A week on the farm

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31 Jan 09:
Arrived at Brisbane airport 7 ish in the morning. Met Liza and baby Orla at the airport with mother-in-law Anne. Drove a couple hours West of Brisbane to Toowoomba to brother-in-law's for coffee, then the final hour to the farm (near Cecil Plains- middle of nowhere).
Met Dave and the dogs, Millie and Max, had lunch, and napped for hours as not slept much in 2 days!!!!
Dinner, then early to bed.

Sun 1st Feb:
Went for a walk on the farm, around Dam 1 and 2 with Orla and Liza.
Quick dip in the hot tub- very welcome!! Followed by a bbq lunch.
Tour of the farm: (1000 acres, although small in Australian terms) Dave gave us a lesson on Cotton, Sourgum and Soya Beans.
Then helped Dave do some irrigation: Pulled out the water pipes from the ditches, then started a few pipes.. took ages to get the hang of it! Ended up having a bit of a water fight, with me ending up neck deep in water in the ditch!! haha!!
Shower, dinner, bed! All the while drinking XXXX Gold (very weak lager).

Mon 2nd Feb:
Spent the morning in Cecil Plains ( the local village). Very spread out town, goastly, looked like a scene from the "Wild West"!
Home, helped Dave pick up pipes.. I drove the Yute (and didn't get it bogged!).
In the Afternoon, Liza drove us to Toowoomba to look around the town (shops etc)- biggish, and a lot more happening than Cecil!! Didn't buy anything though.

Tues 3rd Feb:
Drove 1 1/2 hours to the Bunya mountains, going via Dalby where we had a quick look around. The Bunyas were a rainforest environment with lots of wildlife (Parrots, Wallabies, Bush Turkies...). Called the Bunya mountains because of the Bunya Pine trees which are quite rare, but grow in abundance on these mountains; Aborigional name meaning "have many big cones"- lots of edible nuts inside them. Had a bbq lunch at one of the many permanent gas bbqs set up on the picnic sites. We were over-run by scavenous birds (some where quite vicious!). After, went for a walk: 4km "scenic route"- it rained!!!! But still warm, and views still visible.
Stopped for an ice cream on the way home.

Weds 4th Feb:
Working: Maurice and I cleared, washed/ scrubbed, then oiled the decking all around the outside of the house- very hot work! looks a lot better though.
When finished, went for a swim at the pool in Cecil Plains.
Tried a Yabby for tea (blue, turns pink when cooked, freshwater, looks like a creyfish): Been shown them previously, Dave caught them in his traps in the dams and creeks around the farm. They weren't too bad, although not that special, a bit tasteless.
Dave's dad Andrew was there for dinner (he'd been working on the farm).

Thurs 5th Feb:Went to the Queen Mary Falls, at Killarney, near Warwick. Also part of the Great Dividing Range. Stopped at Anne's on the way for coffee as it was quite a long journey. arrived at the falls at lunh time, but the cafe Liza was hoping to go to was closed on a thurs!!!! So had to drive further up the mountains to quite a posh-ish resturant. had amazing views though. 3.5km walk around eucalyptus woodland and the falls- very hot and sweaty!
Stopped in Killarney for an ice cream and went to the park so Liza could feed Orla.
Drove through Allora on the way home, where the author of Mary Poppins was born, before she moved to England.
Dinner was at the Cecil Plains pub = disgusting!!! but an experience- Aussie hillbillies!

Fri 6th Feb:
Day on the farm: Got up early to do the second coat of oil on the decking before going shopping in Dalby. Although ended up staying home as needed a shower (very sweaty, again!). So just lazed about, went for walks and chilled in the hot tub...

Sat 7th Feb:
Put plant pots, table, chairs etc back onto the decking in preparation for Orla's christening. Mowed the lawn. Spent some time in the spa, drank lots of 4X. Went with Dave on the "dump run", then went to the pub.
Visitors Erin and Doug (offered us accommodation on the Gold Coast) stayed for tea, and the night- bottle of red wine!! Early ish to bed.

Sun 8th Feb:
Orla's Christening!
Got up, woke up, showered, dressed and ready, and left at 9.
Service = long and never-ending!! Weird 'happy clappy' songs. Maurice, Erin and Regy (wife of James, Dave's brother) = Godparents. Everyone congregated outside and chatted. Most followed on for the party/ get together at the farm afterwards. Bbq steak, sausages, lots of salad and drink. Chatted to the relatives etc. Tried the homebrew bourbon "moonshine" whisky, neat and with coke = very nice, better than I expected :-D Had a go on Dave's 16 gage shotgun thingy- had 2 triggers. I only used one, and I still got a bruise on my arm!!!!
Stayed out until late in the evening: lots of horrible flying earwigs- everywhere!!!!
Cleared away stuff. In bed by 10. shattered!

Mon 9th Feb: Day on farm. Nothing interesting to report!! Packed everything and got organised for going to Noosa (North of Brisbane, on the Sunshine Coast) the next day.

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