Hello Everybody,

Now that we r starting to get the hang of typing up a blog, the first pictures missed putting captions, but we have now worked that out too, we hope, things should start getting easier for us 2 nuff nuffs, who r not techno minded.

Now that u have enjoyed Darrens version of our new encounter & experience of travelling, camping, hiking, sorting out some sort of system goin & his very warped sense of humor, please enjoy my FEMALE version of our wks travels. Better have a stiff drink & lay down while reading. It goes on & on & on(u get my driff).

It all started when Darren turned up at my place to pack gear & get goin. All excited & ready, Darren wanted  to polish the 4wd with water beading polish, so i said that i would pack the gear. Opened the back doors & OH MY GOD it was a mans pack, everything just thrown in, had no hope of getting my gear in with all of that. So! deap breathe, reminding myself that i will be travelling with this guy for 4 to 6 mths, head down, bum up, empty entire contents, sweep out half of Russell island gravel, condense his array of milo tins, vegemite, honey, salmon, longlife cream, i think u get my drift & pack them into carry bags instead of rolling all over the floor. Re sorted his mess into some sort of org chaos & then had to get my gear in, after much shuffling, pushing & shoving, we made it. Now the real challenge begins.

Darren has this cautious thought of heading up the sunshine coast, to break me into the mode of camping & hiking, plus see whether i talk his head off, see whether or not to drop me off on the side of road to see me fade into the distance for a much more peaceful holiday. Arrived at Bunya Mt late arvo & to true Darren style suggests, lets go for a short walk, stretch our legs, enjoy the scenery, wildlife, before dusk, off we went with no prep, not eaten since breakky, no gear setup, but off we went. Discovered that Darrens definition of a short walk, is not very short. Came back hot, tired & hungry, to which he thought was very comical. Then came the set up of the tent, giving Darren more ammunition, but with a bit of fidderling, i managed to put it together. After a nice shower, came Mr Precious not being able to handle realitiy, travellig with a female & girly items hanging around the campsite. We sat & discussed the sort of hikes that we would do. So it began, tues 28^th feb bunya mt, had a really bad nights sleep, massive headache, swollen forehead, spent the night with a tick attached to my head. Absolutely no sympathy from Mr Precious & me complaining, did he pluck it out for me. Headache & swelling was with me all day, plus was supposed to be a 12km hike, to which we bought only a bottle of water each & some nuts, due to Mr Precious informing me that we would not need anything else. 24km later, drained of fluids, no food, not appropriate clothes, we roll into camp & me completely dead. Darren complained about the tick that bit him on the hip, to which he also neglected to say that he absolutely hates things crawling on him. While he was bagging me in not keeping up with him, i needed to remind princess to tuffen up, for him this is Darrens version of breaking me in. (Who is breaking who in here)Tue night camped at Crows Nest, stopped on the way at The Palms Nat Park, which was full of bats, palms, just a short walk.

Wed morn 29^th Feb, Crows Nest was beautiful, walked down to the Falls, encounted some wildlife, should have been another short walk which turned into a 5km one. Then decided to once again empty the 4wd to get a much better working system, as Mr Precious could not find anything & i had to keep on findin it for him, (just like an old married couple). After much girl opinion, to man opinion, we finally compromised on a setup & were back on the road. We headed to Toowoomba for supplies, laundramat,(only a couple of items of Darrens, as no need to change clothes each day, just like boy scouts i remember), got maps, supplies & were glad to get out of the busy town, back into relaxed mode again. Camped at Girraween Nat Park, setup in the dark, Darrens idea of dinner  was watermelon & grapes at about 9pm. This was a big exploring park, with lots of walking tracks, was goin to break the pain barrier on this walk. Next morning I took off for a nice hot shower in the hope to warm up the tired muscles & Darrens comments were that i went in with this rather large toiletry bag & took so long to come out, he thought that i would have looked like Elle McPherson, (i think u girls know what my response would have been). Maturity & reality has not yet set in for Mr Precious. Off we headed for a very long day of hiking, (8.30 till after 6pm) another day of Darrens idea to gently ease me into hiking. (U guys need to have a serious talk to Darren, needs reminding that he has a lady now hiking with him). But in true Josie fashion, there was no way that i was goin to cave in & surrender defeat. I trekked behind him all day, climbing up huge, extremely steep granite rock mountains, jumping over large crevices, that my short legs struggled with, cross country thru long grasses off the beaten track, crawled thru caves, walked most of the time in full sun, bitten by every insect u can think of, only vita wheat biscuits & some nuts for food, clothes full of sweat, that should only happen to a man & kept on getting told that it was not going to be that hard a day. Yes i admit that the pain was worthwhile, such a fantastic Nat Park, wonderful views, amazing forest, brilliant waterways & falls, incredible  granite rock formations, but a real killer of a day, so i would expect nothing more from my butler to get dinner ready, make me a cuppa & me crawl into  bed at 8.30 totally non functional. I would have thought a thanku would be warranted for the peace & quiet he got. Anyway at the rate i am goin in keeping up hiking with Darren, i will look like Elle in no time. Very lean, toned, fit, with lots more energy to out last & dance anybody who may be up for the challenge.

Fri 2^nd Mar, it was time to come back to civilisation in Tenterfield, we both pigged out on a tub of ice-cream(macca nuts, mango & cream weis, YUM) while we both tried to learn more about using the blog & attempting to upload photos with captions, to which we failed & Darren duck shoved to me, to try to nut it out. Lots of colourful language coming out of his mouth at the same time, i might add. After wasting about 4hrs & getting nowhere fast, while watching a storm roll in & too late for our next camp spot, we stayed at Boonoo Boonoo Nat Park.  More hiking up & down steep tracks, fantastic waterfalls & 2days of wet weather also on Sat, we decided to head for the coast in the hope for some warm weather to dry all our gear out, while we enjoy the sun & surf. On the way we stopped off at Washpool Nat Park for a 8.7km hike. While getting ready with gear in car park, Darren was having a hissi fit about leeches attached to him, sprayed them with metho & listening to his carrying on, we finally got started. The walk was full of mud, slippery, wet, very dense busy & absolutely 100’s of leeches. I am sure princess Darren will neglect to tell u all, how paranoid he was in leeches attaching themselves to him. He was having to stop every 10min, to get rid of them (now who was doin all the whining), was a very sloooooow hike. Needed a video, was a site to be seen.

Arrived at Wooli caravan park, which is approx 20min out of Grafton. Darren once again cooked dinner, (worth being a female & taking longer to get ready in bathroom) as Darren gets jack of waiting & starts cooking. (who’s the clever one now, hey girls) He has managed to land cooking all the full main meals, plus breakfast & i am only making the light so called lunches & dinners. Ahh aint life grand. Will enjoy it while it lasts, i’m sure he will cotton onto it soon enough.

Mon 5^th Mar, have had a g8 day chatting & relaxing with the local old characters of the park, having a laugh, enjoying a yarn of yester year, swam in the surf & now as i sit typing this blog, while precious has gone to bed (was exhausted from picking up the washing, cooking dinner, washing up, cleaned & washed the car) how good is that, trained like a husband already. I think that i have scored all the brownie points so far. Plus he has not gotten rid of me yet & is still talking to me. ( oh yes, thats right i am doin all the talking). We r definitely missing everyone & yes i am sure, even Darren will admit that we r having a g8 time. He even admitted to me that he would be lonely without me now, if he had done this trip alone. Only wk one, give it time. Have booked the therapist in advanced. Just not sure which one of us will need it first. Hope u r all enjoying our bad taste humor & hoping that u r all Smiling. Luv reading ur responses, keep them coming, i need the ammunition. Cheers, Lots of Love