We had been so excited to get to the Queensland coast. Beautiful beaches, blue waters, blue skies and swimming, snorkelling and playing on white sandy beaches. (Well, that’s what we expected anyway). So for days and days of driving we had been progressively getting the kids more and more excited to hit the coast again and they had joined in our anticipation of all of the above!

What we actually discovered once we hit the coast at Townsville was rain, grey skies, wind, very tidal muddy colored water with mangroves. (Looked very much like croc country to me!), which had signs everywhere saying no swimming unless you wanted to die from either crocodiles or stingers, and mud for beaches!!

So we had to change our thought process somewhat to a more of a stay out of the rain, stay out of the water and find play grounds, go for walks and rides or just do the touristy stuff.

We did find some great places. “The Strand” (The esplanade) was fantastic, water parks, swimming pool, play grounds and the usual shops and cafes etc. We spent a day at “Reef HQ”, the aquarium which was great. The kids got to do some interactive  lessons and loved seeing all the underwater life.  Our neighbours had one child who was 7, and she LOVED playing with the kids. They even had 2 pet guinea pigs living in the caravan with them which our kids loved!

After Townsville we headed to Bowen and stayed at Horseshoe bay, which was beautiful. The wind continued to blow and blow, but thankfully we were out of the wind at the caravan park.

Yay! 10 days back in Vic! We had a very welcomed short trip back to Vic for my brothers Aussie wedding celebration and nephews first birthday 🙂 It was so wonderful being back with our families and friends.

We stayed with my parents and Steve’s parents for the time we were home so it felt like another type of holiday, not home. We loved every second of our time and even though it was hectic, we are so glad we got to see the fam.

Our favourite bits about being home:

Steve – knowing we were coming back to finish our holiday

Bec – hanging out with those we love

Noah – playing Lego

Ava – Tilly (our very loved cat is being looked after by our very loved friends and we went to visit her)

Maya – Nanny

(need to upload some pics from Nate’s party then I’ll put them on)

It was decided well before we left home that we wouldn’t focus much on the area from Katherine and above. We were up here 5 years ago and had a pretty good look around with our good friends Rachel, Brit, Ben and Ian and Anne.

There was however a few spots we did want to revisit, mainly Litchfield NP and Edith Falls. The rest of our 6 days in Darwin was to slow down and relax. (As much as you can with 3 little kids!)

Litchfield didn’t disappoint. Especially Wangi falls and Buley Rockholes. And neither did Edith falls. At Buley rockholes both Noah and Ava were jumping into the river off rocks higher than themselves which was pretty brave I thought! Especially considering before we left on this trip Ava was petrified of the waves and Noah wouldn’t get his face wet in the water!!

We were fortunate enough to catch up with friends, Alan, Carly and kids at Edith Falls. We were camping at the falls and they made the effort to pop in to see us which was great. In Darwin we went to the free waterparks which were fantastic. Noah just scraped in being tall enough to go down the waterslides and he very valiantly went down the speed racer on a mat and at another park went down a pitch black slide on a tube with Steve. Very brave! It was at this park we bumped into one of Bec’s old school friends, Jess and her sister Sarah and family. it was great to see these guys as well. Such a small world.

We also went on a jumping crocodile cruise which was great. It was made all the more special by “Nifti”, the biggest croc in the river having a fight with a smaller crocodile beside the cruise boat. The bang of a big crocodile thrown into side of the boat and the splash of water up the windows wont be forgotten in a long time!

It’s truly a different world up here. While Steve, Ava and Maya waited 2 hours longer than expected  for the wheels of the car to be rotated, they learnt a new phrase during a conversation about someone being too busy in the Northern Territory. “That’s not the Territory way”!!