Three weeks gone - three weeks to go!

Last weekend we went out to Leslie Dam which is unfortunately a national park so we couldn't get Chip out the car to have a swim even though the water looked so inviting. Its a lovely spot and has a really nice caravan park within it (with a pool even) - pity about not being dog-friendly!!! There were quite a few people around with boats and jet skiis and picnicing....great place to take kids.

We were in Warwick shopping yesterday when the Xmas parade went by...very very sad indeed!  One bunch of kids that looked like they were from a dancing school, followed by a small pipe band and then Santa on a sleigh - although he was being pulled by real reindeer which I was fascinated with.  Apparently Warwick doesn't have big Xmas parades - they have a huge madi gras parade when the Rodeo is on instead.

Last night we went out for dinner with my boss from work (male nurse unit manager who is a nurse/midwife) and his wife.  We had a lovely night - a very nice couple.

Today we took Chip to Lure Coursing - we had never heard of it before but saw it advertised in the local paper and googled it.  Basically dogs chase two plastic bags around a course - a motorbike is especially set up to pull the bags around on the line.  It was a bit of a laugh and once again the Warwick locals were really welcoming of us - though Chip really had no idea preferring to run from Mal to me and vice versa.  Some of the other dogs were fantastic to watch.



We then went out to Glengallan Homestead for a look around and had lunch at the cafe there.  Its a lovely old homestead that has been restored in recent years.     This is Mal infront of the impressive house.  

Me in the ensuite bath...very modern for back in the 19th century...even used to have a shower over the top and you can see in the corner whats left of the toilet which used to flush!!

The view from the verandah on the second storey.  

If you are ever in Warwick I would highly recommend having a look.

We had a slight reprieve from the weather last week with a bit of rain and cooler temps, however its all changed again today with the sun out and once again we are sweating!!!  Guess our tan will be looking great by the time we hit NZ for Xmas!!!

One week in Warwick

We arrived in Warwick a week ago today. Here is a piccie of our travel route here

 The camp ground where we are staying has turned out to be better than our first impressions.  Unfortunately there is no pool here and its off the Cunningham Highway which can be quite noisy and there are a few interesting permanent residents - but over the course of the week we have got used to it all.  Mal has met all the permanents and found out their stories - Chip has taken a real shine to one of them called Greg - a guy probably in his late 20s early 30s so we know when he is around as Chip will be out there whining for a pat.  The guy that owns the park is an ex cop and does keep the place and tidy and you certainly feel safe here (even the womans toilet is always locked and you need a key to get in), and I can't moan at all as the hospital is paying for the camp fees which is awesome. Here's a few pics of our set up

 

All the staff at the hospital are very friendly.  One of the nurses died two weeks ago following a brown snake bite so they have all been a bit down with that, the funeral was last week but staff from all over the district came to fill in while they went to it.  That was on my second day and I was put in charge of the ward...like the blind leading the blind really - but the patients all survived and we muddled through the shift.  Its a bigger rural hospital - the ward that I am on has maternity - 2 birthing suites and an assessment room, and 4 postnatal beds,  they have about 250 births a year.  The rest of the ward is made up of 24 beds and has palliative care, surgical, rehab and patients awaiting placement in rest homes.  I work across the ward depending on what is happening in the midwifery side.  One week down already...AND in my first 3 weeks not one night shift....total bliss!

On the subject of snakes they are really bad here this year.  Apparently its due to it being really wet last year and colder for longer than usual this year.  The weather has just warmed up in the last couple of weeks so the snakes are coming out from hibernation hungry and wanting to mate.   They are even chasing people without provocation and apparently there have been a large number of animals bitten recently that have died.  We haven't seen one yet but we are being more cautious than normal after hearing all of that.

Warwick itself is a really nice town.  The shopping is great and it just feels really clean and new.  We have everything here that we need to get ourselves sorted with the car needing its 10,000 service, wanting to get a cover made for the back of the ute now that the scooter is gone, me needing my yearly medical check and Mal his and Chip needing a haircut before Xmas! 

The Condamine River runs through the town.  We went out sightseeing today to Killarney and saw where the catchment for the River is.  Its located at the headwaters of the Murray–Darling Basin and it extends from Queen Mary Falls near Killarney in the Border Ranges, through to Chinchilla on the north western edge of the Darling Downs.  The river is approximately 500kms long and is the longest river in Australia.  Here is a photo of Queen Mary Falls and me at the lookout for the catchment - on the right of me is Mt Tamborine in the distance

 

To get back to Killarney we took the 14 river crossing 4x4 trek - which no need to say Mal loved!  Its the first time we have done a bit of 4 wheel driving in the ute.  It literally crosses the Condamine River 14 times and is a beginners type track. 

Mal will have to wash and polish the ute again now that it got dirty!!!

We stopped off and had a nice cold beer on the way home - the temps here are pretty hot late 20s early 30s and we are really feeling it - though it does cool down at night which is fantastic. 

Finally I couldn't help but photograph these signs - obviously we are more famous than we once thought - not one road named after us but two!!!

Toowoomba

We decided to stay in Toowoomba through to Sunday - its lovely staying at the showgrounds and Chip can run around as he pleases.  We moved sites the second day down to an area overlooking the lagoon where two other vans are parked up.  We got quite friendly with another couple from Canberra who have the same van as ours just a few years older.  He is a real handy man and we shared stories and ideas about what we have done to our vans along with all the funny stories about what we have done wrong!!    We even found out where a switch is for the outside light that we hadn't been able to work out how to turn on all this time....

It was really warm the other day so we took Chip down to the lagoon to have a swim to cool down.  Its pretty muddy looking but he doesn't care and we just give him a wash down afterwards.  We chucked his ball in to the water and as usual he couldn't pick it up again so he spent quite some time bobbing it around the lagoon....we thought he was never going to get out and end up exhausted.  He slept well that night though!

We went to Picnic Point today and had coffee and cake...its really lovely up there and gives a great view of the surrounding area. 

We have been surprised by how windy it has been though...we have had to pull our annexe down every night and last night even pulled in the hydraulic slide out for the bed as it was so windy and the wind kept gusting under the awning part and keeping us awake.  The lower temps at night make for nice sleeping though...but I have had to put my socks on to keep my feet warm - very different from having the fan and/or air con on at night up north!

We are heading to Warwick tomorrow and will get all set up for the next 6 weeks there.  I start work on Tuesday - I imagine the atmosphere in the hospital is going to be a bit subdued as one of the nurses died from a snake bite a couple of days ago - very sad and a reminder to be very careful at all times!

Roma to Toowoomba

We ended up spending two nights in Roma...the camp was okay but not a lot to do there.  We were then planning on spending a night in Chinchilla but ended up driving through. Despite another caravanner telling us it was a nice little town there didn't seem to be much to do or see.  So we drove through to Dalby and spent a couple of nights there.  The caravan park we stayed at was okay but none of these parks have been up to the same standard as the ones on the coast that we stayed at on the way up north. 

What we have found with all these inland parks is there are a lot of workers dongas  - infact some of the parks are pushing caravan spaces aside to make room for more dongas as there is so much work going on with roadworks and the coal and gas industries that the accommodation is needed for the workers.  We got told this little ditty by the caretaker at Theresa Creek Dam 'go to the coast for show, inland for dough' - sure seems to be true as these little towns are booming and we got told several stories about the good money to be made.

We drove through to Toowoomba today and are now parked up at the Toowoomba Showgrounds which is the only place you can camp with a dog here - we reckon we have the bargain though.  Its only $22 a night, the Showgrounds are huge and we are parked up on a rise in one area all by ourselves.  There are a couple of other caravans further round the park - the gates get locked at 8pm and we will have the whole place to ourselves.  Chip is loving it as he can run around (although there are heaps of biddy bids which I have to keep yanking out of his fur).  We will stay here for 3-4 nights before heading through to Warwick.