In an effort to improve our non-existant social life we are looking into joining Caboolture 4wd club - so we went along on a weekend away with them to Janowen 4wd Park.

 

After packing up Kermit we headed off towards Warwick. We stopped at midday for lunch at Aratula, where Helen spotted Wayne Bennett (Bronco's coach) at the coffee shop. We moved on and arrive about 1.30ish. Once we got to the site it was easy to find the people we were joining and so we chose a spot and it was at that time I realised I had never put up a tent before. Once I said that, Sandi, the club secretary took over and within half an hour we had the tent up and were ready to begin camping. It became known that we hadn't done it before and some of the members took up posts in the peanut gallery to observe the goings on. Mary also came to help and the peanut gallery had nothing to gawk at as we had it up in no time.

 

Saturday afternoon was time for a bit of a rest while some of the club went out on a drive and we just fiddled around and set ourselves up. Saturday night was fun around a campfire after tea - then off to bed on our nice new camp stretchers - the dew on the ground in the evening was quite heavy and while the days were very hot the nights were very cold - I had luckily thrown 2 blankets into the bags as we left - just in case. We could have used our heavy wool quilt or a couple more blankets. It got very cold overnight and the blankets just did.

 

Sunday morning was bright and cloudless and after breakfast we headed off on our first run. We knew Kermit was limited both by his ability and ours. So when Ian told me it was rated as an easy run I jumped eagerly into the drivers seat and told John he could do the hard bits. However Kermit's lack of working handbrake caused some heart stopping moments when we tried to get up a grade to go on the run. Ian organised for Dave to tow us over the hairy bits and then we were fine but we are going to have to do something about the handbrake. Being such an old car we know that it will take quite a bit to get it going and even then it wont work that well - we were told that is why all old Landcruisers are parked with the wheels into the gutter - to stop them rolling. So once we got out of that bit John took over and I took some photos. However there are no photos of really hairy bits as I was hanging on too hard to worry about photos. We wont be able to go on any more runs until we get the handbrake fixed.

 

After the morning run we went down to the creek - which was running quite well - it had been crystal clear but the swimmers had stirred it up. However the water was beautifully cool in the heat of the day and we had a swim. One of the women got a small leech on her foot and we decided to get out - then John turned up and I went back in - next thing you know John got a leech on his foot. I got some salt from a camper and and it was quickly removed. A little first aid to the bleeding wound and all was well.

 

After lunch we got to go for a run in other club members' cars and were in awe of the capability of the trucks - we were only out for a short drive - one fellow tried to go up a couple of the extreme runs and we all stopped to watch. John cooked tea Saturday nite and we had another campfire. Helen had a go at making damper in a camp over and then off to bed early.

 

Overall we had a wonderful time but had to make some serious decisions about how much money to pour into Kermit. He's fine to go for a run on the beach but if we want to go really 4wd we will have to have a few things fixed.

Back to work on Tuesday for Helen and Wednesday for John

 

Snake is coming to visit on the weekend and Helen is going to Seaforth Apartments Alexandra Headland with Kim for 3 nights next week.

 

 

Jo and the kids came up to stay and I went down to Jupiters and stayed overnight with her. On the way I picked up some new camp stretchers at Wild Earth at West Burleigh - they were about $30 cheaper than anywhere else, longer and wider (214 x 84) and had a much higher rating for the weight they would hold (150kg).  

Spent the next day at Pac Fair shopping with Kim and then came home. Kim managed to get a nice outfit and I found a cheap tshirt.

 

Jo and the kids came up the next day and then spent the next 2 days driving down to the Gold Coast to go to theme parks.

 

On Saturday we went to Bribie Island for a picnic and John took the kids and Jo on the beach for a run. Jo had a go of driving in the carpark and decided to wait until we were on a clear road before trying. We found out that Raymond's licence forbids him from driving a manual while on his P1 licence so he sadly didnt get a go of driving - Jo, Jess, Michele and I left John, Mathew and Raymond on the beach run and came home to get ready for a BBQ with Steven, Alicia, Priscilla & Bevan.

 

I sort of neglected to tell anyone Priscilla was coming until she was due and it was a lovely suprise - Steven said the last time he saw Jo was at his 21st in 1978 and the last time he saw Priscilla was at her wedding in 1984. Priscilla's baby, Mirakel, was lovely and is the image of Coby.

 

Sunday Jo decided that there would be no more driving to the Gold Coast and we had a quiet day at home. Raymond and Michelle went Chermside Westfield and then Evan turned up and took Matthew and Jess out in Kermit - they went to the forests up the Bruce Hwy near Caloundra and Steve Irwin Way and apparently both had a go at driving - how on earth Jess reached the pedals is beyond me - but Evan figures they didnt have a licence they could lose!! At one stage Evan rang and said they would be a while because they were lost but the ended up coming home and all was well.

 

On Sunday John and I worked out a way of putting some ply in Kermit as a false floor and Jo suggested we use it as a picnic table - so we devised a plan and went off to Bunnings to spend a kings ransom. A couple of days later I found some trestle legs and boot lining and you should see the back of Kermit now!!! We have a false floor over the wheel arches and under it we have channels for storing the sun umbrella, the stretchers, the jack, the snatch kit, ropes and lots of other stuff. I put 5 coats of estapol on the table part - 4 on the others and we now have a very handy picnic table built into the truck - see photos of Australia day weekend.

 

On Saturday, after the stint on Bribie I gave Kermit an underbody bath to strip the sand and salt and had a march/horse fly bite me on the arm - didnt think much of it till Sunday nite about 8.30 - after a trip to the hospital, the private doctors surgery next door and a dose of phenergan I went off to fairyland for 24 hours as the pain had become pretty bad and the bite was about the size of a small golf ball and so hot I could cook a steak on it.  Jo left at 3am and I slept for the next 24 hours.

 

John and I are going to a 4wd park this weekend with our newly gathered camping equipment with Caboolture 4wd club - we are looking at joining and improving our social life.

 

During the past week I have managed to find 2 more 2nd cousins who are from the Eve family in UK. Took a bit of detective work and the Times Digital Index but I am really pleased to have found them - I am still on a mission to locate all of grandfather Eve's brothers and sisters children. I have done it for all the other grandparents and just want to finish off that generation.

 

The mango tree is being attacked nightly by bats and in the morning there is always some mangoes on the ground with varying degrees of damage - from just a few scratches to half and even fully eaten - so I chuck out the really bad ones and save the ones with just a few scratches on them - the rest of the mangoes look ready to ripen over the weekend so I told Sandra the cleaner and Peter and Amanda next door to take what they could - by the time we get back on Monday there will probably be none left.  The mangoes are beautiful - there is no hint of stringyness and the flavour is wonderful - most are massive - probably due to the water they got- around September when the flowers came on we had a good lot of rain and then in October when it got hot I siphoned some of the excess pool water onto the tree and as it has been raining just about every day since the beginning of December the water has ensured the mangoes are sweet and juicy. I am hoping the 2 bunches of bananas will benefit just as well - the last bunches we got werent very big so hopefully this will help them to grow bigger.

 

Will add more once we get back from the weekend.

 

 

Here we are in a new year. The mango tree is loaded with fruit, the macadamias are the size of (small) golf balls and there is 2 bunches of bananas growing. It has been raining for two weeks the pool and the tank are overflowing and the grass is growing at an amazing rate.

 

We started out December by going to lunch for Max's birthday - Max was my team leader in 1999 in Melbourne and has recently moved to Brisbane - his friend Carol organised a suprise lunch and then a morning tea at work.

 

Finished up work on 18 December, had the car detailed, the washing machine fixed and the lounge steam cleaned and picked mum at the airport on 19th. Deb arrived with a flourish on the 20th.

 

Woke up Friday planning to have a nice quiet day prior to heading off the the hairdressers - however Deb had no intention of wasting her holiday in Qld so off we go to Chermside for a morning's shopping, back to the hairdresser. Garth arrived Friday late and headed off for a night out on the town - then slept for the next 18 hours or so. We put up the Xmas lights.

 

Saturday saw John and Deb off in Kermit and mum and I followed in the Subaru - they were to travel via a 4wd track to The Gantry in the Mt Mee forest park. Mum and I were to go by the normal road and meet them there. However Deb took one look at the track and decided mountain climbing was not for her. We had a lovely picnic in the day use area and then travelled to Woodford for coffee at the quirky little coffee shop we found. John and Deb then headed off to Bribie Island for some fun on the beach and sand tracks. Mum and I headed home. Garth slept as far as I know.

 

Sunday we prepared for a morning tea. I had a bright idea of inviting all the neighbours to come at 10am for a cup of tea, a sausage sandwich and a chat. The rain had started the night before and didnt look like letting up. Dave from down the street dropped in to let us know he had a family function and by 9.55am I was convinced no one else was going to turn up . About 10am some kids came up the drive and asked was the party on and I asked them to get their parents. Just after that people started flowing in and slowly the place filled up - the rain continued unrelentingly and the kids were all put in the pool (they couldnt get any wetter and it got them out from under our feet). Some people know 1 or 2 others but slowly we all got to know each other. About 5.30 I let the last of the stragglers out the door and put tea on for us all.

 

Christmas Eve Evan and Carly came to stay the night and we all got up early, Carly had to work and Evan was heading to Carly's mum's for the day. Garth, Mum, Deb, John and I headed off to Surfers Paradise - however on the way we ended up in a 5k gridlock as some idiot had decided to ruin every one in Brisbane's Xmas day by running up the back of another car and jamming up the Gateway motorway. However we cleared the mess and made it to the Marriott and had a lovely lunch. We topped off the lunch with a visit to Kim Kennedy's and then to Deb's brothers place before going home.

 

Wednesay Bill from work came over for tea and we played "spics and specs".

 

Deb left Thursday and Garth left Friday. Mum and I had a quiet week and she left on 4 January. I am looking forward to a quiet week.

 

An electrician is coming on Tuesday to put in some lights as the flouro in the kitchen fell to pieces and so I had to buy a new light fitting - that meant I should get a new one for the dining room - it broke when I put the lounge in the dining room for Evan and Carly on Xmas Eve and that then gave me the opportunity to replace the tacky chandelier in the front entry. Then of course the broken light in the lounge room also needed fixing and now the cieling fans wouldnt match so I have to buy a new one to match the one in the lounge room with the one in the family room - so several hundred gold coins later we will have nice new matching lights (that all work) for the first time since we have been in the house.

 

Another fellow is coming on Monday to fix the spare dishwasher that Evan owns - if it has to sit here for the next 2 years till he moves then I am going to use it. Will come in handy for BBQs and wont need to carry dirty plates into the house.

 

Tomorrow I am having the 3rd windscreen replace that we have managed to damage in 18months.  30+ years of driving and we do 3 windscreens in 18 months. The Subaru wasnt even 12 months old. We were driving Kermit one Sunday and got a stone chip then on the way to work just prior to Xmas I got a stone chip in my car that has grown slowly across the windscreen.

 

Joanne is arriving on 14 or 15 January and I go back to work on 16.