Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame

Wow.  What a magnificent place.
This is a museum with 5 themed galleries displaying some of Australia's greatest explorers, Aborigines, stock workers and pastoralists.
We strolled through the displays, but as the lady said at the counter on the way in, "You might need more than one day to see it all." Our old eyes found it hard to read some of the information as the lighting was a bit dim in places.  I will just show you some of the highlights.
It is a huge place.

Inside the displays included a traders wagon,

A huge bullock cart,

A wool press,

and a Furphy.

It also had lots of information boards and this one tells us the story of how a rumour came to be named a furphy.

Interactive displays told us about all manner of things.  This one was about pests and plagues with movies of mouse and locust plagues.

A pioneer kitchen. It is scary how much of this stuff is familiar to us.

A display of post office and telephone equipment.

After a cup of coffee, we all went outside to watch the outback show.  This man had some very funny jokes, and his horse was very well trained. Here he is lining the horse up to pick his hat up for him.

He rode around telling us stories and jokes.

Then he had some long involved story about jumping naked over the chairs. Something like bareback, no saddle, no bridle etc.

No saddle, no bridle, no horse...

No saddle, no bridle and no rider.

Then he brought his other horse over with some long story about how to ride a wild horse. He put a blanket on the horses back and the horse pulle it off. Then he put a saddle on it's back and the horse lay down because it did not want to be ridden.

After that story he brought out the camel.

And told another funny story about what the camel said.  Memory is a bit bad about this joke, but the camel told it very well. Here he is telling us the story.

Then he asked his dog to go and get some cattle.  He counted out on his fingers how many he wanted.

And here they come. They are very big and have horns.

They all lined up and he hitched them into a team, just like they used to do in pioneer days.

They walked out of the yard and he hitched them to a log, which they dragged back into the show ring. He showed us how easy it was to get the log onto the wagon.  Very interesting.

After the show we walked over and had a beefburger at the Cattlemans Bar and Grill.  We went back inside the Hall to finish looking at the exhibits. It was quite late when we left there and it does take a long time to get around and see it all.

Later that day after a rest at our unit, we went down to the Iningai Park Nature Reserve to hopefully spot some birds or wildlife. We did see some kangaroos, but they were a long ways off.  We chatted to an old man who had planted some red gums about 7 or 8 years ago.  He had a long term view of things as he said, "they will look really good in another 30 or 40 years time!"  There is no way he will last long enough to see that.  He told us he had seen emus with chicks at that spot yesterday, but of course there was no sign of them while we were there.  The men rested under a coolibah tree, while Judith and I did some exploring.

That was about it for that long day.  We are all sleeping well, but wake very early.

I hope you are enjoying my tales.  Tomorrow, I will show you some pictures of our trip to the Qantas Air Museum.

Bye for now and have a good day. 

Ready for another trip

We have had a very busy few days since arriving home last Sunday.  It was really a proud moment when the bus pulled up at our gate and all of our three children and one grandchild were there to greet us.  A real homecoming.

We had lots of catching up to do and the time went by all too fast.  Mark has flown to Sydney where he is working for the next week and then he flies back to San Diego, California.

Tomorrow morning bright and early we leave for an outback adventure.  My sister Judith has planned a trip and all four of us are off in their car to see the West.  R and I don't even know where we are going yet so it will all be a surprise.  I hope to be able to let you know where we have been and what we have seen on a regular basis.  I can't promise daily, but will go for regular! I will leave you with one of my favourite photos from an evening walk along the canal.  This is part of our extended route and not part of our daily trot and it was a nice calm, quiet evening.  It makes for lovely memories.

I am gettting quite excited.  I hope I can get some good photos.  Must go to bed and get some sleep now so I will be fresh as a daisy tomorrow. 

See you back here soon.  Bye

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.

Up Before the Sun

Hello -how are you today.
We were up bright and early this morning, even before the sun started peeping over the horizon. We went for our normal walk down into the city and along the riverbank walkway.  It looks so pretty in the early morning light.

Then over the Victoria Bridge, where I managed to get a photo of the engine which used to drive the swing mechanism.

It looks like broad daylight, but that is just my camera taking good shots for me. The engine is right underneath the bridge. This photo is looking back under the bridge showing the bearings which were used to swing the bridge when it was working. Many years ago now.

Then we walked back through the city, which has an early morning sense of getting ready for business feel to it. There are still security guards cruising around with spotlights looking for trouble spots, although we have never seen any.  The street cleaner machine is scrubbing the footpaths making them all clean and fresh for a new day. The coffee places are setting out tables and chairs with chatter and a clatter.  The streets are still pretty deserted so I stood in the middle of the road and took a photo along Flinders St.  My camera makes it look like broad daylight, but the street lights are still on.

Now it is time for me to have breakfast and see what adventures I can find today.
I hope you are enjoying my strolls around Townsville.. Not much longer here and we will be home again.  Have a happy day.

Fine and clear for now

The wind has turned round and is coming from a different direction. I could hear it rattling the palm fronds as I lay in bed in that drowsy state you get in when you know you should get up but your body is not willing to make the effort.
So it was a pleasant surprise to open the door and see the sun still shining, and a much clearer viw of Magnetic Island, with all the smoke blown away. But not for long. As I write this I can see a huge bank of smoky cloud drifting up from the south.  The wind must have fanned the fires up again.  R said there is a large bush fire out near where he is working today. It is a new development just north of Townsville near the beach.

Yesterday afternoon I walked round to the Queens Gardens to explore a little more. I read on a noticeboard that there were some aviarys, but in reality they were rather disappointing. Only a few Runner Ducks (read about them here), an assortment of chooks and a few mangy parrots.  A couple of the less mangy stopped to say hello and pose for a photo.

A little Galah

A wild looking rooster

So I contemplated visiting the little panda, but there were a host of children running round with balloons, so I imagine he found a home with one of them. 

I spotted a little enchanted hideaway - well it could be!

Oh, all right. It's not really enchanted. And it's not hidden away.  Rather, just off the main path, but I thought it looked really pretty. It just needed a little rustic seat and I would have been quite happy to sit there for a while.

Back to reality.  there is a lot of action out on the harbour today and it is easier to see without all the smoggy haze.  We have had parachutists several times.

And I think this one was being towed behind a boat. I just snapped him before he went out of sight.

It is late afternoon now and not as hot, so I think I will go for a bit of a walk and see what I can see.

Bye for now. Back to work and school for everyone tomorrow.  Have fun.

Long Sunny Days

Our course went well - quite interesting, but the thing that really amazed us were the people attending the course and some of the stories they told.  Night life in Townsville is probably no different to night life anywhere else, but it is certainly different to when I was young.

We have resumed our normal routines again. R goes off to work in the morning and I potter through the day, taking walks to interesting places.

This was the sun peeping over the hill yesterday morning.  Must still be a lot of smoke in the air.
I went out to get myself some lunch and decided to walk through the gardens on my way home, but they had the sprinklers going, so I wasn't able to go far.  A little panda was sitting on a rock all by himself so I stopped to say hello.

I did some more work on the crochet blanket I am making.  I sit in the unit with the door open listening to the birds and planes.  There is always something to watch around here and I don't get bored at all.

This morning there was so much fog or smoke about that we could hardly see Magnetic Island, but when we returned from our walk, there it was. Still in the same place..

We walked over to South Townsville and along Palmer St with all the restaurants, then back across Victoria Bridge and up the hill to home.  The air was so still and it was calm and peaceful. One or two stragglers on their way home, but quite a few early morning walkers, bikers and joggers too. We came across a huge parking area empty apart from one car and one bicycle.  Obviously gets full of vehicles sometimes, but we were please to saunter through and watch the sunlight filter through the trees

It is hard to believe that we have been here for over 2 weeks now and in another week will be winging our way back to Brisbane.  I am looking forward to seeing Mark. He is flying over from San Diego and will visit with us for a few short days before flying on to Sydney.  I just hope that Quantas can get the baggage handler strike sorted out and that it doesn't stop us from getting home in time to see Mark.

I hope you all have a pleasant weekend. Don't eat too many sugar buns. They are addictive you know and you can't stop at just one. (giggle)

Thanks for joining me in Townsville. I'll see you again soon

Lost - found and found

It was quite warm here yesterday. In spite of that I slapped on some sunscreen and set off for a walk and went all the way up to the Arcadia Surf Club, which is at the northernmost end of The Strand.  The Rock Pool swimming beach is up there and I sat in the shade and had an ice cream while watching the children playing in the water and having fun.

The tale about how I lost my key ring is a m a z i n g!!  This is the key ring for the motel room.

You can see it comes in three parts which clip together.  The first morning we were here and went for a walk along The Strand, I started out wearing my sweatshirt as it was a little cool.  But as we were nearing home and I was quite warm, I decided to take it off. I had been carrying the key in the pocket, but decided to carry it in my hand in case it fell out while I was carrying my sweatshirt.  When we arrived back at the motel, I realised the back half and the label had fallen off and all I had was the key part.  The next two days I looked every step of the way, but it was quite windy so I really didn't hold out much hope of finding the little tag.

Then one morning as we were coming past the bakery we stopped to say hello to a lady putting out the tables and there right by my foot was the piece of paper with the room number.  That was amazing number one.  Of course I redoubled my efforts to look for the back piece but to no avail, until yesterday, there it was!  Right in the middle of the footpath - and undamaged!  Now how about that! Totally amazing! So I have the whole thing back in one piece again.

So now I have taken my eyes off the footpath and can look around at where we are walking.  This morning we did another huge walk along The Strand to the Casino and back, which took an hour and a half.  Of course we had a few stops for photos.  Perhaps that explains why R is fast asleep on the bed right now and it is not even 6.00 pm.

We passed by the water park, which is where I am going to take Kz tomorrow for a swim.  I almost wish I was a kid again to run under the water. The big bucket up the top fills up with water and then it tips over and the water, well, it just buckets out.

There was a waterfall cascading down the side of the cliff as we walked by.  R very kindly let me rest the camera on his shoulder so I could get a good shot.

On our way down to the Casino we passed by this seaplane moored for the night.  I was pleased to see it as I have been watching his acrobatics from the motel and I don't ever want to go for a ride in this plane!  He twists and turns and dives around.  Probably tells his passengers it is just a scenic flight!

Tomorrow morning we pick up Kz from the airport for 5 days of fun.  There were some children swimming in the motel pool tonight so she might be able to find some friends here.

I hope you enjoyed hearing from me today. I'm not sure how much time I will have over the next few days for blogging, but will try and pop a few words in here and there.  Bye for now.