kiwichoccie

Wednesday, 17 July 2019

Is it Autumn yet ?

There are some towns with reputations or attractions that just need to be visited. Stanthorpe is one of them.

It is in the Granite Belt, a little further inland and south from Allora where we went once before to see the sunflowers. The region is known for its microclimate and winemaking, but there are also microbreweries and an abundance of fruit and vegetables.

It also gets quite cold there in winter. Well cold for Queensland anyway. It seems to share the competition for the title of coldest town with nearby Applethorpe where for many years 100% of the apples in Queensland have been grown.

We went to see if autumn might be hiding there – if it gets frosty and sometimes even snow, you would think there might be some colour in the foliage.

We found some, but not as much as we had wished for. So renown for the chilly winter temperatures is the town, there is a giant thermometer in the park.

Then it was time for the drive home and to continue the packing and organising for our upcoming move. Only weekends and evenings available for those tasks since we were both working.

Crystal Castle

Another journey across the border. This time into the hills near Mullumbimby where we had heard about Crystal Castle and Shambhala Gardens. A tranquil sanctuary, home to the largest crystals in the world set in peaceful gardens on the hillside.

It was a little more up and down than I had envisaged, but the pathways were good and despite the crowds it did not “feel” crowded. We spent a LOT longer there than we had thought we would, but the pace was slow and the atmosphere calm.

It truly is a magical place – and the cake at the café !! There are no words.

ANZAC Day

It was a pretty good first week at work, although there were less days for training.

The last two weeks in April were very disjointed; filled with Public Holidays. First Easter shortened the work week by one day, then the following week as well as Easter Monday, there was ANZAC Day. It isn’t over there – another Public Holiday loomed in early May. Labour Day. Every other state has it in October, but not Queensland.

Anyway, ANZAC Day. I had thought I might go to a service in the local park, but I was a bit tired from the first day at my new job – so much to learn. But we decided we should take advantage of a midweek holiday and go for a drive.

It wasn’t a brilliant sunny day, but we thought we would head into the hinterland a bit. Well, it was my idea, and I didn’t do enough research so we changed plans part way.

We headed for Samford which was surprisingly busy for a small town on a public holiday. I have heard there are some amazing café’s there so another trip may need to be planned. From Dayboro we decided as it was getting late in the afternoon that we would head back toward the coast and perhaps catch the sunset and have fish and chips.

After a slight detour to Bribie Island, to say we had driven to another island, and added it to the revisiting MUST-DO list, we headed for our favourite fish and chip eatery. Timing wasn’t on our side though and we were too late for the sunset.

But we did catch these amazing reflections on Bramble Bay.

Wednesday, 26 June 2019

BluesFest

A week or so after our trip to Byron Bay it was Easter and BluesFest time.

BluesFest was 30 this year, a music festival held over Easter weekend attracting all manner of artists from all over the world. I have always thought about going, Lauren decided she was going this year and bought two tickets for one day.

We dithered about it for so long that we ran out of time to find any accommodation so we drove down for one day only. It meant that some people we would have liked to see weren’t playing on the day we would be there, but there was still a pretty impressive line-up.

We were quite unprepared for the conditions – nothing rainproof and completely unsuitable footwear. It poured, several monsoonal type downpours. Mostly we were lucky, and were undercover in marquees listening to music as the rain teemed down outside.

I'm with Her

Arlo Guthrie

Norah Jones

We wandered about the market stalls in between and by the end of the evening (well not even the end) we were both reminded that festivals were not our favourite types of events. Why do people go to these events if they just want to talk to their friends and drink instead of enjoying the performance. Each to their own – and I’m not against their behaviour; I just don’t see what the point is. The jostling and disregard for the artist got to us in the end and we left part way through one act which we had been looking forward to and completely missing a headline act or two which were scheduled for later.

Walking back to the car we weren’t so lucky with the rain and got drenched, but at least we had had fun (for the most part) and could look forward to hot showers when we got home.

We bought a place

It’s official – and I got a job

They say that everything happens in threes, or that everything happens at once.

We will have to go with the last one because I am sure there were just two things. Before our trip to New Zealand, maybe as early in the year as January, we had started to consider jumping into the property market. But the whole concept was a bit foreign and daunting.

Still, we went to several open homes and surfed real estate sites online. We had a vague idea where we thought we would like to be but were open to all options. A couple tempted us but we chickened out and bided our time. We weren’t in any big rush really as we still had a few months to run on our rental lease. (although the screaming and shouting from one of our neighbours was taking the shine off staying there too long).

Anyway, one rainy day (we do get rain here sometimes) we arranged to meet an agent to view a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit. We were instantly impressed. So much so that we decided to bite the bullet and make an offer.

BINGO !!

Then of course there was the building & pest inspection to wait on, breaking our lease, finding solicitors and navigating the finance maze.

All the while this was happening I was still applying for a new role since the last one had ended as we went to New Zealand. On the Thursday before Easter I met with a new recruitment agency, this was also the date which our contract would become unconditional – so a lot going on to keep on top of. The last thing the consultant asked me was whether I was okay to get a call on the day, to start a role immediately.

“We don’t get many of them,” she said, “but we have had a couple in the last few weeks.” I assured her that I was fine with that and off I went.

More about what we got up to over Easter in another post. On Tuesday morning though, I was messing about, checking online job boards and having a second coffee when the phone rang.

You guessed it ! A temp assignment, 2 weeks and could I start today ?

That made me get my skates on – and abandon a couple of plans I had had for later in the day ! But great timing.

Byron, crossing the border

We went for a drive to the GC to check out a shop we had heard about in Burleigh Heads and then have some lunch. Then since we were halfway there, we decided to go a bit further south to Byron Bay – just for a look. It wasn’t a beach day, but it was good driving weather; not too hot.

Over the border into Northern New South Wales.

We had a wander around the shops with the crowds of locals, other roadtrippers and tourists. Plenty of people were still on the beach catching what might be the last of the seasons warmth. Some were even swimming. We just walked and watched.