Lunch.....and gadgetry.

We had lunch at Shellharbour.

And this is the latest gadget in this COVID era.  It measures CO2 levels in the air, a proxy for expired air that potentially contains viruses from other lungs.  Trouble is, according to Kin Mun,  other things, including pizza ovens can also increase CO2.  This was at lunch - very good - and so it should be, we were outside.  It is a lower CO2 level than our house at Cheltenham.  The food was also good!

We had dinner at an italian restaurant.  The poor old meter went ballistic at times, and then settled down.  Maybe they opened the pizza oven door.

COVID has provided endless opportunities for the obsessives!

 

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The Road to Mollymook and Sea Cliff Bridge

 Our first road trip since going to Queensland in 2021.  A Delta and Omicron wave since.

Anyhow, this is before Wollongong.  Lovely shot of the trees beside the highway, most likely burned in 2019.

 

Then we went over the sea Cliff Bridge.  You will have inadvertently seen this in car advertisements.  Pics below.

 

Not strong enough?

The road to Armidale via Tenterfield.

The road to Armidale.

It was in Tenterfield that the puffy jacket came out and we stated to see locals wearing warm clothes. 

 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.

The border - Wallangara

 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.

 

Esk, Toowoomba and Warwick

 The road to Esk.

and Esk

We went to Toowoomba via the new road up the range that Graham told us about. A vast improvement.  Then we went on to Warwick and saw that a well-known (to us) cafe in Warwick is still there - different name and for sale.  This cafe was where I first tasted Hummingbird Cake - many years ago.

Gladstone

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:

According to Wikipedia, Gladstone is Queensland's largest multi-commodity port and Australia's fourth largest.

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!

Sunday - 13th June

 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.  

There are distinctive black volcanic rocks.

Then lunch at Bargara.  This is a coastal holiday area, that looks to be newly developed.  Kin Mun was so impressed by the free beachside parking!  In fact, there is plenty of parking in Bundaberg.

It also has beaches with black rocks. 

And it wouldn't be Bundaberg without sugar cane.

Maryborough

 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 PL Travers (the author of Mary Poppins) has a connection with Maryborough, which the town freely exploits. It even has a challenge to Berlin's Ampelmann!

 

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.

 

 

COVID change of plans - avoid the Sunshine Coast

 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.