Taree to Ipswich via Coffs

Hoorah!!! We have hit the road!!!

We took off last Wednesday, on a semi-Mercy Dash to Queensland to arrange our dog, Charlie's next leg of his own trip!

With a final tearful goodbye to Mum, here we were, packed, stacked and ready to roll! And roll we did! Although the Navara gives us great pulling power, Her Majesty (the Viscount Royal!) takes a bit of tugging to get along! Nonetheless, doing 90kms an hour gives you a chance to really check things out. I was lucky enough to spot a mob of roos grazing in a paddock near Kempsey. The kids didn't even look up from their DS games! So much for an educational, explorational trip around Australia!

We made great time however, and by 3pm we had arrived in Coffs, everything in tact, to set up overnight. We stayed at the Clog Barn Caravan Park - not my ideal choice, but seeing as it was an overnighter, I couldn't be too picky. They had toilets, showers and a BBQ at least!

A cold wet night saw us wake up to a bit of condensation in the old van, so we are now looking to equip Her Madge with an exhaust filter. It wasn't too bad... like waking up in a sauna with all of us breathing and spluttering on one another!

The next day we took off early, in anticipation of making it to Ipswich by nightfall. A quick drive-by of the Big Banana (with promises to stop there longer again soon), followed by an equally dissappointing pass-by of the Macadamia Castle outside of Nambucca Heads... Why is it the only time the kids look up, it's when we pass something we can't/won't be going to??? On that note, guess what they happened to see out of the window on the Motorway past Coomera???

So we arrived at sundown in Redbank Plains, just out of Ipswich, to stay with Phil's brother. It's been great, the kids have been getting plenty of "Charlie time" in with our dog before we take him to the Country Pet Motel in Ipswich, where he will be staying the remainder of our tour.

Ipswich is actually very quaint. Recently affected by the flood, driving through you see so many majestic old houses, heritage listed churches and buildings, as well as impressive art galleries, libraries and parks. We have been to Ipswich Centre a couple of times since arriving, but are definately planning to return next week to enjoy Queens Park with the kids (YAY!!! Complete with Flying Fox!) as well as to take part in the Children's Art Gallery activities. Unfortunately, the last few days (today included) have been utterly FREEZING!!! What happened to the Queensland I know and love!??!

We were also lucky enough to be here while the Brisbane Caravan and Camping Expo was held at the RNA Showgrounds. We attended yesterday, which was a wonderful chance to stickybeak the new vans on the market, see what gadgets Phil could get to attach to Her Majesty, and for the kids to collect as many brochures and discounts for upcoming destination inspiration!

What really was noticable though was that we were one of only a few dozen families there. Most people were well over fifty, which I guess is the market these days for travel. Needless to say, we took a lot of pride in sharing with people that we ARE on the road, living and working our way around Australia...

Which came to the next part - Working! At the Expo, we got to meet Barry Brebner, Author of the book Workabout Australia and founder of the Workabout Australia Club. Barry was a wealth of information on how you can work your way around Australia. While Barry's demographic seems to be geared very much to the Grey Nomad generation, he was really enthused to see us, a young couple with kids, getting out there and doing it ourselves. Barry certainly had a lot of tips and information for us, which we are currently sifting through. I'm sure we will be talking about Barry a lot in Blogs to come!

As for Jobs... not to give too much away, but we have already been offered a position in Outback North... however, that's a story for another blog!!

Until then!!!

x The Lincolns!