We’ve been sort of vegetating in the chestnut orchard since returning from Picton with Penny. When we first returned to Christchurch some of the trees wore little green flecks but 3 weeks later the orchard is a glorious sea of young vibrant green leaves. There are pukekos, ducks, quail, a pheasant and some rabbits in… Read more

We arrived back to a wet and windy Christchurch on the usual midnight express. Despite the announcement soon after take-off that we might be in for a bumpy ride, the bumps did not eventuate, and the journey was further enlivened for Dave by finding he was sitting right next to his old Christchurch doctor (and… Read more

THE PLAN: Leave the caravan and Jeep at Nic and Mick’s until we return to Australia some time next year. Tuesday 11th: Caravan and Jeep to Caloundra for servicing. Collect late afternoon. Return to N&M’s. Wed. 12th: Big clean-up of both including vacuuming etc. Cover both. Final packing. Thurs 13th: Fly home to NZ. THE… Read more

We had one more night before being due at Nic and Mick’s where we will be on house/horse/dog/cat/cattle-sitting duties until it is time to fly home two weeks later. Leaving Tin Can Bay we drove through more hectares of pine forest …. …. until finally we reached Gympie where we stopped for lunch and Dave explored… Read more

While in Gladstone we realised it was almost our last chance to visit a Great Barrier Reef island. Previously we’d turned down Green Island out of Cairns in favour of the Kuranda Railway. At Bowen we decided not to visit touristy Airlie with its numerous sightseeing boats around the Whitsundays. We skirted Mackay so missed the boats to… Read more

We chose a camp at Yeppoon rather than Rockhampton, to be closer to family. First – a burst hot water pipe had to be fixed. After visiting various caravan supply stores and plumbing supplies Dave finally found what he needed; then it was a fairly simple matter to make repairs although it did involve dismantling part… Read more