Homeward bound

Well the time has come, we are leaving Adels Grove this Sunday 30th Sept.

 

By the time we get home we will have been on the road for nearly 11 months.

 

We should be home by Sun 7 Oct just in time for Bathurst, of course!!

 

 

We have been very busy here and the time has flown over the last five weeks.

 

we will be catching up with everyone as soon as we can, plan to be around home for a couple of months or so.

 

leave you with an early morning shot the  dining and bar deck at Adels Grove

 

see you all soon

 



hi again everyone

Quick post with cupl of photos

still plenty of work susan still busy at reception having school groups coming through next week and again during the holidays.

We will be heading back home from here at the end of Sept for a little while.

This was Les's office for the last three days

Les was in charge of hiring out canoes on the lawn hill creek at the gorge, not bad.

View of the gorge from the canoe ramp

Lawn Hill Gorge from the canoe

We will update again soon



Hi again everyone,

Wow, been very busy here with a variety of groups coming through, from the usual bus tour groups to RFDS air race, which had 20 light aircraft on our airstrip to the Variety Bash on Wed night, bar didn’t close till 12.30am.

 

Les has been running tours on his own now for the last two days. He is taking tours to the Riversleigh Fossil fields which incorporate one of the first fossil dig sites at Riversleigh in 1976. The fossilised bones of animals here dated back from today to 25 million years ago, quite fascinating. Also doing short afternoon tours up a local hill for sunset viewing with wine and nibblies and a chat about Lawn Hill Station and the Century zinc mine which is only 7 k’s from here.

 

Susan is very busy each day at reception, dealing with the tours groups, local aborigines who come in for fuel, groceries etc and learning the RMS booking system.

 

We are both involved in helping with dishes etc of an evening and Les is also running the bar on various days.

 

We are feeling quite comfortable here, and have been made very welcome. One of the guys is already stirring Susan about her seeping the leaves around the van, they reckon they are going to put a board up and mark it each time someone sees her sweeping, good bunch of people.

 

We had also mad some friends from Bedrock and the Italian chef and her partner may be visiting us at home around Christmas time, so that would be great.

 

This one short and sweet but only have limited access to the net of course, but will update again as soon as we can. Be home again in a few weeks.

 

 

Still in the land of the living!!

No, we haven’t fallen off the end of the earth, even though we feel like we are somewhere near the edge, now being at Adels Grove, Lawn Hill on the outskirts of Lawn Hill National Park.

But we don’t have easily accessible internet or phone access at the Grove.

So, we will now attempt to update our last few weeks of activity since our last post.

 Update, 30August, sending this from Lawn Hill National Park, only place to get decent reception

Susan’s shoulder has healed quite well after we had been to the physio in Atherton for two sessions two days running.

Once we returned from Atherton, things quitened down considerably at Bedrock so we were advised the work would be slowing and we decided to leave and chase some other work.

At this time, we decided to contact Adels Grove as there was another couple working there who we had become friends with from Emerald as we were working together there.

Subsequently, Adels Grove had people leaving in the last week of August, one tour guide and his partner who  was doing reception etc. We contacted the owners and discussed what options there may be available for us. She advised us we could have between two and six weeks work, with Les being able to continue some tour guiding and Susan reception. We will also be doing a variety of other work, including some cleaning, kitchen bar work etc. We decided to give it a go and said we would have to wait for bub to be born, head home and then back and finish packing.

 

So, on Wednesday 15 Aug Tanya and Luke’s bub was born, early hours after a quite long labour. His name is Jaxtin William, 8.4lbs. he is beautiful of course and they all doing well. In the mean time we had already booked flights for the Wed night as we decided to head down anyway.

 

We spent a week down home and caught up with most of the family. Had a nice week especially seeing Jaxtin the next day at the hospital and surprising most of them as Jodie picked us up from the airport late wed night.

 

Once we returned to Mt Surprise we spent the first night back over at the pub and most of the staff joined us for drinks. We then finished packing Thursday and headed off Friday morning. We spent one night at a free camp half way between Normanton and Burke and Wills Roadhouse, then continued on to Adels Grove on the Saturday via Gregory Downs. The road from Gregory Downs to Adels Grove is 80 klms of dirt road and heaps of dust. We survived that okay, little dust in the van but plenty outside. Last 15 klms was quite rough as the first section is maintained by the Century zinc mine and was reasonable, even though you have to deal with triple road trains on the dirt.

 

 

So we went from this:

 

To this:

 

 

It is literally an oasis in the middle of nowhere, quite an amazing place.

 

  

We thought Mt Surprise was small and basic, well it’s nothing compared to here, we are it, mail and food deliveries once a week from Mt Isa. Working 6 days a week at the moment and maybe five when a bit quieter late Sept, but then school holidays end of Sept and early Oct will pick up again. Michelle, the owner sat with us on Sunday arvo to discuss things and already asked if we were interested in coming back next year. Looks like we will be here till end of first week of Oct, then make our way home for a little while. See how it all goes from there.

Then we are heading to the Gold Coast V8's for a week can't wait.

 

Well, till we get reception again bye for now.

 

Susan and Les

 

hi again everyone.

we are currently in Townsville for five days and heading

back to Mt Surprise on Tuesday.

Further to Susan's shoulder injury from the bike accident,

she managed to see the flying doctor after having been

for xrays and ultrasounds whilst on our last trip

to Cairns. Not good news about the shoulder, the doctor

said she would have to see a specialist as it appears there

was torn ligaments/tendons, basically what

they refer to as a rotated cuff injury.

So susan had the doctor complete a workcover form and

referral to a specialist. Susan tried the specialist in

Cairns, but could not get in till end of Sept.

We then decided to try a couple of others in Townsville also and

were lucky enough to get an appointment for Thurs

19th at 3.30pm. Our scheduled break was to start on the Friday

so we advised the boss we would have to leave early

and not sure when we would be back.

we managed to get to the specialist after the five and half hour drive to Townsville. He was very abrupt and totally lacking

in bedside manners, however we needed to get things looked at. he advised from the xray there would be a need for

an operation, but still wnated an MRI.

to cut a long story short we managed to convince the xray

people we had to have it done quickly. Managed to have it

done Friday morning, buit the surgeon was in surgery both Friday and Monday and they advised we would have to

see him personally, rather than do it by phone.

So we have to see him Tues morning early then head back to mt surprise again. what a pain.

looking like surgery is going to be the go, will find out when once we visit him again.

other than that it is a nice break in townsville,
some forced relaxation.
We wil email info about Susan once we know.

Wedgetailed Eagle on the highway, was about to become
the next road kill by a semi

Bedrock owner's son, Toby

had been out chasing pigs with his dogs.

Susan asked where he got them and he

said straight away, "behind your van!"

Susan wasn't impressed, Toby has a very quick wit.

Very heavy fog/cloud at the Ravenshoe wind farm

Signing off for now talk soon

QUEENSLANDER

Yes finally an update!!

hi everyone, we have been flat out for 11 days till last

Wednesday including anothe state of origin party here.

Les has been doing tours every day and Susan

been flat out at reception, just crazy.

GO QUEENSLANDER!!! YEEHAAA

Well, most recently, headed to Cairns for our four day break from Thurs to Sunday.

We left Bedrock on Thurs morning and arrived Cairns

lunch time, had a very restful afternoon.

Friday morning Les went out to get breakfast.

Les had been gone for nearly an hour and Susan rang

to find out where he was. Because he had not come back

in a reasonable time, Susan thought

Les had been in accident as she does.

Susan rang to find out where he was and Les tod her

Maccas was ver busy due to school holidays and

would be back soon.

Les arrived back at the unit, and after he got inside

there was a knock on the door. Les told Susan to

get the door, so Susan went to the door.

When she opened the door, there was Emmerson standing at the door and Erin and Jodie then showed their faces.

Well, Susan broke into tears of course.

Susan is a hard one to surprise at the best of times,

so some white lies were told, even the boss at

Bedrock was in the know to make sure it was all sorted.

So we had a good couple of days together,

went to Kuranda on the train, checked out the markets

etc, then returned on the Skyrail cable car back down.

Pic of the girls together

Together at Barron Falls on the scenic railway

Emmerson having fun at the honey house in Kuranda

That's all for now update again soon, cheers

An accident waiting to happen!!

Hi everyone, once again.

Due to unprecedented demand, Les has been

instructed to update the blog today :)

Since the last post here, Les had a very quick

trip to Brisbane to catch up with his eldest

daughter, Tanya as she is now some 31 weeks pregnant

and was missing her daddy, (and vice versa).

It was a fleeting visit to see how all is going.

Left Cairns Thurs lunch time and returned to Cairns Sun arvo. The road trip from Mount Surprise to Cairns

is some 4 1/2 hours so was a long journey  all up.

We had a State of Origin do  in camp here
and most of the tourists

attended in the main dining room. Plenty of decos

and had a sausage sizzle also.

Had a great night made even better by the

QUEENSLAND

win, yeeha!!

The accident waiting to happen unfortunately was Susan

riding the motor scooter.

A week ago she was returning from showing

a customer their site and a couple of the boys working here

were playing with a frisbee.

It was thrown in the direction of Susan and she thought

it was coming towards her so moved slightly,

however, the frisbee actually hit the front wheel

and caused the scooter to slip on the gravel.

Soooo, Susan came down with a thud, got ugly gravel rash

on the left arm and leg. The boys had to help get the bike off her and were feeling pretty bad about it all.

Susan has since been to the nurse at the clinic

here and she advised Susan she has at least one broken rib and has pulled the muscle all around her shoulder.

Of course Susan just continued on working till she started

to feel how painful it was. She is feeling better now and

has some better movement in her arm.

Unfortunately, the broken rib/s don't heal that quick.

This is the worst of the gravel rash on the arm.

It is quite deep.

During our last break we visited a great little

town called Yungaburra, below.

The town is very similar to Tamborine, Maleny etc,

markets and craft shops etc.

There was a small collection of motorcycles outside the pub, check these oldies.

Well that's all for now we will update again as things happen around here.

Cheers for now

Another photo below of one of the lava tubes.

This the Arch and is quite large.

Hi again, managing to get another post onto the blog.

We have been very busy still and yet to get busier.

We have our full compliment of staff now, however,

a couple of the tour guides are still waiting for

drivers authorisation from dept of transport.

we had our first "staff meeting last night round the campfire,

with most having had a few drinks already, so was

full of laughs as the night went on. Susan

worked in the kitchen till about 8.00 so she arrived as we

were starting the meeting, but hadn't had a drink

at that stage.

They run some fund raising activities during the season

to raise some money for us to use at the end for a trip/party

to finish off, the meeting was started to decide what

activities we would be doing after hours etc to rope in

the tourists to spend their money.

We were at the post office the other day and
noticed a sign at the school for a cleaner.
We went in and asked about it and when Susan
said she has school experience, child care,
blue card etc, they nearly fell over themselves
to get Susan to start work.

So Susan has 2 hours a day cleaing the one teacher,
8 student school. At the moment it is 3-5 pm, but once
Susan's shifts change next week,
she will probably do the cleaining in the
morning before her shift starts here.

Had to put this photo of Susan on the camp scooter
which she has now learned to ride:)

This is one of the Undara lava tubes

Les is conducting tour guides into.

This one is known as "Mikoshi"

This one is known as "The Arch"

quite spectacular once inside.

Note the reflection below the boardwalk.

This the Savannahlander which

travels from Cairns thru Mt Surprise

to Forsayth and return.

Cheers for now post again soon

All settled in

Hi everyone, finally an update from Mt Surprise.

Well, we have both been into work from 1st May

Les has been training with the owner Joe

doing tours to Undara Lava Tubes

Einasleigh and the Cattle Station.

Susan has been continuing with a mix of

reception, cleaning and kitchen hand.

We have now been in camp for two weeks

and having a great time. Learning heaps of stuff

and meeting new people. We still have another two couples coming in for work, one couple will be doing

cleaning and the other couple,

just the husband will be tour guiding.

We had our first fruit and veg run Sunday, Mother's Day

into Atherton which is a five hour round trip,

so we won't be going there too often.

Having said that, now that we are more settled,

we can order groceries through a delivery

service out here each week, so depending on our

four day breaks, (work 10 on and 4 off),

 we may be able to avoid the groceries.

The tours run from here will be most days as the

park will be close to full capacity very shortly.

There is a variety of tours to Undara,

including half day, short trips, full day.

Les has been flying solo running tours

to Undara for a week now.

The tours take in a variety of lava tubes and one

volcano crater which we climb and walk around the rim.

The views from the rim are quite spectacular when

you relise all the hills and peaks around it

are volcanoes of one type or another.

Susan has learnt heaps about the park and running

various aspects, so the experiences we have gained will

be of great benefit to us in the future, (should we decide

to continue doing this past October).

Les will have to decide by end of October whether he

goes back to work for a while/ resigns / or stays on

at Council, that will be a big decision .

Below are some photos of our time to date.

Bedrock Village entrance

There are hundreds of butterflies all around the village

Les in his Tour Guide uniform

preparing to send some customers off on the

Savannahlander train fom Mt Surprise

to Einasleigh, where he will then meet

them again and bring them back to Mt Surprise.

Susan was also sent on the train to allow her

to get a feel for the tour so she

can sell it at the counter.

View through the front of the train

Copperfield Gorge at Einasleigh

The road and rail bridges can be seen in the distance

Einasleigh Pub, "GulpCountry"

Billy Tea beside the Einasleigh River

Entrance to one of the lava tubes at Undarra

Boss/owner Joe with a customer

in the "Wind Tunnel" lava

tube complex

Surprise Surprise

Yes Surprise alright, we are at Mt Surprise and settled.

We left Emerald Sun 22nd and took our time heading north.

Our first stop was at Les's nephews place in Rockhampton to leave the bike to ship back to Brissie.

then left the next day for Mackay, no big travel days

just taking our time.

Then headed for Townsville where we spent

four nights as we headed to the dawn service for ANZAC day then had a look around a bit. Went up to Castle Hill

for a view of the city.

The next day we spent on Magnetic Island nice and quiet

not too many tourists! Mainly backpackers.

Friday we had booked in for hair cuts, colours etc as it would be some time before we got a chance to have it done.

Saturday headed off to Innisfail for the the night, then

off to Mt Surprise on Sunday.

Some great scenery up the north, especially around the tablelands and out from there.

Had a nice lunch at Mt Garnet pub on the way out

Arrived at Mt Surprise around 3.30 met the owners

and a couple of the staff. we were allocated our

site and began getting our home in Bedrock Village

organised for the next few  months.

Here is a selection of photos from our travels and our new home.

Castle Hill

Townsville

Short stop in Mackay

Susans new found friend

Townsville set up, beside the lake, had our own ensuite

Stinger net at

Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Isl

Old Command Post on Magnetic Isl

Built during WWII

This is situated on a 2hr round trip walk we did

This is from the Comms Tower, highest point

we went topless  on the island