Here is the latest update for anyone who is reading!

Brett and I are continuing to travel down the coast at a quicker pace than we expected. However, we do not feel rushed or feel that we are missing anything.

Two nights ago we headed out toward the coast from the Bruce Highway to a town called Serina. We randomly stumbled, or should I say drove upon, a secluded beach with a no camping sign. While sitting, looking and wishing we could camp there a neighbor came up and said it was fine and was positive no rangers would be coming. Honestly, the people in Australia are so nice and accepting of people who are on the road!! We had the entire beach to ourselves and it was a beautiful night!

We spent last night in a town called Bargara, which is right outside of Bundaberg. Bundaberg is a big deal here because it is where the Bundaberg rum distillery is located. It is commonly known as Bundy to the Australians. We got into town around 5pm after driving from Mackay and set up camp at the caravan park. We read up on the town and which activities were a must and immediately decided we wanted to go to the Mon Repos Turtle Rookery. Despite the pouring rain and wind we decided it was a chance of a lifetime so we went anyways. Once we arrived, around 7pm, we waited in the visitor center until about 1215am for the first turtle to wander up on the beach to lay its eggs. Yes, we were able to witness a live loggerhead turtle lay eggs in the wild on the beach! It was amazing. We saw two turtles that night although only one layed eggs. We also got to help transplant the eggs to a more protected nest. It was such an awesome night and seriously so interesting! We learned so much, saw something very unique in nature and didn't even disrupt the turtles. The volunteers and staff at Mon Repos were so knowledgeable and made sure they did everything they could to look out for the turtles!

We are currently in Hervey Bay, which is a serious tourist town. This is the gateway to Fraser Island and pretty much everyone coming to Australia has plans to head to Fraser. After finding out that it is the peak tourist time in town we had to forgo our plans of spending a couple of days on the island and instead we are doing a 1 day self-drive tour of the island. We are headed over on Thursday so we will spend our time hanging out here in town before. Brett got a chance to kite today in some windy and rainy considerations, however he doesn't care as long as there is enough wind for him get his kite in the air.

Casey comes in on Saturday and Brett couldn't be happier to have a friend coming to visit!! They have been emailing, chatting on the phone and preparing for their upcoming reuniting! It will be interesting but very fun to have 3 people in the van!

We hope everyone is having a great new year! Thanks for reading! We miss and love everyone.

love,
b and K8