Airlie Beach has returned to magnificent weather. The grounds dried out, the skies are blue, and its warm – a very pleasant 26 Degrees today. So, what does one do on a glorious sunny day at Airlie Beach when there’s nothing else on – fish of course.
I took some lambs liver out of the freezer (my preferred fishing bait), and packed up a few crackers and cheese, chopped up some water melon and put ice cubes into a bottle of water. In the meantime Paul sorted out the fishing gear. High tide was around 11.30am, so we timed our arrival at Shute Harbour jetty for around 11am, calling at a fishing tackle shop on the way to purchase some more hooks and Pauls preferred bait.
Paul trying his luck.
Within a very short time I’d caught a small shark (only about 1/2 metre in length), which didn’t live to see to see another day. A giant groper who lives under the jetty seized the opportunity of a captive lunch and lunged from the watery depths to claim my prize, hook, line, sinker – and shark, gone in a mouthful. This groper is famed for stealing catches from fisher people such as myself who are to slow in reeling in their catch. I kid you not – he is a massive fish. I wouldn’t like to fall in nearby, he’s certainly big enough to do me some serious damage should he mistake me for someones ‘slow catch’. Had he not taken my prize we would have released the shark back to continue on with his day. Just his rotten luck that I was to slow at reeling him in. It was awesome to see – so, so fast, for such a massive lump of a water creature. A spectacle we’d been warned about, and one we’re pleased to have witnessed.
A couple of hours later we’d had the joy of being surprised by a big ray completing a serious of high jumps only about 10 metres in front of the jetty. Obviously, something much bigger had decided he’d make a good lunch. We didn’t see if he’d been successful in evading the enemy. I hope so, we’re rather partial to rays. They’re such relaxing sea creatures to watch as they glide peacefully through clear waters. We witnessed a large turtle swimming along and poking his head up every so often for a look around. And we’d completely surrendered to the peaceful tranquility thet comes with a couple of hours gazing out over the calm, blue/green waters of Shute Harbour. So meditational!
The island fringed waters of Shute Harbour.Boats of all shapes and sizes coming and going.
Apart from the shark nothing else was caught that was worthy of a mention. But our bait was constantly being nibbled so our hopes of ‘the big one’ was constantly being nurtured. With or without a catch, the jetty on a warm 26 degree day is one hell of place to wile away a couple of hours.
A week of wet here in Airlie Beach, and today I think we’ve had more rain than that which has been received in total in the preceding week. It’s even cold today at 17°.
Yep, our vans almost ready to start floating.
Our barbecue table is standing in about 4 inch deep water. Ya can go off a place. Only joking – but seriously……
Guess we’re not barbecuing tonight.
It’s 30° and fine in Broome – feels like the grass is always greener somewhere else sometimes. Perhaps after nearly 40 years of living in WA we both just became used to predictable weather. In Perth in summer it’s hot and dry, almost without exception. In winter it’s cool, and there’s a reasonable amount of wet days, winter after winter without exception. That’s when folks go up to Broome, where it’s warm and dry, day after day without exception.
I often say, ‘no good complaining about the weather, you can’t control it, so just live with it.’ But this time I feel justified in complaining. Weve tried to put a lot of miles between us and bad weather. Seems we’re destined to live with wet feet lately. I don’t mind crisp cold. And I don’t even mind a day or two of rain, but this is so much more than that. It’s supposed to be the dry season. It’s bloody torrential.
Im wondering when I should get the oars out for our neighbours.
We’re definitely in the tropics. It’s pleasantly warm, and this week it’s been wet. That’s the tropics. Sunshine and rain, rain and sunshine – the recipe for gorgeous gardens full of rich colours, green palms and ferns, and lots of birds.
We’re so pleased we treated ourselves to this particular caravan park. It’s only slightly more expensive than all its nearby competition, but it has so much going for it.
The sites are big and individually bordered on both sides with tall lush ferns and spacious areas of green grass to the rear of each caravan. It’s pleasant not to be back to back and up close and personal with other vans to our rear.
Big private sites
There’s plenty of space everywhere with large shady grassed areas, very inviting for outdoor activities and games.
Playing bocce
The pool is big and heated to 28°.
Heated, landscaped poolA cooler day so sun loungers are empty.
They have a mini golf course, a giant chess set, a small menagerie of farm animals and heaps of other activities. The sow in the menagerie is due to give birth any day now, so with school holidays just over a week away, a litter of newborn piglets is sure to bring lots of joy to the visiting ankle biters.
Mini golf to be played under a tropical canopy of lush ferns
All of the staff seem very happy in their jobs, and all that I’ve spoken to can’t speak highly enough of their bosses and their work place. I’m sure that’s the reason for the fantastic atmosphere around the park. One particular staff member, Mel runs a lot of the free activities for guests. For the adults she puts on pancake breakfasts, coffee and cake quiz morning teas, and wine and cheese afternoons by the pool. She also runs activities for kids clubs. I bet she helps make some memorable and happy moments for the visiting families.
The park also puts on movie nights several times a week in an outside cinema.
We’ve just come back from a trivia morning tea. Mel thought it was a funny touch to include a face creaming machine for wrong answers. However it didn’t seem to be working, so I suggested she try it out.
Mel demonstrating the creaming machine.Yep, it works.A good sport.
I hope the park owners appreciate her and pay her well. She’s perfect in her job, they couldn’t get better. Paul says she’s like gold.
Infectious happiness – that’s Mel.
We were reluctant to come here, thinking it was going to be one of the overpriced parks where we would be paying premium rates for such things as jumping pillows, pool water slides, playground equipment and any number of other things we’d not be likely to use. Not this time though, the owners of this Big4 certainly haven’t forgotten the adults. We’re being well catered for. Congratulations, Big4 Adventure Park, Cannonvale (Airlie Beach). You’ve made this a wonderful place for both children and adults alike to stay, and you’ve created a work place where your staff are happy to be working. Loving this place.
We arrived at the tourist mecca of Airlie Beach almost a week ago. First impressions are that the world wide attention this place gets is well deserved.
We’ve finally reached the right climate. Bathers (togs or swimmers), and thongs (Aussie summer footwear/flip flops) are the dress of the day. There’s no need for either heating or air conditioning – it’s perfect, day and night. Continue reading →
We’ve been so preoccupied with affairs in England that we’ve barely been aware of dilemmas being faced by friends and family here in Tasmania. It came as a shock this morning to wake to the news of Tassies floods, and apparently all of yesterday they were experiencing a deluge. My sister lives in one of two suburbs smack bang in the middle of Launcestons major risk flood plains. Fifty houses have been evacuated from one of those suburbs. I haven’t yet contacted Wendy to hear if all is okay with her and her fur babies.
I wonder if our own house has suffered any major damage. I know the Meander River near by is flooding, but our house is on high ground so should be safe from river flooding. There is an underground creek that runs under the property though so I guess it’s possible that could rise and become a problem. No doubt we’ll hear if there’s any problems there.
So, the silver linings:
– We came back from the UK when we did. Our caravan would likely have not fared so well in open storage with such a deluge.
– We managed to get on the ferry and across to the mainland. With many caravanners stuck there until July I dread to think how they’ve managed. We’ve heard the Deloraine caravan park was evacuated a couple of days ago.
– We’re above the bad weather and are high and dry at Airlie Beach.
Sometimes you just have to look for things to be grateful for….
As far as England goes, still no change with Pauls dad. He’s still in hospital and no cause for his current fragile state has been found. It’s looking more and more likely that he’ll be moved to a temporary care facility until he either gets enough strength back to return home, or deteriorates further. I suspect full time care is not far away, but from medical reports he should be able to be coping. Either they’re missing something, or dads just unable to motivate himself. I know he’s very lonely.
We haven’t yet told him the sale of his house has fallen through, or the reason for it. We’re trying to get a plan of action in place first. We’re hoping if the bad news is delivered along with a clear idea of what happens next that the news won’t be to upsetting for him.
I must say its the absolute pits to be in this situation, both for Pauls dad, and for Paul. We can’t go back over there to help again. We’re at an age now where it’s to risky to spend lengthy times in other countries where access to normal health services, available to us here, aren’t available to us there. Plus the logistics, and the financial implications mean further trips to the UK are out of the question. We can’t be on hand to offer up close support any more. Like I said, it’s the pits, and I wouldn’t wish this situation on my worst enemy. But as Kelv kindly reminded me yesterday, ” this too will pass”. All things pass, good times roll into bad, and bad times into good. Hopefully, our good times will come again soon. Not that things aren’t good now, or at least they would be if it wasn’t for the worries in the UK.
We’ve been researching Thermal Cookers, which are a non powered slow cooker, in principle based on the old Hay Box. The Dream Cooker is the most well known version and costs over $300.00. I’m usually of the opinion that you get what you pay for, and most often cheaper substitutes are inferior to the real deal. In this case though I did some research, and decided on a cheaper version. I’ve bought the seven litre Campfire Travel Chef.
My new toy.
It was just over $150 from Ray’s Outdoors. We’ve found Ray’s Outdoors to be a fantastic store to deal with, and the price of faulty or unsatisfactory goods is refunded without question from any Ray’s Outdoors anywhere in the country. Not only that, you don’t even need your receipt providing you have given them your details. In this case our choice of thermal cooker was mainly influenced by our choice of retailer, and this was the only type Rays sold. So, retailer chosen, we headed off to purchase our thermal cooker. Apparently they are going to be having a sale this coming weekend, so the salesman volunteered an unasked for discount. We ended up only paying $102 for it. Gotta be happy about that.
My first attempt was cacciatore chicken. The process is to get all the ingredients to a good simmer in the inside saucepan. When at a good simmer, approximately 20 minutes cooking time on the stove top, you remove the saucepan without lifting the lid and place inside the thermal outer reciprocal, seal the lid and leave unopened for the required amount of time. For this dish it took approximately three hours, of just being left alone untouched in the thermos. (This will be really good for happy hours – prepare before imbibing, then return to delicious fully cooked, hot meal).
My first attempt – chicken cacciatore.
Before we went to bed I put together a boiled pineapple fruit cake. The following morning though it was still soft. I think I should have had more water in the bottom saucepan. I put it in the oven for twenty minutes and it’s turned out to be a very tasty, moist cake. If fully cooked properly in the Thermos outer skin it would have been very pale on top. Next time hopefully I’ll perfect it without the help of the oven.
Fruit cake, not yet perfected in method. Tastes pretty damned good though.
The next day before we departed towards Airlie Beach I started off a joint of corned silverside (piece of salted beef similar to a gammon joint), added potatoes and carrots, and sealed it up. Eight hours later after we’d relaxed with a drink at the end of the days traveI I only needed to add the greens, and the mustard sauce. How easy was that. For those of you familiar with this dish you’ll know it’s usually served with a hot white/mustard sauce. I do a cheats version for on the road – sour cream mixed with whole grain mustard, so easy. Apologies for those of you who would have liked to drool over the fully plated dinner – I forgot to get Paul to photograph it before we dug in. You’ll have to make do with just seeing the left overs ready for salads and sandwiches.
Yummy Aussie corned beef – shame the UK butchers and supermarkets haven’t got onto this gourmet delight.
I think this little addition to my caravan kitchen is sure to add another dimension to good eats on the road. A welcome break to barbecues and salads.
We’ve just spent three nights at another private campsite on a Billabong, Lakeview, near Beachmere. Not quite as nice as Corindi Park, but still a welcome oasis to break up the minefield of caravan parks. Corindi park is free of domestic pets so wildlife abounds, where as Lakeview allows domestic pets. Perfect for dog and cat owners, and if we were travelling with a pet it would be perfect for a lengthy stay. The only drawback is birds and Roos aren’t so prevalent with dogs and cats around. Whilst definitely second best to Corindi Park for people travelling without a pet, still wonderful. We so much appreciate these lovely people opening their private properties to us.
Camped at another Billabong.View from bedroom window.
Lakeview is about mid way between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, so we used the opportunity for day visits to both. Sunday we took a day trip into Brisbane, our first to this capital city. Such a family friendly city. We did a circuit starting at the City Botanical Gardens, then over a bridge to the impressive tourist and family friendly Southbank. Hope the myriad of photos will do it justice.
1 km long bougainvillia covered walk winding through Brisbane’s south bank.
And all along the walk opens to all manner of free entertainments for children and adults alike. Firstly, several pools of varying depths.
One of many free pools lining the Brisbane River on the Southbank.A deeper clear blue pool.Even sandy shores for the littlies to build their sandcastles.
There were the usual buskers – this one entertained us for the better part of half an hour. Unlike many, who these days are asking for donations of up around the $20 when passing around their hat, this one quoted the price of both a small beer and a large beer, and suggested we consider his show worth the price of a beer and donate accordingly. We willingly dropped enough in his hat to buy him a large one. But he clearly indicated he would be happy with the lesser amount if that was all one could afford. Refreshing! Of course payment isn’t obligatory, so for many they get to enjoy a quality performance absolutely free.
Busker riding 9ft unicycle. He also juggled 5 flaming torches.
Adults weren’t forgotten, further along the walkway there was a small peaceful rainforest for a little breath of nature, and a Napalese peace temple for quiet reflection (photo didn’t do that justice, so not included). There were family priced take away food outlets in abundance, but tucked away to the rear, a refreshing change for the parents who take the time to pack their own quality picnics or barbecue for their families. The takeaway places weren’t in your face, screaming out – ‘buy me, buy me’. You actually had to look for them. There were heaps of clean picnic tables, and heaps of free barbecues for cooking on. Yes, with place like these I would love to have my time over with Kelvin and Alice and taken them there when they were of an age to appreciate it all.
Small rainforest for quiet contemplation.
With Brisbane being so tourist and family friendly, and with the Sunshine Coast one side and the Gold Coast the other, and with all the theme parks close by, it really is a Mecca for tourists. I’m sure if I were a visitor to Australia, of all the cities that I could visit, I think Brisbane with its multitude of attractions and almost perfect climate beats all the other cities and states by an Australian country mile. And for families – wow!!! A real treat.
Free bikes for getting around the city.
We didn’t take advantage of one of the free bikes to get ourselves around, preferring to do our city site seeing on Shanks Pony. After the Southbank we crossed another bridge bringing us back into the city centre. In the middle of the main mall there’s an area that looks to be set up for free concerts. We arrived only for the closing 15 minutes or so of Brisbane’s Wind and Brass Orchestra’s free two hour concert. The tunes we did get to enjoy were, the theme song fromThe Sound of Music, plus Doh a Deer, My Favourite Things, and I think there was one other as well from that musical before they finished with a rousing rendition of 76 Trombones. They were pretty damned good, and I was sorry to have missed the earlier part of their performance.
Orchestra playing in city centre.
Now I’m going to contradict myself – the climate although warmer than most other capital cities isn’t warm enough for us. We had some unseasonably warm weather while on the Gold Coast with peak daytime temperatures of around 27°. But as I said, that was unseasonal. It’s now back down to the low 20s, with very cool nights. We’ve had our diesel heater running all night several times, which isn’t in our plan.
We’re now in Hervey Bay for a quick three day look. Most likely after that we’ll head north quickly, up to Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays.
We’ve wanted to see Hervey Bay for ages now. So far, it’s been a little disappointing, but we haven’t seen the main part yet. Guess we’d better leave any final judgements out until we’ve had a good look. We had two caravan parks in mind near by before our arrival. We had a look at both, gave them a wide berth, and have opted for a Big 4 at Point Vernon. Reading reviews on Wiki, it appears theft is prevalent in the van parks at night, but we think this one looks less open to unwelcome visitors looking around for things to help themselves to. We’ve also been reading some generalised area views, and although this is an area were a lot of people retire to, it’s also apparently an area that is home to a few to many undesirables, bogans, to use the Australian term. Hence our three day stay rather than our originally planned week long stay. Perhaps I’ve jumped the gun though with my judgement. Watch this space…..
In my last post I mentioned that Pauls dad isn’t doing well, yet tests indicate he hasn’t any medical problems causing his current state.
We received several emails and communications from the crisis team after Glyn rang his emergency buzzer last week and was taken into accident and emergency. He was thoroughly checked – nothing found, and sent home. His Dr made a house call and spent approximately 1 1/2 hours with him – again, all found to be good. My last post was based on these assurances received from the social worker now in charge of Glyn. There was no misunderstand, we have these details in writing.
Four visits a day had been arranged from carers to attend to meals and his personal needs. During one of Pauls phone calls to his dad, his dad became very distressed and pleaded for us to return, saying he feels sick and no ones doing anything. Later that same day, last Thursday he apparently rang the emergency buzzer again. We received a call in the middle of our night, again indicating nothing serious is going on.
Then they tested his blood sugars – dangerously high, and I presume he’s entered into a state of ketoacidosis. It’s very hard for us to get any details from the hospital with privacy laws and phoning from a different country. He’s already suffering stage three kidney failure so goodness knows what further damage this extended time with this serious condition has caused.
We know at this stage he is to be kept in hospital until at least Tuesday. We can’t get any answers as to whether or not they are managing to bring his sugars under control. Nor can we find out if they’ve subsequently had him seen by a renal specialist to check for further kidney deteriorioration. Nor can we get any answers as to whether this has caused additional deterioration to his already compromised leg issues. Why can’t we get any answers, because they keep the identity of people we could be asking a closely guarded secret. Not only that, any information seems to be on a need to know basis, and clearly the next of kin and Glyns only child is way done on that list. That’s if they have a list at all. I suspect things left in the ether have no ability to come back and bite them, and with their constant medical negligence, if any coherant records are kept there would be the potential for them not only to be bitten, but eaten alive.
Why do I say with such certainty they are medically negligent. They sent Pauls dad home in a clearly agitated state seemingly with a medical diagnosis that nothing is wrong. The GP came to same conclusion, yet all the time his blood sugars were soring. Why on earth did they not test his sugar levels. Surely for a diabetic such a test should be as routine as testing his blood pressure when he’s complaining of feeling unwell and presenting in a confused and agitated state.
More useless than an udder on a bull would be an under statement. If it wasn’t for the further turmoil it would create in our lives we would at this stage be instigating legal proceedings. If similar things continue to happen, I think we’re going to feel an obligation to make someone answerable. Polite, and sometimes not so polite conversations get nowhere. I’m thinking that only a law suit could end up with anyone realising Glyn’s medical needs are being severely compromised by extreme negligence.
We’ve now been staying at Tallebudgera Creek on Queenslands Gold Coast for a week, and have booked a further two days. We’re awaiting mail from Perth, but now with so much email, paper mail seems to travel at less than snail speed. We’ve booked a further two days hoping the mail will arrive. If it doesn’t, we’ll try and arrange for the post office to forward on to a future destination.
We’ve caught up with my sister-in-law, Marie and her sister a couple of times. A couple of days ago went out for lunch with them to The Paddock, where we sat under the trees and enjoyed a lovely lunch.
Lunch with Marie.
Yesterday was a mixed day. It started off not so good with heavy news from England. Paul’s dad’s not doing so well again. He only seems to manage a couple of months on his own before he sinks into his illnesses. Medical tests again indicate his health, while not good, is not at a stage to be causing his current state. We can’t go over again to help pick him up at this stage, so we have to rely on the medical profession over there. Yesterday started with several emails to the health professionals. Today started the same way – whether or not we’re with dad, it’s still almost a full time job, or at least a part time job ensuring he’s getting appropriate care. I’m constantly reminded of the need that every old person needs an advocate. Without one for dad I would fear for him being left at the mercy of the UK medical system. Currently he has us looking out for him, and also Paul’s cousin, Margaret following up on several things in the UK. I don’t know what dad, or we would do without this additional help.
I know there’s always a tendency for people to judge complainants as at least being contributory when things go pear shaped. I have a tendency to judge similarly myself. Whilst I’m not pleased at the pear shape of the medical attention dad has been receiving, particularly in the case of the district nurses, it’s almost refreshing to hear our own complaints and findings being mirrored by Margaret. It’s refreshing because when so many things are going awry, not only do others tend to judge one as being contributory, but one starts to also think the same of oneself.
More worrying news yesterday in relation to the condition and consequently, possible sale of dad’s house. Goodness knows what we’re to do if the sale falls over. I’m now wishing we’d listed it with an estate agent before leaving the UK. At least then it would already be in someones hands, and we could have kept liaising with the agent to adjust the price until it met the market price for a house in need of attention.
With a bad start to the day and despairing hearts, we headed off up to Tamborine Mountain in the Gold Coast Hinterlands.
Firstly to the Botanical gardens. What a pleasure. An amazing array of gardens and plants. Firstly a beautiful rain forest walk.
Carved owl centaurs to the rain forest walk.
Then the Japanese garden with inviting paths and bridges winding between gardens and ponds.
Bridges built for walking over, and paths for walking down.Lake complete with huge artificial dragonfly.A water bird also enjoying the tranquility of the gardens.
And throughout the garden contemplative seats overlooking serene vistas with poetic verse to contemplate. My favourite, and appropriate for the day was a quote from John Muir,
‘Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.
Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.
The winds will blow their freshness into you…..
While cares will drop off like Autumn leaves.’
After our time at the botanical gardens we headed to a winery overlooking a lake where we enjoyed a shared trio of dips for lunch. Then a visit to a glow worm cave – very interesting, a walk down the main street of the town which houses some quirky little shops, and then home. We were going to add a couple of short bush walks to waterfalls, but as there were controlled burn offs happening on the mountains the tracks were closed. Next time round perhaps.
By the end of our day enjoying the fresh air and natures mountainous bounty, our cares had certainly dropped off, just like autumn leaves.
Life of Riley - on wheels (with a dog) 