Jan 26, 2011 - A day off

It's been a long time since I've posted anything...reason being that the "backpacker" computer is broken. The boss is a little touchy when we ask to borrow hers, hence, we don't ask all that often. I wish I could say that things have been nothing but exciting since I last wrote, but that would be a lie. I pretty much spend six days a week working and not much else at the moment. I'm not kidding when I say that I am on the countdown to leave here (the pub) and do some more travelling. Some of the patrons are nice, but others not so much....

Jan 13, 2011 - Roads Closed

You seriously can't blame me for complaining about the weather. It's been almost three weeks and the rain just keeps coming and is flooding 3/4 of the state of Queensland. All roads around us are closed and no one can get anywhere. Just the other day, Toowoomba -which is only about 40 minutes away from me- suffered intense flash flooding! The news footage was incredible. Unfortunately, the worst isn't quite over yet! All the water we've been getting can no longer soak into the ground and is causing tons of creeks and rivers to overflow....

Jan 4, 2011 - Should have gone fishing instead!

With flood dramas in the past, we packed up the SUV and headed to the coast. Jim's parents have a summer home about fifteen minutes from the ocean and the bonus of a pool in the backyard! Thankfully the sun decided to shine for the few days that we were there. It was warm! Anyone who knows me well enough will probably say that I have endured my fair share of accidents! Three and a half months into my trip and I've had no dramas in regards to my personal safety. I've managed to stay healthy and all in one piece! Well...that all ended when...

Dec 28, 2010 - Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday to ME!!

Christmas has come and gone and I'm also another year older! I can honestly say that I prefer snowy, white Christmases instead of wet and rainy ones! Christmas was an early day. The boys were up at 4:30, but thankfully let the adults sleep in until 5:30! Santa left them a brand new saddle each - needless to say, they were more than excited. Santa even filled a stocking for me. Christmas Eve, Darby and I, tracked Santa as he delivered presents throughout the world. Even after we had opened all our gifts here, Santa was still busy making his...

Dec 20, 2010 - Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain

After an entire day of rain yesterday, we woke up to the creek being well over the banks in the backyard and some of it having made its way to the front yard! The road into town is pretty much under water. The creek is now up almost 5 metres! Since I took these pictures this morning the water has already gone down about five inches.

Dec 19, 2010 - Off to the races

Total days of sunshine in the past week: one Who knew it could possibly rain this much in Australia. And apparently if the storm is travelling southbound it will be something fierce. I was lucky enough to witness this first hand Thursday night. It started storming around 8 o'clock at night. The lightning was a perfect imitation of a strobe light. The thunder and lightning and pouring rain put on quite the performance until about 3 or 4 in the morning. Thank goodness for earplugs. Friday morning we woke up to no power. The lightning managed...

Dec 12, 2010 - Bunya Mountains

The number one requirement of my job is to make sure the boys do not kill each other...my first week in and I have a 100% success rate!! After a week of "work" we were treated with a trip to the Bunya Mountains today. In true Australian style, we left the nice weather behind and headed to where it was cooler and a whole lot wetter! Sarah, a fellow Canadian, the boys and I went for a little trek through the Bunya Mountains and came out on the other end a little wet. But what would a rainforest be without a little rain? It was a little muddy,...

Dec 6, 2010 - Right-o!

Temporary Home Sweet Home! Well...I arrived in Dalby, Australia last week. From Brisbane, it's a three hour bus ride west. It's a small community roughly the size of Sylvan Lake and the Australian version of Stettler. I'm on a little acreage about twenty minutes out of town. A farm with palm trees in the yard!! Ha Ha! For the next two or three months this will be home. I will be learning a lot about horses, as this is one of the boys' favourite activities. They have four horses, so I'm sure I'll manage to get a riding lesson or two while...

Jun 5, 2010 - Dithering In Dalby

Dithering in Dalby… Strange lights in the sky last night, “Government” switchboards lit up…. And as a consequence of this activity my GPS managed to do it’s darnest to get us lost, first telling us it was 2245km from Moree to Dalby, then wanted to take us to some other strange places, then couldn’t find the Moonie hwy…. We got here in about 4 hours including breaks at Goondiwindi and Moonie, not bad for a 2245km drive…. Guy at the Myall Creek van park in Dalby says for some reason GPS’s don’t work that well “out here”. Maybe should have...

Nov 5, 2004 - Eating in the Lamington National Park

My next destination was O'Reillys Rainforest Guesthouse in the Lamington National Park. This is situated in the sub-tropical rainforest in mountains to the west of Brisbane. By the wonders of the internet I had learnt that Edward Rickson, a British birder living in Iceland, would also be in Brisbane at the same time as me and we had arranged to meet-up for a days birding. He picked me up early in the morning from my hotel and we drove up to O'Reillys, stopping to admire various birds and wallabies along the way. On arrival at the car park...