Bundaberg June 2013

June 18^th, We finished packing up and left Tin Can Bay, heading for Bundaberg. We are going to Miara Holiday Park, 40 Klms north of Bundaberg, at Yandaran on the Kolong River. We stopped in Bundaberg to do a big shop and have some lunch. I had my photo taken with the One Direction cardboard cutouts outside Bi-Lo Supermarket. Val thought I had lost the plot but it would be fun to send the photo to Jessica and Annaliese, with an amusing letter. As we were nearing our Caravan Park, we couldn’t believe how many Kangaroos we came across, on the side of the road. It was around 3.15pm and this must be the time they come out of the bush, to feed on the green grass on the road edges. They soon hopped away as we approached them. Val was getting worried that we were not on the right road, as we seemed to be

travelling for a long way, winding our way around Cane Farms and then coming to a single lane tar section of road. I kept driving and next thing we turned left, then over a cow grid and arrived at our Caravan Park. I parked the car and we walked to the Office, only to find a notice on the door to say “Closed” and a sandwich board sign to say that the Office would be closing at 3pm today. Oh Boy, we were shocked! I tried the intercom for late arrivals but got no response. We read all the notices on the wall and found a mobile phone number to call, when the Office was unattended. The response was that the Manageress was out on the river, in their tinnie, with her visiting Grandson, so she came in to put us on our site. The mix up was caused by her missing our booking when she checked to see if every incoming caravan had arrived. That problem solved, I did the minimum to allow us to get to our bed and walk around the Van, and I’ll do the setting up in the morning.

June 19^th, I went to the Office and paid our fees, $300 for 2 weeks. Very cheap, as the Queensland School Holidays start next weekend. I picked up all the regulations for fishing and boating in Queensland, to read over later. I put up the whole annexe and took the boat off the car. I’ll set it up tomorrow. Talking with people around us I was told they are catching fish. We had quite strong winds today, so not good for boating. I found time this afternoon to read the literature on Qld. boating and fishing and there are some differences. There was no mention of pensioners being exempt from having a fishing licence and if your boat is powered with anything above a 6HP motor, you need to have a boat licence. I’ll have a chat to our neighbours in the morning.

June 20^th, After breakfast, I picked up the Queensland Recreational Boating and Fishing Guide and studied it more carefully. I now know that a Fishing Licence or Permit is only required when fishing in a Dam or Lake where it has been stocked with fish, so river fishing does not require a Licence. I did confirm that because I have an 8HP motor for my boat that I would have to be licenced or have a passenger who held a current boat licence. So I have decided to take the easy way out and not put the motor on my Tinnie and I will simply paddle off shore and anchor to do a bit of fishing.  We did our washing this morning and after lunch went into Bundaberg to do a bit of Shopping and lodge our Centrelink form. It started raining on the way back to the Park, so we had no choice but to leave our washing on the line. Val is a little down in the dumps tonight; she has lost the urge to continue “Dot Painting”. We have not had a response from Gumtree, from the Paintings that I put up for sale. I am encouraging her to give it a bit longer, before throwing in the Towel.

June 21^st, It has rained all last night and all of today. We will be growing webbed feet if this weather keeps up.

June 22^nd, Finally, the sun is shining in “Sunny Queensland”, so I decided that I should reposition the front seat in the Tinnie. That way, when I have to paddle or row out to get to fish, it will be easier to do, if the front seat is in the centre position. I found the set of rollicks that Robert gave me some years back, dug out my 2 paddles and fixed up my rods ready to go. I put the boat in the river and tied it up to a post on the beach. My boat is the little Tinnie in the photo, up on the sand. Now I’m ready to go fishing when the weather is good. Although it was a nice sunny day we had a strong breeze all day, not suitable for fishing.

June 23^rd, Still strong winds today, so I rigged up some poles in the annexe and bent up some hooks to hang Val’s paintings. Then I made up a flyer, for her painting sale, and put them on the notice boards. In the afternoon I went for a fish off the beach, at the front of the park. It was hopeless, as when I cast my line out the wind was blowing it back at me! I wasn’t getting any bites, so I gave up. Val did some painting tonight, so she is “Happy” again and back into “dotting”.

June 24^th, This is the day, I thought, to go out for a fish. The wind seemed to have eased a bit, so after breakfast I gathered all my gear and packed it into the boat. It was around 10.30am by now and I noticed that the current was running strongly. Undeterred by that, I thought that if the Pelicans can swim against the current, well I could Paddle against it. I towed the boat to the end of the beach, to allow me plenty of time to get control of the boat before the current and wind affected my outward progress. What a JOKE! It didn’t matter how hard I paddled, the boat was quickly swept towards the other end of the beach and I found that I had to go with the current and hang over the front of the boat, paddling madly, to get into the beach before I got swept around the corner. My other idea of using the paddles in rollicks, just like oars, was a dismal failure, as the paddles are much too short to control. I was glad to put my foot onto sand and then I towed the boat back up the beach and tied it up again. I won’t be doing that again, that’s for sure. We have a resident Hairdresser in the Park, so Val had a haircut this afternoon. After each cut she has now, she is gradually showing more grey/white but her natural hair colouring looks great.

June 25^th, On the suggestion of Val’s Hairdresser, I went for a fish off the little breakwall at the other end of the Park. After 2 hours, my only catch was a 3 inch long toad fish. At this time the tide was about half way out and the current running strongly, so I decided to come out and try this spot tomorrow, but fish over the change at high tide. Val is still Dot Painting madly but has still not sold any paintings. The Wimbledon Tennis has started and it was good to see a few Aussies get through to the 2^nd round. Let’s hope they can keep the winning streak up.

June 26^th, I set myself up on the breakwall, 2 hours before high tide and fished for around 1 ½ hours after the tide change. NOTHING, plenty of bites but none wanted to take the hook. State of Origin, game 2, was on tonight and what a “Shellackin” did Queensland give us. The maroons were in their power surging form the whole game. NSW will really come with their “A” game in 3 weeks time, when the decider will be played in Sydney. Sadly, Layton Hewitt got knocked out in his 2^nd round match, tonight, at Wimbledon.

June 28^th, I noticed that my mobile phone wasn’t working this morning. It wouldn’t even switch on and the screen was black. We went into Bundaberg today to do some top-up shopping, I wanted to go to Telstra to see what was wrong with my phone and Val needed more painting supplies. The Telstra Technition tested my phone and on pulling off the back cover, told me it was full of water and would not be covered by the Warranty.  My only explanation could be that while sitting on the kitchen bench it had been plashed with water. So $50 later I had a new phone and was back on the air. I went to BCF looking to buy oars, so that I could use the boat in the River and get out for a fish. The sales assistant at BCF was an ex Maritime Inspector and when I told him what I was planning to do, he strongly advised me (in a nice way) that he thought that would be very dangerous, because of the very strong currents in the river. So, that solved that problem and saved me $95. If we stay where the water is calm, in Qld, WA, or SA, I can still go out using my paddles. There are no restrictions in the Northern Territory but I don’t fancy fishing with the Crocodiles.

June 29^th, Another windy day, seems to be the norm here at this time of year, so Val suggested that I might as well get the boat out of the River and packed away on top of the car, good idea. That sounds very simple, but with the wind and the strong current, I soon discovered that that wasn’t to be. I had to pull the boat against the wind and tide to get to the boat ramp, so after fitting my clamp on wheels and pulling in the anchors, remember I don’t have the motor on the boat, I tried the method of pushing the boat out into the river then dragging it along the shore, towards the boat ramp. The forces of nature wasn’t going to let that happen and the boat simply came straight back into the sand, with practically no gain at all. I then tried gripping the side of the boat and pulling/wheeling the boat along, while it was still in the water’s edge. This was working very well, until I came to another tinnie anchored on the river front and had to work my boat around and under his anchor rope. Having conquered that obstacle, I was only a few metres from the ramp. I had my towing hitch bolted onto the boat and the car in position on the ramp, so shouldn’t be any more

problems, so I thought. When I tried to maneuver the boat around the end of the boat ramp, I just couldn’t do it under the conditions, so I had to settle on dragging the boat up over the edge of the ramp, luckily this ramp is just a pile of stones and the edges were a gradual slope, and angling the car to allow the hitch to fit to the tow ball. I towed the boat back to our Van then got the packing up completed without any more dramas. We watched Australia win against the British Lions Rugby Union Team, in a very close game, getting away with a one point lead. That means now the Series is one game all and the decider will be played next week. I swapped channels to the Wimbledon Tennis and watched Tomic win his game and now he advances into the round of sixteen. Sam Stoser was playing next but I couldn’t stay awake for the final set when the sets were at one each, so I’ll get the results of that game tomorrow.

July 1^st, Strong winds this morning ( can you see the white capped waves going down the river?) , so took it easy until after lunch, then I packed up most of the things that go in the back of the car. That will leave only the annexe walls to get packed away, on the bottom bunk in the Van, before we leave for Keppel Sands in the morning.

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.