We awoke about 6:30am, got showered and started packing up and hit the road at 9:01am.

We entered the Bruce Hwy at the Caloundra onramp, headed along the Pacific Coast Way aka Bruce Hwy. We entered the Gateway and went over the Gateway Bridge and continued along the M1 to the Smith St exit. The traffic was excellent, no stoppages at all. We arrived at Southport just on 11:10am, even though Tom told us at the start that our ETA was 11:06am, so very close.
I paid $1,777.98 for 43 nights and we setup on 'our site' (#88). We did a full setup, awning, 3 walls, grass matting flooring, clothesline, caterpillar, water and Sat Dish.
We are absolutely knackered.

Tonight was frozen meals. They were nice.

Tomorrow is BINGO. Yippee.

It's our eldest son's birthday. Happy birthday, Jay. We love you heaps.

Another pleasant day - weather wise.

We were buggered after yesterday's setting up camp, so we turned the lights out last night at 8PM and set the alarm for 7:30am.

Needless to say, we woke before the alarm, after a big sleep. We got up about 7:00am, showered, dressed and got ourselves organised and were on our way by 8:20am.

We arrived at Sharks just after it opened at 8:30 and walked in and I claimed our table, while Marg went and ordered a coffee for me, while she ordered a juice and muffin for herself. I bought our normal set of bingo, which consisted of 2 sets of the normal games which comprises 40 games, plus 2 sets of jackpots plus 2 undercovers plus 2 lucky numbers for an even $50.
By half time, we hadn't won a thing, as usual, close, as in only 1 number but no cigar. After half time, I was playing to my usual form and didn't win anything. Marg was on a roll and won $30, while I didn't win a cent. Bugger.

Our Bingo summary after our 10th appearance, paid $50 won $30. Outlaid to date: $500 and won so far: $422 current LOSS is $78.

After bingo, we drove over to the Helensvale shops, and met Lukey and Mase for lunch, then back to Lukey to pick up the Bubble, which had a holiday at Lukeys while we went to Dicky Beach. The Bubble missed us. Lukey and I also removed our hitch.
Back at camp, we managed to get a parking spot out the front of the park, so the Bubble parked there, while I drove the mighty Navara to Storage King, dropped off the empty cardboard tea chests that we packed my 'toy cars' in and brought back the solar lights, which I place around our Sat dish and our portable wardrobe. While I 'erected' the portable wardrobe, Marg again succumbed to that very infectious disease "nanna nap bug".

Dinner was KFC and quite nice.

Tomorrow, Marg plans to do Sweet FA or less and I plan to ride early morning.

Another pleasant day - weather wise.

We both slept well and I awoke and went riding, while Marg slept in.

I left camp at 7:22am and headed north to my northerly turnaround point at Lands End, stopped at our Apartment and took some photos. Continued onto Surfers, being the weekend, the place was jumping, took my normal weather photos at Surfers before heading back north along the gravel Federation Walk out to the Spit, where I rode south along the Spit then turned around and continued out to the end of the seawall Spit and took a few photos, before heading directly back to camp, as Lukey had texted me, saying that he and Mase were heading over to our camp. My timing was simply brilliant, as I rode into camp, Lukey and Mase with his toy lawn mower were walking up our street, with Mase mowing the road. I arrived back at camp at 9:31am after 36.3kms.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 36.3kms is my 33rd ride at Southport for a total of 1,146.9kms and gives me a total of 237.5kms at Dicky, giving me a total of 1,384.4kms so far in Qld.
Wildlife count while riding: Today's count was NIL.

While Lukey spoke to his mum, Mase played in the sand beside our site and I went and had a shower. Boy, have I missed the pressure of the Broadwater amenities. They are brilliant, again I was tempted to stay under the water for hours. Alas, after 10 minutes, I was back at camp. Lukey, Mase and I walked up to Cafe Rockpool without Marg, who didn't want to join us, SO she didn't. Mase 'scootered' there and back, well most of the way. We had coffee and Mase had raisin toast, Kamal looked after us. After eating and drinking, we stopped at the swings and Mase played very happily in the huge sand pit that surrounds the swings area. Back at camp, Lukey and Mase stayed and chatted for over 30 minutes.

After Mase and Lukey left, Marg and I headed to the Runaway Bay shopping centre. We had coffee and donuts at Donut King, we visited a few shops and finished by doing a large food shop at Coles. It was 3pm, before we realised the time, while Marg caught that dreaded 'nanna nap bug', I drove the Bubble over to Storage King and picked up our spare folding chairs.

Dinner was Mr McCain's pizza slices. they were nice.

Tomorrow will be very similar to today, Marg plans to do Sweet FA or less and I plan to ride early morning.

Another pleasant day - weather wise.

We both slept well and I awoke and went riding, while Marg slept in. Very similar to yesterday.

I left camp at 7:34am and headed north to my northerly turnaround point at Lands End, and headed to Surfers, being the weekend, the place was jumping, took my normal weather photos at Surfers before heading back north along the gravel Federation Walk out to the Spit, where I rode south along the Spit then turned around and continued out to the end of the seawall Spit, ate my bananas an took a few photos, before heading to Cafe Rockpool for one of Kamal's world famous (or Broadwater Parklands famous) coffee. There was a multi culture display on the parklands. There were people everywhere. I arrived back at camp at 10:39am after 37.7kms.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 37.7kms is my 34th ride at Southport for a total of 1,184.6kms and gives me a total of 237.5kms at Dicky, giving me a total of 1,422.1kms so far in Qld.
Wildlife count while riding: Today's count was NIL.

I went and had a shower, it was brilliant.
Dennis our neighbour, popped in to get a few cable ties for his bike and stayed an hour, chatting. After Dennis left, Marg and I had lunch and while Marg caught that dreaded 'nanna nap bug', I again drove the Bubble over to Storage King, looking for a 'needle in a haystack" or a small box somewhere in our units. It was in the 3rd large box that I opened. Very lucky.

Dinner was chicken with sticks up their arses (kebabs) with vegies, cooked beautifully by Marg. They were very yumma.

Tomorrow, we are off to Aus Post at Helensvale.

Another pleasant day - weather wise.

We both slept well and laid in bed watching "Sunrise" as we had nothing happening until meeting Lukey and Mase at Helensvale shops about 10:30am. I had to post some brochures that I found to Ross, who bought my toy car collection.

Before we left, Lukey asked us, if we could come back and mind Mase for 2 hours, SO he could do some work, which we agreed too.
We met at Donut King, where we had coffee and hotdogs, Mase had toasted banana bread from Maccas. After we chatted for awhile, we sent Lukey home to work and we took Mase to the shopping centre's playground. Mase loves the slide and we have trouble, leaving. Some parents need 'parenting skills', they leave their kids alone on the slide and the 'little angels' block the slides and walk up the slides, stopping all the other kids from using them. The parents sit around chatting and can't even see their kids.

Anyway, we left after 30 minutes and arrived back at Lukeys. Marg decided that we will stay until 4pm ish, pick up Mont from school and take her to dance practice. We entertained Mase, while Lukey worked, I lost count how many Grug books I read. (it was more than 2). It was a successful day, Mase was entertained and Lukey managed to do quite an amount of work. I picked up Mont from school, bought her home to change into her dance outfit and then Marg and I drove Mont to dance and then continued on, back to camp.

We arrived back at camp at about 4:30pm.

Dinner was ravioli. It was very yumma.

Tomorrow is Bingo.

Another pleasant day - weather wise.

We set the alarm for 6:30am and was woken by 100.6FM playing music. We got up about 7:00am, showered, dressed and got ourselves organised and were on our way by 8:15am. We arrived at Sharks just as it was opening at 8:30 and walked in and I claimed our table, while Marg went and ordered a coffee for me, while she ordered a juice and muffin for herself. I bought our normal set of bingo, which consisted of 2 sets of the normal games which comprises 40 games, plus 2 sets of jackpots plus 2 undercovers plus 2 lucky numbers for an even $50.
By half time, we hadn't won a thing, as usual, close, as in only 1 number but no cigar. After half time, Marg was playing below her standard and didn't win a thing. This is where I was needed, I was playing above my 'sheer brilliance' and managed to win $30, better than nothing.
Naturally, I told Marg how brilliant I was and only today's results count and she was a loser.

Our Bingo summary after our 11th appearance, paid $50 won $30. Outlaid to date: $550 and won so far: $452 current LOSS is $98.

After bingo, we drove over to Anaconda at Ashmore, to buy 2 pairs of cycling knicks as they were on sale at $20 a pair. A very good price.
Back at camp, we buggered about until 5:15pm, when we drove over to Pac Pines tavern for our 6pm booking. We were having a family dinner to celebrate Jay's recent birthday. There were 11 of us and it was a great time.
Our meals were very yumma. Marg had pasta and us guys had chicken parma.

Tomorrow, we are minding Mase as Jo works.

Another pleasant day - weather wise.

We slept well until 6:30am, got up, showered, dressed, had brekky and on the internet until leaving at 7:30am.
Arrived at Mase's home at 8:00am, drove Mont to school in the Bubble, while Marg kept Mase entertained. About 9:00am, the 3 of us (Marg, Mase and Me) drove back to our camp.
At camp, there are different things to do.

• 1. While Marg buggered about at camp, Mase and I walked over to the boat ramp with 3 bread rolls. There were 13 Georges and over 20 sea gulls. I broke up the rolls and my little buddy threw the bits at the birds. At the start, George managed to grab the rolls, but they tasted it and then spat it out. They obviously don't like bread, whereas the sea gulls were more than happy to eat them. Georges walked away about 10 feet and then sat down and watched us. Mase was very happy feeding the birds.
• 2. I decided it was time to wash the Bubble, it hadn't been washed for yonks. SO with my little helper, we washed the Bubble and while I was washing it beside our fiver, Mase had his lawn mower and whipper snipper and was happily mowing the lawn around our camp. Camp management will be very happy with his effort.
• 3. Marg, Mase and me walked over to the beach with a large range of buckets, spades and shapes. While I built a 'million' sandcastles Mase destroyed a 'million' sandcastles. He paddled in the water with Marg standing close to him. He loved it.

We walked the 50 meters back to camp and had lunch. About 12:15pm, the three of us went in the Bubble to visit Mr Caravan Storage at Pimpana, as we plan to store our fiver there for approx 5 months (from 15th Sep to end of January). I spoke to Ricky and got all the info, I needed. It took us about an hour before we arrived back at Mase's home and during that time, he managed to sleep in his car seat. He does love traveling in the Bubble. After chatting with Jo, we left Mase with her and Jo gave us some homemade 'snot blocks' they were magnificently YUMMA.

On the way home, we stopped at Donut King Helensvale for a coffee and donuts. For the remainder of the arvo, Marg painted some more rocks, while I buggered about on my laptop.

Dinner was salmon sangas. It was yumma.

Tomorrow, we are minding Mase for the morning.

Another pleasant day - weather wise.

We slept well until 6:30am, got up, showered, dressed, had brekky and on the internet until leaving at 8:00am.
Arrived at Mase's home at 8:30am, Jo had already taken Mont to her Dance Ballet exam. Marg and I entertained Mase, while Lukey did some work coding. Mont's exam was at 9:00am and from what we heard, everyone was very pleased with how Mont went. We will find out her result in 6 weeks time. We drove over in the mighty Navara, as I had to bring back my bike that has the child seat and it wont fit in or on the Bubble. The plan is for Lukey to come over tomorrow with Mase and try him in the child seat and see how he goes. This will be interesting.
Jo and Mont arrived back and then Marg and I headed back to camp, left the mighty Navara and took the Bubble over to Aus Fair for a coffee and some food shopping at Woollies.

Back at camp, we had lunch and while Marg did her thing, I went for a ride.

I left camp at 1:03pm and headed south through the Broadwater Parkland, past Southport YV, along the Federation Walk (gravel path) to the Spit.
Yippee, I saw some wildlife. First was a 12 inch legless lizard just behind the Sheraton (no photo, it ran off), then about 400 meters from the end of the walk, I spotted a blue tongue lizard, just had time to photograph it before it walk into the scrub. AND the Highlight was just near the end of the Walk about 20 meters from the seawall, I came across Monty. It was about 10 meters in front of me, I stopped, dropped my bike, walked towards Monty and at the same time turned on my camera and took the photos below. Monty was absolutely beautiful.
When I rode in a northerly direction, it was bloody awful due to the gusty northerly wind, riding southward was beautiful. After leaving the Spit, I stopped at Cafe Rockpool for a coffee, served by 'B', also Kamal said 'Hi'. Leaving cafe Rockpool, I pushed into the northerly, all the way to Lands End, before turning around and heading back to camp, BUT stopped at our Apartment. A worker told me they are nearly ready to pour the 600mm ground floor floor. I arrived back at camp at 3:25pm after 31.1kms.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 31.1kms is my 35th ride at Southport for a total of 1,215.7kms and gives me a total of 237.5kms at Dicky, giving me a total of 1,453.2kms so far in Qld.
Wildlife count while riding: Today's count was:

• 1. a 12 inch legless lizard. No photo.
• 2. a blue tongue lizard. see photo below.
• 3. a beautiful 5 foot coastal python. see photo below.

I went and had a shower, it was brilliant.
During the arvo, Marg had caught the 'nanna nap bug' and was asleep when I returned and I buggered about on my laptop.

Marg made an egg and bacon pie. It was bloody yumma.

Tomorrow, Marg is going with Lukey and family to watch Mont compete in a dance competition, I declined their kind invitation, as I am counting the grains of sand just opposite our camp site.

Another pleasant day - weather wise.

We slept well until 7:15am, laid in bed watching 'Sunrise', as we had nothing happening until 10am ish, when Lukey and Mase were calling in for a riding lesson. SO we took it easy, finally getting dressed and had brekky.
Lukey and Mase arrived and we tried to get Mase to sit in the child seat, he definitely resisted it. There was no way he would sit in the child seat. We even walked over to the swings and slide and wheeled the bike, but he still refused. Lukey finally managed to get him in the child seat and he 'bloody well' liked it. See Miracles do happen. So after a 'test ride' around the grass area, we put on his helmet and Lukey with mase on board and me, we rode up to see Georges, as Mase loves them. We ran out of time, as Mont had her dance competitions from lunchtime onwards and Lukey, Mase, Marg, Jo and Mont were off to Beenleigh. From all reports, Mont danced very well. It was a group competition.

While everyone was at Dance, I remained back at camp and decided to ride down to Burleigh Heads etc.

I left camp at 11:10am and headed south through the Broadwater Parkland, past Southport YC, through Surfers, Broadbeach, Miami and finally arrived at Burleigh Heads. Stopped at the bluff and took a few photos, then started my ride back into a gusty North wind. Bugger. Stopped at Robbie McEwen's cafe for a coffee and muffin, then continued pushing into the Northerly and got to my photo location at Surfers, took a few more photos, then continued to the Spit via the gravel Federation Walk. No wildlife spotted today.
At the end of the Spit were 3 workmen from GCWA (Gold Coast Water Authority), they were checking the light operation on top of the beacon. After leaving the Spit, I stopped at cafe Rockpool and as it was so warm, I had a rum and raisin ice cream. It was YUMMA. Then continued to Lands End, checked out our Apartment, the workers hope to pour the Ground floor floor during next week. And finally arriving back at camp at 3;25pm after 58.4 kms. A great ride.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 58.4kms is my 36th ride at Southport for a total of 1,274.1kms and gives me a total of 237.5kms at Dicky, giving me a total of 1,511.6kms so far in Qld.
Wildlife count while riding: Today's count was NIL.

Jees, those showers are brilliant, have I told you that in the past. If not, consider yourself TOLD.
Late arvo, I drove the Bubble to Lukeys and picked up Marg. She had a great day but was buggered.

Dinner was turkey and egg sangas. They were yumma.

Tomorrow, Lukey and Mase are coming over and we plan to go riding. It will be interesting to see what happens.