Trout PB for Bronson!

Hey all, just a quick post to let everyone know we got into NZ safely and didn't even feel the latest quake. Weather a bit average but had a nice couple of days up Hanmer Springs way. Caught only the one fish but he was around the 5lb mark so very pleased all the same. Biggest trout for Bronson to date! Anyways, we're about to get back on the road and push on towards the bottom of the island. Take care peoples!

PS. Our phone doesn't work properly over here. We can receive calls and texts but we cannot send any so don't stress if you don't hear from us!

xxxxxxx

God defend New Zealand

That's right. We're off! Actually by this time tomorrow we'll be there. 19 days of campervanning around the south island chasing monster trout. Ruth is currently tying up some more flies for the trip. We think we have most of it organised but no doubt we'll discover we've missed something once we get there. Not too much has happened since our last blog. We've mostly been staying with friends and family killing a bit of time. Of course there was Erin and Lachlan's wedding last week which went off without a hitch. Nothing over the top, just a small bunch of family and friends, a simple ceremony and lunch at the Bavarian Beer House where they served us beers we couldn't jump over! It was a great day and we're pretty happy to welcome Lachlan into the family. Other than that things have been pretty quiet. We're staying with Pedro for another night and hopefully someone will be able to run us to the train station in the morning to catch the 5am train to the airport. We bought ourselves a few NZ dollars today, not that they're worth much! Not sure if we'll get to post any blogs whilst we're across the Tasman as we're not taking the laptop but if find the occasional internet cafe we may be able to let you all know how we're going. We will have our phone tho if anyone needs to get hold of us. And that's about all really. Be good peoples!

We all know frogs go la di da di da

Well the Atkinson dam was nothing to write home about. Pretty boring and none of the amenities at the camp site were available. The next day we pushed on towards Lake Boondooma. We stopped overnight at Benarkin at a nice little camp site which we had all to ourselves. Damage from the recent floods was quite evident as were the cane toads. Must be time to purchase a golf club! Onwards the following day and we stopped for a cuppa at Nanango. Whilst we were pulled over we fired up the laptop and booked ourselves a 19 day campervanning trip around the south island of NZ. That's right, we're going trout fishing! All this is due to commence on the 18th of this month. As we were enjoying our cuppa, Rob and June Hooker passed us on their way to the lake. Small world eh? We eventually arrived at Lake Boondooma despite some terrible directions from our navman (Bronson wanted to throw it out the window!) with Rob and June hot on our tails. They had also brought another couple, John and Judy from Maclean with them. We stayed here for 3 nights catching red claw crayfish and swimming in the lake (along with lots of turtles). Had a great time in spite of the poor weather. Once again the cane toads were out in force but so too were the big green tree frogs in the amenities block. We counted nearly 30 hanging around the showers! We parted company with our fellow campers on Sunday and started heading back towards Brisvegas. We planned on setting up camp at Amamoor only to be told the camp site was closed due to the road being severely damaged by floods. We already knew this as we had ignored several road closed signs to get there. In places 3/4 of the road had collapsed but we still managed to get through. We decided not to risk staying the night in case road works prevented us from getting back out (and getting in trouble!) and made our way to Charlie Moreton camp just outside of Kenilworth. We fell asleep to the chorus of a large contingent of Great Banded Frogs loudly calling throughout the night. That was last night and today we find ourselves in the Beerburrum State Forest. We plan to stay a night or two and check out the Glasshouse Mountains area tomorrow. We considered going to Australia Zoo but $60 a ticket is a little steep in our opinion. By wednesday we should be back in Bris ready for Erin's wedding and preparing ourselves for New Zealand. We need to get some more flies tied and a few more mud crabs from Jacobs Well would go down pretty well too. Tonight though we'll be feasting on Red Claws! Ciao peoples!

Freeloadin'

Well it has been a week of civilisation for us! We spent the night in Byron Bay parked on Marie's front lawn, where Lulu sustained buffeting winds that shook us so hard we woke up. We had a lovely night catching up and listening to the rain and a relaxing morning on the deck having the most scrumptious breakie with Cocoa the rainbow lorrie. From Byron we headed up the coast the scenic way to spend the night with Maree at Burliegh. Another great night and probably the last time I'll get to see my Mummy in a while - she has headed off to Boston now for a conference then back to Tassie. Off to "The Well" to spend some time with Brons' Pa. We had a few good nights knocking back a couple of cans and catching up. We even managed to bag a couple of mud crabs that were very tasty indeed. A morning fishing the falling tide on the flats was unsuccessful but I think Pete enjoyed the opportunity to have a flick with a fly rod. We are at Tegan and Benny's place now and about to hit the road. It's been great to catch up with our sisters, Erin came down on Saturday night with Tegan after work so we could have some time together. A few swims at the pool and beach and a few beers and bacardis later, the weekend flew by and everyone is now back at work. We are heading out now going towards Kingaroy for some impoundment fishing at Boondooma Dam and Atkinson Dam north west of Brissy, hopefully we can catch some red claw.

Big thankyous all round to those that have been putting us up and putting up with us over the last week or so.