• Lauren and Brett Kenny
  • Lauren and Brett Kenny

Kenny’s Aussie Adventures 2023

The last year of our epic three year lap around Aus! En savoir plus
  • Our first week at Babinda

    28 juin 2023, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    What a busy week, we arrived in the rain and had to wait a few days to get the van up to the pad Jared made for us. But that’s ok, we filled those days in with picking up a new boat, motor bike and visiting Magnetic Island.

    Once we got back to Jared’s we moved the van, Brett fixed the fridge (yes, we having a working fridge now) and got started on sorting the boat out.

    The kids rode non-stop for 3 days straight, before they had to wash the bike and get it in the shed before the rain hit.

    Brett and I got a walk in each morning, seeing deer, wallabies and some beautiful flowers.

    Friday was not meant to be great, so we headed to Cairns for a massive day of shopping: Kings, BCF, boat shop, Super Cheap, Bunnings, KFC, Kmart and Woolies! We got home at 9pm, and were all pooped, but feeling slightly more orgainsed. When we came out of Woolies the rain had hit!

    Saturday, we all rested and chilled out in the van, whilst it rained and rained and rained!
    En savoir plus

  • Oh dear…… Oh Deer! 🦌

    1 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Hunting down and butchering a Deer was high on my to do list whilst at Jared’s ✅
    I have always been keen to learn the process and catching our own food is very satisfying, and let’s face it, we’ve eaten so much fish over the past couple of years that some red meat will be greatly appreciated 🙏
    The local news paper reports: “FERAL deer are increasing in numbers around Babinda, with multiple reports of cars striking the animals at night, gardens being destroyed and even local horses being attacked and killed” Add to this the fact a doe can have up to three fawns a year meaning they are fast becoming a real issue in the area. Lauren and I had seen so many on our morning walks I knew we would soon have our chance to fill the freezer.
    Heading home in the rain from a Saturday night schnitty at the pub, Jared and I spotted 6 or 7 Deer on the property including a nice size buck. We rounded up the boys and back out we went in the rain managing to drop a good size doe. As soon as we got back to the house we went to work and I got to learn the complete process. Nothing but the head and guts were discarded, what we couldn’t eat was bagged neatly for Ned the kelpie. The freezer is now full and next on the list is getting a big buck once we have eaten this one down 😊
    En savoir plus

  • Babinda Week 2

    5 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Well, we got to experience the rain! It has rained and rained and rained for almost a week.

    It got to the point where there was no point even putting shoes on, it was so muddy and slippery.

    We had planned a boat trip in Cairns, but it got so muddy and slippery we could not even get the boat out of where it was parked 😳.

    As the rain eased, we were able to go outside and have a fire.

    After being cooped up in the van, the kids got out and started using Jared’s bow and arrow. Then they progressed onto making their own out of cain.

    We even got in a bit of cassowary searching. The first morning we got a tad wet, and found nothing but cassowary poo! But on the third morning we hit the jack pot. I didn’t get the best pic, so we had to go back again. I was still having camera issues, but got a few better ones.
    En savoir plus

  • Cairns

    6 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Back to Cairns today to pick up more stuff 🙄. I think we are all well and truly over shopping!

    After going to Kings to get the stuff that was out of stock last week, Bunnings again (cos you always need to spend an hour or two there) we treated ourselves before we had to go to Dan Murphys, Kmart and Woolies!

    In between shopping, we had a lovely visit to Fig Tree Park. Lachie was really looking forward to this as the park is built around a humungous climbing tree. It was a lot of fun. Then we walked along the waterfront to get some lunch at Bugos traditional Indonesian. A hot tip from Ben that was spot on. It also meant the kids got to hit up Muddies Playground, as it was right across the road. After lunch and another play at the playground we couldn’t wait to cool down at the waterfront lagoon. Even after a long swim and soak our feet were all still stained orange from the mud 🤣. To top it all off we got a few tubs of Ben and Jerries ice cream on our walk home and enjoyed them back at Fig Tree park.

    Lachie said “this place is the best, the playgrounds are so fun and the food is delicious”. I am glad he enjoyed his day. After we had to go to the last 3 shops, heading home at 6.30pm, I said to Brett “I never want to come to Cairns again” 🤣🤣

    Another huge day!
    En savoir plus

  • Windin Falls 1

    11 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Ewww, mud! Slippery slimy, ooey gooey mud! Can’t go over it, can’t go under it, we will have to go through it. So we did! And the view at the end of the trek was well worth the effort.

    Note: I am pretty sure Brett was still drunk at the start of the walk, then he became hung over as fuck, not to far in! Brett looked like he was going to on die numerous occasion during the 12.5km hike.En savoir plus

  • Fruit stalls, fossicking and falls

    12 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    A little camping trip inland to get away from the rain. Unfortunately, the rain followed us 🌧️🙄.

    When we saw that mum and dad were getting close we decided to go and spend a few days with them soaking in thermal pools and fossicking.

    Innot Thermal pools, meant clean feet and relaxing long hot soaks.

    Mum was keen to get some topaz, as was I. So we headed out to Mt Gibson, unfortunately the day was cut short when mum tripped over a vine and hit her head 😞. Luckily, she was ok, just a huge bump to the head which turned into a black eye and some minor scrapes on her legs. This of course meant Brett and I had to go back the following day.

    Due to the rain we had to cut out the waterfall trail! No-one wanted to spend the day getting in and out of the car in the cold, wet rain! So we settled for a hot cuppa at Ravenshoe with mum and dad before heading back to Jared’s.
    En savoir plus

  • Another surprise, spoilt boys!

    15 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    When we got back from our mid-week getaway Jared suprised the boys with their own bow and arrow each.

    They were stocked and used them straight away. Brax even shot a flaming arrow.

    They could not stop taking about them before they went to bed, and can’t wait to use them for hunting 😬.En savoir plus

  • Babinda Week 4

    18 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Another rainy week 🙄, we made the most of it when it was not raining.

    We took an adventurous walk into the rainforest behind Jared’s place. The first part of the track had be cleared (slightly), but we forged the rest of the track using bush knives and eventually came out a stunning stream and small waterfall. There was 1000’s of mozzies, lots of slipping, sliding and a few falls, but most of all everyone had fun.

    Another indoor activity, we visited the Babinda Museum and library. At the museum, we got a hot tip for a secret waterfall 🤫

    By Friday, the sun was shining and the wind predictions were looking good, so look out Franklin Island here we come.
    En savoir plus

  • Hello Franky! Its been a while

    21 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    The rain cleared up and the winds were in our favor, so we packed the boat and headed out to our beloved Franklin Islands.

    We anchored up and could not wait to get in the water. I packed enough clothes for everyone, but as I dug in the bucket for my swimmers I quickly realised I had forgotten my swimmer bottoms 🙈. So I had to parade around the island in my undies all weekend. Luckily, we had the place to ourselves!

    We swam ashore, walked around the island, collected shells and coconuts before getting back on the boat for the night.

    We thought we should move out to a mooring for the night. That’s when things started to go wrong. It was a bit rougher than anticipated, I started to feel unwell, but kept it to myself. Then Brax started to feel unwell, so we took some seasick tablets, but it was a tad late. I could tell Brett was now not feeling great either. We decided to move back into the bay, to little to late. I started to throw up 🤢. I kept thinking to myself, just swim to shore and sleep on the beach🤣. Brett powered through and made the kids dinner and set the bed up for me. Then we all crashed out! (No photos of everyone feeling sick, no-one was game enough to use their phone for fear of feeling even sicker).

    Thank god we all woke up feeling refreshed and no longer sick.
    En savoir plus

  • Whale of a time (Day 2)

    22 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Morning whale watching session, such an amazing experience, but also scary when they disappear and you are not quite sure where they have gone.

    This guy did a massive breach, on our way out then calmed down once we arrived.En savoir plus

  • Franklin Islands Day 2

    22 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    There is no better way then starting the day off with a cuppa and watching the turtles swim by.

    Whist looking out to sea Brett noticed a water spout, he quickly realised it was a whale.

    We put the lid on our travels mugs and pulled the anchor.

    We drove out to sea and topped the morning turtle viewing with a spectacular humpback whale show.

    We headed back to the bay for breakfast and swims. The blow up mattress was a hit, the boys played for hours making up games and exploring the island.

    After lunch we decided to have a snorkel, on the way out Brett spotted splashing in the bay. We thought it was a shark feeding on bait fish. We speed over, with the camera in hand, when Brax yells “it manta rays, 3 huge manta rays”. We could not believe our eyes. I had my snorkel and flippers on in a flash and I was ready to get in. We followed the manta rays and I jumped in, they were doing circles around each other. But they sure were fast. We followed them all over the bay. They started to stay in one spot again around the little island, Brett got the drone out, and I could not resist jumping back in again.

    What a day this was turning out to be, whales and Manta rays 😍.

    We finished off the arvo with a fish, Lachie was the only one to catch anything. A big bat fish, which we let go.

    The ocean was calm, but we learnt our lesson last night and stayed in the bay for the night.
    En savoir plus

  • OMG, they are Manta Rays (Day 2)

    22 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Afternoon session of chasing manta rays. One of the reasons we all wanted to go back to WA was to see the manta rays again. Well this was beyond our beliefs, but they were right there at the Franklin Islands.En savoir plus

  • Reef Run (Day 3)

    23 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We woke up to mint conditions, while having our morning cuppa we decided to go out to the reef.

    What an epic way to finish an amazing 3 days on the Franklin Islands.

    On the way to Scott’s Reef on the GBR, we spotted a beautiful mum humpback whale and her calf. We got a few pics, but they went deep quickly.

    In less then half an hour we were on the reef. Fishing, snorkeling and just being stunned at its beauty. Lachlan said “ I try to tell people about coming out to the reef, but it doesn’t matter what I say I can’t explain how beautiful it is” 😍. Some things you just have to see for yourself to fully understand it’s beauty.

    And you wouldn’t believe it, on our way home we saw more whales 🐳. This time it was too grown ups and they were just laying contently in the water, they looked like they were kissing. I don’t think they liked our intrusion as one came right towards us and then they both went deep.

    What an amazing 3 days, whales, snorkeling the GBR, manta rays and some epic shells.
    En savoir plus

  • Babinda Week 5

    28 juillet 2023, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    The week started out sunny and beautiful. The kids got their dirt bike out and worked with Brett to make a little jump. The bike, as usual, ran all day with the kids taking turns riding and videoing each other.

    On Tuesday, mum and dad arrived to spend some time exploring Babinda, unfortunately the rain followed their arrival 😢.

    Introduced mum and dad to Clyde.

    While waiting for the kids at Katate on Thursday I get a text from Brett saying “10 minutes after you left”. I waited for the photo and found out a juvenile cassowary had been wandering around Jared’s property and I missed it 😕. Luckily Brett was there to get some amazing footage.

    On Friday it was still raining, but we headed out to the boulders with mum and dad. We were lucky while we were there the rain stopped and we even got some blue sky. We all jumped in for a refreshing dip.

    Saturday, Brett and the kids ventured back into the rainforest behind Jared’s. They followed the river up the mountain. They even got some cheripen in the yabby traps. I did more washing in town 🙄.

    On Sunday, we were hoping to take mum and dad out to the islands, but the bloody wind spoiled it. We took advantage of the sun being out and went to Josephine Falls instead. We also checked out Bramston Beach and finished up at Harvey Creek for an another swim.

    A busy week considering how much it rained. On the plus side I have not had to get water in town for nearly 2 weeks 🤣. The rain saver is working.
    En savoir plus

  • Babinda Week 6

    2 août 2023, Australie ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Dear Diary,
    It has been raining for 10 days straight.

    Everyone is starting to go a crazy!

    There is not much to do here when it rains soooo much.

    Mum and dad can’t leave, because it is so muddy and slippery.

    On Wednesday we went out to lunch for something to do, it was really yummy. As we left if bucketed down.

    On Wednesday night we decided to get the hell out of here, so we started packing to go back to the NT 🤣.

    Thursday, the kids finally got their Choi Kwon Do uniforms.

    On Friday, Brett backed mum and dad’s van out through all the slippery, sliding mud.

    Saturday, it was still raining as we drove out of Babinda and headed for the NT.
    En savoir plus

  • Escaping the Rain

    5 août 2023, Australie ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    A 5am start on Saturday morning to escape the rain and collect the tinny.

    We knocked over 1000kms on day 1, spending the night in Cloncurry. A pleasant surprise at the end of a long drive was discovering The Cloncurry Rodeo was on. We pulled into the Equestrian Club for some free camping and free entertainment. The Rodeo ended up being a great night. There was a mix of bareback horse bucking, steer wrestling, lassoing and bull riding. We were on the edge of our seats watching the cowboys try to stay on these angry, drooling bucking beasts for a whole 8sec.

    Day 2 (Sunday), we smashed out 1200kms. We spent the night at Daly Waters Pub, checked out some of the locals and had a bevy at the pub while we listened to some live music. It’s also nice and close to Mataranka, so we could pop into Bitter Springs for an early morning swim.

    Day 3 (Monday), we started the morning with some delicious homemade pies from Mataranka then had a relaxing swim at Bitter Springs. We hit the road again with the end in sight. A quick stop in Katherine for supplies and we were on our way. At 3.48pm, we pulled into Lee and Jenny’s ready for a sunset bevy, knowing we had just smashed out 2700kms in three days.
    En savoir plus

  • Sooo Good To Be Back!

    10 août 2023, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We finally made it to Lee and Jenny’s Bush Camp NT, after the 3 day and 2700 kilometre journey from Babinda QLD.
    We had a great time fishing and the weather was sunny and hot, so Lauren spent her time laying by the pool and we fished 4 days. After a slow first day with only one legal Barra I found some rhythm and we landed 15 legal Barra over the next 3 days fishing. The freezer was full with no room to spare, especially after Lachie landed his 90cm monster on the last day.
    We left the Daly and it was sad to think we may not be back for a while, however, I think I will find a way 😉
    I Love the Daly, it is such a beautiful place and reminds me of fishing when I was Brax’s age chasing bream up the top of Chittaway creek in my tinny. The boys are so lucky, I could only dream of catching almost 1 meter long Barra at their age, but it’s so good to be doing it now and sharing it with them.
    The Daly! Big crocs, huge barra, buffalo and beers 🍻😊
    En savoir plus

  • Have I got a fishing story to tell

    11 août 2023, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    What a great day spent in the Daly River.
    Lachie, Brax and I set out down the river for the long drive to the famous Daly River S Bends. We left the pontoon and saw splashing and thrashing in the shallows 20 meters in front of the boat. It was a huge saltwater crocodile attacking a smaller freshwater croc. As we approached the humongous croc moved away and we dragged the freshwater croc into the boat, it was twitching but the beast had already killed it. We got some pictures with it then continued down the river.
    We caught a couple of fish at the S bends including a legal 59cm Barra. On the return leg we pulled into a spot and I caught a 64cm first troll. The kids were next, lines were dropped and I put them in the zone, they both cracked the lures into the timber using the rods like they were whips. As we exited the snag I said to the boys “I know there are fish in there” and seconds later Lachlan was on and being hauled towards the water by a large fish. The fish continued yanking and then exploded from the water and into the air……… it was huge! And now we were all really exited. I yelled at Lachlan “don’t let it back in the snag, pump it, but it continued pulling so hard and was getting into the timber. I took the rod off Lachlan and tried to turn it but it was too powerful and snapped the rod and continued pulling into the snagg. I was devastated but was not giving up. Lachlan drove the boat over the snagg and I worked the fish with half a rod. I could still feel it and after a minute or so of playing tug a war, I freed the fish and dragged it up. We barely had it hooked, luckily Brax net it first scoop and as we struggled to lift it into the boat a large bull shark attacked, narrowly missing it.
    Ecstatic! Pumped! And over the moon with our achievement, there were plenty of high fives and laughter, Lachie had caught a donkey.
    On the way home we rafted up with the 4x4 charter boat and our friends Matty, Paul, Trevor and Josh. We sunk beers in the sun for a couple of hours and admired the Charter boats massive sounder, the kids said it made fishing like a video game. We saw a massive Barra swim thru but unfortunately Matty had eaten the last live Cherabin raw lol. After a heap of laughs and little bit of croc hunting we headed back to camp.
    People on the pontoon and in the camp were amazed at the size of Lachies fish. He was proud as punch and you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
    What an epic way to spend a day…….
    and a day I will never forget 😊
    En savoir plus

  • Darwin

    12 août 2023, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    The most perfect temp, I don’t want to leave!

    Unfortunately, Brett became unwell whilst at the Daly. We had to quickly pack up and get him to the hospital. He had an infection in his leg and ended up with Lymphadenitis. Luckily, he didn’t have to stay long, some antibiotics and he was on his way.

    Brett needed to rest, so we spent Sunday at the free water slides. It was blissful, the kids swam and slid non-stop and I sunbaked in the sun ☀️.

    Brett still needed to rest, so Monday we went out to Gunn Point for some shell and fossil collecting.

    Tuesday, Brett was starting to get a bit better, so we thought we would venture out to spot X for some mud crabbing.
    En savoir plus