For Loretta

Our friends were recently in New Zealand and left the car briefly to walk to a lookout at Opononi (Northland).  When they returned to their car, it had been broken into and Loretta's handbag had been stolen. 

For you Loretta and I hope your headache gets better soon.

"The rain it raineth on the just,
And also on the unjust fella.
But chiefly on the just, because
The unjust hath the just's umbrella.

I loved this quote I found on a friend's Facebook page.  Thanks Ian.

My headache is just beginning when I survey the mess we have created with moving stuff.  Not to mention the fact that we are leaving tomorrow, but the motel won't settle for another couple of weeks and we will be lucky if it settles before Christmas at this rate.  The motel is full according to Esther and Christian and they asked if we were ready.  Is anyone ever ready?

Well I am not ready to shift.  Look at this mess in the garage...

And I can't even lie down on my bed...

Tomorrow is the day.  It is also Mark's birthday.  Well actually his birthday is today the 26 November, but because he lives in the USA, it is still Friday there, so he has to wait another day.  Happy birthday Mark.

I loved one of the blogs I have on my sidebar. "Getting Stitched on the Farm". I love sunflowers and I think she is so clever.

Thanks for stopping by.  When I write next it should be from Gayndah.

Bye for now

Hi. I am back

It has been a busy 3 weeks. I can hardly believe it is that long since I was in touch. 

After coming home from Biloela I was very tired and worn out. I had a sore throat and felt run down.  It is hardly surprising after getting up at 4.30 am to help with the breakfasts and continuing on until the restaurant shut after 9.00 pm.

Here are some of the sandwiches we made one night.

And here they are in the fridge all ready to take down when we do the breakfasts.

We had some interesting requests; like the men who informed us "We are not eating meat!" So we scrambled round and looked on the internet for vegetarian sandwich fillings and after a few days they must have been getting sick of it because they announced " We are eating chicken!"   I know we will look back and laugh.

Anyhoo  back home we are and facing the most tremendous upheaval to get packed to go and live in Gayndah.  We have put everything we want to take with us in the garage.  And then we brought all of Kt and Kz's stuff out of the storage shed and put that in the garage too.  And the dog sleeps in the garage too!  Stuff has overflowed into our courtyard. I hope the rain holds off a few more days.

We are leaving this coming Saturday to manage the Country Roads Motor Inn in Gayndah.  Absolute mountains of paperwork and trying to get to grips with insurance and lease requirements, not to mention banks and finance and plant and accountants and suppliers and ....  Well you get the picture.

I still haven't told told you all about the remainder of our trip out West and shared some of the great photos I took.  I haven't forgotten and will definitely get a round tuit soon.

Love to all of you great people and thanks for reading.
I will be back soon.

The time has come - and now it's gone.

On our last early morning walk about we went down to The Strand to say goodbye to Townsville Beach.  The trucks have been very busy all week dumping sand and then the big machines push it out making a nice smooth beach again.

Just like a great big sandpit!

As we walked along the waterfront we were passed by a large number of joggers, some panting and puffing like racehorses, some swinging their bodies, some swinging their legs and one lady in bright pink running shoes appeared to be swinging her feet.  Lots of different people all jogging along and all were sweating as it was very humid.  Summer must be nearly here.  This man was riding along with his trousers rolled up so they didn't catch in the chain of the bike.

Let me tell you a story about this building.  We have some nice people in the motel next to us who have been waiting for their daughter in law to give birth to a baby.  Baby duly arrived and it was a girl and all is well.  They were so excited.  Anyway, back to my story.  The man was once a consulting engineer and has designed many buildings around Queensland, including some in Townsville and in particular the large one which appears in a few of my photos of Magnetic Island.  One of the locals was trying to give them directions to the Friday night markets and said "See that ugly building down there!!!"  Long pause and then then he said. "I designed that building!".  Ooops.  Has that ever happened to you.  How did you feel?

Our last views of the sea.  A couple of canoeists out for an early paddle.  Gulls squabbling on the beach. Coffee shops setting out their chairs and tables.  Cyclists riding along calling out to each other.  Rubbish trucks emptying big bins noisily.  All part of the morning walk.  I will miss it.

Our last walk up this hill. It has become easier, but I still haven't lost any weight.

Later in the morning I walked into town and found a wonderful craft shop named Pompom Rouge.  It has a website here. The owner Kirsten has lived in Hamilton (New Zealand) and was possibly living there while we were.  Also she had some colourful crochet on her table and was showing me as it was one of her first efforts. She asked me where I was from and when I said Ashburton, she mentioned that she had some wool from Ashburton in the crochet blanket she was showing me.  What a coincidence.  She said she hadn't thought about it for years and had only pulled the blanket out that very morning.

I bought myself a bag.  And such a bag.  Full of nice roomy pockets to put things. It will be ideal for my next holiday. It is good to treat oneself once in a while and one can never have too many bags.

That is all for today. I have started packing my bags and we are flying back to Brisbane in the morning.  It will be good to see all the family again.

Remember to treat yourself today.

Bye for now.

Tis the night before the trip

Well. the time has come... as they say and I still have not got packed.  Yesterday we updated our wills, which is a good thing to do apparently.  But it took so long and as we were really hungry after sitting there for 2 hrs or so, we headed straight to Kawana Shopping Mall to grab a muffin and coffee.  At least the wills are all done and we don't have to go back.  The solicitors are going to email us a copy and hold the originals at their office.

Anyway, back to trying to get ready to go north.  R has the AGM of his community thing tonight, so we spent quite a bit of time on that today. He had about 3 speeches to write, but didn't get them all done so was going to wing it!

I weighed my bag a short time ago and it was 17 kg already so I have had to take out my photos as they were rather heavy and can wait for another day.  Just have to throw some more clothes in and I am ready.  R will pack when he gets home I guess. I can see a pile of books, 2 polo shirts and a pair each of jeans and shorts.  But that won't be enough!

We will miss our walks around the canal.  This morning it was raining, but we still went out.  There is a new bakery just opened up on the corner of Nicklin Way and Kensington Drive and we got some hot bread. I was tempted to eat some on the way home as hot bread is almost irresistible on a cold day. 

Just to show you what our walk can look like on a good day, here are a couple of photos I took last Christmas.

This one is taken right at the end of our street. Some days the water is so still and clear.

This photo is taken up near the bridge on Nicklin Way looking across to Mooloolaba.

We are being picked up at 6.00 am in the morning for transport to Brisbane Airport so the next time I post it will be from Townsville. Yippee.  Just got to get me on the plane. As many of you know I am not the happiest of travellers.  Bye for now