Bit of a catch up

Yeah I know we have been missing in action the last 6 weeks or so. Some of it has just been that we have been so busy with our house full of people. That's good. Some has been that someone we care a lot about has been diagnosed with that bloody thief of a disease and is going through treatment. That's bad. I find it hard to write blogs when that is going on. Some of it is a scare of my own that has now been resolved as benign so that is a relief.


So I will try to just do a summary of what has been going on using the photos on the camera as a memory jogger! At least I am still taking the odd snap!


So in the second week of the September school hols, Sandy came to stay. She needed a good rest and we tried to give it to her. So we chilled out learning some mosaicing from a friend of mine here in Bowen. This is what Sandy made while she was here. How cool is that for a first go? All those years as a teacher paid off! You can't see mine as it is not finished yet and is not nearly so good.


We just hung about doing this and talking and in the evenings drank a little wine.

We went to Airlie on the Saturday morning for the markets and some breakfast.

Then a walk along the boardwalk, and we kind of gatecrashed at Coral Sea Resort and had a coffee.

This was the view from our coffee table..tough eh?

We went for a camp at Terrible Creek with G&L. It would be the last of the season. It was quite hot, though pleasant enough in the evenings. It was very relaxing. I was so relaxed I took hardly any photos. I did take one or two of G&L but I would be disowned if I posted one. Not good shots.

KISA is telling a good story here.Or maybe he was reciting poetry??

On the way home we passed a herd/flock/mob?? of emus. After three months of physical work, Anna has put on some good muscle tone. She was gaunt when she arrived, now she looks healthy and strong.

On their last weekend with us, we went with Anna and Elaine to Airlie Beach for some flashpacking. Booked an apartment and went jet skiing the next day

We were doing some yoga poses and the three wise monkeys here. Some wine may have been consumed. Maybe. It was guy fawkes night, so we had some sparklers.

The next day, we had booked jet skiing to Daydream Island. KISA's and my trip was a gift from Adam as a thank you for having him. The girls fancied it too, so got themselves a ski. It was fantastic fun. KISA and I paid a bit extra and got a ski each. Then there would be no squabbling.....

After about an hours skiing we had lunch at the cafe on the island. It was a kind of overcast day.

Once on the island, we did the fish feeding tour. It was quite interesting. This is a sharks egg. It is softish and if you hold it up to the light, you can see the baby inside!

We found Nemo too. Actually a couple of Nemos in the coral pool.

These are the stingrays. Big ones, like the one that killed Steve Irwin. They feel kind of strange and gobbled up their food with their gummy mouths.

We got to hold a baby shark as well. This is as close as I fancy and a good size for me. Any bigger and I will take my toes out of the pool!

The next few pics are of the jetski trip home. They were taken by the guide who had a waterproof camera and we were allowed to lift them off facebook. Then no one got their camera wet. The wind picked up for the trip back and it was VERY wet and bouncy. So much fun.

Standing with the mermaid statues at Daydream Island. With our mermaids.

Anna and Elaine looking very fetching in their jet ski outfits. Not the Paris catwalk but all essential. The life jacket is self explanatory, the hat with chin straps to keep off the sun and to avoid losing it within 30 seconds of starting out, the sunglass/goggles to keep the water and glare out of your eyes, the rash vest so you can get soaked and dry off quickly.

Last day in Bowen for the girls. After here they went to Myella Farmstay near Rockhampton, then off to Byron bay and Sydney. It has been a joy having them, we will miss them.

We stood at the gate to the estate and waved as the bus went by. Then we were two again!

Mackay weekend

KISA had to spend the day at that other coal terminal so we headed off early on Friday morning to mackay. Caught the sunrise. Looked better in real life, they are hard to capture.

While he was working, I ran a few errands, and lunched with my aunts and uncle, sister and parents.

Mostly we spent the weekend socialising with friends and family.

Andd goofballs such as Bec.

They have finally opened the road to the breakwater at the harbour after nearly 2 years, so we went out for a drive. They are going to close it again next April, so will make sure we take a few drives out there before then.

Home again Sunday afternoon, the drive seems shorter all the time.

More Tomatoes

The tomatoes keep on coming. So I have made Tomato jam. The colour looks so good in the sun.

I also made some Tomato Ketchup, which tastes great but is a lot of faffing about.

Mostly I just make tomato passata sauce and freeze it. Goes great in spag bol.

Anna gets quite a giggle out of these. She brings them home all the time.

Pumpkin Cake

I have made this twice now. It is very yummy and very moist. Quite healthy too, with its two cups of mashed pumpkin in it. We will gloss over the sugar, oil and cream cheese frosting.

The recipe is from http://southernfood.about.com/od/pumpkins/r/bl30212s.htm

I cooked it in my pyrex lasagne dish, it made a large slab cake. Everyone who has tried it loves it. I roasted my pumpkin and processed it. I did a whole pumpkin and got about 3 cups puree.

I just used my ususal cream cheese frosting
125g cream cheese

2 tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups icing mixture

Mix and spread.

Lick the bowl.

Platypus at Eungella

Before Adam left, we took he and Anna to Eungella to see some platypus. It is one if not the best spot in Australia to see this strange creature. KISA reckons God was smoking something strange when he put this one together! Most of the regulars will recognise this view. We were booked to go on a Rainforest Walk. I think the guide had been smoking something strange too and got his days mixed up, as I would have sworn he took us on the bird watching tour! Not quite so rivetting for backpackers!

Our cabin was cosy as usual. We stayed in Number one as usual.

Some people thought it was cold. It was cool, but it has been colder up here!

Next day we drove to the dam to check out our old camping spot.

It was occupied and the dead tree had succumbed to gravity.

We went up to the lookout as well. We brought Debs up here too.

In the afternoon, Anna and I went for a walk through the rainforest.

Of course we should not forget the platypus. We headed off to the platypus Pool first, by the tree being slowly murdered by the Strangler Fig.

There was not much happening there, so we went to the old swimming hole, and saw about 4 platypus, quite close to the bank where we were standing. They move fast which is why the shots are mostly blurry, they are hard to catch.

We went on a short bush walk to the divided tree, on the last day.

This charming looking plant is called "Stay a While" that is because if it snags you you stay a while, to disentangle yourself!

This is the divided tree. It too succumbed to a Strangler Fig, though I think there is not much tree left now.

We went for a drive down the hill to Finch Hatton Gorge, and took a walk to Arulen Falls.

Adam decided to swim to the water fall, even though the water was freezing!

It was a quick swim, he achieved his goal and didn't linger!

Looks sunny and nice, but he was shivering pretty violently when he got out!

It is a pretty spot and very popular in summer. We had the place to ourselves in winter though!

On his way out of Bowen a last shot with the car. His next stop is a cruise for a couple of days in the Whitsundays, then Brisbane to catch some friends. Been lovely having you Adam, enjoy the rest of your time in Oz!