206-207 Hervey Bay (20/10 - 21/10)

OK... there's no denying it... this will be a stop-gap post. A photo update of such... Our time in Hervey Bay was, brief, largely uneventful other than a birthday, and like Agnes Waters, bloody wet.

But we, (read I) need to get through this post to get back to the cool adventuring!!

I'm sure, like Agnes Water and 1770, this place would be a piece of paradise in better weather. But I'll look back on it as a great birthday, a great burger and the departure of the Dampervan...

Our little cosy site... It took a bit of Austin Powers manoeuvring to get it in here. And no... I've no idea what B is doing here.

An evening walk showed us a nice waterfront, still showing the effects of the recent downpour.

The birthday boy!! Hitting big double figures...

There was so many captions here I couldn't decide on one. Nain is smirking, Bob is hiding and Evie and James are... ??

Like Evie's birthday in Broome, it was great to actually be able to share a birthday on the road, and again with out of towners!! And these guys were from WAY out of town.

A new Welsh bit of paraphernalia... Time to get some Wallabies stuff in order Pop!

This one was something Sam was pretty chuffed with. Picked this piece of Amethyst up from the Crystal Cave in Atherton. The boy has a fascination for the purple gem... Doesn't remind me of anyone...

Benefits of having Nain and Tadcu around was the ability to start a new tradition... Birthday Breakfasts! We took Sam out for a very very nice breakfast, so much so I couldn't even finish mine! You'll be pleased to know that the tradition has lived on with all kids being treated since.

Another one of these pretty spectacular, and free, water parks. The Hervey Bay splash park was pretty impressive. Big kids and small kids area! And whilst the weather wasn't scorching, it didn't stop our little ones getting the togs on for a play.

And instantly just like that, some people were just "too old" to do a quick public change and needed to enlist Mum's help for a privacy towel!! 

Ahh... this cake. OK, so not one of B's Masterpieces we've come to enjoy, geez it made us laugh and had a great story. Simple Green's packet mix, but with no utensils it was off to the camp kitchen to make and bake. The icing was actually just melted marshmellows with green food dye!

We certainly gave eating the cake a nudge, but the group playing 500 behind us were happy to help out also. Afterall, they'd been putting up with the baking and "caking" noise all afternoon!

Again... another one of those photos which you just wonder... what the?

A momentus occasion... After such an ordeal, Nain and Tadcu's Dampervan was finally replaced with something more robust. The replacement was trucked up from Brisbane!

What was Evie so excited about?!? What's she pointing at??

ALDI... of all places. Our first one in many a mile.

The rain had well and truly set in by now. Once again pouring it down... Sam had chosen a nearby burger joint for birthday dinner, and for some really unknown reason he and B decided to walk. I think they possibly could have swam. The rest of us drove the 3 blocks and still got drenched getting in and out of the the car!

Sigh.....

The burger place was kitted out with board games which went down a treat. We all laughed pretty hard when we found his doppelganger "Kevin" in the Guess Who box.

James and I decided that Jenga was too boring and we'd try and see what different kind of towers we could build. I particularly liked his basement reinforcement.

And would you believe it... no this isn't an optical illusion... Evie and Sam played games together. By themselves. Without hardly an issue (a few minor interventions were required)

Not usually one for photos of food, this burger was sensational...Typical American style fried chicken, melted cheese and sauce... oh yeah...

Tadcu having a crack at the biggest burger of his life apparently. Sam thinking it rather humerous...

And that was that. With Nain and Tadcu's impending departure beginning to loom large, we continued our journey southward, in search of some off grid free camping to treat the Welshies to some final snippets of Australian landscape... and wow... we won't forget our time in the next location any time soon.

I'll just try and update the blog sooner rather than later!!