Day 112 - Thursday 21st July.

• Weather: A milder night, it was 7.9° on my outside sensor at 6:30am and it reached 23.4° at 2pm. Very nice.
• Wind: 10 - 30kph SW.

I slept in until 6:30am, it was great that we didn't have to drive anywhere, so we just took it very easy. About 10:45am we were dressed and drove off to Kawana Shoppingworld to do some food shopping, we also had coffees at Michels. I was disappointed that Rachel wasn't there, she was the coffee maker last year. During the day, we did many loads of washing as it had grown over the past 2 weeks on the road.
About 4;30pm, we walked next door to Bob and Val for a happy hour. It was very pleasant.

Tomorrow, we will plan to do much the same without the loads of washing. Oh yes, I nearly forgot. Tomorrow is car and van washing day, you are allowed to wash them using a hose with a trigger nozzle, before 10am and after 4pm and not at all on Mondays.

Day 113 - Friday 22nd July.

• Weather: Down to 9.1° at 5:30am, upto a beautiful 22.2° with cloudless blue sky.
• Wind: 10 - 45kph SW.

Well, it was a mild night, only needed my blankets. Slept well.

It appears that our last 2 weeks of 'nearly' non-stop driving has finally caught up with us and today, we didn't leave the camp at all. I even had a nanna nap, which was so nice. I did wash the car this morning, finished before 10am, as there are water restrictions, which are a little bit weird. The water restrictions are Monday no hoses, all other days hoses before 10am and after 4pm. We have finished all the washing that built up as we drove across the top of Oz.

About 5pm we went next door to Bob and Val again for happy hour and met Hugh and Ann from Wagga. It was a pleasant happy hour.
Dinner was 'mini pizzas' and was yumma as usual. We watched TV for a while and I was in bed by 9pm.

Day 114 - Saturday 23rd July.

• Weather: Down to 10.1° at 5:30am, upto a beautiful 20.2° with an odd cloud.
• Wind: 10 - 35kph SW - SE.

Well, it was another mild night, only needed one blanket. Slept well.

We both felt better this morning, so are taking it easy, we left camp about 10:30am and drove to Kawana Shoppingworld for a coffee and to do some food shopping. We visited Michel's Patterise and I was rapt to catch up with Rachel. Rachel works part time at Michel's she is the coffee maker and puts a nice chocy pattern on the foam. The Kawana store is the only Michel's that we have visited around Oz that does that. I told Rachel this, this morning and she probably thinks that I am some sort of 'sicko'. I am. Just to add to my 'sicko' image, who takes photos of their wife shopping at Woollies? I wonder.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at Autobarn and bought some metal polish for the mighty Navara's front bumper and bull bar, as it has slight stains from the bore water. It took me about an hour of rubbing this afternoon in the sun and it looks a lot better.
While I am updating the website, I am watching and listening to last night's LIVE coverage of the Tour de France. I tape the full 4 hours plus on my laptop and then watch and fast forward it the following day.

Go Cadel.

Late afternoon update: Marg won at the Pokies, not much, but a win is a win is a win is a win is a win.

Day 115 - Sunday 24th July.

• Weather: It was 5.7° on my outside snesor at 7:15am. The forecasst is for 23° today and all this week.
• Wind: Currently calm.

Well, at 4am, I had both my blankets on and was still cold, so I got my sleepingbag out and was then warm as.

I awoke at 1:15am and my laptop was taping the live overnight Tour de France stage, I just had to watch Andy Schleck finish and lose his overall lead to Cadel.

How good was Cadel's Time Trail ride. Bloody Brilliant.

Mid morning, our son Luke rang to say, if we weren't doing anything he would ride his motorbike up here to visit us. Naturally, we told him to come up, he arrived about 11:30am and we wandered over to the shopping strip and had lunch at the bakery. It was great to see Lukey and he left about 2pm, before the afternoon chill sets in. It was approx 340kms from his home on the Gold Coast to us and return.

After we said goodbye to Lukey, Marg walked to the Dicky Beach Surf club and played the pokies, while I stayed back at camp and took some photos of the ships offshore.

Day 116 - Monday 25th July.

• Weather: It was 2.7° on my outside sensor at 6:30am. At 1:30pm it was 20.7° today and should get to 23° all this week.
• Wind: Currently calm.

It was a cold night, but I had my sleepingbag so I was very warm.

We both awoke about 7am and laid in bed and watched Sunrise on Ch7. We decided to go to Underwater World in Mooloolaba.. We left camp about 10am and drove the 15kms to Mooloolaba, it is about 2kms past Kawana Shoppingworld. There weren't many cars in the carpark, we managed to park in the shade and walked over the entrance. It was $33 per adult and $27 for an old fart, so it cost us $27. The aquarium was very interesting, we sat and watched the seal show and then checked out the rest of the aquarium. Near the exit, there were some nice shops along the wharf area. So we walked past and into most of the shops and bought some fudge and ice creams for lunch, very healthy. I noticed that the Mooloolaba Yacht Club had its office on the wharf, so I walked and inquired about a guy 'Whitey' who I have known since the late 60s and used to sail against at Black Rock Yacht Club. It appears the lady I spoke too, is Whitey's neighbour, so I have his mobile number and I will try and ring him and organise a coffee and a chat, before we leave Dicky Beach.

Day 117 - Tuesday 26th July.

• Weather: Another cold night, down to 3.5° on my outside sensor at 7:15am. It reached 23.9° at 12:24pm today.
• Wind: W - N 10 to 30kph, windy during the afternoon, then dies late arvo.

It was a cold night, but I had my sleepingbag so I was very warm.

We both awoke about 7am and laid in bed and watched Sunrise on Ch7, this is becoming a norm. We buggered about camp until 11am, when we walked over the road to the Dicky Beach shopping strip and sat in the sun and had a coffee, then visited the butchers and bought a T Bone and some rissoles for a BBQ tonight. Back at camp, we went onto the Geocaching site and find that there was a cache about 100 meters from camp, so we went looking for it. We found it and while looking for it Marg cut her hand on a bit of rusty wire, SO off to the Emergency Dept for a tetanus shot. All done. She will live. I don't know if that is good or bad.

It was such a nice afternoon, cloudless sky about 23° that after Cadel's great win, I thought that it was time to take my bike off the fiver and go for a ride. The bike path here is brilliant, I rode along the beach bikepath from Dicky Beach northward to the bridge over the Currimundi Creek, where I returned back to camp. I noticed that the bikepath went over the bridge and further northward, so next ride I will go further and see where I end up. That is why riding is some much fun. You just ride anywhere and everywhere and I keep well away from the 'main' roads.

About 5:30pm, I fired up our built in BBQ on the fiver and cooked the T Bone and rissoles, it only took two stubbies and tasted very YUMMA.

Day 118 - Wednesday 27th July.

• Weather: Another cold night, down to 3° on my outside sensor at 7:25am. It reached 21° at 12:39pm today.
• Wind: ESE 10 to 20kph, windy during the afternoon, then dies late arvo.

It was a cold night, but I had my sleepingbag so I was very warm.

We both awoke about 7am and laid in bed and watched Sunrise on Ch7, this is the norm. We buggered about camp until 9am, when we walked over to the Dicky Beach Surf Club, as it was BINGO day starting at 9:30am. We garbbed a table and Val our next door neighbour also joined us. We outlaid about $70 and got ourselves organised and ready to start. Marg and Val didn't win a cent, I won the door prize, which we couldn't use because we won't be there next week and I also had 2 wins in bingo, ($65 and $10), so we left in front.

After bingo, we visited our friendly butcher again and bought kebabs for tonight's dinner. We had lunch and then I decided to go for a ride to the Lighthouse at the entrance of the Mooloolaba River, about 16 kilometers away. The bikepaths around here are tremendous, they meander through scrub and small trees and small streets with next to no traffic. there were numerous signs along the foreshore, warning you about unexploded ammunitions, a bit of a worry. At the lighthouse there were 2 birdmen paragliding. They were unreal.
By dinner time, we were both feeling buggered, so we postponed the kebabs until tomorrow night.

Day 119 - Thursday 28th July.

• Weather: Another cold night, down to 3.5° on my outside sensor at 7:30am. It reached 20.1° at 12:47pm today.
• Wind: S to SE 10 to 20kph, windy during the afternoon, then dies late arvo.

It was another cold night, but I had my sleepingbag so I was very warm.

We both awoke about 7am and laid in bed and watched Sunrise on Ch7, this is the norm. I washed the van except for under the awning and also emptied the shitter. About 10:30am we drove over to Kawana Waters Shoppingworld to do some shopping and then I drove Marg over to the Lighthouse and showed her where I rode yesterday, you could say 'She loved it' but I won't.

We had a quiet afternoon, we both sat in the sun and read and later Marg went over to Surf club and played the pokies while I laid on our bed in the sun, and fell asleep. Life is certainly Tough.
We had the kebabs tonight on the BBQ and they were YUMMA.

No photos were taken today.

Day 120 - Friday 29th July.

• Weather: A mild night, down to 7.7° on my outside sensor at 7:45am. It reached 21.6° at 12:36pm today.
• Wind: S 20 to 30kph, windy during the afternoon, then dies late arvo.

It was a mild night, but my sleepingbag was still OK.

We both awoke about 7am and laid in bed and watched Sunrise on Ch7, this is the norm.
Today, we plan to look for caches at Moolooolaba, so we left camp at 10:05am and headed for the spit at Mooloolaba. Our first cache was in the park at the spit and hidden under tree roots. We found it. Next cache was out the front of the Mooloolaba shops on the Mooloolaba Esplanade on the beach side. We found it and then had a coffee at Gloria Jeans and then visited a couple of shops. Our last cache was located at the HMAS Brisbane memorial. We found it, so it was a great day, we found the 3 caches.

We had lunch back at camp about 1pm and after lunch, I decided to go for a ride, back to Point Cartwright lighthouse via the coastal bikepath. About 2kms from camp, I nearly ran over a snake, first impression, it was a Fierce snake aka Inland Taipan (The world's most deadliest snake). see photo. After getting over the shock, I continued my ride to the Mooloolaba River spit, opposite where we were looking for caches. It was 33kms and another great day for a ride.

Ok, it wasn't a Fierce snake, looking at the photo, it appears to be a legless lizard.

We had happy hour with our neighbours (Bob and Val) and after dinner, Marg and I watched the Lucille Ball movie "The Long Long Trailler", it is about a couple who are living in their rig and she collects rocks. Sounds familiar. It is quite funny.

Day 121 - Saturday 30th July.

• Weather: A mild night with some light rain, not enough to be a worry though. Cool morning with a cold SE breeze.
• Wind: S 10 to 30kph, cool in the breeze.

It was a mildish night, but my sleepingbag was still OK.

We both slept in until some ungodly time of 8:30am. Unbelieveable.
My friend 'Whitey' rang me last night and we agreed to meet at 10am at his place. I arrived there with one minute to spare. He and Barb live on a canal in Mooloolaba with yachts and boats moored everywhere. It was great catching up with Whitey and Barb, we used to sail against each other at Black Rock Yacht Club during the 70s. You can see from the photos below that neither of us have changed at all.

Day 122 - Sunday 31st July.

• Weather: A mild night with no rain. It reached 21.8° at 12:44pm.
• Wind: SE 10 to 30kph, cool in the breeze.

It was another mildish night, but my sleepingbag is starting to be too warm.

We both slept in until approx 8am, it was market day, so we left camp about 9:15am and drove to Bulcock St (main street of Caloundra), that is where the market is, they close off 2 streets of Bulcock probably about 8oo meteres long of street stalls. We parked near the beach about 100 meters from the top end of the markets. We walked down the middle of the road, as the stalls are set up on both sides of the street. We have decided that most markets are very similar and it is very rare that there is anything that we must have. Today, there were fudge and licorice stalls and we did not buy any, how is that for great will power. Back at the car after the market, it was time to go cache hunting.

I had recorded 6 caches in the vicinity to try and find. Cache 1 was at Shelley Beach, we found that one hidden under a tree. Cache 2 was at the Lighthouse amongst the houses, we found that and also took some photos as the views towards the Glasshouse mountains were stunning. Cache 3 was titled 'Eye in the sky' and it was near Woollies but closer to a CCTV camera, we looked everywhere for about 20 minutes BUT could not find it. So we moved onto the next one, which was at the Caloundra RSL cannon, again we spent 20 minutes looking for it but to no avail. As we got back into the car and checked Harry for the next co-ordiantes, Harry had 'died' his battery was flat, so we didn't look for the last 2 caches, as we wouldn't be able to locate them. Maybe another day. So today, our score was found 2, couldn't find 2 and didn't look for 2.
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing back at camp, reading in the sun and watching Marg sieve the wash for sapphires, she has found some more, I also recharged Harry's battery. He is now back in the land of the living.

Day 123 - Monday 1st August.

• Weather: A mild night, but cooler around dawn, it was cold. It reached 21.6° at 11:36am.
• Wind: SE 10 to 20kph, cool in the breeze.

It was another mildish night, but I had to pull on my sleepingbag around dawn.

We both slept in until approx 7:45am, we decided to go and look for caches including the one that we couldn't find yesterday. We visited the park about 200 meters from our caravan park and found that cache. The next cache was yerterday's 'the eye in the sky' cache which we found, it was a magnetic rectangle that was stuck to the metal pole a most ingenius cache. Next cache was in Ben Bennett park, we found the one in the north east area but couldn't find the second cache near the lagoon.

So we left the caches feeling happy and drove to Kawana Waters for lunch.
We had organised to have dinner with Whitey and Barb, but Barb wasn't feeling flash, so it was postponed until we are back here next year. To compensate, Marg and I went over to the Dicky Beach Surf Club to play the pokies, we lost, drink some beer, I did and we had dinner. It was Yumma.

Day 124 - Tuesday 2nd August.

• Weather: A mild night, but cooler around dawn, it was cold. It reached 21.7° at 11:30am.
• Wind: SE 15 to 25kph tends to lighten towards evenings.

It was another mildish night, but I used my sleepingbag all night.

We both slept in until approx 7:00am, then laid in bed weatching 'Sunrise'. A quiet day, about mid morning we drove over to Kawana Shoppingworld and did some food shopping and had a coffee at Michel's still the best Cappacinos in Oz. Back at camp, leisurely started to pack up, as we go to Broadwater Tourist Park tomorrow.

I did rebook our site for 4 weeks for next year.

At 4pm, I finished washing the van under the awning area, which I couldn't do last week. Dinner tonight is again at the Dicky Beach Surf club, no washing up to do.

• Weather: Last night was back to clear skies and cool. At 6:30am it was 6.4°. At Gold Coast seaway about 1 kilometer across the water, it got to 22.1° at 12:18pm.
• Wind: Calm.
• Daily distance travelled with fiver: 178 kms. Total towed this trip: 13,920 kms.
• Next G Mobile reception at Broadwater Tourist park, Southport: Yes.
• Next G 'Blue Toaster' reception with or without external aerial: Yes without aerial.
• Telstra WiFi (MF-30) modem: Yes

Marg was feeling a bit second rate today, she was up about 5am, we buggered about camp and packed up, but there was no need to rush, as we wanted to leave after 9am to avoid the rush. We left at 9:22am and while Marg rested and slept off and on, I drove to Southport. The traffic was flowing, the Gateway bridge was flowing, there were no hold ups at all. One bit of excitement was being passed by various Army APCs and other trucks, they were sitting on 100kph, we were sitting on 95kph.

We arrived at Broadwater tourist park at 11:40am and while Marg went to bed and slept for a few hours, I did a full setup, with awning, awning floor, sat dish and clothesline. Mid afternoon, Marg woke up feeling a lot better and I had finished setting up camp. So all good.

No photos today.