Solos - Kingaroy (and more)

Sunday 10 March 2019

It's our last day at Clifton and I am going on to Kingaroy via Toowoomba, so I pack my camper early and will be able to leave straight after the club's meeting at 10 am.  Before I leave I have to remove a little visitor from my step:

My plan is to visit Patricia while I am passing through Toowoomba and I make good time.  I arrive at approx 11 am.  Patricia has invited me to the Sunday BBQ at her village, so we make our way to the hall after a cup of coffee.  There I meet a few old acquaintances and am introduced to a few new 'faces'...  The BBQ and dessert are great, but I didn't win anything in the raffle. :-(  ;-)

Patricia had placed a new geocache in the vicinity of her house, so we went out to 'find' it.

#2073 - Whirlygig (cache)

At 2 pm it's time to leave as I need to get fuel and the trip to Kingaroy will take approx. 2 hours.

I arrive at 4 pm.  Bruce is the lonely 'parkologist' as Garry has more important matters to attend to.  He's met up with one of the Solo ladies and they are apparently having a good time elsewhere.... :-)

I am in luck, because I have briefly use of power and can charge my laptop.  Also, Bruce is very helpful with opening the jammed hatch in my camper.  I am very happy with that as it is very hot and probably not going to improve very soon.

People are slowly arriving and I chat with Bruce, Elaine, Maz, Kevin, Sandy and Corrie.  Upon his arrival I get a big hug from Kevin, as Solos do, and ask him how his cruise to Singapore went.  Soon it's dinner time and a few of us sit around my camper under the awning to eat their meal in the shade.  All of us chat till late in the evening.  Knowing that Kevin always joins the morning walks I ask him if he'll be going the following morning, but since nothing has been organised yet he tells me that he prefers to sleep in after his long 8 hour trip of today.

Monday 11 March 2019

After last night's response from Kevin I was surprised to be woken up by a voice asking me if  I still wanted to go for a walk.  It was Kevin!  As I am always in for walking I quickly got dressed and we were on our way.  I had promised Bruce to be back in time to turn the urn on, but Kevin asked me if I wanted coffee at an airconditioned service station and we were so comfortable talking to each other that I quite forgot about my promise.  We stayed for 2 hours!  

Next we had morning tea and after lunch disc bowls was on.  As I can't play because of my shoulder problem Kevin taught me how to keep the scores.  That kept me busy all afternoon, but I enjoyed it.

Soon it was happy hour, but son Kevin rang and we talked a while on the phone.  I am not a happy hour person per se, so I didn't really miss it.  I was back in time though to chat a bit with American John as I call him, to distinguish him from the other Johns.

As Kevin (not son Kevin) had been to Copmanhurst where he'd joined the Robins, he had a left-over meal from the Dreampot cooking they did and offered me to join him, which I did.  Later I played cards with Lorraine, Maz and Patricia.  Not for very long, because the heat was still so oppressive that I preferred to have an early night.

Tuesday 12 March 2019

We had our regular walks organised by now, so the group went for a stroll through Kingaroy and someone wanted to take a group picture:

I also took a few pictures in town.

The silos; a real landmark

Next we had coffee at Jamaica Blue.  On the way back I got some money from an ATM as I had to pay the camp fees and sausage sizzle for that night.  When back home I played canasta with Sandy, Lorraine and Josephine until lunchtime.

Disc bowls was on at 1pm and, as nobody had arrived yet, Kevin and Josephine tried to get me to play right-handed.  I did alright, but didn't feel I was good enough for a competition so opted to keep the scores again.

I wanted some quiet time afterwards and didn't go to happy hour.  It was still so very hot!

Sausage sizzle was on a 6 pm and Kevin and I took our meal to my camper where we sat under the awning and talked the evening away.  Our chat took a surprising direction and I was more than happy with that! :-)

Wednesday 13 March 2019

At 7 am we were all ready for our morning walk again and we finished our walk with a cuppa. This time at the Muffin Break. 

After the walk Kevin and I couldn't help but enjoy each other's company a bit more, but after lunch we tried to be a bit more social and went to attend disc bowls.  Or rather, Kevin is responsible for it and gets everything ready and keeps it going for the duration.  I couldn't keep the scores, because Maureen and Bev from Wondai came to visit the Rainbow Lorikeets and me, so I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to them.

At the end of the afternoon the courtesy bus arrived to take us to the local RSL for dinner.  We enjoyed the meal and the company and had a good night altogether.  After dinner I told Kevin that I'd rather walk back home instead of taking the bus and he joined me.  Kevin grabbed my hand and that's how we walked back to the campground.  That's when our lives changed forever! ;-)

Obviously quite noticeable for the others, as we sat near the camper, talking, holding hands as well.  All of a sudden the group next to us all needed to walk to the toilets! Past us! Yeah right.....  I don't quite believe the need was that great... ;-)  It suffices to say that the next morning we received a number of congratulations....  They all understood.

Thursday 14 March 2019

I know, the story becomes a it repetitive, but there is another morning walk with a stop at the Muffin Break for coffee.  This time a special occasion, because it's Val's birthday.  We repeat it later at morning tea with a birthday cake.

Our plan to go on to Imbil for a weekend with the BSW comes to nothing as it is too hot to bother with more camping.  Kevin suggests we go home and invites me to his home at Alexandra Hills.  To my surprise I agree and we leave at 11 am, just after morning tea.

We travel via Blackbutt where we stop for a short break and have lunch at the Burpengary BP along the motorway.

At 'home' I ring son Kevin to tell him the news and where I'll be for the next few days.  Just as well we were finished with our camping as that night we had a big storm.

Friday 15 March 2019 and onwards

Ordinarily my blog is about geocaching and travelling, but for once I would like to extend the updates a little bit, as I am still not at home! ;-)

We start the day with coffee and are paid a visit by one of Kevin's friends.  After that we head out to Cleveland and have coffee with Chris, one of Kevin's other friends, with whom he regularly has a coffee at Brown's Bakery.

Kevin wants to show me around the area a bit, and, although I have lived in the Redlands for 27 years I have been away long enough to appreciate the 'sightseeing'.  As always there are many changes.  We visit Redland Bay and Capalaba Park Shopping Centre.

After lunch and a much needed afternoon nap we get ready to have dinner with Chris and wife Jackie, Fay (Kevin's sister) and her husband John at Kam Fay Chinese Restaurant. I would have thought it a bit overwhelming to meet all these new people, but I feel quite comfortable, so it proved to have been a great day.

Oh, and we had a proper storm again at 5 pm.  Much needed rain as well, but the mugginess is back in full force.

The next few days we spent a bit more time in the area. On Saturday Kevin took me to Sirromet Wineries at Mt. Cotton and we had a bit of a look around Wellington Point.  Near the water we had a good view of an approaching storm from the west.

They were apparently setting up for a big concert at Sirromet

Wellington Point with the storm approaching

The next day we met up with Stephen, Tori and James at Tanja's, Wellington Point, and from there we made a quick dash to Cleveland Point, where we had fish and chips for dinner.  I also met Kevin's son Brett and his daughter Kerry.  Life is moving in the fast lane all of a sudden.... ;-)

As we both had appointments to attend to I went home and got my hand checked at Queensland Diagnostic Imaging (inconclusive results unfortunately), met up with the  'old' tennis group for coffee and lunch and went on my usual bike ride and beach walk.

The settings on my phone were out of kilter again, hence the elongated pictures

lots of bluebottles on the beach, so no swimming for me!

Later in the week Kevin came to stay at my place for a few days and met with everyone on Bribie Island.  The bike group had organised a fish and chips dinner while watching the full moon rise over the ocean at Woorim, which I saw together with Kevin.

The following day we decided to have a nice glass of red while watching the sun set over the mainland at Bongaree.

We also went for a morning walk with the walking group and I managed to have a little accident in my car.  No personal injuries, but two badly damaged cars and thus I will be without mine for a least a month, because I can't get it to the garage within the next fortnight.

We spent the rest of the days having coffee and dinner here and there and meeting with son Kevin.  Unfortunately Adele and the children were in New Zealand, but we will meet with them soon as well.

I am back in Alexandra Hills right now and we are preparing to leave tomorrow for another trip.  Will keep you posted....  And if you have read the story this far you'll know that I am a very happy girl!

BSW - Clifton Showgrounds II

Saturday 9 March

All of a sudden a nice breeze (or call it: a strong wind!) has come up and I am typing this trying to hold on to my lightweight laptop. ;-)  Just as well, because it has been terribly hot and I had yet another problem with the camper: the top hatch with the ceiling fan doesn't open!  What a bummer in this hot weather, and not an easy fix either.  If it isn't one thing than it is another with this vehicle.....

Anyway, let's go back to this morning, the start of a mainly hot day.  Rodney offered to be the shuttle-bus driver, since they own a caravan, and dropped Carol, Keith, Christine and me off in town.  We enjoyed strolling around the markets, on both sides of the railway line, and we also had coffee at the local bakery.  While there the train arrived, the major attraction in town and the reason why this weekend was being held a week later.

The train arriving in town after the railway was officially closed in 2015, was supposed to be an old-fashion steam train.  People had booked for this special trip because of it and must have been a bit disappointed that they now arrived being pulled by a diesel loc.  Unfortunately the steam loc had burst a pipe a few days ago and could understandably not easily be repaired.  

Many towns open railways to steam trains if possible, to make it a tourist attraction.  So did Clifton and Warwick, and it did attract a lot of people.  We watched as the diesel got locked on to pull the carriages the other way into the station again, where they were met by the town crier and the mayor who opened the line officially by cutting a ribbon.

After that we had a bit of a look around and stopped at the animal farm for the children.  I really loved the alpaca.  They have just such funny, endearing faces!

A mobile toilet got my attention too:

By now it was mid morning and Carol and Keith had had enough and went back with Rodney.  I kept going as I had been talking to a few ladies at the crafts market who demonstrated their weaving, macrame and other techniques, and I was told that the local craft shop was demonstrating with paper pulp clay.  I went and talked to the lady there and she gave me her recipe to make this type of clay myself and even her contact details for if I wanted more information.  How kind.

A few more pictures taken on my walk:

In the meantime I had directed my walk such that I could include a search for a few geocaches.  I found three this morning:

#2072 - MORTAR-FIED (cache)

#2073 - Have a Seat (cache)

If I hadn't been an experienced cacher I would not have taken this in my hand!

Look past my hand, on the metal leg of the bench

#2074 - Clifton Walkway (cache)

When the hint mentions 'a troll' I am generally not interested,
because I hate crawling under bridges, but this one was okay. :-)

Well, with three caches 'under my belt' it was time to walk back home for lunch.  The showgrounds were not far off:

Well, after lunch the usual:  a short nap, work on my blog, afternoon tea, a bit more work on my blog and tonight we'll go out for dinner to the Irish Pub.  Will follow up with photos hopefully.

Well, we had a great night at the Irish Pub, but as usual I haven't been great with my pictures, although I managed two:

Guinness, my favourite drink at an Irish Pub

The meal was nice, but unfortunately the Guinness Beef Pie was very different from one I had before.  It was like a stew in a bowl and I missed the crust and the mushy peas.... Not to worry. I had a great night out in good company.

Next I will be at Kingaroy, which, for me, will be a life-changing event! How? Read on... ;-)

BSW - Clifton Showgrounds I

Friday 8 March 2019

As I hadn't packed on Thursday, as planned, I had to do this quickly on Friday morning, however I am getting better at it.  This doesn't mean I don't forget anything though, as I do!  Every time something else, but luckily never anything major. Yet!

I had already filled up with water and had everything else in readiness except for fuel, which I topped up first close to home.  Lessons learned!

I always dread the part of the trip that leads through the city, but I made it through in the end and reached the Warrego Highway after 1-1/2 hour.  Another half hour and I could stop at the 'Big Orange' where I bought my fruit for the week and had my lunch and a quick rest as well. At Gatton I turned off the highway on a country road to Clifton.  A beautiful and scenic road which I mostly did at 80 kms/hr and even less when it became a winding road for several kms.

I made it into Clifton at 3.30 pm and was met by Christine, Ron and Rodney.  I sat down for a bit of a rest.  It's a pity I didn't have much time this week, because it would make more sense to leave a day or two earlier with a few overnight stop-overs on the way.  Perhaps next time.

Happy hour was held at the grand stand of the showgrounds where we could watch the disc bowl players at play.

After dinner we played cards.  Back to Hand and Foot with a little adjustment after just learning to play Canasta.  However, Christine and I won, so all was well. :-)