After the two rallies - second week

Sunday 21 October 2018

A day to sleep in for a bit and I had coffee in bed.  After that I had breakfast, my shower and fed the animals.  Mr Wilson in particular is eager for his food in the morning and is waiting at the fence.

Paul, house friend and handyman, came around to mow the grass and stayed for a cuppa and a chat.

Maureen left after lunch as she was eager to camp at Moore Park Beach.  I spent the rest of the day playing Wordfeud, working on my patchwork bag and solving a few puzzles till it was time to feed the animals.  Bud and Mr Wilson get a treat during the day, but are keen for food again at this time of the day.  Harry is quite laid back and is happy enough with a scratch on his head from time to time.

Harry, the cockatoo

Looking out over the property from the veranda

The day ended with a thunderstorm that frightened Bud, so I let him in the house till it had passed.  Luckily no hail this time and even Maureen had survived in her camper at the beach.

Monday 22 October 2018

After I had fed the animals Paul was back to borrow the trailer.  He helped me taking the cover of my ceiling fan in the camper as it was very much time to clean the darn thing, but I had not been able to remove the cover.  Now I know how to, so next time will be a breeze.

Not long after Patricia arrived.  She had been to Bundaberg as well, because in an earlier storm, before I had arrived at Bucca and which was a real bad one, her van was damaged by the hail and the outer cover of her vent had big holes in it, so that had to be repaired.

The house had also suffered damage, like the whirly birds on the roof, the windows on the south side, a few of the awnings and other bits and pieces, but Paul had already done the temporary repairs and the windows had been replaced before my arrival.

Barbara, a friend of Patricia's, arrived not long after and while she and Patricia caught up on the latest gossip I worked on my blog.  We also went for a late afternoon walk with Bud, who would not listen and Paul who was working at a neighbouring property, had to send him home.  We chatted for a while and Paul showed us how the storm had damaged even more windows on the one side of this house, including the timber walls and the airconditioning unit.  It must have been some storm!

Walking Bud, although Bud has disappeared....

The roof of our house seen through the trees (on the right)

After dinner we played cards.  If I remember well the game was called: Base 8.

Tuesday 23 October 2018

In the morning I took up various things to keep myself occupied and next we visited Paul, who lives close to the weir in the Kolan River.  The weir doesn't overflow often, but after the latest weather there was still a lot of movement.

Paul showed us his property where he keeps domestic and wild pigs, and after that and a chat we left and went back home, but not before a stop at the Bucca Hotel for a cool drink.

The interior of the hotel

We had lunch at home, but left again shortly after to visit the Mystery Craters and Sharon Gorge.

There was a cache at each place, so we got those as well.

#1998 - Still in the Gum Trees (cache)

This cache was at the back of a cemetery

#1999 - Sharon Gorge Rest Area (cache)

I have only taken pictures of the Mystery Craters as the mozzies were so bad at Sharon Gorge that I ran back after I had logged the cache.  Again they nearly carried me away.....

So, pictures of the craters:

Barbara and Patricia at Sharon Gorge

Wednesday 24 October 2018

I spent the morning keeping myself busy with the usual things until Patricia mentioned that she had some business in Bargara, so Barbara and I came along for the trip and together we went for a beach walk AND a cache.  It was to be a special one, because it was my 2000th!

A busy beach on a hot summer's day!

Patricia, Barbara and me

Windmills seem to be popular anywhere...

#2000 - Surf Patrol (cache)

Happy with this milestone: 2000

Patricia, with her love of op shops, needed to visit a few, but we also bought groceries to keep us going for a while.  As we had brought along a thermos we had a cuppa near the beach with a (bought) vanilla slice. 

After dinner we had a pleasant evening again, playing our usual card game.

Thursday 25 October 2018

Barbara had Gin Gin on her to do list, so that was our next outing.  As Patricia and I had not found the art gallery the first time around we visited this together with Barbara.

We also popped into a craft shop and I found an old-fashioned needle threader which I can put to good use!

After a much needed drink (a thick shake for Patricia and me) we left and went home for lunch.

After lunch I parked the camper below the veranda, so that I could reach the roof, which had become quite dirty during the 2-1/2 years I have been driving around the country.  It's a pity I forgot to take pictures, because it was a sight to be seen.  The brush handle broke, so I had to use one with a shorter handle and none of the hoses were in good condition, which really was a understatement!

So many holes, that we were lucky to get some water out of the end bit, but I got it done and all the black mould and dust are gone.  We ended up a tad bit wet..... ;-)

I have a few pictures left that I haven't posted yet, so here goes:

Mr Wilson, the horse

The house (side with the damaged awnings)

Patrica and I playing our Wordfeud games

Bud, resting his head....

Friday 26 October 2018

All ready and packed, there wasn't much else to do than to wait for Margaret and Jamie to come back home from their cruise.  They arrived after lunch, so we left after a chat for our next stage of the trip: Maryborough.

We left at 3 pm and stopped at Childers where I knew there to be a dump point for my cassette.  After I had emptied it we continued on in tandem to Maryborough.  Patricia and I each in our campers and Barbara in her car.

We arrived at Annie and Ian's place at 5 pm.  We parked our campers in a great spot on their beautiful property and got ready to go out for dinner, which we had at the Lamington Hotel, accompanied by a friend of the family: Peter.

I also received some sad news.  The only sister of Frans whom I still saw regularly during the recent years, had passed away suddenly.  She was in in her early 80s.  I will miss her as she has always been a good sport.  I am so glad I saw her and her daughters a few times when I was in the Netherlands in December.

Saturday 27 October 2018

I had early breakfast in the camper and did some washing.  In the morning I took time out to make a sympathy card as I was lucky enough to have my craft tools and materials in the camper.  After lunch Annie took us into town to have look around.  We visited the war memorial, a museum, Queens Park, the Wharf and the statue of Mary Poppins.  The museum was an old shop which was left as it had always been when the owner decided that he'd had enough.  I will file the numerous photographs under a tab called museum.  It was most interesting and quite surprising. The name of it is Brennan and Geraghty's Store Museum. 

Mary Poppins has a special connection with Maryborough.  Follow the links for more information on the various items.  Mary Poppins has also inspired the people to change the pedestrian traffic light pictures into this:

War Memorial

Brennan and Geraghty's Store Museum

Visit of the town was short, but interesting and I can always come back if I want to see more at leisure.  We also found two caches, one at the war memorial and the other one close to the statue of Mary Poppins.

#2001 - Come and say Hi to Duncan (cache)

#2002 - Mary Poppins (cache)

After our venturing into town we went home and had a BBQ dinner.  Quite tired (it was a hot day again) I went to my camper early and went to bed.