Friday, December 24, 2010
Thundery clouds circled Storm King Dam all the day before we left and we heard on the news afterward that eventually they had a monster storm. We also had a violent and testing storm after arrival at the Redcliffe Showground, during the worst of which John held onto our canvas annexe fearing it would blow away with the very fierce wind.
Reunion with our family, discussions about how we will celebrate Christmas, what presents, the food, and how we can contribute.
We set off shopping – it took 3 days, and now the wraped gifts lie under the decorated Christmas tree at Leanne’s.
We have moved the caravan to Scarborough, a well laid out park with concrete underfoot and I feel we will be better off there with the amount of rain that is forecast.
My brother Peter and Sue, visiting their daughter Dannielle and family came to visit at Leanne’s house, it was good to catch up.
The house is decorated, presents wrapped and placed, the food for tomorrow is prepared, Latte the dog is dressed in his bow, the family is gathering, the forecast rain is tumbling down.
Soon we go to a cinema to watch a Christmas movie, then back to watch the Carols on the Domain with pre Christmas nibbles. Santa comes tonight !
On Monday morning bright and early we intend to leave Scarborough for Yass New South Wales to prepare to leave our caravan at John’s sister’s property, spend some time with Michael and Tracy, and then fly home.
Reunion with our family, discussions about how we will celebrate Christmas, what presents, the food, and how we can contribute.
We set off shopping – it took 3 days, and now the wraped gifts lie under the decorated Christmas tree at Leanne’s.
We have moved the caravan to Scarborough, a well laid out park with concrete underfoot and I feel we will be better off there with the amount of rain that is forecast.
My brother Peter and Sue, visiting their daughter Dannielle and family came to visit at Leanne’s house, it was good to catch up.
The house is decorated, presents wrapped and placed, the food for tomorrow is prepared, Latte the dog is dressed in his bow, the family is gathering, the forecast rain is tumbling down.
Soon we go to a cinema to watch a Christmas movie, then back to watch the Carols on the Domain with pre Christmas nibbles. Santa comes tonight !
On Monday morning bright and early we intend to leave Scarborough for Yass New South Wales to prepare to leave our caravan at John’s sister’s property, spend some time with Michael and Tracy, and then fly home.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Our sojourn beside Storm King Dam continues, some earlier rain stopped, I set off and explored the property. As it is a catchment area, it was quite boggy and soggy at times, but provided some much needed exercise.
John had a weekend of motor racing to glue himself to and I started satin and lazy daisy stitching on my new project (basket of lavender), writing a few letters and cards.
The new parts for our awning arrived, and thankfully the weather gods kept fine and in 3 hours it was fitted, I observed it from a distance as I took another walk around this quite extensive property to view the holiday units further around the dam; complete with all you would need including swimming pool.
There was some more major rainfall predicted (already happening in other parts of our country) we changed our plans and stayed put as we heard there was flooding at Texas, St. George, Roma, Chinchilla, which we had planned to visit. We erected our new annexe and prepared to sit it out.
Eventually the expected rain turned up, very heavy falls, once again it collected in pools as the underground is granite, so we tossed away socks and sloshed through it to the amenities. Eventually it cleared to beautiful blue skies.
We drove to Texas one day and saw the signs of the rain damage on several sections of the road confirming our decision to stay put. We have filled in time touring the district and generally relaxing.
On Wednesday we plan to travel to Brisbane to celebrate Christmas with our family.
John had a weekend of motor racing to glue himself to and I started satin and lazy daisy stitching on my new project (basket of lavender), writing a few letters and cards.
The new parts for our awning arrived, and thankfully the weather gods kept fine and in 3 hours it was fitted, I observed it from a distance as I took another walk around this quite extensive property to view the holiday units further around the dam; complete with all you would need including swimming pool.
There was some more major rainfall predicted (already happening in other parts of our country) we changed our plans and stayed put as we heard there was flooding at Texas, St. George, Roma, Chinchilla, which we had planned to visit. We erected our new annexe and prepared to sit it out.
Eventually the expected rain turned up, very heavy falls, once again it collected in pools as the underground is granite, so we tossed away socks and sloshed through it to the amenities. Eventually it cleared to beautiful blue skies.
We drove to Texas one day and saw the signs of the rain damage on several sections of the road confirming our decision to stay put. We have filled in time touring the district and generally relaxing.
On Wednesday we plan to travel to Brisbane to celebrate Christmas with our family.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The route to Storm King Dam was as before, lined for miles and miles with beautiful golden wildflowers, along the roads and into some paddocks, with large daisy like faces, also deep golden wattle, and some purple flowers in the paddocks etc. etc.
Each time we come or go my eyes are glued to their beauty.
The next day John made an appointment with a local doctor to look at an ulcerated sore on his back which was excised next day, after which he felt a bit secondhand, so we took it easy for a few days, which did not matter at all because I always have the journal or this blog to bring up to date. Pathology confirmed it was a BCC.
The rain tumbled down, particularly over this area because it is part of the catchment for the dam so we sloshed around with our umbrellas, days went by and eventually the rain eased somewhat. We resumed exploring the area which often took us across the border into NSW. I always enjoyed visiting Warwick which is a lovely historic town.
The time came time to relocate to Aloomba Lavender Farm, we joined a few other caravans and explored. A relocatable stage was brought in and much work was done erecting shade and food tents, etc.etc. The concert started 11 a.m. next day headlined by James Blundell, Jessie Curran, Jack Drake (a most entertaining bush poet) and many more, the sun came out sometimes and everyone enjoyed entertainment and the tasty food and wine until about 9p.m.
When it was over we just rolled down the hill to our beds in the caravan, a most enjoyable weekend. It was a new kind of experience for both of us.
The next week we began trying to find someone to repair our damaged awning, caused when we pulled out from a parking spot in Stanthorpe to make a right hand turn. The camber of the road rolled the van causing it to hit a telegraph pole situated right on the outside of the footpath.
Eventually we located someone in Stanthorpe, an insurance claim was made over the phone, and in due course received authority and parts have been ordered from Brisbane, to arrive we know not when - so – we wait - and if you know anything of Queensland’s weather at the moment, we are getting rained on again !
Each time we come or go my eyes are glued to their beauty.
The next day John made an appointment with a local doctor to look at an ulcerated sore on his back which was excised next day, after which he felt a bit secondhand, so we took it easy for a few days, which did not matter at all because I always have the journal or this blog to bring up to date. Pathology confirmed it was a BCC.
The rain tumbled down, particularly over this area because it is part of the catchment for the dam so we sloshed around with our umbrellas, days went by and eventually the rain eased somewhat. We resumed exploring the area which often took us across the border into NSW. I always enjoyed visiting Warwick which is a lovely historic town.
The time came time to relocate to Aloomba Lavender Farm, we joined a few other caravans and explored. A relocatable stage was brought in and much work was done erecting shade and food tents, etc.etc. The concert started 11 a.m. next day headlined by James Blundell, Jessie Curran, Jack Drake (a most entertaining bush poet) and many more, the sun came out sometimes and everyone enjoyed entertainment and the tasty food and wine until about 9p.m.
When it was over we just rolled down the hill to our beds in the caravan, a most enjoyable weekend. It was a new kind of experience for both of us.
The next week we began trying to find someone to repair our damaged awning, caused when we pulled out from a parking spot in Stanthorpe to make a right hand turn. The camber of the road rolled the van causing it to hit a telegraph pole situated right on the outside of the footpath.
Eventually we located someone in Stanthorpe, an insurance claim was made over the phone, and in due course received authority and parts have been ordered from Brisbane, to arrive we know not when - so – we wait - and if you know anything of Queensland’s weather at the moment, we are getting rained on again !
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The time had come to head back to Gold Coast where the Masters Games were to be held on Coomera Lake. The caravan park is in chaos due to upgrade work, dusty-hot (21 deg. already when you wake up).
We headed off to the lake about 8:30 and a joyous reunion with my Dragons Abreast friends, settled our pink chairs under a blazing blue sky to watch the dragon boat races. My friends were incorporated in a team which was called Derwent Storm, another dragon boat club which also calls Lindisfarne Bay home, and a fast team they were too, providing some exciting racing.
On the Saturday there was to be a “Flowers on the Water Ceremony” and I was overjoyed to hear that I could take part in it. But, not only that, as I was walking toward the marshalling area before the preceding race, in my Tasmanian uniform and holding my paddle, the Dragons Abreast Gold Coast Team invited me to join them in the race as they were short of 1 paddler.
Wow I GOT TO HAVE A PADDLE as well ! They won that race also, though I decline to take any credit !
Another great thing was that we were able to catch up with Chris and John again briefly.
On the Sunday there was a breakfast at Kurrawa Surf Lifesaving Club, very pink of course, more pink flowers and also very tasty, beginning with a big bowl of fruit salad mmmm, eggs bacon, sausage, toast. After that we farewelled our friends and went our own way.
The next morning we had a 4 hour journey to where we were booked at Sommerville Valley Tourist Park, situated beside the Storm King Dam, 10k from Stanthorpe, 5k from Aloomba Lavender Farm where the concert was to be held on 27th Nov.
We headed off to the lake about 8:30 and a joyous reunion with my Dragons Abreast friends, settled our pink chairs under a blazing blue sky to watch the dragon boat races. My friends were incorporated in a team which was called Derwent Storm, another dragon boat club which also calls Lindisfarne Bay home, and a fast team they were too, providing some exciting racing.
On the Saturday there was to be a “Flowers on the Water Ceremony” and I was overjoyed to hear that I could take part in it. But, not only that, as I was walking toward the marshalling area before the preceding race, in my Tasmanian uniform and holding my paddle, the Dragons Abreast Gold Coast Team invited me to join them in the race as they were short of 1 paddler.
Wow I GOT TO HAVE A PADDLE as well ! They won that race also, though I decline to take any credit !
Another great thing was that we were able to catch up with Chris and John again briefly.
On the Sunday there was a breakfast at Kurrawa Surf Lifesaving Club, very pink of course, more pink flowers and also very tasty, beginning with a big bowl of fruit salad mmmm, eggs bacon, sausage, toast. After that we farewelled our friends and went our own way.
The next morning we had a 4 hour journey to where we were booked at Sommerville Valley Tourist Park, situated beside the Storm King Dam, 10k from Stanthorpe, 5k from Aloomba Lavender Farm where the concert was to be held on 27th Nov.
Saying goodbye to Kilarney with sadness (on my part) joining the New England Highway traveled via Stanthorpe to Tenterfield home of Peter Allen and his grandfather the saddler.
Tenterfield is another beautiful and historic town, we wandered around it with the aid of the printed guide, checked out the saddlery – that song of Peter Allen’s running through my head all the time.
Oh! such a lot of ancient memorabilia bringing back fond memories of our childhood. I acquired a beautiful little box that tinkled Waltzing Matilda and John wondered if it was the place from which his parents bought him a stock whip in the early fifties.
We drove along roads lined by granite boulders, the area being known as “The Granite Belt”.
We checked out Thunderbolt’s Hideout atop a cavern amidst some huge boulders which he also used as a lookout, for unsuspecting travellers along the road from Warwick’s goldfields..
Then on to the World War II Tank traps, designed as a second line of defence, to be used if the Japanese Army invaded Australia. Posts 8 feet long were set 5 feet into the ground, and if they tried to negogiate; they would expose the bottoms making them vulnerable to waiting troops.
At the now defunct Tenterfield Railway Station, (1988) reborn into a very impressive museum showing examples of various railway stock and a fascinating array of tools and artifacts; we spent several hours there and of course many photos.
Drove also to Mt Mackenzie affording a wide overview of Tenterfield and surrounds.
On another trip we visited Aloomba Lavender Farm, (to my fascination) more acquisitions !
We were told of a fund raising concert on 27th November, featuring James Blundell amongst others. With further discussion we were told we could camp there for 2 nights free, so we bought tickets – more about that later.
Tenterfield is another beautiful and historic town, we wandered around it with the aid of the printed guide, checked out the saddlery – that song of Peter Allen’s running through my head all the time.
Oh! such a lot of ancient memorabilia bringing back fond memories of our childhood. I acquired a beautiful little box that tinkled Waltzing Matilda and John wondered if it was the place from which his parents bought him a stock whip in the early fifties.
We drove along roads lined by granite boulders, the area being known as “The Granite Belt”.
We checked out Thunderbolt’s Hideout atop a cavern amidst some huge boulders which he also used as a lookout, for unsuspecting travellers along the road from Warwick’s goldfields..
Then on to the World War II Tank traps, designed as a second line of defence, to be used if the Japanese Army invaded Australia. Posts 8 feet long were set 5 feet into the ground, and if they tried to negogiate; they would expose the bottoms making them vulnerable to waiting troops.
At the now defunct Tenterfield Railway Station, (1988) reborn into a very impressive museum showing examples of various railway stock and a fascinating array of tools and artifacts; we spent several hours there and of course many photos.
Drove also to Mt Mackenzie affording a wide overview of Tenterfield and surrounds.
On another trip we visited Aloomba Lavender Farm, (to my fascination) more acquisitions !
We were told of a fund raising concert on 27th November, featuring James Blundell amongst others. With further discussion we were told we could camp there for 2 nights free, so we bought tickets – more about that later.
We chose to head for Killarney which would put us in touch with several places to explore, but along the way we had a GPS incident. It turned us onto a road which bore signs saying “NOT SUITABLE FOR BUSES, TRUCKS,CARAVANS. Panic – narrowing country road – where to turn ? – finally we found somewhere and backtracked to join the safer Cunningham Highway– climbing up an 8deg incline-3rd gear came in handy ! Remember – in doing this we are climbing the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and as a consequence the views were divine.
Killarney Holiday Park was set in green parkland, surrounded by mountains, paddocks containing stock, (we woke in the morning to the cattle lowing) and I was in my seventh heaven. It caused me to realise that “you can take the girl out of the country – but you can’t take the country out of the girl”
We checked out the nearby mountains and their many facets, walked in to waterfalls and drove around THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE ! I was fascinated at one part of beautiful high country as the road meandered through and the cattle were grazing at will – there were no fences. At Carr’s Lookout we took photos of the rolling hills and valleys stretching to the largest mountain range in southern Queensland. Magnificent.
We visited and enjoyed the beautiful town of Warwick and took more photos of some of the lovely buildings e.g. the Post Office and Queenslander style homes and visited the railway restoration workshop.
Killarney Holiday Park was set in green parkland, surrounded by mountains, paddocks containing stock, (we woke in the morning to the cattle lowing) and I was in my seventh heaven. It caused me to realise that “you can take the girl out of the country – but you can’t take the country out of the girl”
We checked out the nearby mountains and their many facets, walked in to waterfalls and drove around THE GREAT DIVIDING RANGE ! I was fascinated at one part of beautiful high country as the road meandered through and the cattle were grazing at will – there were no fences. At Carr’s Lookout we took photos of the rolling hills and valleys stretching to the largest mountain range in southern Queensland. Magnificent.
We visited and enjoyed the beautiful town of Warwick and took more photos of some of the lovely buildings e.g. the Post Office and Queenslander style homes and visited the railway restoration workshop.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Our next stop was Scarborough, firstly to have our new annexe fitted and secondly as a base to celebrate our granddaughter Jessica’s 21st Birthday.
I was happy with the mid blue stripe of the annexe I had chosen when we ordered it whew!
We celebrated the birthday with a dinner on the Saturday night at the Breakfast Creek Hotel (I had Barramundi and Prawns …mmm) then on Tuesday evening we had a family gathering and Leanne cooked dinner. It was a joyous and happy occasion, a scrumptious chocolate cake Leanne made and decorated, streamers and decorations.
Jess loved all her presents including from her uncle Michael and Peter and Sue.
Scarborough is a seaside suburb and on the Sunday morning John and I had inflated our canoe, paddled on placid Moreton Bay and took photos including some of people doing tandem jumps from an aeroplane.
Moving on Wednesday we lobbed at Nerang, to be advised by reception that fruit bats were active in the trees – meaning they were noisy and messy, so continued to a park at Helensvale on the Gold Coast. Laundry to be attended to and time to tend my new herb pot, containing parsley, mint, thyme, oregano, chives – a lady alongside our site gave me a piece of a herb (name unknown) but it has a fragrance like five spice, so that could come in handy.
John’s sister Chris and hubby who were staying in the area to help family with an expected new arrival, came to visit mid afternoon on the next day – I successfully made a nice banana cake in my turbo cooker, about which I still have much to learn. Later we went to dinner at a nearby Tavern and were given a complimentary bottle of wine with each 2 meals ordered, we thought that was a pretty good deal, I couldn’t drink all and took the rest home to have through the evening.
We checked out Tamborine Mountain, found lots of interesting things to see as we drove through the beautiful rolling hills and valleys, read how they were formed millions of years ago by a volcano and then eroded away over subsequent years.
We decided in the end it would be a pain taking the caravan around all those hairpins and sharp inclines and would have too far to commute to the Masters Games in two weeks time and decided to book into the Helensvale
Holiday Park instead.
I was happy with the mid blue stripe of the annexe I had chosen when we ordered it whew!
We celebrated the birthday with a dinner on the Saturday night at the Breakfast Creek Hotel (I had Barramundi and Prawns …mmm) then on Tuesday evening we had a family gathering and Leanne cooked dinner. It was a joyous and happy occasion, a scrumptious chocolate cake Leanne made and decorated, streamers and decorations.
Jess loved all her presents including from her uncle Michael and Peter and Sue.
Scarborough is a seaside suburb and on the Sunday morning John and I had inflated our canoe, paddled on placid Moreton Bay and took photos including some of people doing tandem jumps from an aeroplane.
Moving on Wednesday we lobbed at Nerang, to be advised by reception that fruit bats were active in the trees – meaning they were noisy and messy, so continued to a park at Helensvale on the Gold Coast. Laundry to be attended to and time to tend my new herb pot, containing parsley, mint, thyme, oregano, chives – a lady alongside our site gave me a piece of a herb (name unknown) but it has a fragrance like five spice, so that could come in handy.
John’s sister Chris and hubby who were staying in the area to help family with an expected new arrival, came to visit mid afternoon on the next day – I successfully made a nice banana cake in my turbo cooker, about which I still have much to learn. Later we went to dinner at a nearby Tavern and were given a complimentary bottle of wine with each 2 meals ordered, we thought that was a pretty good deal, I couldn’t drink all and took the rest home to have through the evening.
We checked out Tamborine Mountain, found lots of interesting things to see as we drove through the beautiful rolling hills and valleys, read how they were formed millions of years ago by a volcano and then eroded away over subsequent years.
We decided in the end it would be a pain taking the caravan around all those hairpins and sharp inclines and would have too far to commute to the Masters Games in two weeks time and decided to book into the Helensvale
Holiday Park instead.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Time spent in lovely Esk
Spent a week at Esk enjoying the beautiful scenery, we took a few drives, to Toowoomba and roundabout. On the Saturday we drove to the Wivenhoe Dam from which the authorities had been releasing water and from the news reports was very spectacular, here is one of our photos. There were also lots of my favourite Jacaranda trees and I obtained some lovely shots.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Oakey (about 35 K from Toowoomba) is the base for our Australian Army’s Aviation, so after our semi rainy weekend of motor racing it was fine and we set off to catch up on their museum, very interesting, informative, one does not realise how much air power they employ. John took many photos from the Box Kite to the Black Hawk.
Moving out on the Tuesday we went again to Jondaryan Woolshed which proved to be good and bad – good in that the TV reception was fine, so we could have stayed there for the motor racing weekend – bad in that the only water was from a couple of fixed taps for the whole area and no outlet for our grey water, except our bucket, so John filled our tanks and I had very short showers that would fit into our bucket, I could not bring myself to shower in the ones provided with all the black mould and goodness knows what else.
It was an interesting place with many preserved historical buildings dating from 1859.
The tour was enlightening, the dog which rounded up the sheep to a pen was a lovely thing, and there was a sheep shearing demo, the damper and tea were yummy.
I added Cuddles the sheep to our travelling companions and bought a Jondaryan Woolshed Colonial Cookbook – which also contains snippets about colonial doings.
After 2 nights it was off to Esk via the Warrego and New New England Highways, stopping at Hampton Information Centre and gaining much knowledge of the Somerset region.
Moving out on the Tuesday we went again to Jondaryan Woolshed which proved to be good and bad – good in that the TV reception was fine, so we could have stayed there for the motor racing weekend – bad in that the only water was from a couple of fixed taps for the whole area and no outlet for our grey water, except our bucket, so John filled our tanks and I had very short showers that would fit into our bucket, I could not bring myself to shower in the ones provided with all the black mould and goodness knows what else.
It was an interesting place with many preserved historical buildings dating from 1859.
The tour was enlightening, the dog which rounded up the sheep to a pen was a lovely thing, and there was a sheep shearing demo, the damper and tea were yummy.
I added Cuddles the sheep to our travelling companions and bought a Jondaryan Woolshed Colonial Cookbook – which also contains snippets about colonial doings.
After 2 nights it was off to Esk via the Warrego and New New England Highways, stopping at Hampton Information Centre and gaining much knowledge of the Somerset region.
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