Dalby Queensland & Prickly Pears
Dalby is going towards Toowoomba and its claim to fame is because of the Cactoblastis moth
By the year 1920, prickly pear had infested 58 million acres of land in New South Wales and Queensland. Spreading at an alarming rate of 1 million acres a year ! When the Cactoblastis insect was first released. within six years most of the original pear had been destroyed. It was an amazing result and a monument to the moth has been erected near the town centre The RSL club we have been using has a bare concrete floor that only a few weeks ago was carpeted BUT during the floods the club floor was covered by 12 inches of water.Walking around the river edge it is possible to see how much water had covered this town with debris still trapped high in the trees The golf course is in bad need of repair too !! Main industry here is Cotton and the road edges look “snowy” with bits of cotton that hav fallen of trucks !!
Leaving Goondiwindi heading towards Dalby
After a nice relaxing week in Goondiwndi we are heading for Dalby (in the district of Toowoomba) Goondiwindi was friendly place and altho we changed our neighbours daily on the campsite we have net some lovely people (a BIG plus on our trip) My scripts have run out and I was lucky enough to get to see a Doctor almost immediately to renew them (she even said my blood pressure was spot SO there must be something good about this traveling !!)these will be the last Goondiwindi pics NEXT Dalby
Relaxing Carefree Days
Retirement gets better every day Much as I loved my work I can never go back after experiencing meeting some lovely people I can change my neighbour everyday,have a different view from my bedroom window daily and visit and see wondrous places and never tire of the travel .We are starting to slow down as we wend our way towards The Gulf of Carpenteria We have also booked our overnight ferry to Tasmania in Nov until our return in February.There is always an aura of excitement on planning our next moves We are still in Goondiwindi until tomorrow Wednesday
ANZAC DAY 25th April 2011
Today we attended the memorial for soldiers who fought and lost in the battle of Gallipoli 96 years ago on this day in which almost 12,000 Australians & New Zealanders lost their lives. To see most of the towns people of Goodiwindi attend ( I’m sure this happens all over Australia & New Zealand) brings a sombre feeling of humbleness ,proudness & humility. It is good to see forces veterans & children mixing to honour heroes of all wars Speeches were given by 2 senior school pupils who reflected on their visit to Gallipoli in 2010 The playing of the Last Post by the lone bugler raises the hairs on the back of my neck and the emotions displayed by the crowd was electric Lest We Forget
Pictures taken on the way to Goondiwindi
As we travel on and see some of the interesting subjects that are pleasing to the eye there is no time for boredom.Staying in one place for Easter break is very relaxing and love it when ringing the RSL asking if they provide courtesy buses and the reply is affirmative !!AND its free ! We are currently planning our stop overs on route to Brisbane .Old buildings and letterboxes provide some good interesting topics to photograph
April 23rd St Georges Day
Although I have been an Australian for nigh on 30yrs I still remain faithful to the England Football & Cricket teams so to all my Pommie families & Pals I wish you a great St Georges Day (For all you Australians..IF it hadn’t been for St George slaying all those fire breathing Dragons the world might be a different place now !!)
HAPPY St GEORGES DAY TO ONE AND ALL
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.
You have to admire the Australians on this day 25th April 2011. Easter Monday has been put back until Tuesday .Priority is given to past wars and respect duly shown to those who deserve it . ANZAC DAY and is celebrated by being a public holiday This is my very small tribute to those who gave me the good life I currently Enjoy (The British have Remembrance Day in November )
The opening verse is also recited in RSL (British Legion equivalent) clubs with a 2 minute silence around this country at 6pm daily Click on the Link below for everything that is forces
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On the way to Goondiwindi via Molong & Yeoval
Travelling North towards Goondiwindi in Queensland,we travelled from Molong to Yeoval both country towns and altho it is fairly leafy & pastoral around 45 farms have built structures with the theme “Animals on Bikes”.We didn’t manage to spot them all BUT some of them are very clever ,only problem being NO parking space where they are located !.Fortunately no traffic was behind us,consequently we managed to get some good photo.s I was also lucky enough to spot a couple of good looking letter boxes plus some derelict buildings that I will post on my next blog
Dubbo and Political Correctness and Golliwogs
As we were looking around Dubbo I came across this shop that was blatantly selling Golliwogs !! Can you imagine the uproar if these were sold in England? Revive the Robertson Jam Golliwog badges I say ! Good for the Aussies displaying & selling these dolls ! I think they look great and are only offensive to those who WISH to be offended and seeking 15 minutes of Glory !! I don’t get offended (matter of fact I like it !!) being called a Pommie Barsteward.Kill Political Correctness I say (rito I,m off my soapbox now)
Farewell Canowindra onwards towards Dubbo NSW & Goondiwindi for Easter & ANZAC day
We have enjoyed our stay here with the bonus of the Balloon exhibition As we were packing to go Trotters (Horse) were being trained on the track and I managed to fit a couple of pics in.The town is of historical value and plenty to see The small country bakery is also a delight So now we move towards our Easter target of Goondiwindi via Dubbo and other country towns
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 