Wow! The last Month of the year!! The past Month we have said goodbye to a few more friends. The first to leave were Rob & Dot.
They have been in the Park for 4 years and have decided it is time to travel again! From the comments on Facebook they are enjoying themselves! We gave them a good send off, dinner at the Exchange Hotel. It was a great night, beautiful food, great company and lots of laughs. Our Mates Carolyn & Charlie have moved into their little cottage which is giving them the opportunity to do some work on their Motorhome. They love their Harley!!
The very next week Julie, Daryl & Kasey packed up to head south for Christmas, with a few stops on the way. Another farewell party! Hei & Julie cooked us all a Vietnamese meal under the Tiki Tourer awning. Yum!!
Unfortunately Tui was working on both occasions. He is still working on the national Parks & Wild Life Roads with an 11 days on 3 days off roster. Jude usually drives up the middle weekend and stays the night to break it a bit. The roads are pretty steep and not very wide. A couple of oops days.
There was a Bee problem where the boys had to unlock the gate, Tui is allergic to bees so something had to be done
For you Kiwi’s!! We know you will find this hard to believe but over here they build walk ways for the opossums to cross the road!!
Tui knocks off on Thursday 18th December for 2 weeks with a little more to do after Christmas, then who knows what’s next.
His days off it’s flying every chance he can get. Now a qualified Mircolight Pilot and can take passengers.
Then it was farewell to Brooke & Paul, also heading south to family for Christmas. This time a Barbie send off & Tui was home!! Another great night! Sense a bit of a pattern here we feel!! LOL!!
1st of December arrived and Jude was on a mission to decorate Tiki Tourer for the Christmas spirit. Out came the little old Christmas tree and the Christmas lights for under the awning!
We had our first tropical rain last Saturday, luckily Tui’s days off as we had a major leak in Tiki Tourer! The drain holes on one of the windows were blocked so in the dark and rain Tui had the torch and hose flushing them out while Jude was inside with the towels mopping up!!
Jude & Carolyn have been having their girlie days every Monday (Carolyn’s day off) with the odd trip to Cairns & Port Douglas.
Guess now is quite a good time to reflect on the last 12 months, in abbreviated form of course! After spending a year in MacKay (some fun times while we were there) we were actually on the road again (January). After only a few days off slowly making our way to Emerald, Tui was once again in the workforce, carting cotton. It was great having our mates Don & Sydney from “The Park” in MacKay working there too. While there we bought a 2004 Suzuki Vitara from the Gold Coast, going well! During that job we also did a stint in Moree, NSW, leaving Tiki Tourer at Emerald and driving down in the truck, staying at a Motel.
May saw us back on the road again! Wending our way to Jericoe (free camp by the Jordon River, great spot) where we heard about the Ilfracome Van Park! So glad we stayed there, heaps of fun!
Longreach, Stockman’s Hall of Fame, worthwhile visit, especially Outbacks Stockman’s Show! Winton, next stop, stayed at the “Long Waterhole” free camp and visited the “Matilda Centre”, Musical Fence, Truck Museum.
Through to Hughenden, camping at the Showgrounds, $6 a night, and visited Porcupine Gorge.
It had been 18months since we had seen out mates, Jock & Annie, so we spent 4 nights at Charters Towers with them. Always fun!
Traveling up the Gregory Developmental Road only 42kms we stayed at Fletcher Creek, free camp. Also a great spot and the road is greatly improved since the last time we had traveled it. However we had our first blowout on the trailer. Heading to wards the Atherton Tablelands the next camp was Arthur River Rest Area. Short drive up the road to Millstream Falls & the quaint town of Ravenshoe. Great place to get tyres!!
We absolutely love The Tablelands! Stayed at the Lakeside Motel & Caravan Park, Yungaburra, right on the edge of Lake Tinnaroo. Bliss! Lots of exploring from here. Too many to mention. For further info go to the relevant Blog!
Next camp, 1km north of Mt Molloy, Rifle Creek Rest Area, donation only. From here we were intending to do the infamous Cape York in the Suzuki, a camping trip. However we had house battery problems so drove back to Mareeba & stayed at the Mareeba Rodeo Grounds @ $17 a night with power and water to sort it out.
The stay here lasted much longer than anticipated, leaving in August, however we achieved a lot and spent a lot. New house batteries, Bull bar, spot lights & Snorkel for the Suzuki, new cupboard for Jude’s washing machine etc. Tui worked carting cane up & down the Rex Range for a few months. Had a surprise visit from Philip & Phillippa, from Christchurch, who we had met 3 years previously at a free camp in WA. They were over on holiday again, checked out our blog and found us. Fantastic!!
As he has always loved flying Tui decided to do a Microlight Flight. End result, hours of lessons and now has his license (see above) & a Microlight! Hence a move to Mossman to be near the airstrip. The decision on where to stay took a few days to sort out! Pinnacle Van Park, Wonga Beach, 2 nights. Nice park but expensive. It was here that the Suzuki pulled Tiki Tourer out of a bog! Classic!! back up the range to check out Julatten, no phone service and no room for our big rig. Back to Mossman to the Riverside Van Park where we still are.
September, Jude did a spur of the moment trip to NZ, surprising her sister. Cold, wet and got the Flu a couple of days in. Great to see family but didn’t get a chance to catch up with friends. Then October Jude’s sister paid us a surprise visit in Mossman, hiring a Motorhome so they could do some exploring. Had some great days with them, however a couple of days in and Tui had another job, his current one, so we couldn’t travel with them. Buggar! Oh nearly forgot! Finally got our new awning fitted. Ordered in June, finally fitted end of September. Still have side walls to collect. We have made lots of life long friends everywhere we have been and treasure everyone of them! Such a good life really!!
Well guess that is about it. Phew!! Jude would like to take this opportunity of thanking her loyal customers in her headset business and looks forward to continued business in 2015. We would also like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas & a prosperous New Year.
Catch ya in 2015!!
Have fun out there and remember “laugh more, live longer”!!!!
P.S. For those of you who check out our “See where we are” link and have noticed weird tracking, the reason is Tui takes our GPS locator “SPOT” when he goes flying as a safety precaution, if there is a problem we have his GPS co-ordinates.
Hi guys, sounds like your still loving the life style,great reading your posts,we still have the dream and can see the light at the end of the tunnel,have a great Christmas will talk soon.