t think so! It is right near the beginning of the breeding season and the boat operators could only find one whale in the vicinity all week! We were advised not to waste our money on a trip out to see them this week. Dang!

Then it rained for 24 hours straight. Towels don’t get so dry and kids get cabin fever in a camper (so do adults it appears!) In a strategic bid to survive past 2 weeks in a van – we all caught up on some popular culture – axo1000 & Kate at HP7.2 and BloggiE & Spike at Kung Fu Panda 2 (she loved it so much the first time!) Packed up in the pouring rain and headed off to 1770 (the town that is!).

Posted in Kate | Tagged | 6 Comments

There’s Nothing Like a Friendly Face Along the Way…

Posted on July 15, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

Here we are with Marnie on the first day of our trip. We only stayed one night but it was still hard to leave the comfy beds and home cooking for life in a van. As we have left stuff behind all the way up the coast, Marnie has sorted it all out. So far Will’s beanie has proved that Australia Post is at its efficient best. It left Tea Gardens a day or two after us but still beat us to the Sunshine Coast.

A friend for riding, swimming and mini golf!

Team Gold Coast.

When the pace was fast and we needed to remember that it’s all about the journey not the destination, we loved hanging out with the Travelling Rowes. – fellow travellers committed to keeping up the tradition of a cup of tea, a meal with good friends and a natter.

Photo by Axo1000

Just hanging out with the fam on the Sunshine Coast was a great way to end the school holidays. Nothing like a cousin for exploring, riding or just plain lying on the grass. Thanks Joneses – we loved being part of your family for a few days. We’ll be back for more fun times and July weather like that!

Posted in Kate | Tagged | 3 Comments

Brisbane Explorers

Posted on July 13, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

Today we set off on a Brisbane journey to see what Brisbane was like! We took our cousin Chicca with us. First we hopped on a train at Landsborough and got off at Brisbane Central.

Ready to explore!

We walked to the Queen St Mall and bought a yummy yummy hot chocolate and a chai latte and a cappuccino. After that, we set off down the streets and we crossed over the bridge to South Bank and we kept on walking until we got to the museum.

Over the bridge ...

...to South Bank.

Once we arrived at the museum we dropped our bags off at the reception and wandered down to the science exhibit. There were lots of good exhibits like the body challenge, wonky walk, head on a platter, room of confusion, bike riding boney, lift a fridge, crazy mirrors, body mass index, snapshot of your shadow and lots of other really cool things. After we looked at all the exhibits we stopped and had a look in the museum shop. There were a lots of really awesome gems and rocks and other things.

mmm... that looks like a yummy lunch!

Oh no I'm gonna throw up!

For lunch we went to a park in South Bank and we saw a fake beach (that even had a life guard!). The weather was so perfect we even decided to catch the Citycat (Meoooooooooow – that’s a Rivercat – to be precise). We saw the lovely view of the Story Bridge and Brisbane. Once we got off the Ferry – we worked our way back to the station.

A beach in a park??

On to the City Cat

Brisbane Explorers!

On the ride home we giggled and giggled at hilarious things that Axo1000 & Chicca said.

by BloggiE and Chicca (Guest Blogger)

Posted in BloggiE | 4 Comments

‘Da Worlds’

Posted on July 11, 2011 by onlinewheatleys

Well are you cereal!? (credit to Raph) You’re reading my stuff again! This is the post on ‘da worlds’ yuv all been waiting for.

Dreamworld. What you need to know before I launch into a  story of what happened, I must let you know that… we had this special  pass thingy that let us skip the really long queue (the  queue looked really,really big).

When we got in we had to discuss a whole lot of things like where to meet if you get lost bleh, bleh,bleh and had a look at some rides. Here are the top 3.

The first of the rides was the river rapids ride. The river rapids ride was a round raft that you went in along a river (and got very wet).

Getting wet on the 'river rapids'

Then there was the giant drop. There was a warning sign before you went in that said “go on this ride at your own risk…you may have to live the rest of your life with weak neck, weak back, vertigo, anxiety and a whole lot of other things I cannot remember.  The giant drop was one of those big towers that brought you up really high (that’s as high as a 40 storey building. Teehee!) and at the top you were held for a really really long time to scare you then do a jolt to fake the drop just to freak you out.  You then dropped you at free-fall speed. It was phenomenal!

"Mummy, how come the people getting off that are green?"

We also rode on the ‘cyclone’. The ‘cyclone’ is probably the best roller-coaster Ive been on. (only been on 2)It was fast,wild and had 2 loop-de-loop’s.

"Mummy, why aren't they falling out?"

So there you go, Dreamworld isn’t as bad as I assumed and I would even recommend a bit. So keep on teeheeing for me.                       teehee!

axo1000                  Ω

Posted in axo1000 | 7 Comments