December 12th 2005 - Family Reunion

I should have realized we were in for a treat when Jeff offered to pick us up from a night bus that arrived at 3 am so that we could gain an extra days visit in Yappoon. We arrived at the condo in the pitch black and were impressed by the nice hard wood floor and layout of the ground floor, where there were two bedrooms and a very nice bathroom. We didn't bother tramping around the rest of the house for a tour seeing as it was 3 in the morning. The next day we woke up at 8 am and were flabbergasted by the view! I was under the impression that Yappoon was inland from RockHampton , it seems that RockHapmten is inland of Yappoon. I have never seen such a beautiful coast line all through the gold and sunshine coasts in Southern Queensland. From the condo perched on the side of a hill we were surrounded by water on three sides and hills on the other, talk about a nice setup! That day Jeff and Jane had arranged to borrow a 4wd truck to go to a secluded beach called five rock beach. After a terrific fruit salad and some morning errands we headed off early in the afternoon for the national park. There was a rugby club from Central Queensland that was training down the 4wd track on a 40'C day. There was one section of the track that was a steep uphill track that caused us some trouble but Jeff and I stubbornly plowed through with myself, Jane and Laure bouncing on the back of the flatbed to improve traction. We arrived at the beach and were the only people there...the water was crystal clear and we were surrounded by rock cliffs on both sides. After a picnic lunch, we headed out and after having so much fun on the back of the pick-up on the way in we decided to do more flat bed standing on the way out...but thios time I brought my camera! Outside of the park we stopped at a local river with tarzan swings and some poisonous fish that lie in the sand like rocks - only in Australia. We were careful not to touch the ground and with some locals supervision had a blast dropping out of the trees and splashing in the water far below. That night we grabbed some Thai food at a quaint restaurant in town and called it a night - what an exceptional day!
The next day was a little more relaxed, although still outstanding. After being turned away at the entrance of a coastal resort that Jane's family has a membership for because there were too many people, we vegged in the pool at the unit and everyone was busy packing and doing laundry for our upcoming trips. Later that day we picked up Jane's father Mark from a weekend of fishing in the marina and drove around the coast to a singing ship off of a point. It turned out to be a statue on the point with hollow rods for a mast and sails, that would hum in the wind. That night we recieved some expert local advice on our upcoming trip to New Zealand and were officially invited to accompany them on Christmas eve and day. Both Laure and I were extatic being our first Christmas away from our family and friends, spending the holiday with Jeff, Jane and the Middletons sounds terrific. It's easy to see where Jane gets her generosity, her father has offered to take us horseback riding, fishing and have us stay with his sister north of Auckland in her wonderful bed and breakfast with the rest of the family for Christmas. No matter what we actually end up accomplishing, they're such wonderful people that I'm sure we'll have a great time and will be well taken care of. That night after a feast of a barbeque, Jane drove us to another night bus and we left for Airlie beach - the Marina for the Whitsunday Islands sailing experience that we booked.