Byron Bay - NSW

Having spent so much time in both rural and regional Australia we have decided that big cities are not for us. It didn't take long for our "grumpiness" to disappear once we were back on the open road living as gypseys again.

As we were heading south we had to see the Gold Coast- and it will be the only time ever. The endless highrises were certainly not a sight for sore eyes though it obviously appeals to a lot of people. Not for us after all the beauty we had previously seen.

We made our way down to Byron Bay which was everything I had imagined. We stayed for 3 days in a very quiet park right on the edge of the village. It seems to give license to anyone who visits or lives there to be a "hippie". Riding a bike around the town is a pleasure as bikes rule!! The lighthouse we visited at the top of the Bay is absolutely beautiful and the views out of this world. We stood watching whales frolicking around in the ocean on their way south to the Antarctic. The beaches around the area must be the most beautiful in the world. (I keep discovering what I think are the most beautiful beaches in the world!!) ...and again we found a house to buy!!! How will we ever choose???

Busy Brisbane

I can only describe Brisbane as a BUSY, busy, busy place – a conglomeration of ongoing roadworks and so many, many people. As the politicians keep saying, “South East Queensland is bursting at the seams” – and it sure is! Chris was convinced that what should be 2 lanes on the motorway have been squashed into 3. You have to have all your wits about you when you negotiate motorways, highways, bridge crossings, tunnels and endless traffic circles.

Where we stayed was 45 mins south of Brisbane and where we visited my friend Marilyn (from res days) was 45 north of Brisbane. Driving between north and south allowed us to see the numerous suburbs with an ever eclectic array of different homestyles. I would hate to be relocating to Brisbane as I wouldn’t know where to start to choose a place to live.

We spent a lovely day in the city walking down the South Bank with its beautiful design of parks and pools along the river and then catching a river cat looking at all the buildings and places along the river. We met 2 great ladies who had just flown in from NZ for the weekend – Tina and Vonny! Tina had a great sense of humour and we spent a good time laughing and joking. Not sure if we’ll meet them again but would be nice if we did!

We spoilt ourselves getting tickets to a QPAC production of Jesus Christ Superstar. We absolutely loved the singing, dancing and grunge style costumes. We could have sat through it all again when it ended. I also couldn’t resist popping into the Valentino exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art -I loved looking at the beautifully styled dresses and could imagine Nat wearing a few of them! I must say Brisbane has a fantastic cultural precinct and if I lived in Brisbane would make very good use of it! The lighted buildings along the river at night were beautiful.

The day we went into the city we caught a bus from one of the myriad of bus stations –oh my goodness …..the bus went way over 100km an hour down the motorway. I just held on for the ride. The one good thing was the designated bus lane on the edge of the motorway. We just went flying past all the traffic stuck in gridlock! It was really cheap too because we said we were pensioners!!!! and they didn’t even ask for a seniors card!!! Oh dear me!! I was hiding behind Chris. They didn’t see Mrs (Varicose) Vain behind him!!!!!

Being settled at a home for a while made me a bit homesick and, at times, we both seemed to feel a bit "grumpy"!- I think we prefer being out of the hustle and bustle of cars, people, shopping centres and the general madness of a big city! We are really looking forward to travelling through northern NSW and continuing our discovery of new places we haven't seen before. Hopefully the "grumpiness" goes away.

Terence and family in Brisbane

We are very spoilt to have been able to spend time in Brisbane with Terence, Lizelle and “Little Monster” Dylan - Terence’s nickname for little Dylan who is the most delightful, good-natured, darling child!! It was lovely catching up after last seeing Terence about 30 years ago!! We even managed to have a “conference” chat with Brenda and Gert on the phone in South Africa from Terence’s house!

Terence let us pitch camp in his driveway close to his shed which is as good as the local Bunnings. It was so interesting hearing his life story up until now where he is settled and living a normal, suburban life with his amazing wife, Lizelle, and little Dylan. Terence spent many years crewing on yachts all over the world’s oceans, lived in Thailand running a diving school, and then lived in New Zealand for 8 years. He has been in Brisbane for 3 years and loves it here though probably works way too hard!! His dream is to live in the country on a smallholding. I hope it can happen one day. He really needs to write a book! Just this weekend we waved goodbye to them as they set off on a 3 week journey across the Simpson desert!! The car was so full poor Dylan just managed to fit in but he was absolutely delighted when he found his spot amongst all the gear required for the desert!!

They are such an organized, focused couple it puts most people to shame. They are just the NICEST people too!! (There is a very visible spot of both Monica and Paddy in Terence - the parts we loved in both of them as we spent many happy hours at their homes in Craighall Park and the nursery in Fourways in the 1970's!!) They have left us their house for as long as we like while they are away. We feel as if we are back home and already forgotten how to be grey nomads … but we will be on our way very soon!!

It was also lovely hearing a little knock on our caravan door when Dylan wanted to come and visit us in the driveway. He loved examining all the parts of our caravan!! It reminded me so much of Eva, Eloise and Ali's knocking on our caravan door when we stayed in Nat's driveway. The only difference was that Nat's 3 just climbed into our bed for cuddles and stories - not so easy with 5 in a caravan bed - but we DO miss that!!

I posted the photos, as promised, for Barbara, Bren and Gert. ENJOY. Wish you were here!!

Last day in Noosa

Noosa has been 8 fun filled days for us. We will be very sad to go but we will leave with great memories.

I managed to catch up with Barb (Schutte) after being together in the same class at Rosebank Convent 40 years ago. We weren't friends at school but seeing that our class is having its 40th reunion in Jhb in a few weeks time we arranged a private "Aussie/Tewantin" reunion. It was great just chattting together about our lives since leaving school. We had a great morning with our pancakes and coffee and hopefully she'll visit us one day in WA.

Denize said we had to join her and LLoyd on the beach one last time before we left. As usual, because of the perfect weather, the beach was stunning. We had an afternoon coffee together in a cafe right on Noosa beach before giving each other a great big hug, and us, saying a HUGE thanks for being so spoilt by both of them.

The park we stayed in was 5 mins out of Noosa in a small town called Tewantin. It suited us just fine as it was close to everything and we think we had the best site in the whole place.

We're off to Brisbane tomorrow via Eumundi and Montville. We will be staying with our friend Terence Smith and his wife Lizelle before they leave for their trip across the Simpson desert.

Great times with the family and riding in Noosaville

Denize has been a star arranging for us to meet the family in Noosa. We spent a wonderful day having a picnic lunch on the Noosa North shore, and an evening picnic on the banks of the Noosa river where we stayed late into the night laughing and sharing memories but were forced to leave as the temperate got lower and lower. We were all freezing though I don't think the kids minded at all. They had the whole playpark to themselves. Everyone else had gone home.

I have posted photos of Dee and Lloyd, Nushka, Rufino, Darma and Julian (the sweetest children), Chad, Dom, Cheyenne, and Savanna (great, confident little girls), Kurt, Megan and their boys. (Thomas and Matt were having a sleepover, but we met Josh and baby Alex.) We also met Megan's sister and her husband who have just immigrated to Aus and are staying with Megan and Kurt. It was a great pity not to have had Che and Nicole with us but as everyone knows they are in the USA launching a new invention of Che's.

Denize adores her precious grandchilden and misses Che's 3 awfully. She's hoping to get to see them soon.

I felt a tinge of sadness that Chantal was not there to cuddle and spoil her beautiful grand-children. Nushka says that Darma misses Chantal a lot.

Have fun recognising everyone! We have had a great time with them all and agree that Noosa is a wonderful place for them to have chosen to settle. It's also great to be a part of the "De Senneville" thread!