Alara Plaza Motel Mackay

... the dog. At the first hit of the starter button, the generator started and purred away like a pussy. Harry&#8217;s ears pricked up and we went down for a celebratory swim. Guess where Jo went &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#82 30;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;& #8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#823 0;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230; shopping!!! (nearest town Eton &#8211; 15 kms).<br><br>For some time now we have been searching for some roadside ...

In Airlie, we arranged to meet the Bradshaws on Daydream Island the following week and headed off to Dad's place to spend some time with them before Linda headed back to Whyalla to see her Mum who has not been well.<br><br>We were all delighted to be sleeping in fixed beds and having walls and doors that locked and a yard with a fence (for Charlie's sake) ! <br>On Sunday morning we all headed to the beach to give the ...

<br><br><br>The Trip to Mackay north of Brisbane and approximately half way to Cairns was unpleasant but relatively short ... Having arrived at Brisbane airport and checked our bags in we went through security and got some food and drink and one of the cafe&#8217;s there ... after a long wait we moved ourselves to the gate ...

... a treat by going to the beach for the 3rd time that day, the beach is a 5 minutes walk and there is heaps of space. We want to thank Ian and Linda for the use of their front yard , we took the view of their home away with all our equipment and they are probably happy to see the street again from their lounge room.<br>Next place of interest will be Airlie beach , the gateway to the whitsundays.

... borrowing from their journals, they particularly enjoyed "the one fish that was bigger than me" and the "one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish" (although this led to a discussion on plagiarism). Laura even proclaimed the buffet food to be absolutely "bowlalicious"...apparently you're allowed to make up words in your journal. If you are ever fortunate enough to be in this part of the world, we would highly recommend the Great Barrier Reef. You can skip ...

... out which of the three cafés along the front was the nicest was about as exciting as it got (it was the third one, somewhat typically, and it was also the cheapest). Yesterday evening was good crack though, because my ever changing flurry of posh, polite, but essentially boring English girls that I had been rooming with had all gone, and been replaced by a Tessa, a 22 year old Dutch chick, and Sarah, a 19 year old German. They were both really nice ...

... 2 - after (a few) cocktails after dinner the night before we decided to give jet skiing or parachute jumping a miss. Started off the day with a nice bush walk across the island to see the other resort at palm bay. The resort described this walk as 'an easy 20 minute each way walk' it told you it wasn't really suitable to take prams, but just make sure you took a camera and plenty of water. No where did it tell you to wear shoes, so we wore thongs (flip flops, I have ...

... only 128kms south of Proserpine and after a brief visit to the bank we headed off through sugar cane country. We stopped for lunch about 50kms north of Mackay and Dianne received news from Ange that a friend of ours, Noel, had passed away last night which is not unexpected - just earlier than expected. It's a great loss. The Ballarat Conference for AHSFMA is being held tomorrow and Friday so Ange and Emma are heading up there today to set up - Dianne is feeling a little left out and ...

... and I feel lucky to have been able to experience such a thing. Who knows how much longer it will be around for us to enjoy. It truly is magnificent and I wish people were more aware of preserving these amazing wonders of the natural world. The size of the reef is astounding, and the degradation was saddening. But, on the plus side, there was also a lot of regrowth and regeneration apparent. I love being in the underwater world. It's so ...

... the next morning, so I hung out at one of the hostels with the American guy I had met on the bus. Around midnight, things were starting to get a little awkward since I wasn't a paying guest, so I grabbed my things and walked over to the airport in the rain. It wasn't a large airport, so I had to sleep outside on a bench before it opened in the morning. After a more comfortable nap inside, it was time to board the plane back to Brisbane.