Bowen, Airlie Beach and Mackay

 In Bowen we went to a nice beach called Horseshoe bay and played with my new boogie board. We also went to a splash park and a swim in the big pool at the Caravan Park. I also went for a ride with my Dad while he was running. Horseshoe bay was the best so we went back another time to build sand castles. We also went to a cool skatepark. Today we had some sad news that my Great Poppy had died. He was 87 :(

Trying to surf at Horseshoe Bay

The splashpark on Bowen Harbour

My Sand Castle

Horeshoe Bay: That is me on the beach!

From Bowen we went to Airlie Beach where we spent a lot of time swimming, sliding, riding scootering, playing in the park and playing Putt Putt (Dad made me add up my score). The Caravan Park was awesome. We also caught a bus to get on a boat called "Big Fury". It was very fast and we got to see most of the Whitsunday Islands, went snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef National Park and Whitehaven Beach.

The 2 slides at the van park

On the fast boat about to go snorkelling

some of the fish on the reef

On Whitehaven Beach

Above Whitehaven Beach

After Airlie Beach we went to Mackay where my mum had to fly back to Wollongong for her Pop's funeral. We were disappointed that the new splash park and slide at the Caravan Park was not yet open and the Bluewater Lagoon in Mackay was also closed. So instead we went on a big bike ride, went to 4 parks, a botanical garden, a skatepark, a massive shopping centre, the beach and fishing where I got the most bites but no fish. I also caught up on a lot of homework while mum was gone.

Not happy that the lagoon is closed

On our big ride

Fishing

Surfing at Mackay Beach

Getting to the coast

From Kakadu I went to the Queensland Coast. It took 5 long days in the car and it was very boring for most of the time. But along the way I did get to meet new friends at Daly Waters where we did a treasure hunt finding different items scattered around the pub, hold a baby goat, visit a dinosaur museum and camp beside the road without power again.

Meeting Ella at Daly Waters

The boring road

Finally in Queensland

Isn't it cute

Dinosaur in the playroom at the museum

My first stop along the coast was Paronella Park (a castle built in 1930 ruined the 2 cyclones) Here I fed eels, turtles and fish. It was pouring with rain! The day tour was good but the night tour when the castle was lit up was much better. The view from the wobbly bridge was great.

Me crossing the wobbly bridge

 

Feeding the eels and fish with a container of fish food

Lots of Turtles coming up for a feed

Next stop was Mission Beach where it was good to stay for three days instead of one like we have been doing for a week. Here we went for a ride along the beach, saw hermit crabs which make circles in the sand, went for a swim, flew a kite, went for a bush walk in a rainforest where we saw another turtle. We even saw a cassowary, which is a bit like an emu but is pretty and has a horn on its head.

Flying a kite - not very successfully

A hermit crab

Patterns in the sand from hermit crabs

Our rainforest walk

Next stop was Townsville, where we stayed for 4 nights as well as a 2 night holiday from our holiday on magnetic island. In townsville I swam at a rockpool with my brother, had fish and chips on the strand where we played at the cool park, We drove up Castle Hill to have a look out over the city and magnetic island. Here we saw a green tree frog which Cameron tried to pick up and scared all of us when it jumped! We also went to Reef HQ, an aquarium which was cool. We saw heaps of fish, sharks and starfish, even a 100 year old turtle.

The rock pool

The view over to magnetic island from Castle Hill

The green tree frog

 Aquarium Shots!

We spent 2 days on Magnetic island, to get there we had to take a ferry, We walked along the beach even though it was raining, but we had more fun! We fed Rock Wallabies which can jump higher than me onto the rocks. We went to a Wldlife Sanctuary which rescue hurt animals where we got to
Hold:
Frill neck lizards, Blue tongue lizards, Stumpy lizards, a turtle, a koala and a python.
Feed:
Black cockatoo
Saw:
White cockatoo, wombat, crocodiles.

We went on a walk and saw 3 koalas, then swam at alma bay where the water was nice.
The next day we had a swim at our new friends hotel in a massive pool. It is fun meeting new people everywhere we go, but it is sad having to say goodbye all the time.

Magnetic island was beautiful and lovely!

Kakadu

From Darwin we drove to Cahills crossing for high tide. We saw lots of crocs eating barramundi. Then we drove across the crossing, right next to 2 saltwater crocs, which was not scary at all.

Cahills Crossing: Croc Watching

 At the campsite, I learnt that Green "Honey ants" make nests in the trees by folding the leaves over with their own "honey glue". They do this to avoid floodwater. The local aboriginals eat them!

Green Ants Nest in Jabiru

 The next day we went on a "Yellow Water Cruise" and learnt about lots of birds, brumbies, crocs, turtles (I was the only one to see a turtle) Jabiru's, lilly pads, plants and the wetlands themselves. We spent a lot of time in the pool in Jabiru but it was a cold pool.

Yellow Water Cruise

Fun at the Jabiru Lodge Pool

 The next day we went 4 wheel driving to Jim Jim Falls. To get there we had to climb over lots of rocks. It was 37 degrees, but the plunge pool was very cold and refreshing.

Jim Jim Falls Plunge Pool

 Then we drove to Twin falls, it was tall and looked 'inviting' but we were not allowed to swim here. It was a big day driving on dirt tracks and walking, but we did lots of swimming too.

Twin Falls

 The next day we did a bush walk around Noarlangie Rock where we saw lots of Rock Art and listened to a ranger (Rhys) speak about the history of the caves and paintings from 20 thousand years ago!

Rock Art at Noaralange

 That night we went to Ubirr Rock (another climb) to watch the sunset and more rock art.

Looking out from Ubirr Rock over Kakadu

Sunset at Ubirr Rock

 On our last day in Kakadu we went to two more waterfalls (along 2 more 4WD tracks) called Maguk and Gunlom falls. The first one was warm and the second one was refreshing after another long climb in the heat.

Maguk falls, one of our favourites

On top of Gunlom Waterfall