New Year at Hervey Bay

Always hard to say Goodbye to the kids Briony (flew back to NZ), Todd and Tenelle but left Burleigh after the housesit and drove up to Hervey Bay where we celebrated the New Year with friends on Stephen & Annette's property.  Also were able to catch up with Nola and Alan from NZ who we travelled with through Canada/Alaska.  Had a great lunch and catch up at Silky Oak on Tin Can Bay Road which is a lovely place to call into for breakfast or lunch.

Stayed for Australia Day, had a kangaroo come and talk to our animals.

January in SE Qld had some rain which flowed over the access road to the property

Things were going great until middle of January when Helen broke her right humerus bone (in between elbow and shoulder) when she was climbing into the Van.  As usual, she was carrying things in her hands (not hanging onto the handle) and had a cooler bag over her shoulder which caught on the door and pulled her backwards.  Had the ambulance take her to Emergency at Hervey Bay Hospital and after spending several hours waiting to be seen (luckily she said she was full of drugs), having plaster fitted which was then cut off because bone was not straight!  Then a webbing was fitted, pulled tight and an immobilizer fitted over the top at which point I think Helen was about to yell out a few choice words as the pain was intense.  Luckily there was a mature nurse handy who recognized the shivering was from pain and gave her some morphine to suck on - the orthopedic surgeon (much younger) was surprised it was hurting so much!!!! Another joy was having the wrist in a collar & cuff which kept weight on the elbow so bone would align when healing and another "bonus" was having to sleep sitting up for the next 6 weeks!!  She could do nothing so I had to become 'carer' and boy was it challenging to say the least!

Back from hospital, not happy, this is how the arm stayed for weeeeks!!!

Helen needed to report back to the Hospital on a weekly basis for 2 weeks then after seeing the Doctor about a month after the accident, we got a referral for her to report to Robina Hospital on the Gold Coast as we were heading back to Burleigh Heads to celebrate Todd and Tenelle's Engagement.  They announced their Engagement in October last year but waited until February to have an official celebration.

Heading to Burleigh Heads for Christmas

Passed through Cobar

Travelling to Burleigh Heads our first night was Nyngan Leisure & Caravan Park - fine for an overnight stay.  Opted for Caravan Park as days were quite hot and nights very warm - airconditioning for a few hours was great to cool the van down.  From here we travelled on Mitchell Highway to Nevertire, then turned onto Oxley Highway to Warren and Gilgandra.  Then we turned onto the Newell Highway to Coonabarrabran and onto Narrabri where we stayed on a property for a couple of nights - very dry and dusty.

Nyngan has the "Big Bogan"

From Narrabri we continued onto Moree encountering a lot of truck traffic including a few wide loads.  After having a look at the town of Moree we drove to Goondawindi where we stayed for the night at the Top Tourist Caravan Park - once again needing a bit of assistance with airconditioning as weather was very hot.  From Goondawindi we turned onto Cunningham Highway towards Warrick where we turned off Highway on Freestone Road to Aratula.  Stayed a while at Kooralbyn with friends Leon and Sandy at their beautiful property enjoying their hospitality and spectacular views.

Time to relax and take in the serenity

Swam with the crocs

One of the Whiptail Wallabies seen on the property

After a week of relaxation, we hitched up and headed to Canungra where we stayed at the Show Grounds (great little spot) and caught up with Helen's great-nephew and had a tour of their newly built home.  Had a nice pub meal - Hels is always in favour of not cooking!!

At this point we drove to Reedy Creek and parked the van at our house sit where we looked after Brad & Kim's lovely home and took care of their older Border Collie (Koby), and young mischievous cat (Marly).  This was a great location as we were close to Todd and Tenelle and with the added bonus that Briony flew back from NZ for Christmas, we were able to spend quality family time together.  Briony was able to sleep in the caravan so we were able to have a wonderful catch up.

Early morning view over the Kooralbyn Valley as the low cloud clears

Celebrated Christmas Day with Tenelle's family at their home - great spread and wonderful company. We appreciated Wayne & Susan's invitation as it was the first time in years that our family were all together for Christmas!!  Great Time!!

Christmas lunch and drinks, all good cheer.