Maytown

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

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So I had set myself the goal of finishing all the posts about our ‘Fealy Family Adventure 2015’ by the end of January.  I’m hoping that finishing this last post off by the end of February kinda gets me over the line? Sort of, maybe?  No, not really, I know.  Anyway, we are right in the throes of planning ‘Fealy Family Adventure 2016’ now, so definitely looking forward to some new posts later in the year!

Ok, right – where were we? After a wonderful few days at Elim Beach, we dragged ourselves away with the promise from Matt that we would find a beautiful spot on the Palmer River near Maytown to set up for the next few nights.  Just for the record – I had voted to stay a few more nights at Elim, but Matt loves freshwater far better than the beach so he was keen to head off and find a little spot of paradise all to ourselves! Continue reading →

Categories: Camping, Qld Camping, Tropical North Queensland | 1 Comment

Taking Stock – February 2016

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

IMG_7927It’s been a long while since I’ve done one of these posts and my sisters both did this via email over the last few days – filling each other in on what’s been going on in our lives, so I figured I should do it too and publish it as a blog post of course!  Cause that’s the only way to know what is going on in the Fealy Family – read the blog or via Facebook ;-).  Plus – I figured the end of February is as good a time as any to take a moment and have a think about how things have been going round these parts – the wheels have fallen off in a few areas, but doing ok in others – pretty much the norm for us I guess.  The dream is to have all aspects of our life rolling along well at the same time!!  Ok – so here goes – a bit of fun/procrastination for a Sunday morning! Continue reading →

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Emerald Creek Falls

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

IMG_1509Guess What?  We ticked another item off our ‘Must Do’ list yesterday!  Emerald Creek Falls walk and swim ‘owned’ as the kids would say, meaning we did it and it was awesome :-).  Can’t believe it has taken us so long to get there and definitely going again soon – swimming in the waterhole under the falls was beautiful.

Emerald Creek Falls can be found just outside Mareeba in the Dinden West Forest Reserve.  You turn off the Kennedy Highway onto the signposted Tinaroo Creek Road, follow Tinaroo Creek Road for about 3 kms and then turn left into Cobra Road.  From Cobra road it is all dirt and quite corrugated and steep in parts, but regular vehicles can still get out there just by taking it steady.  It is unsuitable for caravans and trailers and unfortunately there is no camping.  However, the day use area has wood fired bbq’s and picnic tables and there are some nice spots along the picnic area to swim with the kids. Continue reading →

Categories: Atherton Tablelands, Tropical North Queensland | Leave a comment

The Martian – Movie Review

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

Ahem – interrupting our normal broadcasting – I mean blogging- service to bring you this community service announcement for your Sunday.

Go and rent ‘The Martian’ movie with Matt Damon stat.  It is terrific.

Ok – I should preface this by saying that our family is a bit of a nerdy family.  We aim for balance and love our sport too, but if I’m honest – we’re mostly nerdy.  I love to read and blog.  Matt loves all things science and maths, so really, there was no hope for our kids.  Jacko is a self-confessed nerd – his nickname is ‘JT nerdzillia’ and he reads at least three books a week.  All of our kids do pretty well at school.

So it’s no wonder we all loved a movie filled with chemists, biologists, physicists, astrodynamics engineers, astronaughts and NASA mission control employees. Continue reading →

Categories: About Us, Sunday Snapshot | 3 Comments

Elim Beach

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

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Hello Everyone!  It’s always this time of year that sees us with very itchy feet – just wanting to be done with mangoes, avocados, backpackers and all things farm related!!!  We are in a bit of a lull at Blue Sky at the moment while we wait for our avocados to be ready so we can start picking them, which means Matt and I have had some time at home together to start planning our camping holiday in July – so many places, so many options!

Anyway – with Easter coming up – I thought I’d better get my act together and tell you about Elim Beach – it is an amazing camping spot and you might just want to head there these holidays! Continue reading →

Categories: Camping, Qld Camping, Tropical North Queensland | Tags: , | Leave a comment

The Blogger Who Doesn’t Blog!

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

IMG_7943Hello everyone!  So, I’m feeling like a total fraud at the moment – doing lots of blogging stuff like taking on the volunteer role of ‘Country to Canberra Blogging Team Director’ which I’ve already told you about in this post, but there is not a lot of blogging going on here, on the actual “Are We There Yet?” blog!  Aaaaargh, I know, I know – I have to make time for the stuff that matters most – the important things – which this blog is – but there just seems to be sooooooo much important stuff going on in the Fealy Family these days.

Anyway – I thought an update post was loooooooong overdue, so time to fill you in on what’s been happening in the Fealy Family/Blue Sky Produce world. Continue reading →

Categories: About Us, Blue Sky Produce, Every Family Needs A Farmer | 3 Comments

Cooktown

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

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Right, I have set myself a goal to finish the blog posts about our Fealy Family Adventure 2015 by the end of January as this is just getting ridiculous blogging six months after the trip!

Ok, so after we spent a day on the Bloomfield Track and set up camp at the Lions Den Hotel for a couple of nights – it was time to spend a day exploring Cooktown.  We have to put a disclaimer out here that Kipp did not sleep much at all at the Lions Den for the whole time we stayed there, so we must admit that we did not tackle seeing the sights of Cooktown with our usual vigour, instead opting for some very ‘cruisy’ driving around, long lunch at the playground kinda visit.  We will definitely need to make a return trip to check out some more of the sights! Continue reading →

Categories: Camping, Qld Camping, Tropical North Queensland | Tags: , | 1 Comment

Country to Canberra

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

Just a short post today to share a little bit of exciting news!  I can officially announce that this year I am going to be working with the team at ‘Country to Canberra’ as their new Blogger Team Director – wahooo! This is a volunteer position, but I am thrilled to be working with the very inspiring Hannah Wandel (Hannah’s just a little bit of a super star!  She was on the Financial Review Westpac ‘100 Women of Influence’ list for 2015, she was also an ACT Young Woman of the Year 2015 finalist, a 2015 Layne Beachley Aim for the Stars Foundation Scholarship winner and a 2014 Great Ydeas winner), along with a team of talented teenage girl bloggers!

The mission of Country to Canberra is “To empower rural girls to reach their leadership potential”.  There is heaps more information on the Country to Canberra website but here’s a basic outline of what Country to Canberra is trying to do; Continue reading →

Categories: About Us, Every Family Needs A Farmer | Tags: , | 1 Comment

Books to Read in 2016

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

So, another one of my ‘lists’ for 2016, was a reading list.  My step-sister in-law (phew – what a mouthful – hehehe – hi Liz!) very kindly added me to her ‘Booklovers’ Facebook group at the end of last year and it has re-ignited my love of reading again.

Growing up we didn’t have a TV in our house so we all read a lot and I love, love nothing better than to get lost in a good book, especially if it is cold and raining outside and even better if there is a fireplace involved! However, since kids came along – there hasn’t been a lot of time or energy for reading and I’ll have to admit that I have been suckered into watching TV series like Nashville and Friday Night Lights instead spending my down time reading.

Things are changing in 2016 and reading is back!!!   Continue reading →

Categories: About Us | 8 Comments

Australian Butterfly Sanctuary – Kuranda

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Are We There Yet?

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You guys are all going to fall down in shock, but guess what?  We had a little day out on the weekend, ticking one of the ‘must do’s’ off the list of things to explore in 2016 AND I am even going to blog about it only a few days after our visit – not weeks or months later – wahoooo says I, giving myself a pat on the back 🙂 🙂

So, due to the fact that everything Mr Blue Sky Produce Matt touched last week, broke down – including (and this is no exaggeration) – two tractors, the mower, two quad bikes and the dishwasher – we found ourselves on Sunday with a very unexpected day off mid mango season!  As we live up here in the country – most shops still do that thing of closing by 12pm on a Saturday, so there was no going into town for the required parts to fix all the broken down farm machinery.  Mr Blue Sky Produce was in a lovely mood (not!) so you can imagine just how happy he was when I suggested a family day out to the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda on Sunday. Continue reading →

Categories: Atherton Tablelands, Tropical North Queensland | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments