Last Week at Yeppoon

We spent a lovely three hours listening to Jazz at The Coffee Club in Yeppoon – this time we were more warmly dressed because believe it or not sometimes we have to put on a jacket in the afternoons! We have had two great sessions of jazz now and will miss our leisurely Sunday afternoons there.
This week is our last at Yeppoon, and today we booked to go on to Smalleys Beach which is in Cape Hillsborough National Park 12km East of Seaforth, only 10 or 15kms from Mackay. We have stayed at Seaforth twice before and Smalleys Beach was suggested to us by one of the campers here at Yeppoon. It certainly looks lovely so we will report after our stay. When we move on next Monday, we will not have any power or water there so we’ll have to be organised again just as we are when we free camp. We also will only have very poor reception for phones and internet so there will probably not be a post until we reach Townsville after three nights in Smalleys Beach.
Our weather here continues to be lovely although there has been quite a lot of fog in the mornings which clears about 10am after our beach walk and thereafter is lovely and sunny. Ian has now read four books and Sue has finished the embroidery for one nursery quilt and is half way through the blocks for a Christmas embroidery quilt as well finishing a block of the month Christmas quilt so we have been well rested and now we’re eager to see some new things.
Thanks again for your helpful suggestions, we’ll keep them all in mind!

Yeppoon

For those who are experiencing frustration with our lack of correspondence I apologise and will try to do better in the future. We consider ourselves told – a testament to the many emails we have received ! Actually we’re flattered to have so many watching and waiting for our news. Yeppoon is treating us well and to date we’ve only had one really unsunny day each week so we’ve been enjoying our daily walks along the beach in the mornings and then catching up with reading and sewing on most afternoons.
Last Saturday night we took ourselves into Rockhampton to watch the basketball which was fantastic. They are certainly very enthusiastic and supportive of their local team and it was good for us because we really didn’t care who won and could just enjoy the game as Sue usually gets very nervous when our team isn’t doing so well!
On the other less than perfect day we went into Rockhampton shopping and had (I think!) a very successful day. Ian thinks it’s lucky the weather is so good for the rest of the time.
Ian, David, Elaine, John and I have been trenching this weekend as David, who was a fire fighter in New Zealand before he and Elaine bought the park, is concerned about having water and electricity cables and pipes above the ground as the fire risk is quite high here. It’s a beautiful park almost in a forest but of course therein lays the risk. So today a trenching machine manned by David has been making the trenches for the pipes and Ian has been backfilling them with Elaine and John who is another camper. Surprise, surprise Suey has been catering for the hungry souls, now isn’t that a change, but there were no complaints either!
I’ve also planted a herb garden which has come in handy already which Pete gave me a great chicken recipe which needed rosemary and I just happened to have planted a very healthy bush. The last time we stayed here Elaine and I cleaned out the fish pond so that job has been done again and the fish are looking very pleased with their new clear water.
So you can see we have been very busy, well sort of at least in the mornings and after all we are retired now and according to our children very OLD so we shouldn’t do too much!
The jazz we went to after the Yeppoon Show was so good we’re going again this Sunday which will be great as I’m sure Ian will be exhausted after all the work today . Oh, I nearly forgot we have cut down another tree too!
We have only one more week here and then we’re off travelling up towards Townsville to meet Kate and Warwick (after the Townsville V8 car races) who are coming up with friends for a few days which we’re really looking forward to.
That’s all for now, from what we hear the weather we’re missing at home is something we’re happy for you all to tell us about but not what we want to come home to so we’ll stay away for a while longer!

Yeppoon Week Two

We’ve had a lovely warm week at Yeppoon and kept ourselves busy again. It was the Rockhampton Show so we went to see how different it is to the Shepparton Show. The sideshows are the same we have to report but the beef cattle are certainly big which bears out the local declaration that Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australia. There was also a petting zoo and Sue found a pig which under sufferance allowed her to have a photo opportunity. Boy did it squeal so needless to say I had to let it out of the handbag and walk on. We also watched the axeman and decided that they earnt their prize money the hard way.
We also went to the Yeppoon Show on Saturday and it was all the same sideshows which had followed on from Rockhampton but nonetheless we enjoyed watching the wood chopping again.
There is a kangaroo called Molly who Elaine and David have had since a little joey who is very friendly and just hangs around the vans waiting to be admired, even letting me pat and scratch her under the chin. We let Molly out whilst Elaine and David were away in Rockhampton on Friday while we were gardening and she took off giving us all a scare only returning late on Saturday night.
Saturday we spent cleaning out the fish pond so we’ve had a really productive week.
On Sunday we went to the local shopping centre and sat down for a couple of hours listening to a jazz band. What a great way to spend a Sunday.
Monday we’re planning another tree cutting down episode so that will be fun.

Yeppoon

For those of you who have unkindly suggested that we are just having a truly lazy holiday here in beautiful sunny Yeppoon I present to you today evidence to the contrary!
Our hosts David and Elaine have provided us with a beautiful site, great amenities and company but we were a little dismayed at the amount of shade our site had as the trees had grown considerably since our last visit in 2008. On mentioning this, David suggested that we could cut down the offending tree as it was ‘on the list of jobs ‘, although not a very high priority. As some may recall we departed from here in 2008 by cutting down a large tree on our last day so it was an idea that had considerable appeal.
This morning we decided to go to the market, return and begin. Hence the before and after photos. We did decide to relocate the van for this exercise as Elaine and I are of the rather delicate and conservative type and didn’t fancy having to explain to the insurance company how we avoided being squashed in Gosford in 2007 but managed to do it to ourselves in 2010!
David is a fine craftsman with the chain saw and in two hours we had completed the task including Elaine, Ian and I loading up the ute a number of times to take away the tree pieces to the bonfire site on the property and making a very fine stack of timber suitable for the fire we enjoy each nite in the lodge.
After which we sat back with a beer and reflected on another perfect day in paradise on our new site complete with maximum sunshine!

Childers to Bundaberg

We had a very rainy day yesterday (Tuesday) and stopped in Childers for a cup of coffee. Childers is a lovely town with many attractions, some right under you feet with the paths being decorated with mosaics depicting the long history of the town. The best scones ever tasted by us were served at the café beside the post office and great coffee too.
We walked down the street in the drizzling rain and Ian spotted a shop called “Patchwork Avenue” which is located in North Street. We went in to investigate and were both blown away by this beautiful shop which started out life in the 1880’s as a butcher shop. We were warmly greeted by Julie who took us on a tour of her newly opened shop which has also had a life as a pet shop prior to its present immaculately restored state. The tiles extend up to the ceiling throughout the shop and we saw the huge doors through which the meat was unloaded into the back of the shop and hung on the rails. The decorative panel tiles are beautiful and in great condition. It was wonderful to see history being restored and loved. Julie’s shop has a fabulous range of fabrics and I was able to purchase some lovely flannels which I have not seen anywhere, nor such a great variety. I could have certainly have done a lot more damage and probably will again. Julie certainly made both of us feel very welcome.
Then on to Bundaberg where we settled in to the park at Bargara Beach and were able to catch up with a former workmate of Ian’s which was lovely.
We’ve done the obligatory trip to Bundaberg Distillery, Bundaberg Brewing Company and the fish co-op so that means tomorrow its Yeppoon for us for a stay with our friends David and Elaine.

To Hervey Bay

The hospital fete and market was great, with the Murgon City Band playing as we arrived. The fete was opened with formal speeches from the Mayor, the Director of Nursing , the local member of Parliament and other important local identities. The joy of visiting these towns and joining in for their special events is that everyone is so friendly and takes pride is making you feel welcome. We bought some beautiful passionfruit and a freshly picked pineapple which have been delicious.
On leaving Murgon we motored on towards Hervey Bay and decided to stop at Petrie Park at Tiaro for lunch. The park is off the highway down a steep incline and right beside a boat ramp to the beautiful Mary River. We were able to park right beside the river and decided to stay for the night. There were two other vans already set up and one of the men told us about the butcher in Tiaro which we had travelled through who smoked all his own meats and were delicious. OK so we’ll have to stay until Monday morning! If it sounds like we’re really touring according to food, it’s a possibility, however it’s important to sample the local cuisine and contribute to the local economy. I’ve been to a number of patchwork shops and haven’t helped them at all—still no purchases and yes I am still breathing with a good regular pulse!
Today we have settled in at Hervey Bay in a park as we have run out of water and really felt after 5 days free camping we needed to recharge. We’re right beside the ocean and have just listened to the thousands of parrots settling in for the night. If you’ve seen Alfred Hitchcock’s “birds” or stayed at South West Rocks you’ll know what I mean. It was amazing and we couldn’t talk for a good ten minutes as they squabbled and fought over the best positions for the night. Ian took this beautiful sunset from the beach with his new camera.
Tomorrow off to Bundaberg and you may remember the happy adventure I had at the Bundaberg Rum Factory ---- well by popular demand ---- several friends have placed orders --- we are forced to return. However I will have breakfast first this time and not sample quite as liberally.

Queensland!

After we left Pete and Dawn at Forster we motored on along the coast to Coffs Harbour where we called in at the Caravan Service Centre and arranged for our gas to be checked out as we had been suffering with poor gas pressure since leaving home. You could give the kettle 20 minutes to boil and be very grateful for the effort it took. We had to stay over as they were unable to look at it until the Wednesday morning.
However it was well worth the effort as we had to replace the regulator and one of the ‘pig tails’ which transfers the gas from the bottles into the van. Hooray now I can cook and make coffee again!
After leaving Coffs we again took to the highway travelling as far as a roadside stop which we happened upon by accident at Yelgun which was great and settled in for the night with many other travellers and trucks.
Thursday morning we travelled inland as the highway was not particularly interesting and ended up going through Gympie, Goomeri where the pumpkin festival takes place next weekend and also a lovely patchwork shop, and on to Murgon. We finished the day in Kingaroy (Jo and Flo country) and camped at Soren Hansen Bridge for the night.
Friday we left the campsite and drove back into Kingaroy to explore the peanuts and were able to see some being harvested at the Visitor Information Centre and hear about the process. Even picked up a peanut plant for Jess and Tom if we can get it home in one piece. There is also a great Museum there which we enjoyed. We were recommended to visit the Peanut Van just on the edge of town and sampled some delicious varieties including Chilli and Lime and cinnamon. Ian had to have some of the cinnamon chocolate ones. Back to Soren Hansen Bridge for the night again and then Saturday we are travelling back a bit to Murgon for the Hospital fete and market before journeying on towards Hervey Bay.
Just to make you all feel better in cold Victoria – its not warm here either, jeans and for me a long sleeved top, however its not so cold at night so that’s good.