Tin Can Bay, June 2013

June 11^th, We finished packing up, luckily the rain held off, and left Brisbane for Tin Can Bay Tourist Park. Along the way, we pulled of the Highway at Cooroy, for a coffee break. When we arrived at Tin Can Bay and booked in to our Park, Neither of us could remember where we stayed the last time we were in this area. I went back in my Blog to find out where we had stayed only to find out, it was the same Park. That’s a sign of old age catching up!

June 12^th, I finished setting up and the rain started again. Val filled her time in painting and I did some reading. This Park is not on the River, the boat ramp was 2 klms away, the weather forecast wasn’t great so I decided that I wouldn’t take the boat off the car.

June 13^th, We had a bit of morning rain and then it was overcast for the rest of the day. I joined up on Gumtree and posted 4 of Val’s paintings for sale. We rang Carole tonight to get a report on Robs condition, after his operation today. He came through OK and they didn’t have to sew his lips together, which we were glad to hear.

June 14^th, Val went to the local Medical Centre, as she was suffering with an intense itch in her left ear and was having trouble hearing. The Dr. syringed out her ears and gave her some drops for the dermatitis in her left ear canal. Val made another appointment to see the Dr. next Monday, to check on her ear problems. We had some pies at the Tin can Bay Bakery, then went into Gympie to do some Shopping and I lodged our Rent Certificate with Centrelink.

June 15^th, We went into Town to have a look at their local Art Show.  It was very interesting and covered all the art and craft items, made by local groups. We did a drive along the foreshore of the River to Toolara and then on to Caloola Cove. Caloola Cove is a new housing area and has a Woolworths Shopping Centre. As it was Saturday afternoon, all the shops were closed except Woolworths.

June 17^th, It’s Val’s Birthday (21 again, Ha! Ha!). All the Family had sent her an E-Card and deposited money into our Bank Account, so she could buy whatever she needed. Which is a good idea, when we are travelling all the time, as we can be difficult to catch up with some times. I set an alarm this morning and went down to the Dolphin Centre to watch the feeding. They had 2 Dolphins come in today and you buy a fish for $5 and wait for the handler to call you in turn, to feed the fish to one of the Dolphins. They had a good crowd turn up but I only went to watch and take a few photos. Val went to the Dr’s and got the “all clear” on her ear problem and then we went out to Caloola Cove Shopping Centre and did some Birthday shopping. We called into the Country Club, on the way home, and had a Birthday drink and a flutter. The pokies were kind to us, for a change, so our Club visit only cost us $5. I packed up the car after dinner to make it an easy pack up in the morning, when we are leaving here for Bundaberg.

Brisbane, June 2013

 

June 4^th, Packed up and travelled to Brisbane. We arrived at 12.10pm and saw the “Office Closed” sign on the door of Greenacres Caravan Park at Capalaba. Fortunately, the Manager had spotted us driving in and opened up to book us in and put us on our site. WE now know that the office is closed between 12 noon and 2pm, for lunch. This is our first time at this Park, even though we have been to Brisbane many times and Val had the idea to ask the Information Centre to tell her which was the nearest Caravan Park to Mt Cotton where her Brother lives. We are now only a 10minute drive from Brian and Julie’s house, which is the closest we have ever been. We got set up and I went to Capalaba Centrelink and submitted my rent certificate paperwork, then we drove to Brian and Julie’s to catch up and we all had pizza for dinner. It was good to catch up with Rebecca and Nigel and their 2 girls, Sophie and Abigail, who live with Brian and Julie.

June 5^th, We went to Brian and Julie’s for BBQ dinner and to watch the NRL State of Origin game. We were all “over the moon” when The Blues (NSW) had a win and are now looking forward to the next game in the series that will be played in Brisbane.

June 6^th, It’s my Birthday today, 73 years young. We had a quiet day at home and Val took me out for dinner and a flutter at The Capalaba Sports Club, just around the corner from our Caravan Park. It is a very nice small Club, the food was very good but the Pokies were not kind to us. Julie went into Hospital this morning for a shoulder replacement and was operated on around 4.30pm. We got a call from Brian around 9pm to say all went well with the operation and Julie was settled down for the night.

June 7^th, Julie was OK’d by the Hospital Physio, so was home by lunchtime. We didn’t go over there today, so that Julie could sleep off the effects of her anesthetic and settle back into home. We went down the Capalaba Shopping centre and had a big shopping outing.

June 8^th, We went over to Brian and Julie’s this afternoon and Val made a Chicken Stir Fry for all the Family. Julie’s shoulder was a bit sore, so was taking a few painkillers but otherwise was OK. We watched a couple of games of Football on Foxtel, after dinner.

June 9^th, We had a quiet day at Home with Val working on her latest masterpiece, so we had to go down to Capalaba, to buy more paint.

June 1 0^th, Today is a Monday Holiday, for the Queen’s Birthday (long weekend for the working population). We went over to Brian and Julies for dinner and to say our “Good Byes”. Val made a Macaroni Cheese Pie, a Bacon, Egg and Spinach Pie and a salad for Dinner, which was delicious. It’s been raining all day, but a short break in the rain allowed me to pack up the back of the car, after we got back home. The rest will have to be packed up in the morning, before we head off for Tin Can Bay.

Brunswick Heads May 2013

May 28^th, We finished packing up at Wooli, with rain threatening. Luckily it held off until doing the final hook up of the Car to the Van. We stopped off at Grafton to do our big shop, have some lunch and Val picked up a few Artwork items she needed from Lincraft. It was a bumpy ride on the way up but they are working this section of the new dual Highway, which will be appreciated when it is completed. We arrived at Brunswick Heads mid afternoon and set up at Ferry Reserve Holiday Park. As soon as I saw the entrance to the Park, I realized that we had been to this Park before. When checking in, Val asked the Manager if we had been here before and to her surprise we had been here twice and the last time being 2 years ago. We got onto our Riverfront site and did the basic set-up, before the rain started again.

May 29^th, Today is out 48^th Wedding Anniversary (Happy Anniversary Val), but life goes on so I had things to do. After 2 trips into Brunswick Heads to Centrelink I eventually got our Rent Assistance Forms lodged and everything up to date. I put up the Annexe walls and unpacked the rest of the gear in the back of the car. I decided not to take the boat off the car as the weekly forecast didn’t look good and we are only here for a week. We joined in with a small group of our neighbours, for Happy Hour drinks and nibbles and happened to mention that it was our Anniversary and one of the couples in the group had also had their 47^th Anniversary yesterday, so we had a little bit more to Celebrate. The weather turned nasty after dinner, so we decided not to go out tonight.

May 30^th, Had a fish off the bank this morning but no luck. The little bream were taking the bait but not the hook. It’s raining again tonight and I’m happy that I have set up the awning perfectly and we are not getting any rain build up on the roof.

May 31^st, No sleeping in this morning, as a group of “Tree Loppers” have arrived. They were outside our Van, cutting, lopping, grinding (as in wood chipping) and generally making a lot of noise. We escaped the noise by going into Brunswick Heads Shops, for a look around and then around to Ocean Shores, only 5 minutes away, which has a Coles Supermarket, Target Country and a few smaller shops. You never know when there is going to be some excitement in these small Towns, so let me tell you my story. I was on my way to the Amenities block for my shave and shower. I could hear, in the distance, roaring engines getting nearer (could be some yahoos racing, I thought). Then I detected the sound of a siren mixed in with the sound of engines. I stood outside the block, listening and looking for the cause of the increasing noise. We are right alongside the new Highway which by passes the Town of Brunswick Heads. Next I’m seeing a Police car chasing another vehicle, lights flashing, siren blaring along the street at the end of the Park, only 10 metres from where our Van is. The street that comes along the front of this Park goes nowhere other than to go around a group of houses and back out. After that the noise of the chase faded into the distance, as they moved on. So I went on about my business and when I got back to our Van I said to Val, “ did you hear all the excitement” and she said, “didn’t hear a thing”, so I had to tell her my story.

June 1^st, I was chatting with the Park Manager this morning and he was able to tell me that the Police chase, from last night, started in Queensland, so It must have been something of a serious nature to chase the other vehicle this far and obviously the fleeing car didn’t know this area or he would not have turned into our little Crescent. We have no idea how that incident ended up. Val and I went into the Brunswick Markets this morning and was surprised how big they were. Val picked up a few items and I bought a couple of sausage sandwiches for lunch, from the local School Stall. We spent most of our time with the Aboriginal Painting Guy (Dean Rotumah) who was setup in the Park at the end of the Market area. His paintings were very good and he sits there all day doing his art, while talking to all the passers-by. This is his business and the paintings sell for around $450 ea. We noticed that he had little nozzles fitted to the caps of all his paint tubes, what a great idea! He was doing dots and lines directly from the tube of paint, so with a constant supply of paint , no stopping and very quick. He was happy to tell us how they did it, so now I am fitting nozzles to Val’s tubes of paint.

June 2^nd, Rain and windy today, so no fishing. We went down to Ocean Shores to do a bit of Shopping, Val needs a constant supply of paints and art material these days, to feed her current passion of “Dot Painting”. She cooked some “home made” Pizzas for dinner and they were delicious.

June 3^rd, Pack up day again, as we leave in the morning for Brisbane. It’s only a short run from here, so will be at our Park around mid-day. I did a bit of packing up this afternoon, leaving not too much to do to-morrow morning. We went to the Brunswick Heads Bowling Club around 3.30pm for drinks and a flutter. We enjoyed our outing and came home after virtually having a free day out, thanks to a little win on the Pokies.