We are still making our way South at a VERY leisurely pace but we've seen and done lot's. Still up in Hervey Bay I (Baebs) went on a Whale Watching tour. Jason had been on one in Canada and decided to spend the morning at the beach instead - for me it was a first. The whales are on their yearly migration back to their feeding grounds in the Antartic and stop in the bay for some RnR. The trip was absolutely fantastic - we had a small (26 passengers) boat and the whales came right up to it. For about half an hour three whales just floated around (and under) the boat. It was gorgeous and the woman next to me sobbed uncontrollably. Little known fact: Whales do have bad breath .

From there we headed back inland into the mountains, it was a long, steep and curvy drive. Pulling into the national park campground we had started laughing uncontrollably, some would say close to a nervous breakdown. We did all that driving to end up on what looked like a farmers field, totally exposed to the by now really hard blowing wind. That was definitely NOT what we had hoped for. To make matters worse about an hour later the torrential downpour started (we even had to take the pop-up roof down) and didn't stop all night and next day. No hiking, no view from the "Best of All Lookouts" but just another day of driving back down an extremely steep (16%) and curvy road... Springbrook NP was a bust.

A day in town was on the program. The sun was out and we went on a marathon walk through Brisbane. We were in a campground a ways out of the centre but the bus system in Brisbane is simply unbelievable. It took us less then 10 minutes to get into downtown - they have not only separate bus lanes but a whole underground system to avoid traffic - world class. It was nice to be back in civilization but one day was enough - the Artisan Cheese Maker was waiting. After a thorough testing we splurged on $40 of cheese, add some red wine and we had a fantastic lunch picnic.

We usually try to avoid too much activity on the weekend as the working crowd is out and about. We ended up spending most of the time at surfing beaches watching the Australians in their natural habitat. There are some gorgeous, almost deserted beaches and we dread to get closer to Sydney and the crowds. Our next stop is going to be the Hunter Valley wine region and after that we'll probably head inland past Canberra to meet up again with our friend Thomas.

One fun incident I have to write about: we arrived late at a free rest area, perfectly located right next to a wide river but a ways off the main road. There was only one other camper there - "perfect" we thought, already looking forward to a relaxing breakfast by the water. Next thing we knew - 6.30am on Sunday morning, a car pulled up, then another one and another. All with road bikes in the trunks and in full cycling gear. "Jason - there are six cars out there" - we started giggling - that much for a quiet morning with them all exchanging cycling tips & tricks and training stats. By the time it was 8am there were over 30 cars there - that makes at least 90 people - since most bikers brought wives and kids along to watch and cheer..... We later found out that the local cycling club meets there once a month for training.... - good timing

Love, Barbara & Jason.