Last Blog Post From Australia

So after nearly 10 months this will be the last post from Australia.
We both fly home tomorrow and with that comes the end to our one year long holiday!
We both are amazed at how much we have done especially when we look back over the blog.
We actually drove 5,000kms in Canada and over 30,000kms in Australia.
I have to say Lloyd has driven way more than me so he reckons I have a lot of catching up to do when we get home to NZ.
We both feel ready to go home and have loved exploring both countries. They are so huge and we have really only scratched the surface,especially in Canada but hopefully we can return sometime to see and experience more.
What will especially remain with us is the horizontal views of driving in both countries and the incredible colours of the Australian outback.
The outback has so much to offer and the National Parks are fantastic, we really didn't get over the many gorges and great walks.
Canada's mountains are so majestic and huge and we will always remember our first glimpse of frozen Lake Louise.
However as always it is also the people you meet that make all those memories so special. We have met so many friendly fellow travellers and enjoyed many happy hours and camp fires with like minded people just loving exploring.
For us as a couple we have experienced so many highs and a few lows of course, we did love the joy of waking in the morning and not knowing where exactly we would stay the next night or what the day would bring.
It was all part of the exploration and at times a bit nerve racking, but it has made us more resilient.
Until our next adventure we will sign off. Haere ra!!!!

All loaded with the extra luggage and ready for the airport

Moreton Island

As our time was drawing to and end in Australia we decided to spend a day over at Moreton Island which we had visited with the boys 25 years ago.
Morten Island is reached by ferry from Brisbane, about 45 mins in a fast catamaran or 1 and 1/2hrs in the vehicle ferry which lands right by the wrecks.
The wrecks form a reef for snorkelling just 100mts off the beach. There were 15 ships sunk which form a great place for colourful fish and coral.The water is relatively calm on the inside allowing svn not so strong swimmers to be able to access them.

The wrecks as the tide came in

We enjoyed the ferry ride on a beautiful clear warm day and soon found a nice spot on the beach in front of the wrecks. Many people take their 4wd vehicles over as you can camp or stay in a variety of accommodation.
We had a great day, the boat left at 4.30pm and this meant we were able to get some good sunset shots coming into Brisbane port.

Cars, boats and the wrecks

Sunset over Brisbane

Easter at Tweeds Head

Before we knew it Easter had arrived and we decided to stay at an Air bnb place near Tweeds Head.
We had thought the caravan was sold and even collected a good deposit before the guy went to ground not showing up on the day to pay in full and collect it.
We were staying at a good caravan park in North Brisbane in Ashgrove which worked well as Lloyd had picked up a job near their for a few weeks.We then then had to start the selling process all over again we thought but luckily a guy who had enquired previously was very interested and we ended up selling to him .

Drinks at the bottom of the garen

As we had not been south of Brisbane on this trip we found a nice place for Easter near Tweeds Heads which is right on the NSW border.
We really enjoyed our accommodation choice with the house right on a private lake and a huge patio area for out door dining.
The weather was warm so we made the most of it with all meals eaten outside.
We drove down to Salt and Potville in NSW on Sunday and then on Monday we spent the day at the beach at the Split on the Gold Coast swimming and watching all the boats going by. It was so hot and the water was over 25 deg, the main problem was not getting too much sun as their was little shade.
It is extremely popular for jet skis, we counted 25 just siting on the beach in the area around us.It certainly was a busy place but so much to look at!

The view from the house

View in the evening

Enjoying a beach day at the Spilt on the Gold Coast on Easter Monday. The boat sells drinks,ice creams and food and travels up and down  the beach.

Lamington National Park Binna Burra

Before our walk with Sandra

We arrived in Brisbane and stayed with my cousin Wayne and his wife Sandra in Springwood. 

The caravan needed a tidy up before going on the market to sell so their place in Springwood provided a very good base as it is near to many businesses and services, While staying we had a wonderful day out down the coast at the Binna Bura National Park which is inland from the Gold Coast. It has lovely walks and we enjoyed a picnic.

Toowoomba,Ipswich and into Brisbane

We arrived in Toowoomba in time for lunch and decided to have it at the Japanese Garden near the University.It was a very pleasant tranquil setting.
We ended up staying at the Ipswich Showgrounds for the night which is only one and half hours from Brisbane.

We are still here in Australia!

Yes , it has been awhile and I'm not quite sure why!
 I could blame all sorts of things after arriving here in Brisbane but I am going to finish our last travel journey blog before we arrive home.

To carry where we left off...........
We stayed quite a few days in a small town called Meandarra which is about 2 hours away from Toowoomba.
It is a very RV friendly town supplying power and water by the river for $10 per night.
During the peak season from May to October they tell us it is very busy and the town does very well from the spending travellers.

It was very hot, over 35deg so we enjoyed running the aircon and just chilling out reading etc.
Right by our caravan were some very pretty water lilly's which made for some good photos.

Kingfisher at sunset

Mitchell to Surat

We are obviously thinking and starting to prepare for our return home to NZ in April and this involves selling everything.
Lloyd thought it would be a good idea to put a for sale sign in the window of the Landcruiser advertising the kayaks while we were in Mitchell. On Sunday a man came by our camp to look at them and returned with his son and arranged to pick them up on monday morning. We sold them for $600 which was pretty good as we paid $720 and had a couple of months of fun with them.
 When we bought them the seller suggested we sell them in a regional town as we would get a better price than in a larger city where they are readily available.
He was right!

Our camp by the Balonne River, but if you look its very muddy,not nice for swimming.

However I was still rather sad to see them go all the same.

Goodbye kayaks!!!

Our next stop was a very small place called Surat which is a pastoral town on the Balonne River. It has a Cobb & Co changing station museum and some heritage listed building such as this Warro Shire Hall.I wondered how it got its Indian sounding name and it seems in 1849 the surveyor Burrowes named it after his former place in Bombay India.