HAPPY EXCESSIVE WANDERERS !! Part 1

Hi All!
 Remember us ?!-- the ones who write/or purport to write periodic blog updates !! And the ones who last wrote in May last year? It's coming back to you ? Great! So here goes: -life as we've known it since then. I have to look back through the photos myself as a refresher.

Shortly after our return was granddaughter, Olivia's 18th. She's all grown up;- how did that happen?Happy Birthday again, Honey. Almost time for your next! They had a really nice party which we so enjoyed, not only Olivia and family but also catching up with other family after our wanderings, especially a couple of grandsons, Kye and Corey, whom we hadn't seen in way too long!

Somewhere in there Anne got her eyes done; we had school holiday outings and time with grands and great-grands; and Kris came over from Brisbane. She and I did the Dwellingup tree-top adventure too. Seem to have started something here! Also, catching up with friends and neighbours, with their friends from overseas, and generally very much enjoying the wonderful community down here and our idyllic canal setting ! .

 Then in a moment of madness (and it was my madness, I admit, not Anne's, for a change) we

decided to see more of Australia,- by motorhome, doing vehicle relocations. So we dealt with various firms with varying offers, but basically got a motorhome for $1 -$5 per day, with sometimes a small fuel allowance thrown in,
in return for moving it from one city to another for them, on their time frame.

We flew over and stayed with travel club members in Adelaide and were toured around the city by Jeff and Libby, family of friend Beryl, while we awaited a motorhome to Alice Springs, then to Cairns, to Townsville,

to Brisbane, flew to Melbourne then moved a brand-new (27 km on
the clock) 3-berth home to Perth!!

At each stop, while waiting for our next assignment, we hired our own vehicle and did as much nearby sight-seeing as we could, so we managed to see a bit of Coober Pedy, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, The West MacDonnells, Port Douglas and the Daintree, Magnetic Island, Airlie Beach, and the list goes on and on,- all before we reached Brisbane. All once over lightly, sad to say, but we got a taste!

 We stopped for a great visit with cousins, Jeff and Doreen, north
of Brisbane, then had a happy catch-up with new friends Mic and Grace, also 'survivors' of the Ahoy Buccaneer 'shipwreck' earlier in the year (see previous post). Then we spent a special couple of weeks back and forth between Kris' and Lee and Belinda's places. Kris lives between a gorgeous old 'Queenslander' in Brisbane and the Loveshack, a self-built portable 'tiny house' south of Brisbane, inland from Byron Bay, in stunning country. Although we'd seen lots of photos, we were bowled over at how attractive, comfortable and roomy
it actually was ! We had two wonderful visits with Lee and Belinda, and grand-daughter, Maryanne, who is growing into a real treat. She's already able to hold her own with Anne and match her tall tales, story for story,- with quick, humorous come-backs to Anne's teasing ! Not easy;- take it from one who knows ! Lee and Belinda have a lovely elevated two storey home, ideally situated on the outskirts of Brisbane, close to sea, mountains, Gold Coast, etc.They treated us royally, and took us touring into mountains near them (whose names I've already lost 😕) and down to the Gold Coast, both areas totally new to us.

Our luck ran out a bit somewhere in Brisbane, and we both  picked up very bad colds. We couldn't find a relocation vehicle deal we wanted out of Brisbane, so, after flirting briefly with the notion of changing direction and heading off to Bali, we ended up flying to Melbourne to pick up out last motorhome to head home. Our colds both became very heavy and we delayed our departure in order to doctor, but they didn't prevent us from driving the Great Ocean Road and stopping at the Head of the Bight to enjoy the Humpback whales, Mums and Bubs, close in to shore, virtually at our feet! By that time we were both so sick we could hardly talk, but that stop was one of the highlights of the trip, regardless!

The Nullarbor wasn't as daunting as I'd feared. While I can't say it was terribly enjoyable, it was interesting and easy. But while my cold had plateaued, Anne's was so bad we seriously considered dropping her at a country hospital and my carrying on alone. With relocations, the down-side is you're on their clock and can't stop. Anyway, we pushed on and got home a day early, for a well-earned collapse. But the object was to see some more of Australia, and we certainly did that !!

Sorry All, but we're only at August ! If I remember correctly, the system tends to bog down with my long rambles, so I've just renamed this Part 1, and will carry on in Part 2. See you there.............