McCarthy's Go Round

  11-14 December: Palmwoods With Fraser Island closed due to bushfires our plans for the next week were yet again revised (see- best not to make plans). Instead we enjoyed another lovely stay at The Dirt Rd Home with Team Mason- this time their gorgeous home is almost finished! The highlight for the boys was archery, for me a lovely lunch in Montville with Al.  We arrived in Palmwoods just in time before the deluge started- endless rain, wind, cold. The region received 300ml in 27 hours! Noah's bed copped it the worst, and he ended up with everything soaking wet.  Despite the weather the kids got on like a house on fire, Huw even had a sleepover in Eden's room. 💙  From Palmwoods it was on to Lennox Head where we had been looking forward to some surfing. The rain was relentless & the surf brown and too dangerous to go in . The roads were flooded and dangerous too.  Our next & final stop was supposed to be Pebbly Beach, in Yuraugir National Park, close to...

  5-   10 December: Bargara Spent 6 days exploring the naturally beautiful Bargara and surrounding areas, including Elliot Heads. It was very windy so the kite got a bit of a run! Bargara is a little beachside town near Bundaberg that has everything! Excellent bike paths, skate park, beautiful beaches and playgrounds.  (Turtle tracks) The absolute highlight of our stay in Bargara was our Turtle Encounter at Mon Repo. Initially, we rode to Mon Repos during day to check for any turtle tracks, and sure enough came across 5! Mon Repos is a globally significant site. It supports the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland and has the most significant loggerhead turtle nesting population in the South Pacific region. The success of nesting and hatching turtles at Mon Repos is critical for the survival of the endangered loggerhead turtle. The Centre is dedicated to marine turtle research, protection and education.  We arrived a...

  A few weeks to go… It sure has been a ride. The rest of our trip is now mapped out, not much room for just going where the breeze takes us, as was the start of this adventure. At the outset, we hoped to give our kids the gift of our time, of being present, learning about Australia and Indigenous Culture, appreciating our beautiful country and all the things we have around us. We had big dreams for connecting more fully as a family, letting go of city stress and pressure and routine. Changing things up. Experiencing new things every day. Challenging ourselves. Being brave. Being in nature. Have we achieved all this? Yes and no. I have seen the kids’ independence soar to the point of being unsure how they will go being back at school. That life and type of learning feels too confined. Noah has taught himself how to tie knots- like proper knots that actually work, and to be more brave socially. He is snorkelling and riding waves in the ocean & finding his own creative fun ...