No excuse......

No excuse for not keeping my blog updated.  I have simply lost my mojo and procrastination plays a role!

We have been keeping busy these past couple of months but as is so typical of us as we "make our own busy".  Exercise has been playing a big role in our lives.  Philip has been cycling with his friends in Port and the Mount Molloy Dash (Mount Molloy to Port Douglas) was a great achievement for him.  The ride was familiar to him as we lived close to Mt. Molloy when we were living at Julatten, and the ride took in Euluma Creek Road that was Philips "circuit".  There were two teams competing in the ride, one was mountain bike that went down the Bump Track and the other was the road bikers. The ride finished at Teamsters Park in Port where a delicious breakfast of bacon and egg rolls awaited them.

I continue walking but on advice from my doctor I have added in some hill climbing.  Earl Hill has been a favourite but it is certainly a steep walk up the side of the hill and I am always relieved when I reach the top but also with a feeling of satisfaction of completing the walk.

I still go to yoga classes twice a week (Philip joins me for one) and we have added Reformer Pilates to our exercise regime.  Again, on advice from my doctor, to do some weight bearing exercise for Osteoporosis.  Surprisingly I am enjoying it very much.  I detest "huffy puffy" exercise classes and reformer pilates gives me the exercise without all the sweat.  I love that you feel supported on the machines and the instructors at Studio Pilates go above and beyond to guide you through the challenges.  Philip says that he is enjoying the classes as well and even though we have to drive into Cairns city (around 20km) for the classes, it is no hardship.

Food.  It seems like I am constantly thinking about it!  I just love trying different food that I would not normally cook for myself and we have really loved trying some of the food at different restaurants over the past couple of months.  By far and away the best was the degustation at Miguels in Palm Cove.  The owner of Miguels is a friend of ours and it is great to see the success they are having with the Tapas bar, that they opened less than a year ago.  The degustation was very enjoyable and there were many delicious dishes to excite me.  I hope it becomes a regular event for Miguels.

Other places we have visited included Hogs Breath for their Lobster special (we all know how much I love lobster!) and Coco Mojos at Clifton Beach never fails to impress us with there menu.

We have also made an effort to get out and about in Palm Cove on the weekends.  We have quite the reputation for being evening recluses so we are endeavouring to change that.  Miguels (again) make a fantastic Margherita and together with a couple of Tapas has been a favourite,

A drive to Townsville in the Winnebago to have a levelling system fitted and a flight to Brisbane to catch up with my sister and our financial advisor took up a week in early November.  It was great to catch up with family and we ate some delicious food while we were there, notably middle eastern cuisine at Mecca Bah at Newstead.  I could kick myself that I didn't get any photos but the food was just too enticing!

In Townsville we caught up with all the old Julia Creek crew and it really was a talkfest over delicious home cooked meals.  One night we had pizza and wine where way too much wine was consumed but it was so much fun.  I love the way we just pick up where we left off with these friends.

Back in Palm Cove our very good friends joined us for a game of Finska on the beach.  It is a fun game that we hope to get back into now that we are home, for the time being at least.  Our apartment block is right behind this photo of us.  It has been newly painted and looks a million dollars!

Last week our travel agent invited us along to an inspection of Silverseas latest ship the Silver Nova.  The Silver Nova is staying in Australian waters for the next twelve months and she really is a beautiful ship with lots of light streaming in to all corners of the ship from the use of glass instead of the standard solid walls.  We have a couple of Silversea cruises lined up over the coming years and now we are really excited to be joining the Silversea family.

Well that brings me to today.  We have finally woken to a wet day.  The tropics have certainly been missing out on the rain that people in the south have been receiving and the drive to Townsville from Cairns looked very parched in places.  They say to be careful what you wish for, but can you really ever have too much rain?  No for me anyway.

Until next time xx

 

Home, sweet home.

After 23 weeks, we are finally home and oh how I have missed this......

This is the view we wake to each and every morning.  How extremely blessed and lucky are we!

The trip home took us five nights with stays at Miles, Mount Morgan, Cape Palmerston, Alva Beach and finally Cowley Beach before arriving back at Palm Cove.  We always aim to arrive around 1-2 pm at our destination and try not to drive anymore than 400-450 kms in a day.  As Philip is the designated driver and I am the designated trip planner, five to six hours of driving (at around 90kph) is plenty.  We are usually sick of it by them.  Cowley Beach is a favourite.  Not much to do here except watch the sunset over the Coral Sea.  Drinks and Nibblies are a given of course....

Before we finally left Toowoomba we had a farewell lunch at Rosalie House with my Aunty, Uncle and cousins.  The meal once again was exceptional quality and I would gladly recommend it.  I chatted to the owner of Rosalie House and mentioned to her that the winery was recommended to us by a mutual friend.  We chatted for a little while about Jess but she was run off her feet on a busy Sunday so I left her to it.

Our final few days in the South East were spent with our friends at Leyburn.  They have a huge backyard well set up for caravaners with both water and electricity points. They have been our friends forever (or so it seems) but it is almost 50 years!  We have been through a lot of ups and downs together and although we don't see a lot of each other these days, when we do get together it is like time has not passed at all.  I was able to spend a little time with their gorgeous grand-daughter and her daddy so that was extra special.

 

 

We also paid a visit to Shane Webcke's farm outside Leyburn where he has set up a fantastic venue inside an old renovated shearing shed, to cater for any occasions from weddings to birthdays.  Indeed he was to celebrate his own birthday (50th) there the weekend after we left.  That would have been quite the party.

We don't have a lot planned for the next couple of months as we will be heading south again in December for Christmas with our son and daughter-in-law.  It will be a time to just sit back and relax and enjoy our beautiful home that we haven't spent much time in over the past few years.

Spring in Toowoomba

What a difference a month makes!  We have gone from very cold weather to heatwave temperatures and now back to average that is around 12-25 degrees.  Perfect for all the outdoor activities that we have been enjoying.  We keep commenting that we have been coming to Toowoomba for the past 20 years to visit mum but not once did we come as tourists.  So with time to kill until we sell Mums townhouse we are playing the tourists.....

It is almost "Carnival of Flowers" time so the gardens, all around Toowoomba, are looking magnificent and each week we are seeing more and more blooms.  Laurel Bank Park was an unknown to us until my Aunty mentioned it as being one of the best parks in Toowoomba.  After visiting the Botanic Gardens I was a little skeptical but I have to say, Aunty was right.  From the moment you park your car you are met with so many wonderful garden "rooms".  The first is the sculpture garden, followed by the Topiary, and then the potted plants.  Wandering further you arrive at the ponds that are surrounded by all the tropical plants.  There is also the Wisteria walk and then on to the dutch tulip gardens.  There is Thomas the Tank engine that I imagine the kids would love and the highlight is the viewing platform that overlooks a gorgeous display of flower beds.  You have to look hard to see various garden themes amongst the gardens for example the digging fork and the words "Hip Hip Hooray". It was such a treat to visit Laurel Bank Park and we will return in a few days to see the garden in absolute full bloom.

It 

Another place on our list was the Cobb and Co Museum.  We have been to a lot of museums in the past and some leave a lot to be desired, but not this one.  Not only does it house one of the best displays of horse drawn carriages in Australia but the venue is home to Exhibitions and Workshops.  There is even a blacksmithing shed adjoining the cafe where you can watch the tradesman at work at various times of the year.  At this time of the year it is all about the flowers so there is a competition for the "best hanging basket".  After we finished our Devonshire tea we wandered past the display that is pretty darn good. This circus theme was my personal favourite.......

Next we walked the short distance to the where the coaches were housed.  As you enter the building through a "tunnel", on both sides of the wall is a lot of information about the early days of the Cobb and Co coach and Philip was able to relate to me the trip that his family made to Combo Waterhole near Winton for the jubilee celebration of Cobb and Co where the coach below travelled from Port Douglas to Melbourne through the centre of Australia.  It took three months. Philip said it was amazing to see such a big turnout of people who had come from all around the west to cheer on the coach.

Philip probably enjoyed this museum more than me, because for men, the build of the coaches is fascinating.  I was intrigued to see however, an old wooden crate with the words "Say Tristrams Please" written on the side.  This was a real walk down memory lane for me as I recalled my dad, walking across the road from our home in Warwick, to the soft drink factory to pick up a crate of Tristrams Softdrink.  My favourites were Sarsaparilla and Creamy Soda. Such a great memory...

We like to visit places in the afternoon to kill a few hours and last Sunday we drove the short distance to the Japanese Gardens at the University of Southern Queensland.  I had visited here many years ago when I was doing a photography course at the Uni and I loved it then and love it more so now.  It is beautiful and should be on everybody's lists of places to visit in Toowoomba.  We again enjoyed the spring flowering in the gardens that are bursting with colour.  

So that brings us to yesterday when we drove the Cobb and Co Tourist drive.  This is a terrific drive that starts east of Toowoomba and heads down the range to Spring Bluff and then on to Murphys Creek before joining the highway to take us back to Toowoomba.  This is a lovely area with lots of fertile grazing and farming land.  It is at the top end of the Lockyer Valley that everybody knows is the fruit and vegetable bowl of Queensland.  The area we drove through suffered a massive amount of damage in the devastating floods of 2011 where houses and people were swept away.  It was a very sad time in Queensland history.  The highlight of this drive was Spring Bluff Railway Station where a team of volunteers keep the gardens at the station looking absolutely beautiful, with once again, an abundance of spring colour.  We enjoyed Spring Bluff so much that we have booked ourselves on the train that leaves Toowoomba and travels downhill through many tunnels to reach Spring Bluff.  Will let you know how it goes....

In the meantime here are some photos from our visit.

That's our past few weeks in a nutshell.  I feel a little sad that I used to write this blog for my mum to enjoy and now I don't know whether anyone will bother reading it.  However, it is my "diary" so I will keep writing for me.

The past four months.......

It really has been an incredibly busy and emotional time for me over the past four months, culminating in mum's passing.  Settling mum into the nursing home and then emptying her unit to get it ready for sale, was challenging to say the least.  And just when I was ready to put it on the market, mum passed away.  

Toowoomba in winter is really not a great place to be.  The temperature drops to the very low numbers and the wind seems to blow right through you.  Because Toowoomba lies high on the mountain range the fog is another thing to have contend with and I can tell you that driving in it at night is a nightmare.  We are staying at the Toowoomba Motor Village, that feels like home after this length of time, and have enjoyed our morning walks/cycle along the West Creek walkway.  I think it was the walks that kept us sane and even though I don't like the fog it can be quite beautiful early in the morning.

We have enjoyed catching up with family over the past few months and have seen quite a bit of my aunty and uncle who live at Pittsworth.  They invited us to join them for lunch at Picnic Point to help them celebrate their wedding anniversary.  It was a lovely meal and we have been back a couple more times to enjoy the food and views.

After mum passed away, Philip and I decided to get away from the Toowoomba chill for a few weeks while we waited for the paperwork needed to sell mums unit to come back to the solicitor. We were lucky enough to get into a caravan park at Golden Beach (Caloundra) for four nights where we enjoyed long walks along the waterfront and then taking a drive to Kondallila Falls for a long circuit hike through the rainforest.  It was invigorating and something we have been missing.

After Golden Beach we shifted camp to Hervey Bay.  Once again we were lucky to score a site for a week because it is the middle of their peak whale watching season.  The caravan park was close to the jetty and each afternoon we would walk the almost 1km jetty and then head to the tavern for sundowners to watch the sun setting.  It was idyllic and if anything is going to rejuvenate you it is this place.  Some of the restaurants we ate at were excellent, some not so good but the seafood platter below was one of the outstanding meals. We really like Hervey Bay and have booked a site prior to Christmas when we will be returning.

From Hervey Bay it was Tin Can Bay.  Wow.  We really, really like this little town and could easily make it home.  I can't recall being in such a friendly town where everybody greets you with a smile and hello. There are certainly a lot of grey headed folks living here so that is probably what attracts us the most.  Crime seems to be almost non-existant and even the young are polite to the elderly.  We were there for nine days and also drove to Rainbow Beach a couple of times.  It is the polar opposite of Tin Can Bay with a lot of young people and very busy.  The beach here though is beautiful and even though the weather was not great for our visit you can tell that it would be a wonderful place to be on a hot summers day.

One of the tourist attractions of Tin Can Bay is the dolphin feeding each morning.  The morning we went, there were eight dolphins (including a baby) quietly splashing around in the shallow water.  Gee I love these creatures (who doesn't!) and there beautiful eyes seem to look right into your soul.

We ended up staying in Tin Can Bay nine nights as the weather turned into very wet conditions and our planned stay at Marco's place would mean us plowing through mud to get to the house.  As it turned out we still had to negotiate a few muddy spots even after the rain had gone.  But it was lovely to spend the night with Marco and Suzie.  We enjoyed a delicious Lasagne, packed full of vegetables, and conversation that flowed for hours.

The next day we drove to Leyburn to stay with our friends Michael and Wendy.  It was the weekend of the Leyburn Sprints that we have been eager to get to for years.  I must admit that I wasn't all that keen but OMG, I am now totally addicted.  It is a timed 1km course, where competitors line up on the start line one at a time and are waved to start around every minute. There were 200 competitors and each driver had four starts.  That's 800 cars over the course of two days. It was non stop action. 

Michael and Wendy have been our friends for almost fifty years and every time we visit is like we only saw each other yesterday.  They cooked breakfast and dinner for a large crowd over the course of the weekend and it seems almost effortless for them, but I know it takes a lot of planning to feed a crowd.  It was a real treat to be at the Leyburn Hotel on the last night to see Michael and John being awarded "Volunteer of the Year".  They put an enormous amount of volunteer time into the event and even though Michael hates being the centre of attraction his smile says something different.

So we are now back in Toowoomba and have laid the groundwork to place mums unit on the market.  Toowoomba is a well liked area and mums unit is in a sought after area.  The agent seems to think that it will sell very quickly with most units selling within seven days.  Fingers crossed, as we are really missing our home in Palm Cove, but we can't really leave until we have an unconditional signed contract.  Time will tell.  On the bright side, the weather at the moment is glorious with lows of around 15 and highs of around 25.  Perfect.....