We were a little sad to leave our lovely camping spot at Hervey Bay. This was actually at Point Vernon in a caravan park which was nothing super dooper, but neat and tidy with only 20 metres between us and the playground and pool (with very few other campers around at all). The morning we left Hervey Bay we still were unsure about which route we wanted to take as we headed off, which was quite an exciting feeling to think ‘where do we want to head to today’?
The actual journey north has been quite picturesque with gorgeous landscapes and amazing colours. Our travels led us to Tannum Sands on the coast. Much to my horror after booking in for 2 nights we learnt that it was actually sandfly city! The kids enjoyed a wonderful playground on the foreshore there and beautiful pool but I felt like the sandfly (midge) monitor, constantly reminding the family to zip up the annex, close the van door etc. Despite our best efforts and various repellents etc. we all left with quite a few bites, with Harrison and myself proving to be the most tasty. (I would certainly prefer a mozzie bite to one from a sandfly any day). ‘Midges’ leave you itching for weeks with blisters and sometimes sores! The problem is that you can barely see the little critters and worst of all we have learnt that they fly through the regular mesh of your van screens and are attracted by your lights on at night!...So even living indoors is no protection. We have discussed replacing our screens with ‘midge mesh’ which has been recommended for travelling.
Visiting the local Community Church in Tannum Sands was great in the sense of seeing others worship our great God, but it made Tim, the children and I really pine for ‘The Point Community Church’ and our wonderful church family there.
We then moved on to Kinka Beach, just south of Yeppoon. Here (as with much of this coast) the low tidal sand flats and mangroves that meet the sea predominate. The beach looked lovely at high tide but at low tide was not terribly appealing. The sea is very flat (quite different compared to beautiful Lighthouse!). We did however look out over the Keppel Islands and Great Keppel which looked quite beautiful. The sandfly factor made us press on again after only one night.
We are now at Mackay after a long drive yesterday and are planning to stay for a week. The highlight of this long trip was retriving and opening coconuts from the palms at Clarview Beach that delighted the children!
The actual journey north has been quite picturesque with gorgeous landscapes and amazing colours. Our travels led us to Tannum Sands on the coast. Much to my horror after booking in for 2 nights we learnt that it was actually sandfly city! The kids enjoyed a wonderful playground on the foreshore there and beautiful pool but I felt like the sandfly (midge) monitor, constantly reminding the family to zip up the annex, close the van door etc. Despite our best efforts and various repellents etc. we all left with quite a few bites, with Harrison and myself proving to be the most tasty. (I would certainly prefer a mozzie bite to one from a sandfly any day). ‘Midges’ leave you itching for weeks with blisters and sometimes sores! The problem is that you can barely see the little critters and worst of all we have learnt that they fly through the regular mesh of your van screens and are attracted by your lights on at night!...So even living indoors is no protection. We have discussed replacing our screens with ‘midge mesh’ which has been recommended for travelling.
Visiting the local Community Church in Tannum Sands was great in the sense of seeing others worship our great God, but it made Tim, the children and I really pine for ‘The Point Community Church’ and our wonderful church family there.
We then moved on to Kinka Beach, just south of Yeppoon. Here (as with much of this coast) the low tidal sand flats and mangroves that meet the sea predominate. The beach looked lovely at high tide but at low tide was not terribly appealing. The sea is very flat (quite different compared to beautiful Lighthouse!). We did however look out over the Keppel Islands and Great Keppel which looked quite beautiful. The sandfly factor made us press on again after only one night.
We are now at Mackay after a long drive yesterday and are planning to stay for a week. The highlight of this long trip was retriving and opening coconuts from the palms at Clarview Beach that delighted the children!
Here at Mackay we have our own ensuite bathroom, which is such a treat and makes washing everybody much easier! This park is quite popular as it is apparently sandfly free, but the Smeads have already disproved this! We have spent some time researching midge protection/avoidance etc. We made up a home remedy to repell sandflies that we read about on the net. We are not yet sure how effective it is, but we will be well moisturised and our sores won’t get infected! (with 30% dettol). The itching is starting to drive me mad and sitting here now I am being bitten. Mackay is much of the same coastline – mud flats, mangroves etc. I am really hoping that we will emerge from this type of midge prone coastline as we head further north.
The van is working extremely well. Early on in the trip our dining table base broke which was quite fortuitous as we have turned this area in to our ‘lounge room’ complete with little rug. We just move our camp table in and out as we need for dinner. Tim’s handiness has been invaluable as he has made several van improvements to make our life more comfortable, including fitting a water filtration system to our main water supply (so we can drink and wash in safety around the country), upgrading the kitchen tap to a mixer, installing a flat screen TV/DVD/CD unit. The kids are generally going off to sleep well at night, but by about 3am we usually have Hannah or Georgia between us.
All in all we are still loving the experience and I am sure the challenges that we are facing will only bring us closer and make us stronger, more resourceful and resilient. We are trying to soak up each and every experience and not to rush things (after all we do have 8 months!).
The van is working extremely well. Early on in the trip our dining table base broke which was quite fortuitous as we have turned this area in to our ‘lounge room’ complete with little rug. We just move our camp table in and out as we need for dinner. Tim’s handiness has been invaluable as he has made several van improvements to make our life more comfortable, including fitting a water filtration system to our main water supply (so we can drink and wash in safety around the country), upgrading the kitchen tap to a mixer, installing a flat screen TV/DVD/CD unit. The kids are generally going off to sleep well at night, but by about 3am we usually have Hannah or Georgia between us.
All in all we are still loving the experience and I am sure the challenges that we are facing will only bring us closer and make us stronger, more resourceful and resilient. We are trying to soak up each and every experience and not to rush things (after all we do have 8 months!).
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