On The Bay Resort - Bribie Island

... holy grails: Bryce-holding a koala; Reid-attending an Aussie Rules Football game.<br>Once we arrived at Brisbane late in the day, Steve successfully negotiated our rental vehicle on the wrong (?) side of the road to reach the lovely, beachy Bribie Island, site of our week long homestay. Our hosts, Gary and Jennifer Blanshard, agreed some time ago to host us even though they have no plans to come to Canada. The Blanshard's generous hospitality in their newly built and ultra ...

... where space is definitely not at a premium. Arriving late in the day, there was time for a few runs of a Grover DVD and some takeaway before an early night ahead of a very exciting day!<br><br>We woke the next morning to the excited sound of a young girl with interesting new visitors in her house. Though today we'd be contending with some interesting new creatures ourselves, at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. We had been looking forward to the zoo as one ...

... 10-15kt westerly and cruising on a close-hauled track at 5-6kts without difficulty. Had a look at an anchorage at Poverty Point but ran aground about 50m off the beach. After a push-off from Margaret we decided to motor the rest of the way due to the shallow channels and wind direction. Stopped at Mission Point for lunch. What a great spot!. Lovely sandy beach, campgrounds, fireplaces, toilets. View overlooks the Glasshouse Mountains ...

... outskirts of the city which was wetlands and some light industry that was moving out from the city. As with all of our other ports in Australia, the bus was driving down the highway on the wrong side. It still gives you pause as we go thru the numerous round abouts and onto new roads. It seems we are starting wrong but always end up in the correct lane. I believe sitting high on the buses enhances this illusion of being on the wrong side. We quickly enter Brisbane and ...

My last night at Woodford i was withoot a tent (Naomi and her tent had to leave)..so i just had a canopy that Naomi's friends had brought and were still around fortauntely. And i was also fortunate enough for it not too rain when i wanted to sleep or no high winds. There was some rain and a lightning show earlier on during the closing ceremonies that certainly kept me on my toes but it all worked oot without me or my backpack getting wet....for a lovely sleep ...

... actually live. It was tiny, but they had a pub!!!!! How cool is that!!!! That's when it all started to change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The sun started to go in, and the winds picked up. We were driving back to the side of the island where the Ferry comes in when it started to rain. We all looked over towards mainland, and noticed the big black cloud hovering over Brisbane. And the lightening that followed! This is when we found the resort so we wanted to ...

... charges for the ferry out to the Island have gone up a heap since the last time. We ended up forking out $410 for the transport alone and another $75 for the National Parks vehicle licence and camping fees. Other than that, we had an absolute ball. We found a perfect spot looking south west and had the best sunsets. We had one windy night where I thought there might have been a cyclone ...

... komen. Hier heb ik alvast 2 nachten op de camping in het park moeten reserveren omdat er op het moment schoolvakanties zijn. Ik las dat toevallig op de site van het park en zag dat van de 38 beschikbare camping plaatsen er nog maar 1 vrij was op en rond de dagen dat wij er zouden willen zijn. Vanaf half juli en de hele maand augustus waren zelfs al helemaal volgeboekt. Omdat het park in de middle of niks ligt, kan je niet "even" uitwijken naar ...

... team) sjaals/petjes/shirts/enz. dus ik wist al wie ik kon volgen om bij het stadion uit te komen. Het spel is een soort mix van voetbal, rugby en handbal eigenlijk. Net als bij voetbal heb je 2 goals alleen bestaat het uit 4 palen. 2 hoge in het midden waar je maximaal 6 punten mee kan behalen en 2 wat lagere wat verder ervandaan waar je 1 punt mee kan behalen. De gene met de bal (ziet eruit als een rugby bal) is gelijk een target, de tegenpartij probeert ...

Bribie Island is about 40 miles north east of Brisbane and we stayed with Australian friends Barrie and Joss, who we knew from their time in England. Spent one day in Brisbane city - beautiful gradens at Roma Street. Very hot and humid so we took refuge in a large church in Albert Street. Very friendly people there. Also visited Art Galleries and Museum then limped back to Bribie. Lots ...