Roma to Augathella or the Outback Ride Continues

August 16, 2015
50 kms north of Augathella, Qld, AU

"You're not living up to our agreement. I said you can wander over my arms all you want as long as you stay off my face. Don't make me get out the bug headnet again!! You promised!!!!"

I can tolerate the flies anywhere but walking on my face, up my nose, in the corners of my eyes, into my mouth or ears...nope...that's not allowed. I figure if I leave them alone on my arms then they won't be on my face. And how the heck do they keep up with me pedaling at the blistering speed of 6 mph?!?!? Sometimes it looks like they're flying faster than I'm pedaling. Ok. It gets a bit boring pedaling all day and my mind struggles for entertainment do it analyzes things...like the speed of flies.



But I have to say I haven't tired of pedaling through this gorgeous country. There's so much variation of the foliage and the soil. I started to notice a week or more ago this funny looking tree across the landscape. It had a fat trunk that is shaped like a case or bottle and the branches all come out of the top. A Dr Seuss tree, for sure! I even took pictures of it. Then when I got to Roma, I found out they are known in thus area for this tree: the Bottle Tree. It's quite slow growing so I know the ones I saw around town and out in the paddocks are quite mature. I still love seeing them and trying to get a great picture. (Nope, can't post my pics because I took them as a portrait not landscape shot...and they won't load:()

In Mitchell I decided to stay at the campground and what a lovely one it was. Family owned and run. Well maintained. So nicely kept they had Grey Nomads who came back every year. (Grey Nomads are the retirees touring the country pulling their trailers usually. And they are aplenty out here! ). They were the nicest folks. It was so pleasant there, I stayed an extra night. Out behind the campground was an Aboriginal Interpretive trail out to where an old aboriginal community used to be. The whites were in one died of Mitchell creek and the blacks on the other. In town I had lunch with a guy who grew up in Yumba, the aboriginal community. He said it was great fun being there. They'd play ball every Sunday. And fish and swim in the creek. He had to walk to town to school after the government closed down their school. In the 1960s the government, who had set up the community in the '30s and supplied simple small houses (which they expanded on), told them to move off the land and then a few years later bulldozed down their homes. Sad time.

It's a couple of days later, it's 6:30 at night, the sun has set leaving a fiery edge on the horizon, and a new moon just above it. And it's warm...ish. Normally the chill sends me into my tent by now. Spring is in the air!!!



Without clouds, and there hasn't been for weeks, I'm not getting those great full sky sunsets.

Back to the Mitchell campground. The second night was most interesting. There's a fund raiser for children's charities called Variety Bash and some of them overnighted there and not at the showgrounds. This was 130 vintage cars (older than 30) driving from Cairns, through the Outback, and finishing at Fraser Island 10 days later. They got their route instructions in the morning before the took off for the day. They stopped at schools and other venues sharing gifts for the kids. Each day was a different costume. The day we saw them was Santa...300 people all dressed as Santa! Each car has to raise $8500 to participate and then pay for their own food and lodging. They are also fined along the way, so they have to bring extra funds for that. And most do it year after year. I've gotten the idea that there's a lot of fundraising for charities done here. I've been asked many times if I'm doing it for a charity.



It's been a bit if a challenge finding places to put up Spacey, my new Big Sky International Revolution 2P tent. There are a lot of prickly plants when I do find a patch of dirt without grass clumps. I don't want to puncture my new air mattress. ExPed had kindly replaced the replacement I got in NZ. It blew a gasket! Didn't go flat, went fat! But within a very quick time a distributor in Brisbane had one waiting for me at the Morven PO. So either the new one, I rub all around the floor of the tent trying to find anything that might poke through and remove it. One more nighttime chore.

I had a tailwind the day I rode to Augathella. I didn't think I could make it because I spent a lot of time chatting with a local rancher, then some Grey Nomads who stopped over while I was breakfasting. But when the wind switched to my backside and I could get up to the teens per km, I was sailing. It was Saturday and I wanted to get to the grocery store before it closed because I knew it wouldn't be open on Sunday. Pedal. Pedal. Whew! It's only 3:30. What?!? Closed? At noon? Dang! Do I stay 2 nights until it opens Monday or hope there's enough food in that pannier to go another 120 kms? I'll stay the night here and decide in the morning. In the morning it was a go. I always have extra food. What was I worried about?

Back to tonight. It's so quiet. No sounds except the rare car or road train. No light except the sliver of the moon. I'm sitting outside beside Blaze and Spacey and I'm in heaven. Why do I love being in the middle of nowhere all by myself? I keep asking myself that and I can't come up with an answer. It just feels right. Peaceful. Serenity. Home.











Got a couple of good roo shots one day as they crossed the road. They're only out early morning or at dusk so this was a delight.











A rancher I met yesterday said he killed 11,000 of them on his property because they are such a pest. Next he's planning on installing a fence that hopefully will keep them out because the eat too much if the pasture grasses and compete with his cattle. But they're so cute!

And some "a day in the life" shots:












Livin' the life!

BagLady

Pedaling to Roma

August 6, 2015
A road heading west, Queensland, Australia




Brrr! I wish that sun would break free of the clouds on the horizon and warm me up! It's a quiet morning except for the birds...a lot of noisy birds in Australia. The only one I recognize is the Kookaburra because he sounds like a monkey laughing. The nights are chilly out here, in the 30's, but the sun provides warmth as long as you're sitting in it. The air is very dry, no moisture molecules, so it never warms up. Scorching sun yet chilly breeze. And this week there've been southerlies bringing cold air up from the south. I'm camped next to a paddock fence and a gathering yard, looks quite new. I saw and heard some horses last night, and a few trucks. The trucks haven't started up yet this morning. These trucks are the road trains and the roads are single bitumen track with graded shoulders for the rest of us. And everyone goes deep onto those shoulders giving the road trains every bit of the pavement. No arguments here! I'm paying closer attention to what's happening on the road because the other day was a close call. I noticed an oncoming semi so as I do, I glanced in my mirror to see if anything was coming from behind...and there was...and he was right there...and I dive for the ditch...and he passed in a cloud of smoke from the brakes!!! Oivay!!! That was too close!! Why didn't he honk?? Please honk before you kill me! Give me half a chance to dive for the ditch. He had pulled out a bit to try and get around me, but I don't think he had room with the oncomer. It was the first day I've listened to music because it was my birthday. (Don't use my iPhone for music because it eats the battery but it has the best tunes...all the new music I loaded on my iPod doesn't move me so I never listen to that.).

For the last couple of days there's been only one small town with a gas station/cafe/grocery/laundry/showers all in one...and a caravan park and a pub and a motel. That was on my birthday. There were slim pickin's at the grocery for a dinner treat. Pretty are shelves. But I did find some carrot cake in the little bakery case. Yum. I thought about getting lunch there, but the menu was fried this or fried that. I'm trying hard to eat healthier, so I passed. Country food here is the same as in the States. It's amazing that people live as long as they do in that stuff. Must keep the doctors and drug companies busy.




Blowing out my birthday candle!

I got the most wonderful wishes on Facebook for my birthday and it warmed my heart and brought me to tears. I struggle with an internal loneliness and attention like that just makes me weep. It's such an unfamiliar thing. I've struggled most of my life with friendships. I'm always the eager one but the response is null. When I had a home, my phone never rang. It's always me that called others. Something I never understood and still don't today. But across the world I've made amazing friends and our friendships fill this lonely soul up!! I connect easily...just can't maintain. Don't know if I'll ever figure it out. Does someone have done crackers to go with this whine??? Enough. It was a glorious birthday: amazing sunrise and sunset - as there always is in OZ, and friendly encounters during the day.

Met an interesting bloke, Paul, in the small town, who loves cycling and does these 5 day tours around the South Island of NZ covering mega distances each day landing in cushy digs each night. He works for a company there but lives at the coast. A 6 hour drive each way. And he goes home every weekend. I told ya they drive long distances here! And think nothing of it. Not me. I'd rather pedal for days than ride for hours.

Well the sun has warmed things up, and the coffee's done, so I'd better pack up and cover some distance. Two more days until the next town. That'll be 3.5 days of water I'm carrying. Hope the 7 liters us enough. I've been rationing it. My bath water was saved to wash the dishes (all 1 cup of it!). It's not hot so I'm not drinking a lot. Just trying to figure out how much I need to carry fir how long. Hmm??




The Classic Australian windmill for drawing bore water.



Hit a bit of agricultural green. Don't know how they keep it watered though.



And agricultural brown!



And road kill. There are a lot of dead roos by the side of the road. Most have been partially eaten. And oh, the smell!!




Carcass remains. Lots of those too!



And birds!

Loved the quieter roads and wonderful bush camp spots I found. Pulling into Roma was a bit of a downer because it's quite an industrial town. Probably a hub for these outback stations. Laundry was, first on my list since it'd been 2 weeks. Found the laundromat easily. $6 for a double load! But I have 1/2 a load. I'll wash it by hand, the critical things. The rest can go without. I'm afraid I'm gonna be quite grubby before this outback adventure finishes!

Groceries next. Found a Woolies (Woolworths, big good chain here). "Never shop when you're hungry." "You carry your fears." Is that why I always seem to have a lot of food. But knowing it could be 2 weeks before I see a grocery store this doze again, everything was too tempting. Besides veggies weigh a lot. I. Trying to eat vegan. Trying. I still have a bit of dairy (butter, yogurt, feta...I try to goat instead of cow when I can) and eggs. So lots of salads and stir-frys over pasta. I made a road version of ratatouille over polenta the other night. Yummy! I'll do that again. And I need some quinoa. That cooks fast. There's no minute rice here so that's out. Lentils makes a nice fish too. And salads. Anything in the bag tossed with olive oil and lemon or lime juice. It's working out well. But I can't eat out. No healthy options.

Brrr. The sun is setting. The cold begins. Or should I say gets colder. Last night was 32*! Today was probably in the 50s. Hot with the sun on my face, but jacket, capris, hat and gloves on most of the day. Last night I found a pretty good spot in a town with lots of No Camping signs. I found an old sports field with a toilet and....are you ready for this?....HOT shower! Yes!! Yes!! Be still my heart!! No clean clothes, but a clean ME!!!!!!! And I did a small hand load of icky cloths and panties and a towel in the morning which dried before I broke camp. So other than the drummer...and dogs...and freezing temps...and a tweaked back with pain shooting down my IT band all night (but no pain cycling today, thank god)...LIFE IS GOOD!!

Tonight I did a first (because this "highway" I'm cycling has no cross roads or my usual nooks or crannies for camping)...I called the number on the fence for Scutto's Mechanical and asked if I could camp on his land. Luckily there was no locked gate. No worries, he said. I wish all the farms had numbers on the gates:))

And the last thing I want to mention is this gnarly outback grass. Hard to camp on. It grows in raises, spaced out clumps of prickly, crunchy tufted pokey stuff. So hard to find a flat unlumpy spot that won't poke my air mattress. But I manage. I always manage. Time for warmer clothes!



Livin' the life!

BagLady

Four Days at the Camel Races in Tara

August 2, 2015
Tara, Queensland, Australia





Really? Camel races? This weekend? Usually I see events either that were in the past or too far in the future. It's only Wednesday noon when I see this sign. But the town is 50 kms south of the road I'm on...wrong direction. I'm heading north. Too bad I didn't risks that road through Tara as originally planned. And after making a Facebook post about missing the camel races, I start to continue on my merry way. Wait! Why can't I go? Where am I heading that won't wait? I could be there tomorrow. Don't ya love how I talk myself into things? So glad I talked myself into this!

So I turned around and headed south. Where did these hills come from? It had been flat going west. A bit of terrain change feels good, actually. Spent another night vamped in the bush...a bit too close to houses though...because the dogs talked to each other all night long. Argh! Lucky I have earplugs! Getting smarter in my old age.

I arrived midday Thursday and got the low down. For $30 I can camp on the showgrounds and have 3 days access to the races and cultural festival. Deal!
Let's go find a place to put up my tent. Fairly open, mildly-treed, dusty-dirty, no grass field filling up with trailers and utes. Where can I out up my wee tent and not get run over? To the back on the edge I decide. Turned out to be a good spot. Then I went to chat up some locals. These two guys, Collin and Tony, are best mates and travel to various festivals together. They are part of a Queensland camping group and are expecting 40-50 campers in their reserved space. I heard 10,000 people attend this thing. It's held every other year. These guys offer to help me with anything I need and invite me over to their campfire later. Ok!

Things weren't beginning until Friday night so I had dome down time to wander, chat, get groceries in town, and generally scope things out. I must say I've been rather surprised and impressed with how well the whole weekend has gone. Johns and showers were clean and operative. Trash cans emptied frequently. Everyone I met...and I met a lot of people...were so kind and interesting. Most had gone for the first time.

So this weekend I've seen camels race









ducks herded




and yabbies (large shrimp) sold and raced




And I did a little betting...and won!




I ate fair food...just one sinful thing...this potato swirl.



And I got to hear didgeridoo and see some aboriginals share their dances and a bit of culture.



The camel racing was hysterical. These are one hump camels, mostly wil dines that have been caught. No, camels are not indigenous to Australia, they were brought here for traveling through the deserts and then either escaped or were released. Now if you need a camel, you catch a wild one and in a few weeks it's racing. And pretty much anyone can be a jockey. I was offered, but value my life and respect that it's been too many years since I was astride a galloping horse to accept his offer. But there was a girl this weekend that jockeyed her first time ever on a camel! And you have to understand that you gave no rains, no control, the camel does what ever he pleases. They zigzag across the course or spin in circles. Sometimes the just sit down. And they run until they come to the barrier carouse the course, the end. They are walked out 400 or 600 meters and run home. And the jockeys sit on pads behind the hump grabbing straps that are wrapped around it. Hold on tight!

They demonstrated the dog trials where working dogs compete herding sheep through an obstacle course, working at their owners commands. Fascinating to see. Then a guy herded ducks! That was hysterical!! Ducks don't want to be herded and these guys ducked under the fence and hid under a campervan. Eventually they also were put through a mini obstacle course but not as easily as the sheep.

But the yabby races beat all! These Aussies will bet on anything, and freely admit it:). So they "auction off" these oversized shrimp talking about their wonderful confirmation and how they were last years grand champion or something...just like the Keeneland horse auctions. Cracked me up! And the went for several hundred dollars. The money was put into a pool and the winner gets 60%. The remaining 40% goes to charity. They did the same thing with the camels before the final race of the day when the winners from the previous races competed. Only they bet up around a thousand dollars each.

Back to the yabbies. They then were released in the middle of a large 30' circle and the firs to over the outer rim was the winner. And they crawled backwards!

Sat around a campfire with new friends. Had happy birthday sung to me:). Heard the bush poets recite their tales. And had the time of my life!! A big shout out to all the wonderful people I met, too many to list them all here, and thank them for making me feel like a long lost friend!! Yooz the best!!

Everything can't be captured on film. Some things just have to be absorbed through the skin. I know I'm not the best at photography because I'm too busy experiencing. But I am posting videos to Facebook because it goes up easier and quicker than in my blog.

And they wear a lot of cowboy hats!




All good things must come to an end and so I needed to continue heading west after saying goodbyes, always the hardest part.



That's my guys (and gal)! Collin and Flash, Paul, Tony and Oscar, ?, Di, and Ian (who I think's nickname is Moose). They adopted me and took great care of me over the weekend!! I couldn't have camped near a nicer, more fun bunch of mates!!!!

Livin' the life!

BagLady

Heading Into the Outback

July 29, 2015
Crossroads, Queenland, Australia

And then I headed west because that's where the Outback is and I wanted to cycle through it. I don't know where to go or how long to spend. I'm really wandering around. I look at a map and the distances boggle the mind. Just pull out a map of Australia and see how far it is from Brisbane to Darwin. A freaking long ways!!! Of nothing, I'm told!!!!!!! Do I really want to do this? Sounded good a couple of months ago. And if I traveled a bit faster it might make sense. But I just don't know. So I. Going to do an Outback sampler. I've set my initial goal go cycling to Longreach. That's about 1000 kms (600 mikes) and will take me 2-3 weeks. And if I'm happy and want more, then I'll set my sights on Mt Isa. Still nowhere near to Darwin. I'm hoping that if I'm not happy I can catch a bus from either Longreach or Mt Isa back to the coast but I don't know that for sure. Worry about that when the time comes. I can always hitch:-)

Oh, and while I was in Toowoomba, I got the correct fly for my Big a Sky Revolution 2P tent! It's beautiful! And so spacious with the overhangs over the doors. Makes for more head room inside and I think the vestibules are more spacious. I've nicknamed my tent, Spacey! Cuz she looks like a spaceship now. And she's so spacious. Seems fitting.







My first night heading west. The sun sets early so I scramble to get my tent up before dark.



But oh, the sunsets are worth it, don't ya think??




And the first night out I got to see how much I. Gonna love the "porch", the overhangs on the door flaps. I left the flaps tied back during a rainstorm and stayed dry! It's funny buts onetime during this last year, before I saw Bug Sky had designed these porches, I designed them in my head. I wanted a way to keep the flaps open when it rained because in the summer it gets too hot to close them up...and besides, I like to watch the rain! So they were a step ahead of me:)

The challenge I'm finding cycling out here are road trains. They are semi tractor trailer trucks with 2+ trailers on the back. The further west ya go, the more trailers they have. Yesterday someone told me they can get up to 8 long!! Hold onto your hat!








Triples are bad enough! There were wide shoulders which helped immensely. But sometimes they came so close I thought I could reach out and touch them. And flinched pulling in my right hand, as if that would help:)

I decided I needed some serious maps that actually told me the road types: major, minor, sealed, unsealed, 4WD, etc. I don't want to get myself into too much trouble, if I can help it. There are few roads going where I want to go other than the highway. We're not talking interstate, like in the States. We're talking 2 lanes and sometimes shoulders with all the traffic. The main road. The one people take to get someplace far away. I want to get off the highway. It's dangerous! But sometimes, probably often, it will be the only option to get from A to B. At least now I have auto club maps to know if there is another option. Google maps would route me down any old path it could find and that just won't do out here.

And for 125 kms, and maybe more, I'm off the A2. Ya! But the road trains use this road too, only there's fewer cars (and fewer of them) so they have room to pull wide around me. Think you.

I'm camping in the bush. Off the road, down a dirt road. Scrubby. Scruffy. Birds. No roos. 'Cept last night they thundered by my tent. Sounded like I scared them! What's that doing on our land?? A spaceship has landed!



Nope, just Spacey, Blaze, and BagLady:)))



Late in the day...better get set up. Where do you think will have morning sun?
I'm always trying to figure that out...and I never get it right. It's not 180* from where it sets! I know that...now.



Sure is flat in the Outback!

Off too the camel races...that will be the next episode.


Livin' the life!

BagLady

Three Restful Weeks in Toowoomba

July 28, 2015
Dalby, Queensland, Australia

I'm camped in the bush on red pebbles and it got cold enough last night to have a frost. After 12 hours of sleep I woke to the sun warming me up and a raucous bird squawking outside my tent. I'm in the Outback, just barely.

But before that adventure begins, I have to fill you in on my 3 weeks of rest and fulfillment with the Pinwill family. It's the longest time I've been off the bike in over a year and it felt great to take a long break. I didn't plan to be off that long, but a series of events just led up to it. And then, in the end, I had to tear myself away. Got just a bit too comfortable and happy:-)

April and I met Kathryn and Michael while we were walking the Kepler Track in New Zealand on a rainy day in a shelter. Their chipper spirits and warmth connected us easily. The next day we climbed up to the ridge line catching up with them...they'd started early knowing it was to be a long day. And they said that if we ever got up around Brisbane in Australia, to look them up. And I did!

Kathryn teaches Kindy at a private girls school in town. Michael does IT for a trucking company. And then there's Jacob, 5, in his Prep yr in school and practicing his politician's charm...and Lukey (he'll hate that nickname when he's older), who's 2 and loves trains...and bulldozers..."I need that bulldozer." And they all won my heart. Kathryn has the quietest most attentive nature with the boys. And they respond...usually...and sometimes surprising even her. It was a delightful environment. Few tears. No shouting. No crazy rushing in the morning. (Her way with kids reminded me a lot of my children's Montessori teacher and dear friend, Sigrit VanDamme, as she is like this when working with children...it's a wonder to behold.). And I got to play gramma and was in my glory!

As Kathryn was on school holidays when I arrived, she decided we should drive out into the Outback to Bollon, a rural community where she first taught school for 3 years. We would be able to stay with friends on the station, Glencoe, (75,000 acre ranch) they live on and manage. Oh boy!! So off the kids, Kathryn, and I went for 2 nights there. It's a 5 hour drive, 6 with stops. We stopped off at a Pony Club event where Barb, from Glencoe, was helping out all week with daughter and grandson. As an ex-Pony Clubber, it was fun to see all the kids and their horses! On to Glencoe trying to not hit a kangaroo in the dark. That was exhausting to try and see them along side the road. They keep the bush mowed back from roads to make this easier for drivers because roos come out at dusk. Then trying to find the station when it had been 10 years since Kathryn had been back. They moved it closer to town!!



The entry no one uses, most likely. But isn't it cute?



The country kitchen that I loved!



My bedroom, just adorable! Love the bed!!

The old house was so quaint. A step back in time. A wrap-around veranda provides cool shade to the house and it's inhabitants. Tong and grove walls inside. Felt much like an old lake cottage might be. No insulation. Simple cupboards. Windows opening onto the veranda. An old iron bed. I loved it!

And Kev was a sweetheart putting us up while his wife, Barb, was away. We brought all our food so he wouldn't have to do that. And just made ourselves at home.

In the morning, it was an early rise because Kev had planned a shearing just for us. He had mustered a mob of sheep up to the wool shed the day before. His son, xxxxx, is a master shearer, and he was delighted to strut his stuff. The woodshed us centrally located so we had a ride in utes through the station and about 6-8 gates to get there. I was in my glory. Kathryn said I never stopped smiling! It was just like McLeod's Daughters (the Aussie TV show...Netflix). It's winter here, not shearing time, but they did clip 3 sheep just to show us. I wanted them to duct step their coats back on because they were going to freeze!



She doesn't look happy about this...but resigned.



Fascinating for all of us!



Dogs really do walk the sheep.

We got a tour of the where they used to dip the sheep, run them through disinfectant. They shower them now, I think he said. Then off to see the bulldozers. And Lukey wouldn't get out of the ute. Too big. Too scary. I guess. In order to keep the brush down for the cattle to graze, the drag the paddocks about ever 10 years, leaving lines of trees for shade for them. This is a continuous process. They drag a massive chain between two bulldozes to down the trees and shrubs. Then after they've dried, they burn the paddock, getting rid of the trees and refreshing the soil. Grass then grows.



Donny and me in the ute!



This calf was born early...in winter...they were a bit surprised to see him!



Isn't Kev your classic Aussie rancher? I loved meeting him! And the stories he told...



After this station tour, we headed into the sweet village of Bollon which consisted of a school, police station, fire hall (actually 2: they had to build a new one when the new fire engine wouldn't fit into the old one!), a hotel, a cafe/store, and a few other farming businesses. It was an hour's drive to get groceries! But these folks drive a lot! We met another son of Barb and Kev's when he came into town for pizza, an hour's drive one way from his station. Really!! His wife was at the Pony Club meet:)

A tour of the park, met up with old friends, saw the school and Kathryn's old house. Had to be hard to be 23 and living so remotely with not much going on. Gave me a taste of rural Australian life. Thanks to everyone for that! (Especially Kathryn...she had to drive!)



Lukey and me:-)



Big town of Bollon.

The following week turned cold, so I couldn't leave then. I'll just wait for this cold snap to pass. So this week I got invited up to give a talk at Glennie, the girls school where Kathryn worked. It's always a treat for me to meet and chat with kids.



I Aldo spent their lunch hour out in the courtyard and was so busy answering questions I didn't think to get pictures. But I was written up in their newsletter.




I've had a problem with pictures and run out of space. I have over 6000 from this last year and they're all on my iPad and it's filled all 64 gb. I thought when I backed it up to iCloud they were backed up. Silly me. I don't know what it backs up, but not photos. So I started the long learning process of various backup options with Apple. And one: Photo Sharing seemed right. Until it crashed my whole iPad and it got stuck on the Apple boot up screen. Oh No!!!!! I went to bed that night thinking I'd lost everything. Kathryn and Michael had offered to drive me 1.5 hours to Brisbane to the Apple store to see if they could fix it. But I plugged it in all night, as one forum suggested, and it worked! But the Photos app still would not go to the screen I needed to make more Shared Albums. And I must say when it worked, it worked quickly. I thought I could be done backing up in a day. I also decided I needed a hard drive to back them up on so they would be in 2 places. Michael offered me space on his, but when the pictures uploaded they lost their original date. What chaos that would be! Like a big box of 6000+ pics all dumped on the floor. Thanks but no thanks! And I figured out how to back them up to Flickr but that took hours and hours and hours. Sometimes one video would take an hour all by itself. So I spent the last week tethered to my iPad and their wifi. I got everything through June of this year done. The rest will just stay on the iPad and the hard drive. Lesson: take fewer pictures. No one will ever see most of these, but they are my memories.

A few more shots from my stay with this lovely family. A couple of weekends we went hiking. Once to Tabletop nearby. What a scramble up that was!



Jacob, me, and Luke in the back seat:)



The Pinwills! I love this shot!!

And another weekend up to the Bunya Mountains where Michael's mom joined us. It was a treat to meet her. I got to read the story of her and Don, Michael's dad. They settled further north when they were young on a Dry Block, land with no water, supposedly, and what a tough, remote, and wonderful life it was! "Whatever It Takes" by Don Pinwill was a treat to read. Hard times! Happy times!




I also got yo meet Kathryn's dad, Doug, but sadly have no photos of him. He was feeling poorly while I was there and the focus were having a hard time figuring things out. Hope you're feeling better soon, Doug.

So I think that's a quick wrap of three glorious weeks with a wonderful young Aussie family. As I often say "the Universe does a heck of a better job of planning than I do" and this is one example of that!

Thank you Kathryn, Michael, Jacob, and Luke!!!!!



Making brownies with Luke when I was babysitting one day.



Livin' the life!

BagLady