Day 74 (April 14) - Brisbane to Buxton

Well today finished our time in Brisbane. We started the day with a group run which was nice, had breakfast and then started to pack everything up. Having been settled for 18 days it took a bit longer than normal to pack but we got there eventually.

Then came the tricky job of moving the van out of the yard! The gate into the yard was JUST wide enough for us to fit through, but the back yard quickly went into a slope, meaning the van leaned towards one side of the gate so had to be driven on bricks for some time to keep it level. On the other side was the roof of a patio, so it was a lot of gentle negotiation to get through. In these situations Mim drives the car and I talk to her on the phone. So much easier than trying to shout directions back and forth.

 During the morning the kids had been having a good play with their skink and gecko collection. There were many plaintive appeals about whether we could please take this favourite skink with us in the van or the car, how well it would be cared for,and how happy it would be in its plastic container with a few worms, grubs and leaves for company. Sadly we had to decline!

While we were moving the van the kids were having a last good play together. After all this we were all pretty sticky so most of us had a last swim for about 10 minutes to cool off and get ready to go. Fond farewells were given and we were on our way... for about a minute! Because then Matt remembered he'd left his sunglasses behind, so we did a u-turn and went back to collect them. After that we really got going!

First stop was to refuel and get some lunch in Deception Bay, as by this time it was well after 1pm and we weren't too inclined to stop and make lunch!

Earlier in the day another family we know had contacted us to say we would be welcome to stay at their place if we needed. They lived near Caboolture, so we decided to drop in and visit them anyway and have a look at their place. They have a lovely amount of land, and if it hadn't been for the fact we had already booked and paid for our next spot we might have considered going there straightaway. They have four kids too, similar ages to ours, so the kids were keen; although we also felt that after two and a half weeks of intense time with others, we needed a couple of weeks with just our family too to settle down and get back to a routine. However it's great to have this option and we might still take it up - thanks guys!

From there we headed along the Sunshine Coast, past many familiar names from our first road trip in 2017 - Yandina, Eumumdi (where we stopped for the night and visited a local market), Kondalilla Falls (where we had an icy cold swim), and Gympie (where we remade one of the benchtops in our old caravan). We stopped for tea at a KFC in Gympie. Of course with social distancing we couldn't sit in the restaurant, but sat outside instead. A young fella came up to us and said he'd 'just got out of juvie' and wanted to know how far it was back to Yandina as he was about to walk there. I replied it was 40-50km and he might like to reconsider, but off he went. He seemed rather full of energy and possibly on something he shouldn't have been on, although while he steamed off down the road he didn't go too far and ended up walking back past us looking not quite so energetic!

From Gympie we drove up to our campsite on the Isis River, near Buxton. We arrived about 10pm so just went straight to bed, with the intention of moving our van tomorrow.

-- Greg