It's Getting Colder!

Well we thought for sure by the time we would make another post we would be in Sydney, but as it turns out we are still about two hours away from getting there. We have been taking our time making our way South because we know after Sydney it will just get colder and colder!

Since our last post we've stayed in Hat Head Holiday Park and did some free kayaking bright and early Wednesday morning. It would have been relaxing and lovely until we decided to cross over into to Pacific and ride a wave into the beach which ended up with us getting pretty wet and that might be my last time kayaking in rough waters. I'll stick with the slow easy waters of rivers from now on. I guess you could say it was an adventure!

Our next night was spent in Crowdy Head National Park. As we drove up there were kangaroos everywhere! They were just chillin' eating grass and the babies were even sticking out of the pouches. We had an awesome campfire that night and for once it seemed like true camping.

We were up early the next day to get some exploring done, but as I said before we have to get there early because it gets dark at 5:30. We arrived in Newcastle in the afternoon (birthplace of the band Silverchair) and got to check out that historical city before setting up at our campground last night. It was a good thing we got set up and ate when we did because we were rained out at about 8:30. We're troopers though! We just headed off to the kitchen/shelter for more card games.

Oh, and the Big Banana is from Coffs Harbour!

Miss you all,

Love, Amy & Elliot x

Warm Days and Cold Nights

Firstly, I apologize for the tardiness of this post! We tried to post while in Byron Bay, but had some technical difficulties!

Shalyn and Ryan have been here for almost two weeks and the time is no doubt flying by.

After Brisbane our next stop was Surfers Paradise. We ended up camping right on Main Beach for two nights and have two gorgeous beach days. Ryan and Elliot even went surfing and I'm pretty sure Ryan loves it just as much, if not more, than Elliot. Friday night Elliot and I went out with Monica and Sheri and they showed us more of what Surfers has to offer for nightlife. Undoubtably this was a blast again! You girls are so fun to party with! The next night Jenna, Monica and Sheri invited the four of us to stay at their flat and it was a good thing they did because the winds started to pick up and there was a thunder and lightning storm and it even sounded like hail at one point.

The next day (Sunday) we stared a short drive to Broadbeach, Coolangatta and Point Danger, which is the State line between Queensland and New South Whales. We finally made it to a new State! We spent the night in Tweed Heads and then next day went exploring and decided to spent another night at the same camping spot. What you might be suprised to know is just how chilly it has been in the evenings. The sun sets at about 5:30 p.m. and we have to get some warm clothes and even blankets some nights while chilling at our little four person table. Since they have been here we haven't come across a campgrounds with a fire pit to keep a little warmer! There is usually a campers kitchen though and sometimes it even has a tv. We like to sit there some nights and chill watching tv, playing cards and drinking beer and/or wine for Shalyn and I!

Our favorite place by far that we came across in our travels is Byron Bay (Byron). We spent four nights at Byron Bay Tourist Village and although we endured the most rain so far it was our favorite spot. With a small population and a hippie, surfer vibe this place had everything someone could need for a relaxing experience. The shops were awesome and the style of clothing was to die for. Elliot and I honestly had the same feeling as we were driving away from this place that we could both live there for some time.

About forty minutes away from Byron is the little town of Nimbin (approx 800 ppl). We were told to go to this place by so many people and we are glad we didn't miss it. It was something out of a movie that the four of us have never seen before. We were solicited for marijuana by at least two dozen people selling it on the streets and then most of them again on the way out of town. We spent an hour or so checking out the shops and going through the museum ($2 entry) and then we had something to talk about for the rest of the day! I doubt any of us will forget that day.

Today we are in Coffs Harbour. We spent the night here last night and we are going to take Ryan and Shalyn out to some Sunday Sesh this afternoon.

A couple of last notes first!

Congratulations to Katy O for an outstanding year in school and to Lincoln P for finishing his Pharmacy degree!

Will will be in Sydney in a few days and we'll be calling our families! Miss you all!

Love, Amy & Elliot x

And Then There Were Four!

Hello Everyone!

Since we last wrote, Shalyn and Ryan have arrived safe and sound in Brisbane! We have been camping, visiting Ryan's family friend and going to the Steve Irwin Australian Zoo! I have been wanting to go to this place since Rhonda Smith mentioned it to me before we left for Australia and I'm so happy we were able to go with Shalyn and Ryan. We got to see everything Australia has to offer and then some. I will post a few pics to give you an idea. We all got to feed an elephant, which you can see Elliot doing. Also, Ryan, Shalyn and Elliot are petting a baby croc. We also have some wicked pictures of snakes, wombats, sea otters, alligators and many more to show you once we get home.

Longer post next time. We are running out of free internet time!

Post again soon.

Love, Amy & Elliot x

Down the Coast...

It is so fantastic to be taking our time traveling down the coast this time around. Considering we drove from Brisbane to Cairns in four days in our "Camperman" camper van, one of many van rentals to choose from here in Australia, we are now taking nine days to explore what we've missed. Some of the other many van rentals to choose from are Autobarn, Backpacker Camper, Hippie Camper, Britz, Apollo, Maui, Juce, Playboys, Volkswagen (our favorite!) and the all so popular, Wicked vans. The Wicked vans are hilarious. They are also everywhere we go! We always have a good laugh at the quotes and pictures spray painted/tagged on the side. To give you some examples some of the PG rated ones: Smurfs, Dukes of Hazzard, Astro Boy, Elton John, Finding Nemo and polka dots just to name a few. They all have Wicked written across the front in red letters so you see them a mile away. Too cool.

We really wanted to share with everyone some of the road signs we have been encountering throughout our drive. "Rest or Die", "Tired Drivers Die", "Rest or R.I.P." and they often have "Driver Revivers" where you can stop at a rest stop for a free coffee. Australia has a huge problem with car accidents, and with the amount of traffic on the roads it's not hard to see why. Although we don't much enjoy the scare tactics, I guess they work. One good thing we can say is there are bathrooms "toilets" everywhere. I often say "can you tell me where the bathroom/restroom is?" and they ALWAYS reply with "toilet?".

Today I am writing to you from Maryborough a small city with a claim to fame that the writer of Mary Poppins was born here. The whole place seems to be dedicated to her. It is a lovely historical place with beautiful old buidings and original store owners from many years ago.

We spent last night at a camping ground nearby and met a very nice older couple from New South Whales, Australia who were also tenting. After we got chatting with them they let us know that they have four children, fourteen grandchildren and one great-grand child and here they were tenting and exploring. They even offered for us to stay at their house when we made it down there! So sweet.

One of memorable stops in the past few days has been a placed called "1770". It is a cool small spot just off the beaten path. A popular spot for fishing and surfing. We loved it. Thanks for the suggestion Logan!

Tomorrow Shalyn and Ryan arrive so we are going to relax, enjoy the markets here in Maryborough and drive the two hours to Brisbane later today.

I will fill you in on everything soon enough!

We want to apologize to Jenn and Cam for our terrible calling card! We will try calling you again soon!

'till next time,

Love, Amy & Elliot x

Airlie Beach and Around

Since our last post Elliot and I have spent two nights in Townsville, one at a beachfront campground overlooking Magnetic Island. We spent the evening touring around the night market and the sipping some wine outside our tent. The next evening we were off to Mount Elliot. We did a two hour hike up Alligator Creek (not seeing any alligators) and then swam in the fresh water river which was nice because it was extremely hot! The campground was packed because it was a Saturday but we had a nice night except for the flying wild turkeys scaring us half to death.

Yesterday we arrived in Airlie Beach, ahhh. Airlie Beach is the gateway to the Whitsundays and therefore is jam packed with backpackers ready to party. Since we are still in Queensland swimming in the ocean is prohibited so we hung out at the man-made lagoon. We were walking by some markets in the afternoon and were told by someone setting up that there was to be a wine, beer and food festival happening that evening. We went back had some of our own food and went to check out the beverages at the festival. As per usual the drinks were overpriced and the crowd was rowdy early in the evening (7 pm?) so we decided to get our own wine and chill and the campground. This is when we were graced by some shooting stars and then fireworks from the festival. It would have been a lovely evening if it wouldn't have been for the domestic dispute going on two sites away.

Today we are up early and off to, well to be honest we're not quite sure. We still have four sleeps until Shalyn and Ryan arrive so we are going to try to cover some ground today - hopefully :)

Our Magna has been pretty good to us so far, fingers crossed!

Love, Amy & Elliot x

Mount Elliot Just Because

We are back on the road! We left Cairns and although we miss it already, we knew it was time to go. I think we will both miss the rain forest the most, it was absolutely the most amazing thing about Queensland in our opinion. Cairns in our opinion was one of our most favorite spots so far. The only downfall which would deter us from living there would be the humidity in the Summer and not being able to swim without worrying about the box jellyfish killing you. Other than that, Cairns rocks.

We spent Monday night at a spot called Cape Tribulation. It was a suggestion that Logan made and it ended up being a beautifully cool spot. It was a small village in the middle of the rain forest where Captain Cook ran his ship aground a spot called Endeavor Reef. "Cape Trib" is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and is recognized for its sandy beaches, mountains, nature walks and picturesque views. We camped at a spot called PK's Jungle Village which was a 100 m to the beach. While we were there we saw a wild boar, fresh water turtle, and a few lizards.

We spent our last night (Tuesday) in Cairns at Logan's place and said good-bye the next morning to start our drive to Millaa Millaa. This little village is known for its waterfalls and actually has a "waterfall circuit" all of them being gorgeous and swim worthy. The largest and most beautiful waterfall was Milla Milla Falls and Elliot decided to climb his way back behind the waterfall much to my discretion. It ended up being a great photo op! We spent the night at a small campground testing out our new air mattress and quickly noticed that an air mattress in the back of the car is not very practical. I mean don't even bother trying this if you are even a bit claustrophobic because the amount of room between you at the roof of the car is barely enough room to roll over. We've decided to return the air mattress.

Yesterday I was full of energy and wanted to go on a long hike so Elliot and I chose one at Jourama Falls National Park and we are so glad we did. It started us off by climbing over rocks in a stream with concrete steps to help you along the way. Then it was all about the switchbacks up the mountain to check out the beautiful waterfall! It was a great work-out and paid off in the end for sure. We spent the night at a free campground in Saunder's Beach and today we are just going to hang out in Townsville, the second largest City in Queensland, Brisbane being number one. We might camp at Mount Elliot tonight because well it's Mount Elliot!

Shalyn and Ryan arrive in 7 days!

A quick thanks to everyone who has been sending us notes and compliments on the blog! We really appreciate that you take the time to read and experience this journey with us!

Love, Amy & Elliot x