18th January 2012
We drove up to Brisbane airport and collected Jack and Rory and returned to the camp where they immediately tried out the swimming pool and bouncing balloon.
19th January 2012
We drove the 100 plus kilometres up to the Sunshine Coast to visit the Australia Zoo that we visited some time ago but they have introduced an African section since then although it is rather sparse at this point in time with just Rhinos, Zebra, Giraffes and a Cheetah. We didn’t actually see the Cheetah this time whereas last time we saw it being taken for a walk through the Park on a leash, not in an enclosure. 20th January 2012
We bought some more tent poles, a larger tarp and a long spreader to make the covered area in front of the annex into a substantial shade area when the sun is high, or a more effective rain cover when we sit outside. Whilst we did this, Richard and the kids went to Wet & Wild which is in walking distance from the caravan park
21st January 2012
We drove to the Gold Coast to visit the CSI Experience and we all managed to solve the case based on the evidence that we collected from the murder scene. After lunch Richard and Jack went into the Haunted House but Rory opted to stay with us while that happened but Merry took her into a Light Show to pass the time. Richard and Jack finished their disappointing visit and we went around to the Light Show area to wait for the others who were still in the queue waiting to go in so Jack got to do that as well. On the way home we called in to a shopping centre to buy a cheap bogie board for the kids to use in the surf at some time.
22nd January 2012
The Tarp covered area outside the annex does keep the rain of the top of one’s body but the water flows in across the ground of this flood prone paddock. When Richard booked it he wasn’t told that if it rains you paddle in water but still pay extortionate rates. He booked here because it is close to the entertainment strip and fortunately most of that involves getting wet so doing it in the rain doesn’t make much difference.
23rd January 2012
Barry bought some new 150 mm poly pipe and made up a new longer pole carrier for the van whilst it was not raining, but it started a bit later and gradually got worse until the evening when it became torrential.
24th January 2012
The torrential rain continued for most of the night and then settled down to a more reasonable but continuous rain. The weather forecast is for at least a week of this weather which defeats the attempt to get the kids around to places with less crowding as the Queensland kids have gone back to school. It has become obvious that if you want to visit Queensland as a tourist you need to do it in the winter even though the place looks a lot drier and waterfalls are not as effective, etc. If you come here in the summer you can expect a lot of rain apparently, and we have been told by locals that the places we really liked in the winter are not so great at this time of the year. In general Queensland is low on our list of where we would like to live. It is also quite expensive to live here and their roads leave a lot to be desired. The river near the camp has risen by metres so the 2 drainage ditches through the camp can’t flow away any more and are spreading towards us. That happens with 100mm of rain overnight so reception sent their man to help us move to higher ground which was a nice gesture but no fun with it still throwing it down. The move took all day with extreme difficulty and multiple drenchings and cost a fair bit with drying everything.
25th January 2012
We had another 100mm plus overnight and still going strong so water is flowing across annex floor despite now having a concrete pad . It is likely you will see Brisbane on TV in another flood situation like last year as they have done little, or nothing to avoid a repeat, other than talk about it.
Barry took a stroll down to the low area where our campsite had originally been and the 2 drainage ditch were totally under water as was the whole camping area as the river had come to meet it all and was now about a metre deep with just power points and the odd tree showing above the water line. Richard checked it later in the day and it was higher. The bridge on the road leading out of here was also covered with 1.5 metres of water and well over the hand rail level so the road was closed, as was the road in the other direction. After the oceans high tide at 11.00am the water receded as the tide went out allowing the river water to follow it and by 3.00pm the bridge was back in use to allow us to do some shopping which included a detour due to road conditions. We didn’t hear it raining in the night so assume that if it did it was at least gentle. The Gold Coast beaches have been closed to the public as they are covered in debris that has been washed out to sea so the boogie board will not get used for some time, if at all.26th January 2012
First thing in the morning and it wasn’t raining but threatening and everywhere is soggy to the extent that the car tyres look half flat but are simply sunken into the ground. The weather forecast is for an easing of the rain which will return with a vengeance again towards the weekend.
27th January 2012
The rain hasn’t eased but there were only a few patches of torrential rain. In the evening we had a meal out in the Gold Coast at Outback Jack’s which was good but very expensive.
28th January 2012
We drove through to the Gold Coast again to visit Sea World as Richard had bought a 3 venue ticket for the kids and himself and this was the third venue.
We went in to see the polar bears, penguins and dolphins and there was also a jetski demonstration from some of the world’s top riders.
The riders here are very fast and wild and were not on our list of things to do as we preferred to retain our lunch, but virtually all of the more gentle rides and sideshows were closed.
Considering the lousy weather there was still a huge attendance to this venue (mainly Asian) so we didn’t go to any of the animal feeding sessions as it was obvious you would need to get there half an hour early and wait around if you actually wanted to see anything. The kids did most of the rides that were operating but Rory missed out on some due to minimum height restrictions.29th January 2012
Richard and the kids went across to Wet & Wild and also Movie World despite the rain as that reduced the number of people at the venues which gave them easier access to the rides. The rain cleared in the afternoon which allowed us to pack our annex away in a dry condition as we had decided to leave the swamp that we were living in a day early and move to a more pleasant park. Being much further from the beaches the Boogie board will not get used.
30th January 2012
Despite heavy rain in the night it cleared to let us pack the tent up in a dry condition and we moved out by 10.00pm and headed inland to Tamborine Mountain Caravan Park which was not easy to find even with the Navman which attempted to send us up a ‘no through road’ to nowhere. The park has obviously suffered some heavy rain over the last week like everywhere else but we are no long paddling on our concrete pad and paying a third of the price per night for the privilege. We are a lot further away from the entertainment strip but that has been fairly well used despite the lousy weather but this park has no swimming pool. However, it does have bush walks, 5 treetop assault courses, waterfalls, cascades and rock pools to explore. Originally Jack and Rory should be flying home to Canberra today but Richard changed the flights to give them a few more days’ fun because of the real useless days due to torrential rain. Unfortunately this will mean taking them to the airport at 3.00am for the 5.00am flight on Friday.
31st January 2012
We drove up to the main road and then deviated off down the other side road to Cedar Creek Falls which has a series of cascading falls to complement the main fall which provided a long walk poking down into the falls and cascades. On the way back into camp we called into the Thunder Bird fun park to check on the prices and then went for lunch. In the afternoon we drove up to Tamborine Glow worm cave to introduce the kids to glow worms which went down very well with them as both love nature and what it has to offer. On the way back we parked and walked down to the base of Curtis Falls which we prefer to looking down from paths or lookout.
Being at the base is more exciting as the ground vibrates with the power of the water landing and the noise is more engulfing. We then headed back to the park prior to dinner and took Foxy for a walk alongside the creek near the park to look at the water holes and rapids.
1st February 2012
It rained in the night but cleared to give us a pleasant day which Richard and the Kids enjoyed at the Adventure Park which is part of Thunder Bird Park. This consists of 5 tree top type assault courses of varying degrees of difficulty.
They both did the Green and red courses several times and Jack did the hardest Black course which Rory was not allowed to do due to her height being a bit too short and therefore not able to clip her safety straps onto the safety cables. Her leg and arm stretch was probably a bit short also but when Jack finished the black course they both did the harder red course again. They were between 4 and 8 metres off the ground but had a pulley attached to their harnesses for the flying fox parts and 2 clip on safety ropes so that there was always a safety rope clipped on as they moved from one challenge to the next. No-one put the safety ropes to the test as both kids seem very capable at this type of activity loved every minute of it. They had a long hard day and came out very weary but happy. Much as they enjoyed the rides at Wet & Wild, Movie Land and Sea World they seemed to enjoy the assault courses more because of the genuine interaction rather than just strap yourself in and start screaming. We provided some bought sandwiches for lunch as they don’t have a pass out system for them to come out and go back in but we could go in to give them their lunches, and then walked around underneath to watch them, which gave us and Foxy a good workout. Merry and Rory have both developed stomach problems which didn’t impress Merry on her birthday. In the evening and night it rained again.2nd February 2012
Merry was not really any better this morning but Rory had improved but seemed to have passed it on to Jack, however, we still drove through to Currumbin, near Coolangatta, to a Wildlife Sanctuary which came as part of the Thunderbird tickets. Shame it involved a 1.25 hour drive to get there but the kids enjoyed it, especially Rory who had recovered enough to do the tree top challenge at this venue which included some of the Black course stuff that she couldn’t do at Thunderbird. Jack still wasn’t up to it so he sat out and watched.
3rd January 2012
We unfortunately had to rise at 2.15am to get the kids ready to leave at 2.45am for the 1.5 hour trip to Brisbane airport to catch their flight to Canberra, in pouring rain. Once we had got off the mountain there wasn’t any rain which made it easier at the airport and the return journey was better without rain, and in daylight. Unfortunately the breakfast that we had at the airport didn’t sit too well with Merry’s stomach which she thought was better but it caused another uncomfortable day for her.
4th February 2012
The stomach bug has now caught up with Barry but not as severely. We had a visit from a couple of the local metre long Bungarra lizards which seem to like the two trees near our campsite.
After lunch we strolled round the Japanese Gardens and then the Nature Park which we had to do in turns so that one of us could look after Foxy who wasn’t allowed in. We then did some necessary shopping before heading home 
The side view of the falls is unfortunately partially obscured by a palm tree which also partially obscures the view of the bottom of the falls which is quite a drop. Photos of the falls do not do it justice but neither does the side view lookout and there is no way down to the bottom for a good look other than using gravity only, which makes it hard to get back up. We set off on the return leg of the circuit to find a completely flooded area that also covered the track with a sign indicating an alternative wet track. We took the alternative track which also became flooded but we spotted a sign post across the water which we assumed to be the other end of the alternative track, so we walked around the water to meet up with the sign and the original track. When we reached the top there was a sign stating that the track is closed to the public. Pity they didn’t put one at the other end although it didn’t actually affect us and still let us get to see some of the distant views on the way out. 
Some of the buildings were impressive but the place that most impressed us was the Cuckoo Clock house which was built to look like a cuckoo clock and was filled with hundreds of both cuckoo and grandfather clocks, all of which were extremely expensive. We left Foxy at home again in the afternoon and returned to the botanic gardens which were surprisingly large and well kept for such a small township. 
It was obviously the wrong time of year for this visit as there were no trees or flowers in bloom, with the odd exception, but was still a pleasant stroll through the various palm avenue, rainforest, magnolias, rose garden and Japanese sections all surrounding a lily pond. 
In the morning we clambered along the edge of Cedar Creek where it flows through the campground so that we could get some photos of the rapids and rock pools. On our return to camp we started the process of packing up ready to move on in the morning.
