Having said our sad farewells to family and friends in Brisbane we headed south. (Friends now also include the lovely Dr Lawrence Lee and all his wonderful staff who we got to know very well over the 5 months. If you have a detached retina go see him, he is fantastic.)
The first night we stopped at a free camp, ‘Beardy Creek Rest Area’ near Yarrowford, NSW. Wind so strong the trees were horizontal, thunder so loud it shook the van, lightning like the midday sun, and hail like snow.
After leaving Longreach we travelled east along the ‘Capricorn Way’ stopping at the very small town of Jericho for lunch. Cattle along the highway were a constant worry.
We are on the road again!
Summary thus far.
Left Melbourne boxing day 2014.
Travelled north, following HIghway One along the east coast until reaching Cape Tribulation at the end of May.
Headed back to Cairns via Port Douglas to get on the bitumen road to Cook Town (there is a dirt road from Cape Tribulation to Cooktown, but our van is too low for creek crossings)
It was timely that we did our Great Barrier Reef snorkelling trip at Port Douglas when we did because, shortly afterwards, THe Big Lap took an unexpected detour southward.
The day we got back to Cairns from Port Douglas, Helen was diagnosed with a detached retina by the excellent staff at Cairns Base Hospital’s Emergency and Ophthalmology departments. We flew to Brisbane the next day and Helen had surgery that evening.
Fortunately it was detected and repaired when it was “only” partially detached and so far the results are encouraging; unfortunately the recovery is slow and not conducive to travel or significant activity. We will be in and around Brisbane for the next couple of months, expecting to resume THe Big Lap in early September. Meanwhile, with the whale watching season now here, we hope to bring you some blowing and breaching from the lookouts at Byron Bay and Stradbroke Island.
Regards,
-Tim & Helen.
Hello, I am typing this while on the ferry heading for Stradbroke Island for five days.
We have just spent two fabulous weeks in Brisbane catching up with our wonderful family and friends. My sister took me on a shoppathon which was lots of fun, we just needed a foot massage by the end of it. Tim spent a few days either under the van or on the roof, not just to get out of shopping, but to fix the fridge which has proved unreliable at times. I will leave that to him to write about, quite an adventure in detective work. And yes, he and our brother-in-law Mike got to drill more holes in the van. I got to the dentist and will return on our way back from Stradbroke Island to have a crown put on. A big thank you to my sister and brother-in-law and nephew for having us stay with them and park our van in their carport.
We don’t have any photos to show you as we didnt take any touristy pics.
The ferry is ready to dock so I will sign off for now and post all about our island adventure soon.
cheers
Helen and TIm
Road trip number two. Our first big trip. Heading for Brisbane. The first night we stopped at Narrandera Show Grounds NSW. The secound night at Narabri Show Grounds NSW. Temperatures have been around 43o during the day, a real test for the van and us. Show grounds are great to stop at over night. Price is low, they have power and water, and lots of space so can leave the van hitched to the car. Arrived in Brisbane on the 5th Feb to catch up with family and friends. I have missed them all and the tropics. 
