Let me In ............

Can't wait, let me in. One day to go before moving day and we are getting very excited. As you can see someone was determined to get in today. 

The final inspection has been done and there are more and more surprises, it just keeps getting better. In the 2nd lounge we discovered a hard drive DVD recorder already hooked up so we will finally get to see some of this years GPs. On top of that in the casual lounge there is a sound system that has an ipod dock - bliss.

Walker rang today and is picking up his new car at Mackay tomorrow so will bring it down for a drive to help us christen "Wallen". 

Almost there

Well the time on the road is almost over. Abbotsford settles today and it is a very strange feeling knowing that we can never go back to the house, but the obvious upside is that the new house should settle on Tuesday. We went out to the estate yesterday and met with the head caretaker and got to find out how everything works eg. electricity, grey water, rubbish, etc etc

He also informed us that Godzilla the 2 metre goanna lives on our  block so that is a treat awaiting us LOL. Also there are lizards galore, snakes (don't wander around at night without a torch), black cockies, millions of parrots, roos, wallabies and everything else.

The fishing is great off the rocks and he is going to show Ron the best spots so seafood should be high on the menu.

Emu Park 

I think God decided that after Agnes Water, Emu Park was next on the list of places to die for. We finally met up with Greg and his lovely lady and had a very pleasant lunch at the local pub. As you can see from the above pic the day was fab.

Today dawned a bit cloudy but as it was a moving day it didn't matter much. This could be our last move in Miss G for some time as we are now in Agnes Water awaiting the settlement of Wallen which should happen this coming Tuesday.

Of course when you travel on Qld roads you can never be entirely sure what is around the next corner. This weeeee tray was obviously on its way to one of the coal mines. I guess this really puts it into perspective when you compare the size of the prime mover to the size of the tray it's carrying. This little convoy was accompanied by motorcycle police and two police cars making sure you got off the road. Several minutes before another convoy passed us carrying the tyres and they didn't fit on the road either.

Just look at that sky.......................

Who could ever get tired of these colours. We took a drive out the back of Rubyvale trying to find our way to a pyramid shaped hill we could see in the distance but unfortunately the road was really really bad and the locals were even worse LOL and we didn't make it. But, on the way we were treated to some amazing scenery and this fantastic sky.

As much as we are looking forward to moving into Wallen, it will be a very sad day when we have to say goodbye to travelling this great country. Hopefully in 2011 we will be out and about again but on a more restricted basis.

We headed out to Lake Thersa Dam for three nights of getting away from it all. No power, just the solar and lots of wild life. We managed to get D'Luded into the water on the second day and paddled up the dam and then up the river for about 6 - 7 klms. Kestrels circling above, a pair of Jabaroos on the bank of the river about 10 feet away and lots and lots of parrots of all sorts. Bliss.

On the road again

Just a quickie, we are leaving Sapphire today and will be out of contact for the next 3 - 4 days and then we will resurface at Moranbah where we are catching up with Walker on Sat for dinner.

Greg don't despair, I have something for you to cut LOL. Coming home yesterday this guy had a stall on the side of the road selling roughs and I think I picked up a lovely Blue/Green 8 cts so not toooo small LOL. We will be in Rocky Mon and Tues next week so will ring before we arrive. Thought we would wander down to Emu for lunch, is this ok ?

It's Gemfest

After three days of solid gemfesting we can honestly say we are gemmed out LOL. The entire community gets behind this festival and the towns (and I use that word lightly) of Anakie, Sapphire and Rubyvale all put on their best on and go out and show us visitors what it's all about.

There are some amazing stones with the appropriate price tags but there are also some good buys. Yes I did cave in on the third day and bought the bronze zircon pictured above. Lovely stone and not expensive.

Last night was the gala event at the Rubyvale showgrounds. Fire works, burger bar and lots of country and western music. Mr. Gillette would have done great business handing out the razor blades LOL. Unfortately the excitement was too much for us and we went home and watched Iron Chef . As usual we have been doing some fossicking and will be handing over the finds to Mr. Lambert for cutting in Bruce's new home of Thailand. Sorry Greg nothing worth your time and effort.

Wallen is rapidly approaching and we have started planning the move in. Settlement on Abbotsford is now under 2 weeks and we will be at Agnes Water waiting for the final payment and the keys to the new house. Bailey and Julie have already booked for late Sept, Blue is coming in Oct, (I think) Dan and Tanya will drop in for a weekend or two away from the kids and Big Dan and Helen are on the way as well, so we definitely won't be lonely up here.

AAAAAAAAAH the peace and quiet of a relaxing stay by the lake LOL

As you can see from the above pic the peace was somewhat shattered by the local power boat club. I must admit this particular boat really was something to see and very very very fast.  We finally moved on down the road and arrived back at Sapphire yesterday for Gemfest. To start the stay off we headed up to Rubyvale and did a bucket or two to get our eye in and surprise surprise got nothing of any value LOL.

Off to Gemfest proper today so will see what's on offer over there LOL.

Sapphire was also our mail pick up point and the women at the post office was very please to see us. First came the case of wine and Ron's comment was " This is to give us the hangover", then the Coffee parcel, again Ron " This is to help cure the hangover" and then the bag of mail "and these are the bills to give us the -----" to which the women cracked up totally. Nothing like a good mail pickup LOL.

We are back at Lake Maraboon in central Queensland

Yes, the mountains are purple and blue and all those wonderful colours that you associate with the outback. It is a bit like coming home when you see the horizon, it somehow just makes everything seem right.

The weather here has been fantastic, around 25 each day will cool, no cold clear nights LOL. We had drinks with the boys who run the park last night and managed to call an end to the night before it got out of control LOL. Mind you we still have 3 nights to go and if things develop along the lines of last time then a very sore head is not far away.

On the house front everything is going to plan with all the inspections etc coming in good with no problems. 19 sleeps and it should be ours.

Biloela

Now on the tourist information it says that the lookout at Callide valley gives you scenic views of the coal mine, power station and lake, ...............aaaaaaaaah obviously the mine decided that it was a good dumping ground. At least someone comes out and makes sure the grass is mowed and the facilities are up to scratch. Shame about the view LOL.

But try as you will, you can never quite cover up the loss of another hill.

Just out of town on the southern side is Mt Scorio and it is one of only three mountains (more like a wee petite mound) in the world that have this rock formation. Apparently when the lava from the volcano many many millions of years ago, cooled, it formed these amazing columns. They are 8, 10 and 12 sided and stand out like sentinels. It's a shame you can't get close up but as it is Heritage listed park I guess having every tourist scrambling around breaking bones is not a good look. Well worth a look if you are in the area. We arrived at Blackwater yesterday and had dinner with Dan, Tanya and the kids. Great to catch up and the kids have grown so fast. This morning we did wake up with a wee red wine head, so a slow day on the cards. Thought we might do the mine tour.

Swings and Roundabouts

Hello from Biloela, just up the road from thanglong and down the road from Cania Gorge. Firstly I must apologise for the size of the pic, Jonathon (as in apple) is still trying to teach me how to use him and down sizing hasn't been successful yet. Must read that instruction thingy LOL.

Well a week at Cania Gorge with wonderful weather finally came to an end this morning and up the highway we went. It is really getting quite scary out here as there a thousands of vans on the roads and most are out for the first time. Yes I know, we were first timers once but at least we did it in our mid 50's not late 70's. 

We are both very excited about moving into the house and are counting down the days, but I only realised yesterday that I let him talk me into a town that doesn't have a jeweller or cellar, hmmmmmmm the Internet bill is going to be rough LOL.

So far the bookings are coming thick and fast so if you are planning on coming up for a hol then let us know asap.  

Sept. done

Early Oct - done

take a ticket LOL LOL