Except for a couple rest days & doing laundry, Tim & I stayed busy during his 3 week vacation to Australia.
After picking Tim up at the Sydney Airport, we spent a couple days touring Sydney. The trip from Sydney to Urunga is a little over 500k & about a 6 hour drive.

We went to a rugby game between the Australian Army & the town of Bellingen, about 5 miles west of Urunga. The following day, Tim, Diantha & I caught a bus with other Aussie friends down to Port MacQuarrie for a concert at a vineyard featuring Micheal McDonald (formerly with the Doobie Brothers) & Boz Skaggs. We actually missed Mic Fleetwood who had played earlier.

We tried surfing one day.

Then we took off to head north to the Great Barrier Reef. We decided to head inland first so that we did not have to drive the same stretch of highway twice coming home. So we took of west bound, without paying one ounce of notice to weather conditions. We traveled thruough Dorrigo, Guyra, Inverell, Warialda and North Star. Just outside of North Star, a turtle is crossing the road. Tim, being the good samaritan he is, moved the turtle to safety. The weather was looking bleak.

We continued on through Boggavilla and Goodiwindi. We are now on Hwy 39 or A5. On the map, this looks like a good road, major thoroughfare. Everything is pretty wet. Even the floodways! A floodway, by the way, is nothing more than a dip in the road where a bridge should be, with a meter stick, most of the time, to indicate the depth of the water on the road you shouldn't be crossing!
So, we drove through a number of these until we came to one that showed the water depth at about 0.4 meters. As we sat contemplating what to do, a small compact appeared on the opposite side. The drive got out, walked into the water then back to his car & sat. Another car came up behind us,stopped & asked if we were okay. He then said he was going through & did. The compact on the other side came through next so we went ahead through. We passed through at least a dozen more floodways with water, none higher than 0.4ish. We passed throught the community of Moonie, our ultimate destination was Miles. We crossed the Moonie River, swollen to about 6-8" below the bridge. We passed the through several more floodways, a couple of which had some pretty fast moving water. We passed by the community of The Gums, driving about 3-4 miles north when we came to a rather large flooded section of the low(not hi)way, Cattle Creek. Looked okay when we started, but as we got into it, we began pushing water up over the front of the car & decided rather quickly to back out. And as we were, the fan belt began singing. We made it out!!!!!

We turned around and headed back to The Gums, then east, hoping to get to Tara. Well, we got to the same creek, up stream though. The photo is of Tim checking the depth of the floodway. A farmer came through and said we may get through here, but the next one we would not. He took us to another place he thought we might get through. Not likely as we watched the front end of his 4x4 drop into large holes of water.

Back to The Gums and south bound, hoping to get somewhere, anywhere dry. We passed back through floodways that had stronger currents & after getting through, promises of not doing that again. Unfortunately, we returned to the Moonie River, which now had a meter of water running over the top of the bridge.

Tim & I decided to go back to a small section of high ground, perhaps an elevation of 15 feet! This country is flat, flat, flat! We had packed pillows & sheets, bread, peanut butter, jam & plenty to drink. So we settled in to sleep & wait out the flooding.

A car came out of a driveway, stopped & the couple asked if we were okay. They told us the rancher from where they'd come said to come down to his place for the night. They were very kind, but we didn't take the offer seriously. A half hour later, another vehicle came out & pulled up behind us. The driver, Andrew, invited us to his farm/ranch bunkhouse for the night. We followed him in. After meeting Cameron, his ranch hand and visiting a while, he graciously provided Tim & I with 'chops', eggs, coffee & milk for our breakfast, then showed us to the bunk house.

Andrew Hirst, Owner/Manager, 'Twyford Pastoral Company', Kilawarra, Tara, Queensland met us the next morning after Tim cooked breakfast. He showed us aroung his 10,000 acre farm/ranch, named Killawarra. Andrew had mentioned goats having appeared on the property, and we spotted them in 2 groups, billys & nannys. Andrew had aready been checking with local ranchers about road conditions and a safe way out for us. He wisely suggested we hold tight for a while. But in the mean time, would we like to herd the goats for him. Sure!!!! So, Cameron, Tim & I jumped on 3- 250cc dirt bikes. Now if you check out the picture of Tim, notice, he also has 2 additional passengers, the 2 ranch dogs!!! They ended up actually riding with Andrew in the Ute. Off we went on motorcycles to herd goats. Who really didn't want to be herded, rather, ran back into the woods. We chased the goats around for awhile but were not successful in getting them herded up. If there was a benefit to Andrew, he learned they were feral. (They have since vanished from the property according to a recent email from Andrew).

Riding the motorbikes back, we had the pleasure of company. About 50 yards to our left, we had kangaroos bouncing along with us.

We met Jaime & 15 month old Phoebe Hirst. Jaime & Andrew invited us to their home for lunch after cleaning up the bikes. Great meal, great company, great hospitality! And thanks for showing us the back roads out to Tara. You guys are always welcome at our home, anytime!

So, Tim & I continued on through Tara, Dalby, Bell, Kumbia (Tim started singing, Kingaroy & we stayed in Wondai.

The next day, we traveled through Murgon, Gayndah, Mundubbera,Monto, Biloela & on into Rockhampton. All the rivers & streams we passed were flooding or close to flood stage. We were lucky!!! We stayed in Emu Park on the coast. The ocean was mocca colored. We elected to continue north up the coast in hopes of finding clear water & nicer access to the GBR.

WE drove through Yeppon, north on the A1 to Marlborough, Sarina, Mackay (pronounced muci), Proserpine & to Airlie Beach. We took a day trip out to the Whitsunday Islands group, snorkeling in the reef of Border Island, then to Whitsunday Island & Whitehaven beach for swimming & lunch. Water was pretty clear, sunny finally. Beautiful place and according to our boat driver, the fourth most photographed place in Australia, behind, Sydney bridge, opera house & Ayers Rock. Airlie Beach also has a fantastic public pool called the lagoon, which is next to the ocean, & 100 yards long by 30 yards wide or so.

Leaving Airlie, we headed south, through Gin Gin, staying in Maryborough. The freeway from Childers to Gympie was covered in potholes & in serious need of repair.

We drove down the Sunshine Coast (water still mocha colored) & on to the Australian Zoo outside of Beerwah, north of Brisbane. Highway 6 off the A1 Pacific Coast highway has been renamed Steve Irwin Way. Very nice, well kept facility. Animals all looked healthy. We traveled down to the Gold Coast, staying in Surfers Paradise.

We drove to Byron Bay, spent the day swimming & body surfing, another rare sunny day! We drove back to Urunga that night.

We drove to a small community called Nymboida, about 70-80 miles away. The museum, tavern, motel & restaurant are owned by Russell Crowe. He has contributed several of his movie momentos to the museum & photos are in the restaurant. The museum is small, but fun. Thank you Mr. Crowe.

Graeme & Blue took us up to Ebor, the fish hatchery & a little fly fishing.

Thanks for coming over Tim, it was a great adventure, one I'm sure could never be duplicated!