Blogs from Warwick, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 3

During our stay in Sarah and Darryl’s house in Moira, both before my heart operation and once I had begun to show signs of a recovery, I had established a regular Sunday night routine. I had found my way, partly by recommendation, to a splendid folk club in Quorn, about a 30 minutes drive away. Quorn folk club is made up of about 25 or 30 singers, musicians, reciters of poems etc of which about a ten attend regularly and others intermittently. The average number of attendees each week is 15 or so and if more than that attend, the small back-room of the Blacksmiths Arms in Meeting Street is full to over-flowing. But the atmosphere is superb and the evenings are conducted in a relaxed and jovial manner in which all contributions are well received, ... read more

Monday morning dawned a brighter day - much to our relief. We decided to have a casual day around Warwick so Daphne set off for a walk by the river, one of her favourite spots. We strolled into town via Leslie Park determined to seek out the sculptors who are spending 3 weeks as part of a “Sculpting Symposium” creating new masterpieces which, when completed, will be displayed in and around Warwick. They were working in a roped off area at the far end of the park and, at the moment, the blocks of stone they are sculpting are unrecognizable as anything tangible. We promised to return later in the week to see how they are getting on. We were just walking by a dilapidated old building when an elderly lady came out from beside it ... read more

First of all we should say a very big Happy Birthday to lovely Amy who is 8 years old today (2nd). Grandma Daphne also sends you a big hug. It was lovely to speak to you and find out what you’ve been up to. Hi also to sister Charlotte and Mum and Dad, Anna and Grant. On Wednesday, as we came into Warwick from Dubbo, Graham spotted a music shop so we stopped to see what guitars they had on display. Sarah had bought a Spanish guitar when she was in Aus and had left it in the caravan. But she had agreed with her Dad that it wasn’t the best when it came to accompanying folk songs. Graham had picked up the guitar when we were in Mansfield and wondered if a part exchange was ... read more

Saturday morning was spent ‘chill-axing’, as young Charlie back in Tewkesbury UK would say, and we also spent time finding out more about what David will be doing in Tanzania. Eighteen people from Warwick will spend two weeks working at The School of St Jude, a very special school in Arusha, northern Tanzania. The school has steadily grown from the seed of a dream that a young Australian woman, Gemma Sisia, had back in the late 1990’s. The first pupils were enrolled in 2002 and gradually, with the help of Rotary Clubs and sponsors all over the world, the school has been able to expand year on year to meet the needs of the growing number of scholars. To read more about the school log on to its website School of St Jude. David, being a ... read more

After leaving Dalby, we continued east along the Darling Downs and finally up some hills to Toowoomba, which is known as the Garden City. It's quite a few years since we visited Toowoomba and were surprised what a huge city it is now. We drove around town, having a good look, then we decided we'd go north a few kilometres to the town of Highfields to visit a little shop I'd followed online Simple Things Small Joys. As luck would have it, when we finally found the shop, it was closed - only open Thursday to Sunday. We did have a look around the other shops there though and had lunch in a little restaurant in the complex. Back to Toowoomba where we visited Dymocks and Spotlight. We were going to stay the night in a ... read more