Goodbye for now, for I must go!

No, I am not worried about flood waters as we are high enough above the river. We are on the side of a hill, so the rain flows past us. We have a friend looking afer the house, so he will let us know if the house starts floating away! I like caravan parks too. Hotels can be too much of a fake sterile environment for me. Are you moving up here now? Or just stopping in for a Christmas visit? Yep, plenty of time for a coconut later!

Things are very quiet on the house selling front here too. People are being cautious right now I feel. I think the next couple of years could be interesting. AAh, the old family issues hey. They crop up in our family too, particularly where my wife and her local family are concerned right now. I will probably try and get some photos on to my computer later today. Have been pretty busy since we got back! I got to add two more of the BIG things to my list that we discussed a few months ago. The 'Big Merino' in Goulburn and 'The Big Trout' in Adaminaby! How was the rain while you were here?

Moving up there has stalled for a bit. Trying to get a decent price for the renovated house, which I'm still renovating. Still haven't got a job to go to up there. We ended up not staying with the sister-in-law (my wife had some issues there), & all we could get was an expensive hotel room with self-catering in Labrador . Didn't get to go to all the new vegan eateries either, but we made the best of it. Can't wait to see all the photos you'll be posting on My Lot when you get back. Safe traveling mate.

Thank you my dear, I will have an awesome time. I will try and be careful, but I do like to be a bit adventurous from time to time! I will miss you and everyone else here too. I will definitely start a discussion about my travels with a few links to the places I visited. Have a great Christmas with your family. I look forward to hearing how that went when I return.

So, how did your family Christmas go? Did it work out well?

Yes, some of the roads up here have been cut off. We went up to Childers last Sunday, it's about a 45 minute drive from where we live, but it took us 2 and a half hours to drive back home on the Bruce Highway, as there was deep water over the road in many places. We come through a little town called Howard on the way to our place, but had to turn back and go the long way round, as the main street was a river - too deep for our car to get through. Take care and stay safe on your trip.

Wow, hopefully I do not have to go through anything like that! It is possible though as it has been raining solidly here all afternoon. Hopefully Christmas day will be better! Have a Merry Christmas.

Hi Abbey. There certainly has been a lot of rain about of late! We have had it pretty much every day here for the last month or so. Hopefully it will not rain too much on our trip. I know that we will be passing through some areas in northern NSW that are notorious for floods blocking the major highways, but hopefully that will not happen on our trip. Have roads been cut up your way? I thought that the Bruce Highway would have been pretty good between Brisbane and there? I know there are a few rivers up your way though. Have a nice peaceful time at home, we will be having fun, you can bet on that!

I'm an Aussie but I married a kiwi...but we're not digging a hole in the ground for the hangi...we're having it in a keg...takes way less time...you can always drive north instead of south...plenty of food at my place!

A Hangi! Are you guys Kiwis? I have never been involved in a Hangi before, probably never will either. Sounds like an interesting idea for Christmas! Probably best not to be driving in all this rain, but too late now. I am committed!

Thanks for the invite, but I have to stick to my plans. Christmas morning here right now. The rest of the house is still asleep as the kids were told not to wake us up before 6am. I woke early though due to the loud heavy rain. Perfect weather for a road trip! Enjoy your Hangi, hope the weather clears for you!

Thats right. We need just a reason to be alive. I liked this thought indeed.

Yep, enjoy what tomorrow brings, whatever tat may be.

It will be an adventure krajibg! I am looking forward to it. It will be colder than it is at my home, but it will not be that cold that I will get a cold. I never actually get colds anyway. It is still summer, so although it will be cool at night, it still should be relatively warm most of the time. I am sure that you could find some reason to celebrate and have a good time. Just being alive is reason enough to celebrate!

Hi Debs, great to see you here! I have been back home a few days now. We had a great time camping and seeing some amazing places and the weather was awesome for most of it! I had no idea how bad the floods were except from talking to people who spotted the Queensland plates on my car and made jokes about how I must be glad to be away from all that rain! As we started our journey back home, we tuned into the radio once more and watched TV for the first time in weeks one night. It was then that we learned how bad the floods were and that we might not even be able to get home. We had a 14 hour drive in the rain on our last day away, but we wanted to push on just in case the rivers rose and cut the highway. As we passed through northern New South Wales where there are a lot of large rivers, we saw just how swollen and how close to the road they were. We made it through, but the highway was cut by water less than 24 hours later and towns that we passed through have been evacuated. Most of the earlier flooding was up north a long way from our home, so we were not worried by that, but the current Brisbane flooding is less than an hours drive north of us. The Toowoomba flash flooding was only 2 hours away. These are areas that I know well, so it hits home a bit more to see them affected like this. sad We are safe here, for some reason the flooding has missed us on the Gold Coast. Everything is wet and the rivers are high, but not nearly as bad as the area was in early December or previous years. I hope that you had a great holiday period over there and that your cold weather is not as extreme as it was a few weeks back. I will post a discussion about my trip later today possibly.

It's just been awful for so many people and so unexpected. I'm really glad that you guys weren't caught up in the worst of it. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to see your home destroyed that way.. Talk about being in the right place - to think that some of those poor people are only an hour or two away from you! Glad that you had a great holiday too - ours was very quiet but we had fun and relaxed a bit. I miss the christmas lights and decorations when they come down :)

I know, I saw the photos of Thredbo and Mount Kosciuszko. It is a bit cooler there than the Gold Coast, but it is good to have a change from the heat and humidity. (Not that it has been terribly warm here) At lake level, they usually only get a light dusting of snow in winter, so in summer for it to snow in town would be amazing! My kids have never seen real snow, so they are hoping to next week! It is great country down there. So different to the lush sub tropical countryside here. I was there briefly in January this year for the first time. It was peaceful then. I think winter time would be busier!

Have an amazing time with your family at your house Zandi. I hope you get to relax a bit and will not have to work too hard hosting them. It is a great time to be camping as everyone is so relaxed and in a good mood. See you in 2011.

mylot left out the last half of the last sentenc cloudburst.

Hi Hatley, It is summer here from the first of December through to the end of February. Thanks for the song. I know it as it was in a children's video from The Wiggles that we used to have for our kids when they were little. It is not a song that I grew up knowing of though. It is going to be a wet holiday season here too. Unseasonably cold for summer. Have a fantastic Christmas with your son. See you in 2011!

Thanks Jen, I certainly will have an amazing time. (as long as it does not rain too much) I love getting out of the house as I work from home all day every day. It is great to get away from it. I would not relax if I spent the time at home. Merry Christmas to you and your family too.

Thank you. Enjoy your time at home with your family and friends. I will have a great trip.

Wow, so you did last year similar to what I am doing this year! I cannot wait to get out of my home as I work from home and it is hard to relax here. Merry Christmas to you too.

Sometimes spending Christmas with friends an be more fun than with family. It is a special time to get together with loved ones, no matter who they are.

Thanks Sameer. Do you not celebrate anything at this time of year in Pakistan? I hope you have a great week anyway.