As Exhaustion Sets In

Went to bed at almost midnight last night.

Woke up at 4.22am.  Got out of bed at 5am.  On the road at 6am.

So many roadworks along the way!  It seemed never-ending!

It was a beautiful morning, a little crisp at 7C, but it quickly warmed up with blue sky and sunshine the whole way.

Arrived at Caboolture Train Station carpark at 9am-ish.  We had to park quite a distance from the station and walk there.  We JUST missed the train, so had to wait 30 mins for the next one.

Boarded the train to Fortitude Valley at 9.50am, after Adoring Husband found life saving coffee at a bakery across the road from the station.

Noticed, as the train pulled away from the station, that there were signs everywhere stating "No food or drink allowed on the trains".  So we gulped the coffee down quickly and hid the cups in our back packs!

It took an hour to get to Fortitude Valley, and about 5 minutes before we arrived there, the guards walked onto our carriage and asked for everybody to show proof of their ticket purchases.

We had about an 8 minute wait for the free train to the Exhibition grounds - where the Caravan and Camping Show was being staged.

We handed over our 'complimentary passes' and walked in the direction that they sent us, which just happened to be directly to the 'Jayco' pavillion - and THAT just happened to be the pavillion we specifically came for!

So we checked out the 'Jayco Swift' camper van.  This is the camper trailer that we are going to buy for taking short weekend trips away for our photography.  It's small, practical, reasonably priced and is the correct weight for our car's towing capacity.

This is the point that we should've begun our return trip home.

Firstly, I needed sustenance.  Almost midday and my only intake was a coffee at 9.30am.

So after much searching, we found a hidden cafe upstairs and I had a gluten free steak and salad, which hit the spot and I was recharged and ready to handle anything that Adoring Husband came up with.

Of course he had to do the rounds of the showgrounds to make comparisons with all of the different brands of campervans and camper trailers.

Personally I liked the $99000 caravan - the brand name escapes me right now - and if we were going to travel around Australia for a couple of years, it would be ideal - but way too big and not the slightest bit practical for weekend jaunts!

After a while, it got the better of me and I simply had to get my camera out of the back pack and start snapping away, while Adoring Husband browsed.

Some Wandering Minstrels

Roma St Station

As you can see, I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos for my 104 challenge.

I hadn't been to the Exhibition Grounds since I was about 16 yrs of age, so there were quite a few flash backs and memories flooding in every so often.  I took some photos of the old grand stand and a couple of the buildings that had triggered some memories (which I will share with you when I am less tired!)

Finally, it was time to return home.

As we left the showgrounds, me with camera still in hand, the uniformed woman at the gate asked if we were members of the "Press".  When we replied "No" she proceeded to lecture us about the fact that -

It is illegal to take photos at the show grounds of any event that is occurring, due to copyright laws.

She let me off with a warning!  **Note to self**  Must get myself a fake Press ID!

That was our second illegal act for the day!  And the last .. thank goodness!

The trip home seemed so much longer than the trip there (doesn't it always?).

The traffic was quite heavy on the way home - especially the on-coming traffic.  So many trucks!

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to drop in to see the The Nikonian for coffee, because we were way behind schedule.  Next time for sure!

It has been a very long day and as exhaustion sets in, I can barely hold my eye lids open!

Nite all.