Yep, we are on the Gold Coast, living in the hyper reality that is adventure parks. Flitting between the sodden, wedgie inducing fun of Wet n Wild Water world and the superhero adrenaline crazy of Movieworld, we are fun seekers on a mission!
I don't have any pics of our shenanigans as the iPad is just too cumbersome to carry around all day, but I can fill you in with words....
We have been spun, flung, and soaked on a variety of rides that for me ranged from hilarious (Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster) to downright petrifying (Superman Escape). It was so fast I felt like my soul got left behind and took about an hour to find me again! I couldn't even open my eyes on the Batwing as it went too high for my poor little vertigo-go brain, but I did it and most probably will do it again. Aren't us humans weird?!
Gav and I did the benign sounding Aqualoop water slide where you basically stand in a tube and the floor drops away. I could do nothing afterwards but laugh hysterically (like a real crazy person) and try to fish the cossie out of my bum.
My mind starts to tweak even thinking about it, so I'll pass you onto Flex for a bit...
Movieworld!!! Top ten.1 Superman Escape.2 Green Lantern.3 Scooby Doo Spooky Coster.4 Road Runner Roler Coster.5 Wild West Falls.6 Batwing Space Shot.7 Batman Adventure.8 Hollywood Stunt Driver.9 Dodgems.10 My Awesome Family.
Awww.
Me again, just thought I would mention that we are also camped at the most EPIC campground right across the freeway from the theme parks. Only here, would the caravan park have a pool like this:

Yep, we lounge on daybeds in cabanas, eat yummy poolside snacks and ride our own private waterside, all in the ambient glow of the fake fire torches and the full moon....and the bats. Check them out - at dusk every day the sky is absolutely full of them obviously on their way across the road to hang out with their pseudo father Bruce Wayne....

Gavs best friends growing up now live in Eumundi and their place was our next port of call. Fabulous visionaries and you-can-do- anything type people, the Watts family have built an incredible castle on their little property and have truly created a slice of paradise. So beautiful, so fun, so comfortable, their stunning new home only serves to reflect their shining selves.

We have enjoyed several nights of bevvies, conversation, music and laughter with J and M while watching the birds frolic in the dam and the sun set over the mountains.

The kids have had an absolute blast with the media room, the table tennis set up, the cows, the nerf guns and the gorgeous mineralized pool. They have strengthened bonds that I feel will last a lifetime.

But mostly we have just had a ball being together. My old mate from Canada also popped over for a beer and a strum... Owie is full of sparkle and his company is always enjoyed by all. We are just so lucky to have such awesome people in our lives!

Ever since we got close to the coast we have been catching up with old friends. Such joy and comfort to be had in these friendships! And even more fun now that we all have kids who can play and grow up together knowing their parents share a history. First stop was Polly, Mike and Freddy at Pomona.

We had a ball. Wether it was climbing Mount Cooroora with all the boys...

Or hanging out with my old mate Polly, chatting, eating and watching her draw...

Or going for a horse ride through the stunning hinterland terrain, or watching the kids ride Fred's little pee wee motorbike...

It was all quality time, ultra relaxed and truly valued. We left loaded up with paintings, good vibes and hugs. Love you guys!!!

Looks like just like a handful of black rocks hey.... but these aren't just any rocks, they are in fact sapphires! And they were found in the town of ( wait for it ) Sapphire! Yes, way back when we were planning this trip I found a cluster of three towns in Queensland called Sapphire, Rubyvale and Emerald, and they became a marker in our travel itinerary for the gorgeousness of their names alone! And sure enough, they are a fossicking Mecca with people coming from all over to try their luck at finding the precious stones. We met a shirtless Frenchman who had spent the last 22 days fossicking in the river and has hundreds of stones to show for it. He was happy to share his knowledge and wore a hefty gold nugget around his neck that he had found while fossicking in WA. He reminded me of a character from The Big Blue....love that film.
Anyway, we camped near this same river and aquired our fossicking license ($9.50 for a family for a month) as well as hiring some equipment.

This really got the boys excited and they took off with their pick and shovel singing Minecraft songs. It was hilarious.
After a few hours of searching we had found a few interesting bits and pieces but nothing to really crow about. But it was fun and felt somehow really dreamlike sitting in the riverbed, sifting glittering sands and narrowing the world down to what was in the pan in front of you. I really enjoyed it!
And we had a powered site after ages of great free camping and we had all read The Hunger Games on this trip, so that night we set up our own outdoor cinema with gingernut biscuits and cups of tea and watched the movie on the laptop.
Such an occasion!
In the morning I tried my luck in the riverbed again but was quickly lured back to camp by a beckoning cup of tea. As I drank it I thought I may as well have a glance over the discarded heaps of 'wash' left by the camp. And that where I found this:

I felt like a true treasure hunter and whooped with joy showing my find to all, including the shirtless Frenchman.
Then we were on the road again and with an overnight free camp at Delulu (" my my my Delulu") and then lunch and a quick shop in Gayndah (!) we arrived last night at Pomona, home of Polly, Mike and their boy Fred. Old friends, a few beers, lots of hugs, it's good to be here. Today we are going to climb this mountain which I can see now from their backyard.....

From now on we are with friends. Back in the lush of the east coast, with flowers and color and green and hills and the ocean! A new chapter for sure.....

Ok this is my last post about Winton. I promise. Apart from everything else the town is also home to Queenslands boulder opal. A beautiful precious stone where colorful glimmers of opal are housed in gorgeous swirly ironstone. It is my new favorite gem. Don't love it as much as Lucky however, he spent HOURS fossicking at the opal shop in town and cracking rocks back at camp. Has quite the rock collection now!

He has vowed to come back and try his fortune as an opal miner one day! Even Steve, the shop owner (who was infinitely patient and good humoured with us all) said that lucky has a better eye than adults he paid to work for him!
The other cool thing in town was the outdoor cinema. It featured in the movie Bran Nue Dae and it was great to visit and imagine the place in its heyday.

It is home to the worlds biggest deck chair. Here it is:

Inspired by this we all set out the camp chairs under the half moon last night and watched The Hunger Games on Gavs laptop. The boys were beside themselves with excitement but we all pretty much agreed, the book was better. Flex and I both read the whole series and now Gav is into the second book.
Anyhow, this is my last picture of old stuff for today - bye!

If anyone has one or comes across one of these, please let me know - I am in love!!!

I just love old stuff. Call it vintage, collectible, Pre loved it doesn't matter - its the memories locked inside, the dust or worn marks on the outside, the pleasing lines of an age when things were curvier...in this age when things are made to break down, and we are a people obsessed with accumulation and cheap crap, mass production and changing fashions, it is soothing to the soul to cast your eyes over a lovely collection of old bottles....

Or old machinery that you knew was a workhorse for a family for their lifetime.

And I really do dig retro....

And if you don't love roller skates , you are no friend of mine.

Aside from the dinosaurs, Winton is also famous as being the place where Banjo Patterson wrote the song ' Waltzing Matilda'. There is a whole centre dedicated to the song, he poet and the whole ethos of the swagman. Interactive and overall a pretty cool place. Especially as it was air conditioned!

And guess what! We camped for free for three nights....by a billabong, under the shade of a coolibah tree. This is a picture of our billy about to boil. Couldn't get any cheesier, or more sublime!

A small town with a big heart as they say, and a cohesive tourism strategy which is full of integrity and wonder for all ages.
Firstly, Winton is Australia's dinosaur capital with some of the very best finds and displays in the country. And you gotta love a town that goes with a theme...

We visited the Age of the Dinosaurs centre which is a working lab where you can volunteer and have the experience of helping to dig and clean Dino bones.

It is holding enough bones to keep everyone busy for a long time....

A fascinating place where you could feel the love and energy of all the volunteers, paleantologists and Dino geeks alike!

The boys even got to ride 'Banjo' the cheeky australovenator wintonensis!

Dinosaur stampede!.

Today we went to the one and only Lark Quarry conservation park - the worlds only fossilized Dinosaur stampede footprint site showing over 3000 individual Dino footprints. Looking at the array of footprints you can imagine the massive carnivorous T Rex like Dino attacking all the smaller Dino's drinking at a billabong.

These footprints are over 95 million years old and really something to behold! By Flex.

It's the little things.
When traveling on a shoestring budget, you learn to get creative in order to find ways to maximize your enjoyment of life on the road. We have found many such ways including free camping as opposed to caravan parking and packing a tucker box for the car instead of buying roadhouse lunches.
But my favorite by far is the DIY slushie.
It's been so hot that we are all craving refreshing refreshments, but most ice creams or icy drinks are $$$ . So we buy a bag of ice and a bottle of cordial and hey presto! As many yummy, freezy icy slushies as you can drink. The boys are expert 'bartenders' by now and we are loving spending the evenings playing uno, polishing rocks and drinking refreshing refreshments!