Bowen and Life on the Road

Hannah learning German (Larissa you would be proud)



This is what my arms do most of the day..........


........this is what hannahs legs do most of the day! I've drawn the short straw :)


The Big Mango......it was advertised for 35km so we had to take a photo.


Whitsunday Islands from Flagstaff Hill


Hannah surveying her domain (Bowen)



Whitsun struggled up this hill!! I was screaming it in first!!! Poor Whitsun but I did top him up with oil afterwards :)


This is my domain!!! The Whitsundays and Gloucester Island (over my right shoulder) .... hannah drew the short straw on this one.

Whitsunday Islands on Derwent Hunter

Whitehaven Beach....it was a little overcast but once we were down on the beach it was clear sky and boiling!!! The sand is 99% silica so it feels like you are walking on flour.

Sea Cucumber







Hannah swimming



Our sexy stinger suit. There are upto 700 species of jelly fish in and around the Whitsunday islands. If you get stung on your face...bad luck



Hannah with her "noodle"


Me drowning in style :) actually the snorkeling was out of this world!! Hannah and I did it every day.


Snorkeling opposite Hayman Island. If you wanted to stay there it would be $700 a night for a basic room.


Richard the Captain!!!



The sails :)


hello mum and dad!


Myself, Alex (design technology teacher) and Duncan (maths teacher) talking to Hughie.


Hoisting of the other sail (poor knowledge of boats coming through now)


Me and Malcolm hoisting the main sail under the watchful eye of Hughie (deckhand)


The sunset on the first night. Richard the captain told us all about the stars and starsigns in the evening. He had alot of knowledge of the stars as they still use them to navigate sometimes.


A glass of wine/beer while watching the sunset.

Hughie and Sarah (crew) adjustinging the main sail, while Brian (foreground) carried on with his sleeping.


Thank you all so much for the money we received for our wedding as it all went towards our 3days/2nights on the Derwent Hunter. Here is the beautiful vessel (above)

Airlie Beach

Went down to Airlie Marina and listened to a Jazz Band (they were very impressive). Hannah tried to take a photo but two little girls kept getting in the way so she gave up. Just imagine them......60years of age, grey, holding instruments and making a really good noise.


Me winning :) actually hannah beat me once :) in 5 games.


Han teeing off on Hole 5. Many of the holes had extra obstacles such as lizards.

We stayed at the Big4 campsite at Airlie Beach (but more in Cannonvale) - We spent a bit more money here but Airlie and the Whitsundays was our honeymoon.

Swimming Pool, outside cinema - watched "An officer and a gentleman", "Bedtime Stories" and "Gorillas in the Mist", Mini Golf (pictures above), tennis court and badminton/volleyball court. Basically a very good campsite!!! the best so far by miles but we do stay in free rest stops when we can.

Tannum Sands to Mackay via Yeppoon

Just in case you wondered what it is like when we update our blog..here is a typical photo. subject to internet availability.


Hannahs new friend (I think she is getting sick of me) called Connie. Will play fetch all day!


Campsite in Mackay...got a little lost.... Hannah cooking food! Also bought myself a guitar in Mackay so am currently learning as we travel. I'm determined to do it!!


Travelled north from Claireview to Sarina where we were going to camp but couldn't find anywhere so headed up the coast to Mackay.


The beach a Claireview approx 40m away.


Our road side rest stop at Claireview...next to the Bruce Highway and a train track. Quite noisy but free!


Bug Fight!!!! Hannah noticed a spider (an didn't scream) then it was attacked by this massive locust/grasshopper/cricket thing. The spider was beaten soundly and was then dragged off into the long grass. The orange thing (I will find out it's name) was longer and bigger than my middle finger...if you need some scale.

A message from Martin on facebook who went to the trouble of looking up the contenders in the above bug fight.............."I looked it up. It's a spider wasp (sometimes all black, sometimes with orange bits). Female wasps attack spiders, kill them and lay their eggs in them. Larvae hatch and eat spider, yum!" - Thank you Martin, I see you are working hard at Rolls Royce.


Again the picture doesn't do it justice but the plains when on for miles and miles with small stunted trees then there was a massive mountain range in the distance. The only thing I could compare it to was Lord of the Rings.


Driving along Kinka Beach....it was long and the sea was soooooooo far out.


A whale house we saw on our way back to Yeppoon on our Sunday afternoon drive.


Hannah took another photo of a boat :) however the photo doesn't quite show the full picture. There was a row of houses all evenly spaced then there was a gap with this boat in it....you had to be there really.


Whitsun among other vans at Emu Park. The light blue and green vans to the right were owned by two french couples. They were rude and very arrogant! just thought you would like to know :)


On the walk up to Wreck Point Lookout where there was an amazing view across to Keppel Island.

Me on the beach....the water was cold.

Cooee Beach - Yeppoon, approx 200m from our camp site.

From Tannum Sands we got back on the Bruce Highway and headed north to Yeppoon. This is where Ludwig Leichart the 18th Century explorer landed. There was a tight line fishing competition and a yacht race so the town was quite busy.