Muswellbrook tonight, home Saturday and ringing on Sunday.
This trip we have caught up with so many relatives. Have missed seeing two nephews and one niece. Next time!
COVID seems to precede us - first in Queensland and now in Sydney. Just as well our ringing festival was last weekend. It would be looking dicey if it was this weekend.
We crossed the border at Wallangara.
There is a historic dis-used railway station with different rail gauges, and architecture either side.
It is the only place where you can straddle the border.
The road to Esk.
We drove up to Gladstone to see my nieces.
An important part of Gladstone's economy is the port - which sees LNG, coal, minerals and judging by the silos, also grain, pass through. As the banner says:
There is a new cruise terminal, but not much happening just now.
And from our unit, we saw an LNG carrier.
The countryside
And such a practical move - many toilets are unisex
and require anticipation!
This morning we turned up at Christ Church in Bundaberg and had a ring of their bells. All I wanted was a pull - and got two lots of rounds and call changes. All familiar faces with me in the tower! Despite offers of more challenges, I decided to quit while I was ahead.
Then we went to Mon Repos, which is the location of a turtle preservation centre.
The breeding grounds are protected by rangers and volunteers during the season, and entry controlled and ticketed. We had an excellent talk by the ranger. It is well worth a visit. Even better during the breeding and hatching season, but apparently tickets have to be bought months ahead.
We looked at the beach.
And it wouldn't be Bundaberg without sugar cane.
Friday was a good day. It was COLD but not as cold as Cheltenham.
There was the phone conference with the commissioner who was deliberating on the proposal for the child care centre right next door to us. Apparently they have agreed to put the Bin Store in the underground carpark (instead of 12 bins along our boundary) and as a bonus for us, removed all parking next to our boundary and replaced it with landscaping. Also good and unexpected. But just in case you were thinking what kind souls they are, I realised that this was probably to make the driveway big enough to accommodate the trucks that will remove the garbage. We shall see what the third iteration of the plans are. But it was good news for us.
We went for a walk around town. Maryborough has some substantial historical buildings. The Town hall was the site of a mass vaccination centre, and there were plenty of takers. Good to see.
And this is St Pauls. We rang there Thursday evening. It has a free-standing bell-tower, aka campanile. What luxury!
Some random pics.
This is computer-aided ringing. The people on the screen are perfect - and they wait for no ringer! It keeps a record of how fast or slow you were, to a fraction of a second! (How to make your life miserable!)
And we had the first night of our festival. It was good because there were just a few ringers, so we had a good go at their bells. Saturday was much more crowded.
We made the decision this morning to fill the tank, wind up the windows and go straight to Maryborough. Just in case the Sunshine Coast blew up, we could, hand on heart, say we had not been there. This meant not seeing Mary, but hopefully we can call in on our way home, when the situation is clearer.
But we did have lunch at Gympie, after checking that it is not, technically, part of the Sunshine Coast.
The Brown Jug Cafe served a proper steak sandwich.
Gympie is a nice town. Some street scenes:
And this street!
The dual highway ran out after Gympie, and we began to strike the road-works that I had seen my nieces complain about on FB.
Tonight we are in Maryborough, another nice town, and ready to begin our bell-ringing conference/festival tomorrow.
We spent the last 2 days catching up with family. It has been good.
Tomorrow we are due to leave Brisbane to visit my sister in law who is an inpatient at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
This afternoon, there was a COVID positive case in the - guess where - Sunshine Coast University Hospital I have not been so close to a COVID case as I have been in Queensland. How crazy.
We will contact my brother and/or the hospital tomorrow to see if they allow visitors.
As battle hardened NSW residents, it is familiar. Let's hope the QLD contact tracing is better than Sammy J's Mildred and Beryl. And just as well I brought my masks with me. Prepared for anything at this stage.
Yesterday we had a chance to explore Byron Bay. I hadn't heard a good word about it, but I can see why the celebrities moved in. The hills and beach are just beautiful. It isn't your quiet, family holiday place. We didn't see any celebs, nor find a flash eatery.
It's second claim to fame - the lighthouse. Seen from a distance.
It's first claim to fame - the most easterly point of the Australian mainland.
And this is us....
We tackled a 3.7m walk - some of it was strenuous. On the way to the lighthouse.
On the road again this morning.
Past Coffs Harbour and its famous icon....
We always knew Woolgoolga had an established Sikh community. In case you didn't know, there is a Sikh temple at the entrance to town to remind you. We could have had lunch there I guess.
I liked Woolgoolga. Lovely beaches, a headland walk and very quiet.
Then on to Byron Bay. We had had heard no good words about Byron bay, but it reminded me of the Gold Coast many, many years ago in the sixties. Anyhow, this is one shot of the night life..
