Restarting Our Journey  

                    After being  on a 1 year journey of prostate cancer treatment which has been successful although I still have a couple of months of hormone therapy to pass but I am feeling great, we have a new resurgence to travel our wonderful country again, it was a long hard slog but the final outcome is positive although the doctors don't say you are cured and free from cancer so I will be taking it upon myself to do what I can to keep it from returning.

We are beginning our new journey on Sat. 20th Sept. starting by catching up with a few people who have become friends during  treatment, while on our way south again to see family and friends, some of these friends are still going through the battle of their lives so we are looking forward to helping boost their moral a bit.

   While we have been in Hervey Bay I have been doing some more changes to our van to help make it easier to set up and pack up by fitting a permanent TV antenna and TV wall bracket, removing the pole carrier from the front of the van to the rear then fitting doors to the openings, taking the 9kg gas bottle out of the boot and fitting two 4kg bottles to the drawbar also removing the spare tyre from the boot and fitting to the rear bumper, then fitting a skylight come vent over the bedroom, then added some new outdoor table and chairs.

      During recuperation we had a trip out to lake "Boondooma" for some fishing and relaxation then a trip to "Cania Gorge" and lake "Monduran" with friends who we are forever grateful for their hospitality during my treatment and recovery.

Sunset Over Lake Boondooma

Cania Gorge Scene

    Our first stop was at  "Wondai" for a couple of nights to visit a friend who is still getting treatment and struggling a little so we had a great time with them trying to ease their burden while we were there, I was able to help out with moving some electric fencing while Marion did some cooking and a little gardening then we moved on to "Blackbutt" for another night where another cancer friend is slowly recovering, we had a great time there as well , before we left Marion joined their craft group for the morning and sold some of her scarves and hose bags, while I had a morning playing pool with the "blokes". After lunch we moved on to "Caloundra" to another couple who are still in the early recovery stage of his treatment, while there we helped them make and fit some curtains to their little van that they are going to do some small trips in. We also caught up with some other friends there and went out to lunch at a local hotel in the main street where we had a 3 course meal for $13 then us fellows went into the Aircraft Museum while the women did some retail therapy, It was the first time I had seen an F111 up close and I didn't realise they were such a big fighter plane.

We really appreciated the hospitality of all these people who will be friends forever because of our common connection but I have to admit my weight has suffered so it will be back to a fitness routine very soon (the food was great though).

  We left Caloundra on Friday and made our way to "Esk" where we spent a night at the caravan park and went to the local hotel for a birthday lunch, Esk has recovered well from the 2011 floods and seems to be going ahead in leaps and bounds, the next day we travelled to "Highfields" near "Toowoomba" to spend a couple of nights with a previous workmate in Hervey bay, whilst there they took us out to dinner to a Turkish restaurant in Toowoomba Named  Sofra Turkish Cuisine . We had a great night, the service was great, the food was excellent and I even got to have a dance with the resident belly dancers, the diners on the table next to us could not believe that I was 70 and congratulated me, then when they were leaving they had paid for a sweet course selection for us which I was very surprised but most grateful,(there are still some wonderful people in this world ). we also managed to catch up with Marion's sister for 30 min who was in "Toowoomba"for a seminar.

A selection Of Birds at Caloundra

We moved on to "Ipswich" where once again we stayed a night with some caravaning friends who have just moved into a new house so there I was able to help fit a new gate, we stayed for one night then moved on to "Jimboomba" to catch up with a couple who were the first people we house sat for when we first started out almost 5 yrs ago,(sadly their dog we house sat had passed away but they now have a new bundle of mischief called "Molly" that just loves shoes left unattended) we only intended to stay a couple of nights but we forgot that it was a long w/end coming up and could not get into the camp grounds at "Canungra" so we were invited to stay until Monday for which we are very grateful once again, I was able to help out with restoration work on a 1969 Morgan Roadster and Marion swapped ideas with craft and cooking etc. We decided to do a trip through the "Lions Road" which is a scenic drive not suitable for caravans but on reaching the N.S.W. border we were turned back because of a motorbike club doing a group tour through the road ??? needless to say we weren't very impressed, we also passed on our travelling experiences to this couple as they are hitting the road next year in their motor home.

Molly

     We left there this morning for Beaudesert where we had arranged to meet our "Hervey Bay" friends who were making their way back home, after a coffee and chat we departed for "Canungra" recreation ground  where we have set up for a week and now planning our adventures around the area for the next few days.

Our Camp at Canungra

 Click Here For Photos