Moving Day

After much anticipation, the day arrived to move into Feez Street. We loaded the Lavender and set out at 7.15, meeting Emily there with her first load soon after 9 am. After taking stuff upstairs, we then collected the Pintara and vacuum cleaner and set off to Clyde Road, to load up in a most organised manner commencing with the large items: recliner, TV, dining table, chairs, desk - distributed between the 3 cars and gradually filling the gaps with smaller items. Then an organised cleanup - leaving the place beyond reproach.
Actually we started with morning tea with lime slice which was very civilised and perhaps explains the very successful operation we conducted.
We then drove back with the loaded vehicles, unloaded upstairs, and walked down to Hyde Road for lunch by 2pm. It was a glorious Brisbane jacaranda day. We then drove to the uni to collect a table and chair and Em rode her bike back, arriving shortly before us. After coffee we eventually headed back into the traffic on Ipswich Road around 5 pm and were home in time for the news.

Back to Auckland

On Wednesday morning, we called in to see Carol and Peter who have just moved up to Whangarei, then took the old road back through Orewa, where we called in briefly on Catherine and children to drop in spare copies of the family histories. We collected El Cheapo from the retirement village where Margaret and Peter live and said farewell to Allan and Heather. The trip into the city was uneventful apart from missing the turnoff due to change of exit number. We found a handy spot to park near the hotel while I left the bags, then returned the car by 2 pm, walking back through the city to the hotel. It was wet and blustery but by then we had learned that things changed regularly.
We found the supermarket next door to the hotel provided us with all we needed in sustenance after the previous days of plenty and settled back to rest before a day of exploration.

Russell and Waitangi

On Tuesday morning we started with a walk at Whangarei Falls, a lovely spot close to the city centre, before heading north to Russell where we caught a ferry and took in the sights from the lookout. It was a lovely sunny clear day for this. We then drove around to Waitangi where we met Diane, Doug, Robin, Margaret and Peter in a minibus, and had lunch together before visiting the museum and wandering around learning about the Treaty and spending time together. They were taking Robin further north for the night.
We took a scenic drive back to Whangarei and another enjoyable evening with Allan and Heather.

North to Whangarei

Allan and Heather came to collect us on Monday morning and we drove north, calling in at Sandspit to see the old Wellington bach which is not longer in the family, then stopping for lunch before visiting the Kauri Museum at Matakohe. This was a very interesting and well presented collection and we enjoyed quite some time there before continuing on to Whangarei and their new home just north of the city.

Tuesday

It was windy when we woke at Lake Cargelligo so we drove the car across to a nearby hedge to shelter for breakfast before packing the tent and heading off to Coonambel and Parkes. This was another new route for us, passing through nice country on the Lachlan River. Coonambel is a large town and we also went through Bogan Gate - an enigmatic name. Smoko was in a nice park in Parkes although we did not find a lot to choose from. A minibus of primary school kids descended on the amenities block soon after us so we enjoyed the moment, watching them study the fountain as the stragglers emerged.
On to Dubbo to refuel, then we grabbed lunch in the car beside their Japanese garden as it was windy with threatening storms which caused us to study the radar using our smart phone data and decided to travel on the western option via Gilgandra as a band was moving NE. Along the way we found it hard to see the line markings on the road as well as finding it slippery, and realised the road was covered with hail which we had fortunately missed. Later we did pull over for some hail as it was distracting, but did not get damaged.
At Narrabri we had some challenging moments working between James the GPS, confusing information and common sense as we thought we were going to camp at Mt Kaputar NP but both camp grounds are to the south while we wanted to take the road to Bingara on the northern end - another new route for us.
It turned out to be a lovely drive, now fully sealed with some steep and narrow sections and very scenic.
We arrived in Bingara at 6pm and went straight to the caravan park, looking forward to a hot shower. It is a lovely spot on the Gwydir River beside the swimming pool. The office was closed until 8am the next day, but the neighbouring caravan was very friendly, having arrived back with their dogs from a walk as we turned in. They lent us their key and told us to set up.
As I was cleaning my teeth, I heard a few spots of rain, but we went to bed on dark without any rush, but, almost as soon as we settled, a furious electrical storm hit and we lay wondering if we would be frizzled in burnt nylon to be found by the managers, unpaid, next morning. We survived and the tent prevailed.

Trip to Canberra

In March we drove down to Canberra for Lee's birthday. After the rain, the countryside was looking very nice and we enjoyed the trip with morning tea at Inglewood, Texas, lunch in a nice park at Yetman, double scoop incecreams at Bingara then we camped overnight at Gunnedah with a swim in the pool.
Next day we stopped for morning tea at Gulgong. The park had a start to autumn colours. It is an interesting old gold town with old buildings and narrow streets. The little kids were out on an excursion with their teachers all dressed in period costumes. At Wellington the trees were starting to colour, and we had lunch at the cricket oval at Molong where a local reporter took our photo for an article about nice places in their town. At Cowra we had an icecream in the rose garden then we got to Canberra by 4.30.

Long weekends

We did not go away on the May Day long weekend. These days, every weekend is a long weekend. I suspect the reason the house is in a mess is due to this, as Mondays are usually the days when I am most likely to get around to housework. It is probably also due to the lovely Autumn weather we have had. It is so nice to be outdoors here and I have put quite a lot of effort into weeding, and consequently making compost and spreading it.
We did get away the following weekend to Mullum for a night. After the rain it was very nice around the Tweed area and we drove back over the Burringbar range to Murwillumbah and over the Numinbah Valley to Canungra, then north through amazing new suburban areas on the Mt Lindesay Highway, until we reached the familiar Logan motorway and the faster route home.
We brought back plenty of grapefruit for a good supply of marmalade. These days I seem to have worked out how to get it to set, after many unsuccessful years. Was it too much water, not enough sugar, or not enough heat?

A weekend at home

We decided not to go camping and walking this weekend. Instead we pottered at home, which is a nice place to be. We were still waiting on the plumber so not much dirt moving to be done.
We watched a wonderful movie on Saturday night RAN.
On Sunday we went for a drive to Irongate Nature Reserve which is 50 km SW from here, between Mt Tyson and Pittsworth. We really enjoyed it. It is interesting how a walk with labelled plants can raise one's awareness of remnant vegetation. We noticed it more on the roadsides after the visit, and look forward to another, when we will be carrying the list of plants, so we can find the ones which have lost their labels.
We are enjoying the cool clear weather at present.

Show holiday

Last Thursday was Toowoomba Show and we had planned to go to Mullum for Mum's birthday, but had been down the previous weekend as Ruth was very ill in Hobart.
Instead of camping, we drove north over the Blackbutt Range to Benarkin forest to have a look at the camping area and explored some of the side tracks. We stopped for a pie in Blackbutt then drove home via the Toogooloowah-Crows Nest road. On Friday we headed west, with a brief look at the Bowenville camping reserve on a waterhole on Oakey creek, then on to Dalby and south-west to Lake Broadwater. It was quiet out there as it is closed to boats due to low water levels. We had an interesting self-guided botanical drive there, then, after a picnic lunch, returned home across the Condamine to the Cecil Plains road.
There is a lot more to explore in the 100 km radius from here.