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6 December 2004 We were scheduled to arrive at Melbourne at about 20h30, but because of a massive storm over Melbourne we were redirected to Sydney. We stayed there for just over an hour before flying back to Melbourne. We arrived there at midnight. Hardy and Jarad were there to pick up. We all got to bed quite late (03h00). 7 December 2004 After getting up quite late Mom went shopping with Kelsay while Dad, Hardy, Heidi, Jarad and I went for a walk down to the local park. It was nice to be able to run around and play in a playground after the last few days where we haven't had much opportunity to just run around. We had an Australian style barbeque for lunch, and then we all went swimming. In the afternoon I played with Heidi (it is really nice to have a friend my age to play with), whilst Dad and Jarad went for a long cycle on one of the cycle tracks. 8 December 2004 We were meant to go off to the beach today but it was drizzling
again so we decided not to go. Dad, Hardy, Heidi and I went off into In the afternoon we went for a drive around part of the bay. 9 December 2004 When we woke up the weather looked like it was clearing so we
decided to go down to Wilsons Prom, the southern most point on
mainland Australia. It was quite a long drive (three and a half hours). By the time we got
there the wind was really blowing, and the weather was overcast.
Wilsons Prom looks really nice but because of the wind we couldn't go
onto the beaches without being stung by the sand so we had a picnic
under one of the shelters. They have quite a lot of amazing coloured birds here, and they are quite friendly, they even tried to steal food out of Jade's hand (see pictures). We then went for a long walk through some of the local forests before getting to a rain forest. You had to walk on a boardwalk around the rainforest because it was so damp, and also to protect the environment. On the way back home it rained again. 10 December 2004 It was raining again today. We went off to the airport to catch our
flight to We spent the afternoon catching up on stories with Gail and Donald. 11 December 2004 Having spoken to quite a few people about New Zealand we decided we had better try and book accommodation there as apparently it gets really busy there in January so we went off to Flight Centre. They really struggled to find us accommodation but said that we should come back later. We then went off to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to see kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, wombats and other Australian animals (see pictures). We even fed the kangaroos, and Jade chased a few small ones. 12 December 2004 Went up to Mount
Coot-tha where you get amazing views over Brisbane, we then went off to South
Bank, we got there by City Cat which is a large catamaran that taxis
people up and down the Brisbane
River. There was a large flea market, one of the stalls had really nice
costumes for me and Jade so Mom and dad bought us each one. They had
some clothes here that looked like they were from Thailand,
and they were twice the price of what we had paid. 13 December 2004 We went to Kenmore
Village
shopping centre where Flight Centre was to see whether they had
managed to sort out our New Zealand
accommodation, but they were struggling because most of the places
were full. We met Jean and Trevor there, and they gave us a lift to
their house where we will be staying for the next few days. On the way
home there was a massive thunderstorm, and only afterwards did we hear
that it caused about A$5m worth of damage, trees were uprooted, roofs
blown off houses, and sailing boats overturned in the harbour. It
seems that us encountering storms is starting to become a bit of a
precedent (a storm delayed our arrival in Melbourne). After the weather had cleared we went for a walk around golf
course, saw kangaroos, and then had a barbeque in the evening. 14 December 2004 We needed to do some shopping and thereafter went off to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. The gardens were really lovely. The weather at the moment is stinking hot (about 38') and really humid. Grant (Dad's cousin) came around in the evening, Dad says he last saw Grant 30 years ago. 15
December 2004 Today
we went off to Dreamworld which is an amusement park on the Gold
Coast. Linda (Dad's cousin) and her kids joined us for the day, it was
really nice to meet them after only having seen photos. There we went
on all sorts of rides, roller coasters, spinning tops, space ships,
airplanes. It was really fun. Jade found a fountain where water was
spurting out of the ground and so we spent quite a lot of time playing
there trying to cool down. 16
December 2004 Mom's
birthday. Today we caught a train to Cleveland
on the coast. There were amazing houses right on the marina, with huge
yachts parked outside. Dad said that this is his kind of place (except
that he can't afford it). In the evening we went out to an indian
restaurant but the food was a little too spicy so we went home for ice
cream. 17
December 2004 We
picked up our hire car from the airport and headed north up to Jacquie
and Alan. They have a lovely house right on the edge of a forest. We
all had a swim in the pool and fed the kookabura's - they sit on the
railing waiting for food - they eat meat !!! In
the afternoon we went down to the We
all had a great dinner, wine and all and got to bed very late. 18
December 2004 We went off to the Australia Zoo, Mom was hoping to see Steve Irwin but he wasn't there. We first watched the tiger, snake, bird and then croc show. We saw lots of crocodiles, and some brave men actually fed the crocodiles right inside their cages. Some of the crocs were really big. We also saw dingoes, tasmanian devils, koala bears, huge tortoises, a camel, and a few lizards. 19 December 2004 - 21 December 2004 Mom and Dad went off to look around the area whilst I stayed and played with
Dean and Lisa. In the afternoon we met up with Hardy and Kelsay and
headed up the cost on our way to The next day was spent travelling up the coast. Heidi, Jade and I
watched DVD's in the back of the car on Hardy's laptop, it certainly
made the trip go a lot faster. We finally arrived in 22 December 2004 - 25 December 2004 Most of the time was spent playing, swimming or snorkelling and a
couple of walks. Heidi and I are getting quite good at throwong the
frisby. Dad
and Hardy went sailing and kayaking although they were not allowed to
go that far. We all went on a snorkelling safari and saw lots of
brightly coloured coral, and some big fish. The water is not as clear
as it was in We had a quiet but pleasant day. Father Xmas arrived on a jet ski
and handed out presents which was nice. 26 December 2004 After catching the ferry back to 27 December 2004 We arrived in Cairns, we are actually staying about 22 kms north
of Cairns in the We spent the evening watching the news about the tsunamis and
trying to get information about Phi Phi island. 28 December 2004 We went off to Cairns to have a look around. There is a large pool
right on the beach front so we spent some time swimming there. After
that we took a walk around the town, it is a nice little town, there
are lots of shops and restaurants on the beach front, as well as a
nice long boardwalk. Whilst walking along the boardwalk we saw a
really large stingray right underneath. 29 December 2004 - 2 January 2005 We had a relaxing time touring around some of the tourist sites
around Cairns, we visited the Skyrail Rainforest (we travelled by
cable car for 7,5kms above a rain forest), we visited the Cairns
Tropical Zoo, we saw a fireworks display on New Years Eve, and we also
spent some time swimming on the beach. The beaches are stunning, but
there are quite a few stingers (jelly fish and blue bottles) so you
can only swim in specially designed cages on the beach, and there is
also the threat of salties (salt water crocodiles) so you can't just
swim anywhere. The weather has been overcast and drizzly but in some
respects this has suited us because it has meant that the days are not
overly hot (although it is humid). We also went out snorkelling at the I have really enjoyed playing with Heidi, and I think Dad has
enjoyed seeing Hardy again. 3 January 2005 Today we are off to New
Zealand. We only just managed to get onto the flight because of a
really long queue at the check in, and then once on the plane the flight was delayed by
about an hour because of some problem with the airplanes hydraulics. |