Australia - Run From the Cyclone

In Australia we switched gears and picked up a camper van which meant no more hotel rooms or dinners out. We were camping! Since Northern Queensland is known for its monsoons in summer, we thought we were smart to start farther south in Brisbane. Unfortunately, as we arrived there was an incoming tropical storm offshore. With some reservations, we headed north for one day... until the storm officially became Cyclone Marcia (Category 1). As the Queenslanders around us began to make flood and storm preparations (the beaches were already closed) we decided that cyclones and campervans were not a good combination, so we gave up on the Great Barrier Reef, and turned south. As you can see below, we made the best of it, stopping in Surfer's Paradise and going in up to our knees. 

We were grateful that the magnificent beach at Byron Bay, New South Wales (above) was still open that same afternoon, so we had a great time swimming (being knocked over) in the surf. Emma, being the thrill-seeker that she is, loved it. We even walked up the hill to the eastern-most lighthouse in Australia, taking cover occasionally from sheets of incoming rain. We then hurriedly drove down the east coast of Australia, with the ever increasing cyclone raging behind us. By the time it hit land near Rockhampton it was a category 5 cyclone (the strongest) which ripped roofs off houses. For us, following two more days of driving and camping in pouring rain, heat and mosquitoes, I was dangerously close to a campervan mutiny. Thankfully, I managed to find us a campground with kangaroos (below) and finally some sun near Port Stephen's, about four hours north of Sydney!

Here we camped at a "Holiday Park" which Emma loved because it had a pool and a giant bouncy pillow for kids. It was also right next to One Mile Beach, which had some good waves for body-surfing. On our way through Newcastle, we even took surfing lessons. The waves there were very challenging for us but Emma did great given the conditions, standing up and riding many times. Our instructor told us that the big waves were caused by the remnants of the cyclone (curse you Marcia!)

 

I was at the Australian Shark and Ray Center and the biggest ray slapped me in the face.  It felt slimy and cool.  It was huge!  I am inside the tank with the gigantic ray.  We had to wear wet suits because the water was cold.  We fed the sharks in their tanks too.  We used sticks so we wouldn't get our hands bitten off.  I was not frightened of the sharks, look below for a picture of me feeding the sharks.  They were very cute and small. -Emma

This one was a fairly large nurse shark, which you could touch (with gloves), but only on the other side of a net.