Not Before Time

We went out for a drive and picnic the other day, with a loose destination being Cedar Pocket, which is a pretty drive through farmland. However we found a road we hadn’t been down before and decided to try that instead. The gravel road took us through the pine forest then joined on to the Kin Kin road. Before we got to Kin Kin we saw a sign saying Doggrell State Forest and decided to head there instead. At first I wasn’t sure it was open to the public – the road is really a logging track and the area as we drove in has been logged and isn’t very pretty . Anyway, we decided to follow the road and see where it would take us, and there wasn’t any signage around directing traffic anywhere.

As we went further in, the road became more like a goat track and the bush got thicker. Some of the track was good and other parts was pretty bad but David had a bit of fun using the 4×4 function on the truck which he doesn’t get to use that often .

Eventually we got to a part of the track where we couldn’t go any further – there was a tree down across the track and just beyond that was a fissure in the ground and it was much too wide and deep for us to get over. The only problem was, the track wasn’t wide enough for us to turn around and on one side was a drop and on the other a bank too high for the truck to get up. The only way out was to reverse. So I got to play scout to make sure he didn’t go off track while avoiding tree branches and holes in the ground.

Eventually we found a place where David could turn the truck around, albeit doing about a 20 point turn instead of a 3 point!

On the way back we checked out an intersection with another track, and it was such a lovely spot and we could pull over a bit in case anyone else came by, that we decided to have lunch there. We could hear plenty of birds around, but apart from some wrens and finches flitting around we couldn’t see them, so I didn’t manage to get any photos. The little birds are too quick for me!

Unfortunately my camera died when I was trying to take photos of the birds, but coincidentally the weather also changed so we decided to head home and we’ll go back another day to explore a bit more. On the way out we passed a track we’d missed going in and it led to a walking track so we’ll check that out next time too.

We got home just in time – it bucketed down!

We went for a drive to Bundaberg last Friday – mainly to check out caravan parks and see if there was work in the area. We think we visited Bundaberg years ago, but neither of us can remember much about it. I was really surprised by how big it is – population is about 85,000 people. We found a park to stay at and it seems like there might be work so we’ve booked in for the week after next and we’ll give it a couple of weeks to see what happens with work. If we don’t get anything we might head further north or go inland a bit. That’ll also give us a bit of time to explore the area.

We had a bit of a drive around, and went to Bargara beach and had some fish and chips on the esplanade which was really lovely – the beach is about 15 minutes from the park we’ll be staying at. Apparently there’s some great fishing off the rocks there.

There’s also the Burnett River which runs through Bundaberg, which also has some good fishing spots. We’re looking forward to checking out all the fishing spots.

Well after 2 months, we finally left cold wintery Melbourne behind and are now back at Standown Park near Gympie. We had a lovely time with family, and catching up with some of our friends. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to catch up with everyone, so apologies to those we didn’t connect with.

David had some work done on the F-Series when we were in Melbourne – he removed the roller door on the top of the tray (which he sold on eBay) and had some toolboxes made up and fitted in to the tray behind the cab, and also had a new tonneau cover made for the tray as well as a bar across the top which will be for our tinny to travel on when we buy one.

Kat’s father Bob was also staying in Melbourne at the same time we were, and David and Bob also got a few things done around the house and garden, and David cleaned up the garage too. So overall it was a very productive time.

I did a lot of walking and photography

It’s good to get back to some warmer weather – the days have been about 22 / 23 degrees here although the nights and mornings have been down to 4 or 5, but that’s ok, we can live with that .

We’ll stay here for another week or so then head up to Bundaberg and see what work is around. It would be nice to stay on the coast for a while close to the beach, and we might be able to get some fishing in too. If we can’t find work in Bundaberg then we might go inland again. Will see what happens.

We stayed with David’s sister Margaret and her husband Terry on the way up, and had a great couple of days with them. Marg has a couple of sewing machines so we set them up and both of us made a quilted bag. I haven’t done any quilting or sewing since we left Queensland a couple of months ago, so it was great being able to do some, especially with Marg who is a beautiful and prolific quilter. Thanks, Marg, I really enjoyed it .

The trip up from Melbourne was pretty good. However, (there’s a gripe coming up here, so jump ahead if you don’t want to listen to me whining!) I’m really surprised at the price of motel rooms and what you (don’t) get for the money! We stopped at 3 different motels on the way, the first 2 each costing $95/night. I’m obviously a bit out of touch with the cost of motel rooms, and I wasn’t expecting luxury rooms or anything, but honestly, they were not good – everything was old and tired and while they were surface clean, they really needed a good scrub, especially the bathrooms. In the first motel, the bed was really, really bad, I think the floor would have been more comfortable! And the air conditioners in both were bloody noisy. Is it really that hard to get a clean comfortable room with a quiet air conditioner for $100/night? In both hotels, the attitude from the owner/manager/receptionist was really offhand and just not interested. Makes you wonder why they go in to that sort of business or do that sort of work.

However, we obviously just picked the wrong motels, because the third motel we stayed at was very good and at $86 was excellent value – and that included a continental breakfast. It was this hotel in Armidale, NSW, and if you’re in the area looking for a place to stop for the night, then we would recommend this place. The room we had was a good size with a really comfortable queen size bed, a wide screen tv and a sofa. Everything was very clean, and David, the owner, went out of his way to be helpful.

We also stopped at David’s brother’s place near Gatton on the way back – it was great catching up with Rick and Carol

I took a heap of photos on the way up, but I did something wrong when I was downloading them on to the computer and lost nearly 400 photos, so unfortunately I’ve only got photos from the last 3 days of the trip.
Here’s a few photos taken on the trip up.

We’re currently in Melbourne staying with Ben and Kat and catching up with friends. We’ve been out and about a bit, and getting some superannuation appointments and the like out of the way, but generally it’s been eating and drinking too much, and not exercising enough.

Our grandog Maisie has grown! She’s now 10 months old, huge, really beautiful and very naughty! Kat’s dad has been staying here as well, and poor Maisie has had to adjust to having all these extra people tell her to do or not to do things, but she has adjusted very well to the extra attention she’s been getting though .

I decided a while ago that I need to upgrade my camera skills in an effort to get some better photos of what we see as we travel around, so I’ve been using the SLR camera (otherwise known as the big camera) and trying to learn how to use the different settings it has. I’ve been playing with it a bit lot, and Ben (who takes great photos) has shown me how to use the features of it, and I’ve been surprised at how my photos have improved in a short time. I’ve also been surprised by how much there is to photograph around this area, but that’s probably more to do with me actually looking at things differently – I think I’ve gotten a few good shots from the pond and the gardens here.

We’ll be in melbourne for another 2 weeks probably – I’ve got a skin cancer thing that has to be removed, so I’m getting it done while we’re here.

Well, once again this is going to be a number of updates in one hit, cause I’m really slack. I get the updates typed up fairly quickly, then they sit there waiting cause I’m really, really bad at getting the photos downloaded from the camera then uploaded to the website. Must work on that.

Still, at least when you visit our website, you get to read it all in one hit instead of coming back every day to see where we are or what we’re up to