Where's Taj

Hi All,

I think the family has summed up most of our recent experiences, so I will keep it brief and then upload some fantastic photos whilst also playing a game with you. You have all probably heard of the Where's Wally books, well using a bit of plagerism I have come up with my own game of Where's Taj?

Over the past month we have had some amazing experiences, Long Island was simply magic, Paronella Park was breathtaking, I loved my father's day at the Townsville Aquarium, was devastated by the destruction at Cardwell, but amazed by the peoples spirit, thought Kurrimine Beach was stunning, loved snorkeling through the crystal clear waters at the Boulders and was surprised by the gourgeous Lion's Den Park and discovering and conquering the Bloomsfield track 4wd down through the Daintree.

Currently we are as far north as we will be going at Cooktown, which in a word is WINDY. It is a cute little quiant town but we haven't caught a fish or seen a croc, however, have still enjoyed relaxing around the park and discovering some interesting 4wd tracks in search of that elusive croc.

That about sums it up, so I hope you enjoy playing Where's Taj? at Paronella Park.

Those 2 were easy weren't they, have a go at the next ones.

Hope you enjoyed the photos (isn't Paronella Park amazing) and were you able to find Taj??!!

See ya,
Chris

Tazzy Talk 8

This week we went to terrific Townsville, the wonderful Wallaman waterfalls and Cardwell. It was another really good week. Let me tell you about it.

Townsville

I had a really good time at Townsville. There was a BIG market and an awesome aquarium. We stayed at an awesome free stay. I met a really cute boy there, his name was Jimmy. He was the cutest Kelpie i have ever seen.

The market was massive. It was fathers day too and that was really good for us because we had not got anything for dad. Oops. I ended up getting him a homemade chocolate and something else. We also got a massive pineapple (not for fathers day). It was really yum.

The Aquarium was the best thing ever. It had the most magical fish and super cute turtles. The best thing was the turtle hospital. It was so cool. It was really sad though. Most of the turtles were in the hospital because of plastics. I got to pat a shark in the touch tank. It was rough like sand paper. It was really fun there, it was way better than the Melbourne aquarium.

The Wallaman Waterfalls

“WOW” I said as i looked up at the biggest sheer drop waterfall in Australia. It was a 305m waterfall and was just amazing. Unfortunately the track where you go down to the bottom of the waterfall was closed. I think that it was because of a landslide. We went for a little drive after that. We came up to a little creek and we saw a turtle so we got out of the car they just kept popping up. They looked like they were hungry so we went to the car and got some watermelon and it was so funny to see them swim as fast as they could to get the little pieces.

Cardwell

As we pulled up at this beautiful caravan park my smile turned as I saw the damage Yasi did to this beautiful town. The beach looked horrible palm trees everywhere. When we were having dinner that night the cutest fattest lab i have ever seen came up and sat at our feet. We gave her all our left overs, her name was Abi (abbey). 

The next day we read the other side of her collar and it said “Vet said strictly NO food” I felt so bad that I took her for a 1km walk and she came back a nearly fell down she was so tired.



That was my terrific week. Talk to you soon. Taz                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    



Abi was hoping I'd drop my icecream



Kristys Clip 8

As has been the case with most of the big cities we’ve driven through Townsville was simply another major town with the usual tourist attractions.  After spoiling Chris with bacon and eggs for father’s day we headed to the Townsville street market.  The kids were able to pick up a couple of pressies for their dad.  After a cruise around town we wandered into the Townsville Marine Aquarium.  Never before have I been so impressed by fish.  What an amazing exhibit.  However the highlight of my day was going on a guided tour through the turtle hospital.  I’ve discovered a new love for these beautiful animals. They’re so peaceful and endearing.

The following day we packed up and drove north with no real destination in mind.  We had heard of several pretty beaches to stop at on the way to cairns and thought we’d just pick the one we liked best.  I’m not saying that our information was misleading; I just think people haven’t been there since a little storm called Yasi passed by.  Some of these tiny coastal towns have been completely flattened.  You’d never have heard about them on the news and you never will.  They are simply little towns that got blown away and now seem to be re-emerging as a new entity 

Having picked up a few brochures of the surrounding area we drove inland where we got to a point that required us to dump the van.  Reluctantly we did so and it was only about 5 minutes later that I realised why.  We meandered up the one lane mountain road.  We were rewarded 30km later with vision of Australia’s highest single drop waterfall.  Beautiful.  Further rewarded we got to feed star shelled turtles.

 

We finally settled on staying at Cardwell.  Now this is a place that you may have seen on the news.  It was quite honestly heartbreaking to drive into what was once a beautiful beachside township. Most houses those that weren’t levelled still have roof tarps on.  Sand still covers people’s lawn form the storm surge and subsequent flooding.  It was like being in a bush fire ravished area the only difference being that the trees trunks, completely stripped bare of all foliage are not black.  What was planned as an overnight stay extended to 3 nights based purely on putting money directly back into the town.  Oh that and happy hour every day providing us with budget drinks.  Talking to the locals was interesting.  There’s a real irritation itching at the skin of those who live in these small towns.  For all the money that was raised it appears that very little of it has made its way to towns like Cardwell.  The theory is that the state government filtered it all directly into the tourist hot spots.



The Tully Raingage


 

Paronella Park is west of the coast.  To get there we passed through other destroyed towns like Innisfail and Tully.  Decision made, id never live in a cyclone prone town.  Paronella Park provided us with beauty beyond belief.  The park itself was owned by a Spanish immigrant who dreamed of building a castle, so with no building experience that’s exactly what he did.  Now many of it is left in ruins but it’s still one of the most impressive history lessons I’ve ever hear.  We did both the day and night tour which all of us loved.  Especially the kids.  What kid wouldn’t enjoy feeding eels, fish and turtles, swimming under a waterfall, watching bats fly overhead and running free through a rainforest which provided the best ever hide and seek playground.

After a silent night in Paronella we headed back to the coast to Kurrimine Beach.  Another recovering Yasi town.  Nevermore has the Aussie spirit shone through than in this town.  The caravan park owners got Yasi’s aftermath cleared and open for business in just 13 days.  A miracle in itself.  A month later the owner was called on by a neighbour to put out a developing wild fire.  Marcus answered the call arriving on his Dingo the cut a break in the direction.  In a devastating blow the Dingo exploded and Marcus was engulfed in flames.  He says he remembers the first couple of minutes of pain before thankfully passing out.  He remained in a coma for a month.  He’s now required to wear a pressure suit over his entire body and has to drive 100’s of kilometres every couple of weeks to receive treatment at Royal Brisbane.  He continues to run his business with a smile on his face.  What a great bloke!

Back inland we head as we zig- zag up the coast.  The Boulders hardly even rates a mention on the map but proved to be a beautiful natural attraction.  One of few croc- free swimming holes in the north.  Having a swim was not without its dangers though.  Many signs are posted around the park reminding visitors that many people have died swimming in the area when they’ve been swept down the waterfalls.  The Boulders also offered us our first encounter with a wild Cassowary.  It proved to be the seagull of the north, turning up every time dinner was served.  So determined to share a sausage with a German tourist that he chased her around the picnic table until she finally dropped the food.

On the word of a lovely German couple we have decided to head to The Daintree and Cooktown faster than planned so it looks like we’ve got a bit of a drive on our hands.

Until next week, take care,

Kristy.

Taj's Tattles



Playing Cricket At Whitehaven Beach



We went on the Big Fury.  We got to see some fish.  I saw a black tipped reef shark.  We had to jump out of a boat, it was deep.  Then we did snorkelling and we saw heaps of little fish.  I liked seeing the fish especially the black tipped reef shark.  We weren’t in there for that long because it was freezing like going to the snow.  Mum and Dad stayed in the water, me my brother and sister went in to the Big Fury to get warm, it wasn’t that big.  Then we travelled back to have some lunch at Whitehaven beach.  We played cricket on the beach and I was playing with the soccer ball.  The lunch was really nice, I had heaps of pineapple.  We left the beach and went back to the pier.  After that Mum told us that some people have got left out there alone and they died.



In the spa at Long Island



As soon as we got off the boat to Long Island we saw a green sea turtle.  It was cool.  Ryley loves seeing them. We saw about 50 of them in the end.   We stayed in a cool hotel it had a spa and a pool.  We got to eat free.  The food was yum.  I had heaps of toast for brekky.  I went on a jet ski, it was so fun.  I was the only one on it because I was too little to go on the biscuit so the man let me go for a fun ride just with him.  He started off slow but then he went faster than the donut.  Mum had a ride as well  to make sure the kids were safe.  We saw some whales, a mummy one and a baby.  We went fishing but I didn’t go fishing.  We saw snakes.  We walked to another island and we saw a dead turtle.  We saw bat fish, they were awesome, I got to feed them.  We fed some birds.  The birds bitted a lot. Now we are leaving and we went on this really cool cart.  I really wish I could stay one more night. 



I just got off the Jet Ski





The Today Show T



I could eat as much toast as I wanted



This is a dead turtle





A mocktail



Ry Report 7

We arrived at Airlie beach and looked at a couple of caravan parks.  At the end it was down to two Flametree and The Big Four.  We went money wise and went with the one with the smaller pool.  Later on that day Tamsyn Ta J and I had just bought a few drinks and we saw a kid swimming in the pool.  He asked us if we would go in the pool with him.  We asked Mum and she said yes.  So we made friends with Tom.  A few days later Dad took us to the shops and we found a skate park.  We went to the skate park and took tom as well.  Tom and I could do everything there, even the big massive drop.  Tom and I were riding as fast we could and jumping up a ramp and landing on the grass.  At the end we only had time to do one more jump each.  Tom went for his last run and went up the ramp and got higher than our caravan and landed on his hip. Then I went and while I was in the air I let go of my scooter so that I didn’t land on it.  I ended up landing on my butt.

The next day we went into town and booked a boat ride on the Big Fury to go out snorkelling.  We were so excited the next day because we were in the bus driving to the harbour to get to the harbour.  We were going on the Big Fury.  When we arrived we had to wait about half an hour for two campers who were very very late.  We got on the boat and went about 50km an hour to go snorkelling.  When we got there we had two options we could jump straight off the big fury and swim across to the reef or you could go across in the dingy.  Tamsyn Taj and I went across in the dingy.  We hopped off there.  The water was very cold and murky.  The man said it was a pretty bad day to go snorkelling because it was cloudy and choppy.  The man said that he would throw in some food so we could see the fish come up.  There were two types of fish that came up and there were heaps of them, it felt like I was one of the fish.  Mum, Dad, Tamsyn, Taj and I always stayed close together.  After about 15 minutes we were cold so we hopped back on the dingy and the man drove us back to the boat.  Another person who was on the boat helped us get dry and then we got dressed in the toilet.  I was a bit disappointed about the weather because I was hoping you could see a lot more coral and fish.   When everyone was back on the boat we headed to Whitehaven beach.  The sand was that white that it could clean scratches off your watches and jewellery.  The sea was a beautiful blue colour.  Probably the most beautiful sea I’ve ever seen.  Finally the sum came out and we played a bit of beach cricket.  We went to a picnic table in the forest for lunch.  Tamsyn and I were throwing a ball to each other.  I put on my bathers and went for a swim.  The water was really warm and it was very calm.  Tamsyn and I saw a really cool school of fish. We hopped back on the boat to head for home.  On the way back we saw a whale jumping and it looked really cool but it was a long way from us.

We went to long Island.  As soon as we got off the boat I almost fainted because I saw a big green sea turtle pop up to the top of the water and take a big breath then go back down.  It was the first sea turtle I had ever seen.  We hopped on the yellow buggy; it was much faster than walking.  When we got to the resort Taj and I grabbed our snorkelling gear and went to the ping pong tables.  We played a few matches of ping pong.  We were going for a snorkel in the sea but we saw the pool.  Tamsyn, Taj and I ordered a mocktail and we drank them in the pool.  We went to check out our hotel room, it was quite nice.  Dad, Tamsyn and I went to the water sports area and asked if we could go on a biscuit ride.  This is a big inflatable three seater couch that gets towed along by a jet ski.  Taj wasn’t big enough to go on so he was the photographer.  Mum went on the back of the Jet Ski, she had to tell the driver if any of us wanted to get off or slow down.  Off we went.  The Jet Ski started going really fast.  It was one of the most fun rides I’ve ever been on.  When we went around the comers it was really hard to hold on and it felt so fast.  Sometime you’d go over the waves and bounce up and down, up and down.  On the last turn we were going really fast and we hit the waves, we almost fell off.  AT dinner time we walked in to the restaurant.  It was really special; it wasn’t like a restaurant in Upper Beac.  The food was really different.  The next day we all went for a guided walk out to the back beach.  While we were out there we saw a really really big logger head turtle, unfortunately it was dead.  We couldn’t figure out how it had died. The guide said that they either get attacked by tiger sharks or choke on plastics.  After the walk we went fishing.  We caught four fish they were; 2 Striped Sea Pike, Blue Striped Snapper, Yellow Tailed Snapper. We always throw them back because we don’t eat fish.  We ended up seeing eight beautiful turtles.  The most amazing part of the day though was when we saw a mother4 humpback whale with her baby calf.  They were so close, I wanted to jump in and swim up to them.  They looked so relaxed just swimming through the sea.  The baby was playing around, when rolled on its side and lifted its fin it looked like a shark.  In the afternoon I had a swim and made a new friend called Jackson.  We tried fishing again in the dark after dinner.  Craig the guide had even put a spot light on the pier for us.  We caught one striped sea Pike and we saw heaps of other fish swimming around.  We saw some massive fish circling under the smaller ones, perhaps they were waiting for dinner.  Our last day on the island involved even more fishing.  We caught; 4 Venus Tusk fish, 2 barracuda, 1 Striped Pike, 1 Rock Cod.  The patterns on the fish were so amazing; I’ve never seen fish like them before.  Before we left we went on one last biscuit ride.  This time dad was the spotter on the back of the Jet Ski.  Mum Taz and I were on a different biscuit this time.  We had to lie down and hold on at the front.  Colin the driver took off like a rocket and the ropes were pulling on our arms.  It was really hard to hold on; it felt like the biscuit was going to pull your arms off.  AT one point I started to slip off and I lost my grip I just managed to hold onto another part of the biscuit.   Halfway through the ride I decided that I wanted to get off, my arms were killing me.  I swapped with Dad to be the spotter.  I watched Mum, Dad and Tamsyn bump and jump over the waves and the wake.  It was super doper funny watching Mum and Dad bounce up and down, up and down. 

It was sad to head back to the mainland, but even as we got on the boat a few turtles popped up their heads to say good bye.  It was best spot that we’ve been for the whole trip.  It was even better than Wilsons Prom. 

More adventures next week from Lemur Boy.

Tazzie Talk 7

Tazzie Talk 7

This week we were on beautiful Airlie Beach and Long Island. We had a pretty cruise week; we went to Long Island and the big Fury...........

Flame tree

This week we were going to be staying at Flame tree, Airily Beach. As we walked past the pool a kid said “Do you want to come in the pool”? We said yes and the raced off to get our bathers on. We introduced our self’s to the kid. His name was Tom. When I was standing on the edge of the pool Ryley and Tom pushed me in!

After we swam in the pool we went to our caravans for dinner and then we pretty much went to bed.

The BIG Fury

The previous day we booked tickets for the big fury! It is the fastest boat to get around!!! Today was not the loveliest day but anyway. We were going snorkelling and also to White Haven Beach.

We got on the boat and I was pumped, I couldn’t wait to see White Haven beach. When we got to the place we were going to be snorkelling it was cold but the water was meant to be 22dc! Ry Taj and I got a lift to the reef in a tinny and then jumped out the water was so cold. I think I nearly got hypothermia!!! I had to keep swimming though, just for 5 minutes even. I got to see a lot of fish and then I got back on the boat. Now we are going to WHITE HAVEN! After a rainy trip to White haven we pulled up and got out and it had stopped raining!! When we got off the boat we washed mums necklace in the sand.......... IT WORKED, IT WORKED. I can’t believe that the white sand washed the necklace!

After a yummy lunch I went swimming. Ryley and I went swimming to the boat about 15ms from shore. I had the time of my life at white haven and I would really like to go there when it was really sunny I think that it would look more beautiful.

Long Island

Today we a going to a island in fact LONG ISLAND it looked amazing on the brochure and I couldn’t wait to get there and see what it looked like actually being there.

When I got to the top of the jetty Ry yelled out. “Turtle, there’s a green sea turtle”! I down to Ryley and there was nothing. We waited and then a green sea turtle pops up his head and takes a deep breath and the goes under the water again. It was so cute!

When we got to the reception there was a HUGE pool right in front of us.

We were all very hot so we got our bathers and snorkel gear. (We only got the snorkel gear because we needed some practice). The boys sucked at snorkelling but I got it right away like mum! Not once did I have to remove my mask to spit out water!!!!

After that we went to see how much it was to hire a good fishing road and we found out that you can go on a biscuit. We got Taj free because he was too small to go on the biscuit and the nice man let him go one the Jet Ski. We got into the water and I felt electric it was a huge rush and the thing was only going 2kms per hour!! When we picked up speed it was soo fun! On the last turn we hit a few little waves and it nearly sent us all off the biscuit!! Mum said it looked so funny when we went air born.  At dinner we got the list of what w could get I was shocked. It was so different to any other kids menu I have ever had. It had foods I haven’t herded of and the things that I did know of were allot different.

On Day 2 we had a massive sleep in. At break we had so much to choose from. I had an egg and bacon sandwich and 2 hash browns!!!

After our food we went for a walk and we saw a loggerhead turtle it was dead! Most of the time they get taken by tiger sharks because they float on the top for some time. After that we went fishing and we caught 4 fish. I caught a Blue Striped Snapper and it was beautiful. That was not the only beautiful thing of the day. I also spotted a beautiful mother whale and her calf. They were so close that I could have swam out there and touched them. It was magical as the calf played around his mother. I haven’t seen any in the wild before and I was shocked, could this day get any better?

After that the day was pretty much the same. We did Bat fish feeding in the afternoon and that was awesome the fish looked smooth; I could have jumped in and hugged one. We also did bird feeding and they were really cute there was one on my shoulder and I squawked loudly in my ear. I had a beautiful fish for dinner called a dorie (not the same fish from nemo).

After that we went night fishing and I caught one fish it was a pike. I was the only one to catch a fish. We woke up and ran to get another amazing break. I had fruit and hash brown today.

It was our last day so we went strait to fishing this time we had a slow start but after my first fish we caught heaps of fish but my favourite is still the Snapper. I loved every part of Long Island and I didn’t want to go but I had to.             

              Talk to you soon Taz