Australia
Toowoomba

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    • Day 6

      Hand made silage silos.

      December 9, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

      Silage is generally a fodder crop that is cut and stored without drying. The mass heats up and starts a fermentation process. The resulting feed is improved from the point of view of food value to the stock.

      Unlike hay that is too moist, over about 12% moisture, silage with a moisture content of up to 60% does not run the risk of spontaneous combustion.

      During the fermentation process temperature must be checked and air kept out of the mass. Effective cutting and storage packing is essential.

      The historic silos would have involved manual filling and packing of the cut crop. The doors in the Silo would have allowed the farmer to chech heat and moisture to ensure the fodder was kept properly.
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    • Day 16

      Leaving Toowoomba, QLD

      March 6, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      Well. What a week it has been.

      The van flooded on Friday morning. The inlet valve burst. Woke up ankle deep in water and Dick floating about in his bed.

      The Repair Centre sent someone out to replace the valve and help me clear up. We'll say no more about that and hope that's it for faults with the van.

      Dick ripped off a dew claw chasing a Moorhen into the lake and had to go to the Dog Doctor for a posh bandage and painkillers. He milked that for all it was worth. Had three lady vets cooing at him and telling him how handsome and shiny he is.

      Sensing an opportunity for treats, he went through his entire repertoire of party tricks then looked hopefully towards the treat jar. To gales of laughter from the vets and receptionist who stuffed him full of treats.
      Good lad. I have taught him well.

      The Pajero had its spare wheel and tow hitch lifted, and now they can't get the posh hard cover back on. Back to Mitsubishi first thing tomorrow morning for them to, I don't know, sellotape it on?

      Went to the Farmer's Markets Saturday morning, they were very good. Bought some chai chilli tea for when Sue's stash runs out and some treats for the mutt.

      Went with some of my new buddies to the Golf Club for an 'All You Can Eat' breakfast. And I did. Ate everything possible. There were hash brown AND mushrooms. And pancakes. #drool

      Picked up the new bike, been having lots of fun on that. There is no bike rack that is suitable for the rear of the van. It can only go on the front. Where I can't have anymore weight. So will find out tomorrow whether it fits inside the van door, and I'll have to strap it to the bed.

      We leave for Warwick tomorrow morning. We're ready for a change. We saw very little of Toowoomba other than the inside of caravan repair centres, supermarkets and Mitsubishi workshops.

      It has rained every single day. Dick saw an awful lot of the tracks around the lakes, the feathery bottoms of the Moorhens he likes to chase...and the inside of his eyelids.
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    • Day 3

      Heading back East

      August 16, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

      Woke up to a cold but pleasant morning In St George. Braved the cold to give my hair a wash, had breakfast then drove into town to have a quick look around St George as we didn’t really see a whole lot last night. To be honest there wasn’t a whole lot to see apart from an interesting bridge and a phone tower Rob organised out there many years ago.

      Just outside of town there is a dam which sounded interesting when I read up about it but in reality wasn’t. There were quite a few kangaroos hanging around there which was the highlight.

      Next stop the small town of Surat. About half way there Rob realised we were running short on petrol and I started panicking. Basically if there wasn’t any in Surat we were stuffed. And google was giving us mixed results. Thankfully it turned out there was a small station there - crisis averted.

      We had some morning tea by the river and went along part of the river walk there which was pleasant.

      Next we took the “Surat Development Road” our East. Had no idea what a development road was but it turned out to be a bitumen road with a plethora of bumps so you felt a bit like you were riding a roller coaster most of the way.

      We arrived at a place called Glen Morgan where there was an old car yard and museum there, looked interesting but not very open so we just had a quick look outside.

      Not far past was Meanderry which was the spot for our lunch. Unfortunately not a very picturesque place so we plonked ourselves next to some old military vehicles on display. It was at about this time, after Rob was speaking to some locals, that we realised that perhaps some of the strange treatment we’d received along the trip (including the finger from a P plater for no real reason) was because of the Victorian number plates the rental van had. Nobody likes the COVID state at the moment.

      The town of Tara was our next stop. Still no coverage (been that way pretty much all day) so had to try and find the walk I’d read about from memory. Soon found the park and went for a walk around the river. Was hoping to get all the way around but the path across the water had been washed away so that was the end of that idea! Found the rememberance gardens which were a little underwhelming but did tell the story of the first settlers in the area which was somewhat interesting.

      Then it was on to Dalby, our ultimate destination for the day. After plugging in, we went for a walk into town which was totally dead. Not sure if that’s because it’s a Sunday night or because it’s always that way. There were quite a few places for lease so that’s never a good sign. The walk along the water was semi pleasant at least. In the end decided to have dinner at the pub by the tourist park and ended up running into old friends Claire & Miles - it’s a very small world!

      Bunkered up for a very cold night after that - getting down to 3 in the morning!
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    • Day 201

      Oakey and Toowoomba

      November 7, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

      We are staying at Dennis and Sharyn's place in Oakey. We first meet them when we were staying at August Moon Caravan Park in Innisfail. We have caught up with them a couple of times since then. It is amazing the friends we have made on the road.
      We had a wonderful few hours in Toowoomba and the surrounding area.
      We visited the museum (I don't think Mark has many more in him) we then went out to see the train station at Spring Bluff. It is still a working station but only has trains a couple times a week. It is very peaceful lots of room for kids to run around.
      From here we are heading to Victoria.
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    • Day 11

      Toowoomba Contemplations

      March 1, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Musing No 1: Traffic lights. I had forgotten their existence. What a massive pain in the arse they are.

      Musing No 2: Mini roundabouts. The bane of the caravanner's existence. That new RedArc braking system is getting a thorough work out.

      Musing No 3: I have adapted to sitting out under the awning, in full view of the public and other CP patrons, in my pyjamas, far too easily.

      Musing No 4: The van is off to the local repair centre tomorrow, for yet more faults to be fixed. This is getting boring.

      Musing No 5: The mossies here are voracious after sundown. Vicks VapoRub is my new best friend - it's the only thing that soothes the bites. Must look into that new gadget that kills them before they bite, Thermacell.

      Musing No 6: Nine dead from these floods in south QLD. One poor old lady found dead in her house in Lismore. That makes me so sad, they all forgot about her.

      Musing No 7: Due to the floods, I have changed my travel route. The two parks I was headed to, are both on the east coast and under water. So, I'll now head to Warwick and Stanthorpe instead.

      Musing No 8: The GP here wants me to do
      a) a blood test (fine) and
      b) a stool test (not fine)
      ...as she thinks my raging indigestion could be from bacteria in my stomach.

      I am 45yrs of age (I think), have attended awful murder scenes and gruesome fatal crash scenes, happily muching my breakfast as I work, without batting an eyelid.

      But one must draw the line somewhere. And in the immortal words of Sweet Brown "..ain't nobody got time for that."

      Video here for the uninitiated: https://youtu.be/waEC-8GFTP4

      Back to a diet of Gaviscon on toast, then.
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    • Day 7

      Toowoomba Floods

      February 25, 2022 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

      Well, what a roller coaster these past few days have been!

      Van had to go back to Titan for the entire day on Wednesday, for all the faults to be fixed. There were about 20 things wrong with it - a brand new van! Astonishing.

      I'm struggling a little with things like; how can you tell the van is level? Both of the concrete pads I've parked up on, are both sloping. I do have a small level gauge on the electric jockey wheel, but the bubble seems to be stuck way up the top and never moves, no matter how much I fanny about with the legs! I'm hoping Pauline and Brigitte will know and will post on here what they do.

      Also, the water hose, which worked fine at the last park, is now spilling water everywhere from both ends. I've asked the fella at reception to pop down and help me when the rain stops. He said their water pressure is high, so hopefully it's that, and not me being a numpty (again).

      We went on our towing course with the RACQ, yesterday. Dick was rubbish at helping me back into tight spots, so had to learn to do it all myself.

      It is very much an art, that needs to be practiced over and over, because despite managing it perfectly 18 times on the course, do you think I could reverse the van into our spot two hours later, when I got to Toowoomba? Of course not. I was that idiot that needed two men to see me back in.
      I hang my head in shame.

      There's an almighty hill coming into Toowoomba. It's about 4km long. I thought I was being polite by tucking in behind a truck, but actually what I really needed to do was give it full welly and hog the right lane to avoid the trucks, as the poor Paj struggled with engine roaring for 4km at 40kmp/h, after getting stuck behind a slow truck.

      I clutched the steering wheel with white knuckles and verbally encouraged him on like he was a horse - and that's what got us up the hill. The Pajero is now having a well earned rest. As are Dick and I. We haven't managed to relax much since being on the road. But we're here at Toowoomba for 2wks, so plenty of time for R&R.

      However, the rains started yesterday and have not stopped since. We are parked at the very bottom of the site, next to beautiful lakes and a river....which has now burst its banks. Reception rang earlier saying they may need to move us, if it gets any worse.

      Maybe I'll get to practice my reverse parking skills again, and redeem myself? 🤔
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    • Day 50

      The Big Sausage - Toowoomba

      July 9, 1991 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Next on the list, coming back to Brisbane is the "Big Sausage King" located in Centenary Heights, Toowoomba. I made to the place following my GPS and the address I found in Wikipedia. This Big Sausage is sitting on top of a convenient store and apparently was stolen during some restoration.Read more

    • meanwhile in Toowoomba

      November 26, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Sometimes, well, almost all the time, you just have to try and make the most of it, and keep going.

      I had work to complete so not much time to explore but in any case had a weee little help from when I was at 'Sandy Bottoms' (the last post). On my way up, had stopped for a break in Evans Head at a random coffee shop and had a bit of a chat to 2 most lovely owners....who, after asking where I'm from/where am I going, where ecstatic to tell me they met and fell in love in Toowoomba and then scribbled a handful of coffee shops to go to.

      The housesit was not at all what was shown to me in terms of cleanliness, and even the sweet doggo was twice the size, and strength I might add, to what the pics showed, anyway, I'm here now....I've got some coffee shops to find.

      As a bonus, I also found some interesting street art, a fabulous farmers market, and a nice pair of op shop binoculars. Boom.
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