Thierings on Tour

Another morning waking up in paradise! The tide was high and it meant no walking on the beach in the morning, but there was plenty to see and do anyway. Jazzy and I noticed the pelicans all gathered on the sand waiting to go in the water. It was like they were lined up to board a plane and were being polite and respectful letting those in front of them set off first before they moved up to the front. I have never seen anything like it in a natural environment before – what a bizarre but cool sight!

After breakfast and our somewhat set work/homework morning routine it was time to say goodbye to Notch Point and set off for new adventures. The girls got to wave off their friends Bodhi and Skye one last time as they set off for Airlie Beach. Our next destination was inland to explore Eungella National Park.

We briefly stopped in Sarina for a coffee and some sausage rolls and the girls found a cute little park to run, play and stretch their legs. It’s always good to let them burn some energy before the next car stint to avoid the sibling backseat cage fighting as much as possible…

We parked up at our campsite and unhitched at Neem Hall, as I knew the roads into the national park were extremely windy and steep. It was a gorgeous spot with a creek running through the back. The girls promptly persuaded us to jump in for a quick dip before we went to explore the National Park. I must say the water was freezing, but also rather refreshing and everyone enjoyed a quick splash.

Then we headed to find the platypus deck, where you are meant to be able to see platypuses in the wild rather easily. The first one was a very scenic spot, but didn’t produce the desired results. The second one was the winner and we saw both turtles and platypuses there, although the platypuses mainly stayed between the shrubbery in the water. 
A short stroll led to another spot where there were multiple platypuses swimming, but quite far away. So we tried our first successful spot and got a couple of better sightings there this time. How special to see them in the wild, I honestly don’t think I ever have before…

From here we headed to a lookout called Sky Window, which was a short circuit walk to some beautiful observation platforms overlooking the valley. Wow, what a view! I feel like photos never do the scale and scenery enough beauty, especially at sunset when the colours are just extraordinary. We enjoyed watching the sky change colours before heading back to camp.

Jazzy was on sous-chef BBQ duty tonight cooking sweet potato and her own steak. She was proud as punch when it came to eating dinner and declared it was the best steak that she had ever tasted. Now that’s a big claim girl with your BBQ master papa. We enjoyed dinner and once the kids were in bed Chris and I sat outside gazing at the stars and competing on who saw the most number of shooting stars. 3 to Chris and 2 to me that night.

Kms travelled – 195