Somewhere off the beaten track.....Emu park

We got picked up from rockhampton yha by our next hostels owners "Paul and Mandy"and they were lovely, they owned our next hostel "emu beach resort and backpackers" they had in there car there little baby boy he was so cute :) we had a lovely 30 minute drive with them and chatted mostly about fishing and backpackers ! 

When we arrived we were sooooo happy the town itself was tiny and they took us on a tour which only took minutes! We then arrived at the accomodation and we were so happy and instantly felt relaxed it was like a holiday resort :) it had a lovely pool and a general good feel about it, we were booked into a four bed dorm but there was no one else in the room ! And we had it to ourselves for the whole four nights we were there! It was just what we needed, and we had a tv on there! The bathroom was also lovely and clean and there was a double shower ! It's safe to say we were please and had no complaints about this place ! It was a breath of fresh air coming to such a nice place :)

Not long after arriving the owner "Paul" took us a few doors up to have a look at some of the fish that his neighbours had caught that day! It was good to see what was out there they also had a puppy a very young one it was so cute so most of my attention went on that! Naturally! 

We went for a wonder that evening to the town it was only a ten minute walk, we got some shopping, there was a freezer and a oven here a sight that pleased us! So we got some different foods and headed back. It was so hot we decided to jump in the pool and cool off :) it was a lovely afternoon. 

In the evening (as it was valentines day!) we treated ourselves to some alcohol from the bar....Luke had a jug of beer and I had a bottle of wine! 

We also treated ourselves to a strawberry cheesecake :)

 Played some card games and games on the ipad......to us it was a perfect valentines evening :) We then settled in our lovely room and watched some tv :) it was so nice to do something low key and not over the top :)

The next day we had a lazy morning, chilling out, watching some tv, having some breakfast and then decided we would go fishing ......I so wanted to catch something on my new rod ! We went straight across the road to where there was a cut through to the beach......all the while on the look out for snakes! And when we got over the hill to the beach......it was just stunning....and there was no one on it! It was just so lovely :) it was ironically called "fishermens beach", there was no lifeguards here so we decided we wouldn't swim here you never no ! We did debate fishing here but it was so shallow you would have to walk out quite a way to get your line out enough to catch something decent, so we continued to walk along this beautiful deserted beach ....

until we came to some rocks.....we wondered across them for about 20 minutes and then decided we would fish at the beach furthest along, this one was patroled by lifeguards and looked just as nice :) we set up here (well Luke set the rods up!) 

.....Luke waiting for a bite

..... Me chilling waiting for a bite

we spent a few hours here fishing and swimming but didn't catch anything :( Luke was quite literally giving up hope of catching something of decent size in australia ! It seems that australia has been a let down to both of us in some way :( but we did enjoy the fishing even if we didn't catch anything we still had a laugh and I need all the practice and lessons from my lukee :) we headed back via the supermarket .......to pick up some ice creams :) on this day we did actually spot a huge sting ray in the sea that we thought at first was a shark ! We only saw it because we had our polarising glasses on other wise we would have missed it! Another great siting for us :)

The next day we was going to go fishing again but it was glorious weather not a cloud in the sky :) we we spent the whole day by the pool :))) and it was lovely :))) we just messed around took some funny underwater pics ......

....and had a chill out day and just enjoyed being in this nice hostel :) we was loving having a tv in our room and as a result we were staying up very late watching some of our fave programs that we were missing and also some films :) one of the programs we watched over the weekend was a show about the band "INXS" we don't really remember them but know some of there songs ..... It was very interesting actually.

Day 4......we was going to go fishing again in the afternoon but decided we would go the next day....Paul is going to take us to a place he no's that has good fishing :) but for now we decided to walk to the postoffice we had another small bunch of stuff to send home via sea just a couple of magnets and other things we had collected about our trip to go into our scrap book when we returned :) I was already excited about putting this together :) scrap book and crafty things were very me and I loved doing them especially keep sake ones :) so we sent that home :) we were also informed in the post office that you could buy australia postcards postage already paid to anywhere in the world from most post offices in australia for $1.60! We couldn't believe it we had been here for 8wks and didn't know this we had been buying the postcard and stamp seperately and the stamp on its own was $2.60! Oh well we know now! Luckily the post office was air conditioned as walking into town the sun just came out of no where and seemed to shine directly on us for the whole walk! And it was blazing hot! So we cooled down in there! We hadn't taken many pics of emu park yet so went for a wonder and were still a little shocked at the beauty of this place :) it was stunning and on the hill top they had this piece of architecture/monument called "the singing ship" it was a huge piece of architecture in the shape of a ship with poles in it with holes in so that when it was windy the ship made noises! It was great :) ......

......the singing ship :)

We went to the supermarket again as we wanted jacket potatoes! And it was nice having a wonder as it was air conned in there! So we cooled right down before the walk back :) the afternoon was spent by the pool, and playing with the owners dog gilly! She was adorable a Labrador cross collie, she was playful and cuddly and I also wanted to take her home! .....

 That evening there was this program on that I had seen advertised since we arrived in australia.....called "love child" it was set in 1969 in Sydney - kings cross and was about a home for woman who were having child out of wed  lock and the midwives that had to look after them! Very me :) I couldn't wait for it.....and I hope I get to see the next episode next week :) as I was missing call the midwife one series I love from home this was my substitute ! It was during one of our tv nights that Luke went to make a cuppa tea and noticed a baby brown snake right near our room! That scare me I was naturally thinking "where the hells the mother snake!"

It was leaving day today :( we checked out at 10am and Paul took us to this jetty that he knew and left us there for a few hours, it was fun and we saw two huge fish lunk out of the water! But unfortunately we didn't catch anything :( however a tuna fish or mackerel Luke can't decide! did jump out of the water onto the jetty.....

.....that was fun! We returned to the hostel and spent the afternoon by the pool, we had some time to kill as our bus wasn't until twenty to one in the morning :( the only bus that was available :( what sort of time is that for a bus! And we arrive in airlie beach around 07.25! We wasn't looking forward to it but was just hoping we could sit together on the bus, I needed to snuggle with Luke to sleep :)) the hostel was taking us to the bus stop at 10pm so we had to sit around and wait for 2 hours :( however it was only one night I am sure we would survive :))

We absolutely loved emu park and the hostel we was in :) the hostel was more like a hotel and it wasn't busy at all, we had the room to ourselves for the whole time we was there, the staff were lovely, the town was small and perfect, the sea was calm which ment we could actually go in without getting attacked by the waves! The whole experience was just a breath of fresh air and just what we needed :)

The owners invited us back ! And said they loved having us there :) what a great place :) 

Onto the next destination ......and our next fishing adventure in airlie beach :)