Mackay July 2013, week 2

July 24^th, We have now been here a week, and finally, the lids for the jars that Val has been waiting for are in, so off we went down to Payne’s Packaging, at the bottom of Victoria Street, to pick up a carton of 375ml jars and lids. We rushed home so Val could slice up the oranges, for a batch of Orange Marmalade and get them soaking overnight. I had to design a label for Val’s produce, on the laptop, and have it approved by “The Boss” of Val’s Travelling Kitchen.

July 25^th, I went to the Mackay Museum this morning. It’s only open on a Thursday from 10am till 2pm and on the first Sunday in the month. It is a small Museum, but it had the usual collection of historical data that outlined the History of the largest sugar cane growing area in Australia, from its original inhabitants to the provincial City, that it is now. I found it very interesting to find out that, when the men went off to War, the woman took over the role of “Cane Cutters” and that was incredibly hard work then, as it was all cut by hand. We have seen the modern Cane Harvesting Machines working, as we have travelled up through the cane growing region of North Queensland, so now the burning off and manual labour, is no more. The Museum had photos of the early attempts at making a machine to do the job and Mackay was used as a testing area for these early attempts. Val boiled up the first batch of Orange Marmalade and had 5 X 375g jars for her efforts. A check on the consistency in the morning and my taste test, will tell if it meets Val’s strict quality standards.

July 26^th, This afternoon I fronted up to the Slade Point Surgery, for the removal of a returned cancer, on the back of my left knee. My only concern was “did I have enough spare skin at the back of my knee to get it cut out the 2^nd time? Val had assured me that I had excessive skin around the knee area, so would be no problem. I was called into Dr. Murshed Khan’s room (no relation to the Aga) and he said “what can I do for you today?” I thought, this a casual approach is to put me at ease, Eh! I said “you’re going to cut out this cancer from the back of my knee. “Oh, yes” he said. So now he typed up a form for me to sign, giving him permission to operate on me. Next we move into the Treatment / Operating Room and the attending Nurse greets me and as well as doing the hand me this, hand me that job for the Doctor was happily chatting to me throughout the entire operation. I was expecting a jab of anesthetic then the doctor going away for 15 minutes to let the anaesthetic take effect (like Dr. Jim did) but No! Next he says to me “I’m about to cut now” and I feel the drag of the knife on my skin. No real pain but I could feel the dabbing of the pad (no doubt soaking up the blood). I’m still calm as he next says; “stitching up now” and I feel the pulling of my skin (still painless but a strange feeling). All done and I’m told he used a stronger thread, because of the possibility of a thread pulling out in an area where there is a lot of movement, obviously walking. He said goodbye, enjoy your travelling and shook my hand. The Nurse finished off by putting on a waterproof plaster and giving me an instruction sheet on my ongoing treatment. I watched Friday night football, 2 games up here. In Queensland, you always get to see the Queensland team’s matches on Friday night and if they are not the normal Friday night match, we also get to see that one. Tonight was Broncos vs. Titans (Broncos won) followed by Bulldogs vs. Eels. As a Parramatta supporter, I have no comments on this game other than to say the Bulldogs won.

July 27^th, We had noticed that there was Saturday Markets on at the Mackay Showground. Val wanted to go just to buy some cheap fruit and veg. for making her jams and pickles. After breakfast we got ready to go, not particularly hurrying and left around 10.45am to do the 5 minute drive to the Showground. When we got there the place looked deserted and we thought that it wasn’t on this Saturday. We did find an open gate and drove in to discover that it led to a Toy Shop in one of the sheds. On asking, at the Toy Shop, we were told that the Markets were on every Saturday, but finished for today. They open at 6.30am and close when everything is sold, so obviously a very popular Market. After buying what Val needed from a cheap F and V Shop in South Mackay, we went home and Val got stuck into cutting, chopping and soaking ready for tomorrows cooking.

July 30^th, Pack up day, ready to leave in the morning, so it will be busy. We haven’t made a forward booking yet but plan to stay around the Bowen area next. We intend to get a list of Parks from the Information Centre and make a selection from that, unless we pass a suitable looking Park on the way.