Living the dream Australia

Carly and Daves wedding with our god son Jordles

Perth/Broome

Because we spent so long in Byron we did a mad dash for Sydney. We stayed in Coffs harbor for 2 nights and left left the van there. staying at a hotel for the night to catch our 7:00am flight to Perth. Hmm ok I guess I got my times a little mixed up (so not like me) and well lets just say we missed check in making Ben miss the plane with all our luggage. Cedar and I frantically jumped on with no luggage and Ben had to buy a new ticket and catch the next flight with all our bags.

Oh well we made it back to Perth and spent the week catching up with family and friends. We visited the grandparents, great parents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins and more. Ben spent a few days working for Dylan and I spent a few day packing orders for my sisters and my kids clothing business (skootz kidswear) shameless plug I know.

There were so many people we would like to have seen but didn’t get a chance to but we did manage to get 1 night on the town with a few of our mates.

After getting spoilt staying with Bens parents and my sis we headed on our way to Broome for Davo and Carlys wedding. It was a little weird at first not having Cedar (We left her with granny and gramps) but we made the most of going out and sleeping in. We stayed at the Frangipani resort, absolutely beautiful.

It was great to catch up with friends and there were many a cocktails and beers consumed. Skye and Dylan were our main partners in crime for the week were were in Broome.

Our friends from Derby Kingy and Jo took us out on their boat and we got to see some humpback whales up close, It was a great day on the water.

A night out at the Roey catching up with Skye, Dylan, Micko, Kate, Dave, Carly Bree and many other great crew probably wasn’t the best idea the night before the wedding but was worth the hangover. I even got to meet my pin up hottie (besides Ben) Matt Wright “ Outback Wrangler.” He seemed like a really nice guy and looked just as good in real life as on TV.

Dave and Carlys wedding was an awesome day. We headed to Gantheume Point for the ceremony. Carly looked absolutely stunning and the bright orange sand with the bright blue water made the perfect backdrop for their vows. After the ceremony everyone had a few ales at zoo bar and then on to the reception at The Billie. The night was very laid back with lots of booze, great food and laughs shared. Ben took over bar service at the end of the night, giving me a good chuckle.

A few greasy breakfast and sore heads throughout our stay but it was definitely worth it being able to catch up with everybody and share Davo and CArlys special day. The time flew by as it always does but we did manage to watch a sunset on cable beach, sip cocktails at the Sunset Bar, and kick back by the pool, what more could you ask for.

Cedar and her cousin Max

Family dinner

triple trouble cousins

What a lovely family photo

Brotherly love


Catching up with the family in Perth

CAmels on Cable beach

Amazing what games you can play

MAtrix

What a good looking bunch hahaha

Bride and Groom

A day on Kingy and Jos Boat

Out with the Kings

Carly and her sister

Skye, Scotty and I at Dave and Carlys wedding

The fabulous four

Reception of the w
Wedding vows at Gantheume Point

Wedding party

Bartending Ben

The girls

Great night before the wedding

Besties together again

Byron bay caravan lookout

Byron Bay

Well, where do I start with our beloved Byron Bay? Honestly this place is right up there to be one of our favorite destinations in 10 months of travel. We literally pulled in for 3 nights and stayed for 15! That would have been longer but we had our good friends Dave and Carly’s wedding to attend on the 23rd August.

We pulled into Clarkes Beach holiday park, and although its pricey at $46 per night, its probably the prettiest caravan parks we have stayed in. I could walk to the surf from our van, which I did nearly every single day. Not only that, we had the most amazing group of neighbours from all walks of life, and all ages.

We started walking every day from the caravan park, up around the lighthouse, along Watego’s beach and back, a 6.5 km return journey, with about 300 steps! It was a very scenic walk, and we spotted whales and dolphins most days.

We ventured out to the Bangalow markets, which were awesome. Now I’m of the attitude, if you have seen one hippy market, you’ve seen them all, but these were just amazing. So many quality stalls. And on top of all this they have a separate farmers market, with the fresh cut produce just been brilliant.

We also had a hot date lunch at a small town called Newrybar, at a café called Harvest Café. This café is basically what we live for, fresh grown produce, hanging meats, all organic. It was so busy, and it was Tuesday lunchtime! The meal was amazing, and the staff were so nice to Cedar Mai. It amazed us there were all walks of life there, from casual travelers like Jenna and myself, to businessmen, to hippie’s bare feet and all. It was a place where all that mattered was the quality of the food.

We also went for a drive out to Crystal Castle, which also came from a recommendation from friends we met on the road. This place is a converted farm into gardens, and they were just breathtaking! We got so many ideas for our block in Denmark, The Buddha statues and Chrystal’s on display were a culmination of years of hard work and collecting from all over the world.

Another day trip was out to Minyon Falls, which is a massive waterfall with a spectacular viewing platform. You literally look out over the edge and down, and let me tell you it’s a massive drop.

So we stayed, and stayed and extended our time in Byron till basically we couldn’t stay any longer! We moved camp a record 4 times, which gave all the nomads something to talk about. But it was all good as we got to see the famous Byron Bay markets, which were even better than the Bangalow markets!

Byron is such a healthy place, fantastic organic shops, fresh fruit and veg, great walking tracks and great surf, it truly does make you wake up and want to be healthy everyday that you are there. All the people we met both locals and tourists had similar outlooks on life to Jez and myself. It was great to meet, eat and drink with people from all walks of life and we made some fantastic friends.

Cedar made 3 great friends with a family who were staying across from us, she followed them around like a shadow and they were so nice and kind to her.
Sadly, we had to leave, but I can assure you, we will be back to the beautiful; Byron Bay.

Byron bay lighthouse

Byron bay lighthouse

Byron bay lighthouse walk

Daddys little princess

Byron coastline

Crystal castle

Crystal castle

Crystal castle

Bangalow markets

Minyon falls

Harvest restaraunt and deli

afternoon drinks with great people

community dinner clarkes caravan park

Cedar playing with her friends Gabbi, Banjo and fletcher

Muttaburra/Longreach

We departed for Muttubura on Friday morning, and we were delayed because Ted managed to sell his beloved cut down 200 series the night before! So the mad dash to adjust the lights on his work rig, and a bit more running around, and we hit the road. We had a massive day ahead of us, but it went quick as we chatted our way thru the long drive over the CB radio.

We pulled up for the night just of the side of the road, in a spot that Ted found a few years ago. We were all knackered, so a quick beer, some toast for dinner, and we hit the sack.

Up early the next day to complete the drive, and we pulled into Muttubura late in the arvo and set up camp at ted’s mates house. Teds mate name was Dan, and he is an interesting character to say the least! He is a professional Roo and Pig shooter for human consumption. Both he, his wife Billie and their kids Gypsy and Leena were such amazing people and made us feel so so welcome.

Now I wont lie to you, when we pulled into Muttuburra, I thought to myself, where the bloody hell are we! But I can also honestly say, by the end of the week, we fell in love with the place.

After our night at Dan’s house we headed of to camp by the mighty Thomson River. We got a great spot right on the bank of the river, and about 10 minutes after set up we had our rods in the water.

Basically our days involved having a fish, going for an explore, or dropping into the old country pub for a sneaky gold can. We searched for blue claw for bait, we tried pig hunting (which I have to say, I found pretty tough), we met Dan’s mates from town and we just generally had a ball!

We spent the nights by the campfire, we cooked damper, successfully fished for yellow belly and Jenna even managed to dread Billies hair. It was beautiful country with beautiful sunsets and we got to explore the best of it on Teds quad.

We drove to Longreach where we visited the stockmans hall of fame. We ouldn’t rave about the place and entry wasn’t that chea but we couldn’t come all this way and not visit it. We had lunch out the back of a leather shop which was situated on Longreaches main street . I cant remember the name of it but you pay by honousty system and it was really a awesome little spot.

The week came and went way to fast and before we knew it, we were saying our goodbyes pretty sure that one day we would return to this iconic country town. On the way home we stopped at a free camp, where Ted demonstrated the way to remove dry tree branches from up in a tree. The fellow grey nomads, or Gonads as I call them were not impressed!

We arrived back to Mudgeeraba and spent the next week cleaning and detailing everything. Ted and Narrele really were amazing and made us feel so welcome. We really will be friends for life!

With heavy hearts we said goodbye to Ted and Narrele and his family. We had an absolute ball with them, and even helped them start a tradition, which I hear still, lives on! FAMILY NIGHT!!!!

Wild Pigs

CAmp Spot Muttaburra

14 hour drive to Muttaburra from Brissy

local wildlife and Ted

Thompsons River where we camped

Billie and Dans house

The local Icon

One of the many camp fires

Thompsons river


Longreach lunch stop

Stockmans hall of Fame

Stockmans Hall of FAme

Kicking back at Camp

Leana and Cedar

Billie and DAns House

Bens Home made Damper

Gettin the fire ready

Bushtracker Country

Yellow Belly

Glasshouse Mountains

On the way to the Goldcoast we stopped in and spent a night in the glasshouse mountains. There were a couple of nice walks, which we did, but besides the walks not a great deal to do, never the less worth a look.

After a magnificent detour thru the centre of Brisbane with the van on thanks to wifeys great navigation skills (sarcasm) we pulled into the Gold coast where we had set up to see our mates from way back in Carnarvon, Ted and Narelle. They were great and let us stay at their house, which was a beautiful 2 acres in the Gold Coast hinterland called Mudgeeraba.

We got straight into the swing of things when we arrived at Teds house, starting a fire and putting some air into a couple of xxxx gold cans it was great catching up on traveling stories from we had left each other 8 months ago.

Whilst at Ted and Narelles we spent some time on the van and restocked on the necessities. We shopped till we dropped in the surf discount stores and made the most of the bargain basement prices. Our perfect hosts also took us on a tour to snapper rocks and tweed heads and surrounds. We had lunch at Kirra beach surf club which was really nice but I couldn’t believe the people in the water and development!

We headed into the sunshine coast for a day and took Cedar to a place called Infinity. I actually don’t know who had more fun. Jenna and I absolutely loved it, Cedar on the other hand wasn’t too sure, perhaps a little scary for her as she didn’t leave Jennas hip. Infinity is an indoor maze which is pitch dark with mirrors and some lazer light, you have to find your way thru to the exit. Its hard to explain but I would totally recommend going if you are in the area.

Another day was spent at Tamborine Mountains. We had breaky in a little café and walked another lush rainforest track. The walking track lead us to magnificent views of Cameron Falls, a cute little town to visit with a lot to offer.

If you are in the hinterland area you have to go to Panchos Mexican restaurant, it is seriously the best Mexican we have ever had.
The atmosphere is great, service and people really good and we all enjoyed our meals.

We made plans to head of to ted and Narelles favorite place called Muttubura way out west in central Queensland. It was a big call, as it was a 3,000km round trip, but Jenna and I were keen to get the whole experience of Queensland (Next Blog)

Welcome to Brisbane

Our wonderful hosts house in the hinterland.

Teds man cave

Ted and Narelles beautiful JAck Russel Ruby

Sunshine coast

Sunshine coast foreshore

Sunshine coast, built up

Infinity, an awesome indoor maze.

Babychino sunshine coast

Kirra Beach Lunch

Tweed heads (I think)

Mount tamborine walk


Cameron falls walk Tamborine Mountains

Cameron falls walk Tamborine Mountains

ready for a day out

Conondale National Park

Kenliworth, Conondale NP

We went further inland towards the hinterland after our day trip that we enjoyed so much. We wanted to check out a free camp in the Conondale NP. On the way we drove thru the most beautiful little town called Kenliworth.

We stumbled across this town which had a great little cheese factory and purchased some of their cheese, chutneys and yogurts . Cedar loved their Ice-cream I also sampled their coffee of course.

After our stroll up the main street we continued on and stopped at a few verge fruit and veg stalls. We got some great advice on the Conondale NP and in we went.

The road in was fairly tight, and not that well sign posted, we did manage to find the right road but Im not lying we were a little worried taking the van in. Once committed on the narrow, hilly dirt track there would be no turning the bushtracker around. There were a couple of fairly decent river crossings. Im not sure how many vans would venture in here but it was well worth it!!!

The campground was great, an open grassy section with fire pits. The weather was fairly wet and rainy, but it was absolutely beautiful! We set the van up, and ventured off in search of the waterfall this place is famous for.

We zigzagged our way all the way up the mountain, and boy did we go high! It just kept going and going and going! It was all worth it, we finally found the parking area, and the afternoon walk down to see the falls was just spectacular! A lot of people say “if you have seen one waterfall ,you have seen them all,” this is soo not true, we are still blown away every time we see such a magical site.

On our way back down the mountain, I collected some dead wood for the fire, and believe it or not we stumbled across a herd of wild Deer! We couldn’t believe it. Jenna swears that she seen two deer jump across the road towards the cliff and only seen one come back across, Im not completely sold as Jenna isn’t always on planet earth at the best of times. We got back, started the fire and toasted a couple of marshmallows for Cedar, while swigging on a cold ale. Life is good!

Kenliworth Cheese factory

Kenliworth Cheese factory

Kenliworth Town

Track in Conondale NP

Track in Conondale NP

Helping dad build a fire

Enjoying the fire

Home sweet home

One of the waterfalls in Conondale NP

Another great walk

Beautiful