Where We Are & Where We Go From Here

Click for larger view.There are so many considerations when traveling that the best we can do is to give an overview of what's happening next to just keep you as up-to-date as we can. Everyday we discuss where to go, how far to go, and which direction to take. We have just arrived in Hervey Bay, Queensland, a little coastal town on the east coast of Australia, about three hours drive north of Brisbane. We arrived in time for the blessing of the whales (that made them happy for a while) followed by a short but fun round of fireworks that scared the daylights out of them (hence their short-lived joy). We're here until Monday because tomorrow we plan to see Fraser Island, largest sand island in the Milky Way Galaxy, or so we've been told. We are sort of going in fits and starts as we discover that distances between towns and (therefore) stopping points, are great and wide. We plan to be in Cairns, the most northern point for us, by August 19th, and to stay for a week, before we head to Darwin.

Now, if you're an astute reader, you may wonder, What happened to Alice Springs, Uluru, and the entire West Coast, not to mention Melbourne and Tasmania? Ha ha, funny story. OK, umm, turns out there are a gazillion kilometers/miles between where we are and all those other places! Since we can only drive about 350 km/210 miles on any given day in our four-cylinder gas guzzler…if you divide that into a gazillion then add in no services for fuel on poorly maintained secondary roads, then you have a good insight into what we're not going to see and do: A whole lot of Australia!

Yes, it was wildly unrealistic for us to expect we'd be able to bop over to Ayr's Rock in the middle of nowhere, then with a tip of the hat and a howdy-do, take a jaunt to Perth and Melbourne, in anything less than another few months and a whole lotta money! Gasoline is about US$6.00/gallon so that translates into hundreds of dollars just to see The Almighty Rock from where we are, then we have to get up to Darwin for a firm departure date of September 13th to fly to Bali before our visa expires. It ain't happening (the other parts, that is)

So, when we think about, what do we really want to do, there's no conclusion to come to but to say, "On Another Trip" for the wild, wild west of this big country with the highway infrastructure similar to when it was first discovered. (The roads along the coast and even in the outback have been great but as you may remember, we've already had one scare with just barely making it to a gas station before the van careened to a halt.)

Basically, we're here to have fun, take it easy, and discover things as they come along. We're not doing a tourist jaunt to see every known site but are finding some fun places and plenty of great people along the way. That's the journey as we know it for now.

In Brisbane for a Week...

...of not moving around. It's been a little tiring moving as much as we have. Brisbane is on the East coast facing the Pacific Ocean. It's much warmer here and our friend Colin, who I only met face-to-face on Friday showed us around with a top-off at Mt Coot-Tha with its incredible view.

This place is 942 feet/287 meters high up and was known as the place where the Aboriginal people would come to gather honey (ku-ta), hence the name. Overall, Brisbane is northerly enough to make the days warmer and the nights somewhat less freezing.

Toowoomba to Brisbane

Shirl Photoshopping new galleries for your enjoyment.We're on the road again, having stopped overnight in the town of onomatopoeia, Toowoomba. Coming in from the outback places are starting to get more crowded, expensive, and repetitive. We're heading out from what's probably the best Internet Café in town, Coffee Online, to Brisbane for a week of hanging out, hair salon, and further repairs (water pump for the sink) at the ol' Auto Barn.

Heading Towards Brisbane: Part 2

St George to Dalby, Queensland, AustraliaWe've moved ahead many k's and are now in Dalby. We have decided that (1) since there's no room in the caravan park for an actual caravan; (2) we've been moving a lot without being grounded much; and (3) we've been in the van fulltime for two solid weeks, that we'd take a break at a motel for two nights. 

Wifecam (Quiet! Do not bang on the cage or make loud noises!)

We'll depart on Thursday morning, July 21st, for the final leg to Brisbane, where we'll camp out on the front steps of my close friend Colin* in the posh 'burb of Forest Lake, like the Irish relatives we truly are. Oh Boy! A real bed with a shower and toilet in the same room! That means not having to get dressed to go to the bathroom! All that and a working television. It's like we're lottery winners!

 * Who's Colin? And why do we get to camp out in his yard? Stay tuned!

Heading Towards Brisbane: Part 1

We're back on the road heading from the little town of Cunnamulla, Queensland, to St George (tonight).

Update on Tue, July 19, 2011 at 9:25 AM by The Untethered Folks

Any closer to the gate and we'd be blocking the entrance!We discovered fairly quickly the little town of St George is popular among caravaners. So much so that of the three caravan parks there, two were full and the one we thought would be full (it was located at the edge of town as you come in from the west) was able to find us room...barely.