Maintenance. What about these bloody tapes around my shoulder. They have to go. Now … bruises where the physio was digging for the sore spot. All good though. He did well.
Closer look at bruised spot.
Happy eggs. Not us. The provider. Tasted OK.
Let’s go to the museum. Let’s extend a day. Done.
Lets ………… !! Errr. News.
Townsville has a covid scare. Pending instruction to escalate or maintain.
SO we think, any chance to either go back on the road or fly back to Adelaide will be totally stuffed by Townsville being declared a hot spot.
The covid apparently was spread by a pilot who flew into Townsville, so perhaps down the coast is still OK. Off to Bowen.
On On,
Look close. Another wrecked car.
Long story short. we lob at …..
Guthalungra, 70km north of Bowen.
One lady with the contract to maintain these toilets and park adjacent.
The best toilets maintenance wise, I have ever, ever seen.
Good little park.
And so to the meal. The two PRIME steaks we did not have last night.
Mine at medium rare.
Anne’s rare.
By the way, I give us 10 out of 10 for accurate cooking.
I give credit to this to Mr Albert R. Husband of wife Scarlet R. Fab people and Mr Albert is a BBQ master.
Enough. Showers. Stoke up the sat dish (we are in the sticks). All is good.
Breezy and a few clouds. When do we leave? We paid for a week. Tomorrow.
Now there are a few complications. With my terrific Cousin Mal passing away, we are in a quandary. If we pack up and head back for the funeral, it will take about a week and that is without any complications on the borders. We may go back around three thousand kilometres and with a hold up, we miss the funeral anyway.
We have seriously considered putting the van and car in storage here in Townsville and flying back. However, if we fly back, we may have to go through Brisbane and I feel Brisbane is a risk zone if not officially, then possibly. Furthermore, they are talking about moving the NRL grand final to Townsville. If this happens, perhaps it becomes a hot spot and we cannot get to our van and car on attempted return which is currently our home.
We have agonised over it and it looks like we will miss the funeral and we will be so, so disappointed.
Life goes on. Look at these damn monsters. Halloween is an AMERICAN holiday! Why the hell have we been sucked into this extra consumer- fest ?
And they have ugly versions to test your ‘ … intelligence? Like warts?’
Evening meal in the camp kitchen. ‘Better their gas than ours’, to quote DBW.
Here is the main instrument.
It looks a humble fare but with the salads etc, it was ample.
Also, I must say it was an eye fillet steak, so small and light but premium at $14. The Patties were from grain fed beef.
…. and these guys were Wagyu beef and black cracked peppers ‘SNAGS.’.
Enough is enough. The pain that has developed in my right arm just below my shoulder on the outside is now a serious problem. I have tried to I.D. the cause. Driving or the laptop. I take this photo to show the physio and the day passes till the afternoon appointment. I tell my story and it is the driving but it is also aggravated by the laptop.
My personal physio Anne attends and witnesses the cause and the treatment. Not easy to miss as ‘Sam’ the physio obviously believes every picture tells a story so draws on me, then demo’s what to push and where. The stress is in the shoulder blade and it is a ‘referred’ pain in the arm. I have come across this term before. I learnt it in a ten minute session which cost me $315. from the top back surgeon for my little L4L5 problem which is another story.
He is quite clever. and teaches Anne how to treat my problem.
Listen for the short groans.
Then I am strapped to hold me in a ‘shoulders back’ position and shown some exercises to counteract the harm I have done.
N.B. I asked him THE question and got THE answer that I already guessed. That is, ‘If I did regular exercise in a gym working both opposing muscle groups would this have happened?’ The obvious answer, ‘No.’ Basically we all know we have to eat and drink in moderation and take regular exercise, both aerobic and strength training. That is out for brisk walks and using your muscles.
Sam points out the muscles as he is quite sure the felt pen marks will ultimately wash off.
So we pay up, money well spent, and skip shopping as we are running late for beer o’clock, which doesn’t happen as we are missing half the participants.
However, Anne chooses to empty the toilet cassette as it is only open from 9am to 5pm. This parks raised dump point is rather like climbing the gallows with a hand rail and steps to the platform.
We learnt a life lesson this night. We thought cleaning the toilet cassette and missing out on beer o’clock made it a bad day. That was nothing at all.
We had missed a call while at the physio but found the message later than night and returned it to Kay of the Cousin Mal and Kay fabulous team. Kay informed us my wonderful cousin Mal had passed away from a massive heart attack. Massive also describes the loss to anyone who knew him and I will say a loss to the rest of society because anyone who would have met him in the future would have been better for it and now that won’t happen for them. The sadness will linger for the rest of my life but fond memories will as well. Rest in Peace you fine, fine man. We will truly miss you.
Another sunny day. 10.25am and B & G still have not left for church yet. They don’t. We find out it will be afternoon session instead.
Slow, slack day. A few small jobs but basically nothing. Lunch together at the home of B & G with a tasty Filipino dish by G.
I try to photograph birds but they are way too high and back in the foliage. You just can’t rely on nature. Anne and I adjourn to the bed and watch TV, scoring the old earlier original version of Ben-Hur with Charlton Heston. It’s still a great movie but it drags on and on due to adverts especially in the last hour every three minutes. It was ridiculous because I have both the old (1959) and new (2016) versions on my detachable drive full of movies and can watch both uninterrupted. Maybe I’ll watch the new one, having never seen it.
Somewhere in this period, B & G go to church which is ironic. They could have stayed home and watched the movie to get a little religious instruction. For those who have lived a sheltered, nay, deprived life and never seen it, the film follows perhaps about 5 years of the life of a Jewish man Judah Ben-Hur and his fall from grace with the Romans and his unjust captivity followed by him climbing back to freedom. This is interspersed with snippets of Jesus Christ’s life leading up to his run of bad luck with said Romans and the two stories overlap from time to time. As I understand it, the Jesus part is reasonably accurate, as in it matches pretty well what is the accepted JC story. Hence my comment, maybe B & G should have just stayed home and attended a religious instruction in the comfort of their own palatial residence on wheels.
Plus also it was an action movie with huge wooden battle ships of the time ramming each other and the chariot race to end all chariot races. This bit here is near the end of the race. It goes for about 4.5 minutes and the whole thing I guess at about 10-ish minutes.
They knew how to make them back then. Also, there weren’t that many restrictions back then either. That is to say, and I quote, ‘ How many horses were killed in the making of (1959)Ben-Hur?’ (answer) ‘ …. according to film historians, as many as 100 horses were killed during the production of the iconic film. The second-unit director of “Ben-Hur” reportedly ordered horses be shot and killed “if they limped,” without seeking veterinary care.’
Well, at least it was getting better. And again, ‘How many horses died filming Ben-Hur?’ (answer) ‘150 horses. During the chariot race in the 1925 film Ben-Hur, up to 150 horses were killed. Yakima Canutt, the legendary Hollywood stunt man (and occasional John Wayne double), created one dangerous procedure involving horses..
It is stated twelve CGI horses were killed in the 2016 version. However, CGI is apparently created on the computer so hence , zero real ones I assume. By the way, apparently the 2016 version was a flop.
Well, you got bugger all out of Sunday 26th September from me except the 1959 Ben-Hur. BUT understand, it was a BLOCK BUSTER and it produced the now old term few people appreciate these days which was used to describe a large event ….. ‘Bigger than Ben-Hur!’ Just go watch it and DON’T pussie around with the new version. 1959 was THE Ben-Hur.
Snack dinner, showers, another movie ….
zzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz
Yawohl! Noch ein lustiger!
(Thought I’d stick to the theme.)
By the way, translation of above. ‘Yes! Another funny!’ (German)
Much sunnier this Saturday morning. A quick shot through the window. Today we plan to do nothing touristy. Anne does the washing to whip the day into a frenzy of excitement. To give credence to that statement, that included the bed linen. I did my part and contacted storage facilities to check for places to put our two 20 ft containers.
We hit lunchtime and nothing boosts a blog more than a half eaten ham and cheese sandwich. I was just showing how generous I am with the ham. Ever since we went to New York and I could have a genuine, honest, to goodness, New York pastrami on rye, I know to pile it on now.
This is a generic photo of same. Notice the layers? In fact the one I had was about double the slices but thinner slices. I liked the fact than because they were so thin, even though there was lots of pastrami, it was easy to bite through.
B & L are off for his 3000 steps he must do per day. We do the opposite . We veg on the bed and watch a movie. To be specific, that great little film ‘Chef.’ After a while I get up and sit at the computer as when I recline past 45 degrees, I go into hibernate mode. The TV turns to allow viewing from both my seat and the bed. (I chose to not show Anne in repose.)
See? The chef with his son, learning the trade.
One of many bush turkeys.
Another fabulous unfrozen fish and chips meal with salad then off to the camp kitchen at 6pm to watch the AFL grand final. We though we should be early to get a seat. Notice the buzzing crowd. Ironic because I don’t follow the AFL but it was the grand final after all. By last quarter there was only me, Bruce and a young Italian couple watching it while they were cooking then texting friends. We managed to disrupt them enough. to make it a good evening.
Watched it to the end. Good match. Melbourne Football Club beat Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium in Perth.
N.B. A GRAND NEW FLAG: Demons end 57 years of AFL agony with 17 minutes of magic. Melbourne has ended the AFL’s longest premiership drought, kicking 12 unanswered goals to beat the Western Bulldogs by 74 points and win the 2021 Grand Final. Melbourne defeated the Western Bulldogs 140–66.
Not cold. Just a bit cool-ish. We wander over to Christine and Nicks and chat for a while. They have a Supreme van as well but a Territory model and they are very well set up. Nice people in a nice van. Time to wave them farewell with a ‘See-ya-layta.’ sign off.
We touch base with B & G. It is to be a Filipino restaurant for lunch 12.30 pm .
Off to lunch, just the five of us if you include Rasputin, the Rabid, Rodent, Rabbit we found in the back seat. I just named it. We should go commercial with it. It’ll sell like hotcakes.
Might have to narrow it’s eyes a bit, put a scar on it’s cheek and give it some sort of visual ailment or disease, but that will give it character and people will relate, I’m sure. OK. We might have to target specific areas, but it’ll work.
I’m thinking more like this …
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Rasputin, the Rabid, Rodent, Rabbit. ‘Buy him, muzzle him, cuddle him, love him, delouse him.’
We overshoot a couple of times due to a rebel GPS but finally arrive at Cecil’s Sweet Treats previously noted for it’s food, but now noted for it’s closed sign. The nice lady next door at ‘Uncommon Ground’ coffee place (sounds like grounds for divorce rather than coffee) says they, next door have been away for a week. So we go further afield and get to choose between Irish Finnegan’s or Fasta Pasta. The latter wins for no better reason than the serves will be bigger. They were. Much bigger but more money than Irish Finnigans Seniors List. We also had a red, after all it is Italian.
We roll out of Fasta Pasta much slower than we went in and are off to make enquiries at the Magnetic Island Ferry aiming at doing touristy things. A discount if we leave at 5am? You haven’t got a gun big enough.
We go home for a little nap before beer O’clock. I wake up a few hours later at 6.30 pm-ish. OK. Big meals in the middle of the day do not promote sparkly individuals and sure, there was wine but just two glasses. That being said, the day is over.
Showers, a snack dinner, TV, a glass of grape juice, cuddle down with your Rasputin and …..
Cool night. Overcast morning. Cold feet and we will move on to Townsville today. First, a walk down to the public toilets for a few necessities of life.
Walking back we notice this little van has pulled in.
Have a close look. The bed folds out the front and the door is on the back wall as is the awning. For someone who doesn’t need much, it’s a little winner.
N.B. Keep in mind we came across the Barkly to Townsville, then turned north to Cooktown and are now on our way back down to Townsville to meet B & G then on further south to catch up with other friends and/or associates.
On the road, we pull into Cardwell, for the second time. We love the place.
N.B. The Governor of Queensland, Sir George Bowen (1859-1868) named the coastal town after the prominent British politician Edward Cardwell who, at the time, was Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Self adoration. Note the huge Hinchinbrook Island to the right in the background. It is so long, stretching parallel to the main land that Captin Cook actually thought it was part of the mainland.
About 11.30am on the foreshore. Quite a few people around.
I more or less ignored this marker when there, but looking at the photo closely I realise it is a commemorative marker for Colleen Gayle McLaughlin. She was born 25-5-1964 and lost at sea 16-4-1989. If she had lived, she would now be 56 but she didn’t quite make it to 25. It’s called fate and there is no control over it. I bet there’s a story in there.
A boat ramp?
It’s only Thursday but there are vendors and food wagons scattered. This guy even gets a mention if you google it. I had just eaten a very healthy and early lunch. A ham and salad wrap. Much better than a famous and raved about and held in the highest local esteem meat pie or any of the other 20-ish alternatives. Yes. Much better. I’m so glad I MISSED having one. So very bloody glad! (!!#!#@??!?)
On the road again (not a bad title for a song) and I squint to I.D. this thing pulled over. Turns out to be a thumping great boat with a couple of big outboards on the back.
We find the place, pick a site in only an hour. The choice took so long because it was based entirely on avian faeces and flora seed stains. We find Bruce and Girlie and also Christine and Nick who we met in Esperance last February or March. Drinks ensued till dark and we all withdrew to our separate vans for evening meal, ablutions etc.
Christine and Nick will be off tomorrow.
Left over green chicken curry for dinner. Showers, movie ….
Was a quiet night. Not a bad day. Up for a walk into town. (and the public toilets for the daily.)
Sugar processing mill in the main road into town.
Statue of pioneers.
The big boot. 7.9 metres high, same as the biggest flood they had.
Yes. Forget what it was. Ah. I think the artists who made the white fibreglass figures … I think.
Anne gets her hair cut. And so do I in the barbers up the road.
Had a great coffee and toasted sandwich with great Irish service girl.
Love them backing in. Very practical.
The last bend in the main street to the end of town. So close to the mountains, it looks like it would be a five minute walk to them.
A bit of photography trivia here. Photo, with flash. So front lighting on Anne. People in back ground a little darker.
Photo, without flash. No front lighting so just a little washed out and background is same exposure.
This time no flash, but I stand back and zoom in so that Anne appears same size. This makes background appear to be up closer. Old trick for anyone who knows.
The Kitchen shop. $$$$$$$$$. The difference between NEED and WANT.
Example 1. We have two steak knives but we now have two with white handles to match the set. They are Victorinox. WANT 100%. NEED 0%
Example 2 We do not have a Pizza dish and have managed but we are doing more Pizza’s now. WANT 75%. NEED 25%
Example 3. Pizza cutter. We have managed with a big knife.. WANT 90%. NEED 10%
Example 4. Small fry pan. We had a quite small first pan but it was no longer non stick, so we got a slightly larger second pan to replace the first. Now the second pan is also no longer non stick so we bought the new third pan to replace the second. HOWEVER, we still have and use the first pan. So I shall wait and watch with interest to see if the first and second pans go or stay. Third pan. WANT 80%. NEED 20%. In the hour that we were there, the nice lady who owns the place went from polite to friendly and happy.
Fab tree. Trees of Life. RAIN TREES, imported from central and south America by early settlers for shade.
Fab fern. Lot of FAB here.
Home sweet home.
Some Portuguese Bacalhau. We had 18 years in an ex-Portuguese colony, (East Timor/Timor Leste) and we have memories and acquired tastes.
However tonight will be a light meal of omelette. Anne chooses to use her newly acquired THIRD fry pan because it is currently ‘non stick.’
Must call for accomm. in Mission Beach. It will be warmer there. We will be coming down off the tablelands. Nope. There is however a free camp at Tully. Must go to info centre to register. You can’t book.
Then five minutes before we pull out of Atherton Holiday Park, the car I have been perving on with tarp over, uncovers and pulls out.
Holden panel van. Year? After 71. Maybe 73-ish.
Now THAT’S a tarp.
That’s where we were.
We stop at Millaa Millaa for more coffee’s at Barista in the Mist. AND a Brownie with Macadamia nuts !!!!
Still in Millaa Milla, Christy Palmerston was a trail blazer in the area and was once offered three hundred pounds to blaze a trail from I think Port Douglas to Cairns or something like that. He was paid twenty pounds instead of three hundred and the cheque BOUNCED! Yes! there were total bastards around even back then.
Local museum
I forget what this ordinary looking guy did but it obviously didn’t do him well.
We get to Tully Info Centre and register. We are shown an Ariel view of where to park, but we find it anyway.
Not straight but in.
A quick look in town. We sit outside and read books (!!!!!) for a while.
