Clarion Hotel Marina Mackay

... on the first level and the waiter graciously gave us double helpings of cakes and also allowed Greg a slice of the trifle that was leftover from the Fathers Day luncheon they had not long finished serving, we were indeed feeling very spoilt.

We went upstairs to continue watching the footy when the café closed, enjoying cheap drinks prices and the lovely view from the balcony. Greg’s Fathers Day celebration was turning into a rather decadent afternoon ...

So we left Gladstone and the delightful Boyne Island Caravan Park.....

I say delightful because the manager is a Kombi nut and loves Kombi's- problem is he bagged the **** out of ours and we will never go back there.

Chris and I were both a bit down in the dumps and agitated over quite a few of his comments, for example "I wouldn't have even paid $2000 for that paint job" and "your engine has this, this and this wrong with it ...

... br>We had, one lens bag, 2 cameras, one backpack, one laptop bag – the combined weight being closer to 15kgs!!!


That was enough to bring djd out in a sweat – me I’m not so worried about getting on the plane as I am with coping to reassure djd that we would be ok.....I mean they would have to stop ...

... Back in Rainbow Beach, the tide came in unexpectedly when I was coming back from the coloured sands and I had to clamber over a bunch of rocks to try and stay dry. I didn't slip once, although I did end up with water swirling around my knees at one point when I ran out of step-upon-able rocks. (The important thing is my bag stayed dry. Leggings can be washed; passports, cameras, iPods and phones, less so.) Now, when the worst that could happen was not a ...

... we have now been lucky enough to avoid numerous natural disasters including a cyclone, dengue fever, major flooding, deadly bushfires, extreme heat waves and a Bee Gees reunion tour]. Despite the inauspicious start, Cairns turned out to be a wonderful stop for us. For starters, it provided me with an opportunity to reassert my manliness when we discovered there were no matches available to light the gas stove. No, I didn't rub two sticks together to ...

... and wine paid off and we had a fantastic meal. That day we had also done the most driving (900 km in 13 hours) and we deserved the gourmet meal when we finally arrived in Eungella National Park at 9.30pm. Eungella is the best place in Australia to see platypus in the wild and we couldn't let a chance like that pass us - so Julien drove and drove, to be ready for platypuses the next morning. We didn't think we'd actually get lucky enough to see platypus, one of the ...

Our appointment at Proserpine hospital was 10.00am and as this was on the way to Mackay we left Airlie Beach early and headed to Outpatients. After a one hour wait we were ushered in to see the doctor who ordered an xray which put the shivers up us a little. However they told us afterwards that if there is a fracture it is only a small one and we were to keep the foot bandaged, keep it iced, keep it elevated and make sure Fraser stays off it - ha ha ha ha ha. We'll certainly try. Mackay ...

... out the Whitsundays. Perfect! I had never heard of the Whitsundays and knew nothing about them, but it sounded like a good plan to me. I booked my ticket there that day. Fortunately, Josh also was up for more travelling, so we went to the Whitsundays together. When we arrived, it just felt right. It was beautiful and isolated and there were no tall buildings or busy streets, just a small little tropical village. The Whitsundays is about ...

... the northeast coast of Australia was being flooded out. The bus driver got a call on the radio and pulled over - there was no way through. Stupid Australia getting stupid, life-saving rain and ruining my plans. The bus driver waited around for a little while, hoping some roads might open up, but eventually decided to give up and drop us off in the nearby town of Mackay. All the other bus companies were doing the same, and a lot of ...

... being a Saturday they (all major chain supermarkets) close at 5.00pm and don't open on Sundays!!!!! I found a little Foodworks to buy what I needed for dinner and for Sunday and I will go to Bi-Lo on Monday. Stephen and Daniel didn't catch any fish for dinner so luckily I picked up a bbq chicken and made a salad. Statistics/Information Weather: 23 degrees; high cloud over the ...