Fri, 28th Apr, 2017 Mum & Dad’s, Cairns, Qld (Jonathon’s birthday)

Fancy our baby is 24 today – where have the years gone. Sent Jon a picture of a birthday cake to make his day!!

The Rose of Sharon still has a couple of blooms – I was named after this flower.

Dropped off a card at Jon’s then around to Pinks to say hi. Will have a cuppa with them soon – my social calendar is filling up!! Picked up Wendy then down to Earlville Shopping Centre for a cuppa. Saw Lena ‘the Convenor’ who I worked with at Tuckshop.

Back to Central Shopping Centre for lunch with Sarah and Andrea. Great time chatting. Sarah has lots of movies so will copy some onto my new hard drive.

Bought two tops for $5 each from Target – bargin!!

Home for a drink. Rang Maralyn to see if we can visit tomorrow on our way around from Millaa then rang Ian who bought Millaa house to say we are coming up. He will meet us there.

Picked up Val with Mum and Dad for dinner at Brothers. $20,000 member’s draw tonight. Thought I might win being a new member – beginner’s luck, but unfortunately no luck for me. Been entering Cash Cow again too – if I can find gold I may as well try and win some!! Had a couple of little wins on the pokies.

Rang Steve – he is a Leonora with the others but no gold yet. He rang Jon for his birthday.

Thurs, 27th Apr, 2017 Mum & Dad’s, Cairns, Qld

Sky clearer and nice temperature this morning.

Got an quartizone injection in my shoulder to get some movement back.

Mum & I picked up Val and went to the Balaclava Hotel for our day out. They make nice coffees while we play the pokies and we had a lovely lunch then we got 4 out of 4 on the Keno though we only play 10 cents a game we won $12 so we were very happy. Won on a couple of machines so ended up $36 in profit when we left so we were very happy gamblers!!

Dropped them home and went back to shops and met Louis for a cuppa. Michelle came by and chatted too for a while.

Around to Jon’s to see what his plans were for his birthday. I said I would do birthday dinner at Mum’s on Sunday – can’t break from tradition!! Met Lily, Jess’ new puppy, who is a bundle of fun and luckily Bandit loves her – well most of the time. Jess came home from her new job where she is very happy.  Gave Jon a big hug and kiss for his birthday tomorrow – he just loves that!!

Back home to cook dinner – though I am a bit late for putting on a potato bake!! Rang Suzanne to arrange our plans for Wednesday. Steve had rung while we were chatting so I rang him back. They are up at Malcolm Dam near Leonora and will be on the hunt for gold tomorrow so he can have some of the icecream he bought!!

Rang Brian to invite him for tea Sunday and tried Dan but no answer so sent him a text!!

Went outside and checked on the Southern Cross and it is at a bit of a different angle to down the bottom of WA – which is logical I suppose!!

After such a clear night I heard rain about 11pm – wonder where that came from.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Wed, 26th Apr, 2017 Mum & Dad’s, Cairns, Qld

Cool morning – had to pull up the covers as I have the big windows open in my bedroom, probably 24 degrees!! Cloudy sky.

Watched the Saturday V8s race at Phillip Island – will record it for Steve. What a mess – the new season tyres were not coping with the track and there were so many blow outs and then a new rule about crossing a line as they came into pit lane ended up with 8 drivers serving a penalty.

Kaylene picked me up and we hit the shops. Bought Skipbo for Steve and a new hard drive so we can get more movies and TV series to watch.

Kaylene dropped me home then I headed out again to visit Rebecca and Clive. Great afternoon chatting then called into Woolies for a few things and met Pete and the girls.

Dad cooked tea tonight – from the Chinese shop!!

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Tues, 25th Apr, 2017 Mum & Dad’s, Cairns, Qld

Anzac Day. I slept in till 8.30 so no dawn service for me!!

Visited Kaylene and Rick for a cuppa which turned into lunch. Lots of butterflies in their garden too – googled some photos as they are too hard to photograph.

From Australian Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda.

Cairns Birdwing     Ornithoptera euphorion

The Cairns Birdwing butterfly is the largest of all Australian butterflies and found along northeastern Australia from Mackay to Cooktown. This butterfly is easily identified due to its vivid colouration. The female’s wingspan can measure 18cm. As soon as adult butterflies hatch they mate quickly because they only live for 4 to 5 weeks. Their favourite habitat is the rainforest.

Ulysses Butterfly   Papilio ulysses

The Ulysses butterfly is found in most tropical rainforest areas such as Northern Queensland, Northern islands of Australia and Papua New Guinea and lives below the rainforest canopy.  Its common name is “Mountain Blue Butterfly” and is a large swallowtail butterfly. The Ulysses wing span is between 100 and 130 mm. The Ulysses caterpillar is green and white which is the same colour as the plants they feed on. This provides excellent camouflage from predators.

Stopped off at Steve & Michelle’s on the way home for a chat.

Kaylene picked me up and we went for a nice walk along the Esplanade – lots of people out enjoying the day. Lots of loud calling coming from the RSL Club – 2 Up games being played. Saw the Wedrats then Kristine and Kerry as we walked along.

After dinner rang Steve – he found a small nugget on the scraped area which was good. They are planning to head to Leonora on Thursday – after he goes to the shops tomorrow and gets his icecream and vegies!!

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Mon, 24th Apr, 2017 Mum & Dad’s, Cairns, Qld

Good flight – managed a few hours sleep. Arrived on time at 6am. Jon picked me up – so great to hug him. He dropped me off at Mum & Dad’s then headed off to work.

Big hugs from Mum and Dad, some breakfast then into bed for a snooze.

Rang Steve when I got up – have to remember the 2 hour difference going the other way now. He had a cold morning start, only 15 degrees but the sky is clear and he is heading out detecting. Lovely warm morning here which is perfect.

Lots of Blue Mountain butterflies flying around the garden – they are so lovely.

Washed the cars as the clouds started coming over. Lunch then I caught up on my blog and had a quiet afternoon.

Dan popped in after work - so miss my boys but they are both doing well and are confident in their lives.

Dinner at Brothers with Mum, Dad, Greg and Val. A couple of little wins on the pokies.

Rang Steve – Robert who has the lease next to where we are camping offered to scrape some land with his dozer for Steve, Kev & Linda to detect which was lovely. Hopefully they can reward him with some gold too.

Chatted with Erica as she had rung last night to wish me a good trip and I missed her call. She is getting the Miller/Meyers book ready to print at Big W.

Off to bed in my old bedroom!!

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Sun, 23rd Apr, 2017 Bush camp, Broad Arrow, WA to Mum & Dad’s, Cairns, Qld

Overcast morning. Steve coloured my hair – have to look good to go home!!

Cuppa with Kev and Linda then we drove back to town. Got gas, fuel and water and we were going to get Steve’s vegies and of course a new tub of icecream but Woolies and Coles were closed. Didn’t think about that!!

We had brought lunch in so had that in the 24 hour park with our jumpers on – bit cool today, top of 23 predicted.

Said our farewells at the train station then Steve headed back to camp and I settled in with my book to wait for our departure at 2pm on the Prospector.

My seat allocation was changed but they offered me a double seat in another carriage which was very nice and oh so roomy. There is plenty of leg room, foot rests, big window, TV with lots to watch and music to listen to. Even powerpoints to charge phones etc.

Settled in and watched a movie about a detective in a gold mine station – Goldstone. Chatted with the lovely ladies at the kiosk over a coffee which sadly was not very nice.

Listened to John Williamson sing his way around Birdsville down to Maree. Still overcast as we headed west. You can watch the train’s progress through the engine’s camera but it was all blurry as we drove into Merredin as it started to rain but you could see the sun setting in the distance. Watching the map on the other TV beside me shows the speed, altitude and where we are. Speedy train too.

Snoozed listening to Jessica Mauboy. The driver announced we were running half hour late due to the electrical storms interfering with the railway signals.

Arrived at East Perth Station at 9.10 then got a taxi to the airport. Nice chatty taxi driver and very helpful too.

Got my boarding ticket. I was offered aisle or window so took window hoping I can get some sleep leaning against it!!

Got a coffee and rang Steve before heading through security to my gate. Got tested for explosives – passed!!

A lady sat in the aisle seat and luckily we had no one in the middle seat. Chatted with the lady who is a nurse at the Private Hospital. As we took off I managed to angle myself and stretch out my legs under the middle seat area then closed my eyes and off to sleep as we headed into the sky at midnight!!

Sat, 22nd Apr, 2017 Bush camp, Broad Arrow, WA (Ora Banda & Broad Arrow history)

7am 17 degrees, few clouds but mainly sunny. Paul arrived early and we headed across to Ora Banda to check out the pending leases.

Stopped at the Golden Quest Discovery info boards across from the Tavern.

This pub was made famous when it was fire bombed and the publican murdered by a bike gang in 2000 and 2001.

Found a track out to the pending ground then headed off in different directions trying our luck. Unfortunately no joy so we followed the fence line along and tried another spot. Getting lots of exercise and Paul only christened his detector with a nail and two bits of aluminium.

Said bye to Paul then we drove back to check out the original site of the Ora Banda township. Sadly the sign needs a good makeover.

Followed a track to the Government Dam. The dam still holds water but other than rusty pipes and busted water tanks there is nothing to show there was a township here.

Kev was having fun taking lots of photos then found lots of ‘treasures’.

Headed back towards the tavern past the old Government Stamper.

Steve was interested to see the old boiler was held up by a new beer keg and there were lots more kegs marking the roads!! Poor old digger has given up the ghost.

Still a few quaint old homes here.

Headed back out of town and turned off at a sign ‘Memorial’. Then had to decided what track to take as there were no more signs. Eventually found this plaque about the slaughter house. An old foundation and lots of tin cans and broken bottles everywhere.

Further down the road was another ‘Memorial’ sign so we turned off and found two beside the road. The site of the first settlement in the area and the Cobb & Co stables.

The photo is of the Halfords, who had the slaughter house, as they journeyed here from South Australia – what amazing people.

Back to Broad Arrow – only a couple of houses here and the Tavern. It is famous for all the signatures all over the walls.

First we checked out the info boards near the railway water tank. The signs are very faded.

Kev found his niko and we went into the tavern reading all the names and sayings. The walls, furniture, light fittings, ceiling and bar have all been covered in signatures. They are now covering the fence too now. One room has been left in its original state and there are a few old photos in there.

Chatted with the publican who has been here 30 years about the bottles Kev and Linda found. He had a good one and said it was worth $1500. Because they had the marble in them, a lot were broken so the kids could get the marble out to play with. Oh well, we have got something of historical value at least.

Paid our donation to the RFDS then left our mark on the window.

Steve found Tom & Marlene Casey’s names and Gavin, Tonia and the kids.

The sun was setting as we headed across the road back to camp.

Stopped to check out a cairn first – for the Freemasons.

Lovely colour on the clouds as we drove back into camp.

Great day out even if we didn’t find any gold – all the history is amazing.

Got the fire going and enjoyed another lovely evening outside. Will miss the campfires when I am at home. Have to look at the Southern Cross and see how it sits in the sky as it looks horizontal here!!