Week Seven | Going Troppo 🏖

SNAPSHOT

Everyone said the first six weeks would be the hardest .....and apart from some small expected adjustments here and there, we whipped out our self appointed gold stars and were feeling pretty happy with ourselves......and then we clicked over into Week 7 and I just felt flat....and a bit overwhelmed to be honest, and guilty (because this is a trip of a lifetime right? Seriously what have I got to complain about? 🙄)......

At home I have a miniature debrief with my Mum or my sister most days, it's an under rated counselling  system whereby we share the good and the bad and have a giggle and reassure each other all is okay. And move on. Without it, things just built up! AND I have a tendancy to try and become Chief of Everything 😂 Chief Financial Officer (and more belt tightening which never helps stress levels!!), Social Co-ordinator, Navigational Expert, Travel Consultant, Educator, Mum and Wife (in no particular order Leigh 😳)......And this week I just sucked at all of them - I was so intent on making sure that everyone else was having a wonderful time, I had simply forgotten to enjoy it myself at times too!

Without going into too much detail some sad news from home earlier this week put things into perspective very quickly and a good old fashioned Sister and Mum catch up, smoothed out the Week 7 wrinkles!

So with that in mind I will "Keep Calm and Caravan On" hah hah

WHERE ON EARTH ARE WE?

Mackay and Eungella National Park

The drive through to Mackay had us in no doubt we were moving north, the sugar cane fields are huge and landscape absolutely stunning - Mackay itself was so much bigger than I thought it was - the allure of big caravan parks and cities is waning quickly - for someone who is new to "caravanning" I think the attraction to "big" parks was one of safety and consistency but we are so much more confident now and really just using them for laundry and to give the girls some fun activities after a few days of free camping!

We had two nights in Mackay and I was really feeling like it must appear we have led a very "glitzy" trip so far......and we have, the East Coast is so busy with so much to see and do but I was hanging out to get one with nature and to show the girls the "free" doesn't mean "deathly boring" 😂 so we packed a lunch and drove out to the Eungella National Park. And very very glad we did! A 2km walk up to the waterfalls was incredible and we all thoroughly enjoyed it - a must do if you are ever up that way!!

Proserpine/Airlie Beach

Ahhhh the dilemma of the trip - I've never been to Airlie Beach and was busting to get there - but our new found temporary budget constraints wouldn't allow me to pay $98 per night for a powered site (hello QLD school holidays!! #Oopscouldhaveplannedthatbetter!) so we opted to stay at the Gunna Go Caravan Park in Proserpine and day trip to Airlie instead - most brilliant decision of the week!!. 

Gunna Go Caravan Park was trashed in the Cyclone a few months ago and it was heartbreaking to hear that their insurance hasn't paid out yet - the pool is still empty and will be redeveloped in time, but the amenities are lovely and clean (means a lot these days hah hah) .......still they were nearly at full capacity which shows you that there is more to this park than meets the eye and it is all down to the owners! I believe wholeheartedly in supporting the little guys - Joy and Peter along with their daughter Amber welcome you with genuine warmth (also means so much these days), their knowledge of the area really helpful and their happy hour bar (frogs included!) a wonderful way to end the day - thanks for having us guys! Keep up the good work - you are sitting on a gem!!

Home Hill Comfort Stop

Local Council members for this little "blink and you'll miss it" town should be congratulated for their initiative to incorporate a free 48 hour travel stop along the road that runs parallel to the Main Street - by all accounts this little town was becoming quite ghostly and struggling to stay alive - we were pleasantly shocked to pull in and find at least 200 vans all set up for the night, imagine if each group of travellers only spent $40 in the town (not asked of you to spend in town, just an unwritten thing!)......whatever it is, it has worked and this thriving town was a pleasure to stay in despite the train that roared past my head through the night 😂

Townsville

Townsville was never actually on our list of places to stop but we promised the girls a day trip to an island and I had pre-booked ferry tickets to Magnetic Island so decided to stay for a couple of days - staying at a Big 4 again, it's a catch 22 - we don't like the thought of unhitching and leaving our van to look around an area when free camping so we end up in a Big 4 or similar park, only to pay $65 per night but then aren't here to use the facilities 😂 it's just one of those things!!

Magnetic Island was spectacular - we decided to explore the island ourselves and let the girls pick the car (check out our photos)......we had a wonderful day, Maggie was suitably impressed that it is affectionately called Maggie Island ❤️

BEST PART vs WORST PART

🐣Liv

Best part:  My favourite parts of this week was the Eungella National Park waterfall and Magnetic Island - we made a family decision to save $400 on a tour and drive around the island ourselves and it was so cool!

AND getting my stitches out!! Felt so good and the scar is tiny woo hoo!!

Worst part: I spent some of my money on flippers at Horseshoe Bay and they broke😔 mum took them back though and they gave me new ones phew!!!

🐴 Maggie

Best Part: Eungella was definitely the best part of my week - I loved the walk through the National Park and the waterfall was soooo beautiful - you could see the rocks all the way at the bottom! 

Worst part: I don't have a worst part this week ❤️

🏌️Leigh

Best part:  

I couldn't separate Melbourne's win over West Coast, my ball-shrivalling dip in the waterfall at Eungella or Magnetic Island 😂

Worst part: 

Realisation that we haven't left enough time to see more of Queensland - thinking we should have moved more quickly through NSW and ACT but what is done is done! 

🌺 Rana

Best part: 

Definitely the increase of time we are able to spend outside (and with nature) due to beautiful warm weather - winter is a distant memory!! We are feeling much braver about venturing off the beaten track and finding hidden gems everywhere! Magnetic Island was a really fun day - we had a ball discovering the island ourselves! Thanks for the tip Joy and Amber!

Worst part:   

I'm just going to put it out there....Airlie Beach - I didn't like it and was so disappointed! But to be fair they are still recovering from a cyclone (in fact a lot of Queensland is - can't imagine how terrifying it was)......the general vibe was that if I was 18 and a backpacker it would have been heaven 😂 I must be getting old!!! 

And a big thumbs down to Capricorn Caves - thought it would be wonderful to show the girls the Caves but it was $140 and upwards for a family ticket ......I'm sure they are amazing but still!!!

SAY IT AGAIN???

Leigh has had his hilarious hat on this week....enjoy!

Capricorn Caves

Rana "I can't believe how pushy those cave people were! $140 to look through caves and we had to wait an hour and a half to do it - no way! And thanks a lot for leaving me with them Leigh - nice back up wingman!"

Leigh "Awww sorrrryyy. I'm so glad you didn't cave in"

Rana 😳

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Stitches

Waiting for Liv to get stitches out:

Leigh tells bad joke.

Liv groans with embarrassment.

Leigh "what??? I had you in stitches" 

Liv 😳

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Blowing Boats

Driving though to Shute Harbour from Airlie Beach:

Leigh: "oh look girls the Cyclone blew those boats right up on the hill"

Rana: " Errrrrrmm I don't suppose the water rose so high they floated up there and stayed when water receeded Leigh?"

Leigh: "No. This is my story not yours"

Rana: "okidoke 🙄"

LESSONS LEARNT:

📝 Once again! Research the price of an activity before you are standing in the gift shop getting sucked in!!!

📝  Leigh.....After chanelling my inner tech I realised that the tv isn't actually broken, just the cable - I fixed it for nothing (thanks toa very helpful Nomad who donated a spare cord!).....no-one has dared mention that we have had 5 weeks of no tv and it could have been fixed easily.. ! 😂

📝   We are only human! We are having the time of our lives but still have ups and downs - and that's okay! Its not a holiday but a journey .....and nothing is so bad that a group hug doesn't fix ❤️

NEXT DESTINATION:

Mission Beach, Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas!

 

The road thus travelled!

 

The waterfalls at Eungella National Park!

 

The "White Dugong" gingerly makes his way into the icy waters of waterfall - aware that many people are now watching - backing out is not an option 😂

 

 Magnetic Island turned on a spectacular day for us!

 

Liv going through a stage of pulling weird faces for photos - so they will be published from now on until she stops! 😂

 

 

And this is the "car" the girls chose for us to tour Maggie Island in - a little bush basher but we loved it!! So annoyed they didn't pick the hot pink one. It's sooo Leigh's colour hah hah

 

The White Dugong tests his gonads in warmer waters 😂

 

Maggie tickled pink to find a pizza, a boat and indeed a whole island with her name written all over it!