Melbourne to Rockhampton and back

Well, you can see that this is an old map that we have used quite often! Maybe we should get a new one, do you think?

We will be leaving cold Hobart, well, sunny Primrose Sands on Thursday May 12, will get the Spirit of Tasmania that night, and arrive in Melbourne on Friday morning, very early. After a quick walk with Joey on the beach, who will sleep in the car while on board, we will turn right and head towards Lakes Entrance, in the south Gippsland of Victoria. There is a good caravan park, East Beach C/van park, that takes dogs, and it is just over the sand dunes to the long 90 mile beach where no doubt Tony and Joey will go fishing, and probably catch crabs (stop laughing!) instead of salmon.

From Lakes Entrance we will head north, following the coast, to Eden, just into NSW, where there is a really good caravan park called the Garden of Eden. At the wharf you can also get really good fish and chips.

We may stop at Wallaga Lake after that, or go on to Bateman's Bay which doesn't have a very good doggy caravan park, but just before Bateman's Bay is a little arty crafty town called Mogo, which is just full of craft shops and all things interesting. Half of the buildings are run-down and rusty looking, but also at Mogo is a zoo that has endangered animals.

We usually then stop at Kiama which is a really nice spot on the coast, with green hills and the mountainous divide just inland, and then we will bypass Sydney - who would want to stop there!! - and on to Gosford to see Daniel and Michelle. They are living in an apartment so can't take Joey there so we will stay at a caravan park, probably at Toowong Beach (?????!!!) or The Entrance. This will be the weekend of May 21. Then on we will go, further up the coast, probably stopping at Forster Tuncurry, then Woolgoolga, favourite place, maybe near Yamba at Palmers Island, as that area is a favourite place we could move to. Around McLean, along the Clarence River, which flooded last year!! We also could easily move to Lakes Entrance.

Onwards and upwards through Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast, to Bli Bli where Jimmy and Bella are living in an old renovated Queenslander house, which is one of the houses that are up on stilts, as it were! Lets the air blow under the floor to keep the house cool. I love these houses, especially the ones at Maryborough, but I am getting ahead of myself!

We should be at Jimmy's around the weekend of the 28th, when Bella's mother, Helen will be there so we will meet her, which I am looking forward to. She looks a very glamorous mother, not a paint splattered one like me!

After the Sunshine Coast we will head on to Hervey Bay (sigh!), where I hope by then my good friend down here, Sue, will be at Maryborough, visiting her brother, will be soo good to see her then. And we also go for the day to Bundaberg, but this time we may go on further up to Rockhampton and Yeppoon, so an area that Tony hasn't been to. Isn't he brave to venture further afield.

Of course then we will head back and see Jimmy and Daniel again on our way down, and visit places we didn't go to on our way up. We will have the Sunshine Coast hinterland towns to visit, which have wonderful arts and crafts, Eumundi Market which is just inland from Noosa, and other places. We will see sugar cane, pineapples, bananas, tropical landscape......

Hey, lets go!!!

But first I think I will need to get a new map!!