Lovely Inverell

We stayed at the Cousins Motor Inn at Inverell last night. Another fabulous motel with heavenly beds and a small but decent bathroom.

We dined at the Inverell RSM club and we rate that as the best club dining experience so far. They had great GF options and BGWLBH had the prosciutto wrapped chicken breast with white wine sauce and I had the crumbed lamb cutlets with salad. Great prices too.

I always thought that Blackwater was the bogan capital of Australia, but I think Inverell is giving Blackwater a run for it's money!

As we left Inverell this morning, we saw masses of wildflowers in the fields. Yellow paper daisies, white Queen Ann Lace and some kind of pretty purple flower (not Patterson's Curse). We wanted to stop the car and pick a bouquet of it all, but there was nowhere to stop! We imagined ourselves as kangaroos with long flowing hair bounding over the fences and filling our pouches with the pretty flowers.

I told you yesterday that we were weird!

We stopped at Swanbrook picnic area for a toilet break and there was a lovely little stream lined with willow trees and Superb Fairy Wrens flitting about. I stood under the tree with my camera and the birds were hopping on the tree branches all around me. They were too close for my long lens to even focus on them!

I've never been so close to these beautiful little birds .. I could have reached out and touched them! If I'd had my way, I'd have sat under that Willow tree for a couple of hours and just soaked up the beauty of it all. Those photos are on my camera, so I can't share them here yet.

Hudson picked some wildflowers while we were there, especially for BGWLBH ...

On the outskirts of Glenn Innes, as we arrived there, we noticed some market stalls in a park, with a coffee van, so we stopped. I bought some goat's milk clothes washing 'stuff' and we bought two coffees. The van operator was from Wagga! His coffee was nice, but his coffee cup lids didn't fit, and we dribbled coffee over ourselves and eventually threw the coffee away. Annoying!

We stopped at the information centre in Glenn Innes to find out about fossicking for gems, but then BGWLBH noticed that they sold small bags of raw gems for $5 so I bought her one of those and we didn't have to spend the money or the time sifting through dirt!! Haha!!

After we left Glenn Innes and headed toward Grafton, we found a turn off that told us 16kms to Mann River, so we took the turn and drove along a dirt road for about 5kms and then the road turned into bitumen, but was very narrow and winding and steep down a mountain. The weather changed from 'fine' to 'fine misty rain', which made the drive even more precarious!

At about the 12km mark we were stopped by a causeway with water flowing over it and we decided that we would go no further, so we turned around, took a few pics, and headed back to the highway. We only passed one car on the way down, but unfortunately passed 5 cars on the way back .. very scary on such a narrow road up a mountain!

The area was green and lush and beautiful rainforest and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive, even if it was a little scary.

We found a lookout called 'Raspberry Lookout' and it was stunning, but as we arrived, a huge black thunder storm loomed behind us and the thunder rolled across the sky with dark clouds closing in quickly. We took some really quick pics and jumped back in the car attempting to beat the storm.

Part of the drive to Grafton ...

Such pretty countryside.

The storm seemed to be on our tail all the way to Grafton, but we beat it and have ended up in Ballina tonight.

Ballina RSL food is not as good as Inverell's and though it's a nice club, it's loud and busy and rates low on our list of favoured clubs.

We are staying in the Best Western Ballina Island Motor Inn tonight. The beds seem comfortable but I'm not sure the price is worth it. I will report tomorrow!

I'm feeling very sleepy now, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Dodgy Dubbo

So, on Wednesday night, we stayed in the Comfort Inn Blue Lagoon in Dubbo, which is supposed to be a 4 star motel.  Let's see if I can remember all the things that were wrong with it ...

• My single bed bed head detached itself from the wall during the night and collapsed onto the floor.
• A panel from the bedside table fell off.
• There was mould in the shower.
• There was a used hair band (with hair attached) under the sheet in the double bed.
• The air conditioner was set to turn on when the room became hot and stuffy and turn off when it became freezing like a refrigerator. It was also VERY loud.
• A family checked in next door at midnight and had kids who were LOUD until about 1am.
• There were kennels attached to the motel and the one guest who had a dog let it bark all night .. I phoned to complain twice and it was about 1am when the dog stopped barking.
• The double bed was old and saggy like a hammock (not in a good way).
• The carpet was so worn that it was lifted and a trip hazard at the front door. It was also frayed and threadbare at the walls.
• The cabinet that held the bar fridge and coffee making stuff had dodgy doors that would not close.
• There was a constant drip outside the bathroom window that we could hear all night.

I think that's all. I wrote everything down and gave it to the receptionist when I paid the bill and she gave me 10% off the price. Later, while we were on the road, the receptionist phoned me to ask for my email address so that the owner could follow up.  This is the email that I received from the owner ...

Dear Roz Griffin

Thank you for your time given in advising our Receptionist Lee regarding your stay last night at The Comfort Inn Blue Lagoon.

Allow me to apologise on behalf of our motel for failing to meet your expectations regarding the following issues;

The bedhead, bedside table and crockery cupboard door need repairing and resecuring and our maintenance team have been advised.

The mould in shower has been removed and is now being monitored more closely.

The hairband found in your bed has been addressed with our laundry and housemaid team.

Your air conditioner had been set incorrectly. I am assuming by the last guest staying in your room therefore if we were notified immediately it could have been reset.

A family was checked in late last night into a room next door unfortunately they were noisy although I would have notified them to keep the noise down if I was aware.

After many attempts of trying to find which dog was barking after your first phone call. I spoke with the owner of the dog and asked him to quiet his animal.

30% of our beds on the property have been replaced by a Sleepmaker Serta Choice Elite II double sided Miracoil5 cushion top which is ranked as excellent under the Star Ratings quality guidelines. During the next 2 months we will have new beds throughout our property.

Again thank you for your time and valuable feedback. We sincerely appreciate it and hope you will give us another chance to accommodate you on your next visit to Dubbo.

Kind regards

Jodie Vella and Peter Webb
Proprietors
Comfort Inn Blue Lagoon
79-85 Cobra Street
Dubbo NSW 2830

I thanked them for the follow up and told them that I probably wouldn't stay there again, but I wished them good luck in providing a better service for their future customers.

We left there to visit the Warrumbungles. We've avoided the area for the last 3 road trips because of the severe bush fires that occurred in January 2013, but we figured that after 3 years, the regrowth would be complete and the area would look as good as it did the last time we visited.

Sadly, this was not the case. Although there is regrowth, it is barely halfway up the blackened dead stumps that were once lush trees and the damage can still be seen for hectare after hectare after hectare. It is so badly ravaged that BGWLBH and I could barely speak for an hour as we surveyed the area through our drive.

The information centre that we visited last time was obviously razed during the fire and there is just bare earth where it once stood. The signs were damaged and burnt and melted. We were left feeling sad and empty knowing that there is a little bit of history only in our memories now. 

We chose not to go on any of the walks, but we did discover the park where we ate lunch last time and it was left untouched by the fire. Except for the very loud cicadas, it was a beautiful spot to eat our lunch.

Our original plan was to stay at Coonabarabran for the night, but we had to get out of there and ended up in Tamworth for the night instead.

We had a beautiful room at Ashby House. Beautiful beds. Lovely bathroom. Quiet area. I highly recommend that one!

This morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Trinity's Coffee Lounge, although the coffee wasn't much good, and then we found a shoe warehouse and the retail therapy was enjoyable.

We discussed the option of staying in Tamworth a second night, but opted to head towards Inverell or Glenn Innes instead.

We found a back way that we've never travelled before and drove through Manilla, Barraba, Bingara and on to Inverell. We stopped for lunch at Australia Day Park in Barraba, which was lovely.

 

After we left here, we were driving along a dirt road and unexpectedly came across this ...

No idea where the other half was!

Tonight we are in the Cousins Motor Inn at Inverell. The bed feels very comfortable and I am about to sign off and get some sleep.

Just so you know .. we are having a fabulous time. The back roads are the best roads and we have discovered some real little gems while avoiding traffic and driving at a nice slow pace in order to enjoy the views.

We never decide, until we are sitting over breakfast, what direction we are going to drive for the day and it's the nicest way to do a road trip! Very relaxing and every day is a good day :)

Nite all.

Just a quickie

Yesterday in Orange, we found some mates for Hudson-Barnaby ...

... and today at the Warrumbungles, we saw this interesting structure...

I have plenty to talk about from today's travels but it's late and I need some sleep, so I will try to catch you up tomorrow.

We are staying in Tamworth tonight .. one week out from their big country music festival, so it's fairly quiet in town at the moment. We had a nice 'all you can eat' buffet for dinner at one of the clubs for $23 each. Fresh seafood, roast meats and veg or chinese food plus desserts (even gluten free options!).

We are also in a lovely motel with intact furniture and nice beds, no dogs and a well regulated air conditioning system. I'll tell you more about that little incident tomorrow too! At least we got 10% off the cost of our room and I am awaiting an email from the owners of the motel in Dubbo.

Anyway, that's it for now.

Nite all.

Skirting the Weather

We stayed in Cowra last night and we booked into the Cowra Services Club Motel. I highly recommend it. Beautiful rooms, perfect beds (I slept soundly all night) and nice big bathrooms with an excellent shower head and great water pressure .. we judge all our rooms by the comfort of the bed and water pressure in the shower head lol.

We stopped in town this morning and had a nice bacon and egg breakfast. The eggs tasted like they came straight from the chooks butt .. delicious .. and the coffee was divine!

The Cowra POW camp was interesting .. not something that I thought would capture my interest, but I enjoyed the hour or so that we spent there. The peppercorn trees attracted the little blue fairy wrens, so I got a few pics on my camera and can't wait to download them when I get home.

We didn't enter the Japanese gardens because they were charging $15 entry, but we did have a coffee in the cafe there, which was lovely.

Canowindra was our next stop, but we got a bit dazed and confused and almost couldn't find our way out!

We stopped at Cargo for lunch. There was a lovely little park and we sat at a picnic table under a willow tree for about an hour enjoying the soft breeze and the quiet of the area. We renamed it Cargo, Bargo Fargo for no particular reason, except that we are weird.

We've travelled most roads in this part of NSW, but we found a route to Wellington, via Molong and Euchareena that we've not travelled before and it was lovely and quiet and scenic. Euchareena is a beautiful little gem in the middle of nowhere, established in 1834 with pretty little cottages and very lush and pretty.

Stuart Town, not far from there, was also gorgeous.

Burrendong Dam was a nice stop too. We went to the lake last time we travelled this way and they wanted to charge us to go there, so we didn't bother, but the dam was free and quite beautiful to view, although it is very low at the moment. There were emus roaming the grounds and I could hear lots of fairy wrens in the area too.

The bad weather was all around us and we passed through a couple of very light showers, but we cleverly avoided the heavy weather and we could see the black clouds, could hear the thunder and in the distance there were very heavy showers .. but the weather parted to allow us to pass through unscathed.

The land was very dry as we travelled north of Orange, but Orange itself was green and lush and beautiful .. it's our new favourite inland town. Just glorious.

Tonight we are staying in Dubbo in a very dodgy motel. My bedhead has already collapsed, there is dodgy electrical wiring hanging behind both bedside tables, no power points near the beds. The motel has kennels and there is a dog barking that I have complained twice about! The carpet is pulling off the floor, the cupboard doors are loose and there is a leak behind the bathroom wall.

The beds are very saggy and we are questioning my decision to stay here. Ah well, we can't be successful with every choice!!

I have 2% charge left on my laptop and no power point to plug it in, so I'd best sign off here before the laptop shuts down!!

Nite all.

And We're Off!!

Richie Rich did my hair this morning and now it looks beautifully glossy and grey, mixed with my own natural colour. I will attempt to take a selfie tomorrow and post it .. the light in our room is not conducive to photography.

We left Griffith at about 10.30am and after we passed Binya, there was a sign pointing to our left with the name 'Euratha'. BGWLBH said "I've always wanted to go to Euratha. Shall we?"

43 kms is on the edge of our agreed limit when we are heading down beaten tracks, so I agreed that we should do it!

Almost immediately, we were on a dirt/gravel road. It was well maintained and quite wide. There was no other traffic, in fact, during the entire 43 kms we only saw two cars.

At one stage, we were joined by a mob of kangaroos and they hopped beside, or in front of us for a few kms. They bounded high over fallen tree trunks, barbed wire fences and low shrubs until eventually, they took a sharp left turn and bounded across the golden paddock beside the road.

The soil was a deep rich red, and because of recent good rains, the trees and shrubs were a vibrant healthy green colour and the paddocks were filled with whatever grows creamy and golden in colour. A truly Aussie scene for as far as the eye could see, with the deep blue coloured mountains on the horizon.

For a good section of the road (maybe 10kms), one lane was blocked off for roadworks, even though there was nobody actually working on the road. The closed lane was piled high with blue/grey cut rock.

We stopped along the road when I spotted a Wedge Tail Eagle soaring above us. I climbed out of the car and took a couple of quick shots so that I could zoom in and verify that it was a wedgie, but then I spotted a dam with a large flock of sheep standing along it's tallest bank. There was a mixture of black, white and mottled sheep and even though the dam water was low, the light was reflecting nicely off it, so I took a couple of shots from varying angles.

Then I heard a commotion in the tree beside me and it was full of Apostle Birds, so I attempted to get a clear shot of one of those .. I have never photographed one before, so I was keen to get just one good shot .. it didn't happen.

I gave up and walked back to the car. Just as BGWLBH was about to ask what happened to the wedgie, I remembered that I was supposed to be photographing the wedgie!! I burst out laughing when I realised that, once again, I was distracted from my initial goal and I looked up to search the sky for my beautiful wedgie, but it was nowhere to be seen.

On we drove until we reached the end of the road.

But .. but .. but???? Where the hell is Euratha????

There was no Euratha. The first sign said Euratha and we were driving along Euratha Road, but there was no Euratha. Pfffft.

Next stop Weethalle, where there is a cafe called 'Road Kill Grills'. We stopped to take a photo, but it was too early to stop for lunch, so no road kill for us today.

We stopped at West Wyalong and searched out a supermarket where we stocked up on salads and fruit, cheeses for BGWLBH, turkey breast and smoked salmon and then discovered a little picnic area on the outskirts of town, so we stopped to feast on our selected fare. We experienced gale force conditions and we shared some of our scraps with the crows and apostle birds before we packed up and continued on our travels.

When we came to Grenfell, we decided we needed coffee, so we stopped in the main street and before I got out of the car, I noticed a SHOE SHOP down the way, so I immediately made a beeline for it while BGWLBH picked up a couple of items from the supermarket that we had forgotten earlier.

I found a great pair of shoes - the only ones in the whole shop that I liked! The manager told us that the only two coffee shops in town had closed for January. WHAT THE????!!! She suggested the Caltex Service Station, so we back tracked, filled the tank with fuel and ordered two coffees.

Great service. Crap coffee. Blah.

We followed the signs to Henry Lawson's birthplace, which turned out to be a tree with a plaque beneath it...

Tonight we are in a lovely little motel in Cowra. The Cowra Servicemans Club bistro for dinner. I had grilled chicken and salad while BGWLBH had grilled Barramundi with chips and salad. We each had a wine to celebrate the end of our first day.

I have taken photos with my camera today, but can't share them until the end of the trip when I will be able to edit them properly on my iMac, so all the photos that I share here for the next week or so, will be from my phone. I'm still learning how to use it and to edit them in Instagram and then share them elsewhere, so bear with me!

It's been a great first day and considering how wide spread the rains are over the eastern states, we only drove through a couple of light showers today.  We have some exploring to do tomorrow. Waterfalls, bush tracks and hills ... hopefully a wedgie or two! Let's hope we are equally lucky tomorrow with the weather.

It's after 11pm so it's sleep time for me now.

Nite all

On Your Marks!

Tomorrow is the big day!

Coffee.

Hairdresser.

Road Trip!

Meet 'Hudson', our road trip travelling companion!

We didn't do much today. Tidied the house a bit so that the real estate could inspect it. Oh, a bit of retail therapy and bought some new bling!

I brought one pair of flat day time shoes with me and yesterday they broke! So annoying! Today, we went searching for some shoes to replace them, but found nothing appropriate. So, at the moment, all I have is a pair of rubber thongs (nice Havaianas, but I don't like wearing thongs out and about, unless I'm at home), so that will be my first priority as we travel through small towns .. in search of shoe shops!

Mum W had a doctor's appointment today, so I cooked dinner while they were gone. Fish mornay for Mum W and Lemon/Honey chicken for BGWLBH and I.

No photos were taken.

After last night, when we were ready for bed at 8.30pm .. there was a documentary on SBS about Walt Disney. So interesting! We sat up til about 11pm watching that, and neither of us went to sleep until well after midnight.

It's now almost 10pm and I think I'm ready to sleep. Best give Adoring Husband a good night phone call and then catch some zzzzzzs.

Nite all.

Soundly Sleeping

Slept like a dead person last night, for about 6 solid hours. This bed is very comfortable!

BGWLBH cooked some bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning, which was the perfect way to start the day and then while she worked hard outside weeding the garden, I went walkabout with my camera looking for the abundant birdlife that I could clearly hear around the property.

Alas, I could find nothing but doves and sparrows. I could hear Silver Eyes, Fairy Wrens, Finches and Parrots as well as other birds that I could not identify ... but my eyes failed me ... so I have nothing to share in the way of outdoor photos today. Sad but true.

Here are a few that I took 'inside' with my phone camera and edited in Instagram ...

After she built up a good sweat in the garden, we decided to visit the cemetery and take some flowers to brighten up Dad W's site. BGWLBH chose a selection of vibrant red flowers, while I (of course) selected some long stemmed bright yellow flowers from the wall of artificial and silk flowers in the store.

Being so close to Christmas, all of the grave sites were awash with colour. Flowers, christmas decorations, religious ornaments and other symbols of love.

I ran into an old friend from my days at TAFE. KG was 16 years old (I was 30) when we attended the same TAFE course in 1990. She had fabulously long fingernails and dreamt of a career that would take her away from Griffith. Even though she had a short stint on the Gold Coast a couple of years ago, she is now 42 years of age and being married with children from an early age, her dreams never came to fruition. She was, and still is, a lovely down to earth girl.

This afternoon, we drove out to Mum W's house and cooked up a storm. Lamb shanks with a thick, chunky vegetable gravy, potato bake and zucchini slice. It was all delicious, although the lamb wasn't as tender as I'd like. Mum W ate a sizeable portion, only leaving the z slice on the plate.

Now we are home very early, BGWLBH is trying to select a dvd to watch and is complaining loudly that she has seen them all a thousand times.

The house is quiet and I feel that I could easily fall asleep at this early hour of the night .. barely 8.30pm!!  Seems I'm not alone .. BGWLBH has bade me goodnight and is going to sleep! I think I will follow her lead .. we may both be awake at 3am looking for a dvd to watch!

Nite all.
  

I'm Here!!

Sydney airport was loud, busy, congested and chaotic this morning. I've never seen so many people!! The queues for Virgin Blue check-in were out the door and down the footpath. There were hundreds of people packed like sardines inside the terminal and at least another hundred queued outside. Unbelievable!

Luckily for me, there was no queue in the Rex check-in section!

I didn't have to wait long in the screening line either, so I was able to find my way to coffee and breakfast quickly, with time to spare for some window shopping before I had to board my flight. Ok, ya got me .. I didn't window shop. I DID buy something.

Three people were late for my flight and we had to wait in the bus for an extra 20 minutes until they arrived before we were driven across the tarmac to our little Rex plane. One passenger jumped off the bus and ran behind it to throw up! They wouldn't let the rest of us off the bus until she had finished and they could hose the ground.

Our pilot looked like a young Val Kilmer .. he even wore the same style sunglasses as Val Kilmer when he played Iceman in Top Gun!

Our attendant was a bit cranky. She was obviously trying very hard to be happy and friendly, but I could see in her eyes that she wasn't having a good day. She spoke sternly to one lady passenger who sat in the wrong seat and then raised her voice at a passenger who was talking on his mobile phone when she had to ask him twice to hang up and turn it off.

The flight was very bumpy as we hit quite a bit of turbulence. There was a lot heavy cloud all the way and sometimes it felt like we were driving over a corrugated road. Not very pleasant.

Obviously, we landed safely and BGWLBH was waiting to greet me. It was hot. Oppressively hot.

We went straight to my hairdresser and made an appointment for Tuesday morning. We will be starting our road trip as soon as I walk out the door from that appointment.  My hairdresser, Richie Rich, was not a happy chappy and I found out later that he had been offended by a lady and insulted three times. He said it got right under his skin and we could tell by his very low energy and unhappy vibe. He is usually so happy and vibrant and flamboyant.

We visited Mum W and I cooked her some fish and veg for dinner before we headed to the Chinese Restaurant for some bad food for dinner .. we both suffered for the experience and I certainly won't be eating there again! It wasn't 'bad' as in 'off', but 'bad' as in 'full of stuff that I don't usually eat' and my whole body felt 'ugh'.

We had enough time to eat our dinner and then walk to the cinema where we watched the new Star Wars movie. I enjoyed it very much and am looking forward to watching it with Adoring Husband when I return home .. if he forgives me for seeing it first without him!

Unfortunately, when the movie finished, we walked outside to steady pouring rain! BGWLBH lives about 500 metres from the cinema. It was pitch black and we didn't take umbrellas. The rain was cold! It had obviously been raining for some time because there were some deep puddles to trudge through and no footpath, so we alternated between walking on wet grass or dirt and the road.

If I'm honest, it was quite refreshing and not unpleasant at all. As BGWLBH said "When is the last time you got to walk in the rain like this?"

I got straight into a hot shower and washed and blow dried my hair.

Next on the agenda was opening my Christmas gifts from BGWLBH. Knowing that my favourite colour is yellow, her gifts followed that theme and apart from some very beautiful shiny sparkly jewellery, I also received some lovely yellow home wares and a fabulous hand made knitted yellow cushion.  I feel very lucky and very spoiled!

I am now snuggled into a gorgeous brass double bed for the night.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring, but right now, I'm feeling pretty relaxed and comfy.

Nite all.

What a Day!

First of all ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

My original plan for New Year's Eve was to have a couple of drinks with some friends early in the evening, then attend a street party behind me for a couple of drinks and then catch the pub courtesy bus with Lady Lynn and Happy Harry to see in the new year at the pub. 

I didn't want to have a big night, or drink too much, because I was flying to Sydney the next day and there is nothing worse than flying with a hangover!

Well, I checked off the first part of the plan, but that's where the plan ended. I was having such a good time, I decided to stay where I was. I drank too much on an empty stomach, was home (and asleep) before midnight and woke with a ripper of a hangover this morning!

I really struggled trying to get all the last minute things done that I'd planned. My stomach was churning, my head was spinning and my thought processes were scrambled.

We were going to leave home at 10am to get to the airport before 11am and then fly out at 11.35am.

At 9.44am I received a text from Virgin advising that there was a delay and the flight would not depart The Bay until 2.25pm and would arrive in Sydney at 5.30pm.

This was a problem because my flight to Griffith was departing at 5pm!!!

I phoned Rex and immediately changed my Gff flight to the next available, which was 10am on Saturday 2nd Jan - at no extra cost.

This meant that I had to spend the night in Sydney, so I contacted Virgin to request assistance to pay for a motel, considering that it was their fault that I was inconvenienced. Apparently, the delay has to be more than 3 hours for them to offer assistance. I gave them a small piece of my mind.

I thought I might be able to spend the night with Bubbles, but, as my luck would have it, her father just happens to be spending the night there tonight (but of course!). Knight in Shining Armour offered a bed at his place, and as much as I appreciated the offer, it didn't feel right, so I booked myself a room in a motel quite close to the airport.

I arrived at The Bay airport at 1.30pm and checked in. Adoring Husband and I ordered coffee and sat in the cafe area waiting for the plane to arrive. Finally, it landed albeit ten minutes late.

I think it was about 2.50pm when were asked to board the plane. We were all seated and we waited ... and we waited ... and we waited. Twice the pilot announced that there was a technical difficulty that they were trying to address and it shouldn't be long now.

At about 3.15pm he apologised to us all, telling us that there was nothing wrong with the plane and there was nothing wrong with us, but we had to all disembark and go back into the terminal to be screened again, taking with us all of our belongings from the cabin. Our checked luggage was allowed to stay in the belly of the plane (thank goodness!).

So, all of the passengers and all of the crew with their carry on luggage had to go through the screening process again and the plane had to have a complete security check done.

Apparently, somebody had boarded the plane without going through the screening process (I have no idea how that could happen) - a big security breach!

The plane finally took off very close to 4pm!!

It was a smooth flight. All the food and drink was free for the entire journey. The staff were amazing - apologetic, grateful for our tolerance and patience, friendly, efficient and happy. It was an enjoyable flight.

As we flew over Sydney, the sun was low enough (6.10pm) to make the river look like liquid silver snaking it's way through the city and the heavy shadows of the bridges and buildings created perfect symmetry. The sunshine was glistening on every shiny surface so that it looked like diamonds twinkling everywhere.

We flew over the ocean and it was shining golden in the sunlight. Just amazing.

It was a good landing, I was quickly able to collect my luggage, climbed immediately into a taxi and was at my motel within 5 minutes. 

The motel is quite old and looks like a big red brick block of housing commission units .. although much better maintained and with lovely gardens. There are about 750 rooms and all of them have recently been refurbished.

My room is very very small and contains a king size bed, a very stylish lounge chair and an open wall unit that is part wardrobe, part kitchen cupboard (with bar fridge and coffee making facility) and a shelf with towels. There is a charging dock for my ipad which is cool too.

Sorry about the quality of the pics but I took them with my phone and didn't even edit them before sharing here (I'm tired).

It's very clean and tidy, has a big screen TV on the wall and a giant mirror, but a tiny bathroom with a tiny shower cubicle, a tiny basin and a regular sized toilet. I think a big man would have trouble moving in the shower cubicle!

There is a restaurant and I could have had room service, but there is no menu in the room, so I figured that if I had to go down to look at the menu, I may as well stay there and eat. 

The restaurant looked like a cross between a university cafeteria and a cool yuppy bar. The menu was small. Chicken Caesar Salad. Steak, chips and salad. Battered fish, chips and salad. Curried chicken. Hokkien Noodles with veg and your choice of meat.

I chose the curried chicken. It arrived on a long rectangular plate with a round bowl of the curried chicken in the middle, a mound of rice to the right, a ramekin of yoghurt to the left and a large fried papadam. It was the most delicious curried chicken I have ever tasted and I struggled to finish it all! Even though I struggled to finish it, I just HAD to order dessert of home made vanilla bean ice cream - I drool as I'm reminded of it! I asked to bring it to my room, so that I could savour it slowly at my leisure :)

Apparently the menu changes regularly and the two girls who served me were lovely. Charming, polite, respectful and wanting to please. They made me feel important - well ... I am! Haha.

So far, my only concern is the noise from the corridor outside my door .. and the noise from the planes flying low overhead. The air conditioner has a steady hum, which I like .. it's my favourite kind of white noise that lulls me to sleep, so I'm hoping that it will muffle the other sounds enough to allow me to sleep soundly.

The restaurant opens for breakfast at 6am (mine is free with my room) and the airport shuttle is picking me up at 8am. 

So aside from the crappy start to my day - it has all worked out very nicely and I am thoroughly enjoying my alone time. I can't wait to spread myself across this massive bed and head off into the land of ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZs. 

Nite all. 

Pension Age

There has been a lot of time spent in the kitchen.

The last few days have been productive .. 2 coconut lemon chicken meals, 3 lamb casserole meals, 3 butter chicken meals, 40 meatballs (chicken, pork and sausage mince GF), 1 beef stroganoff meal, 15 chicken broths, a dozen beef broths and chocolate coconut ice cream.

The ice cream is tasty .. though a sugar addict probably wouldn't like it because it's not very sweet. The other weird anomaly is that even after it has set and is frozen, it just doesn't feel cold in your mouth, the way that regular ice cream does.

Anyway, I have the container in the fridge right now, so it will slowly thaw overnight and I will eat a large chunk of it tomorrow!

One of our neighbours (and friend) celebrated his 65 birthday today and had a gathering of neighbours and friends at his back garden.

I arrived very late and everybody was there already, but I had a fabulous time. I got to talk to people who I have never shared stories with and got to catch up with others who I haven't seen in a while.

I drank a whole bottle of wine to myself between 6pm - 9.45pm. One particular guest cooked 4 gluten free meals for the two of us who cannot eat gluten.

Chicken and vegetable meatballs with a GF soy sauce, mini quiches, mini pavlovas and mini chocolate cakes. It was all delicious and I felt very grateful that she went to so much trouble for us.

I was not the last to leave, but there were only a couple of poeple left when I did decide it was time to go home.

It was a lovely night and I hope to catch up with people tomorrow night for New Year's Eve as well.

Nite all.

First Thought

Looking back on 2015, what is your first thought? What stands out the most?

There are a few things that come to mind immediately, for me.

• Changing our lifestyle to paleo and feeling the positive health benefits.
• Having the best road trip EVER with BGWLBH, during which we got to visit Bubbles.
• Losing three family members, including BGWLBH's Dad.
• Doing well with my studies but withdrawing due to extenuating circumstances.
• Having two weeks with Chicklet while Vegan Chickie travelled overseas.
• Vegan Chickie being in Paris when the terrorist tragedy occurred.
• Having my teeth fixed.
• Dipping my toes into Jeunesse.
• Creating great memories with the Burrum ladies over long lunches and delightful morning teas.
• Supporting Adoring Husband in his dream to make a difference in the SES.

I have a few immediate plans for 2016.

• Getting back into my photography.
• Being more 'arty' and 'crafty'.
• Another road trip with BGWLBH.
• Attempting to set some life goals and making plans to reach them.
• Walking along our beach more often - bare foot.
• Work harder at promoting Jeunesse.

There will be more to add to the list, after I spend some time thinking about it.

I made this ice cream tonight, but it's currently freezing, so I can't tell you if it is a success or not.

1 cup of pre-soaked cashews. 

1 cup of coconut milk.

1 cup of shredded coconut.

1/2 cup maple syrup.

3T raw cacao powder

2t vanilla extract

Put it all in the blender and blend until it's all smooth and beautiful. Pour into a bowl (I shredded some premium organic dark chocolate to mix in at this point) and put in the freezer. Take it out every hour or so to stir the mixture. It should be ready in about 4 hours.

I hope it's as delicious as it looks!

Time is rapidly heading towards 1am, so I'm off to bed!

Nite all.

Forever Empowered

Who doesn't love Rod Stewart? Who knew that his daughter sounds just like him?



I've had a bit of a cooking day today. Chicken broth brewing in the slow cooker as we speak. I made a double batch of beef stroganoff and we ate some for lunch and froze the second batch. I did a big batch of lemon coconut chicken and froze it.

Tomorrow I plan on preparing and freezing meatballs, curried beef, beef casserole and butter chicken. Spaghetti bolognese might be on the cards too.

The morning will be spent having morning tea with the girls. I'm not sure how many of them will be here but I know that I won't be alone, so that's a good start.

My second word to consider for next year is 'Empower'

Empower - make (someone) stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights.

Some quotes from empowered women ...

“I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.” — Oprah Winfrey

“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.” — Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo)

"I always thought that people told you that you're beautiful--that this was a title that was bestowed upon you...I think that it's time to take this power into our own hands and to say, "You know what? I'm beautiful. I just am. And that's my light. I'm just a beautiful woman." — Margaret Cho

"You are more powerful than you know; you are beautiful just as you are." — Melissa Etheridge

"The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who's going to stop me." —Ayn Rand

"I believe that the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century." —Hillary Clinton

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”  ― Nora Ephron

I have three things that I need to do before Friday. Pack away the Christmas tree, clean out the fridge and groom the dogs (which was on my 'to do' list prior to Christmas but I ran out of time).

I've decided to make my 'to do' lists shorter, so they don't seem so intimidating!

It's just ticked over to 11pm so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Voices in my Head

This guy is pretty amazing. Jordan Smith won America's version of 'The Voice' this year (2015) and deservedly so. If this video of 'Somebody to Love' doesn't convince you, go to Youtube and watch his renditions of 'Halo' and 'Hallelujah'. You will soon be convinced.



I have to choose my new word for 2016.

Remember last year I chose the word 'peace'.  I'm not sure that I generated as much peace as I'd planned, however, I now possess many peace symbols in the form of wall art, jewellery, decorations and even the new chook pen has a peace sign painted on the outside wall.

I have until 1st January to choose my new word. Right now I'm liking 'mindfulness'. Here are three links to sites explaining various techniques to becoming more mindful in your life.

Mindfulness - means maintaining a moment by moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and surrounding environment.

Mindfulness - “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”

Mindfulness

What I most want to be mindful of, are my thoughts and feelings of self-sabotage.

I have a very loud mind. I think a LOT. I make jokes all the time about the voices in my head but the number of thoughts that shoot through my mind every minute of the day is exhausting and I need to find a way to quiet my mind. Meditation and mindfulness might be able to do that.

I will further investigate and make my decision in the coming days.

Meanwhile, I have booked my flights to Griffith for the 1st January. I'm not sure how long I will be away, but a 'cheap as chips' road trip is on the cards and hopefully will end with BGWLBH here for some R&R and TLC.

I'm looking forward to dusting off the camera and practising my photography again, as I'm sure BGWLBH is too. It's been too long!

Right now, it's after midnight, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

The Day After Christmas

So, it's the day after Christmas .. yes I know it's Boxing Day .. all is quiet on the home front, now that Chicklet and Vegan Chickie have departed .. and what a departure!

We arrived at the train station 25 minutes early. The last few times that I've caught the train, it has arrived at my station up to ten minutes early .. especially when it's the diesel engine. Unfortunately, this was not the case today!

We checked the 1800 information number, to discover that because there had been earth tremors off Fraser Island at approximately 4.30am today, the trains were running late by at least 45 minutes and it was expected delays could reach two hours.

*sigh*

You can imagine how difficult that was for a 4 year old, confined to one small square area of a waiting room! Forty five minutes passed and we continued to wait. Ninety minutes passed and we continued to wait.

We played I spy. We played tag. We played hide n seek (very difficult with nowhere to hide!). We played dinosaurs. We played 'what animal is this?'. We played rhyming words. We snacked. We coloured in and made Christmas cards.

.. and still we waited.

Just short of two hours late, we finally heard the train whistle. Chicklet was right on the verge of losing control, so it was a relief to finally have something positive happen and to know that the journey home was about to begin.

Because of the earth tremors and the risk to track damage, the passengers would be transferred to buses at Gympie. As luck would have it, Vegan Chickie was given the wrong bus number twice!! They almost ended up on a nonstop bus to Roma Street Station! THAT would have been a disaster for sure!

I'm expecting a text very shortly to advise me that they are home safe n sound.

Christmas was great!

Chicklet burst into my bedroom at 7.30am yelling "Happy Christmas!!"

We all had to sit down in the lounge room, while Chicklet selected gifts from under the tree, showing them to Vegan Chickie to find out whose name was on the tag. She handed everybody their gifts before sitting down to open her own.

She didn't seem terribly impressed with her gifts at first, but soon was keen to set up a craft area on the dining table, so that we could spend almost the entire day being creative and artistic and crafty.

After ham and eggs for breakfast, we got cracking on the craft.

She made Christmas decorations to hang on SEB's bird cage ...

She decorated Ruby (middle psychotic dog) ...

Christmas lunch was a noisy affair, with twelve bonbons between four of us ... 

Prawns, sand crab, Moreton Bay bugs, turkey and ham along with pasta salad and other salad items, mango, sun dried tomato, roasted capsicum and more. 'Christmas food' as requested by Chicklet. Chocolates shaped like christmas trees, elves, santa etc. 

Obviously very serious about her craft ...

... and very imaginative and creative with her crocodile pretending to be santa ...

An Aussie Christmas tradition ... water fight in the back yard ...

I was heavily involved in this particular activity, while Vegan Chickie napped, and I have to say that it was one of the more exhausting activities of the day! I haven't done any running for a good many years ... which is why she caught me and drenched me many times over!!

A bit more craft after the water fight. Extra decorations for the tree ...

... a quick snack for dinner and an early night .. for ALL of us .. which is why there was no blog post last night. Exhaustion overtook the desire to blog :)

The best way to spend Boxing Day is with alcohol, seafood and junk food while plonked on the couch watching the Boxing Day Test.

I know that there are many families down south who have lost all of their possessions in the fires on the coast near the Great Ocean Road, Wye River and Separation Creek and my heart goes out to them all. What a dreadful end to 2015 and a horrible, struggling way to start 2016.

I hope they appreciate that their safety and their lives are more important than the possessions that they lost. I also hope that they recover from the emotional trauma that the power of mother nature has burdened them with. I know from experience, that helpless feeling of losing all power and control.

Life will never be the same for them, but I hope that out of tragedy, something new and positive develops in their lives. Friendships and bonds will form between strangers, with this shared experience, and life will go on. For some, it will be more difficult than for others.

Good luck to you all and out of this disaster, may 2016 bring fresh new beginnings and happiness to you.

Nite all.

PS Vegan Chickie and Chicklet have arrived home safe n sound!

The Eve of Christmas

What sort of fool attempts grocery shopping on Christmas eve????

Adoring Husband and I kind of fools!!

We left bright and early this morning and drove for almost an hour to be at Urangan Fisheries by 8.30am - their apparent opening hours. They were already open and looked to have been open for some time. There was a long queue outside, which we joined, and it was moving quite fast, so we were in and served within ten minutes.

We had to cross town to Stocklands for the first part of our grocery shop. It was about 9am and the crowds hadn't built up yet, so we got that part of the shop done quite quickly and we were in the car by 9.45am and headed to the next supermarket in search of chocolate coated nuts and what Chicklet calls 'Christmas food'.. ie food in the shape of Christmas eg chocolate santas, chocolate christmas trees etc.

I could not find chocolate coated nuts anywhere!! I tried newsagents, supermarkets, chemists and even the cheapie shops to no avail.

This part of the shopping took the longest and we didn't leave The Bay until 10.45am. By the time we stopped for coffee at Foodworks, where we finally found some chocolate coated nuts, it was 11.15 when we arrived home.

Little Chicklet had been so patient waiting for me to return so that we could play, but it was lunch time, so she had to wait a little longer.

We made some christmas baubles for the tree, created some art with blank paper and stickers and then we watched the Madagascar movie. The last bit of fun for the afternoon was painting the chook pen. It's not quite a masterpiece, but we love it :)

Tonight, after I returned home from the club, I made butter chicken for dinner and finally Vegan Chickie and I got to sit down and watch 'Love Actually' together, in the same room, on the same TV.

It's our Christmas tradition and I felt so happy that I could almost burst, through the entire movie.

Now it's well after midnight and tomorrow is Christmas so I'm off to bed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL. Have a wonderful day with your loved ones and enjoy the festivities.

Nite all.

Disturbing

Looking at this man makes me feel disturbed!! Therefore the band is appropriately named lol, but I do like this version of 'The Sound of Silence'. I'm also sure that some of you won't :)



It's been a big day.

We started with brunch at Noosa, then for Chicklet's pleasure, a short play on the beach. I had to go buy a hat before we traipsed across the sand because it was a very bright and warm sunshiny morning and even the sand was incredibly hot to walk on.

At 1pm, we (Chicklet, Vegan Chickie and I) climbed on board the tilt train at Cooroy Station for the 2 hour ride home. I've never seen carriage E so full!! I'm usually one of eight people on the carriage with two seats to myself, but the carriage was full and I had to sit beside someone! I believe that is only the second time in about 40 trips that I've been seated beside someone.

Adoring Husband was at Howard Station to pick us up and take us home.

Chicklet spent the afternoon removing all of the knick knacks from the middle two shelves of my cabinet .. mostly dragon ornaments and lizards .. and lining them up on the lounge room floor. Then she requested all of my stuffed toys, so I went on the search to drag them out of the bedrooms. The back yard was next in line so that we could remove all of the frog garden ornaments from their homes and have them congregate in the middle of the back yard.

I cooked dinner before we all climbed in the car to go in search of Christmas lights. I was pleasantly surprised to find so many people getting into the Christmas spirit this year. We spent about 30 minutes driving around town looking at the lights and even got out of the car to walk along the waterfront where there were quite a few houses lit up.

Dessert and a quick bath for Chicklet before bed time tonight. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. I think exhaustion had set in!

It will be an early start for Adoring Husband and I tomorrow. We have some last minute food shopping to do in The Bay and we don't want to get caught in the Christmas Eve crowds, so we'll be in and out as quickly as is humanly possible!

Best get to bed then!

Nite all.

Surprisingly Princessly

A truly amazing artist ...



Feeling really good today. I only got about 5 hours sleep last night, but breakfast was really good this morning .. bacon, eggs and avocado with an extra large coffee.

An hour or two in the children's playground, some grocery shopping and a stop in the children's shop for a princess dress and some shiny sparkly shoes for someone special!!

She's never been keen on dresses or girly stuff before, so I had to take lots of pics .. of course, I didn't bring my camera, so the phone camera had to do. Vegan Chickie has much better phone camera skills and Instagram skills than I, so her pics seems to be the best of the bunch. I definitely need some practise!

The dress and shoes were soon tossed on the floor and she was running around naked wearing a dinosaur mask not long after we got the pics. Gotta be quick!!

Chicklet and I played some games, but by 2pm, yesterday caught up with me and I had to have a nap. Much to Chicklet's disappointment, I slept for a bit over an hour, but I made up for it by sharing some sticker activities with her before I cooked dinner.

Mama had bath duty tonight, while I had kitchen duty. Luckily, I got story time with Chicklet before she fell asleep.

Tomorrow, we all head home on the train! Chicklet's first big train trip I think?!

I'm aiming for an earlier night tonight. It's just about 11pm and it's lights out for me.

Nite all.

Free From Amalgam

I guarantee that this will bring a tear to your eye .. in a good way!



Today I caught the 6am train to Cooroy, where the Bare-chested Chef picked me up and drove me to my dental appointment at Maroochydore.

I had four amalgam fillings removed. What started out as a 4 hour appointment, ended up being a 2.5 hour appointment because everything went so smoothly without a hitch.

It was an interesting experience where the anaesthetic numbed my face from the nose down. I couldn't feel my face, my lips or my tongue. The safety precautions used to protect the dentist, her assistant and me from the mercury and the vapours that were emitted were pretty amazing.

A rubber dam was used to protect me from ingesting any mercury/amalgam that was drilled from my teeth. It also covered my nose so that I didn't breathe in any of the vapours.

A large vacuum hose was beside my chair sucking any vapours or fragments away from me as they rose from my mouth.

Suction was used in my mouth to make sure that everything was immediately removed as it was drilled out.

The dentist and her assistant had special masks, gloves and protective clothing.

Once the amalgams were removed, all the protective gear was disposed of, including my bib, their masks and gloves, all the tools and the rubber dam. It was all replaced with fresh sterilised gear, to continue with the tooth restoration.

It was pretty intense!

I must say that the very back of my jaw is aching a little tonight from having my mouth open so wide for so long.

It was a painless exercise. Even the drilling, which I was most afraid of today, was a breeze and I barely noticed it.

The four teeth that had the amalgams are now restored and I'm feeling great.

My next visit, in February, is to have the gum disease in the bottom gum treated.

Vegan Chickie and I have spent the evening lying on my bed catching up and now it is rapidly approaching 1am!!  I've been awake since 4am and I'm just beginning to feel a little weary.

My diet today has consisted of two cups of chicken bone broth, one cup of coffee and a pear. Tomorrow morning Vegan Chickie, Chicklet and I will be having breakfast at Civic and I'm looking forward to a big bacon and egg brekky!

Time now, for me to sleep.

Nite all.    

He's a bit sickly

Well, alas, Adoring Husband has become ill with some kind of respiratory virus.

When I first met him, he was a sickly character and spent a lot of time in hospital with chest infections that required strong antibiotics administered intravenously, often double doses. For the first six or seven years that we were together, it was a 'given' that he would be sick enough to need time off work, time in bed and time in hospital a few times a year.

Before we left Sydney, he had to have x-rays and tests on his lungs, because there were shadows, which turned out to be scarring from previous infections. The doctor had been concerned that the shadows were something more sinister. That was a lucky escape!

Then we moved to Queensland.

He became fit and lean and strong, working the lawn mower business. He spent time in the sunshine and built up his Vitamin D levels. From memory, he got the flu twice in the first two years and one of those times was because he shovelled mushroom compost in the garden without a mask and got spores in his lungs.

Since we changed our diet/lifestyle and stopped eating gluten, dairy and sugar (it's now 4 yrs gluten free and two years dairy and sugar free), it has now been more than four years since his last flu or virus. I believe that's a record for his entire life!

I'm surprised that his immune system was weak enough to let this one in, although it's that time of the year when people are festively hugging and kissing and passing on Christmas wishes, along with all their germs.

So we're using colloidal silver on the back of his throat, dosing up on super strength vitamin C capsules, antioxidants and multivitamins combined with probiotics,  juicing up with oranges and pineapples, medicating with chicken broth and lots of water. He's been sleeping on and off in his chair - sleep is good.

Unfortunately, I have to go away tomorrow, for two nights, so I have to trust that he is going to be vigilant with my prescription for good health.

Hopefully, it won't deteriorate to a full blown infection and he will recover quickly while I'm away.

Thought you might enjoy this little video ...    



An interesting read and includes stories from people who had amazing health success using oils.

Essential Oils

A story from the ABC about the health problems occurring in Australian hospitals and with doctors. The statistics for accidental deaths and permanent injuries, are quite shocking.

Medical errors in Australia

It's now 10pm .. I'd best go finish my chores before bed. I have a very early start tomorrow!

Nite all.

Party Time

So I finally provided the photos for the 70th birthday that I attended a few weeks ago.

I also sent through some of the photos of the town Christmas party to be published in the local newsletter, the rest will be published in the January newsletter.

Other than that, it's been a quietly productive day for Adoring Husband and myself.

Tonight AH attended his SES Christmas party, while I attended a different party at a friend's house. I had a nice time. Good food. Good friends.

AH came to my party after his finished, but we were both home just after 10pm.

It's a sign of our age, when two parties are over by 10pm!!

You will love this ... Every Child Should Have a Pet

That's it. I'm done. It's rapidly approaching midnight (as usual) and I feel the need to sleep.

Nite all.