Irish Strawberries

Did you know that strawberries grow trees in Ireland?

It's true. We found a tree in Peak Hill. 

Don't believe me? Read the sign. 

Now for the drive home...

Our holiday is over...all that is left now is our drive home...two days done the Newell. 

Kyogle Revisited

We caught a bit too much sun yesterday so we decided to go for a drive...to Kyogle. 

Why Kyogle? Over 40 years we camped there for a couple of weeks...in a tent...and we have never been back there until today. 

The town has changed a bit...but not a lot. 

Pacific Fair

The Pacific Fair shopping centre was something rather different but there is very little left of it as we knew it...

It is now mostly like any other shopping centre...

Christening my new boardies

Having been told that my old bathers were a bit too "bright green", yesterday I bought some new board shorts...not that I am ever likely to go anywhere near a surfboard. 

Today when we got back from a drive down the coast to Burleigh Heads, Coolangatta and Tweed Heads, I decided it was time to christen my new boardies.,.

Broadbeach - One day is much the same as the next

Another beach walk this morning, this time with a dip in the ocean. Back in our apartment, it is time to think about lunch. 

Life is a beach...a Broadbeach

Out for our morning walk...

Out for an afternoon cache...

...at the Kokoda Memorial. 

Home for the next week and a half

A room (or two) with a view

Two and a half days driving....

...and we are still in Eltham!

Up the Moonbi Range

Almost dinner time and still a bit further to go to Armidale but the view off the Moonbi Range back towards Tamworth is just too good to pass up. 

Lunchtime in Dunedoo

Nothing better for lunch than an Apple Turnover filled with fresh cream. 

After a stop in Wellington to visit the Cathedral Cave, our morning run across the Central West of New South Wales brought us to Dunedoo for a lunch stop. 

Add another 25 minutes

Enough said!!!

Slight Delay

Here it is...departure time and I'm still in the Lounge...flight has been delayed 25 minutes...still, can't complain, the lunch time flight to Canberra is still here and won't be going until 8:00 tonight. 

On my way to Canberra

This isn't a holiday so it really doesn't belong in my Blog but I am just testing "blogging on the run" using an App on my new iPad. 

At the moment I am sitting in the Lounge at Melbourne Airport waiting to board my plane to Canberra. 

Darwin Goes Off With a Bang!

Today is Territory Day...or Cracker Day as the locals more often refer to it. Yes, the only place left in Australia where you can go and buy fireworks to let off yourself...and they do it really well!!! Pop-up shops all over the place are set up to sell fireworks...but not before 9:00am on Territory Day and they have to close by 9:00pm. Fireworks can be set off from no earlier than 6:00pm (although some people's clocks must have been a little fast...) and have to finish that night. Quite incredibly, they were all pretty good about it...maybe they are too fearful of loosing their fireworks that they really behave with them.

But more of Cracker Day later...we started the morning with a stroll around the Botanical Gardens. It is an amazing place and Darwin is really lucky to have it...some of the old trees were blown over by Cyclone Tracy but there were rescued and stood up in amongst the rest of the carnage and recovery. With the day warming up, we stayed in the Gardens for some lunch...and to finish off a multi-stage cache to bring up a total 1500 cache finds since I started nearly 3 years ago.

The late afternoon was spent back at the motel...split between the Pool and the Laundry...a rather pleasant way to get the washing done actually. For dinner we went downtown and found a pub where we could sit on the street and be entertained by the local's fireworks...well at least the high ones that went above the buildings. After dinner we walked back the our motel via Bicentennial Park which was an impromptu fireworks site with the locals sending "thousands of dollars" up into the sky in spectacular fashion...and rivaling some New Years Eve's efforts put on in Melbourne and Sydney!