Today is my birthday. Happy Birthday to me.

It was another mild night, I used 1 blanket, we both slept very well.
We slept in until 7:30am ish. We buggered about camp, said goodbye to Ted and Sue our next door neighbours who have been here since March. Both Jay and Lukey skyped me and wished me a happy birthday. I went riding and left Marg to do her normal stuff, crosswords and reading. I rode down to Surfers, as I approached the Southport YC a girl probably 20s, was on her phone talking and crying very loudly, I assumed that she was having an argument with someone, she was very distressed, do I get involved or just ride past. I rode past.

Got to Surfers, took my weather photo then headed to the Spit along the coastal gravel shared path. As I was sitting at the end of the Spit, my phone rang, it was Dad wishing me a happy birthday. I stirred him by describing the weather, it was beautiful compared to Melbourne's. I then headed to Cafe Rockpool for a coffee, as I was about 100 meters away, I could hear the kids screaming, I rode past Cafe Rockpool, I didn't need that noise. I checked out the coffee places in Labrador as I rode to Angler's Paradise, but they were full, so when I got back to the park's entrance, I continued onto Cafe Rockpool for another try. This time I was in luck, no kids, I had an enjoyable coffee. As I was leaving Mum rang to wish me a happy birthday, then I rode back to camp.
As it is my birthday, we decided to have lunch at Cafe Moccachinos at Australia Fair, Marg had a toasted ham, cheese and tomato sanga, while I had an omelette. I haven't had an omelette for years, this one was YUMMA. We did a bit of shopping then headed back to camp. I assited our new neighbour over the road to back his van, I moved the mighty Navara and this made it easier for him.

About 3pm, I drove Marg to our club (Southport Workers Club), as it's Thursday, it's dinner at the club. Marg wanted to get there early to play the pokies, I went back to camp and arrived at the club about 4pm. Ken and Rosie, our friends from our park and the couple that we visited on Bribie Island are joining us for dinner. At 5:30pm, Ken and Rosie arrived and Marg met us for dinner. Marg and Rosie ordered garlic prawns, while Ken and I had the mixed grill, they were YUMMA. We ate and chatted and Marg and I left about 7pm, while Ken and Rosie stayed and played the pokies. Back at camp, Marg and I watched Big Brother.

The weather today was sunny with a moderate breeze.

Tomorrow nothing is planned apart from a ride.

Today is Friday the 13th.

It was the warmest night so far on the Gold Coast, I started with just a sheet and ended up with 1 blanket, we both slept well.
We slept in until 8:00am ish. I didn't feel like riding, so I didn't. We buggered about camp, watching the taped Sunrise and I counted our small change. We got organised and headed off to South Park for a coffee and some shopping, stopping at the NAB on the way, we had $213 in small change, it all adds up.

This afternoon, our neighbours appeared, all 5 sites of them, with their camper trailers and families. It appears that 3 sites are friends, and they have set up their camps accordingly. The rest of the arvo was spent with Marg doing some skin polishing and then a nanna nap, while I started watching the latest season of Dexter.

Dinner was 'One pan dinner' and very YUMMA, followed by watching Big Brother and I watched another episode of Dexter.

The weather today was cloudy, warm and blowing a gale with gusts upto 56kph.

Tomorrow we are visiting the Bribie Island Gem Show, only 153kms away.

No photos today.

Today the wind just blew.

Last night beat the night before as the warmest night so far on the Gold Coast, I started with just a sheet and ended up with 1 blanket, we both slept fair.
We plan to visit Bribie Island, so I awoke and showered at 6am, Marg was still asleep, when she woke, she felt a tad off colour, so we cancelled out planned trip to the Bribie Island Gem show. Marg went back to sleep until 8;45am then after talking to Lukey, we met him at Helensvale SC as he picked up his air tickets for his honeymoon.
Back at camp for lunch, Marg slowly went downhill, so she went to bed and I watched numerous episodes of Dexter, it is a great series.

Dinner was 'One pan dinner' leftovers and very YUMMA, followed by watching the taped V8 Supercars.

The weather today was cloudy, warm and blowing a gale with gusts upto 48kph.

Tomorrow we plan to see Jobs the movie and then go out for lunch.

No photos today.

Today we went to the flicks and house hunting.

Back to a cooler night, I started with 1 blanket but ended with 2 blankets, I slept well, but Marg didn't, she stills feels second rate.
We planned to go to the flicks with Lukey, then house hunting with Jay and Bec, but cancelled our family lunch, as Marg still isn't flash. Luke was riding his motorbike here about 8:30am, so I was up and showered before then, Marg was still in bed when Lukey arrived, but feeling well enough to come with us to see Jobs, so she quickly dressed and the three of us climbed into the mighty Navara and off to Oz Fair for the 10am show. We arrived about 9;40am and as Oz Fair doesn't open until 10am, you could have shot a cannon off, parking wasn't a problem, we had pole position and walked to the cinemas, where I spent $49 for our 3 tickets and popcorn and drinks. At 9:55am we were allowed into the theatre, we were the only patrons until the adverts started, then there was a flood of 3 other patrons, so the 6 of us watched the movie. I have recently read both books on Steve Jobs, so I have a fair knowledge of his life, I thought that the movie was brilliant. After the movie, we drove back to camp, where Lukey headed home on his bike. Marg and I headed off to meet Jay and Bec at their house inspection, we met them there at 1pm, the house was very nice on a corner block with heaps of lawn and garden to maintain.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon back at camp, with me watching the taped V8s, Lowndesy finished 2nd after leading for a large number of laps towards the end, until his teammate Jamie caught and past him and won. Marg managed a nanna nap.

Dinner was Maccas, it was YUMMA, followed by watching the taped TV series Suits.

The weather today was sunny, warm and with a moderate breeze.

Tomorrow we might head to the Oxley river for a spot of fossicking.

No photos today.

Today I went for a ride and then we had lunch at Oz Fair.

Back to a mild night, I started with a sheet and ended with a blanket, we both slept well, Marg is feeling better. Luckily, while on our trips, we do not get sick that often.
We planned to go fossicking along the Oxley river near Tyalgum, NSW about 75kms away, but the forecast was for rain, which wasn't the deal breaker. The deal breaker was the forecast of a gusty storm in the afternoon, I wanted to be back at camp, just in case, so we decided to give it a miss until another day, probably next March.
About 9:30am, I went riding in very light drizzle, by the time that I arrived at Surfers, I had to put on my wet weather jacket as the drizzle was getting heavier. The good thing was that there were hardly any walkers on the shared path this morning. At Surfers there were a handful of brave souls on the beach and the shared path. On my way to the Spit, my $2 bell finally died from overuse in the past 6 weeks. The end of the Spit was deserted, strange about that. I felt like a coffee on my way home, so I hoped that Cafe Rockpool would be empty, it was, as it was still raining, I was the only customer. The owner did say Mondays are slow, but with rain, they are very slow. Anyway, my coffee was lovely and as I sipped it, I thought that Marg and I could have lunch at Moccachinos at Oz Fair and I could buy another bell. SO I didn't ride to Labrador where the Georges hang out, but rode straight back to camp. Marg was quite happy to have lunch at Oz Fair, so after I showered, we drove there, had lunch (Marg - Toasted ham, cheese and tomato sanga, Me - another omelette), then visited Stacks where I bought 3 bells @ $2 each.
We spent the afternoon back in the fiver, watching various taped shows (Marg is watching the current season of the Mole and I am watching the current season of Suits).

Dinner was meatloaf and vegies. It was YUMMA, followed by watching the taped TV series Suits.

The weather today was rainy with showers off and on all day. So far, no windy storm.

Tomorrow is our last Bingo until next year.

Today, it was Bingo at The Southport Sharks, but first we had a storm last night.

About 8pm last night, I received an email from Col on Geezer David's forum warning us of a storm approaching SE Queensland. Marg and I checked the radar and decided that it looked pretty serious, SO we rolled up the awning and covered the bits and pieces with a tarp which was weighed down with our bags of rocks. I know those rocks would come in handy, eventually.
We went inside knowing that Huey could send whatever he had at us and we would be safe. I noticed on the Gold Coast seaway which is about 1 kilometer away from us, that at 10:48pm, while we were in bed reading, it was blowing 81kph from the North. What was that sign from the 70s "if this van is rocking, don't come knocking" well the wind was doing it. We received about 18mm of rain overnight but by morning it had cleared. Now back to normal reporting.

It was a very mild night, I used 1 blanket, we both slept very well.
I set the alarm for 7:00am, we can't be late for Bingo. We got up and organised and were ready to leave by 8:25am arriving at The Sharks about 8:30am. The carpark was chockers this morning, there was a retirement seminar on. We bought our 2 full sets of bingo games ($46), found our 'usual' table for 2 and prepared our bingo games, this takes approx 30 minutes. In the meantime, Marg had ordered a muffin and coffee, she had the muffin, I had the coffee. At bang on 9:30am, it was eyes down and into it. I won a game which paid $15, I was rapt, but Marg didn't win a game, she let the team down.

Summary of our 7 weeks of Bingo:

• Week 1 - Outlay $46 won $50 - Profit $4
• Week 2 - Outlay $46 won $0 - Lost $46
• Week 3 - Outlay $46 won $0 - Lost $46
• Week 4 - Outlay $46 won $82 - Profit $36
• Week 5 - Outlay $46 won $30 - Lost $16
• Week 6 - Outlay $46 won $120 - Profit $74
• Week 7 - Outlay $46 won $15 - Lost $31
• Summary: lost $25 over 7 weeks. That was pretty good, as we were prepared to lose $46 * 7 = $322.

When bingo finished we drove back to camp and had lunch. While at bingo, I received a message saying that Marg's dress for Lukey's wedding is ready, SO after lunch, we drove to South Park for a coffee and a block of XXXX Gold as my supplies have expired. On the way home, we called in at Trudie Fischer fashions where Marg tried on her dress and jacket and was rapt. Back at camp, Marg tried on the dress, her shoes (which she bought from Amazon while on this trip) and jacket, she looked great and I took photos of her BUT they will not appear on our website until the wedding next April. As she doesn't want anyone to see them before the wedding (it's a girl thing).

During the afternoon, we had a couple of the storm cells come through, one in particular, had hail, luckily, it didn't cause any damage. Due to the weather, I didn't ride today, hopefully, tomorrow.

Dinner was chicken with sticks up their arses and vegies. It was very YUMMA, followed by watching Big Brother.

Tomorrow nothing is planned hopefully, I will go riding.

Today, it was riding and visiting South Park.

It was a mild night, I used 1 blanket but pulled on my 2nd blanket near dawn, we both slept very well.
I awoke just before 6:30am and put on my headphones and listened to Richard, Bridge and Spida on 92.5 Gold FM, I finally got up about 7:30am, Marg woke and I put on the taped Kochie's Sunrise for her. After brekky, I changed into cycleman and headed off towards Surfers, leaving Marg quite happy laying in bed watching Kochie. There were the normal amount of people out walking the shared paths relative to the sunny weather and being a week day. I stopped at Surfers in the normal spot, took a couple of photos then headed towards the Spit. Usual pedrestrians doing their normal stupid things, eg: I roll up behind them, ring my bell, call out 'passing', the one on the left moves to the left, the one on the right moves off the path to the right and then without warning walks across the path to the left. Another example, is a surfer carrying his board wwalking along the path, just stops dead in the middle of the path turning around with his board now completely blocking the path. You come to expect people to do anything and everything BUT the majority are good. It's always the minority that stuff things. Rant over, rode out to the end of the Spit, the Uni whale watching people were there again, counting whales but the whales were a couple of kilometers offshore, they had binoculars etc. I didn't. Left the Spit and headed back past the Southport YC, over the Nerang river here they are now constructing the new shared path, by sinking steel pylons beside the existing bridge. Next year, when we arrive in March, I would expect the new shared path bridge to be completed. You will have to wait until then. I stopped at Cafe Rockpool for a coffee before turning around at Angler's Paradise.

Back at camp, I showered and setup our awning again with the 3 sides attached, as there are currently no more storm warnings and we leave on Sunday. After lunch, we headed over to South Park for a coffee and some food shopping. In the meantime, Luke asked us if e wanted to atch Mont's swimming lesson tonight, so we will be at the swimming centre. Mont reakky impressed us with her swimming ability, she is coming along very well.

As we went to watch Mont, dinner was something easy, so we had pizza slices. It was very YUMMA, followed by watching Big Brother.

The weather today was sunny and cloudless with some very strong gusts.

Tomorrow nothing is planned hopefully, I will go riding.

Today, it was riding, visiting Cavill Mall and dinner at our club.

It was a mild night, I started with just the sheet, and layered upto to 2 blankets near dawn, we both slept very well.
We awoke just before 6:30am and I turned on Kochie for Marg to watch, as I got up and went on the internet. Another magic morning, SO for something completely different, I went riding. My trusty treadley is in need of a major overhaul, this is my old bike which only comes touring around Oz with us, my good bike stays at home. Anyway this bike, the chain has stretched and slips on nearly every cog, when I apply any pressure. After tomorrow's ride which will be my last ride this trip, I won't be riding it again until after its overhaul. Today's ride was normal, down to Surfers via the shared path along the esplanade, where I stop and take each day's weather photo. On the way to the Spit, I photographed a custom car, it looks like a miniature Ferrari 40 and is called a F39. It has Ferrari badges everywhere, BUT the rego sticker says "Custom Car". Check the photos.
At the end of the Spit, the Uni whale counters were there again, but it was too hazy to see the horizon, but they will still stay until 1pm. After talking to them, I headed off to Cafe Rockpool for a coffee and chunk of choccy mud cake, it was YUMMA. Headed upto my normal turnaround point at Angler's Paradise, I was a bit disappointed as there were no Georges about today. Got back to camp where Marg decided we would visit Cavill Avenue, as we have not been there for a few years before it was a mall.

We drove along the esplanade looking for an empty car spot, guess what, there weren't any, SO we parked in the underground carpark at Centro Surfers. We walked along Cavill Mall to the Surfers Paradise Boulevard, but with the Light Rail construction going on the Boulevard was empty, SO we walked back along the Mall through the shopping area at Soul and was very disappointed. Surfers, years ago had a certain 'thing', now that 'thing' has gone, probably because I am older. The Mall is covered in food shops and it caters for the young. We were both glad that we visited Cavill but probably won't go back for another few years. I paid my $10 for about an hours parking and then headed home, via the Spit.
We parked the mighty Navara at the Spit and walked down to the 'dog' beach just beside the Spit where I ride. I noticed a trimaran approaching the seaway, so we walked along the seawall and sat on the rocks to watch it go through the seaway. It was blowing quite strong for the North, so it was pretty straight forward sailing into the seaway, they stuck to the north side and eventually got becalmed from the lee of South Straddy Island. After heading across the seaway, they picked up the breeze and continued on their way to Southport YC. We arrived back at camp and sat under the awning, Marg watched "The Mole" on her iPad mini, while I watched "Suits" on my iPad, which is Marg's hand me down, but it works.
About 3:45pm, we headed over to our club (Southport Workers) for dinner, but first, Marg had to play the pokies and I am sitting in the Sports bar updating this and watching the America's Cup, those 'cats' are awesome. It appears that NZ is only one race away from winning the Cup. Go Kiwis.

This is our 7th and last meal at our club until next year. I may as well order my 7th mixed grill and I bet Marg will order her 7th garlic Prawns. We love variety. It was YUMMA. Watched Big Brother back at camp.

The weather today was sunny and cloudless with gusty Northerlies.

Tomorrow nothing is planned hopefully, I will go for my last ride this trip.

Today, it was riding, very slowly started packing up.

It was a mild night, I started with just the sheet, and layered upto to 2 blankets near dawn, we both slept very well.
We awoke just before 7:15am and I turned on Kochie for Marg to watch, as I got up and went on the internet. Another magic morning, SO for something completely different, I went riding.
Today was my last ride while we are on this trip. My trusty treadley is really buggered all the cogs now jump. I had to walk up one steep rise, as I couldn't find a cog which didn't jump. I did my normal ride over to Surfers for the weather photo then over to the Spit, where I came across the bogged water truck which had blocked the shared path about 100 meters before the Spit. About halfway along the Spit, there was a dude sitting there playing his bongos. I stopped at Cafe Rockpool for my last coffee, then continued onto my turnaround point at Angler's Paradise. Even though it was my last day of riding, George and his mates were nowhere to be seen. Bastards.

This is the summary of my rides for this trip.

• Townsville - 365.5kms in total - ave 36.5km per ride.
• Dicky Beach - 780.3kms in total - ave 33.9km per ride.
• Gold Coast - 1,208.3kms in total - ave 36.6km per ride.



• Total ridden 2,354.1kms ave 35.7km per ride.

This afternoon, we drove to South Park for some food shopping and didn't stop for a coffee. Back at camp, I started to slowly pack up various bits and pieces, then we sat around in the shade watching TV episodes on our iPads.

Dinner was Quiche Lorraine, which was yumma, followed by watching Big Brother.

The weather today was sunny and cloudless with gusty North Westerlies.

Tomorrow is pack up day and going out for dinner with our family.

Today was avery sad day, as we said goodbye to our boys and their family, as we leave the Gold Coast in the morning.

It was a mild night, I started with just the sheet, and layered upto to 2 blankets near dawn, we both slept very well.
We awoke just before 6:30am, I got up to wash the awning, while Marg managed to go back to sleep. My plan was to get up early and as the awning would be wet from the overnight dew, it would be easy to clean, only problem was , there was no dew last night, it was dry, so I washed the awning anyway and then did the side of the fiver. About 7:30am, I topped up the mighty Navara with fuel and air. We spent the morning just pottering about the campsite and watching the influx of families (the park is now chockers with families). During the afternoon, we packed up most of what we could, only leaving the bare essentials for tomorrow.

We left camp at 4:20pm, as we had arranged a family dinner at Sizzlers Loganholme at 5pm. We were first to arrive and within 5 minutes we (Jay, Bec, Luke, Jo, Mont, Marg and me) were all present, so we paid our money and 'pigged out'. I took a particular liking to the pasta and scallop potatoes, also the icecream with all the toppings and sauces were given a big nudge by us. Sizzler isn't a cheap place but occasionally its a good place to 'pig out'.

This was the sad time when we said our goodbyes. We wont see the boys again before next March.

Tomorrow we are driving 174kms to Casino for 2 nights.