We organised a surprise for the kids today, but we wouldn't tell them what it was. It was driving them nuts! We spent the morning at the caravan park swimming and catching up on washing and cleaning.

After lunch we were picked up by a bus and taken to the marina. The kids soon worked out we were going whale watching. We boarded a pretty flash vessel with only 25 others on board.

Before long we were underway and choofing past Fraser Island. The weather was 28 degrees and the sea was calm, we really had hit the jackpot. An hour or so into the journey we sighted our first whales. Two small humpbacks. The boat stopped the regulated 100m away and all on board encouraged the whales to swim toward the boat. Much to everyones surprise they did. We all got fantastic views of these two young whales in their natural environment. A very special and for some weird reason emotional experience.

After around 10 minutes the whales had lost interest in us so we moved on. It wasn't long before we stopped to view a mother and calf and their male chaperone whale. Something happened here that the tour guide said never does. Mum brought her calf over to the boat to show us. This was spectacular. I have a video of it, Mandy is so excited, it's great! The calf was awesome. But to see Mum, five meters away from us and longer than the vessel, was amazing. She was huge and elegant. This was definately the highlight for us all. I still can't believe it happened.

We spent the next few hours chasing and admiring many other whales. We were not disappointed. The whales are as curious of us as we are of them. They obviously feel safe and not threatened in this area.

On the way back to the marina we were quite close to Fraser Island. We saw a fantastic sunset and a beautiful full moon rise up over the Island. Sitting there with a glass of red in hand, watching the kids and Mandy and admiring the scenery was very special and something I don't think I will ever forget.

We arrived back at the caravan park around 6:30pm. A quick dinner for the kids and into bed. We have to be up very early in the morning. We have another surprise for the kids tomorrow.

Since being in Longreach all Charlie talks about is planes and flying. Since then he has worn a cap with pilot written on it and now seems determined he is going to be one. Stay tuned........