We meet again, at beautiful Airlie Beach Airlie Beach is one of those magic places you don't come across very often. From the moment we got out of the motor home when we arrived, there was something in the air - the weather was warm, the sun was shining and the sky so clear. The colour of the water is such an amazing azure blue. The town itself is built along the coast, with a board walk along the length of it, from our caravan park, past the marina, past severa...

On the road again We had left about midday, and decided to stop at the Capricorn Caves on the way. These were only about 20 kms out of Rocky, so we stopped to take a tour. The next big town was Mackay, over 4 hours away, but we were never going to get there that day. The caves were interesting, but not as pretty as Buchan Caves. They are "dry" caves, so don't have all the stalagmites and stalactites making all the beautiful formations. That just means you have...

Stranded in Paradise The mechanic was shut over the weekend, so we knew the van would not even be looked at until Monday. But we had planned to stay here over the weekend anyway, so we got on with exploring and enjoying ourselves. If you have to be stranded somewhere, this is a great place to be. Faye and John travelled with us, as our van has two extra seat belts on the two seats at the back. Together we explored all the little towns down the Capricorn Coast, ...

Friday the 13th Friday started like any other ordinary day. We set off to the Livestock Exchange (ie: the cattle auctions) to witness this most central aspect of life in the beef capital. Faye decided to dress for the part, with hair in plaits, an Akubra hat, and a checked shirt. But somehow I think the diamantes and crystals on the pants and shoes didn't quite complete the image. The place was full of fast talking auctioneers and macho men in their RM Williams...

Gone fishing Heading north from 1770, we stopped at a little place called Lake Awoonga which is famous for barramundi fishing. This was also on John's "must do" list. However, as we talked to the lady with the bait, the first thing she said was, "Too cold for barramundi now. They're only around in the summer." That put a bit of a dampener on it, but the boys decided to bravely attempt it anyway. Lake Awoonga was very pretty, and Faye and I enjoyed the scenery a...