Travel

Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat

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So, it’s official – we can now tick off being world record holders from the bucket list – woot, woot!!  What am I on about?  Well, on the 4th of October the kids and I and the cousies, took part in the world record breaking Queensland Instameet at the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas.  What the heck is an ‘instameet’ you ask?  Well, you can read this post on the official Queensland travel blog, but basically, “an Instameet is where people gather in a pre-determined place, at a set time, to take photos then upload them to Instagram. That’s it really”.

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We had a really good time, but before I share the story of our day – here’s a few stats for you.

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Categories: Travel, Tropical North Queensland | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Big Mama – A Sunset Sail at Mission Beach

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Remember a few weeks ago I posted the first of a few posts that were to come about our few days away at Mission Beach?  Well here is a quick post about an awesome afternoon sailing aboard ‘Big Mama’ a charter yacht, which my friend Mel hired to celebrate her last night as a single lady!  It was a magic afternoon and something I had been looking forward to for many months!  I was a little nervous about leaving Matt with baby Kipp and all the kids but told myself they could manage for a few hours surely without any major tears! Continue reading

Categories: Travel, Tropical North Queensland | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

Palm Cove – Bell Girls Weekend 2014

 

IMG_5139There are soooooo many blog posts floating around in my head at the moment with our whole camping holiday to share still, but I’m going to start with a post from a few weeks ago to fill you in on the awesome weekend I had with my mum and two sisters.  This weekend really kicked off ‘holiday season’ for me as this is the best, and really the only time of year, that we can squeeze a bit of time off from the farm at Blue Sky. Continue reading

Categories: Travel | Tags: , , | 7 Comments

Guest Post – Sarah & Malte

Today’s post is the first ever ‘Guest Post’ to feature on the Are We There Yet? blog.  I asked Sarah & Malte if they wouldn’t mind sharing with us the adventure of their time travelling around Oz.

Sarah and Malte were the first ever backpackers to work with us on the farm at Blue Sky Produce for three months last year.  They set the bar pretty high for all our other workers going forward. They were two of the most hardworking and lovely people we have ever met!  Added to that they enjoyed teaching us ‘Wizard’ – a really fun German card game and then whipping our butts at it!! Lucky they taught us a few German swear words too!!  Malte and Sarah are just about to head back home to Germany and we are sad to see them go – they spoilt the kids while they were here at Blue Sky and we loved getting to know them and learn a little about their lives in Germany.

They have seen so much during their time in Australia – more then most of us Aussies will ever see!! Thank you Sarah & Malte for sharing your travels here and best of luck for your futures ahead – I hope we get to see you again sometime!

Sarah & Malte after a hard day of mulching - not the most fun job!

Sarah & Malte after a hard day of mulching at Blue Sky – not the most fun job!

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Categories: Camping, Travel | Tags: , , , | 7 Comments

Flashback Friday – The Hanstede Family Visit

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This week’s Flashback Friday post is about a visit we had only a bit over a month ago now.  I didn’t get a chance to write a post about it at the time and really want to share it tonight because I have just realised we haven’t shown you much of the beautiful places we have to see up here on the Tablelands! Continue reading

Categories: Atherton Tablelands, Flashback Friday, Travel | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Middle Lagoon

20130821-202412.jpgFrom Broome we headed north to the top of the Western Australian coastline and spent a glorious week relaxing and ‘taking a break from our holiday’ at Middle Lagoon.

Our week went a little something like this ……………………………………

Swimming

Swimming

Kayaking

Kayaking

The mission to build the biggest and best sandcastle we have ever made!

The mission to build the biggest and best sandcastle we have ever made!

Hard Work!

Hard Work!

Getting There

Getting There

Family effort with the help of some ringins!

Family effort with the help of some ringins!

The finished product - not a bad effort!

The finished product – not a bad effort!

Sunsets

Sunsets

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And lots of campfires!

And lots of campfires!

What it is all about!

What it is all about!

Middle Lagoon is a two and a half hour drive from Broome along a pretty rough, red sand and dirt, corrugated road, but it is worth the drive.  We did get a bit of a surprise when we reached the Middle Lagoon turn off the Cape Leveque Road and then realised we still had just over 30kms still to go!  And the road in to Middle Lagoon was rougher than what we had already travelled on the Cape Leveque Road so it was a very long drive!

The road in to Middle Lagoon

The road in to Middle Lagoon

Red sand and corrugations all the way

Red sand and corrugations all the way

We stayed at Nature’s Hideaway Campground at Middle Lagoon on an excellent site called site 5 on the Terraces (or Snob Hill as Trice and Geoff called it hehehe!).  Although it wasn’t directly overlooking the water like you can see in this picture (and those sites were spectacular!)

Beautiful ocean front sites!

Beautiful ocean front sites!

we really liked our site because we could still see the water but we had lots of shade too which the ocean front ones didn’t.  The shade was really nice to have in the afternoon when it was too hot at the beach and we just wanted to be chilling out around camp.

Our lovely shady spot - still with water views - the kids had lots of friends come to visit and play lego with them!

Our lovely shady spot – still with water views – the kids had lots of friends come to visit and play lego with them!

Relaxing watching a movie in the camper one afternoon.

Relaxing watching a movie in the camper one afternoon.

We did lots of relaxing at Middle Lagoon but we also had lots of fun as it just worked out that also here at the same time were the family we had meet at Lake Argyle (Geoff & Trice and the kids), plus the Rollason family we met at Cable Beach and another family we had met in the caravan park in Broome!  The kids had a ball having lots of friends to play with and Matt and I enjoyed some friends to talk to as well!  We were lucky enough to be given one night, a dinner’s worth of freshly caught spanish mackeral from a lovely couple at a neighbouring campsite.  This fish came to us filleted and all so all we had to do was cook it over the fire – it was so delicious!!!

Getting our hot plate ready to cook our fish

Getting our hot plate ready to cook our fish

Fish and Chips Middle Lagoon Style

Fish and Chips Middle Lagoon Style

Our delicious dinner - best fish we have ever tasted!

Our delicious dinner – best fish we have ever tasted!

The next day Matt and the boys were lucky enough to go out with Geoff in his tinnie and try a bit of fishing themselves!  Even though they came home empty handed they were so lucky having got to see whales, dolphins, a big sea turtle and lots of different types of fish!  The boys had a great time and Geoff we are so grateful to you for taking them all out!

Off fishing in Geoff's boat!

Off fishing in Geoff’s boat!

We really didn’t do much at Middle Lagoon – we spent a big day trip out exploring Cape Leveque and surrounds but other than that we just ‘stopped’ and although it was a little hard to make ourselves do it when there is so much to do and see – we’re really glad we did as it was a great rest.

An easy place to slow down for a week!

An easy place to slow down for a week!

Campfires every night.

Campfires every night.

On our last night at Middle Lagoon we decided to head off and explore some of the 4wd tracks around the lagoon – we ended up on our own private little beach to watch the sun set – it was beautiful!

Our own little beach all to ourselves!

Our own little beach all to ourselves!

Come and see .........

Come and see ………

A sunset picnic

A sunset picnic

Seen enough photos of this ugly mob yet???

Seen enough photos of this ugly mob yet???

Sunset

Sunset

20130821-203249.jpg 20130821-202859.jpg 20130821-203324.jpgMiddle Lagoon was probably my favourite place of the whole trip – it was worth leaving Broome for!

 

 

Categories: Camping, Travel, WA Camping | Tags: , | 6 Comments

‘Toes in the Water’ in Broome

We’re jumping ahead a little with the blog posts, but we just wanted to share the fun we have been having here in Broome over the last few days, before we head out of reception tomorrow. We have loved, loved, loved our time in Broome. We will write a proper blog post about where we went, where we stayed, what we did etc when we are back in reception.

Enjoy Broome – Fealy Family style to the sounds of Zac Brown Band ‘Toes’.

Categories: Travel, WA Camping, Zac Brown Band | Tags: , | 15 Comments

Edith Falls

DSC_0494 DSC_0395 DSC_0399 DSC_0389 DSC_0253 IMG_0059 DSC_0354Well looks like I am going to have to get two blog posts done tonight as I missed getting a post done last night due to the fact that I was feeling far too relaxed after having a bottle of champagne at sunset on Cable Beach (thanks Ang & Hans – we finally felt the time was right to crack the bottle of champagne you gave us and it was goooood!).  So, where were we?   Hmmmm – ok once we left Mataranka we headed north to Katherine and decided to camp for two nights just outside town at the Shady Lane Caravan Park.  We had received the news when we left Tennant Creek that the farming opportunity was going ahead so we needed a few days in Katherine to sort our heads out and decide exactly what our new plan for our last four weeks on the road was going to be.  The Shady Lane Caravan Park was lovely – the cleanest and nicest amenities we have come across so far on the trip and lovely big drive through sites.  We spent a morning shopping in Katherine to pick up a birthday pressie for Toby who was turning 6 while we were there, and also got Matt a new hat as we finally had to concede that we had lost his very trusty Ergon hat somewhere past Winton!!

After a morning in town we headed out to spend the afternoon at Edith Falls which is about 40km’s north of Katherine.  It was a beautiful spot and we had a ball swimming and lying around on the lovely green grass at the picnic area – it has been soooooo long since we had seen green grass!!!  We even got the trusty green kayak down and the kids thought it was pretty neat to be able to kayak right up to a waterfall!  We did the easy 3km return walk to the Upper Pools at the falls and it was well worth the walk!  It was so nice here, and we were happy to see at least one waterfall as we had now decided that we were not going to be able to make it through Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks in the time we had left.  The National Park Campground at Edith Falls was lovely, and cheap – only $15.90 per family per night – we would definitely recommend camping there and checking out Edith Falls!

The view from the Upper Pools

The view from the Upper Pools

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Matt & Jack swam right under the waterfall in the upper pools

Matt & Jack swam right under the waterfall in the upper pools

Tobes loves to kaya

Tobes loves to kayak

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Jacko got a shot of these fish using his underwater camera

Jacko got a shot of these fish using his underwater camera

Fish nibbling Matt's toes

Fish nibbling Matt’s toes

A lovely spot

A lovely spot

Categories: Camping, NT Camping, Travel | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Tennant Creek to Mataranka

DSC_0164We have been doing and seeing some amazing and beautiful things over the last few weeks and I have fallen behind with the blog entries again! I am excited to share some of our photos with you so will hopefully get all up to date while we are here in Broome this week!  Broome is spectacular by the way!

After spending our forced week stop over in Tennant Creek with our car/camper issues (the problems all stemmed back to Karen Camper and some worn out wiring on the electric brakes – Matt will give you the details), we finally headed off to Mataranka which was about 5 hours drive north of Tennant Creek.  We have to admit though that we did enjoy our time in Tennant Creek despite being a bit stressed and cranky about the car!  All up we had 6 nights there – 4 nights in the camper in the Caravan Park and then 2 nights in a cabin in the same caravan park – thankfully all paid for by RACQ with our Ultimate cover – very grateful that we had that cover!  We stayed at the Outback Caravan Park which was one of the nicest caravan parks we have stayed in so far!  We had lots of time to get some school work done, do some baking, catch up on our washing and the kids enjoyed the warmer weather and the pool (even though the water was freezing still!).  We again spent some time at the library which we always enjoy – new book for Jack to read, toys for Toby & Lexi to play with and the librarians are always happy to chat away to me!

Lexi loves to bake!

Lexi loves to bake!

Jack doing a maths riddle that Matt made up for him

Jack doing a maths riddle that Matt made up for him

Lots of pool time - great pool but freezing cold!

Lots of pool time – great pool but freezing cold!

Warming up in the sun on a rock at the pool

Warming up in the sun on a rock at the pool

The kids checking out the old gold mining trolley on the walk to the library in Tennant Creek

The kids checking out the old gold mining trolley on the walk to the library in Tennant Creek

When we finally left Tennant Creek we had a quick stop to check out Lake Mary Ann on the way out – it looked quite nice but not a very big dam and unfortunately no camping there.

Lake Mary Ann - Tennant Creek

Lake Mary Ann – Tennant Creek

And then we once again passed the camel man being pulled along by his camels on the highway.  We have since discovered from other travellers that his name is Klaus Menzel and he is actually quite famous!

Klaus Menzel and his camels - they got further than we did in 3 days!

Klaus Menzel and his camels – they got further than we did in 3 days!

We stopped for lunch at the Daly Waters Pub which was really interesting – definitely a pub with lots of character – would be a fun place to camp, and the food is very reasonably priced and pretty yum!  It gets very busy though!

Daly Waters Pub - Lunch stop

Daly Waters Pub – Lunch stop

All kinds of things hanging up in the Daly Waters Pub - it did smell just a little inside!

All kinds of things hanging up in the Daly Waters Pub – it did smell just a little inside!

Bras - Daly Waters Pub

Bras – Daly Waters Pub

Thong Tree - Daly Waters Pub

Thong Tree – Daly Waters Pub

And then at last we made it to Mataranka where we met up with Matt’s dad & Rema – we were all really excited to see them!!

Hello Poppy & Rema!

Hello Poppy & Rema!

We camped for two nights at the Mataranka Homestead campground which had heaps of room for us to choose our own spot in the unpowered area and was just a short walk to the Rainbow Springs Thermal Pools.

Our campsite - Mataranka Homestead

Our campsite – Mataranka Homestead

Peacocks and Wallabies everywhere around the campground

Peacocks and Wallabies everywhere around the campground

The campground was a little tired and a bit dusty but the thermal pools were sooooooooo good!  They were beautifully warm and we all spent hours swimming – such a treat after being so cold for the last few months!!!  We also got to watch a really great family band (Mum, Dad, 16yr old son and 12 yr old son) who played some great music and it was really inspiring to watch a family travelling around Australia – all sharing something they love!  It has been amazing on this trip to see all the different lives people lead – such a great country we live in that we have the freedom to do this!  The kids loved seeing other kids not much older than them up on stage playing the electric guitar and drums – hopefully they will remember this when we go back to their piano lessons when ‘normal’ life returns!

Mataranka Hot Springs

Mataranka Hot Springs

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Matt & I at the Mataranka Hot Springs - photo care of Jacko

Matt & I at the Mataranka Hot Springs – photo care of Jacko

The movie “We of the Never Never” was filmed at the Mataranka Homestead Caravan Park and the replica of the original homestead is still part of the attractions here, so we had a wander through – will have to watch the movie now!

DSC_0210We did the 2.5km return walk from the caravan park into the Elsey National Park and checked out the Waterhouse River and checked out the swimming hole called Stevie’s Hole.

Checking out the Waterhouse River

Checking out the Waterhouse River

Stevies Hole

Stevies Hole

Some leaf boat racing at Stevies Hole

Some leaf boat racing at Stevies Hole

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We also spent a morning floating down the river at Bitter Springs which is only about a 10 minute drive from the Mataranka Homestead Caravan Park.  It was lots of fun letting the current take us about 200metres down the river and then walking back on the dirt track to do it all again!  On the way home from Bitter Springs we stopped in at the Territory Manor Caravan Park and checked out the free Barramundi feeding they do there at 9.30am and 1pm every day.  The boys loved it!

Floating in Bitter Springs with Poppy & Rema

Floating in Bitter Springs with Poppy & Rema

Jack - Barramundi Feeding

Jack – Barramundi Feeding

Toby a little scared at the Barramundi Feeding!

Toby a little scared at the Barramundi Feeding!

So yep – another great spot to add to your ‘must visit’ list if you haven’t already been there – we loved it, definitely could have stayed longer – next time we would like to kayak to Mataranka Falls from the National Park campground – putting on the ‘must return’ list!

 

Categories: Camping, NT Camping, Travel | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments

8 weeks on the road

Boab Tree - now we are in WA we are seeing them everywhere - love them!

Boab Tree – now we are in WA we are seeing them everywhere – love them!

Today we had a very long drive and to fill in the last hour and stop the fighting and whinging before we stopped for lunch at Halls Creek, (after listening to a whole Famous Five audio book) we decided to go round the car and see what everybody’s thoughts are on the trip now that we have been on the road for 8 weeks!! It has gone so fast, but leaving Brisbane two months ago seems like forever too if that is possible!!

Fealy Family Interview

What have we missed the most since being on the trip?

Jack – having good friends – only friends now are the others (pointing to Lex & Tobes) and they’re not really friends.  Icecream, miss playing with my hockey team, the trampoline and my bike.

Toby – my toy cars drawer from home, Patrick and Ashlin.

Lexi – the house and my room, Jayde & Madi, icecream, Jerry & Slinky,

Matt – the chooks (eggs!), icecream, cups of tea/cold beer on the deck, miss Greg (Matt’s massage dude), company of good neighbours

Jess – time to myself!  Keeping up to date with my favourite blogs, having a long hot shower by myself, sitting on the soccer field in the afternoon at school pick up time chatting to my lovely mum friends and going to book club!

What we don’t miss!

Lexi – I don’t know
Tobes – the city & noise
Jack – the roadworks at Louie’s (neighbours) block, all the pollution
Matt – sitting in a fluorescently lit office, reheating dinner to finally eat it at 11pm cold, Louie’s truck noise
Jess – housework, going to work, school routine – lunchboxes etc, road noise

What are our favourite things about the trip?

Lexi – having icecreams, the campsite with the big long pool

Tobes – Uluru, my birthday

Jack – being free – not many people, climbing Uluru, seeing all the sights that most people don’t get to see

Matt – spending every minute with the family exclusively, going to bed and waking up at regular times, seeing something and doing something new everyday, no work, no schedule.

Jess – the thrill of pack up day and heading somewhere new with new things to see – not knowing where we will be next! The live music at the campgrounds, the feeling & sound in the evening at campgrounds of people socializing, relaxing & cooking dinner.
Eating out for dinner or breaky every now & then!

Our least favourite parts of trip

Lexi – I don’t like flies all over me

Toby- having to say goodbye to friends I make

Jack – having to do school work

Matt – paying $2 a litre for petrol

Jess – walking one child all the way over to the toilet at the ablution block only to come back and have another ask to go – grrrrr!!  Or the same child ask to go back again five minutes later!!  The cold nights!  The car/camper breaking down and having to spend a precious week of our now shortened trip in Tennant Creek!

Looking back on our blog posts has helped us realise that we really have seen and done lots of great things in the last two months and even though our trip has been shortened, we are really excited about what our last month on the road will have in store for us – bring on the beach – wahooooooo!

Getting in some 'relaxing' practice in readiness for hitting the beach - this was me in the pool at Lake Argyle Caravan Park yesterday - freezing but beautiful!

Getting in some ‘relaxing’ practice in readiness for hitting the beach – this was me in the pool at Lake Argyle Caravan Park yesterday – freezing but beautiful!

Categories: Camping, Planning, Travel | 3 Comments
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