We're Back!!!!!!

We woke up in the morning today and had some breakfast. After that we said goodbye to Ron and Vicki and were on the road home. I got to listen to my iPod all the way because I'd finished school work. After at least two hundred and something kilometres we arrived in Wodonga.

We got home and unloaded everything in the caravan. I took us nearly over and hour. We then had lunch and went off to put the caravan away in dads shed at work. When we got home my brother and I played lego for the afternoon.

Then we all had a shower and got dressed. We went to see dad off to a meeting and then met with the other ladies. We walked to a Chinese restaurant, called the Dragon Court. We had a delicious dinner there. My favourite was the chicken and sweet corn soup.

We then had some banana fritters and ice-cream for dessert and made our way back to the lodge. We drove home with dad and went straight to bed. I had a great day!!! And I'm glad we're back home!!!

Back at Last!!!!!!!

Today we drove from Mildura to our friends place after a nice breakfast. We packed up the caravan and were on our way. I did a load of maths for this week and the last week of school. Then I just listened to my iPod and read my book. After a few hours we stopped at Swan Hill and had some lunch.

We were then on the road for another hour or so and then arrived at our friends. Their names are Ron and Vicki. They had two dogs to look after too. Their names were Pipper and Kesha or something. My brother and I played with them a lot.

Soon Ron and Vicki came back from the hospital. Vicki had broken her leg so she was on crutches. We had some nibbles and my brother and I played with the dogs until it started to get dark. After that we went inside and wrote our journals. Then we had a delicious dinner of fish.

Soon we were in bed for our last day of travel! I had a great day playing with the dogs!!!!!!!!!!!

Oggi abbiamo lasciato Mildura.

Siamo arrivati a Ron e Vickis; i nostri amici.

The Chocolate Factory

We got up in the morning today and had some quick breakfast. We were then soon on the road on the way to Mildura. When we got there my brother and I played on the playground for a bit and then had some lunch. We had some chicken burgers for a change. After that we went for a drive around Mildura.

We first had a look at the chocolate factory. We had a bit of a taste of little chocolate pieces flavoured as blood orange and butterscotch. I liked the butterscotch best. We had some DELICIOUS hot chocolate that they made and thought it was really good!! After that we left.

We drove to lock eleven then. The locks are things where they they hold water up and help let bats go through. We watched a boat come through and then drove to the other dock.

There were hire boats there and we met the people who owned the boat that went through the lock. We had a look around some of the hire boats too. They were enormous! The first one had three bedrooms and two bunk beds. It had a TV (not that we would want one) and a kitchen. The bit upstairs had deck chairs, tables and chairs, a BBQ, sink, helm and a spa.

We left and then drove and shopped for some lunch for tomorrow. After that we were back at the caravan and I was doing my school work. After that we wrote our journals and had some nachos for dinner. We had a shower too. Then we went to bed to get some sleep. I had a great day!!!!!!!!x

Siamo andati a Mildura oggi.

Abbiamo ottenuto un sito e gioca nel parco giochi.

È stato davvero divertente.

Silverton

We woke up in the morning and had some breakfast. After that we left to go to Silverton. We drove along a road where there was a ip nearly every five hundred metres. After a while we reached the Mad Max 2 Museum. We got out of the car and payed.

We had a look around and for your information Mad Max is a movie. In my opinion it's gruesome. After a while we left and two donkeys were on the road. After that we called into the Daydream Mine. We did an underground tour too.

We got our hard hats and lights and walked down. This, if you didn't know, was a silver mine. People used to work in the mine by candlelight. Our guide also showed us what an eight year old would look like in the mine. The figure had real mice on crawling around on its shoulder too.

The rock was held up by tree stumps and they had built a railing so you could lean on it. We had a look at the shafts and went into this big room. Our guide got us to turn our lights of and lit a candle. We got used to the dimness and the guy showed us how people in the mine used to work.

Eight year olds were hired to do work down shafts sound half a metres tall. That was until you weren't allowed to work in the mines until you were eighteen. We were soon back in the bright sunlight though. We had some scones and then left.

We drove back to Broken Hill and went to have a milkshake. Dad and I had a thickshake and it was SO thick!! After that we went to the Geological Museum. We had a tour around the miners cottage and found out loads about rocks.

We also saw the Sliver Tree. After that we drove to do a bit of shopping and then went back to the caravan. We wrote our journals and had a delicious dinner lentils and noodles. Then we were in bed like usual getting sleep for another day.

Oggi siamo andati Silverton.

Siamo andati al museo di Mad Max a aveva un tour sotterraneo.

È stato grande!

Broken Hill

We woke up this morning and slept a tiny bit overtime but got up to have a quick breakfast. After that we did a quick pack up and left Port Augusta. We drove for quite a while through hills and drove through a cloud once. We arrived at a little town on the other side of the hills.

We drove through places Orroroo and Peterborough. After a while we stopped and got out some fruit. We had a few mandarins and a pear. After about four hundred and something kilometres we reached Broken Hill.

We found ourselves a site and my brother and I played on the playground for a bit. When we came back we had some lunch and set off for a look around. We had a look from lookouts and then drove to have a look at the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) centre. Wd got a tour and watched a really interesting movie thing about it. We also had a look around the museum.

We were soon back at the caravan and were doing some school work and writing our journals. We had some delicious spaghetti bolognese for dinner and we soon in bed for another night to come. I had a great time finding out that there were two playgrounds in the park!!

Oggi siamo arrivati a Broken Hill.

Abbiamo lasciato Port Augusta.

Abbiamo dato un'occhiata in giro Broken Hill.

Siamo andati anche a guardare il (Royal Flying Doctor Service) centro RFDS.

St Tuna

We woke up in the morning today to a very cold morning. We had a quick breakfast and were soon on the road. I listened to my iPod all along. Now and then we'd stop at a petrol station.

After about two hours, (we'd finished all our fruit in time) we arrived at Ceduna. We made up a name for this on our last trip; St Tuna. We gave away our last vegetables and fruit scrapings, and were finally through to South Australia.

After another two hours we stopped in Minnipa for a bit of lunch. We had packet soup with water that mum heated up on the stove. The toilet at the stop was really funny. It was a sort of water tank, and on it was painted: Concrete Crappa (see photo).

We left and drove on for another two hours and arrived finally at Port Augusta. We drove into the Shoreline caravan park and found ourselves a site. We set up and went straight to do some shopping.

After an hours time we'd finished and were back at the caravan. My brother and I played at the playground until it started raining. After five minutes my brother and I went to go and have a shower.

After that we had a delicious dinner of spaghetti bolognese. After that we were soon in bed and fast asleep ready for a new day!

The Nullarbor

We woke up very early in the morning today and drove from Fraser Range Station when there was still mist in the air. We did have a bit of breakfast though. We drove for a bit until we reached Balladonia Roadhouse. There we stretched our legs and drove on.

We stopped here and there for toilet stops and just to visit the petrol station. When we did that everyone got out to stretch their legs anyway. We reached Cocklebiddy and used the diesel there.

We drove on and on for a while, until we reached a nice spot to have lunch. It was one of the lookouts over the Great Australian Bite. We ate as many vegetables as possible as we were crossing the border tomorrow.

We listened to The Witches by Roald Dahl over the FM cup from my iPod. After that we drove some more until we reached the Nullarbor Roadhouse. The we decided to stay the night.

We set up and soon I found a tree to sit in a read a book. After a while we had a delicious dinner of fried rice with lots of vegetables. After that we were in for an early night ready for another days travelling!

Oggi abbiamo lasciato Fraser Gamma Stazione.

Abbiamo trascorso la notte al Casale Nullarbor.

Ho ascolti mio iPod quando stavamo guidando.

Avevamo riso fritto per la cena.

Ho avuto un grande giorno!!

Fraser Range Station Again

We woke up early today and had a delicious breakfast of baked beans and eggs. After that we did a speedy pack up of the caravan and were on the road again.

I listened to my iPod and did my brothers crossword he had. Then I just sat and played with my two car games. After around two and a half hours we arrived at Fraser Range Station.

We came to Fraser Range on the way up to Broome, and enjoyed it. We got a site and did all our jobs. My brother and I went straight to the playground after that. We put the seesaw there was last time back together.

We rolled the log in position and put the plank of wood over it. We stood up and rocked, and sat down and rocked. We soon went back to the caravan for some lunch. Then we went back to the playground.

Soon dad came and got my brother to come and have a shower. When they came back mum and I went. We had to pay one dollar for five minutes. We only had a five minute one anyway. The shower was nice and warm, and we were soon back in the caravan freshly washed.

We had some fruit and my brother and I wrote our journals. After a while we had potatoes for dinner. After that we were soon in bed. I had a great day at that playground! Even though it only has a swing, a sand pit and a seesaw!

Kalgoorlie

Today we woke up and had some breakfast in the freezing cold morning. After that we packed up the caravan and were up for a one and a half hours drive to Kalgoorlie. On the way I mostly listened to my iPod. After 130 kilometres we arrived at the Boulder caravan park and set up. We went for a shopping trip and were soon back having lunch.

It was a delicious lunch too. After that it got quite cold and we only went outside to go to the toilet. I stayed inside and drew a really good black and white picture of an Aboriginal girl and boy sitting in front of a gum tree at the setting sun. I took me all afternoon and then I wrote my journal and we had some dinner. We had chicken and noodles for dinner and were soon in bed sleeping for another new day! I had a great day!!!!

Oggi siamo andati a Kalgoorlie.

Abbiamo percorso 130 km.

Ho ascoltato il mio iPod in via di Kalgoorlie.

Mio molto bene oggi.

Menzies

Today we left the campsite Granite in the morning. When I went outside I also found five bones that weren't there yesterday and think a dingo killed something. We were soon on the foggy road heading south. I mostly listened to my iPod and read a bit of my book; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. After a while we stopped at a few roadhouses and were soon at Leinster.

The dad also filled up the tank and we bought lunch. Between the four of us we had one cheeseburger and two other ones. They were really good!! Around one thirty we had some fruit: one orange for my brother and three mandarins for us. The mandarins were delicious!! Around two in the afternoon we arrived at Menzies and set up for the night. After some time mum and dad went to see what the town looked like. My brother and I stayed in the caravan.

Mum and dad were soon back and dad and my brother went for a shower. When they'd finished mum and I went. My shower turned cold after about five minutes so I stopped. When we came back we did some journal writing and had nachos for dinner. We were then soon in bed sleeping. I had a pretty good day!!

How Many Oversized Loads?!

Today we woke up in the morning to a nice hot chocolate and a bit of toast. We packed up the caravan and we went up to the lookout. Then drove off to the visitors centre to start our mine tour. At the centre we got our orange vests, hard hats and safety glasses. Soon the bus came and picked us and the other people up to go to the mine.

We drove a bit and the lady in the bus told us a bit of information. We soon reached the lookout over the largest open cut mine in the world. I think the lady said it was five kilometres long and two kilometres wide. We took photos of ourselves in the enormous spades of trucks and had a look through binoculars. We spent at least an hour there.

We also got plastic bags to get some rocks. Mum took some of the yellow dusty rock, my brother took some small rocks and dad took one big one that was really heavy for its size. The lady to;d us lots of information about the mine too. And that some of the truck drivers are females and keep their cabs cleaner and tidier.

When we arrived back at the visitors centre we got off the bus and drove straight to the caravan park. We hooked on the caravan and drove off. I mostly listened to my iPod in the car and played my two car games. After a while mum cut up some oranges and gave us some mandarin. After that we had some grain wave chips to get some saltiness in our mouthes after all the sweetness.

Around one in the afternoon we stopped and had a quick lunch. I had two wraps filled with avocado, cheese and tomato. We were soon on the road again. After at least four hours we stopped and filled up the diesel in the car. This was in Cue at around four in the afternoon.

After that we had oversized load after oversized load passing us as we had to slow down. There were two that we had to overtake and it was a near miss! Around six we decided we'd stop at a camp called Granite. We pulled up and mum started cooking beef stroganoff for dinner. It was DELICIOUS!!!! We were soon in bed getting rest for another long day. I did have a good day today too!!!!!!

Newman

I woke up in the morning around five thirty. My brother soon woke up and we had a play around with our iron ore rocks. Then we had some breakfast. hopped in the car and were on our way. In the car all I really did was play my car games and listen to my brothers iPod because mine was running low on battery and was in the caravan.

After about two ours we reached Newman. The first thing we did when we arrived was go to the Visitors Centre. There we got a place in the caravan park and cleaned the awning first thing. My brother and I sat inside and wrote our journals. After a while we had some lunch. After that we had a little bit of yogurt and strawberries. Then we were on our way to o some shopping.

We arrived and did a quick shop of all the things we had to get. After that we drove to a lookout over the town and dad had a little chat with some other people. We then came home and played around a bit until dinner time. But we did have a shower in-between. We had nachos for dinner and then were soon in bed for the night. I had an OK day!

Eight Hundred and Seventy Kilometres

We woke up early in the morning today and had a bit of tablet and our first breakfast in Broome without our tablets. After that we all packed up the caravan were ready to leave. Alan and Judy were leaving after us because they weren't travelling as far. For it was our first travelling day without Alan and Judy.

We said our goodbyes and drove off for a full days travelling. I listened to my iPod until it was only down to twenty percent and I didn't want to waste the batteries. Then I just sat or played my car games. After at least two roadhouses we stopped and had some lunch. Then we kept driving. In the end it was a whole days travelling and we made around eight hundred and seventy kilometres. Our best is eight hundred and eleven, so we were pretty happy.

We decided to stay the night near Karajini National Park. We set up but didn't unhook the caravan because we would be leaving again tomorrow. We wrote our journals and had some Chicken Alfredo for dinner. I had a very hot day but it was still good!!!

L'inverno la domenica.

Tomorrow We Leave

Today we woke up in the morning and had some breakfast. After a while we drove off to the market. There I got a head band and this butterfly magnet. Mum and I had a pancake each too. Mum had one with mango and I had one banana and nutella. They were really good!

After a while dad and my brother came and we all had a Fruit Thing. Mum had mango and strawberry; my brother had mango and pineapple; and dad and I each had a mango and coconut. Then mum and I went to the wildlife stand. They had a Black-Headed Python, a Pygmy Python, a Water Python, a Stimson's Python and some other pythons.

After that we took a Fruit Thing home to Alan and had some lunch. After that my brother and I went for a three hour swim. When we came back my brother and I went for a shower. Then I relaxed, listening to my iPod and playing a game. After a while we had some nachos for dinner. I had a great day!!

Astro Tour

Today we woke up and had some breakfast. Mum did at least SIX loads of washing, hanging them up on the clothes lines. Meanwhile my brother and I cleaned the caravan. I did the side with the door and the front. Dad had to do some of the high bits though because I couldn't reach. After a while we had some lunch and mum decided that she had done enough for the day and was going to relax.

After lunch my brother and I went for a swim after dad had checked his school work. We played for about two hours when we were getting bored and went back to the caravan. Then dad went to get some frozen mangoes and mum went to do some shopping. When all the shopping was done we had a really early dinner of small toasted sandwiches.

Then we drove out to do an Astronomy Tour. To get to it we had to turn left onto and unmarked track fifty metres from the Cape Leveque/Derby sign. Not on the curb. We drove in and followed the party lights around empty dam and parked. When we got out we walked to the place where the telescopes were set up and sat down on stools. We were then ready for two hours of stargazing.

We had a look at Mercury and Saturn. Saturn was really good with all its rings through the telescope. It looked really amazing! Greg - the tour guide - showed us lots of stuff in the sky. We also watched the earth turn. We got some stars from the east, west, and above us. Our two stars in the west were actually one star and one planet; Mercury and Regulus. At the start of the night they were above to horizon, and at the end you couldn't see them.

We found lots of stars and we spotted the Southern Cross, Pointers, Leo, a crown, and I think we found a bit of Orion's bow and arrow. We also found the South Celestial Pole. At the end we had a look through telescopes. We looked at the Jewel Box, Alpha Centauri, Clusters, Saturn, and anything we liked through binoculars. We had some hot chocolate that tasted like hot water and drove back to the caravan.

When we got back my brother and I brushed our teeth, went to the toilet and then went straight to bed. I had a great night looking at all the stars!!!!

Mango Smoothie

We woke up in the morning to another cold day. We then had some breakfast and my brother and I did some school work. We did that until lunch time and then had some food. After that my brother and I went for a two hour swim. We came back because my brother found a gecko swimming in the water and we released it by the caravan.

After that a lady from next door came over and showed us how to make a mango smoothie in her Thermo Mix. After that we wrote our journals. I tried to play mini golf with a cricket that jumped into the caravan and used my telescopic eye to find the letter 'y' on my keyboard on the computer. And missed. Then we had some Chinese Cabbage salad. It was OK. Then we were soon in bed and fast asleep. I had a great day swimming and being funny!

Sentosa Charters

We woke up today in the morning around five forty five. Mum, dad and my brother had at least one piece of bread and each had a Travelcalm tablet. Then we did a few toilet trips and were finally in the going to drive to my brothers birthday surprise. Alan also didn't know what we were doing because it was his birthday too! My brother had to put mums hat over his eyes because it was a surprise, and he said it was stuffy.

The surprise actually started at Gantheaume Point. There we met Cameron who owned the charter we were going on. Then we hopped on Sea Legs, the zodiac that Cameron owns. Sea Legs is a zodiac with wheel that clip up and down so you don't have to get your feet wet when you get on and off. You can also just drive it onto the trailer. We hopped on holding our hats and wrapped in our jackets, because the wind was going.

When we arrived at the main boat we met Rachel, Cameron's deckhand for the day. We were run through how to put our life jackets on, where to get the drinks, how to use the toilet with flushing it before and after, and how to get onto the bow. Then we got settled in and left the mooring. We drove for a while wandered around the boat meanwhile. Rachel heated up some ham and cheese croissants for us because we didn't have much breakfast.

We spotted a LOAD of whales meanwhile. When I was sitting on the bow I saw one with its calf. We think it was trying to teach the calf how to breech - jump out if the water and land with a splash. After about and hour we were at our first fishing spot. Here we were fishing for Spanish Mackerel.

My brother and Alan got some rods and Cameron let them out so we could troll the lures. After about ten minutes Alan had a fish on. It looked pretty hard to reel in! I probably wouldn't be able to do it. When it finally came in the fish was a Mackerel. After another five minutes he caught another Mackerel. After ten minutes my brother caught one. Then we decided that three Spanish Mackerel were enough and we'd do some bottom fishing.

We drove for a while and hit the reef for some fishing. There mum did some fishing too. Mum had trouble, so I defiantly wouldn't be able to. We caught loads of Long-Nosed Emperor. We also caught two or three Crimson Sea Perch. Alan was our main shark catcher.

There were LOADS of sharks swimming around. When we caught a shark we had to let the line snap because they were so strong. The reason we caught them was because we caught a fish. We had to reel the fish up like there was no tomorrow otherwise a shark would swallow your fish, and your hook. We had to keep moving three hundred/four hundred metres because of the sharks though.

After a while Cameron decided it was time for some sail fishing. This is game fishing though, so we didn't keep a fish if we caught one. So we had to catch Sailfish. What we did was put hang a teaser into the water on each side of the boat. The teasers had plastic fish and squid on them and a real dead fish on the end. Then we hung out three rods with bait.

The method was that the Sailfish comes up and has a look at the teaser. Then it notices the bits of bait in the middle which have hooks and are attached to the rod. What the Sailfish does is go up to the fish and slap it twice with its tail. The turns around and slaps it twice with its long beak. Then the fish is stunned and eats the bait.

After about ten/fifteen minutes my brother caught one! It took at least ten minutes to reel the fish in! When the fish finally came in Cameron couldn't take it by the gaff hook because we had to put it back. We took strength to hold it up for the photo and then Cameron let it go. While we're on the subject of Sailfish, that morning the caught and tagged fifty/sixty Sailfish!

After that we had some lunch. It was buttered bread rolls, chicken, pasta salad and coleslaw. I didn't finish my bread roll because I was feeling a bit queasy because I didn't have any breakfast. We dragged the teasers for a while and dragged them in and put them out.

We were on our way back soon wan Cameron filleted our fish for us. That took about an hour because of all the fish. Then we took the relaxing trip back. Rachel asking people if they wanted tea or coffee, Alan, dad and my brother up in the wheelhouse with Cameron and mum, Judy and me lying on the bed/seats outside.

After a while all three of us fell asleep. I only woke up when we arrived back at our mooring. We put our shoes on, got our backpacks and fish, and hopped onto Sea Legs.

We enjoyed the trip back where we took some photos. When we were back in the car we drove back to the caravan and had some fish and potatoes for dinner. Then we had some mango and ice-cream for dessert. I was soon in bed. I had a great day even though I didn't get and fish!!!!

OK Day

Today we woke up and had a bit of toast for breakfast. After that I really only read my book. I also did a bit of schoolwork. After a while mum and Judy went shopping and my brother and I went for a swim in the pool. It was cold in the pool at first, but it soon warmed up. Then I lay on a deckchair and dried off in about ten minutes.

When I came back we had a bit of lunch. After that dad, my brother, Alan, and a friend of ours called Rudi. While the were gone I played a few games with mum and Judy, and read a bit of my book.

After a while some german friends of ours came to wish my brother and Alan a happy birthday. Their names are Uwf (pronounced; u-v-e), and Beate (pronounced; be-a-te). The names would be hard to pronounce in English though, because their german. They were really nice and brought my brother a birthday present and brought me something too.

They gave me a keyring that had Diddles on it. Diddles is a german soft toy like Pooh Bear, but a mouse with a dress and really big feet. Mum and Judy were inside making a microwave cake while I sat outside with Uwf and Beate.

After a while Beate was really nice and offered to take me to their mobile home and I could chose another soft toy/keyring. I ended up getting a minute owl that fitted in the palm of my hand. I ended up calling it Pine, like a pine tree because it was brown.

Then Rudi and his wife came and we had birthday cake. My brother and I also had a shower somewhere in-between and wrote our journals. We had a few nachos and were as full as possible. I dried the dishes and was soon in bed. I had a GREAT time today!!!!

The Mango Place Again

Today we woke up in the morning and my brother got his birthday presents. He got three shirts, a fish identification chart and a card. At breakfast he got a birthday present from Alan and Judy. He got a card with a comic, a chocolate egg, a little toy racing car and a flying tour over Mt Buffalo thing. This is a hobby that Alan, Judy and their kids run.

After breakfast we went to do a spot of shopping. First we went to Coles where mum, Judy and I did some shopping and the dad, Alan and my brother came and pieced us up with Caitlyn. After that we drove back to the caravan and dropped of our shopping. Then we drove to the mango place. Each of us bought a mango smoothie and then talked until we left.

When we got back we had lunch at the caravan with Caitlyn and then dad dropped her off at her house. Then dad, my brother and Alan went fishing to the jetty. Mum, Judy and I stayed home. I read, did stuff on the computer and played cards. We played UNO actually. And a bit of Black Peter. After that dad, Alan and my brother came home and we had chicken mango salad for dinner. After that we had a shower and went to bed.

Not Much Doing

Today we woke up in the morning and had a spot of breakfast. Then my brother and I decided it was a day for relaxation. We sat down inside and watched a movie. I watched Trapped until lunchtime and then we had a bite to eat. After that my brother and I went for a two to three hour swim.

I did around two hundred metres when I did my laps and the rest was forward rolls, backward rolls and handstands. And my brother also chased me around the pool a bit two.

When we came back my brother and I went for a shower and when we came back had dinner. Judy made dinner today and I think it was Chinese salad or something. But it was good. After that we had some mango and went to bed.