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Published: September 6th 2010
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It’s Saturday 4th September and we have been in Aus for 3 weeks and a very interesting and diverse time it has been. Today was a ‘catching up’ day so PIE got a quick clean (although we still need to find an effective way of getting the dead flies off the front), clothes were washed and parts of the house cleaned. Daphne went for a walk by the river and later we strolled into town, also going alongside the river where we saw what we think was a darter bird fishing. It stayed submerged for ages and never fully showed itself for a photo. We passed one of the many sports fields and spotted lots of groups of youngsters playing soccer (English football!!). We’ve grown to enjoy Aussie Rules footie but we are Poms so will always prefer seeing the beautiful game being played. Apparently it was the Warwick Shire age-group soccer finals and the ages seemed to range from about five upwards.
It wasn’t too busy in town so I took the opportunity to take photos of some of the lovely old buildings. Queensland towns often have magnificent Post Offices and Town Halls. We visited the recreational and aquatic
centre to enquire about the possibility of using the swimming complex and the staff insisted on giving us a guided tour. It’s a fantastic complex and a credit to Warwick - what a shame that only a handful of people were using it. We hope to try it out next week.
Early in the evening Sarah and Darryl phoned so we all had a lengthy chat with them which was lovely and made us a bit homesick. Soon after Rod also called to bring us up to date with what’s been happening in Wiltshire.
It rained heavily during Saturday night and although it was dry first thing on Sunday morning the rain soon started again. Southern Queensland is grateful for any rain it can get to replenish dwindling water supplies. Despite the heavy rain, water levels in the local reservoirs and dams will remain critically low so we don’t mind getting wet occasionally if it helps the cause. We had previously decided to go to Glengallan Homestead this Sunday because a seasonal farmers market was due to be held. But when we got there we were greeted by a ‘cancelled’ sign so the heavy rain had caused a
few casualties. We were a bit disappointed so we abandoned the plan to visit the homestead and, instead, set off for Toowoomba along the ‘Opportunity’ Route off the New England Highway. By now the rain was coming down persistently so, on arrival in Toowoomba, we sought out a suitable café for a mid-morning snack. Daphne and I chose a modest bite to accompany our coffees but Graham found it too difficult to resist “The Best Breakfast Pie Ever”, his excuse being that he feels the need to relate to the car by occasionally eating a pie!!
Many of the shops were open in Toowoomba, a major difference to Warwick where Sunday trading is still banned, although it is regularly under debate. The vast majority of Warwick residents have consistently voted against it. But Toowoomba allowed us a bit of Sunday retail therapy so Daphne and I duly took advantage of it. During our stroll along the main street we popped into the Ladies loo and imagine our surprise when we saw that all the loo rolls were padlocked! Later, having visited another excellent Tourist Information Centre, we found our way to Picnic Point which usually provides an excellent view
over the city and beyond. Alas, on this occasion the view was “misty” and intermittent but it didn’t stop us having lunch in the Picnic Point restaurant looking down on the rain forest (well they don’t call it a rain forest for nothing!). We took a photo through the rain of a sign with distances in kms to worldwide destinations but only realised afterwards that it didn't mention England but anyway Dublin is 16647 kms away. The rain was still coming down so we decided to make our way home but we hope to visit again when the weather is better! The floods in northern Victoria are headline news in Aus with a huge amount of damage being done. We’re hoping for more settled weather in the next few days.
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annette
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yum yum
Gooday! So it was the best pie ever. Well...some of those pommie markets in London make a mean pie..yum yum. No seriously, so glad you are delighting in Aussie tucker and Aussie downpours. Looking forward to having you in Brisbane for the day. I have just discovered the photo of you both on the motor bikes...now this is an area of your lives I knew little of. Let's talk...I am hopefully going to be learning how to be a passenger on a bike next year...more tales to tell. The sun is out, it is the most beautiful spring day, blossoming trees, blue skies, birds chirping and a cup of Irish Breakfast tea and toast on the patio...then off to work...mmm...that word should be banned. No more of it for you happy campers! xxannette