I have to catch you up a bit ..
From our pantry top-up shopping in Childers, we'd bought some lamb, which needed to be cooked. Never mind the multiple down pours and that we've been drenched (thank goodness for our sloped site). Chef (and co-Chef) decided on a favourite curried lamb variation - normally Chef needs yoghurt and a few other MIA (missing in action) ingredients, but our recipe discussion resulted in a very succesful variation - never to be repeated. Here's the Chef at work .. note the shiney ground (very sloshy!!).
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love photography and photos. I'm always saying, send me a pic of that .. I didn't have to ask this time and I'm very proud to receive this one ~ here is Jack, Raoul and Anna, in Canberra at Jack's 6-week ADFA (Australian Defence Force Academy) parade. (Jack is Raoul & Anna's step-brother - Congratulations Jack, we're all very proud.)
Back to the trip, after a thorough drenching in Childers, and a pesky little leak, we drove on to Gympie (more on that later). Poor Ivor was quite baffled by this little leak.. these things are better left to the 'man's department' but I do play a part .. I offered a few concerned looks and some suggestions of how that water could be coming in (the water was running along the inside section between the top of the van and the canvas part of the pop-top). All in all, quite annoying and baffling. Our friendly neighbour suggested bees-wax along the stitching in the canvas, and it seems to have worked. ?? It's still questionable because, we've moved on, so the van in on different angles and the rain isn't as heavy / constant. Hopefully, all is well and we'll never know about another leak.
We were glad not to have to drive in rain to Gympie. It was heavily overcast and throughout the day. But, tiny bits of blue sky poked through in places. I found myself smiling and a weight beginning to lift. Isn't that funny / weird? I think it's a real insight into the SAD syndrome (Seasonal Affective Disorder). We need the sun and blue skies to feel happy and light.
Our purpose for visiting Gympie was to catch up with a few of my relo's. We enjoyed a nice lunch at a restaurant and moved on to my Aunty Laurie and Uncle Keith's place for coffee and lots of talking. Throughout our drives around Gympie we saw no evidence of the recent flooding, no mud marks, or high water marks, no debris anywhere to be seen. My cousin Meryl explained to us that the clean-up happens very quickly and sprinklers in parks etc are turned on, certainly not to add to the water problems, but to wash off any mud from grass and plants in an effort to save them from dying from oxygen starvation. It was a really lovely afternoon - thanks everyone xo
Anxious to move on and hopefully out of the wet, gloomy weather, our stay in Gympie was kept to overnight. And our trip to Brisbane aborted. SORRY Brisbane Family and Friends :(
A check of the roads via the helpful TMR website, showed that our drive via Toowoomba (Burnett Highway), would be safe and with no road closures. Our plan was to drive in the direction, not really knowing how far.
We had smoko in Kilkivan - home of the Great Horse Ride.
I love seeing the creative talents of people, their sculptures etc. Such detail.
Once we left Kilkivan, there were numerous times where we saw evidence of water over the road. And in places it felt like the waters had parted to allow us to drive through, as we seemed that the water on each side of the road was higher than us.
We were both feeling like we'd had enough of driving and decided to stay in a little place, Yarraman. Really, I think we wanted to get out into the fresh air, sunshine and blue skies. It was soo windy, it was compulsory to do washing !
Ivor checked the mud map of surrounds and suggested a bird watching excursion. It turned out to be an enjoyable drive through the bush because the bats took over the walk through Boldery Park. Here's a pic, not too clear, but those palms above the sign hold hundreds of noisey bats.
No bird watching, back to the van, just in time to recover (mostly) dry washing from a little shower of rain - or so we thought. No washing to be seen. Our neighbours had saved it for us - how kind is that? The dryer finished everything off nicely. Then it was snuggle down time, in our comfy mobile home for a delicious meal (Panaeng Chicken left overs) and try to stay up to see 'Revenge', the bed (but maybe it won't happen in that order). It's a chilly 21 degrees - we haven't been this chilly in a looong time. We'll have to snuggle up .. whoopsie, too much information.
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