Day 7 –  Thursday 25th August   Thursday morning ‘the boys’ enjoyed themselves gutting the kitchen of my brother’s rental property.  A property of rather eclectic colours, including red skirting boards and purple and green walls.  First though the kitchen had to be destroyed.   All were thoroughly delighted with their morning’s endeavours.       The afternoon saw us walking past the nearby Mt Isa Mines to the  new 5 Million dollar Water Park mostly funded by the Mines.         Water tunes that played, fountains that sprang up,           cannons to shoot,       arches to run under,           spray to dodge  …

Days 5& 6 – Tuesday & Wednesday, 23rd & 24th August Our first day in Mt Isa we rested, recovering from our travels.  Taking it easy and enjoying the time together with family.  To just spend time with two of my brothers and family was precious indeed. Both ‘boys’ are renovating homes and were eager to show off their efforts.  We were extremely impressed. On the Wednesday I was honoured to be entrusted with the care of our nephew T and took the four little boys to the nearby park.  Whilst I was at the park PC, my brothers, Chloe and our older ones headed over to work on the renovations.…

Day 4 – Monday 22nd August Bright and early we were awake before the sun arose. The plan was to dismantle tents and pack the van before breakfast.  Everyone pitched in with a will but it was soon apparent that fitting all our luggage into the van would take far more time than if we had bought the trailer. Anna Maria walked the younger ones back to the local park, to play on the playground, to run all ‘wiggles’ out before the long trip ahead. They stopped to buy milk at the supermarket for breakfast. Prior to our trip I had planned and shopped for meals on the road.  Muesli…

Day 3 – Sunday 21st August We left Toowoomba early Sunday morning, determined to travel as far as possible that day.  Heading towards the Channel Country an hour later we drove through Dalby, population 12 000. As we drove, we marvelled at the vastness of the scenery, acres and acres of endless cropping land. The irrigation systems were very long, far too large to fit in the camera’s view. They were double the length of what I managed to snap. The land between Dalby and Miles were dotted with huge grain silos. The contents moved by train. The road continued on over the horizon.  Flat, flat land, very different for folks who…

Day 1 – Friday 19th August The day finally dawned, the day our road trip was to begin.  All week we had been working towards this goal armed with lists and more lists.  Everything was running smoothly until the morning before when PC announced that the shower water smelt of….”Rat!”  (I didn’t tell him I thought he perhaps had an over-sensitive nose) He investigated and came back to announce he saw….ahem….. tufts of hair in the downpipe above the tank!!!! eww!!!!!!!   As he rushed off to work he admonished us to not use that tank that day (we certainly had no inclination to do so!) and he would deal with the problem that night.  That evening…

Back home from our road trip to Mt Isa, Queensland (46000+km; 2858miles later).  Nine special days with family in the Isa, six days on the road with nine children, we had an awesome time.   We celebrated our our oldest’s 18th whilst away, our nephew’s Wedding, another nephew’s 21st, visited several tourist attractions and realised anew what a vast, beautiful country we live in.  Over the next few weeks I ‘ll share stories and photos in between other posts.  Stay tuned.