Thurs 26th Feb, 2026 Geck Family beach house, Woodgate to Terry’s place, Bundaberg, Qld

Beautiful clear blue sky but very windy from the south-east for our walk this morning. By the time we turned and headed back the sky was covered in clouds so the wind had been bringing the clouds to us. Forecast is for some rain and heavier rain tomorrow hence we decided to head up to Bundy this afternoon.

Packed up the stuff we had out and suitcases packed so ready to go.

Relaxed reading and doing my cross-stitch. A few misty showers through the day.

Terry arrived at 2pm just as another misty shower started. We loaded our suitcases etc and headed back to Bundaberg.

Quiet afternoon chatting.

Video chat with Jon and Cooper as Beau was at daycare and Annalise was getting her hair done. Great to be able to show Terry (Great Grandad) the video chat. He has been doing well with his phone and can look up the photos now.

Rain started after dinner for a hour.

20-25 Feb, 2026 Geck Family beach house, Woodgate, Qld

Fri, 20^th

Lovely morning for our walk with a cool breeze off the water.

Quiet morning reading and doing some cross-stitch.

Phil called in for a chat while Brenda is a Bingo.

Donna rang from Woodford Historical Society to see if I had the original of the picture of William and Mary standing outside their home, Spring Grove, in Woodford. The Shire is putting up new signs and they wanted to use that one if we can provide one so they can photograph it to get a good quality photo. I said I would get Julie to check in the boxes and get back to her.

Julie rang back, unfortunately she couldn’t find the original and we couldn’t remember where Dad had gotten the photo from. Let Donna know.

I had sent an email to try and contact Ken Nesbit, McPherson historian that I had made contact with many years ago when I was researching that line of our family tree. He emailed back which was wonderful and will be in Edinburgh when we are there with the tour. Hopefully we can meet up somewhere.

Leanne rang to discuss seat allocation for the flight over - need to be comfortable so we don’t land in London worn out with squashed legs. Chose seats for 1^st section then we get a big plane for next section so we got a 2 seat section upstairs so hopefully we should be undisturbed and can get some sleep.

Video chat with Dan, Fran and Sophia - she is such a busy little girl. So wonderful that we can see her grow with the video calls. Sadly Fran’s mum, Val, hasn’t been doing too well with her cancer battle.

 

Sat, 21^st

Another lovely morning walk.

More reading and cross-stitching. Phil and Brenda called in for more chatting.

Jon rang to do a video chat so we said goodbye to them and then chatted with our darlings via video - I do love this modern technology to be able to watch them grow.

Supercars racing in Sydney so we settled in for the afternoon to watch the broadcast and the night race which was great. Toyotas have joined the Fords and Chevs so that mixed things up.

Libby and Chris put up a FB post - as well as the engagement they are expecting their baby in September. They had been waiting to pass the 13 week mark and all is good. They certainly did well not letting on when we visited. I sent a message to Grandma Suzanne - she is over the moon too.

 

Sun, 22^nd

Another lovely morning walk. The edge of the water has been brownish for a few days now so it hasn’t been too appealing for a swim. Not many people about either.

Quiet morning then settled in to watch the Supercars again.

 

Mon, 23^rd

Hot walk this morning though the return walk had a nice breeze blowing off the sea.

Forecast for rain from Tues - 0 to 1mm but then heavier by Friday when I was going to pack up the camper etc. We decided to pack up today and move to the bed under the house so we can lower the roof - didn’t want the vinyl getting wet then being closed up for 2 months.

I stripped the beds and put on the flanny sheets ready for our return in May - we are cold sooks. Set up the suitcases ready under the house so I can recheck what I have packed. Cleaned the camper then dropped the roof and locked it up.

Leanne rang with the seat allocation for the return flight from London so we decided to book those too so it is all sorted. Qatar Airways is affiliated with Virgin so we can add our Velocity Frequent Flyer cards to it but so far we can’t work out how. I rang Velocity but the chap said we have to do it through Qatar so I sent and email to HolidayMax in case they can do it as they booked the flights. All else fails we can just add it before we fly from Brisbane Airport. Saw on the news last night that we have to pay $30 and do our UK ETA form at least 3 days before so will note that on the calander.

Paul called in to say he was heading back to Brisbane and wished us a happy trip.

Steve mowed the lawn - it is nice a green at the moment from the recent rain.

I rang Kaylene to see how the packing up was going. All done, they have moved in with their friend and are just finishing the cleaning. Hand-over is on Friday.

About 8pm a quick shower of rain fell with strong wind. Glad we had closed up the camper.

 

Tues, 24^th

Nice walk along the beach pathway again.

Sent David a message for his birthday today.

Hair dressing day - I cut Steve’s hair and he coloured mine so we are all set to travel.

Loaded the camper onto the truck and left the legs down to support it off the truck tray while we are away.

Read our books for a while then Ann called in for a chat and to wish us a wonderful trip.

Another brief shower of rain at 8.30pm.

 

Wed, 25^th

Dark clouds out to sea and to the south-west but blue sky above us as we went for our morning walk.

Got an email from Star RV re checking in for our camper hire. Unfortunately it wouldn’t let me finish it so I contacted Star RV in Aust and then got a call from NZ office. They acknowledged they are having problems and that it will be ok to check-in when we pick up the camper!!

An email from Qantas, check-in for them is 24hr before and then there is the NZ entrance form which I had started which I will finish off before we fly out. There is a new scan thing for our passports with Border Force so watched a video about how to do that at the airport. Oh boy - it is much easier just driving around Australia in our camper than all these online things but we are looking forward to exploring New Zealand.

Jetstar are having a sale so I booked my Cairns to Brisbane flight for 4 Aug - one way, just the return one to do for Sept - sale finished on the day we return! Got an email back from HolidayMax and they were able to add our Velocity Frequent Flyer numbers to our flights - yeah, another thing ticked off.

Quiet afternoon reading and cross-stitching.

Rang Uncle John to wish him a happy birthday for 9 Mar, going to be 98 - wow. He is doing so well and still in his home. Rang Gracie too as her birthday coming up and she will be 88 on 6 Mar. Tried ringing Roald to wish him a happy 80th on the 13^th but he was out so left a message. A busy birthday month with our grandchildren Sophia on the 9^th and Beau on the 11^th. A few other friends in March too but I can send them messages on FB from NZ.

Last drinks by this beach for a couple of months. Lots of new beaches to explore in NZ.

My blog writing will probably be slow as we will be enjoying exploring and there will be lots of photos to sort but I will get them up eventually.

 

14-19 Feb, 2026 Geck Family beach house, Woodgate, Qld

Sat, 14^th

Still overcast and misty this morning. BOM app says we got 99mm. David arrived while we were having breakfast. At least it is nice and cool so they can get straight into work on the patio boards this morning.

Quizzed David on UK travelling - he and Amanda are going back over to see Ella in May and will go to Germany to find where Lorenz Geck lived etc.

Steve called out - ‘did I take a photo of the patio’, no, so I went up and took some to post on our family page too. The timber is pre-oiled so no need to paint it - just a coat of oil occasionally.

They realised they need a wider board to finish off where the posts are and they have run out of nails so they went for a drive back to Bundy so they can finish it off tomorrow.

I caught up on my blog - yeah.

More rain at 5pm as Terry and I settled in for drinks. The boys got back at 5.30 with the board and nails.

Terry rang Stephanie to say thanks for his gift - a walking stick thing so he can lean it again a wall etc and it doesn’t fall over. She had been on a energetic hike with her man, Zac, to Cowley Falls in the Wooroonooran NP off the Palmerston Highway up from Innisfail. The 50m falls were well worth the trek and we are happy to look at her photos as even she said it was a tough trek so I don't think we will be doing it.

Another shower of rain in the evening - much cooler too.

Silverside and roast vegies for dinner. Finished off the banana cake and custard for dessert.

 

Sun, 15^th

Another cool morning, 19 degrees and still overcast.

The boys continued with the patio till morning tea when heavy rain with wind started. Paul came over so we chatted for an hour till the rain eased. The boys put in the last nails as more rain started just before lunch.

I caught up on my blog. Joan sent me and email about the Mumma Mia theatre restaurant in London. Sounds wonderful but once I worked out the prices and of course the pound is double our dollar it worked out very expensive - $440 for the show and dinner and then we would have had to stay at a hotel nearby which was $500 for the night. Just a bit too extravagant for us.

David left at lunch time as he had to see Amanda’s parents in Bundy before heading home. More rain started. Steve will finish the trim around the edge when the rain stops.

Terry left at 2 as the rain hadn’t let up. Will see him next week when the battery charger arrives.

You can see the green grass shoots growing before our eyes after the rain. Steve will have to mow before we leave! It was so brown and dry when we arrived.

Malcolm rang for a chat. Looking forward to their trip to NZ. Will catch up with them in Auckland on the 29^th April before we both fly home on the 30^th.

More rain through the night.

Mon, 16^th

23 degree min, overcast but patches of blue sky showing as the clouds move across the sky. Very windy too as we went for our morning walk.

Steve continued with the edging on the patio and I started sorting out what needs to go in the suitcases!

Annalise did video call but we couldn’t hear her so we looked at bonny Cooper - he has grown so much. Beau was at day care. I rang her back so we could chat properly. Must be my older phone. It is fine on What’s App which Jon uses. Jon should be home next Friday so will chat again then.

Misty showers on and off all day.

 

Tues, 17^th

22 degree min, another shower in the early hours. The sun came out so I put the washing on.

Steve finished the deck - great job.

I had messaged Sarah so she rang me back and we chatted about my UK/Europe trip - she has done a lot of travelling so I wanted to get her advice on getting about, accommodation etc for our extra 10 days. She and Ben have settled into their home.

Leanne rang - we have the flight allocation email, we are flying with Qatar out of Brisbane. Now to change it to the later departure date and ask a few questions. I will ring HolidayMax tomorrow as we have 24 hours to confirm which flight we want. There are so many to choose from. So glad this has come while I am still in Aust. Now I can got to NZ and just enjoy it without having to worry about flight choices etc.

 

Wed, 18^th

Julie’s birthday - sent her a FB message for a lovely day.

Nice blue sky and cool this morning as we head to Bundy. The battery charger has arrived at Terry’s. Joined him for a cuppa and Phil called in too. Lots of dark clouds here.

I rang HolidayMax and the chap explained what to do. I did it but it put in another flight but the right date, 15^th Sept. I rang them back (long wait time to get answered) and the lady said to put it in an email which one we wanted and they will sort it. They did which was wonderful. Messaged Leanne that it was all sorted. She will look at the seat allocation cost once we can go onto the Qatar Airways booking site - it is free if you wait till 48hr before the flight. Then I looked up where Qatar is!! Will ring Qantas Travel Insurance tomorrow and add the stop over at Doha Airport to the countries we are visiting, just in case.

I printed out our NZ itinerary - all ready to go now.

Got some groceries to get us through to the 27^th then back to Woodgate. Very windy here.

Took our drinks down to the beach and sat on Granma’s chair and enjoyed the view.

 

Thurs, 19^th

Hot and humid for our walk this morning with no breeze blowing.

Brad’s birthday so sent a message for him to enjoy his day.

Steve put the battery charger in - all good. He then raised the camper and pop-rivetted the teflon skids under the camper to raise it up a bit on the back of the truck to take pressure off the headframe.

I have everything up-to-date for a change so got out my cross-stitch and started on our nephew Tim and Taryn’s wedding cross-stitch.

Nice afternoon drinks at the beach on Granma’s chair again.

9-13 Feb, 2026 Geck Family beach house, Woodgate, Qld

Mon, 9^th

Went for a walk after breakfast - already warming up to 28 degrees. Calmer morning so the sea looks perfect.

Steve pottered about. He had put some carpet under the front of the camper as he feels it has drooped forward while we had the camper off over Christmas which explains why one door was just touching the support bar when we put the camper back on. Also the shower door wasn’t closing properly and he thought it might have something to do with the supports he got Paul to weld onto the chassis. He and Paul nutted it out and decided it had dropped so we will look for something to put under the camper floor struts to raise it a bit.

I worked on my NZ itinerary.

Rang HolidayMax in Perth to change the contact details to Leanne after we pay the final payment this afternoon the next step is for them to organise our flights and we have 24hrs to make any changes. We have decided to stay on for 10 days to do our own exploring which they allow. I was worried I mightn’t have phone signal in NZ so better that Leanne sort that bit. I just have the flights from Cairns to Brisbane and return to sort once we have confirmed dates.

Leanne sent the final payment money to me yesterday so I made the full payment. Rang Qantas Travel and paid for travel insurance for the trip.

Now to type out the itinerary off the website so I can print it and then decide what other things I want to see - that’s is job for when we get back from NZ.

 

 

Tues, 10^th

Back to Bundaberg to do a few more jobs - banks etc. Pulled up at Terry’s place to have a cuppa first. Steve noticed something dripping under the truck and it was oil - what now! He started investigating - unfortunately the bitumen was already hot as was the engine so wasn’t a pleasant job. He decided it might be the oil filter (still had plenty of time left for its usual change). I left him to it under Terry’s watchful eye and took Terry’s car to do some printing and go to the bank. I also bought him more degreaser!

When I got back he had found the problem. It wasn’t the oil filter - it was a plug from the engine or something near the filter and it was still leaking after he changed the filter. At least he found the problem and could fix it. Another thing that shows that we probably got a raw deal from the DCA chap that supplied the engine.

Terry will come down for the weekend as David is coming up to help Steve with replacing the patio floorboards.

Finished our shopping and bought some teflon skids to put under the camper. Headed back to Woodgate.

Steve ordered a new adaptor plate that he wanted to replace in the engine. He hasn’t been happy with the one he has so he wants to change that while he has access to a workshop when we get home to Cairns.

Another hot sticky day - there is rain forecast for the weekend so that might cool things down.

 

 

Wed, 11^th

Nice hot walk, already 31 degrees in the camper by 8am.

Steve had noticed the volt meter wasn’t showing the correct number since we are plugged into power last night but the light was still showing on the battery charger. When he checked it after our walk the battery charger wasn’t working and it noticed it had flipped the power off in the shed too. This is Number 3, actuators, oil leak and this so we should be all good for a while! As we are under cover we aren’t getting any solar charge, hence the battery charger. Steve had siliconed and screwed it so he had a job getting it out. He looked up a new one and I ordered it so it should arrive in a week. Meantime I turned on the fridge under the house and moved everything out of the camper fridge as that is what uses the most power.

I cleaned out the fridge and will leave it like that as we will be shutting everything down when we head to NZ any case.

I saw a post on FB - Libby and Chris got engaged. I asked the question when we were there so I was just ahead of the announcement. Sent them a congratulations message.

I looked up things we want to see in NZ which needed booking and made a few. They deducted the payment 3 days before and we can cancel 24hrs before for a full refund so if the weather is bad we can still change.

Worked on the NZ itinerary with the new details and calculated our costs so I feel all ready for the trip now. Will print it out when we got back to Bundy.

Steve started work on the patio boards as he can only work in the afternoon once the sun is off the patio since the days have been getting hotter.

 

 

Thurs, 12^th

Another nice walk along the path this morning.

I worked on my blog and Steve sorted out the boxes from the truck.

Leanne rang to say she received the email from HolidayMax confirming the last payment so we all set for the trip - just need the flights to be organised. HolidayMax provided very good information on what to expect for our trip and things needed etc which I had printed out and highlighted the important things to sort - UK entrance form, phone, money etc. I started typing up the itinerary off the website so we can work out what else we want to see.

Phil & Brenda are down for Bingo tomorrow so called in for a chat.

Terry rang to confirm he will be down in the morning to stay for the weekend.

 

 

Fri, 13^th

Another hot and humid morning for our walk.

Terry arrived at morning tea time so we had a nice chat over a cuppa. Phil called in too after dropping Brenda off to Bingo at the Bowls Club.

Steve continued with the patio boards after lunch. I cooked a banana cake for dessert tonight.

A storm is building up - we heard some thunder then a shower of rain. Cooled things down for a bit. More rain fell on and off for the afternoon.

I finished the UK itinerary and emailed it to Leanne to have a read. I suggested she come up to Woodgate early May when we are back so we can make some firm plans then.

Terry had brought some marinated chicken wings so I cooked them and made a pizza for dinner. I made some custard from powder to have with the banana cake for dessert.

 

 

Sun, 8th Feb, 2026 Wallum Reserve Rest Area, near Bundaberg to Geck Family beach house, Woodgate, Qld

19 degrees, nice and cool but it is warming up quickly each day.

Back into Bundaberg and across the river for a cuppa in the park under the bridge.

Around to Terry’s place - good timing, he had just got home from the rally so Steve helped him put the camper away. Chatted about the rally.

Had lunch together then we headed back to Woodgate. Still windy so the water is choppy.

Dropped off the camper in the carport again. Amanda and her friends had already left. Paul is back from Brisbane working on his solar panels.

Nice afternoon, relaxing and reading our books.

 

Sat, 7th Feb, 2026 Wallum Reserve Rest Area, near Bundaberg, Qld

20 degree min, few clouds and breezy.

We had a list of things to do for Tuesday so decided to get that done today.

We were just about to drive off from one stop when a car pulled in front of us and a chap came over to ask if he could take a photo. His mate is called Gecko and rides for Nitros Circus so he thought he might like the photo of the geckos. Happy to oblige.

Back to the rest area for another night. Steve finished off the actuators and I started catching up on my blog.

Rang Suzanne to tell her about our visit with Libby and Chris and we had a lovely long chat.

The tents are gone but the two vans are still here. Another couple of travellers pulled in for the night.

Fri, 6th Feb, 2026 Roald & Joan’s place, Cooroibah to Wallum Reserve Rest Area, near Bundaberg, Qld

19.4 degree min, a bit cloud and windy. Lots of birds singing their morning chorus. The kookaburras started at 4.30am!

Went up to the house to say good morning. Ella wanted to check out the camper and then we dropped the roof and locked up. Said our goodbyes and headed off.

We turned off to have a cuppa at Boreen Point as we haven’t been there before. The map from yesterday shows where we are and on Wikicamps it shows the ‘Noosa River’ coming through the Lake Cootharaba.

Found a nice spot for a cuppa with a nice view. Quite windy so we were lucky to have such a perfect day yesterday.

Back out to the main road then we rolled through the hills and farms to Traveston then onto the Bruce Highway heading northward.

We took the new bypass around Gympie - much better than the narrow road with so many street lights through the town. Locals must love not having to deal with all the trucks etc. Tourists will still call in a there is a lot to see in Gympie. 

Continued on to Childers and took the Childers Road to Bundaberg for a change. We also wanted to check out a rest area as Amanda and some lady friends are using the house over the weekend so we don’t want to cramp their style. Only a couple of ‘tents’ and a couple of vans here so plenty of room for us to park up tonight.

Into Terry’s place where we collected the actuators off the front porch. Terry will be home on Sunday afternoon so we had arranged to visit him on Tuesday but we will come in again on Sunday to help him when he gets home with his camper.

Back out to the rest area and parked up in the shade of the bush as it is another hot day. There was a plaque about the rest area in the middle picnic area.

Steve started on swapping the actuators over while I baked - we were out of morning tea snacks.

I chatted with another couple near us. They are from Woodford and were over for a golf tournament.

Bit of road noise but that settled down as night fell. A couple of other travellers pulled in.