Saturday...29 December 2012

We had a lovely Christmas. Christmas Day was at the farm with Himself's aunt cooking a traditional baked lunch followed by home cooked Christmas pudding with custard and cream. Yummy.
Boxing Day we went into town to a cousins place and her sister also came which meant we also had several children of various ages. They were wonderful kids. They got along well with each other, no fighting, played all sorts of games, were well mannered and generally helpful. The house had a lively buzz to it all day.
Left the farm yesterday. We were up early to wave to the Christmas visitors who also left yesterday to return to Queensland. We got away just after morning tea. Only travelled as far as town where we have stopped at the local caravan park. The good people here let us wash both the van and the car which has made us all sparkly clean again. The big dust storms sure make our home look shabby and unloved!
Last night we went to the club for dinner as usual and said our goodbyes to the friendly folk we have been seeing most Friday nights and today we set off again and head to my sister's in Victoria for the New Year. Its sad to leave but we will be back. This is the home of Himself's favourite relative. We will miss the daily activity and district news and occasional visitors dropping in for a chat and a cup of tea and slice of home made cake but most of all we will miss the people.

Monday...24 December 2012

Much excitement yesterday.
All the expected visitors arrived. Then while sitting outside in the late afternoon the same visitors found themselves next to a six foot black snake amongst the pot plants! That makes three snakes in the house yard in the last few weeks. Might be time to consider moving on!
We are due to continue our travels once Christmas is over and have plans to head south into Victoria.
Last night there was a spectacular storm. All noisy thunder and cracking lightning and eventually some very heavy rain. We even had a power outage.
Today is a trip into town for last minute shopping and dinner at the club.

Saturday...22 December 2012

Grrr.
Most unhappy. For some reason I cannot access this blog without jumping through a million hoops. Might be time to bury the blog! And hey Google, what's with this new toolbar you have added to my screen that I cannot delete? It is covering the access buttons attached to the blog. I do not care how bright and clever you folk are, we chose this particular blog programme for the simplicity of use and you have now made it so hard. How many times do you people have to be told, if it is not broken then do not fix it!!!!!!!
Our eldest grandson turned 18 yesterday. He is probably over the moon about that. I am pleased for him but  shudder at how old that makes us! Do hope his first legal beer was nice and cold after a hard day at work.
The house cats bought us a 'present' two days ago. So good of them but golly I wish they had told me it was at the front door before I opened it and had one foot in the air. Fair did give me a fright. There it was nicely laid out, how was I to know at first glance it was dead? Still I made a point of finding all three cats and giving them a good rub down and scratch to show them I appreciate their gift. That is now two snakes in the house yard so far this year. Heaven knows how many more we have NOT seen!
Got woken at 3am a couple of nights ago by something that sounded sort of like a dog barking. The farm dogs were sound asleep. The Aunt tells me it was probably a fox. Guess he went home hungry as we have all chooks in the hen house accounted for still. Himself tells me he has seen groups of emus in the outer paddocks and yesterday coming home from town I spotted several kangaroos around the rapidly drying water holes along the road verge. It is nearly as warm here as that place up north we used to live in. The temperature range for the time of year is very similar.
The Aunt is expecting her daughter home for Christmas so there will be much merriment and laughter to brighten her festive season. The folk at the second house are also expecting visitors that include three small children so I guess we had better watch out for low flying reindeer.
Ok, bring it on, we are ready.
Merry Christmas to one and all.

Monday...17 December 2012

At last!
I have been trying to update this blog for a few days but my computer would not let me open my own blog!
Still on the farm. Still hit and miss reception, but heaven bless the broom stick that is allowing me to keep in contact with the world. I am way too old and creaky to be climbing to the top of a silo to access the internet. Work around the farm continues. Current project is laying new water pipes in some paddocks.The supply of water to the stock is a priority. When you have to pump water for kilometres it is important that evaporation and loss is minimized and the most effective way to do that is with troughs rather than dams.
Most of the Christmas preparations are done. Just the last minute shopping and all will be ready. Starting to get excited.

Saturday...8 December 2012

Life continues on with nothing exciting happening.
The Aunt and Uncle have returned from Sydney which is pleasing. They have ticks on their report cards which is even better. They will need to go back in a few months for follow ups but for now all is well.
This means we can all relax and enjoy the festive season.
Did I mention that while they were away we had a snake in the house paddock?  Himself saw it crossing the path that leads from the house to our caravan just after afternoon tea one day. By the time he found a shovel it had slithered out of sight in the general area of the woodpile. He rattled and banged and moved wood but no sighting so here is hoping that it was merely passing through and not a resident! For now we walk along that path with eyes in overdrive. The funny thing is that the three house cats usually sit and sun themselves in that section of the garden but of course on that particular day they were nowhere to be seen.
Yesterday we drove 250kms to Orange to do a spot of shopping.
Must say that Orange is a very pretty place. So after taking 20 minutes to travel one town block in busy traffic while looking for a parking spot and dealing with dawdling pedestrians that have the right of way but were so slow crossing the road at the lights it was only allowing one maybe two cars to turn the corner for each light change (took us four light changes to turn the corner!) we finally found a park right outside the local police station!
I got very frustrated trying to find things and came home disgruntled with only a couple of bags of shopping. We only had the one day and it took five hours of that in travel time. Think I will stick with sending cards stuffed with money. I know that is not very original but at least the recipients get something!
When we got back to our town it was late so we had dinner at the Club before coming back to the farm. Today I ache all over and feel like I could go back to bed and sleep for a week.

Monday...3 December 2012

Up early today to wave the Aunt & Uncle off as they take the long drive to Sydney for medical treatment, It is an all day drive culminating in battling peak hour traffic on arrival. Hardly fair to the aged or infirm but their daughter helps with the driving. Fingers crossed for a positive outcome. They are due back in four days time if all goes well.
As I was up early I did the washing and got it out in the stiff breeze that was blowing. Then I did a spot of baking and finished off a novel I had started.
The weather has been contrary. Seriously hot with strong dry winds for days and then last night it was freezing cold and I had cramps in my feet. Then today it was hot and windy again.
Himself helped in the shearing shed as the shearers came to shear the rams. They were in and out by lunchtime, very efficient. Not many rams but the next job is crutching the 1000 ewes!
While the owners are away we are to feed and water the household animals. We have 12 chooks, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 goldfish and 1 cockatoo. This is on top of daily checks on the livestock in the paddocks, making sure they too have feed and water.  I am also to watch and water the pot plants. The Aunt has a collection of tomato plants in pots which she is hoping to keep alive. It is hard to grow things here with the lack of water and the high temperatures.

Thursday...29 November 2012

The air con is fixed!
It began to rain just as the fridgee got up on the roof to look at it. The owner of the business got up and held a very large umbrella over him so that he could continue to work in the rain. (It was a Bunnings branded brolly! and Himself was heard to mutter, "now that's a REAL brolly")
Some wag from the next door business even came out said "are you right there Mary Poppins?"
I did say it was the one time in my life it was going to be alright to tell me I had a problem with gas! I did not want to be told it was the condenser which was the expensive option. Re-gassing an air con is much cheaper than fixing broken bits.
Mind you they were telling me that the new carbon tax has more than doubled the price of some air con gasses!
Anyway it was only out of gas, they patched the hole and re-gassed it and bingo we have cold air again.
Stayed overnight, did a grocery grab then came back to base; just in time for a four hour power outage! There we were, nice cold air blowing on a 40+ day and out went the power. By the time it came back on we were wondering why we had bothered to have the air con fixed. Four hours without even a fan in that heat was a bit vicious. No idea what caused the outage but it was fairly wide spread, taking in several towns across the central west of NSW.
Still we were able to make ourselves useful by making the elderly Aunt and Uncle a nice fresh cup of tea on our gas stove. Of course we had no sooner put the cups on the table and the power came back on. Probably should have boiled that kettle sooner!
Tonight it tried to rain, nothing serious yet, just mainly thunder and lightning but we feel there is a big storm coming as the frogs are croaking loudly during the middle of the day and the ants have invaded the house and all attempts to remove them have failed, plus the tiny flying insects are so thick we can hardly see the outside lights around the farm at night. Hope it is not too nasty when it arrives.

Tuesday...27 November 2012

Today we have to pack up our little home and take it 150kms up the road to get the air conditioner fixed. The darn thing was working fine, but has decided that blowing air is all it is going to do and I can whistle if I want that air to be cold! This would be all well and good, except it chose the first day of a continuing 40+ heatwave to go on strike! Has been rather uncomfortable for the last week and sleep has been optional which has not improved temperaments.  Now that harvest is over, we have time to get it fixed.
We are too far out of town for a call out, so will have to take the van to the workshop. Hoping it is only out of gas and not in need of expensive repair. When it is fixed, we will stay overnight to make sure it is working and then head back to base again tomorrow morning. On the plus side, this means I can go shopping for a few things we need.
In the meantime the Aunt has finished making the four Xmas puddings and at the crack of dawn today amid the barking of dogs and the roar of truck engines, they sent some lambs off to market and towards the end of the week we will have our own mini version of the famous painting as the shearers are coming to shear the rams.
When one job finishes on a farm there is always several more waiting to be done!

Saturday...24 November 2012

And so it ends. Just like that, with barely a whimper, harvest is over! Nothing left to do but clean up, wash down and put away the equipment.  Well there is a bit more to it than that but right now all the folk here want is a sleep in and some rest. Definitely no fire works to celebrate as it would start a fire in the stubble and all hell would break loose.
We did have a fire call out during the week. One farmer who finished harvesting was driving through his property on the way to put his harvester back in the shed, happened to look back and saw smoke.
The fire was quickly contained by a passing water tanker but it could so easily have been a nasty event.
Not caused by the header as is sometimes the case, this time it was a power company transformer that had fallen off its pole causing a black out at the silo and setting fire to the paddock it landed in.
I had a lovely tea tonight and thanked the Aunt for the yummy silverside. Tea was actually chops and silverbeet which I love. Talk about dyslexic and tongue twisted! I must be tired too.

Tuesday...20 November 2012

Tonight I went for my first ride in an auto-header  Fascinating piece of machinery. Huge! The cabin is like the cockpit of an aeroplane, with gauges and lights every where. I just love technology and this is so productive. And it was air-conditioned! Sure beats the good old bad old days of open air tractors in the heat and dust and flies. Thank you Andrew.
I spent the last few days dead heading the rose bushes and watering the pot plants. We have one Xmas pudding made and another batch of fruit marinating in plonk for the next one. Smells good.
The weather is warming up and there is not a cloud in the sky.
In the background is the constant hum of machinery and the crackle of the UHF radio as the district goes about the business of harvest.
The uncle does not do the harvest, he mostly leaves that to his grandson now, but he makes himself useful pumping water from the river to the holding tanks that feed the stock and to wash us and our clothes and water the gardens. We are four kilometres from the river so pumping the water is hard work and never ending.  He tends the livestock making sure they have food and access to water and keeps an eye on their health, which leaves the others to go about the harvest without distraction. He also takes care of rubbish disposal and summer weed control. A handy fellow to have around.
I am constantly amazed at the ability of these older folk. I am usually exhausted by lunchtime and have a little nanny nap most days, but they just keep on keeping on. They may not move as fast as some but they sure as heck do not spend their days sitting around twiddling their thumbs either.

Thursday...15 November 2012

We had a lovely little break down south, catching up with our siblings, daughter, grandchildren and various other relations. We will return for a longer visit when harvest and the festive season are over.
We drove all day yesterday to get back to Himself's aunt and uncle's place. Was a long haul and we were tired but a good nights sleep works miracles.

So here we are back on the farm in NSW and the harvest has definitely started.
This generally means the wheat harvest. The oats and barley are stripped first and for some reason do not seem to come under the heading of Harvest with a capital H. Oats are usually (but not always) grown as animal feed and barley only seems to count if it goes malt barley which we all know is what goes into our national drink........beer!
And that makes it important enough to be mentioned!
But it is wheat that is the main crop of this area and it is wheat that the farmers are talking about when they pass each other at the gatepost.
Right now there are machines and trucks going flat out all over the district and to cap it off the local silo opened today after initially saying it would be closed this year. Upon hearing that news, the aunt and uncle rallied the locals who called a public meeting and GrainCorp (bless them), agreed to open after all.
If they had not opened this silo, the growers here would have had to cart to a silo nearly 50kms away.
There are so many factors involved in a decision like this.
Less distance to the silo means less cartage costs and more loads per day can be delivered thus getting the crop out of the paddock quicker while it is in top condition and before the weather changes as has been known to happen. Rain can ruin a crop or lower the quality of it so the harvest is done with one eye on the ground and the other on the sky!  Shorter trips mean less damage to the roads and it also means less trucks in the bigger town causing traffic problems and less waiting time for the trucks to unload which means the truckies are happier as they are being paid by the load. Less fuel costs, less pollution, the list of plus and minus is long, all of which affect the final outcome for the grower and in today's tough financial times can mean the difference between a good harvest and a bad one.

While we were away Himself's aunt has been busy making her Xmas cakes (10)!
Seems I am in time to help with the puddings, we only need four so far but I am sure that count will go up before we are done.
My time today has been spent tidying fridges and freezers ready for the extra food for harvest and Xmas.
During dinner conversation last night something was said about a person in the district being slightly over the hill and I said, I am not a spring chicken myself, to which the uncle replied, "You my dear are definitely no spring chicken, you are a fully feathered chook." Bless him, he is full of quirky little quotes and jokes!
Stay tuned I feel I will be quoting him regularly......

Saturday...10 November 2012

Well here we are back in Bendigo.
Left my sisters little farm yesterday to travel to Albury but got a phone call on the way to say Himself's sister from Darwin was arriving in Bendigo yesterday for a short visit, so we took a right turn instead of a left turn when we got to town and came to his brothers place instead. We have parked our rig in his brothers back yard and are enjoying the luxury of a unit in his brothers motel. Himself's older sister and the Darwin sister and one of the nieces came over for tea last night and we chatted in front of a roaring log fire which the younger brother lit to keep the lass from Darwin from feeling the cold. A good night.
Have spoken to our Albury friends who have had some sad news and are going to have to go away for a few days so that takes the pressure off us to be in Albury as was planned, we will catch up with them in the New Year instead.

Thursday...8 November 2012

Got up this morning, opened the windows and thought must go and wash my face, my eyes are a bit blurry. But that did not make things any clearer. No wonder. The blur was fog! Can not see my sisters house it is so thick.

Have had a couple of busy days. We went for a drive to Horsham to visit overnight with the daughter and her family, they are all looking well.  Then back to Bendigo where I spent half a day with my younger brother and the rest of our time was visiting Himself's siblings. On the way out of town we stopped at the cemetery and paid our respects to Himself's mother and father.

Came back to my sisters, had lunch then jumped into the car again and went to Kyabram to deliver some wine we have been carrying for nearly a year for a friend over there. She was very pleased to get it as she has just come back from the west and was unable to buy her wine as they have temporarily run out. 

A quick trip to the cemetery to check on my dad's grave then it was back to my sisters place.

While my sister cooked our dinner I went around the corner and had a quick cuppa with my eldest brother. No wonder I was in bed early last night!

We think we are having a quiet stay at home type of day today........

Friday...2 November 2012

Hmmm, somehow sleep and my sister do not fit into the same sentence. Every time we get together sleep goes out the door! Lots of catching up and a glass of wine in the evening and suddenly its pumpkin time and we are still talking.
Yesterday we drove over to Benalla and had afternoon tea with my foster parents. They are looking well and  caught us up with most of the family news.
Today I will go around the corner and have a cuppa  with my eldest brother, then we have the youngest brother coming for lunch and tonight we are booked to accompany my sister to the local for happy hour.  Busy busy busy.

Tuesday...30 October 2012

Big day.
Travelled more than 600kms from the farm in NSW to my sisters place in Vic.
Took 8 hours, and when we got here she was about to go out to dinner for a family birthday so we hastily changed and off we went. Was  a great night out but now am seriously tired so will turn the computer off and do more of this in the morning when I have had some sleep.

Saturday...27 October 2012

"You  will soon witness a special ceremony."
That folks is the contents of the very first ever fortune cookie I have ever opened, and it was given to me by a Chinese gentleman last night. I will await the outcome!

Today was another big day.
We have just got home from the Tullibegeal Sports and Gymkhana day. This one had it all people.
After lunch we took a nice slow drive across the paddocks and down a dirt track which led to a dirt road and eventually after half an hour or so, we came to the little town of Tullibegeal.
The car park was full to overflowing with good town cars and bashed up work vehicles. There were trucks unloading livestock for the various events. Everyone near and far had turned out for the biggest day on the calendar. A large number of the crowd were related to us as this little town is part of the history of Himself's family. Whole families were there in their nice new outfits, jeans, boots, akubra's and crisp cotton shirts; one mob all wore the same colour shirts, some of the younger set wore skimpy shorts and singlet tops with beautiful cowboy boots. Our uncle said he had seen better legs on tables! I even saw a  couple of much older ladies who should have known better wearing similar attire.  The akubra's were all sizes and shapes. Big belts and shiny buckles abounded.
There was the usual over chatty loud speaker person and the crying of tired children and babies amid the buzz of conversation as neighbours and old friends greeted each other and relaxed while watching events such as the kids walk, trot and gallop race. That one was actually harder than it sounds as horses are naturally competitive and it is hard work to hold your mount back to a walk when the one in front reaches the mark and starts to trot or gallop. What usually happens is all the other horses want to trot or gallop too! There were full on horse races for the adult riders and some of them were very exciting.
Then it was back to the kids for the rooster catch and the wild pig chase. Fun to watch the kids trying to hand catch the roosters or the baby piglets. As part of the day, numbered bob tail lizards are auctioned off, with the proceeds going to charity and then the lizards are set free and a 'race' is held as they slowly or quickly leave a designated race zone. There was running races for all age groups and an egg throwing contest and yes the eggs were fresh, not hard boiled!
Then the action moved to the rodeo arena and the kids had a go at poddy calf riding or steer riding depending on the age of the contestant. The adults did some bare back buck jump riding and one very talented lad managed to ride a buck jumper while cracking a whip!
After all that excitement the crowd headed to the food stalls for a steak sandwich or a sausage in bread. Of course the bar was open and doing a roaring trade. The good ladies selling tea and coffee were not as busy but they too did a fair trade.
There was a bouncy castle, hey come on, a local event is no good without the bouncy castle. And right next to the castle was the soft serve ice cream van. Yum!
It was pleasing to see many of the dads pushing the prams and doing their bit to let mum have a bit of time off.
After the tug of war, the band started playing and we took that as our cue to go home as it was getting late and we had to negotiate the dark dirt roads and tracks back to our place. So pleased we went.
On the way out we saw a couple of kangaroos and lots of emus. On the way home it was rabbits galore.
No animals were harmed during our great day out!

Tuesday...23 October 2012

Busy day today.
I was shown how to make marmalade or as it is called here, orange jam!
We carefully picked just the right number of oranges from the tree in the garden then they were washed and dried just like doing the dishes. Then I peeled them with a peeler and the aunt used a sharp knife to cut the pith off them. This was then put into a muslin bag along with the pips when the oranges were cut up ready for cooking. While that was happening I was cutting the peel into fine shreds. Now the whole lot are soaking or resting ready for cooking tomorrow. Making orange marmalade is very labour intensive and time consuming.
Tomorrow we will cook and bottle our orange jam.
Lucky me, I also got zucchini slice baked for my lunch. I love zucchini slice!
Must  have been my day for computers today.
I was asked this morning about USB sticks then this afternoon I was asked to the show the aunt how to copy photos from her camera onto her computer. Then we were able to print a favourite one onto the special paper for transferring to fabric so that she can make a wall hanging as a xmas gift for some lucky person. Then I used the power of the internet to locate information the aunt needed for a problem she has.
The men are still rattling and banging their way to being ready for the harvest. Much angle grinding and welding as they convert an old piece of equipment into something more useful at a fraction of the cost of new stuff. Good work boys.

Saturday...20 October 2012

Yesterday, as is our routine, we went into town late afternoon to do some shopping then went to the local RSL club for dinner before coming home after dark. 

We may have stayed a little longer at the club as they had a group playing reasonable songs , (insert original rock and roll from the late fifties and early sixties), however they persisted in playing at force 10.  Honestly, I like my music but I was in full agreement with the elderly aunt and uncle who insisted on leaving because of the volume. It was ear and head hurting and sadly there was no need for it. Most of the diners who were of a similar age group to ourselves left. Why the club didn't ask them to play at a more reasonable volume for the initial dinner time then allow them to crank it up at say 10pm is beyond me. 

Anyway, on the way home we saw a few bits of wild life which is what prompted me to make this entry. We nearly run over a hare and not much further down the road we saw a fox. And on previous trips we have met up with kangaroos and varied birds usually around the local grain depots.

Closer to home as we turned off the bitumen and onto the dirt road leading to this farm we spotted a mother fox breast feeding her two tiny little cubs in the long grass on the side of the track. They quickly high tailed it out of there as we came closer. And tonight a couple of young lads who are related to the owners of this property came out from town and have gone shooting. They are hoping to find some wild pigs. They are sure to find some kangaroos and maybe a fox or two as well as rabbits if they are quick enough.

There are some sheep and a few cattle here, but most of the ground right now is sown to crops which are rapidly ripening in the current hot and windy days. In another couple of weeks harvest will begin and there will be no time for the people on the land to enjoy themselves. It will be hard work from daylight to well after dark for days and even weeks on end. Life takes on a sort of frantic panic as the farmers try to get their crops out of the paddock and into the silos before Mother Nature thwarts them by dumping unwanted rain or dust storms or cold snaps on them. It is a mad duel between farmers and the weather. If they are lucky they will get their harvest done and be able to relax and enjoy Christmas before the whole cycle starts again in the new year. If not, ah well there is always next year...if the bank manager does not foreclose!

Sunday...14 October 2012

Took a very pretty drive yesterday from Condobolin to Orange via Forbes. Lots of lovely rolling green hills and views of sheep or cattle grazing in the paddocks along the way. Very serene.
We stayed with Keith's cousin for the night. Lovely girl. Much laughter and wine and we watched a 007 movie.  And the weather was merely cold instead of snowing as it did the night before!
Then this morning we got up and drove the half hour to Bathurst.
When we got there we drove THE circuit x twice! Finally I have been to the home of car racing in Australia. Mount Panorama.
My goodness that track is much steeper and the corners much sharper than they look during the race. Those lads do a wonderful job to make the track look flat and wide! Another must do ticked off the list.

After all that excitement we drove back to Orange, did a spot of shopping, had a cuppa with the cousin then hit the road and drove back to Condobolin in time for dinner. Had the sun in our eyes all the way home. Perhaps next time we should leave a bit earlier.

Thursday...11 October 2012

Still in Condobolin.
It is raining today and the weather mob say it is going to be very cold tonight. There is also a seriously nasty storm front heading our way, we have our fingers crossed it runs out of puff before it gets to us or it will ruin the crops that are only a matter of weeks from being ready to harvest.
I managed to get the Aunt's rose garden mulched before the rain started so they should be happy for another year or so. She has some very pretty roses.  If the rain lets up and the weather stays reasonable I will mulch the other garden beds too, but those plants are hardier than the roses.
Himself has been making himself useful where possible. Feeding out hay to the sheep, moving mobs from paddock to paddock, helping the machinery person do a service on the big harvester ready for harvest time, he even went to a clearing sale yesterday and came home empty handed. I am astonished!

Sunday...7 October 2012

Miracles happen. We are back on line even though we are still in an internet black hole. Himself bought a very very large antenna, which is now mounted on top of our caravan. The signal is weak but it is working!

Today Shannon Noll gave a concert in the main street of his home town, Condobolin, which  is where we are visiting. Shannon has never forgotten where he came from and who helped him get there and comes back at least once a year and puts on a free concert for the town. So we drove the 40kms into town to join in the fun.

Brilliant concert. Worth the trip into town.
He was also making a film clip for Target which they will feature in their next advertising campaign. As an added bonus Target was giving away free white T Shirts so we had Shannon autograph one at the end of the concert. Sometimes it pays to have family who grew up with his family!

Extra Entry Notice

Beginning tomorrow the 29th September until notified otherwise, anyone wanting to get in touch with us will  need to call Himself's Aunty Joan in NSW. We will be visiting her for at least four weeks maybe more and there is no mobile or internet reception on her property. That is all!

Friday...28 September 2012

On the go early today to go to the Western Plains Zoo here in Dubbo. Huge place. My legs packed it in after the first few exhibits and that was only 1km into a 6kms round tour of the place. Lots to see and do if you are young and fit. They hire bicycles and golf carts or you can walk or drive your own car through. Because our car is so big we tried to hire a golf buggy but they had run out of them so we drove our own car anyway. You drive so far, park up, then walk to an exhibit then repeat the process a couple of dozen more times as you go around the park.
We saw the Meerkats first, they are most entertaining and cute as can be. Not as big as I had thought they were. Then we headed off to see the giraffes. They were all gathered around something a fair way from the fence so just as well I had the trusty binoculars to hand or I would not have seen them at all. From there we went to the hippopotamus enclosure. This big bloke was munching down on the remains of a bale of hay while one of the park blokes gave a bit of a chat about hippos.

We stopped and saw elephants and tigers and then drove slowly around the rest of the zoo just looking from the car windows. The variety of animals is terrific but it all requires a lot of walking. The entry ticket is valid for two days which most people would need to see everything.

Thursday...27 September 2012

Today we went into town and toured the Old Dubbo Goal.
Interesting place full of history and not all of it good. Life was pretty bleak for prisoners in the bad old days. They had to work hard and be mighty careful of their attitude or they were given some serious punishments.  Flogging and solitary confinement in a totally dark cell were common. Also bread and water was all they got if they had misbehaved.

The only sentence for murder was death by hanging! And this goal was right next door to the court house.
Made transporting the prisoners easy.

Wednesday...26 September 2012

Bourke to Dubbo.
Lovely drive.
More tomorrow when we do the sights of Dubbo!

Tuesday...25 September 2012

When in Bourke, try really hard to not stay!
The one decent caravan park is wonderfully big, even has seriously good big drive through sites for large vans like us. But the people in the office take your money then say, go find yourself a site. So here we sit in an area clearly marked x large vans only and beside us is one of those A frame caravans while a late arrival big van drives hopelessly around in circles trying to find somewhere he can fit. Across the drive way is another drive through section marked for small to medium vans with bay after bay that is of course empty! Why do people no longer give a damn about rules or their fellow man?
Today was a rest day so we spent it checking out the town sights and then went on the paddle steamer Jandra for a trip up and down the Darling River. Good trip and the crew certainly knew their stuff. The commentary was highly informative and humorous.

Monday...24 September 2012

Cunnamulla to Bourke.  Queensland to New South Wales.
Now I know what the back of Bourke looks like. Its flat and has some sort of rough grass growing on it so thick it looks like wheat paddocks, by the mile. Always wanted to know what was back of Bourke. Its a place we all heard about growing up and at last I have seen it.
Today's animal collection was kangaroos, goats, pigs, sheep, cattle, emus. We have seen more emus in the last three days than we have seen in our lives before this week. This area must be emu heaven. We passed groups of 10 or more and family groups and individuals strutting their stuff along the fence lines. Sadly we passed far too many of them saying their prayers in groups with pigs and kangaroos on the road!
On arrival in Bourke we stopped at the Back O Bourke information place and found out that there was a particularly good tour of the agricultural sights of the district leaving straight after lunch. Himself went and I rested.

On the tour he discovered that the late great Fred Hollows is buried in the Bourke cemetery. Apparently he liked the area so much he asked to be buried here.
They grow all sorts of things in the Bourke district. There was a thriving citrus industry but it is in trouble as the irrigation water needed to sustain it has been withdrawn to be used elsewhere in the Darling River system. Cotton is another big crop here but it too is beginning to feel the lack of water. Part of the tour included a tour of a cotton gin which Himself has been wanting to see for quite some time. Today's tour was the last for this year so he really was a lucky lad. He came home with shopping bags full of oranges, mandarins and limes.

Sunday...23 September 2012

St George to Cunnamulla.
Today was the day of the emu and goat. The road was no better than yesterday. The long drive was broken by goats on the side of the road and emus crossing the road. We saw cattle too. Dead beside the road was kangaroos and emus, the only two native animals in Australia who cannot walk backwards so of course they cross the road! Silly things. We saw more snakes and lizards but they had the good sense to keep out of our way today.
After lunch we went down the main street to have a look around and to see the famous Cunnamulla Fella. This bloke was originally made famous by Stan Costner who wrote the song and Slim Dusty who sang it. Now there is a stunning bronze statue of him at the front of the Cunnamulla Community Centre.

The attention to detail is brilliant. This is as good as the Stockman Statue at Longreach.

Saturday...22 September 2012

Dalby to St George.
We had thought we would go to Cunnamulla today but it would have been a good idea to look at the map. It was 320kms to St George and another 291kms to Cunnamulla. By the time we got this far my bottom was complaining. Beautiful sunny day and after yesterdays storm that was nice, but the road was a disgrace. It was sealed but had more bumps in it than any dirt road I have ever been on! We shake, rattled and rolled most of the way. I should have whiplash from the jerking of the caravan hitch and it is on an air bag!
Still and all the day was not wasted. We did see two push bike riders! They were leaving Moonie when we were. Now there is a town that was a surprise. Most of us have heard of the Moonie gas fields, so we rather naively expected a nice big town. We stopped at the local Information Centre which is on one side of a nowhere crossroads with a fairly big petrol station on the other side. And according to the nice old dear in there we were smack in the middle of town! A couple of sporting clubs, a post office, the servo and that is it!
Along the way we ran parallel with part of the Dingo Fence.  We also think we ran over one of our native lizards. This is not a normal event for us. We are generally able to straddle or totally miss them but this one moved too late. We also saw dead kangaroos, an emu, a pig and a snake. The country was a mix of scrub, grazing and crops. Wheat and cotton seem to be the go.

Friday...21 September 2012

Beginning of the Qld school holidays!
We do not mind that the little ones get a break. It is only when their break infringes on our choices that we begin to mind. We had to leave Caloundra because it was booked solid for the holidays. Now we are working out where we can and cannot go and still be able to get a place to stay because most places are full for the holidays.
Today we got away by 8.30am and decided to go to Bell via Nanango and Kingaroy. It was a lovely drive. It is a pity that all we saw was bare ploughed paddocks which told me that it is NOT peanut season, whatever the season is. Am slightly curious about the life cycle of a peanut. Somehow it has escaped my data input over the years. Ah well I guess there is always Google!

We stopped for lunch beside the Stuart River in a huge free camp but only had lunch and left. On the way to Bell, as we crossed the Bunya Range hills, we ran into a massive torrential downpour. Lots of water and wind, and it was grey and miserable as well! Got the windscreen washed, damn shame about the ute and caravan, if rainwater is so pure and clean, how come it makes the car and caravan so dirty?
Arriving in Bell in the middle of this downpour we missed the turn into their caravan park and there really was no where to turn to go back so we continued the extra 40kms to Dalby.
We are back in the same park we stayed at on the way into Caloundra a couple of weeks ago, and we like this one as we are parked on a bitumen slab so no matter how wet or wild the weather is tonight we will not sink down to our axles in mud by morning.On arrival we saw one permanent site with their free standing gazebo type carport totally ruined from today's storm.
The van beside us is the luckiest couple in Australia. They have a 20ft tandem axle caravan and the draw-bar snapped in two places out on the road, but lucky them it was after they came through the ranges.  The good news is they could have died. The bad news (if there is any) is that they have to wait three days to get it fixed. Buggar!
Tomorrow we will move on towards Moonie, St George and Cunnamulla.

Thursday...20 September 2012

Last day at Caloundra.
Went back to the doctor this morning to get a top up of the pills I need for my shingles.
After that a spot of shopping to top up the pantry ready for the onward journey.
Then lunch at a pretty little beach spot with the daughter.

Then back to the caravan park to pack what we could followed by cheesecake at the daughters house for one last goodbye.
We both came home with farewell gifts from the Chocolate Petal. Light and beautiful in the box but big enough to make us over loaded if we eat them!

Goodbye and thank you to the Mellors. Great seeing you again. Hope to get back again another day.

Wednesday...19 September 2012

Where has the time gone, seems like only yesterday we arrived on the Sunshine Coast and already it is time to start packing up again. Friday is moving day. Who knows where? I certainly don't.
Today I took my washing over to the daughters place and spent some more time chatting to her and helping her with her work. I was allowed to cut more leaves and stick more stickers AND make bows and curly dangle bits! Just as well I am leaving, will soon know how it is all done and be able to steal her customers!
She paid me with lunch which was very nice.

Monday...17 September 2012

Yesterday we went up to Glasshouse Mountains to visit some old friends and do lunch with them. It was a lovely day and the lunch was yummy, I can highly recommend the Beerwah RSL for meals. The same friends are coming into Caloundra tomorrow to visit their daughter, so we can all do lunch again. Wonderful.
Today I went to the big shops and managed to tick off most things on my list. Haircut, tick. Bras, tick. Canisters, tick. Foam to make a cushion so we can sit on the Engel, tick. Fabric to cover said cushion, tick. New beading tools, tick. A bead or two to use them on, tick. New office chair to sit on at the computer, tick. Perfume, tick. There are still two items on my list but they will keep and give me something to look for in the next town we stop at. I is worn out!! I came home and had a cup of tea then followed it with a glass of wine.

Sunday...16 September 2012

Happy Birthday Bob Mac.

You know how it is, up extra early on a Sunday morning, nothing better to do, need to keep quiet so the sleeping bear does not wake, so to fill in time, I opened the back end of my blog to read a few statistics.
My viewing audience by descending numbers comes from Australia, Russia, USA, Malaysia, Ukraine, Germany, South Africa, Romania, & South Korea. To date I have had 17,274 hits since my blog was created and I have made 369 entries over two and half years.
Its a little daunting to think there are so many people reading what I have written, but I am pleased with myself for keeping it going.

Saturday...15 September 2012

Planned a long lazy sleep in today. Did not plan for the sun to be so bright so early! Woke at 5.50am. Tried to get back to sleep but it just was not happening...grrr. Me and my shingles really could use some rest.
Got up and gazed at my new kitchen floor while I had my wake up cup of tea, simply love it. Himself even unbolted the table and we moved it and other stuff around trying new looks but eventually put it back in its original spot. We did however change where the chairs would sit. All this mundane stuff is big changes in a caravan. Tomorrow I am off to the Caloundra markets to find some bits and bobs to pretty up our home.
At lunchtime today I went to watch the grandson play his tennis tournament. He played several matches over the day but did not make the finals. Such a shame as the scorecard really did not do justice to the level of play on the day.  His last game was riveting to watch. The two players were fairly evenly matched and it came down to a tie breaker to decide the winner, jolly good effort by both players at the end of a long long day. Well done Carter.
Thumbs down for the small child who talked at the top of his voice all the way through the last game and distracted everyone. Thumbs up for the Caloundra Tennis Club's organization of the tournament.
While I was off watching the tennis, Himself put together his new toy, a four foot long model helicopter. It has had its maiden flight but there are too many tiny tots in the caravan park right now, so it will be mothballed until a suitable space is found to fly it. Will be exciting to watch him. Maybe this will be the start of him wanting his own helicopter licence. Then again maybe buying it was the hint. Who knows? He does seem fairly pleased with himself. I wonder if we can afford a real helicopter? Maybe not, after all where would we park it? Parking the model in our caravan is going to be an exercise in creativity!

Friday...14 September 2012

Never even made it to the shops so no shopping till I dropped today.
The daughter and I set off before 9am to do a delivery run for her business with a plan to shop afterwards. Not even ten minutes into the schedule the phone rang with another order. So it was back to base to make up that order, and part way through making that one the phone rang again. I was allowed to help by putting on stickers today. Soon I will be able to mount a take over! By the time she made the extra orders and we hit the road again to deliver them, (the deliveries were scattered all over the sunshine coast area), we got done and came home again at 3.30pm. Back at base the daughter finally had lunch and the support crew had a well earnt cuppa, and that folks was a day in the life of one little business, a busy productive business which is sure to succeed if hard work and dedication are indicators.
Oh and we went through at least 349 roundabouts!  The Sunshine Coast Council must have got a two for one deal on roundabouts. Brilliant for traffic flow and cheap as chips to maintain but no fun when you have to go around soooooooo many of them in one days driving. I am not a fan of them as I always feel like I am about to fall out the passenger side door when going around them. Daughter and I spent the day joking about desensitising me to roundabouts.

She of the constant energy then invited us to dinner and we the aged ones gratefully accepted! Was a good night, bbq cooked by the son in law with potato bake and salad to accompany it. Very tasty. Nice wine too.
While we were off touring the countryside doing deliveries, Himself ripped out the carpet in the kitchen/dining  part of the caravan. It looks wonderful and has made the area look enormous and will help to keep the dirt off the remaining carpet. Will need some minor tidying up tomorrow but I am seriously happy with the outcome.
Now, what else have I been hoping to get done?????

Thursday...13 September 2012

Another day watching my talented daughter go about her business.
I even got to help. I was allowed to cut leaves ready for her creations. I was the most exact leaf cutter ever.  Most exciting!
Himself high-tailed it back down the road to North Lakes for the day and still came home empty handed. Really, how can a man spend ALL day in a light industrial area and not buy what he went for?  His version says they did not have what he wanted. (I frown and raise one quizzical eyebrow!!!)
Tomorrow I am going to the big shops up the road. Maybe I will get what I want. Oh the pressure.

Wednesday...12 September 2012

Last night we took the eldest child and her family out to dinner at the local Surf Club. Great club, good food, excellent service, two free bottles of wine and a trivia quiz as well. What's not to like about that? Much hilarity regards the quiz, with Nana being a heartbeat behind the rest of the brains at the table and although we did not win we still did fairly well and were not disgraced in the results department. Grandad held up his end of the night with 8/10 on the motor sport section and the young ones knew all the modern stuff. When you think about it the perfect combination for a quiz like that one is the three generations. Pretty well have most eras and question segments covered that way.
Himself went off to Caboulture to find parts for the F250 during the day, but could not find the shop, seems it has moved since we needed it last! By the time he located someone who could tell him where they had moved too it was closing time so he gave up and came home. Guess this means he will have to make another trip before we leave.
I went to the local shops with the daughter on the great cannister hunt, no luck but we have not run out of shops yet either. I did get a hair colour although I feel this is like trying to hold back the tide, the colour is fading faster each time!

Monday...10 September 2012

I spent most of today with the eldest daughter.
She owns a business called The Chocolate Petal.
Today I was lucky enough to be able to watch her at work making gloriously vibrant bouquets. Each flower has a chocolate as its centre. Fascinating to see how something so delicious and colourful is made.

These arrangements are a great alternative to fresh flowers and depending on the willpower of the recipient will last a whole lot longer. Well, you can actually take out the chocolates to eat and still have the arrangement to look at, its just more fun seeing how long it takes to give in and remove a chocolate!
She sure is a lucky girl. Who else gets to taste test all that chocolate in the course of a working day? (For quality assurance only!!!) And let's not forget having to test the alcohol too.
Anyone interested in seeing her work can check out her website, www.chocolatepetal.com.au.

Himself went off to Gympie this morning, to visit the home of Crossroad Cruisers here in Australia and came back with an assortment of spare bits and pieces. Tomorrow he will do some little jobs around the caravan.

Sunday...9 September 2012

Happy Birthday Elspeth.

Yesterday we went to watch our grandson play tennis. Very impressive. He won his singles and doubles. We followed that with a spot of shopping at the nearby shopping mall and finished the day by having dinner with our daughter and the family around a lovely open camp fire in their back yard.
Today we are off to watch one of our grand daughters perform at a music event. Should be entertaining. Should mention it rained the other night, absolutely bucketed down for about fifteen minutes then cleared and the weather since has been beautiful. Cool nights and just right warm days. Am pleased we are staying a couple of weeks. Maybe there will be time to work on a tan!

Thursday...6 September 2012

Well its official. I have another dose of shingles! Not a happy camper. Hurt like hell without the medications and feel sick as a dog but pain free with them. Going to be a fun few weeks......NOT.

At Caloundra, arrived yesterday and got invited to dinner at the eldest's place.
Lovely meal of Apricot Chicken and Lemon Meringue Pie, very tasty. After dinner entertainment was supplied by the grandson on his keyboard. He played Chariots of Fire for us. Beautiful. Came home quite late for us and slept like a log. The nights are cool enough for sleeping without being freezing, and the days are gloriously warm and sunny without being too hot. The Sunshine Coast is at its best.

Tuesday...4 September 2012

Bit chilly this morning.. it got down to -1 according to the weather mob.
Never mind, we still got going and the day did warm up as we went.
More major road works today including a rather long detour on a seriously bumpy back road, it was rough enough to move the furniture in the caravan, I had to shift the big heavy couch back about six inches and it never moves normally. No damage done.
We came down through Miles and several small townships stopping at Chinchilla for lunch, then on to Dalby for the night.
It is really warm here but they tell me it will cool down quite quickly at sunset and last night it was 1 here. We did say one what? but there was no what, just one!
Tomorrow we continue to Caloundra to visit with the eldest child and her family. Very excited.

Monday...3 September 2012

So travelling down the road today it occurred to me that our travels often have recurring themes. Like seeing someone riding a push bike in the middle of nowhere nearly every day to the point where now we only comment when we don't see one. It is because of the miles we are travelling that we constantly come across road works both major and minor. We have it figured now that if we see a string of traffic coming towards us it generally means that there are roadworks up ahead somewhere.
Roadkill is another daily vision, today it was lots of small wallabies and quite a few large kangaroos, we have also seen dead foxes, pigs, cats, cows and of course snakes and birds.
As we have moved around Australia we have seen so many animals in paddocks or on the road or beside the road. Cows, sheep, donkeys, alpacas, horses, camels, buffalo, pigs, goats, dogs.
We have also seen lots of our native wildlife, Dingos, emus, echnidas, snakes, kangaroos to name a few. When we park up each day we take time to notice what birds are in the area. Lately it has been apostle birds and lorrikeets.
The natural vegetation is always interesting. Today we started seeing bottle trees. They look very similar to the boab trees in the west. We have found out that the bottle trees are native to Queensland.

Today we travelled from Rollston to Roma.
When I was at school I was taught that Roma is the major centre for the beef cattle industry in central Queensland. Well it does still have massive sale yards and tomorrow is sale day, but these days it is better known as the major centre for a huge oil and gas industry.
We spent the afternoon learning about this natural resource and the way it has helped to change the district.Very interesting.

Footnote: Have just learnt that someone we know has their picture up on the wall of fame inside the display centre. He operated this rig back in the very early days of the industry! Small world.

Sunday...2 September 2012

Fathers Day.

Yesterday we left Moranbah. My niece and her husband followed us and we travelled down to Clermont. 22kms out of that town there is a lovely little spot called Theresa Creek Dam.
It is very popular with the locals and nomads alike. Every where you looked there was families having a fun day out. The locals use the area for all sorts of water sports, the favourite being water ski-ing.
We had a lovely picnic lunch and then walked around part of the dam to take in the sights. The nieces dogs loved the walk as there was lots of other dogs for them to meet along the way.
The free camp area is massive and after waving off our guests, we and at least 100 other vans stayed the night.
Although we were tempted to stay there a bit longer, after much discussion we finally decided to move and we are now in Rollston which is about half way between Emerald and Roma. Nice quiet little town with a quaint little caravan park.

Friday...31 August 2012

Yesterday we travelled from Charters Towers to Moranbah. This is a coal mining area in inland central
Queensland. It is also where one of my nieces lives so we dropped in to say hello. Like all mining towns the one and only local caravan park is full to overflowing so no room for wandering nomads. We spent the night camped under a No Camping sign in their local picnic spot! At last we are rule breakers!!!
Had a lovely evening with the niece and her husband who came out and had dinner with us. We are going to push our luck and stay another night then will move on tomorrow.

Wednesday...29 August 2012

Just before we left Townsville we had visitors. Some folk we met in a free camp way outback on the way to Normanton last year dropped in to say hello. They were heading north and we of course are going south. We had a lovely day together before we both went our separate ways again. Good to catch up and have a laugh.
We have started moving again and first stop is Charters Towers. Old gold mining area. Full of history and lovely old buildings.

Sunday...26 August 2012

I got this photo yesterday. I have sat for hours looking at it, thinking about it and blessing my sister in Townsville for letting me look through her old photo albums. She took this picture about 57 years ago. It is the first photo of my parents and us four kids and the only one that contains both my parents that I have ever seen. So it is my 'baby' photo. Life is full of surprises!

Thursday...23 August 2012

Where do the days go? Nearly the end of the week and I feel like we have only just made camp. When we are in the Townsville area we stay at the Black River Rodeo Ground which is 20km out of town and marketed as an over 50's park. There are no fancy facilities or entertainment or playgrounds for children. What there is, is a lot of quiet! Sometimes a bit surprising as they do allow dogs here but all of them are really well behaved and there is a big enclosed off lead exercise area that other places could do well to copy.
It has been a busy time for us, travelling into town every day to visit my big sister. She is a walking history of our family. It has always been assumed, by me anyway, that our family was of Irish descent. Well guess what? We are Scottish! That seriously threw me for a bit. Then I found out that my dad was one of five children which included a sister and three brothers. I only ever knew about one of his brothers and without asking had assumed that was all there was. Each day I am hearing something new about my family. As soon as we arrive Elsie puts on the kettle, makes a pot of tea and we settle down to chatting. I will miss our chats when it is time for us to move again.
Yesterday another fifth wheeler the same as ours pulled into the park. They are working as they go and have been on the road for nearly a year and have not even made it out of Qld yet! Still it was good to chat to them and they were pleased to find someone to ask all the questions they want answers to. This did not mean we had all the answers, but we are a good starting point now that we are a bit more experienced. Later today we are going down to look at their rig.
Tomorrow Himself is giving the caravan and ute a service and I am spending the day with a friend from the north-west.

Monday...20 August 2012

Happy Birthday Andrew.

Well we packed up camp and headed off and after a couple of detours to look at stuff we ended up in Townsville. We had planned to stop about half way between the two towns but the weather was bad and the traffic not much better so we just kept going.
My half sister lives here so I am going to be spending as much time as I can with her. Yesterday Himself set me up a family tree program so that I can pick her brains and fill in some of the blanks in my life.
The caravan park is a rodeo ground but this year they are showing outdoor movies as well. As the caravan park residents cannot escape the associated noise we are allowed to walk in and watch the movie for free. This week the movie was the new Batman one. Next week it is the movie called Ted! Will definitely be watching that one.

Wednesday...15 August 2012

Well our time at Mareeba has come to an end. Tomorrow is moving day.
We have enjoyed being here but we have given up waiting for the weather to warm up down south so we are biting the bullet and heading on down and hope that we take this nice weather with us.
Having decided that, it promptly started to rain. Just a light misty rain but wet nonetheless. Himself says I have an over active imagination but I swear every time we have to pack up camp after a bigish stop, it rains! You know how it goes. Sit here for weeks in nice warm sunshine, not even the hint of bad weather, but mention packing and down comes the rain, making everything just wet enough to be annoying.
Maybe where we go will be dry! No idea where we are off to. Much discussion but no decision yet as to which road we will take.

Sunday...12 August 2012

Today was the annual North Queensland Warbirds Airshow at the Mareeba airport.
Himself duly went off to have a look.
Lots of planes on display.
Some classic cars too.
Fair few people showed up too.
The organisers will be pleased with themselves.

This is a trojan. 

And this is a P40 Kittyhawk.

Hope they are a good selection of the days display.

Saturday...11 August 2012

Himself has just got home from the bull riding at Mt Carbine.
I sent him off on his own and stayed home to have some quiet time watching a movie.
In the novice bull riding, one out of twenty nine competitors managed to go the required eight seconds on their bulls. That made picking the winner easy!
In the open class the feature bull was called Landlord. Two blokes had a go at riding him. One lasted two seconds the other lasted two and a half seconds! Nice bull. He seemed to have an attitude problem related to men.
So anyway, Himself had a good night out and it only cost him $25 for entry, a steak burger and a beer. Good value.

Tuesday...7 August 2012

Not a lot to report. Been fairly quiet since the trip into Cairns. Recovery mode for myself......
We met some rather nice folk from down Albury/Wodonga way here in the caravan park in Mareeba when we first arrived some six weeks ago. We shared a bottle of bubbly every so often and went to dinner together at the local Leagues Club a few times. Very enjoyable. They left yesterday to head slowly home again. Miss them. Will be visiting when we get down their way.
We have also met some folk from a little town near Bendigo. They are very good friends with the family who used to be our back fence neighbours when we were up in the north-west. Small world. Sadly they will be heading  home tomorrow too.
We have paid for another week while we wait for warmer weather down south.
This weekend there is an air show at the local airport and a bull riding event at Mt Carbine that Himself enjoyed last time we came here so may take in some of the action at these two events. There is also a gold panning competition at the local Sunday Markets. Sounds like a busy time, best I get some more rest!

Friday...3 August 2012

Took a trip into Cairns today.

Only 62kms, nice little drive......... with 13kms of sheer terror thrown in.
The road goes up and over the Great Dividing Range and is very winding for that 13kms.  I have gone on record in this blog before about travelling over hills with steep inclines and hairpin bends.  I guess I should be happy that this time we were not towing the caravan.
Himself loves the challenge of the drive, I think he treats it as his own personal go kart track.  I sit and try, usually (always!) unsuccessfully, to enjoy the view.
What happens in reality is me muttering a series of grunts and squeals interspersed with bouts of hysteria and sobbing and begging all and sundry for a quick death at the same time alternating with instructions to Himself on how to drive the car!. So far I have not disgraced myself by throwing up but today was touch and go for a while. The hairpins really play havoc with my broken balance mechanism making me seriously giddy.
How our big vehicle and a massive semi trailer can pass each other on that goat track is nothing less than a miracle and I am always astonished at the speeds of some of the smaller more nimble cars as they whizz around the continuous bends.
The sign at the beginning says: Winding road for next 13km. Eventually you come to another sign that says: Winding road ends in 3km. They must know that by then that I am ready to abandon ship and take my chances over the side just to get off those eternal everlasting hairpin bends! I know Himself would gladly help me open the door........if he could take his hands off the steering wheel long enough.

Arriving safe and sound on the other side we motored into Cairns and drove into the town centre. Once up and down the main drag and we gave it a miss and went back out to the nice little shopping area on the outskirts. Himself went to Bunnings which always puts him in a good mood and I wandered around the shops and got myself a much needed haircut. We ended with a stop at the Cheesecake shop and  a stroll around the local Dan Murphy's and then headed back to camp.

This meant we had to go up and over that blasted hill again.
Insert repeat of squealing, crying, etc
.....*#@k I was scared.

Thursday...2 August 2012

Yesterday we were up early to drive the 144kms to Chillagoe. Good road with only 15kms of dirt in four separate little bits. Back to driving through open cattle country with lots of dead kangaroos beside the road. Seemed the further out we got the bigger they were!
At Chillagoe we did two cave tours.
The first one was Trezkinn cave. The bloke at the information/ticket place was really really helpful, he only missed one small thing. There is a fairly steep set of steps to climb to get to the entrance! Most people arrived at the top puffing like steam engines including the guides.
The young park rangers guiding us were very knowledgeable and entertaining with just the right mix of scientific fact and humour. This was a well lit and very pretty cave. The tour only took 45 mins but there were plenty of formations and bats and huntsmen spiders to keep one occupied. Apparently the food chain has cockroaches at the floor level who are eaten by the huntsmen spiders. Then there are the bats who are hunted by the spotted pythons! And we get to wander amongst all that in the dark!

Leaving there we went back into town and had a counter lunch at one of the two hotels.
From there we drove towards the back edge of town to the BP fuel depot and around the back the owner has a lovely display of Ford vehicles of all ages and types beautifully restored and in running order. This is a free entry thing and the owner was happy to start up any one and talk about its merits. Himself was in his element. Unfortunately we could not stay as long as he would have like as we were booked on a second cave tour and had to leave to be on time for that.

The second cave was the Royal Arch cave. Much bigger and not as many stairs into and within it. This was a longer tour taking one and half hours and included three big caverns. Occasionally the passages were a bit tight and as in all caves you need  to watch your head because of low handing rock. Same guides again and highly informative.  There is no lighting in this cave so we all had to wear our  own lighting pack. Good but very hard to see some bits due to the many moving lights being played over them by amateur users.
We were in a large group and as always there are those who rush to the front then stop and hold up everyone else while they take zillions of photos, they are as bad as the ones who dawdle along at the back and keep the group waiting for them to catch up before we can move to the next highlight.

When we left that cave we went back into town and took a look at the old State Smelter before driving back to Mareeba. Big day out but still pleased we went.
On the way into town on the main road we kept passing areas with big blocks of something white. Turned out they were marble quarries. Lots of them. Would loved to have had a look but they all had 'private property keep out' signs up.
Today will be a rest day.

Wednesday...1 August 2012

I knew I missed a couple of places in my description of the Herberton Historical Village but did not realise just how much I missed. So lets play catch up!
The Bishops cottage was typically austere and had a display on an old church pew of hymn books and bibles. The bank also contained a bed which makes me wonder did the manager live there too or was that when he had to do overtime?

I forgot a lot of bits that were mostly of interest to the men, like the small engine collection, the boiler shed, the farmers store and the blacksmith. All fascinating displays.
One hut held a beautiful bottle collection. Near that was a general store. Lots of memories in that one.
The jewellers was a lovely collection of watches and fine china and brooches and pipes. The shoemaker had lots of lasps and some old shoes that were handmade.
There was also a perfect outside 'dunny'! And an old lunch hut from one of the stations.

The second pub, of course there was a second pub, was being used as a tearooms and souvenier shop.
So there you go, two shots at getting it right and I have more than likely still missed something.
The other thing of note was the cleanliness of the buildings and displays. Someone has done a lot of dusting.
Today we are going 144kms to Chilligoe to see some caves. Stay tuned.

Tuesday...31 July 2012

Yesterday we visited Herberton. It is an old tin mining town only 20kms from Atherton.
We never did get to see any of the old tin mines so we will need to go back again one day to look at them.
We began our day with a visit to the local Information Centre which is also a mining museum and the local Herberton museum. Well designed and full of time-lines and facts about the mining history of far north Queensland and Australia in general. They have an impressive array of rocks. Very educational.
From there we went to the Herberton Historical Village.
Wow. This is the most comprehensive collection of collections we have ever seen.
There are 47 buildings all from times gone by, some of them moved from other towns and relocated in this wonderful display. Each building houses a different collection of memorabilia.
They say you can see most of it in 3 hours, however people have been known to spend a whole day there and still not see it all. They have plans to open up more of the area with displays of things yet to be restored.
We started with the jail buildings and moved on to the newspaper office complete with a manual typewriter collection and cupboards and drawers full of old fashioned typeset lettering.

The music shop has a brilliant display of old sheet  music and 78's and gramophones. Next door was a camera display, they even have an old theatre projector. The school was full of the original books just sitting there on the desks and bookselves. You could if you wanted sit right down at the old school desks and answer the Arithmetic and English questions on the blackboard!
There was a fully equipped dental surgery and a small hospital display. It came complete with old surgical instruments and ancient wheelchairs and beds. The post office had a display of old telephones and an original telephone exchange operator desk. It also had the post boxes and automated stamp dispenser.
The dress shop held gloves, bags, shoes,stockings, underwear, hats, hatboxes, suitcases and dresses for ladies and children. One of the things I saw was removable lace collars which took me back to the beautiful crocheted collar that Grandma made for me in the early 60's. I wore it with pride as it was a work of art and highly fashionable.
The sewing machine repair shop was a display of sewing machines and old patterns and exquisite embroidery. Next to that was the radio shop full of old radios from the big heavy pieces of furniture down to the portable transistor radios.  The music room held pianos and violins. The toy shop was a walk down memory lane with golliwogs and snakes and ladders and dolls and bikes and marbles and toy trucks and the best collection of cap guns I have seen for a while.
The pub had a collection of old fashioned ice boxes and kerosene refrigerators. Their bridal suite was impressive and I liked the water trough out the front for the horses. The coach house had some of the nicest horse and bullock drawn vehicles I have seen anywhere. It included a very ornate but lovely horse drawn hearse!

The garage held old cars and a couple of motorbikes but what I liked was the spare parts like spark plugs and bearings still in their original packaging along with a display of the old bottles they used to use to top up the oil in your car. Naturally there was a display of tools as well. Out the front of the garage was four old manual petrol pumps.
The butcher shop had huge original butchers blocks that looked like cut down tree trunks and they probably were! The chemist was closed but, through the window, you could see bottles of pills and potions on the shelves behind the counter.
There was a shed full of axes and cross-cut saws and some older chainsaws. Next to that was a display about the Queensland wood-chopping champions. There was a railway station with a rail ambulance waiting at the station.
In the outer buildings was machinery of all sorts. Outside was also a collection of old bulldozers and trucks waiting to be restored.
I know I have missed bits but honestly this really is a must see place. There is lots to see of interest  for both men and women.
We do all get a bit ho hum about museums, when you have seen a few there is not much new to look at but this one is outstanding. So much history and memorabilia it really is mind boggling.
We will definitely be making time to go again and this time we will take a spare battery for the camera as the battery gave out from over use about half way.

Saturday...28 July 2012

Golly all that bouncing down dirt roads takes it out of an ageing body!
Have been so so tired. Ache all over and keep having nanny naps.
It has taken forever to pack away after the trip.  Took Himself an entire day to wash and clean the F250. He still hasn't put everything back into it yet. He has not needed naps so I suppose he is holding up better than me!
Today the Olympics started. Got up early to watch the opening ceremony and wouldn't you know it, my TV does not want to watch the Olympic channel. I have more than 20 channels to chose from but for some reason the one showing the Olympics keeps pixelating. Very frustrating. Guess it is all down to our location.
Nothing else to say. Very lazy with no plans other than to watch whatever parts of the Olympics my TV lets me.

Thursday...26 July 2012

We got back to base quite late last night.
Weipa - Mareeba is 724kms!  Dirt for around 500kms of that. 
But the lure of our own cosy bed was stronger than the moans and groans of our ageing bodies.


So to catch up some of the memories before they fade in my foggy brain.
Before leaving we chatted to lots of folk coming back from the top to get some idea of the conditions. Most told us the road was a bone shattering disaster zone. Perception is everything in life. We found the road to be in wonderful condition given it is a major road that happens to be dirt. Comparing it to other dirt roads we have travelled, we feel it is in good condition. I think most of the people we spoke to were town folk who have limited off bitumen experience. Yes there are patches which are severely corrugated and quite dangerous but the road is well marked with signs reminding people to "drive to the conditions". Given the speed some of them were doing, I think they thought that meant they could do whatever they jolly well liked!  Two people died on that road the week before we drove it and on the way up we saw a car that had recently been rolled and along the way there are car wrecks, quite a few of them somewhat flatter than when they left the showroom floor. On the way back we heard of yet another roll over caused by hitting corrugations at high speed on a bend. It is distressing to drive past obviously recent debris on the side of the road.
We stuck to the main road although one can veer off it on occasion and take the roads less travelled for some serious off road experiences. Sitting in some of the roadhouses along the way are pictures of peoples experiences along the Old Telegraph Track which I believe is a 'must do' for the serious off road fanatics. Thrills and spills galore!
On arriving at the top you can stay in either Bamaga or Seisha. We chose Seisha as it is just that little bit closer to the top and is also where you need to be to catch the various ferries or boat tours to the islands. The camping ground at Seisha is right on the beach front next to the wharf area. It is a big park and the folk are Islander, very relaxed and friendly.  
Side note: The local year 7 school kids were holding a car wash to raise funds for their school camp. At $15 a car they were making a killing as all the weary travellers came off the dirt and were happy to have clean cars again. Yes, we donated!
We pitched our tent and settled in. 

We stayed three nights and every night at some stage we were woken by loud barking which would not stop until someone went out and chased away the feral horses which wander at will around the area including in the camp-ground. Bit freaky at night when you hear noises right beside your tiny little tent!  The dogs do not like the horses and set up a racket every time they come into the area. This in turn sets off the birds which in turn sets off the people and so on it goes. Was very tired by the time we left. We did get sleep but it was always broken sleep. 
Someone commented that they thought there would be more wildlife around. We saw horses, pigs, kangaroos, cows and snakes (all sizes and colours and way too many to count!) on the roads. Wonder where he was looking?
The top end get all their supplies by boat. Unfortunately the boat had a breakdown and they got no deliveries for two weeks. By the time we left the pubs in both towns had run out of beer, the local supermarket had no milk and very little else on the shelves and on a more personal level we had no hot water in the camp ground as they had run out of bottled gas! Good news, the boat did make it this week. No doubt things will be back to normal again soon.


Everyone reading this should also go back and re- read my entries for the last week as I have edited them and added more information and pics now that I am back in an area with good internet.