on the road, week 1

Nov. 10



We've been on the road for a week. Thanks Cindy for helping us get our gear to the motorhome. Also, thanks for showing us the great Thai take-away (take-out) place that night. The kids got to like some new foods.



We're heading north. Kevin drove us safely away from the city while I navigated. After a whole week I must admit I've yet to drive. Kevin's doing such a great job driving on the left, and sometimes on the right. I've become an expert navigator, half the time.



We stay at different campgrounds each night as we work our way up the coast. We've now discovered free camping in rest areas designated as overnight locations.



The beaches are amazing and seem to go on forever. Surfers are riding the waves everywhere and the sand is a dream. We've been collecting shells, building sandcastles and riding the waves on body boards. Kyra held a cute crab that seemed to look at her, then she helped it back to its hole.



At Hat Head National park (yes, 'hat head') we startled a kangaroo that tripped and fell on its face (the bane of having little arms) and then ran off. The beach there was wild, beautiful and empty, except for a whale carcass. We met the lighthouse keeper on the way out and he said the whale had ben there for 6 weeks and had been very stinky. Cool!



Many kangaroos and wallabys hang out in fields late in the day. We saw 2 in a campground about 15 feet away. They just eyed us, then went back to grazing. One had a joey squirming around in her pouch.



We stopped at the koala hospital in Port Macquarie. We saw one koala on the way in. They're extremely cute looking down at you from a tree. Many of them at the hospital are there because of brush fires or were hit by cars. We got a great tour and watched them get fed formula with droppers. They loved to be scratched by their caregivers. They live about 14 years and sleep 20 hours a day.



We've seen many wild parrots and cockatoos. They're noisy, but not as noisy as the kookaburras. We caught a glimpse of a dingo on a back road. Red-headed brush turkeys are the scourge of the campgrounds. Some things are the same: the kids were catching grasshoppers in a field, although they looked strange. The grasshoppers, not the kids.



One day we searched back roads for the 'Grandis', New South Wales biggest tree. It's a 400 year old flooded gum tree. It was very huge, but obviously not so impressive when Kyra said 'we drove all the way here for that?' Oh well. We've been in rainforest where the evening noises from birds and bugs are deafening.



Yesterday we went to the Australian zoo, the crocodile hunter's zoo. We got to pet a koala (the fur is like rabbit fur), feed and pet their full and lazy kangaroos, and feed an elephant that left snot on our hands. The show at the crocoseum was educational. We learned valuable information about the crocodiles which may come in handy when we reach croc country (we're almost there). Safety is guaranteed if we follow the simple rules (that's for Grammy and Boppy).



We're also enjoying locally grown produce: pineapples, apples, mangoes, oranges and bananas. We're having a wonderful time. The people are genuine and always helpful

Pictures next time, plus a great story demonstrating how great people are here.