Solos - Beerwah Sportsground

Monday 10 December 2018 -  Friday 14 December 2018

Not even a week later and I am on another short trip in the camper.  This week I have not taken any notes at all, so I will summarise the days as the get-togethers don't seem to change all that much overall.

So, this week the Rainbow Lorikeets got together again. Many arrived on Sunday, but as I had visitors from Singapore arriving on Sunday I didn't want to leave too soon.

Ne Sung, wife Elisa and son Joel arrived on Sunday afternoon and since we wouldn't have much time to spend together we went out for dinner at the local RSL where they had been with me before.

On Monday we spent some time together catching up and chatting in general and I left just before lunchtime.  They would have the key so they would look after themselves until they left on Wednesday.  I had to promise to make a stop-over next time if my flight would be via Singapore, a promise which will not be hard to keep as they are such delightful people.

On Monday afternoon I arrived and parked right next to Josephine who I had met at Bjelke Petersen Dam for the first time.  We both love walking and playing cards so it seems we are striking up a bit of a friendship.

Other people came forward and greeted me and it started to feel as if I was coming home to my second family.

On Tuesday I had to leave briefly, because I wanted to join members of the grief support group for a memorial service for our loved ones.  Beerwah is only a 45 minute drive, so, easy to do.  Good friend Ruth was there as well as a few members of our own little group from 5 years ago.  Time flies!  The memorial service was moving, not in the least because of the delicate touches so lovingly prepared by the group leaders.  We shed a few tears, but also had a pleasant morning tea together.

At Beerwah we walked most mornings as usual.  On the first morning we walked past a hidden geocache which we couldn't find quickly, so we walked on and I was going to get better prepared for next time.

On one of the later walks I had to find an ATM so I left the group and walked back home on my own.  As I walked past that cache again I decided to have a better look with a good result!  Found it!

#2012 - I Like Traffic Lights - Cloud Derge (cache)

As this week was also a Christmas gathering we had all brought a gift again (mine was the one that I received at the earlier gathering) and of course we had a Christmas dinner.  The dinner for this group was at the Beerwah Hotel, but no photos.  Sorry.

Gift giving was done like the grocery grab a few weeks ago, but in such a manner that everyone ended up with a gift to take home.  It was just as hilarious, thus lots of fun.  The gift I received was okay, but I don't know yet what I am going to do with it.  We'll see...

We had a good turnout and many happy faces

Besides all this we played cards.  It must be one of the most popular pastimes ever.  This week I learned to play Canasta, which is slightly different from Hand and Foot.  The complicating matter though was that people play in different groups and everyone seems to have their own rules for the game.  We have approached someone and asked to have a set of rules we, as the Rainbow Lorikeets, can all agree to.  Let's see how that is going to work.

Next I have a few pictures from our walks, the last one taken on the way back from dinner:

On Friday morning I packed up.  As it was raining I didn't go on the planned walk, but Josephine and I played a last game of Canasta as neither of us was in a hurry to leave.

A lot of people had already left as they were going on to a gathering at Somerset Dam, but I had plenty to do at home, so wanted to have a break.

Of course we all left with many hugs and Christmas wishes and the hope of seeing each other again in the New Year.

BSW - Maleny Showgrounds

Friday 30 November 2018

Friday morning I went on a walk with the walking group that I have recently joined.  They walk three times per week, but twice on a day when I go for a bike ride, so walking I do only on the Fridays.

Recently I took two pictures of birds that we saw on our walk, but which I haven't posted yet:

A Great Egret, standing still to stalk its prey

Two Rainbow Lorikeets crawling out of a tree hollow

After my early moring walk I packed the camper and left for a pleasant drive through the Range to Maleny.  I took the long way around, up and down on winding roads, but the view was beautiful.

I arrived in time for lunch and joined the people that had already arrived for afternoon tea, and a few games of cards.  The same was done at dinner time.

Saturday 1 December 2018

Usually I forget to take pictures, but today I remembered!

As I was at the Maleny Showgrounds two years ago with the BSW as well a few photos may be repetitions. Not so my camper, modestly decorated for Christmas. ;-)

I went for an early walk into town as I had discovered that I had forgotten to bring my toothbrush.  I did my thing for the environment and bought a bamboo one, but..... why for heaven's sake does it need to come in plastic packaging???  Defeats the purpose somewhat, doesn't it?

The walk into town is a pleasant one. There is a trail which leads through a remnant rainforest along Obi Obi Creek from the Showgrounds to the town centre.  

A nature care group is trying to revive the forest by planting new plants that belong to the area and getting rid of weeds like the Wandering Jew and Morning Glory.

Morning Glory (the blue flowered vine in the trees)

Wandering Jew (the green leaved creeping vine on the ground)

This part of the trail mainly is a 600m board walk along the creek.  I should go for an early morning walk some day as I am still hoping to see the elusive plattypus one day.  This is a photo of the beautiful creature (called vogelbekdier in Dutch).

I did see some other wildlife though: a big lizard and a bush turkey.

Bearded dragon

Bush turkey

Followed by a few pictures of the walk through the sub-tropical rainforest.  These rainforests are nested in the range because of the right climate, soil and rainfall.  They exist between the southern temperate forests and the northern tropical rainforests.

Love thes buttresses, and these are only small...

Hard to see perhaps, but the path contains leaves
and the long line is the way the creek flows

A viewing platform from where one
should be able to see the platypus in the water

In the town centre I took a few pictures of sculptures, the alternative Christmas tree and the back of the public library which has large viewing windows across the creek.

On my way I found a geocache as well:

#2011 - Heard of Cows? (cache)

As it is now in the middle of the day I publish this post, but will update it at a later stage....

... resuming...

I have been very remiss, as I haven't taken notes, nor have I remembered to update this post, but I do have some pictures to guide me....

As this was our Christmas gathering we had a big raffle in the afternoon.  We had all brought a gift of under $10 and these were deposited on a table, wrapped and all.  Numbers were called out and if you were lucky you went home with one or more gifts.  If unlucky, you had none!  And of course, Santa was there to assist:

I ended up with a nice gift, but as I am not really into all this gift-giving (I want to minimalise at home) I kept it for our next gathering with the Solos.

After the raffle we went briefly 'home' to our vehicles to get ready for Christmas dinner, which was going to be served in the big hall.

Overview of the campground from the big hall

I haven't taken any pictures of our dinner, but only of the decorated tables just before we went in:

A similar set-up as last year

This year chicken and ham were provided, but it was agreed that we would bring our own slaad or whatever we wanted to have with it.  Dessert, Christmas pudding with custard, was also provided and was really nice.

This year 'entertainment' consisted of a slide show of photo's taken at gatherings over the years.  A lot of people looked so much younger on occasion that I didn't even recognise them!

Sunday 2 December 2018

As I had not seen the elusive plattypus on my earlier walks I decided to go for an early morning walk, in the hope of spotting one.  I had nearly done the rounds along the creek and through town when I walked back via a bridge on the other side of the showground.  There I had a quick look and just as I was going to walk  on a lady appeared from across the road with binoculars.  She asked me if I had noticed the birds nest in the tree in front of me.  No, of course not.  I don't see these things..... :-(  I just don't have that keen eye.

Anyway, it was a restless flycatcher's nest with three fledglings in it and the parents were flying on and off to feed them:

Left bottom corner: camouflaged nest with black/white bird

A bit later she pointed out another nest to the left, which contained a spangled drongo, recognisable by its fishtail sticking up from the nest:

Bottom-centre: black head and tail above the untidy nest

And then I nearly missed it.  It was so quick that I couldn't even take a picture, but I saw the plattypus!!!  It came up right in front of us, but far away.  Swam a few metres and dived under again, but..... I did get to see it this time, thanks to this wonderful woman who pointed everything out to me.

The plattypus (not visible now) swam just near
the rocks in the water on the opposite side of the creek

One more picture of the flycatcher -
this time with the other parent feeding

And a funny wood carving on the roof of an awning:

A beaver with the cut wood next to it

As Sunday is usually our breaking up day I went back for morning tea and started packing to go home.  I wasn't too far from home, so had lunch first and then left.  On the way home I stopped at the fruitmarket along the road to get a watermelon as nothing is as refreshing on a hot summers day...

Solos - Yallakool Park at Bjelke Petersen Dam

This time I am going on a mid-week camping trip with the sub-branch of the Solos: the Rainbow Lorikeets.  There are a lot of separate Solos groups spread all over Australia and they are all named after birds.  So, the group in my area is called the Rainbow Lorikeets.  I'm quite happy with that, as the rainbow lorikeet is a colourful bird and we all wear shirts to show off those beautiful colours: bright green, blue, red, etc.  I bought mine this week and chose the red one:

Sorry, not in the mood for selfies ;-)

It also goes very well with the spare fleece jacket I always carry in my camper. :-)

 But, back to the story now:

Sunday 11 November 2018

I leave a day early as Angus is playing a gridiron game at the Sunshine Coast Stadium this morning.  As the stadium is at Kawana, just north of where I live, it makes sense to take to camper so I don't have to drive home and back north again on Monday morning.

We have some time to kill while Angus is doing his warm up and we walk across the road where I know there to be some geocaches.  Luckily Kevin reminded me...  We found two.

#2007 - Start Line (cache)

#2008 - Start Over Again (cache)

Then it was time for the game:

Angus is in the team with grey sports uniforms.  Initially I didn't enjoy the game, as it is so far removed from the faster soccer games that I am used to, and know the rules of.  However, I started to see the broader picture of the game and quite liked it in the end.  Will need to look up the actual rules though...

Adele's friend from the Sunshine Coast had joined us for the game and afterwards we went for lunch at a nearby cafe.  After lunch I said goodbye to the family and Adele's friend came with me to have a look at the camper as they were thinking of buying one themselves.

I left at 2 pm with plenty of time to spare between Kawana and Bjelke Petersen Dam, but I wasn't in a hurry to get to my final destination, so stopped past Gympie at the, by know well-known (for me) rest area Chatsworth Park (#159) for the night.

Monday 12 November 2018

I took some pictures at Chatsworth Park and left after morning tea. 

It was only a short drive to Bjelke Petersen Dam and with a stop to buy a nice, juicy pineapple at a road stall, I arrived just before lunch at Yallakool Tourist Park at BP Dam. 

When I was paying for my campsite Gary, whom I had met at the coffee morning on the Sunshine Coast just recently, walked in.  He was here for the week too. At afternoon tea I met up with Sue and Louise from the same place and Lorraine and Margaret who I remembered from Mudgee.  It's a different feeling now I am getting to know all these people a bit better...

In the afternoon I got a lovely visit from a King Parrot, which flew from awning, to chair, to table, and gave me plenty of time for pictures.

Tuesday 13 November 2018

As during the rallies we like to walk in the mornings, so it was no surprise that we would have a look at the dam, which was only at14% of its full capacity. Yes, we have been in a drought indeed, but it made for a nice walk nonetheless.

Sue, waving...

After morning tea I played Bush Rummy with a number of people, of which Josephine who wanted to learn this game and Canasta (much the same as Hand and Foot).  I spoke with Dave about the Mudgee and Blackall rallies and about volunteering at Blackall.  Also talked to (chubby) John, whose wife likes to travel overseas and he likes Australia, so they travel separately.

I didn't go to Happy Hour, but instead sat with (American) John and (Chubby) John and talked about travelling.  First John has been everywhere and had interesting tales to tell.

Dinner was sausage sizzle, always a welcome variation at camps.  Met Val, Roz and Wilma and two Dutchies, John and Corrie.  We planned to play cards the following day.  

I skipped Trivia Night as I am hard of hearing and no good at answering questions anyway, so I had a quiet night by myself.

Wednesday 14 November 2018

Another dam walk was called for.  This time we took the dam wall. I talked mainly with Dave and Gary, or rather, I listened to Gary, because you can't get a word in sideways. He's a nice guy though...

It's easy to sea how low the water level is.
It can easily come halfway the dam wall.

That's Dave and Gary at the back

Plenty of birds, but not easy to identify without binoculars
(except for the pelicans and probably cormorants)

Marion and Catherine

At 11 am we all got together for our AGM (Annual General Meeting) with a surprising discussion about a member and some happenings in the community, about which I don't need to elaborate here.  Let's just say that I found it rather interesting. ;-)

I also wanted to apologise to Sue whom I had unwittingly placed in an awkward position (or so I thought), but as it was, it hadn't been me at all, so I was neatly let off the hook. :-)

As planned we play cards in the afternoon and at 4 pm we played Grocery Grab!

I am sorry to have not taken any pictures, but it was rather full on and I wouldn't have had time to do so.  

Grocery Grab

We all brought a grocery item, which could be a tin of beans, a bottle of wine, biscuits, or whatever took our fancy. We all wrote 10 numbers (between 1 and 70) on a piece of paper which we had to hang on to.  The items were placed on a table in the centre and we sat in a big circle around it.

Next a person started to call out numbers and if your number was on your piece of paper you could take an item from the table, and place it in front of you on the ground.  So could everyone else.  When all the items were gone from the table you could go to any item you fancied and take that from the person who had it in front of them.

You guessed it, it became a hilarious event, because some items were pretty popular (wine, anybody?) and of course were 'fought' over.  Those items would be carried from one person to the next and you were lucky to end up with your favourite one.

I was lucky enough to end up with 3 grocery items, and all three favourites.  Mine, not others' apparently. :-)  I went home with a set of plastic wine glasses (which might make a nice Christmas present, or part thereof), buja mix and my favourite coffee sachets.

The game ended when someone had a 'bingo', all numbers on their piece of paper crossed off.

Thursday 15 November 2018

Sue had mentioned the day before that she didn't know what direction to take for another walk and when I mentioned that I would go off on my own to search for a cache she suggested we would all do so together.

I explained to the group what geocaching was about and what was to be expected for this cache and off we went.  It didn't take long for one of the members to spot the container.

#2009 - Dam turn Off (cache)

After we'd found it most of the group went off to walk again to the dam wall, but as it was a hot day I didn't feel like it and went to sit in the shade instead.

I solved some crossword puzzles and played a bit of Wordfeud and I had just started on my blog when I had visitors!  What a surprise.  Denise and Maureen from Wondai had rung Sue earlier to ask if hey could come to join in for morning tea and upon arrival they'd recognised my camper, so we all had morning tea together.

After lunch I joined the card playing group in the shelter, but finished off my patchwork bag and just watched the card game in progress.

Happy Hour, (I still go to happy hour, but don't drink) was spent talking with Josephine, Sandy and Tony.

Friday 16 November 2018

Most people had either left late Thursday night or were leaving early Friday morning, so there was no official walk or morning tea.  However, as I wanted to find a second cache, which' existence I had discovered rather late, I went for a walk and Josephine wanted to join me.

Together we walked to the end of the dam wall and I found the cache hidden amongst the rocks. 

#2010 - Another Dam Cache at BP Dam (cache)

Back at the camper I started to pack up to leave.  Josephine and I had morning tea together and a bit of a chat before she took off.

I went and emptied the toilet cassette and took in some fresh water in readiness for the next trip.

I left at 11 am, not knowing if I would stop at Benarkin for the night or would just drive home.  In the end I went for the latter.

Stopped for fuel and lunch at Nanango and for afternoon tea at Woodford and was home by 4 pm.

I unpacked, declined a BBQ dinner at Maree's, had a little bit to eat and went to bed.  The heat of the day and the driving (?) had caused me a headache which lasted well into the Saturday morning, but.... I had a great week with the Rainbow Lorikeets, ready to repeat in December.