Returning Home Part 2

At one of the parks we stopped for a comfort break on Wednesday I was captivated by this amazing sculpture.  It stood about 8 ft tall I guess,, and very imposing.  The second photo shows what it is all about and I think it performs its function well.

 This rear view was very difficult to take because of the angle of the sun. I had noticed that the head of the figure was looking backwards and when I had a good look, there is actually a sort of face with a nose even though it is not easy to see.  The left arm is truncated at the elbow, but also points to the rear.


Notice though that although the figure looks back to the past paying tribute to those who came before, it is moving forward into today's world.  Or that's the way I see it anyway.

Some of the gardens in the same park

After lunch we headed towards Toowoomba, familiar ground to us all after our oldest daughter having lived there for a while.  Sheep could now be seen in the paddocks as well as cattle.  As we steadily made our way up the side of the Toowoomba plateau the temperature dropped and at 500metres it was down to 18 deg.

I found the name 'Goombungee' interesting, but the origin is unknown. Passing through the outskirts of Toowoomba we added Cabahla  to the 'must see one day' list after seeing the Cuckoo Clock Centre.  And immediately after that was Highfields, which had a place advertising Danish Flower Art.

There was lots of autumn colour in Toowoomba, where deciduous trees do well due to the high elevation and cold winters.

We were very weary and the roads had been windy.  I'm not sure whether going the back way (New England Highway) to miss all the roadworks on the Pacific Highway was actually any faster, because of the climbing up and down and the curvy road.  It definitely is if you are just driving a car but towing a caravan we're not convinced with the caravan as far as saving time goes.  Plus we did actually come across road works anyway.

We finally arrived at Warwick at 5.45, weary and glad to stop for the evening.  We hadn't made as much distance as we would have liked but I think our plans were somewhat ambitious.  I loved this cartoon in the ladies' amenities block:

An early night and a good sleep, and we woke to a chilly morning.  The scenery continued to change as we made our way south.  After Stanthorpe we passed vineyards and wineries.  There were also quite a few 'arty' places, selling crafts, soaps etc.  The 'Bramble Patch' looked enticing wiht its giant raspberries on the sign.

The Carriage Stop Accommodation and the Coach Inn Cafe - really good names for miniature projects, and tempting to stop and visit but of course Peter wasn't interested and I wanted to see our family.  Up a laneway a sign pointed to Honeysuckle Cottages Accommodation, which is always a picturesque name.

Girraween - it seems strange to see an eco lodge with the same name as a suburb of Sydney . I happen to know that this word means the place of flowers, and I've noticed several places with the name in our travels.

We saw lots of caravans and mobile homes today - all heading north of course, to warmer parts.  Much more sensible than we were, heading south!

At Tenterfield there were lots of lovely autumn colours, brilliant against the green of the native vegetation.

We had lunch at Guyra, doing a u-turn to go back to the restaurant and I had a mental image of Iris (our gps) gritting her teeth as she kept insisting that we do another u-turn to go back the way we'd been going; or to turn right then left to bring us back on course.  Was it our imagination or was that voice becoming just that bit shriller vbg? In the end Peter turned her off until we had finished lunch and we were on our way again.  I think he wishes he do that with me at times too!

And after Guyra we ran once more into roadworks.  Mid afternoon we reached Tamworth, Country Music Capital of Australia.  You are greeted with this huge golden guitar just to remind you if you haven't seen all the other reminders!

We were on Goonoo Goonoo Rd, and Iris had a very quaint way of pronouncing it even though she has an Australian voice.  Goonoo Goonoo means 'place of good water'.  We changed drivers, with me taking the wheel for a while.  Iris is rather unobservant and hadn't noticed the change-over.  She kept reminding us that we'd been driving for more than 2 hours.  

I handed the wheel back just outside Murrurundi - meaning 'five fingers', a representation of the rock formation visible at the northern end of the township.  The day had become more and more overcast since late morning and then, the sky thickly blanketed in clouds,  it had started to rain just after Tamworth.  By 3pm the light was so poor it felt more like 6pm.  So by 5pm when we swapped it was quite misty and dim.

We finally arrived in Muswellbrook at 5.50pm.  It was dark and raining and at first Peter insisted that the caravan park in the middle of town was the only one.  I rang Kirsten to confirm the instructions she had given me and we went to that one but it was full so we returned to the first one.  At first they too said they were full but when the manager checked out their last remaining site it wasn't as muddy as he thought it would be with the rain and let us have that space.  We unhitched and went to visit our family.  Kirstie had prepared a delicious 'belated Mothers' Day dinner' for us and it was wonderful to see everyone again.  Each time we see the children they have grown and matured.  We are looking forward to seeing more of them now they are closer to us.

Next morning it was back to their place then off to Maitland, an hour further towards Sydney, where there was a caravan, camping and boating exhibition.  Kirsten and Jason want to buy a larger tent and a boat, and we wanted to look at caravans.  We saw a couple of designs we liked - now all we have to do is work out how to pay for one lol!  

Then it was time for loving 'goodbyes' again, promises to see them soon and we completed the last kilometres to home, arriving there around 6pm. 

And so our little break came to an end.  Not a long holiday, and only covering a bit over 3,500 kms but we have packed a lot into that time and distance. Thank you for sharing this time with me! It's truly great to have had your company and interest.  So - until next holiday

Blessings,

Sandie

Sad to leave - time to return to Sydney Part 1

Bundaberg is reputed to have the third most perfect climate in the world, apparently.  It is certainly lovely.  Crops include sugar, bananas, macadamia nuts, ginger and different types of fruit.  Nathan was impressed with the sugar cane:

Some of the bananas were covered to ripen and protect them

Ginger was growing in huge paddocks

And of course being in the tropics there were palms everywhere, and tropical gardens. 


On the last morning we woke at 5.40, which was later than we had intended since we planned on leaving the house at 7am.  We had slept in the caravan overnight having packed a lot of our things back in there, but we all found it hard to get the momentum going.


I did take the time to go down to the park beside Jan's house though to take some photos of the  sunrise at 6.15, to try out my new Pentax camera.  Fortunately the basic functions are similar enough to my Nikon that I was able to start taking photos virtually straight away, though I still have to explore the instruction book to explore the functions in detail. I took lots and lots of photos of the sunrise, and this is my favourite one.  My daughter, who has studies photography, also approved so I feel quite pleased with that.

We were late leaving, to my embarrassment; it was 8am before Peter drove the van out of Sandy's driveway to the front of Jan's house (a whole 3 houses lol).  I was able to have some photos taken with Jan in front of Sandy's house,

And I actually managed to get one photo at Jan's house of Jan, Jim and their beloved Zoe, queen of the house, with Zoe only covering a part of Jan's face before we reluctantly said 'Goodbye'

Jim makes the most gorgeous model boats.  I don't have a photo of the ones in his garage, which he has made from scratch, I just snapped a quick shot of this one in their hallway.  He is rigging the one in the garage and it is even larger than this one, which is about 1 metre long (39").  

When we left Bundy it was 20deg, blue skies and beautiful.  It was sad to leave, Nathan had expressed that he wished we could stay longer, as had Peter.  In fact Sandy had said on the phone to Jan that we would be welcome to stay for another month - and if we didn't need to come back for my preaching commitment we would have definitely stayed longer.  


But at least we had the prospect of seeing our youngest daughter and four gorgeous grandchildren to look forward to and that is always a joy.  Our grandchildren were hoping we'd be there by tomorrow because they have a pupil-free day and will be home from school but we didn't know that.  It was however definitely an incentive to drive as far as we safely could today in order to lessen the distance left to travel tomorrow.  We want to see as much of them as possible of course.


Australia is a big country, and when you are driving you get a true feeling for how big it is. Here is a map showing it in relation to Europe.

Aus is about the size of the USA's 48 contiguous states.

 And Queensland is our second largest state, so we had a long distance to drive.  Aussies are used to getting in the car and driving - we have done so (without the caravan and with) for up to 12 hours but dislike doing that now we are getting older.  But for instance to get from Sydney to Brisbane in one go, that is just what you have to do - without a caravan.  This map shows Sydney in New South Wales and Bundaberg, north of Brisbane in Queensland.

I love road trips because you really get a feel for the place: the changing landscape and environment; the little hamlets or villages, towns, and cities.  It gives you a chance to meet with such a wide range and variety of people, see the different animal and bird species.


Some names and their meaning from this morning:
Ban Ban Springs - European interpretation of Aboriginal words for grass
Gayndah - either 'thunder' or 'place of scrub' depending on which Aboriginal language is used
Goomeri - broken shield
Murgon - a place where water ripples
Nanango - possibly means Large Watering Hole


Peter had insisted on doing all the driving so far and I knew he needed a decent break although we had had a couple of short stops. By the time we arrived at Nanango ((12.44) we were well and truly ready for a lunch break. It was pleasant weather for driving, still only 23 deg and with a nice breeze blowing but it is still tiring.  I noticed that there were locally-grown peanuts for sale there, but we didn't take the time to buy any.  Shame.


We pulled into a side street opposite the information centre, behind another caravan. I made a few notes in our travel journal while Peter went off to investigate the offerings of a noodle bar i Had noticed..  They were gone quite a while so I started working on some plans I am developing for 2 scratch-built quarter scale houses, one of them a typical 'Queenslander' house, a style I really love.  Here's an example I photographed a few years ago on Fraser Island.

They are raised off the ground - some higher than others, to allow the cooling breezes to pass underneath.  Toowoomba also has some lovely examples of these old Queenslanders, which have now become very desirable and highly sought after.  Being raised high helps keep them cooler in summer and of course underneath (as well as the wide verandahs) provides room to dry washing and for children to play in the wet season or when it is too hot to play our in the direct sun.


I have vivid memories of visiting my cousin, her husband and 4 children in Bundaberg when I was just 9 or 10, and playing in those areas in the shade because it was hot (over 100 deg F) .  Not that it felt it, because it was dry heat.  Sydney meanwhile at the same time sweltered in a heat wave with highter temperatures plus high humidity.  And people had scoffed at Mum and Dad for travelling north during the Christmas break, which of course is summer for us.    I have loved these beautiful high-set houses ever since.


We were no sooner sitting in the park to eat our noodles than there was a (by now) familiar sound and Nathan exclaimed in delighted surprise as not just one but three, then four, then five blue-faced honeyeaters arrived at a nearby picnic table.


This has been a really long post, so I will continue the tale later.  Meanwhile,
blessing,
Sandie.

The boys out and about

While Jan and I were happily mini-ing away to our hearts' content, Peter and Nathan did get some sightseeing done in and around Bundaberg.  They both absolutely love Bundaberg ginger beer, it is their favourite soft drink so of course the first place they wanted to see was  the factory.  There are no tours of the factory itself, but there is a self-guided tour using audio wands to guide you through several rooms displaying the history of ginger and its uses over time, and the development of ginger beer and the methods used to brew it.  Its an interactive display, with people creating a virtual version of ginger beer and seeing the 'results' of their ideas of what goes into it.  It's very cleverly done.  Peter's first effort 'exploded' because he left it brewing too long.


The tour was followed by a visit to the sales room where they were given a taste test of all the different Bundaberg soft drinks, then off to the Cooperage where they saw a video of keg making followed by a live demonstration of a man fitting new bands to a keg. 

Another visit was to the Bert Hinkler Museum, which introduced Nathan to one of Australia's aviation heroes. They learned about his many inventions during World War I that made flying safer, such as modifying the device that shot bullets from guns in aeroplanes through the turning propeller at a more efficient speed so that they didn't hit the propeller. Also the shells ejected from the bullets often fell in on the lap of the gunner if the pilot was manouvering, and Hinkler invented a device to eject them to the side instead of falling into the plane and burning the gunner's lap.  He also invented a way of swinging the wings back on biplanes so that more could be fitted side by side in the hangar.


This is a model of the Avro Moth, the plane in which he flew around the world.

Peter tried to get Nathan to climb into the cockpit but he could only get as far as the wing.

Here is a sea plane that Hinkler designed and built.  His untimely death prevented him from getting it into production.

Just down the road from Jan's house is a park in which kangaroos are regularly seen.  We visited it several times in the hope of getting a sight of them but an electricity sub-station is being built at one end of the park at the moment and all the activity is keeping them away. They enjoyed visiting these and other places, though they also enjoyed staying at the house - I think they liked to just rest after our hectic week at Grey Nomads lol!  But Peter as usual kept busy shopping too.  He loves to go shopping for groceries - I think it's his 'escape'.  What he sees in it is beyond me!


On Sabbath we were invited to the home of one of the members for lunch, after church.  We surely picked the right week to visit!  There were about 10 other people there too, for a kind of potluck luncheon and it was a true feast.  We had debated about which of the three Adventist churches to attend and finally settled on St Andrews Adventist. There was another just a little bit closer, but there was a craft fair on right near it and we thought that parking might be a bit hard to come by.  It was a happy chance that made us pick St Andrews - not only was parking a little bit easier but we have met quite a few lovely people and hopefully they will be familiar faces if we visit again, even if we don't remember their names.  The church was formerly a Presbyterian church and it is beautiful.  I should have taken photos for when I build a miniature church vbg.

Both Nathan and Peter have enjoyed our stay in Bundaberg.  Nathan commented that he wished we could stay for longer.  He doesn't often say that although he does enjoy holidays.  And he enjoys travelling too - not the actual driving all that much but the destinations.  But he really loves Bundaberg.  And so does Peter.  So I have a strong feeling that we'll be coming back!


Next post - starting our return trip.
Until then, 
blessings, Sandie

Beautiful Bundaberg

It was a disturbed night with worrying news.  The phone rang at 10pm.  It was my brother to say that his older son Paul (not the one who lives with us, Paul lives with Terry) had taken himself off to Casualty that afternoon with an acute pain in the stomach.  The hospital rang Terry at 6.30 to say that Paul was being transferred to another hospital for surgery - this was the first Terry knew anything about it.  He was working at Camden, a good hour to hour and a half's drive away.  And he'd been working on an angle grinder all afternoon so he was filthy and tired. He is restoring an historic house and does all sorts of work, from beautiful cabinetry to ensuring that old stables don't fall down.

The second phone call was at 12 midnight to say that Paul was being prepared for surgery and the third call at 2am was to say that he had come through and was in recovery.  Paul has Crohns Disease and an ulcer had perforated, due to use of pain killers.  He is a very sick young man and still in ICU each time we have checked today.

'Iris' our GPS, would not accept Jan's address so we just put in Bundaberg and Iris in her technological wisdon decided that we needed West Bundaberg, which we didn't - Jan lives right on the water, so it is definitely not west since Bundaberg is on the east coast.

However you cannot argue with computerized gizmos when they have the bit between their teeth, so we humoured her - it.

It is certainly another gorgeous day, 20degC, blue skies.  Queensland is looking good right now, after a very traumatic, wet, Wet Season.  The Dry Season has so far has hardly been dry either, and everything is green and lush.

In just 20 minutes we passed the turn-off for the Glasshouse Mountains, and Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, so we had nearly reached Peter's goal after all yesterday.  Radiata Pine plantations appeared alongside, the trees growing straight and tall, standing as though on parade in orderly rows.  This timber is used in Australia for house frames and such.  Small, self-seeded ones lurked at the edges, looking like cadets watching in admiration and thinking 'I want to be big and strong like you when I grow up'.

We passed the Ettamogah pub at Caloundra, one of several in Australia based on a popular and iconic cartoon series. On our 2008 Queensland trip we had a meal here.

The names we pass are so familiar to us Aussies that we forget that they are unusual - even exotic - to others.  In multisyllabic words we usually put the emphasis on the second syllable, though only slightly, so Maroochydore is pronounced Mar- oo-chee-door.  Capital city names though are an exception  for some reason, with the emphasis slightly on the first syllable.   And of course there are many other exceptions to the rule as there are for all English rules lol!  I have been thinking a lot about the names we come across this trip, as have been making an effort to find the meanings of them, as you will have noticed.

By 9.30 it was 22 deg, the traffic was light and we were travelling at 95kph.  It was so nice after yesterday.  Naturally since we are towing we go slower than if we were just driving.  

The parts of the road I like the best are where the bush comes down to the sides of the road, whether hiding development behind it or as part of undeveloped areas.

As we drove we saw many signs for other places familiar from our 2008 Queensland trip.  Rainbow Beach,  Fraser Island - where signs on the beach warn to watch for planes.  It is an official runway and we were told that it is the only official beach runway in Australia - in the southern hemisphere, I think.

Tin Can Bay, where on a cold day we stood in chilly rain and freezing water and hand the joy of hand feeding wild dolphins.  Nathan got to feed 2 of them in fact.

We stopped for fuel at Matilda Travel Centre, had a yummy scone.  When we returned to the car we found that Peter had forgotten to close the windows on the car, which had my handbag, camera, phone and other valuables in it.  We had prayed for a safe and uneventful journey as usual before we left this morning and now I gave thanks to the Lord for His protection. The Lord is good indeed!

Feeling rested, refreshed and renewed enthusiasm that we were getting closer to Bundaberg we resumed our trip, soon passing a sign for Maryborough.  We had been there in 2008 too, just in time for the Mary Poppins festival which had conveniently been re-scheduled to fit in with our visit.  Very kind of them!  PL Travers, author of the Mary Poppins books, was born in and spent her early years in Maryborough and each year there is a full-on festival with lots of activities, people in costume, 

and a parade.

In town there is a statue of Mary Poppins herself.

And no, the town is not named after Mary Poppins.  It sits on the Mary River, which was re-named in 1847 by Governor FitzRoy after his wife, Lady Mary Lennox.

Cane farms were more in evidence now, the huge spraying system on one farm stretched so far I couldn't count the sections.  I took over the driving from midday.  Iris had been silent for some time and we thought she was sulking .  We had just commented on it.  But when we stopped to swap over for me to drive she spoke up and told us to continue for 61 kms.  Sorry Iris, I know we're annoying but sometimes we just have to stop and you'll  just have to put up with it!  It was 24deg now, a glorious day with a nice breeze.

28 kms out of Bundy we stopped in a rest area off the highway for a sandwich.  Another caravan had already set up for the night.  You can free-camp there overnight.  there is a dry compost toilet but no potable water.  I know these toilets go well for private homes the public ones in rest areas are not my favourite thing.  I don't enjoy having to use them at all.

A baby black-headed butcher bird and a baby magpie came begging for food, almost climbing into the caravan.

Juvenile Butcher Bird

Juvenile Magpie

Adult Magpie - and yes, it was actually larger than the juvenile and about twice the size of the juvenile Butcher Bird.

 The man from the other caravan came over to talk - he had had to butcher bird eating from his hand but he said his wife didn't appreciate the big monitor lizards walking through their camp-site.  They had seen about six of them.  Don't think I'd enjoy that either - they can be huge!

We shared our lunch with a whole family of magpies in the end, the baby butcher bird, a kookaburra and a crow.  But they are very fussy eaters - they didn't like rye bread, only the fresh light rye.  And we don't have any meat for them either - so bad luck, birdies vbg.

We finally arrived at Jan's, and were made so very welcome.  We are now settled into her daughter Sandy's lovely house, feeling very comfortable.  It is so good to be with her again and I'm looking forward to the next few days.

So for now - blessings,

Sandie

Wednesday- a snailing we go

I love this sign on the main road.  Isn't that wonderful?  We have signs at home saying take care: children, elderly people, etc.  Here they have those but also koalas.

The day started with Nathan's excited return from the amenities.  As he had come out of the toilet block two rainbow lorikeets had come and landed on him - one on his head, the other on his shoulder.  Because he has a pronounced startle reflex (result of his certebral palsy) they flew off quickly when he reacted but he was still thrilled by it all.


As he walked past the tent of a couple from Tasmania camped opposite us a brush turkey stolled past. They wander around the caravan park a fair bit and Peter took a photo of it later on.

 It is a while since Nathan has seen one (on our WA trip) and he was talking to Sue, one of the couple camped opposite about it - he is a very sociable young man and always chats to people. We have also been getting to know a them little bit.  People are friendly on the whole in caravan parks. Peter has been answering their questions and giving Ian instructions on how to get to their destination while still avoiding the traffic of Sydney and the tollways; and I have been talking about the best way of touring Tasmania.  When we returned from Susan's they asked if we had been sightseeing, I told them I had a miniaturist friend...what's a miniaturist....we make scale model houses....and so it went, and I showed them the gorgeous outfit that Susan had made.  They were absolutely blown away by that!  


So the following morning I hear Peter rummaging in the back of the car - and next thing I know he is showing them one of my quarter scale houses!  It was Honeysuckle Cottage, a Petite Properties one.  Then he showed them the partially-built John F Craig.  They were still so intrigued by the little outfit that they had been asking more questions about miniatures.  


It's lovely here, listening to the kookaburras and the whip birds.  These shy birds aren't often seen but are often heard, with a distinctive long, drawn out note followed by a distinctive sound just like a whip crack; then some soft follow-on notes, which are actually the female responding.  Although it sounds like a single bird it is in fact a duet.  

There are also lots of kookaburras here.  A family of four flew down from to line up on the clothesline outside the amenities and watched Peter  with great interest as he came out and returned and returned to our van.  Wondering what he was doing in there perhaps? More likely wondering if he had something for them to eat lol.


I'd love to have a leisurely trip one day where we could stay on if we wanted to see the sights of a place, or rest.  To be true 'grey nomads'!  One day.  For now we are just fortunate that we are able to have a holiday.


We set off quite early today, headed towards Brisbane.  We were thinking that 5 hours driving, plus another hour for lunch and breaks would get us there, and we would only have another shorter day's drive tomorrow to Bundaberg.


Except that there are extensive roadworks virtually all the way!  Our 5 hours turned into 9 hours, with all the stretches where we crawled along in head to tail traffic or stopped while they allowed the traffic coming the opposite way to use the one lane open.


24 kilometres into the trip we passed Halfway Creek again,  If it was halfway before, how can it still be halfway all these kms further on lol?


We stopped at Grafton, the 'Jacaranda City' for fuel and an early lunch at 11.45.  Had the most delicious vegie burger: a vegie patty the size of a small bun, fried onion, tomatio, lettuce, cucumber, beetroot (a real Aussie burger!) and pineapple, all with a sweet chilli sauce. 


We've never managed to get to Grafton when the Jacaranda Festival is on, but it must be a sight to see.  I love these trees and we have one in our back yard at home.

The McLeay River was sparkling in the sunlight as we crossed the bridge over it.  It's so good to see every waterway and dam full of water compared to our last visit to Queensland when the drought was still on.


Soon we began to see sugar cane farms lining the road, though there are fewer than there used to be, due to the recent floods and cyclones.  After the years of drought these were the last straw, especially with lower prices for sugar.


Also banana properties more in evidence though again far fewer than I am used to seeing. Cyclone Yasi was the death knell for many of these farmers too. 


At 2.30 we stopped at a roadside rest area for a break.  This area has a thick screen of native  bush beside the road and around, left at the request of indigenous Australians of the area to show what it was like before European settlement.  The rest area itself was nicely shaded by trees and as we prepared to leave I heard a sweet bird call and went to investigate its source. I managed with difficulty to get some photos of the bird and later emailed our friends Marilyn and Richard to ask them to identify it - they know their birds and we have left our bird books at home.  they had no trouble identifying it as the Blue-Faced Honeyeater, about 25-30cm (10-12") in size.  

There was another caravan set up already for the night.  They have sold their house, bought a caravan and 4WD and been travelling for 7 years now with visits to their family for special occasions.  I love the idea but like the security of a permanent home to return to or sell at the  end.  Besides, where would I put all my miniatures lol?


With so much stopping at roadwords we didn't make good time at all.  By 3.15 we'd only done 320 kms - and we were stopped again.  Soon after that we arrived at Ballina, and as we passed through we could smell the Broadwater Sugar Mill. On the other side of Ballina macadamia nut farms were more and more frequent.


By 3.30 we were at Tweed Heads, on the New South Wales-Queensland border and by 4pm Brisbane was still 137 kms away.  Peter was disappointed.  He had hoped to make the Glasshouse Mountains or Brisbane but with all the roadworks we did well to get as far as we did.  He had to be satisfied with at least reaching Queensland.  By 4.45 we were looking for an exit from the motorway to somewhere we could find a caravan park.  We inquired at a service station to find that the closest was way, way back at Burleigh Heads.  There was no way we were going to backtrack that far, so Peter decided to push on and perhaps stop overnight at a truck stop once again.


We kept going on the freeway toward Brisbane and of course by now it was peak hour traffic so we were glad that it was 5 lanes of highway heading north.   That finally reduced to 4, then 3 lanes but the traffic flowed well as more and more cars turned off for different destinations: Ipswich & Toowoomba, Stradbroke Island etc.


As dusk rapidly faded to darkness, it was only 21 kms to Brisbane.  The cacophony of birds settling in trees for the night reminded us to keep looking for somewhere to settle ourselves too.  Finally we took the exit for the Sunshine Coast tollway.  


We were pleased to be bypassing the city - all routes to the suburbs were choked solid with peak hour traffic, head to tail and at a crawl at best, mostly at a standstill.  We in comparison were at least moving steadily - finally.


By 6pm we had reached Mudgee Beach turnoff, and again came to a stop.  I was starting to feel that I'd like to stop soon but I had a feeling that Peter wanted to push on to the Sunshine Coast and that was another 84kms further on.  We finally started to move in fits and starts for quite a long time until we passed the exit where the cars were banked back, causing the delay.  


Then suddenly at 6.30 Peter took an exit ramp to a service centre, with a service station, a couple of restaurants, a car and caravan parking area and truck stop.  And we were set for the night!


considering we'd been on the road for 9 hours, actually driving for 7 1/2 of them, we had only done 472 kms.  That was slow going.  We had expected to go much further than that in just 6 hours driving.  But we are here, we are safe and we can now have a good sleep!


Some names and their Aboriginal meanings from the trip today:
Mudgee - from the Wiradjuri term Moothi meaning 'nest in the hills' or 'mou-gee' meaning 'contented'.
Tyagarah Ck - 'tussocks of sharp bladey grass' or 'open grass country'; also camping ground.
Cabarita - 'by the water'
Ulmerra - 'bend in the river'
Woolgoolga - derived from 'Wee-Gulla', the name of a native plum which grew between the bay and the lake.
Arrawarra - 'meeting place' Arrawarra Headland, near Coffs Harbour is very important to the Garby Elders, their families and descentants of the Gumbaynggirr Nation.  It has long been a special place where Garby Elders and people meet, hold ceremonies, gather fresh seafood and  collect natural medicine.  Parts of the headland are traditionally only visited by men and is a rain-making site.
Yarrawarra - mountain ash

Tomorrow we make Bundaberg and I see my good friend Jan and her lovely hubby Jim.  I am very excited about that!

Until then,

Blessings,

Sandie

Tuesday - The Great Mini Get-Together

What a fun day it was today!  We picked up Susan and met her charming husband then went to another place only half an hour's drive to visit another miniaturist, Lidi.  I usually only see Lidi at the Sydney Fair, and am slowly getting a collection of her wonderful baskets together.  You can see more of them on her blog Basketcase Miniatures  Lidi learned to weave baskets the traditional way from a weaving teacher Helen, who we also met.  She applies all the methods of full-size basket weaving to her 1:12th scale (and also 1:24th scale) baskets!  The patience required to create these works of art is incredible, just as it is for Susan's crochet.  They leave other baskets far, far, far behind.  Here are the ones I bought from her today.

Aren't they delightful?  I had a really hard time choosing even though I knew Lidi was giving me good prices.  I will treasure these and the others I have bought over the years, they truly are Craftsman pieces.  The little birdhouse is sitting on a tree stump that Lidi's husband Peter has cast.  They collect interesting pieces of timber that are suitable and cast copies of them, for the different size birdhouses to sit on.  Then you 'plant' flowers and vines around them.


And here we are - the three of us.  Susan on the left, Lidi in the centre and me at the end on the right. We had been enjoying a cuppa (in my case a hot chocolate) together on the verandah in front of Lidi's shop, which we are standing in front of.  The cafe just down from her shop in the same building does the best hot chocolate.

It was the most beautiful day - we have had wonderful weather all through this holiday and today was no exception.


I do try hard to persuade Lidi to try a simple basket in quarter scale.  I won't tell you her response, or the look that goes with it  - and she is being polite in front of me lol!  People don't understand that there is as much work in a half scale item as in a one inch scale, and it is more difficult because it is more fiddly.  So I well know that there is as much work in a quarter scale item but many times more difficult simply because it is so tiny that there isn't anything much to hold on to!


And please! If you are ever at a craftperson's table do not ever , and I mean ever comment that you could 'do it myself'.  If you think you can - don't say it, just go home and try.  You might well find that that 'simple' looking item is much, much harder than you think and you'll gain a new respect for the person who made it.  And if you hear someone else say it - tell them too.  It is so insulting to a craftsperson for someone to say that to their face.  They charge little enough for the time and work that goes into an item.  It never pays properly for what is involved.  And of course if you are successful and can do it as well, then you have discovered a new talent.


Now I'll just step off my high horse lol.  But when I see such gorgeous work and know that people just don't think it is worth paying for, it makes me cross.


Tomorrow we move on, so we can meet up with another miniaturist friend, this time in Queensland.  Jan and I have been friends for some time now, and she has come down for a couple of Sydney Fairs.  Last year I came up for a visit before the Fair and did the English Cottage ( find out more about it here ) and Jan was working on Tuscan Villa.  I will post about this year's minis on Snippets from my Studio.


So keep an eye out for the latest - on both blogs vbg
Blessings
Sandie

Monday - the lows and the highs

It was really sad to leave our friends today.  The campground still has a scattering of caravans around.  some people are staying here for a while because it is such a nice place.  Others, like us, are leaving today.


Our friends Denise and John, and Laraine and Bob, are returning to their respective homes after short visits elsewhere, as we are doing.  But our dearest friends Marilyn and Richard won't be home until the end of the year.  They are travelling through Queensland then over to Darwin and Kakadu in the Northern Territory.  Peter and I will miss them terribly. 


We were quite late leaving the campground, rather reluctant to say goodbye.  And then on the highway going north both cars stopped at a fruit market to buy some local produce and we said goodbye again.


I was quite 'down' for the rest of the trip even though the country is pretty and we weren't driving very far.




I an intrigued by names of places we pass through when driving.  At first I wondered about the origin of the name Trial Bay, but my surmises were way off - it was named after a ship that sank in the bay.  Funny name for a ship!  But I have to wonder about some of the places we passed today.  Okay, so Deadman's Valley is probably rather obvious.  But Hungry Head - what's the story behind that?  And Man Arm Creek?  Or Halfway Creek - halfway between where and where, I wonder?


Then there are the Aboriginal names.
Woolgoolga - derived from the Yaygir language 'Weilgulga' meaning 'red lilly pilly'
Urungs - meaning 'long white sands'
Nambucca heads - 'entrance to the waters'
There was a Waterfall Way, which conjures thoughts of tranquil bushland with a lovely waterfall - but that is unlikely since it appeared to be a fairly major route to several destinations now.  How sad that something that might once have been a pretty drive is probably now spoiled.


The trees were mainly native, with one town having an avenue of exotics - liquid ambers I think - just starting to show off their Autumn glory.  And on and off we saw the tropical poinciana tree in bloom, though most of them aren't blooming as fully at this time of year as the one in this photo I googled.  when they are in full bloom like this they are spectacularly beautiful.  And they seem to grow like weeds.


It didn't take long to get to our destination, just a bit further up the mid north coast of New South Wales.  I had arranged to meet a miniaturist friend, Susan, whom I had met through various clubs and our blogs.  She does the most amazing miniature crochet and has a blog called minicrochetmad.  I've shown the gorgeous little 1:12th scale baby outfit she gave me, on Snippets from my Studio but here is another photo simply because I cannot resist showing it again.

Front view - booties measure a scant 1/4", dress is barely 1 1/2" long

View back of dress - all buttons on dress and pilchers work!

I don't know how Susan does it, the stitches are just so tiny.  go to the link above to see some more of her work - it's unbelievably delicate and tiny.


I had taken some of my quarter scale houses to show Susan, and her comment was that photos don't really show their size in reality. Her daughter and three of her grandsons called in while we were at her house and the boys all enjoy miniatures.  Congratulations Susan - you have trained them well!


Susan has quite a collection of roomboxes which she modestly dismisses as not finished but they all show great creativity and a love of miniatures.that covers a wide range of areas.  And her beautiful handiwork is visible in all of them, which makes them even more special.  She also has a lovely dollshouse, built to her specifications, that she is decorating and filling gradually and again her own handiwork is visible in that.  One very talented lady!


Sometimes when you meet someone you have built up a picture in your mind of what they will be like then are disappointed when you meet them in the flesh.  But Susan is just as nice in reality as she seemed all the time we have been internet buddies.  Thank you for a lovely visit Susan!  After visiting for quite a while we returned to the van for an early night.  For a camp that was intended for older retired folks, Grey Nomads had certainly tired us out lol!


However I had the next day to look forward to.  Susan and I were going to have a get-together with another miniaturist, Lidi, who makes the most splendid baskets and is an extremely talented miniaturist using Creative PaperClay among other things.


But that's for next time.....Until then,
Blessings,
Sandie