The rain one minute and sunshine the next becomes a little boring after a while, yet with kids in tow there is no time to sit back and wait for it to pass. We headed off to the town of 1770 yesterday, gateway to Lady Musgrave and Elliott Islands, but be prepared to be up early and since I usually rise with the sun, I mean early to leave Bundy to catch the trip across. If you miss it, don't hold back, get out and check out the sites around Bundy. It was a good hrs drive, yet worth getting there. The lookout (see pics) full of flora, a great spot for the kids to make notes in their journals and catch up on geography/science work. Not that we documented as well as Banks in his early travels aboard the Endeavour, nor were as adventurous as Lieutenant Cook (yes...that's right he wasn't yet a Captain), however we did take in the gorgeous surroundings for what they offered, relaxed at Agnes Waters by the beach, time-out in the park, a little disappointed the Noosa look seems to spreading further north and one can see Agnes Waters certainly appealing to the upmarket traveller, although still plenty of affordability and quiet retreats for families and the backpacker wanting time out from the hustle of much more busier cities. A little North east of Gin Gin and on heading out this way, if you like your fishing and don't mind catching up to a 2m long Barra (or so I am told from a week ago in the local comp) check out the tranquility of the Frank Haig Dam, turn off from the Bruce Hwy nth of Gin Gin. Plenty of camping, limited cottages and make sure you take your essentials and supplies, a bit of drive back to pick anything up. Popular fishing spot and appears to be well known for its Barra!!! out of the 4 maps we had of the local area, not one actually matched the other and together with Jim's co-ordination, we took a detour to the letterbox of a local property before realising no...it didn't go towards the highway. My advice would be to invest in a great Hema or well-documented map and stick with it. Any doubt 'Google' it!! Would have liked to drop in on the Boolboonda tunnel, yet three of the four maps didn't actually document it at all and by the time we worked out where and how to get there, we realised how long it would take and gave it a miss. Jake's leg looking pretty good, stitches out tommorrow hopefully. Lu can't get enough of the swimming pool or was the "wimmie pool" and after no nap today by 6pm had plenty of volunteers to help her get off to sleep. Em has been great company for everyone all around, her wacky sense of humour never goes astray and keeps us amused with her jokes and stories, amazed by the visit to the museum at Agnes Waters, where Em learned the Aboriginal healing techniques as documented by Cook. Also as her favourite movie of all time is none other than 'Pirates of the Caribean' counted all 84 listings of each ship wreck documented on the Discovery coast map.
Not impressed at all with our 'fantastic' Next G network, the new phone we gave Jake only a few weeks back has died, supposedly the battery, yet Telstra informs us they are only covered up to 7 days from purchase...are they kidding? A nearly $300 phone worthless after 7 days? Big lessons to be learned here!!! Have done most of my uploads and networking via my parents internet connection, which has been more reliable than my wirelss. What has peeved us the most is that although there are 3 bars indicating a signal and it says "connected" we cannot load a page because a little message says the signal is not strong enough...but hey get this....we are using our hourly usage by the bucket load even though we cannot load a single page? Will keep you all posted on my well expressed letter to the TIO (telecommunications ombudsman)
We are what I believe feeling the first signs of spending every waking moment with each other for the past few weeks. Trying to work as a team 24/7 is just not possible as a family (if you know its possible please post tips!!!), and recall the comment in 'the Grey Nomad' book not to forget to take time for each other, still do those things which gave each other respite...we would need it...Hope to keep that in mind more over the next week, with moving on north Friday, with trying to work out a loose plan for the next 7 days (mostly due to budgeting rather than being structured) Hope this has been the best decision we will make in our lives and bring us closer?????
Posting a few pics again - feeling like I could share more, say more and debrief more, a little worn out and needing an early night. Catch you all again soon.
