Byron

We left Seaworld with nowhere booked and no fixed idea of where to go. Driving down the coast we passed sleepy beachside towns but none appealed, or maybe it was the rain.

It soon became apparent that what we really wanted was Byron Bay - good food, good beach and on the boys must have list, souvenir shops.

A walk around the lighthouse led us to watching a pod of dolphins playing - a greater appreciation of dolphin tricks gained at Seaworld. After watching the surfers for awhile, Will declares his ambition to surf inside the curled bit of the wave... We might be here for a few days.

Kidsworld

Despite heavy rain and the closure of half the attractions the kids still declare Seaworld "awesome". Might have been something to do with all you can eat dessert at dinner followed by "breakfast buffet" with pancakes, pastries and self serve juice.

Brisbane and the Ginger Factory

The cousins met up at the Ginger Factory as planned. H. had to be reminded frequently that E. is not a life sized Teddy bear - so strong was his affection. We went on the boat ride and the train ride, got the fridge magnet, and had ginger sorbet, ginger beer and ginger bread men - the boys absolutely loved it!

We have been having trouble tearing ourselves away from Damon, Cathy, Magnum and Emmett's place. Some highlights included being in a place that feels like home (complete with toys and a Christmas tree), and a really lovely afternoon at cousin Monique and Chris' place with Fien, Ted, Justine, Brett and kids.

Also loved the 'Spotty Room' and 'Magic Land' at the Gallery of Modern Art (where we went with our friends from Mataranka after we bumped into them 'coincidentally' taking the same train to Southbank). There were playgrounds and swimming pools and often they were combined. We finally felt the need to wear some bed clothes to fend off the Brisbane 'chill', and our car had a bit of a wash on the front lawn - usually souvenir gifts of Fraser Island's coloured sands are encased in glass bottles...

In the kids words, "Brisbane is awesome!" My sentiments exactly.

Leaving Fraser, arriving Noosa

This post is written within minutes of second coffee, having feasted on breakfast by the beach. Life is grand.(cousin James can hold no threat over us now..)
The thrill of making it off the 4WD Mecca intact was worth every stressful bump, bounce and scrape, but moving right along, the boys have been up since 4.45 this morning - so eager are they to meet their cousin, Emmett, at the family favorite P@## Weak World - the Ginger Factory in Yandina. You will get to see the photos if you can stay tuned...

Fraser Island part 2

So... Again, the photos are not in sequence. The middle photos are of a lovely relaxing swim at Lake McKenzie. That afternoon we headed of to Lake Wabby for some sand dune surfing. The first photo is at it's lookout at sunset... The second photo is of the 2 guys from National Geographic (Andrew Gregory takes awesome panoramic pictures - if you are looking for a 2012 calendar, try his Australian Geographic Panorama calendar) who pushed us out of the sand when we got very stuck on the way. The fourth photo is of Matt finally getting to use his shovel... Pointless really. The thing that saved us was a pair of bright orange (yes, the colour is important) grippy tracks, and a journo (Ken, if you are reading this, thanks a million) and photographer desperate to get to Lake Wabby before sunset... After some swearing, we made some new friends and enjoyed a meal together at the resort.
The last photo is the obligatory touristy shot of the giant Satinay trees used to make the Suez Canal.

We learned a lot about 4WDriving that day - and then felt in a position to pass on our wisdom to all the people we came across stuck in the sand in the following days.
Unless you want to hear about 'getting purchase' on soft sand up hills, I advise you not to get Matt started...