Back to Brisbane – A Long Way...and an amazing discovery!
Rambo was about again last night playing tricks with my mind. After quite a loud clatter I got up to see what it was but could find no evidence. I reckon he’s taken to banging pan lids with a wooden spoon, running and hiding and then giggling from some hidden crevice as I stagger out with my head torch. Yeah? Well, time is running out Boyo! I got back in bed and googled rat traps!I woke again at 3.30am and heard rustling from over by the door away from the kitchen. I felt around silently in the dark for my specs and slipped them on, then grasped the head torch and silently sat up, my finger poised on its switch then flicked it on! I saw him scurry back towards the kitchen in shame!I didn’t hear him again.Will was up early trying to quietly fill the kettle...but my ears are Rambo trained...nothing get past them not even the tiny trickle of dam water into a kettle. I was up before 8...on a Saturday!“What’s in that bag by the door?” I asked him.It was the garlic shallots he had removed from the garden to take back to plant in Brisbane.“There’s plenty left outside, why didn’t the silly rat eat those?” He said.This is Rambo though. He has his motives.I made bacon butties while Will skyped Phoebe, his 5 year old daughter, in Canberra. The connection was really good to say we were in the bush. She played the ukulele and sang for him and then they went, via Skype, to her bedroom and he ‘helped’ her choose her outfit for the day, which was topped off with a dragonfly fascinator in her hair.
Will and Phoebe Will sings with Phoebe - 'This Old Man'.
When the Skype was over Will got out his angle- grinder, as you do. Yikes! What a scary and noisy thing it is! He cut some strips off a corrugated iron sheet with sparks flying everywhere, seemingly unconcerned as to the possibility of starting a bush fire. He used the strips to patch the roof where we had noticed rain water dripping through the other day. We then untangled a long passionfruit vine and fastened it to the verandah roof poles.
After a quick tidy we headed off back to Brisbane. Driving down the track we could see that Dave had been back and had done even more clearing of the track. What a star! Will rang him and thanked him and then we carried on. It was 11.45 am.Will wanted to go back a different way down The Range via Killarney and Queen Mary Falls. From Stanthorpe we headed out through Liston on the Mount Lindsay Road. Much of it was dirt track like yesterday and can be quite slippy but Roxy coped well.
We stopped at Queen Mary Falls. I noticed a chap walk past in the car park and his back was covered with flies! It didn’t take long to realise why, they were everywhere and very annoying. Luckily the walk to the falls was not far and just at the start I found a large white cockatoo feather lying on the path. I picked it up and used it to swat flies away from my face, much like Queen Mary would have done when she first discovered these waterfalls! ( I joke of course, no Queen Mary would ever be found dead in such a place.)[gallery ids="622,623,630,624"]Despite the flies, it was worth it. The falls were quite magnificent but because of the flies we did not hang around too long and headed back to the car. It was amusing back at the car park to see people near and far all twitching and swatting at flies. We swiped at our backs before we got into Roxy and carried on. Somehow two flies had joined us but as we headed down off The Range into the coastal heat I hoped they would bake and it would serve then right.It was not a major road and there were a few ‘odd’ road signs. A couple promised a view point ahead and would count down the kilometres to it. Anticipation grew only to be shattered when you got there...there was hardly a view...perhaps trees had grown and blocked it out. We did find a stunning view at Carrs Lookout, though, that looked across to Wilson’s Peak.
We set off again with the road signs saying ‘ the road ahead was NOT SUITABLE for buses, trucks, caravans and trailers’ and then around the corner was another sign that read ‘ buses, trucks, caravans and trailers MUST USE LOW GEAR!’ Why waste the money on the first sign if no one pays attention to it?The road twisted down through the rain forest and then suddenly there was another sign that read ‘Road Ahead Closed’ with yet another pointing right which read ‘DETOUR.’ What a flippin’ detour it was! We headed off on a dirt track through Koreelah National Park and ended up driving all around Wilson’s Peak. It must have taken an hour to get to the road that we would have eventually come out on had the road not been closed. There were some lovely views of The Great Dividing Range though so we didn’t mind too much.
We headed back to Brisbane via Boonah and Ipswich and got back about 4.00pm.My mosquito bites started to itch so I put on some ‘Stingose’ (other itch relief creams are also available!). It is a clear gel but turns white after a few minutes. I bet I looked a sight when we went out later to get the fish and chips for tea that Dulcie wanted, covered all over in white blotches.While we were waiting for them to cook our order at the Fish and Chip shop we wandered next door into an Indian supermarket we had noticed and had been meaning to visit. That is where I made the amazing discovery! At first I couldn’t believe my eyes but there it was on the shelf!
(How spooky is that Catherine?)
So what if it was nearly £5 a bottle I had to have it! (As it turns out it is a huge favourite in Saudi Arabia! Who would have thought? It tastes slightly different and seems much darker in colour but it is the same company...and here it is just up the road from me in Acacia Ridge!)Will got some Virgin Pink Himalayan Salt for the bargain price of $1.50! (90p) Bargain! He couldn’t believe it!
He also picked up some rice pancakes but when we got to the till the shop keeper shook his head and said; “They are past their sell by date.”I went to get some more from the pile on the shelf but he called after me,“No, they are all past their sell by date.”Why keep a shelf full then?What a wonderfully, expensive but cheap odd shop!