Travelling Australia

We are leaving here in the morning. We will be back at Tweed by lunch time as it only takes a couple of hours to get there. I won’t be doing a blog now for a while as I’m taking a break until we get on the move again.  Thanks for coming along with me for the last 7 weeks. Its been a bit of a roller coaster.  Take care everyone ❤️❤️❤️

This post is not to worry anyone as I am fine. Really. I just need to write these thoughts down and get them out of my head, as this blog, as well as being a way for just a few of my lovely family to be able to follow along …..it’s also like a diary for me…..somewhere to vent 😌….somewhere to write my thoughts, somewhere to remember my Mum and Dad on specials occasions, somewhere to be Cathartic. 😔 You know what I mean….and, I don’t want to take nasty medications  🤪 When we meet people on our travels, whether it be in the caravan park, or when we are camping under a tree, the conversation always starts with them asking… “Where are you from”…….and we always say ……Tweed Heads….(everyone knows where that is)😂 Then they ask are we in a house or unit near the beach. We then say we live full time in our caravan.. Some are shocked to think we have no home….anywhere….and then we get the  “What ifs.” Which is when Ed usually takes over the conversation, because I can’t be bothered as we have

I’ve never experienced such hot, humid weather as we’ve had lately.  It’s just so humid you can see it in the air, you can feel it when you breathe and it’s just very uncomfortable.  We really need the rain to cool it down (I never thought I would ever say that as I love the heat😂) Last night I took myself over the road to the beach to watch the Sunset.  (Cricket was on Tele🙄) All these flowers …… it’s called a Native Hibiscus… This was the first time I’d actually put my toes on the sand…….we normally walk along the footpath. It was so peaceful so I decided it  would be nice just to sit for a while on the sand and enjoy it all.  Wow….was that a huge mistake….😳 I’d been sitting there a while, watching the tide come in a bit. I had really enjoyed the solitude, but decided I better start getting home. So I turned off my iPad and started to get up…..well I got nowhere.  My knees would just not allow me to get up from the sand as I’d been sitting too long.  I tried getting on all fours….

Happy Australia Day to all our family near and far 🇦🇺🇬🇧 It was so hot today and very humid today, and there were so many families  having picnics and BBQ’s, over the road along the waterfront. There were boats, and jet skies, dogs, and the smell of sausages and onions wafting over to us.  We decided that being that it was just too hot, we would wait, and go out for a walk when it cooled down later on in the evening.  We had dinner and waited till the sun went down as it was a bit cooler.  It was like someone said, “right….everyone home”….as there were just a few people around. The place was spotless, and all that was left was just a few Aussie Flags wrapped around the BBQ areas  and even the bins had all been emptied…. you really can’t fault this place for it’s cleanliness. The tide was out, the  water was so calm……..and it was so quiet.  We walked up to the pier, and walked to the end to watch the lightening put on a show over the Brisbane skyline. Also the fireworks at Sandgate. 

A couple of days ago we went to the Redcliffe RSL Club for a cuppa and cake.  While we were there we played a couple of games of Keno. We take 3 numbers, our birth day, birth month and birth year, so 3 numbers on each ticket.  If you get your three numbers come out, you get $44. We take 10 games each at a $1 a game.  We have been lucky enough to win it about 6 times, which we then give back to the club when we have lunch and coffee & cake 🤣🤣 seems fair…..win win 😜 It’s a lovely club with a beautiful view over Moreton Bay. So the other day, after leaving the club with full tummies, we went back to the car to go home…..but…I spotted a little Park that we hadn’t noticed before.  So off we went to walk off that naughty slice of cake.  This is Humpybong Park.  What amazed me the most, it’s right in the middle of the town centre! Those tree roots went right under the pavement to the other side to get to the water.  And this made me laugh….sorry the quality of it isn’t that great, but

It’s been a week now since we went for a drive to the Dam. Being here in this caravan park, across from the water, we really don’t get in the car much, as we have so much walking to do.  As I’ve mentioned, you can walk a very long way around this area, and not do the same walk twice. It’s really very pretty.  We did go back to the Boat Club at Scarborough on Tuesday as it’s Seniors Day! So you get a lovely lunch for $11 each and a lovely view of the boat harbour.  It was busy, but everyone opted to sit outside on the deck, so we had the indoor restaurant all to ourselves, which suited us.  It’s quietened down a bit now. All the holiday people have gone home, so the shops are quiet once again.  We get our shopping and are in and out quick now. They have self serve registers where you put your shopping on the conveyer belts, and you scan and pay for them without any other contact person. It’s great.   Incognito 😂😂😂  I bought myself a little plant before we came away.  It’s called a Sp

North Pine Dam, also known as Lake Samsonvale, was constructed in 1976  It is part of the South East Queensland Water Grid. It stores drinking water for the people of north Brisbane and Moreton Bay, which is where we are staying. So in other words….we don’t want anyone peeing in our pool 😂 The Dam was designed for water storage only. As such, there was no flood mitigation capacity in mind…..(meaning there is no management and control of flood water movement, such as redirecting flood run-off through the use of flood walls and flood gates.) As such, during flood seasons the location of the dam spillway causes local flooding of the road.  The dam wall is also one of the few in Queensland to be located upstream of a large urban area, and in the event of overtopping or Dam failure,  Geoscience Australia suggests that the downstream urban population would be flooded in 3 hours !!😳😳😳 Well that’s comforting to know for all the beautiful homes in the area with their livestock! Sheesh! Apar

It was time we left the comfort of our lovely little Peninsula here. So we drove over the bridge and got onto the Bruce Highway. I do not like this busy highway one bit, but luckily, we didn’t have to travel on it far before getting off it again and going through the small township of Petrie, then out into the country. It was a lovely drive through the hills. Everything looked so green as it had been raining out this way, and the humidity usually makes everything grow quickly.  It was even nice to see the cows and horses after being at the beach all the time.  Its all about balance ❤️ We drove about 40klms and came to the town of Dayboro. They call it  “The Town of Yesteryear”. It has a population of 2,120.  First stop was the Bakery as we needed a coffee & cake 😂 🤔🤔decisions, decisions……decided on a delicious fresh lamington and coffee… Then over the road to the Tourist Information Centre.  With info in hand….off we walked. This was another cafe. Looking down the main street to

Redcliffe Peninsula was the site of the first settlement in Queensland, in those days, called Moreton Bay Penal Colony.  In 1824, a small settlement was started by soldiers and convicts on the edge of the Bay .  Due to Aboriginal attacks, mosquito attacks, and lack of a safe anchorage, the settlement was relocated to the banks of the Brisbane River in 1825, where Brisbane stands today.  All the houses were left empty and the Aborigines called them “oompy bong” meaning “dead houses”…….which was later Anglicised to Humpybong, which is what the area is still called to this day. I had seen this name pop up around the place, and thought it was some sort of sea creature.  Well tonight, on our walk, I found it was the name of a suburb. What a colourful mural it was. So this was the entrance to Humpybong State School. Fancy having that name on your school bag! Only in Australia. 😂 It was a lovely evening for a walk after such a hot and humid day.  It was a long walk, but there was a lovely se