MARYVALE

SAT 5.08.2017: Some beautiful scenery when passing over Cunningham's Gap - a little hard to take photos whilst in transit! We live in a stunning country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Returned to Maryvale pub for the evening. Went up for lunch and spent some time normin' and stormin' with the locals. When we finally passed the FIFO test, our main adversary turned out to be Dude Lovett - Country Music Singer, Songwriter. Had an interesting conversation about country music and Dude's career, whilst enjoying our pub lunch at downtown Maryvale.

ARATULA

MT. WALKER

FRIDAY 4.08.2017: Returning to Aratula Hotel free camp to stay for the evening and on the way visited Cunninghams lookout, Mt. Walker. Stunning scenery from a 360 degree perspective.

Smartphone 8: It all began at 4.30pm one sunny afternoon in Aratula. Carole receives the threatening advice "your email services are about to be cancelled if you do not pay this outstanding bill." This was for the amount of $117.40 on our old wireless broadband service. "Oh, let's take advantage of the 'CHAT' facility on the smartphone." Immediately transported to an overseas Call Centre, Carole texted (and you have to appreciate how slow this was), her story of woe to Maria, Gunjan, back to Maria, back to Gunjin who thought he was talking to Maria, Monina Jane (who did not speak), and then finally Mark Jay who at one point advised Carole that "I have your back and I'll fix this problem." Turned out when the Smartphone was purchased we were led to believe the old account was to be replaced with the new one - wrong! SO, it was resolved that $57.45 of the outstanding amount was to be paid and Mark Jay would cancel the account. "Could we please have your home address?" Carole texted "why" and that was the last we heard of him. A L-I-T-T-L-E concerned, Carole decided to follow this encounter up with a phone call. "Hello, yes, the account has been cancelled, I will transfer you to Chan in the Disconnection Department." Sybil throughout this period has been topping up Carole's glass so by the time Carole hit Chan she was firing. "Hello Chan, well I have been to India and now I guess I'm off the coast of China." With that Carole and apparently Chan, were rolling on the floor in fits of laughter. Chan, aka Eleanor, was in Adelaide, but was of Chinese descent! The saga was again revisited and resolved then Eleanor asked "would you like a Tablet for an extra $10 a month?" Carole responded that she had taken her tablets, thank you! Long, long, long story short version - Carole is receiving a Tablet, with an extra 1g of memory for the same cost of the current contract. Carole concluded her phone call with her new found friend Eleanor at 8.30pm - in the meantime, Shayden had thrown up, Madison had a 'hissy' fit because it was past her feeding time, Sybil had knitted a dog coat and night had fallen!

LAIDLEY

WEDNESDAY 2 - THURSDAY 3.08.2017: Smartphone 7: "Let's take advantage of the Telstra Thursday Free Movie offer, never receive much else, now that we have the Samsung phone might as well try it." First attempt was to view it through the Smartphone - painful. "Let's connect it to the computer - larger screen, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SOUND?" Turned up every volume function that could be found on both appliances, which managed to produce a mumbled dialogue. Brainwave - plug the Smartphone headset into the computer, downside, two people one headset! "Okay, you have one ear piece and I'll have the other." We did have to sit a LITTLE closer to the screen given the headset length and there were many "IF YOU ARE GOING TO MOVE YOU H-A-V-E TO LET ME KNOW", statements, but we did manage to watch the movie, albeit feeling as though you were a Siamese twin. Yes, we will await further instructions from our friend John on this resolution!

PIONEER MEMORIAL CHURCH STILL USED
FOR CHRISTENINGS, WEDDINGS &
FUNERALS

Returned to Laidley and visited the Laidley Pioneer Village. Established in 1972, the Village was the first such site in QLD and as a result of the vision and hard work of the volunteers has developed into the excellent complex it is today. There were so many pieces that have been donated, if anything too many. Due to a lack of display areas the invaluable pieces were not exhibited as well as they could have been. Petrol prices haven't changed much - ha!





PIONEER SLAB HUT



 





 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



FERNVALE - POPULATION: 2,367

TUESDAY 1.08.2017: Heading to Geoffrey Fisher Bridge free camp at Fernvale and on our way are passing Wivenhoe Dam. Of course, no dogs are permitted, but we did manage to access the car park and take some photos. When you see the water levels now it is amazing the damage done to the Lockyer Valley during the 2011 floods. 

The Wivenhoe Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a concrete spillway across the Brisbane River. The dam wall is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) by road from the centre of Brisbane. The primary purpose of the dam is the supply of potable water for the Brisbane and Ipswich regions. In addition, the dam also provides for flood mitigation control, hydroelectricity and for recreation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Wivenhoe and the dam, the lake and a narrow strip of surrounding land forms a locality also called Lake Wivenhoe.

TOOGOOLAWAH

SUNDAY 30 - MONDAY 31.07.2017: Returned to Toogoolawah, visited the local shops and settled in to be entertained by "Freddie" the frill necked lizard!

 

KILCOY

FRIDAY 28 - SATURDAY 29.07.2017: We said our farewells to Susan and Kevin, then headed over to Gwenda to collect the plants. Having already acquired cuttings from the Grealy residence and a few other plants along the way, Gwenda's contribution made the motorhome look a little like a nursery. In Carole's opinion, "Sybil may have gone just a little overboard this time!"

 

 

 

We are returning to Kilcoy to tackle their Saturday markets. We were advised that "you will need to be there and set up by 6.30am." We arrived at 5.30am and guess what, the main trade commenced at 10.00am!

CAROLE AT 6.30AM NOT A PRETTY PICTURE!

After the markets were completed we returned to the free camp in Kilcoy. Approaching where we were to park for the evening the scornful Leyland Sisters remarked about "these inconsiderate travellers that just leave their rubbish wherever they choose and it's........... oh, you know I think that's Shayden's toy, must have fallen out when we exited in the dark this morning"!

BEERBURRUM

KEVIN GREALY & JOHANNA DE MAINE (WORLD
RECOGNISED MASTER POTTERS)

MON 24 - THUR 27.07.2017: Returning to Susan and Kevin's place for Stage 2 of the gardening project. On our arrival Kevin was in the process of taking his latest firing out of the kiln. Kevin now has about two firings per year in his wood kiln, but unfortunately due to a lot of variables, this batch only produced a handful of items that reached his high standards. Just to lighten the mood, Carole spent the afternoon with Kevin and Johanna asking all the "dummies questions" she could muster!

CAROLE & GWENDA, WITH SUSAN
EATING HER WAY THROUGH THE
FRUIT SHOP!

Finished our garden duties and Susan asked if we were interested in visiting her friend Gwenda's garden. Oh gee, let us think about that for a microsecond - well Y-E-S! Okay, where do we begin with Gwenda's garden, Sybil was in "pig heaven". One of the most stunning fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, bromeliads, orchids, begonias, ferns, stags, etc. etc. etc. etc. Too many "wow" moments to place in the blog. Gwenda asked if we would like some plants to take home or did Sybil request them - can't quite remember, whatever, another magic moment! Sooooo hard to pick just a few pictures of the garden! Have to add that the photos do not really do the garden justice.

COOROY - POPULATION: 2,301

SATURDAY 22 - SUNDAY 23.07.2017: The day dawned, we completed the enormous drive round the hall to the other side and set up our stall. The people of Goomboorian Markets pride themselves on being the "friendliest markets" and they certainly lived up to that claim. As FIFO's you do not always receive a warm reception, but nearly every store holder came and spoke and the organiser Keith made a number of visits. There was singing, morning tea and Christmas in July - great morning was had by all.

RATHER DIFFICULT TO SELL DOG TOYS
WHEN SHAYDEN KEEPS RETRIEVING THEM!

Said our goodbyes to our new found friends and returned to the Cooroy RV Stopover. Cooroy is nicknamed "Heart of the Hinterland".

GOOMBOORIAN

OKAY, SO THE TIDE WAS SLIGHTLY OUT!

FRIDAY 21.07.2017: Bought our prawns from the co-op, fresh bread from the bakers, bottle of bubbly and headed for Tin Can Bay (population 1,994). Tin Can Bay later became, and still remains, an important fishing port, with a focus on prawns as well as recreational fishing. An important tourist feature is the regular arrival of wild Australian humpback dolphins which usually appear early mornings next to the Norman Point boat ramp. Having experienced the dolphin feeding at Monkey Mia we opted out of this one.

Finished lunch and had a look round the beautiful village that is Tin Can Bay. We were headed back to Ross Creek Store and on the way passed a sign "Country Market at Goomboorian Hall 8.00 - 12.00 Saturday." Sounds like a plan so we thought we would track down the hall. Found it and noticed people were setting up for the morning. Carole ventured in and determined that yes we could set up our stall in the morning and that we would be able to stay behind the hall for the evening - double bonus.



GOOMBOORIAN - POPULATION: 463

 

THURSDAY 20.07.2017: Decided to take a trip down to Tin Can Bay so thought we would stay at a nearby free camp. Ross Creek Store has set up a free camp at the back of their premises and really only ask that you either make a donation or purchase goods from their store. There is access to toilets and a rather rustic camp kitchen. Drove in, parked and marvelled at the available space - well, by nightfall the area was full of cars, tents and 'youngins'! Managed to gain a photo in the morning before the exits began, but it does not really capture the extent of the influx of cars.

Samsung Update: Our friend John sent a text advising us of the process required for answering a telephone call. We asked that he then call us - magic happened, we were able to take the call!

EUMUNDI - POPULATION: 1,924

MON 17 - WED 19.07.2017: Yes, we have returned to Eumundi to revisit the markets - we were not joking when we advised that at our last market visit we had spent our allocated funds by the time we reached the end of the first row of stalls! SO, this time we are starting at the opposite end and slowly working our way past all the stalls. Soooo many shops, soooo many nice things to buy, soooo little money! Came back with many great purchases and thoroughly enjoyed our morning although the feet were rather weary. The town name is thought to be derived from "Ngumundi" or "Huomundy". This is the name of a local Aboriginal warrior said to have adopted escaped convict Bracefield as his son in 1831. Eumundi has the same quaint appeal as Morpeth and Leura in NSW. We are staying at the Eumundi markets car park which doubles up as an RV rest area. $15.00 per night with/without power. You are permitted to stay for two nights, plus you do not need to leave until 2.00pm the day of the markets which are open on a Wednesday and Saturday morning. Plenty of room, amenities, garbage bins and dump point.  

Amazing what a difference a day makes in a car park!   Spent the evening at the Cooroy RV Stopover $10.00 per evening, unpowered, garbage bins and dump point.