Emma at Mirambeena
Emma has finished at her kindy (Mirambeena) and moving onto big girl school. I can’t believe how quickly time passes. Here is a video that Mirambeena put together of Emma’s time there.
BBQ at Grandma’s House
A Barbeque at Grandma’s house is too good an offer to refuse. It had been some time since we were all gathered together in the same place for the same reason. We thought we would take the opportunity to get some photos of everyone together, however that was easier said than done. Once the little kids had their photo taken we gathered everyone together for some couch photos. Coordinating three people to look at the camera was difficult enough. I…
Ben’s 8th Birthday
Today Ben turned 8! We didn’t get to celebrate his birthday on his birthday again this year, but still had a blast. Brad, Kellie and Marshall came up for the party, as well as Kate and the girls. It was good to see everyone having heaps of fun with the Ninja Turtle banner making all moves and expressions. We hope you had a great birthday and it was totally tubular dude! Love alwaysDad
Camping at Leslie Dam
Over the September school holidays we decided to do a weekend of camping, boating and fishing. We arrived on Thursday and setup our camp spot. We were pretty much the only ones on the camp ground, so were able to really spread out. Brad, Kellie and Marshall arrived on Saturday and shortly after David, Melissa and their kids arrived and setup camp. We had some fun playing a game of capture the flag with a packet of chips and water…
Many Peaks & The Road Trip Home
Today sadly marks the start of the end of our Townsville road trip. Along the way we passed through Gumlu, and took a few photos with the giant pumpkin and watermelon. We stopped over the night in Many Peaks to visit Uncle Mark. He had plenty of room in his yard for us to setup the camper. It was already starting to get cold, when we decided to fire up the butane heater – inside the tent. The kids were…
Billabong Sanctuary
Today we spent our day visiting the Billabong Sanctuary, just a few minutes south of Townsville. We first were greeted by “Goliath” the largest saltwater crocodile in captivity in the Northern Territory at the time. He measured 5.2 metres long and weighing in at over 1000kg! He was relocated from the Daly river system where he was harassing the locals, to the Darwin Crocodile Farm. Next, we enjoyed hand feeding the Kangaroos. This was extra special as it was the…
Paluma
Today we decided to drive to Paluma, which is just north of Townsville. When I was a kid I remember camping at Paluma on school camp. Along the way we stopped at Little crystal creek and took some photos. The water was just like it’s namesake, crystal clear. There wasn’t much to see (or do) in the township of Paluma. We went for a short rainforest walk and then headed back to our campsite. Back at the campgrounds we sat…
The Strand
It has been over 10 years since I last visited Townsville and a lot has changed in that time. One of those things is the Strand. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much the Strand has been transformed. From what use to be just a beach, is now a great family friendly area. Even the fact that it was the middle of winter, there were still quite a few people around. The water was a bit cold but the…
Barra Fun Park
Today I took the older boys out to a Barramundi fishing park. It didn’t take long for the fish to start biting. Declan was the first to catch a fish. Ben caught his fish a few minutes later. He was a bit reserved about how he had to hold them, but got the job done just the same. We got a quick photo and then let them go. We let the fish go shortly after a quick photo. The park…
Castle Hill & Pallarenda Beach
No trip to Townsville would be complete without visiting Castle Hill. Today we travelled up to Castle Hill to see the views of Townsville. Over towards the south-east (Railway Estate) we could see and clearly hear the roar of the V8 supercar track. To the north was Magnetic Island and Pallarenda Beach. After we left Castle Hill we decided to head down to the beach. The kids had fun playing on the beach. We didn’t go into the water as…