So the whole reason for this trip was to be in Tallai for my cousin Jenny's 40th Birthday party.  Nothing like a good excuse for a road trip hey!

Saturday night was great, caught up with some family and the kids all acted like long lost friends. It never ceases to amaze me just how kids can pick up just where they left off.

Tallai is just inland from the Gold Coast so it was a great excuse to stop in at Springbrook National Park and take in the beautiful Gold Coast hinterland.

After two nights with Jenny and family, we packed up and moved camp into Springbrook Settlement Campground.  It was lovely, we were prepared for wet weather (that is we waterproofed the camper before we left home)but, ummm well, perhaps not the downpour that we have just had!

It started raining through the night, that was ok we set the annexe up in anticipation of that. In the morning all was great and we took a walk along some of the lookouts in the area before Greg and Jas dropped Jemmy, Ted and I back to camp and headed out in the light rain on the Twin Falls walk.  While they were out, the rain suddenly got harder, the camper started to get puddles on the roof and things started not looking so great in the mushy outside.

Ok, we say this all the time - don't let a little rain stop you from enjoying your stay, but this was a little more than a little! The poor camper just couldn't cope with the amount of water and as the mushy ground beneath our feet started to concern us more we decided to pack camp and take refuge back with Jen in Tallai.

So here we are bow, DRY and warm.  We'll see what weather tomorrow brings, if it rains we will head south along the coast and see where we end up. If it clears up, we will take a day trip into Springbrook again and have a second try at the walks.

One thing I have to say about this trip - the kids are certainly testing us.  They are getting older and not so easy to handle. Teddy is fast turning from my angel baby to a 2yo tantrum thrower. Jas and Jem are at each other every two seconds and Jas has had her scooter confiscated for the rest of the trip thanks to her behaviour.  It is time for some new strategies. I'll let you know when I decide what actually works!

Off to bed now.