Day 87 - Gold Coast, 22nd September 2025

Had a terrible night last night - my back was aching all night and by the time the morning came I was in agony. Lee made us a coffee and heated up a wheat bag for me which I put on my back while we chatted  and thank goodness, that really helped. I thought I might have to go to hospital!! We hugged Lee goodbye and were on our way - hopefully it won’t be 14 years between the next visit. Our first stop was then Kmart to buy a wheat bag!

Back on the road - Gold Coast here we come! We pulled in at Pine Ridge Caravan Village just before lunch and were laying by the pool soon after.




We had a swim and I read my book for a couple of hours before getting ready for a night out with our new cruise buddies, Michelle & Trevor. We met them on a cruise a couple of years ago and we just clicked. They picked us up about 4pm for pre dinner drinks at Sanctuary Cove.



After happy hour drinks we headed to Hope Island for dinner. The conversation flowed as effortlessly as the drinks. We have so many similarities between us and there were lots of laughs. 


Back at the park, Michelle and Trevor came in for a nightcap and we finally got to use our lounge as we watched the end of the Brownlow. It was very comfortable. Walked out of the van to see them off and almost walked straight into some native visitors. Very cool! 











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 161 - Streaky Bay, 5th December 2025

Image
We reluctantly said our goodbyes to the farm this morning and to the koalas and horses and set off for Streaky Bay. Stopped in at Point Kenny to grab our lunch, We turned off just before Streaky Bay  to check out Murphy’s Haystacks, a 1500 million year old geological wonder. Buried by calcareous dune sand 30,000 years ago, erosion has revealed the pink granite forms standing on the hill top. According to local legend, a Scottish agricultural advisor saw these landmarks in the distance and thought they were baystacks. It was only a short drive to our beautiful camp at Streaky Bay. It wasn’t right on the beach but it was pretty close. Ian went to do some fishing and I went for a walk into town. I found Ian out on the beautiful old jetty. He had caught a couple of fish but nothing worth keeping. Back at the caravan park we sat and had dinner on the beach and watched the sky change colour as the sun started to go down. It was beautiful. We even had rainbows. It just got better and bett...
Read more

Day 168 - Kalgoorlie, 12th December 2025

Image
 We set the alarm early this morning to head out onsite.  We had to check in and get our visitors passes and our PPE before we could get entry onto the mine site. Then Waz took us on a tour of the site, explaining the process…. …before we had to don our hard hats and safety glasses to enter the Gold Room. Once inside the first room, we had to remove our boots and scan our cards to gain entry to the next room. Then we had to put on their boots before we could enter the viewing area to watch the gold pour. It was like a big cauldron full of molten gold that was then poured into the tins like loaf pans. It was amazing to watch. Then they cooled them before tipping the gold bars out and cleaning off any excess slag. Then….we were allowed to hold them. I could barely lift it with two hands, it was so heavy. The one I held was bar number  57657. The biggest one was 17 kilograms worth about 3.5 million dollars. The pour we watched was the first of two they were doing that day. T...
Read more

Day 121 - Mount Field, 26th October 2025

Image
No need for alarms today, we had a sleep in and headed off for our walks mid morning.  We checked out the visitor's centre and then headed off on the 6.1 kilometre Three Falls Circuit.  It started with a short walk to Russell Falls, through some beautiful forest…. …before we came to the falls which were just stunning. We then climbed a bit higher…. ….to Horseshoe Falls. The walk continued on the Tall Trees walk which took us through the forest and showcased some magnificent old trees.  Last but not least was Lady Barron Falls.  The walk wasn't too difficult but there was a couple of steep staircases with quite a lot of steps....I hate steps! We walked back to the vans and on the way we ran in to some local wildlife.  He didn't seem bothered by us at all and certainly wasn't in a hurry, just poking around looking for food. We had some lunch while sitting in the sunshine.  We decided to go up to Left of Field campgrounds to have a look.  We had heard it ...
Read more