Woodgate 2011 - Week 3

Woodgate 2011 - All good things must come to an end

WEEK THREE

Wow, what an awesome time we had this year. All of us met heaps of new friends. We had the best weather ever!! Not a single bit of rain and only 2 really hot days. OK, the fishing wasn't great this year but we still managed 2 fish dinners for all of us. Teachermum did the best job at keeping us organised and fed and clean. We never left Woodgate for supplies and managed to drink only our own tank water for 3 weeks !! We're booked in again for 2012/2013. Next trip will be #9 in a row. 

NEXT -> Levuka 4x4 Park in 2 weeks !!

Now that's a boat ramp

Kids chatting with the Lifeguard

Lizzie & Nathan sharing some shapes

Nap time

The kids worked Lizzie hard !

Snorkelling at Theodolite Creek

Teachermum @ Theodoite Creek

Nathan and his Huge Chicken burger and Chips

Lizzie really knows how to chill out

That's my boy !!

Girls playing at low tide

Last year Lauren tried this and she sprained her ankle

Woodgate 2011 - Week 2

Woodgate 2011 - Beach, Beach Drives, Sharks, Sting Rays and Soldier Crabs

WEEK TWO

Week 2 saw us do a little more fishing with some live bait. Teachermum caught herself a Dart so she was happy.

Madi caught an old lady. Well, she pulled her from the water (this might have been Wk 1) The poor old lady could not get up and was stuck face down where the waves broke and the sand was soft. Madi was very brave and was shocked afterwards, once she realised what she did.

The beach started getting more visitors, some Jelly Fish, a Sting Ray, a Star Fish and some Dolphins. One afternoon we watched some schools of Bait Fish heading South while a Shark headed North torward them. That soon got people out of the water. The LifeGuard confirmed it was a shark but could not see it clear enough to say what it was.

We did some more beach driving with a bunch of people from the Park. The Kinkuna trip was the first. Driving the dirt section of the track with tyre pressures still at 40psi sure made our teeth rattle.... even the sandy tracks were corrugated. Once we reached the beach we dropped our tyre pressures ... well most of us did. Bruce let his down too after his Cruiser decided it didn't want to get it's feet wet.

Another beach drive saw us head south of Woodgate along the beach to Burrum Heads. The beach here at low tide is like driving on a highway (the same beach as in Week 1) This time we stopped to play with the Soldier Crabs. (aka March Crabs if you happen to ask an 8 yr old what they are called)

The kids have made a whole bunch of new friends this year and so have we. The strongest friendship seems to be between our kids and Connor and Nathan (yep, 2 Nathans) We look forward to camping with them again in a few weeks.

Tomorrow many of our friends head home, back to work. 1 more week for us to go. 

Kids found a Star Fish

Getting ready to snatch Bruce's Cruiser

Bruce lets his tyres down and drove out

"Yep, that's a SHARK", said the LifeGuard

There's a pod of Dolphins out there .. really there is

Where else would you rather be - Woodgate Beach

Madi caught a tiny crab

We went for a drive along the beach to Burrum Heads

Kids are Burrum Heads

Burrum Heads - Soldier Crabs

Burrum Heads - Soldier Crabs

Nathan and Nathan

Our group on the Burrum Heads trip

Even Lizzie knows how to relax at Woodgate

A night out for Dinner at the Bowling Club

Yummo, morning tea !!

Kids chillin at the beach

Nathan & Loz up a tree

Madilyn loses her sand castle

TeacherMum caught a Dart !!

ActionDad

Connor, Nathan, Madi & Loz

Nathan burying himself

Woodgate 2011 - Week 1

Woodgate 2011 - December 26th 2011 -> 14 January 2012

WEEK ONE

Where did we go - Woodgate Beach Caravan Park

When - Dec 2011

How long did we stay - almost 3 weeks

Vehicle / Caravan - Patrol  + Expanda

Funny moments - Watching ABs face when her car sinks in sand on soft tracks

Where's Wally - Wally always comes to Woodgate. He slept in for a few days but we eventually got him out and about.

This years trip to Woodgate was a massive contrast to last. Beautiful blue skies and warm clean water. Our trip this year sees us staying for almost 3 weeks so we got to see lots of people come and go in the park.

Home for 3 weeks

Teachermum has a drive on the beach. Nice and firm here, like a highway

Lizzie was well behaved and kept a close eye out for her 3 kids

Breakfast is still a very important meal

Chilling with a real book

Another trip to the beach

Colin mounted a Video Camera to a kite - there's a story to that (see below)

Madi caught he first fish of the trip, a nice Flathead

Colin caught a Swallowtail Dart so we had enough for dinner

Plenty of live bait to be found this year

First time ever - Woodgate beach gets a Lifeguard. He's not kept too busy though

Let's mount a Video Camera on a Kite

Colin decided it would be a great idea to mount a Video Camera on a kite and fly it on the beach. The Camera mounted very well and there was plenty of good wind around. 

The kite launched quickly. The wind meant it was FAST. Twisting and turning over the beach and the water ... this was awesome. "The footage should be sweet."

A few minutes of flying and Colin started to consider how he'd land the kite. There was too much wind. There was not much room between the water and the trees at the beach. Colin decided the best thing was to do a vertical dive into the sand.

The kite hit the sand at MACH2, something snapped, the kite bounced back up, the wind caught it again and it zipped out of control into the trees. :(

"That's OK, we'll get it"

Upon retrieving the kite Colin saw the Camera was gone. The mount frame had cracked and let the Camera loose. The backup strap (think wrist strap) disconnected itself.

A 30 min intense search failed to recover the camera.

BUMMER !!