Month: September 2021

Monday, 20th September 2021.

The Deegs Duo are packing up. We take our coffees and support them from a comfortable sipping distance. We both will ultimately be heading south (although they will now go north) so a crossing of paths again is a possibility.

They take off and we adjourn to our van for breakie and planning.

Off to town for some more shopping and a hair cut for Anne? That’d didn’t work out. It turns out Monday is the hairdresser off day, but we manage to get pillows and slips from BIG W. There are those damn trees again with the big yellow flowers. What are they? The second person in the car park knew and even googled to show us.

N.B. Trumpet trees   Plant    ‘Tabebuia’ is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. The common name “roble” is sometimes found in English. Tabebuias have been called “trumpet trees”, but this name is usually applied to other trees and has become a source of confusion and misidentification.  Wikipedia   Genus: Tabebuia;  Gomes ex A.P. de Candolle   Family: Bignoniaceae    Order: Lamiales

All parts of the trumpet tree are considered poisonous, including the roots, seeds, leaves, and flowers. The plant contains various toxic alkaloids causing muscle weakness, dry mouth, dilated pupils, and hallucinations. The biggest threat is the bright fruit-like seed pods and flowers.

Not a lot going for it I guess.

We return, have left overs from last night for lunch, then start packing up the car and van.

Fish and chips from the House of Woolworths with a little salad for evening meal. Little salad? Anne couldn’t eat the fish. She was full from the chips and heap of green on the plate.

I look at the map after the meal. We didn’t do Mission Beach on the way up so in the morning I will check for accomm.

End of social for the evening. Last night was going towards ‘biggish’ so tonight was a taper off.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz              zzzzzzzzzzzzzz               zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

N.B. To laugh ….

 

 

Sunday, 19th September 2021.

Clouds and blue sky? About 50% to 50% each. Coolish.

We make it a slower day mainly chasing up people to visit or at least try. We have to book up the next few days and we work on a rendezvous with B & G.

For the first time I wear my Lions Den T shirt. I bought it for the very subtle emblem on the front …………….

………..and the not so subtle one on the back.

The rainbow Lorikeet gang are back in force. These three shots are Annes again.

And another first. I get out the BIG lens and full frame camera, this time with the support of a mono pod I got ‘el cheapo’ in Darwin. I reckon Annes are still better.

Tonight the roles are swapped. We have the Deegs Duo over to our pad for dinner. Now that’s a lie.. They had a concrete pad but we only have dirt, grass and our mat. Anyway it’s Chilli Con Carne but used as a pasta sauce for our Fettuccine, with grated strong matured cheese and the mandatory red wine.

Lots of laughing, stories and red wine till it is home time. They shuffle off for their last night and us for our pen-ultimate . Still haven’t decided on a destination for the next two nights. We just know it is Townsville  Thursday.

bed …………..

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Saturday,  18th September 2021.

Patchy sun and clouds.

Decisions. Where are we going next. Anne thinks stay here for another week and that would be pleasant because it is cool here up in the table lands. The thing is while it is cool up here it is getting hotter below us and where we want to visit  etc. The other factor is that it is school holidays so what we really need is to bunker down and hide for two weeks if we can find a spot.

Anyway, this morning small jobs. Reverse flush water filter, replace batteries in car tub alarm remote control, fix light over bed, etc etc etc. Decided after an egg on hash brown late breakfast , we will not have lunch.

Woolworth’s shopping and BWS. First one  takes longer than we thought and we bought more than we wanted and we forgot the odd necessary or two.  So nothing unusual there.

Second, the ‘Boozerama.’

N.B. The term is stolen from Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy. The original six episodes. Places were the Evildrome Boozerama, Slims Throat Emporium, and The Bistro Illegal.

Spent LOTS as everything ran out at the same time. Beer, red wine, port, Vodka and Whisky. Took a while as well. A labour of love by the way.

Then on the way back we spot these amazing trees in bloom.   Heaps of them. A local lady sees Anne taking photos and says she has never noticed these blooms before. Never noticed! We turned the corner and all we could see was all these yellow bloomed trees. Never noticed? Nice lady but she really should look up more often.

Back to camp and I am trying to get the car UHF radio to work with two hand held units. It will receive transmissions from them but cannot send. In the mean time the two hand held’s can inter act with each other. Very annoying.

Time for beer O’clock and on the walk to the Deeg Duo, the rainbow lorikeets are in the middle of dinner. The adjoining resident puts out bread crumbs.

Lou enjoys her favourite wine considering it was meant to be.

I did not mention we have been invited to evening meal for home made but premium Pizza’s and they were marvellous.

Maestro Mick practices his quality cuisine compilation. Do not try saying that after four standard drinks.

Home for a warm bed on a cold night.

zzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzzz

A little tacky but true.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, 17th September 2021

This was supposed to be the ‘slow down and catch up’ day, but it just didn’t work out like that.

Anne did the washing including bed linen. I was on the phone and internet looking for somewhere to relocate our two containers etc etc etc. The smoke cleared by about Chinese Dentist (two thirty) so I laid down for a short nap  which lasted two hours which made us (me) late and a bit punch drunk from the nap for ‘beer o’clock.’

A good chat with the Deegs Duo irrespective  till it got cold and we repaired to the oasis van. Showers, grape juice, Chicken Kiev’s, this time from The House of Coles. Bigger than Woolies but not as cheesy or garlicy. (are they real words.)

TV, more grape juice, bed ….

zzzzzzzzzzzzz              zzzzzzzzzzzzzz             zzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

N.B. Short summary so better have a joke.

 

Thursday, 16th September 2021.

Lot’s of cloud and a little sun. Quite cool/cold. Sun starts to win a bit.

It’s supposed to be a day off but it turns out huge. Toilet cassette to empty, then on to Herberton to the  Historic Museum which turned out to be incredible.

It will take too long to describe the whole think so I will just post photos with the odd note as required.

Gt to get there at 12noon to see this one running. We got there at 12.25pm, just in time to see it stopping.

Over 60 different buildings.

The Ettamogah Pub

The rail ambulance run with it’s original Citroen, 4 cylinder side valve motor,. The operator says it starts first hand crank first time, every time.

QATB stands for Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade

N.B. Ambulance services in Queensland first began in 1892. … The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) as currently known was formed on 1 July 1991 from the amalgamation of 96 individual Queensland ambulance service transport brigades (QATB).

Umpteen old ‘past it’ trucks.

Two wooden Crocodile row boats. (?)

Around six fully restored John Deere tractors. The operator started two up.

By the way, this thing is running while Anne is on it.

Anne got to drive this 1927 Chevrolet pick-up

Here she goes. Not exactly a blistering scream around the oval but a sedate chug-chug.

Heaps of cars

Stage coach and an old horse drawn hearst behind.

Toys and Dolls.

Two familiar faces.

A Henderson hat box.

The now so maligned but previously harmless and popular Golliwogs.

You know I have had debates of a sort regarding the Golliwog and I have learned why it is now disliked. What I did specifically learn by reading extensively about it is that, as per most things, it was harmless till a sector of society chose to take it down another path.

It’s called progress. Progress is why you can’t say, black lives matter or all lives matter now, because they have been hijacked by sectors of society and the  more volatile members can’t wait to jump on the band wagon. The world is now run by the noisy minority.

It was a great experience and anyone passing anywhere near should go visit but allow about 5 hours. Get there by at the very latest 12 noon. Preferably earlier.

Back home shagged out. Beer O’clock, some food, showers and …

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz                     zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz                 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

N.B. For anyone who really wants to know ALL about the humble Golliwog, click the link and put aside at least 15 minutes. Lot of time, but it is very informative. You will be a ‘Golliwog’ expert after…. https://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/golliwog/

 

Wednesday, 15th September 2021.

A bit of cloud but SUN! All good. No. Not all good. There is a noise. A loud humming with variations.

I take a walk and there is a bloody big truck on the side of the park. Turns out a whole row of sites have lost power. So they tried to dig, looking for the fault but came to a mass of pipes and roots. So this truck blasts the ground with water and sucks it out to expose the lot.

Anyway, we are off on a convoy with the Deegs Duo. We get to the Gallo dairyfarm. A lot happening when we get here. Here are Turkeys and they were gobbling their voices off till we got there, then they shut up.

Scrub fowls or whatever they are.

Then the cows are coming in for milking. Lot’s of them.

They also make CHOCOLATES!

Wall art.

Chocolate art.

Cheese, cheese and more cheese.

Anne has purchased both. Baci cheese. Similar to Brie except less runny (‘Oh I like it runny’ to quote Monty Python) but still creamy.

Machine cutting cane.

Lovely tree lined roads.

Monster strangler fig tree.

On to Yungaburra. They should rename this cafe, ‘Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.’

Magnificent old pub ….

…. which is called …

… but used to be called …

That’s a Yammy with the side car. So make up your mind. Is it angle or parallel parking?

Go to a REAL butcher and not just the meat section at Woolworths. A butcher is a specialist.

Street art

I was going to take a photo of the sign but the ladies asked to have themselves included. I agreed and also said I would refer to them as ‘The Lovely Local Ladies.’

All neat

A good description of facebook.

Many old character churches.

.. and the manse?

Knock out red lilies. ( I forget the real name.)

BIG Bunya pine in the back ground.

Old Shell bowser, looks like it still might work.

Lots of hanging flower baskets.

Two flowers.

A flower wagon.

Back to the Whistle Stop for lunch. REAL good sandwiches.

I thought it was ‘The Tree of Life’ but it was ‘The Tree of Love.’

Then to the outskirts of Yungaburra and Lake Tinaroo….

…and to the Avenue of Honour. This fabulous memorial is to honour those who lost their lives in the Afghanistan campaign and those who excelled themselves.

 

Including working dogs.

Other trees had plaques for other wartime occasions, like the 15 Australians held as POW’s in Borneo by the Japanese and were executed 13 days AFTER the end of the war. Brutal.

Back to the park. A car is covered by a tarp ….

… but attracts these lorikeets.

A short nap, beer o’clock, a shower fish for dinner at the Deegs Duo van then back for a short break then bed. It was a big day.

 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz              zzzzzzzzzzz                zzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 14th September 2021.

Up around 6.30am A little sun. More sun! It’s going to be a good day.

Then I got stuck on the computer. Anne got into clothes washing and we didn’t seem  to do much but it took the whole morning.

The Deegs Duo disappear for their third attempt at getting a new set of tyres. Hope they do better than last time. They only got 99,000 km out of their last lot. (Sarcasm. They had an incredibly good run out of them.)

We are carrying a three day collection in our cassette and the Park, while quite nice, does not have a dump point. So we are off to look for the public facility which we find ironically at the town treatment plant.

They also happen to have a ‘vegetable oil and grease trap’ dump. Handy to know …. I guess?

Job done, we are off to town. Battery for the car tub burglar alarm, a few food odds and ends and a quick look at town.

I start to drag. I think one of my spark plug leads have come off. Food and battery done but now my reversing camera is playing up and it appears to be the wire that gets pinched by the tail gate. That’s for later. A little lay down for a half hour and I perk up …. as in feel a little better. Not vomit.

A beer O’clock at the Deegs duo base and a bit of plotting and planning for a joint BBQ.

No photos because the day just flew. Very pleasant BBQ and evening chatter. A lot of laughing which meant the evening flew as well.

Home. Already showered. A bit of TV. Bed.

 

zzzzzzzzzzzzz              zzzzzzzzzzzzz             zzzzzzzzzzzz

 

N.B. A couple of jokes with a story.

I posted this first cartoon on facebook. I thought a harmless joke just posted for the pure humour, but thought I better put the little waver on the top for all the extremists.

Just a joke boys and girls. Don’t be offended. It’s just a laugh.

However, I got pounced on by a regular ‘pouncer’ with this ..

“its actually a form of violence against women Leith.”

So I posted this one suggesting it is in the same sort of category. I thought it was totally harmless. Here it is.

And I got this response …….

“gender stereotyping in humor is offensive and constitutes violence against women too Leith..”

These are cartoon birds for goodness sake!

I got many thumbs up and laughs from both male and female.

So I am thinking I will use my own parameters for deciding what is OK and the twats can continue scanning any media for an opportunity to voice their unwanted opinions.

Thank you. I feel much better now.

Monday, 13th September 2021.

Up early. The first resident left at 2am for work and the other well before our rising when Alice is the only remaining. When we plan to hitch up at 8.30am. 8.20am A call from Alice. An invitation to breakfast if we want to. I say to Alice the truth. Yes! We will come because this is the best restaurant we have been to for ages!.

So we are finally hitched and ready to go. A little late but no harm done. They are due to go to a funeral but Rui has not arrived yet. We pull out with a wave  and very content after a wonderful couple of days with good friends, … and some new ones!

Easier getting it out than in.

We are NOT going down the Gillies so we are taking the long but best way to Atherton. We head south and turn off to the right a little before Innisfail. However we stop for a look at Babinda. This is a nice spick and span town. All the businesses have new shiny colourful signs. They have made a serious and successful effort at sprucing up their town.

A park in the main street and a walk back to the bakery I spotted on the way in.

Bummer. Closed. ‘… until staff shortages in our production area have been rectified.’ It’s the same everywhere. Cannot get staff.

Listen carefully people in authority. Government! Change the rules. Get the lazy bastards on the DOL to take these jobs and be productive instead of a SUCK on society. Force them to make something of their lives and contribute to their country or put them on food stamps and encourage them to NOT reproduce. We already have enough ‘drop kicks’ and we don’t want them reproducing. We have a glut already. N.B. People with problems who want to work but are forced to survive with help from the government excused and excluded.

So no coffee but a great JUICE BAR! Great stuff. I had a 100% carrot and had a most unlikely for her ‘Hang Over.’

Then a walk down the main street and we find knitted post decorations with knitted amusing items on them.

Iron art. A horse.

At the pub entrance we disturb a nest and they are not happy.

One here V Below and one V here below.

Not happy.

 

On to another great small town. Millaa Millaa

A flash car out the front so we go into ‘Barista in the Mist.’ Yes. It is the owners car. We order and go down the street to the Public facilities while waiting.

A note saying the bathrooms are maintained by the towns people so please take care …

… another one to say ‘hand wash stolen’ only they left off ‘by some total bastard’ at the end. N.B. They say not backpackers ‘Grey Nomads!’

I don’t normally take photos of men going into toilets …

…but this guy had a kilt on. Just seemed a little out of place in tropical Far North Queensland.

Turns out the town people have planted flower and garden beds all over town. It makes for an absolute treat.

This is on The Palmerston Highway named after Christie Palmerston who trail blazed all around this end of the earth. The highway basically follows a track he blazed from Innisfail. He did so with his trustee Aboriginal buddy  ‘Pompo.’

Colour and more colour

Yet another gratuitous self adoration shot.

Anne pets the metal Cassowary .

Barista in the Mist.

Pose.

This was in the garden. It looks old and I forgot to ask what it was.

We get to our Park outside Atherton. The Atherton Holiday Park. Sounds aptly named. Set up and get together with The Deegs Duo. Beer O’clock (which included wine) talking, catching up then back for showers and more left overs. Bed. Tomorrow is another day. (Yes! Ofcourse it is! Derrr.)

 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

 

 

Sunday, 12th September 2021

FYI Today is the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 twin tower disaster.  Yes. It is the 12th in Australia and a lot of the world but New York / USA in over the international date line and a day behind. Anne and I have visited ground zero and it was a very moving and emotional experience. This was 29th July 2012. They have preserved the location and size of the two towers with these two water features and the names of those who lost their lives around the edges. We are photographed in front of the surviving tree which got a lot of coverage. I was surprised just how much it effected us.

 

Back to us and today now.

Again a little overcast. We are on a bit of a lean but it is not a permanent condition. In fact about 48 hours.

A house with two kitchens. One inside and one alfresco. Perfect for tropical living.

Breakfast/brunch feast.

11.22am and a glass of wine with the  meal. Well it is a major meal.

Fish ( I think coral trout) done to perfection.

Potatoes a la yummie.

Beautiful.

The happy consumers.

Up close.

There are three other members of the household. This is the little boy.

And here he  is with one of the girls. She is a leg licker and you always know when she is there, especially with shorts on.

Tomorrow everyone goes to work and we move on. It has been the nicest short stay. The generosity  was almost embarrassing.  Just fine, friendly  people and a pleasure to know. We will ‘See ya layta.’

Bed.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Saturday, 11th September.

Overcast. Bit of sun from time to time. I can’t get over how big this place is.

A little patch of peace with us on the left, Ian and Marie’s monster bus just back and to right then Liz and Ken’s van with the awning out, back right. In front of Ken, very pleasant total strangers.

Ian and Marie have gone to the market as well as Liz and Ken. They are all staying. We are gong but will do the market on the way out. The Bull Bar.

We fill up and are informed the rendezvous place is now not the market but The Coffee Works. What a place.

Chocoholics heaven.

Impossible to fully describe. They produce Australian coffee and it’s great.

You can’t see the cream sitting three inches on top of the milk. (in the old language.

… and of course the fridge magnets. This one … ‘Potatoes make French fries, chips and vodka. It’s like the other vegetables aren’t even trying.’

When coffee machines were marvels of engineering.

Had coffees and a quiche. What? Real men don’t eat quiche? Crap. Spinach and feta cheese. Top shelf. Then a free chocolate and coffee liqueur tasting. Not a bad parting exercise.

Last Liz and Ken photo for a while. We will cross path’s again soon. Queensland isn’t that big. Rubbish! It’s huge, but we will see.

Liz and Ken will return to Mossman for a while. We will proceed to Edmonton to see Alice and Rui. Freinds from Dili.

Missing in action. Not only wrecked but burnt out.

We arrive and we managed (somehow) to jam the van in on the front lawn. I didn’t know I was that clever. Well lucky, anyway. Rui and Alice have a great extended family and they have a monster family fun week coming up. I think they said about eighty (!!??!) at a Park camp out.

Here son-in-law Manuel and I compare car fridges. He wins. He has a Companion 75 litre fridge freezer with a lithium battery that can last 3 days without charging, but can also recharge with solar panels. Mine is an Ever-Cool with two giant deep cycle batteries each about 35 kilo’s. The photo below shows how light and small the lithium is. I just googled it. His fridge is $1245. Mine was about $1000 and each battery besides weighing a ton is about $350. Beats me hands down. He has had it for 6 months which means if anything was not right with it, he would know by now.

A classic Portuguese, Timorese hospitality exercise ensued with all sorts of ‘tasties’ both solid and liquid including ever popular and desirous butterflied chicken. A lot of talking, laughing, reminiscing and discussion made for a fabulous night that simply flew by too quickly.

Off to the van well fed and ‘lubricated.’  Showers a bit of TV and bed.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz             zzzzzzzzzzzzz             zzzzzzzzzzzzzz