Back on The Road (almost)

I was going back through previous Blogs and Messages and have a big apology to make to my very special family in Ipswich.  While I was in Brisbane and Stuart was in hospital for 33 days I stayed at Shel's for the first part of the period.  Michael and Shel both drove me to and from the hospital for the time I was with them and I need to thank them sincerely for that.  Not however for the hazy mornings following the night before after a few wines.
  For the latter part of the stay I went out to my son and daughter in law Brett and Trina Leard and 2 special children Mia and Eithen who drove me backwards and forwards from Ipswich and sometimes putting me on a train to get to Wesley Hospital.  Even to the extent that after leaving a bag in the car when Trina dropped me off, she followed the train in another 2 stations to get the bag to me in case there was something important in it that I needed at the hospital that day.  Thank you so much Trina for your consideration even though you were in a hurry to get to the city for an appointment.  In my minds eye will always be the picture of you running along the platform as the train headed out, only to jump in the car and chase it 2 stations further on to get me the bag.  Its times like these that we are grateful for a loving caring family.

Just as a matter of interest, Mia is off to a State Competition for her Cheer Squad later this year and Eithen is in his own competition in the southern states for Wheelchair Basketball.  Mia has only been following her chosen sport this year and shows great potential.  Good luck my two little darlings and well done to their parents for the love and support.  Love you all.

 

After a late start last Wednesday, we got the switch fixed on the fridge and left the beautiful blue river city of Mackay about 3.30pm.

This was to be Stuart's first attempt at towing the van since his back surgery in November and I was anxious to see how a his back and legs would stand up to a few hours driving.

We got to Waverley Creek and stayed there the night.  Unusually the next day is when he suffers but as there were no side affects we knew he was all good.

We got to Yeppoon and had a lovely relaxing couple of days with friends Maree and Peter Cottrell.  Yeppoon is just 4 weeks out of Cyclone Marcia which crossed the coast about 30 kilometres north of the little Seaside Resort,  but still had devastating effects on the houses and businesses in the Yeppoon and Rockhampton areas.  I saw aerial photos of the State Forrest the other night which looks like a fire has gone through and the trees are all stripped bare.  There are now tons of small branches and debris lying on the ground and would be disastrous if a fire went through there now.  Homes left standing with only a few walls and the occasional unmade bed in rooms which were quickly abandoned for safer places to wait out the winds.

 

We went to Beaches Restaurant on Sunday night. This is attached to the resort at Roslyn Bay between Yeppoon and Emu Park where my grandson Ryan has just started his apprenticeship as a chef.  Sunday nights they serve a "Parrilla" menu which is  a Spanish Barbecue.  The food was lovely and we had a chance to catch up with Ryan and felt so proud of him in his uniform.

Not a good photo as lighting was bad but you get the picture

We are still headed to Lightning Ridge for Easter but had to detour back to Mackay to get work done on the fridge of the van.  All warranty work but a nuisance just the same.

Looking forward to Lightning Ridge as we haven't been there yet and over Easter they have a big Opal Festival.  Lightning Ridge mines most of the world's supply of Black Opal. 

Looking forward to catching up with Colleen and Geoff, two lovely people we met in Tasmania.