FISH # 1 & KARAOKE

The first fish has been caught, during a spell in the rain, we managed to get out onto the jetty for a spot of fishing. It took less than five minutes, but Neil pulled in a nice little cod (pictured) which put some runs on he bird for the fish tally of the tour. Eating the fish was considered, but due to the fish being caught so early, we thought we could do better, so we threw him back. We didn’t do much better after that, so we headed down to the surf club for dinner instead.

Dinner was sensational and after dinner, Karaoke fired up at the Noosa Surf Club. Karaoke at the Noosa Surf Club is the most serious Karaoke I have seen outside of Asia. Neil sang Johnny Cash’s ‘Boy Called Sue’ which isn’t a song which lends itself to Karaoke, but Dordie was impressed.

DAY 3 - RAIN

Our first day on tour where Jiminy was to be parked up was very slow due to a nice spell of wet weather. Noosa is literally being washed away at the moment which makes a welcome change to the prolonged drought we have had this year in South East Queensland.

We are currently looking for a break in the weather so we can head down to Hasting Street for some dinner, but it could be night for call in pizza.

Tomorrow we are hoping to get out on the golf course for a round. It isn’t looking good at this stage, but I am sure Dordie can find a shop to fill in the afternoon.

DAYS 1 & 2

After cleaning and preparing our respective units for the rental market, we loaded up Jiminy on Monday night for "the big LAP". On Tuesday morning, Day 1 (29 August 2006) saw us head south from Brisbane to the Gold Coast to stay with Neil’s brother Tom and Derek. We enjoyed some well deserved holiday beers and champagne on the 26th floor looking over the beach and fabulous Broadwater (pictured).

We stopped at ‘Dreamworld’ on the way to sample the rides and see the Tigers. We both got the thrill of our lives on the ‘Giant Drop’....our pants nearly had a trill of their own too!

On Day 2, we headed back north through Brisbane to Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast for a few days at Neil’s family’s place. It is a good opportunity to review what we are taking. It seems that our culling efforts still need to be refined! Jiminy left Brisbane fully loaded with no room left for anything ands we are yet to add fishing gear and water bottles.

After Noosa we head up to Gladstone for a few days. Seeing this is Neil's old stomping ground, we are looking forward to catching up with some of his old friends for a few quiet beers a the Gladstone Yacht Club.

JIMINY THE PAJERO

Jiminy is the machine that will be trucking us around Australia and he has been christened Jiminy. Whilst we will be visiting all the big cities, we are keen to explore the remoter areas of Australia and a 4WD (SUV) is the best compromise for what we are wanting to do.

We looked at what vehicle would fulfil our purpose and thanks to Mitsubishi being stuck with a heap of large wagons following the oil price rise in 2005, they were happy to swap it for the gas-guzzling green machine.

Jiminy has a turbo diesel engine which is very fuel efficient for its size and surprisingly quick. It is very comfortable to drive and gets along very well. Jiminy has been down to the off-road store to get accessorised for long distance touring and remote exploring. A UHF radio was installed and CDMA/satellite phone is on its way for all communication requirements. The highway tyres were swapped for some All Terrain tyres for better durability in off road situations as well has making Jiminy a little 'tougher' looking.

The suspension has been upgraded with new 'King' lift springs to give Jiminy an extra 2 inches (where it counts) to handle the rough stuff and upgraded 'Bilstein' shocks for added comfort. A second battery has been installed in the engine bay which runs a new car fridge, so cold beer and Champagne is always on hand. A big bullbar was added up front to sort out 'Skippy' when he decides take on Jiminy and a snorkel to keep the water out of the engine air intake when we tackle river crossings. A long range fuel tank goes in soon, to make sure we don't run short of diesel. We have also invested in a GPS, with every map of Australia loaded onto it so we know where we are when we get lost.

Jiminy is ready to get us there and back in comfort and style and I am sure he won't let us down (touch wood).