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.