Hinterland Motel Nerang

We had a late morning departure from Moree due to locking our keys in the campervan. After the locksmith tried for almost 2 hours to pick the locks, Wayne ended up climbing up on the roof of the van, removing the air vent lid, then cutting the mesh screen to reach inside and get the keys.

Our 1st stop was Lightning Ridge – home of the Black Opal. On a tour of an old mine, we saw how they mined for opals with picks and shovels just a few years back. Now ...

From Brisbane, we headed South into Lamington National Park to a place called Binna Burra. It's an area within the park with a lodge, cabins and campsites surrounded by subtropical rainforest. We had heard about it through Morgan's sister Heather, who had spent time here while in college on a school program and then later Morgan's mom Nancy also came here while on a trip through ...

... ever surrounding rain forest. The grey kangaroos were hardly bothered at our passing by and there were more wallabies. The bird life screeched and whistled around us with lorikeets, crows, magpies, blackbirds and minah birds. At the mid point of the course, a couple of butcher birds came and sat on the buggy steering wheels, expecting their share of the customary golfers break time snacks. Dinner that evening was a 'Christmas in July' meal, a tradition ...

... at forberede mit surprice party. Det var bare super hyggeligt. Senere da vi sad rundt om bålet og hørte jeg pludselig "happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." og vendte mig om. Så kommer alle børnene gåenede oppe fra huset af, syngende med to kager med 32 lys i. Jeg fik så en kage i hver hånd, og så skulle der pustes. Det varmede simpelthen så meget, jeg blev helt rørt. Senere tog Lee og jeg et seriøst kig p ...

Yesterday was all work for me. I literally got to work at 9 am and left at 12:30 pm and I was exhausted when I got home. I didn't get to take any new pictures, I didn't get to have any fun, it was all work. I knew I was going to have a few days like this on the trip but they are still not much fun. I'll just write about more things I've noticed from Australia. One thing that I will say to you guys is that if you are ever in Australia I CHALLENGE YOU to get a receipt ...

I had my first day off since I got here and since it was Sunday, I probably won't get another day off until next Sunday so I hoped to take advantage of it. I was thinking of getting out to the beach but I wasn't able to make it out there this time, maybe next week. We started our day by going to this market and we had breakfast at this café. I ordered the "big breakfast" which included 2 ...

I'm up before 7am and, as little is open before 10, sitting in a park, reading again. Within seconds I'm brushing ants off my face, arms and legs; I'm flicking the little beggars off for much of the morning. I head to City Hall for a browse round their few display rooms. There is a multimedia show with slides and monologues on Brisbane's history but I find the Deco toilets of more interest. Even a local historian fails to convince that his city just isn't that interesting. The ...

Dec. 23, 2006 One of the couples we had met at the house party in Syd (Aussies contract every name over two syllables) told us about some friends of theirs in Nerang on the Gold Coast and put us in touch with them. So after Nimbin we are off to meet our new friends Jeff and Shane. We pulled in to their driveway in the afternoon. [GPS coordinates: 28 01.326S 153 20.977E] We thought we might just spend the night with them and then move on so we wouldn't be in the way of ...

... best way to see them, is to sail them. We opted for a mid range priced trip to avoid getting stuck with a young crowd (they always go for the cheapest option) for 4 days. Our boat the Anaconda III is one of the Whitsundays biggest vessels, sleeping up to 25 people, including a crew of 6. It was stinger season (October - April) throughout Queensland, which means these months can be a very dangerous time for swimmers, divers and surfers due ...

An Australian Thanksgiving. It sounds like a misnomer, I know, but that's what we celebrated yesterday here at my friend Katie's house in Australia. (I know it's just about time to eat there in the states, but our dinner was last night, given that whole international dateline thing.) We had turkey, cranberry, and the whole bit. Actually, the turkey turned out to be quite large for the 7 adults and 7 kids (who didn't eat anything) that came to the party. When Katie told the butcher she ...