14-19 Feb, 2026 Geck Family beach house, Woodgate, Qld

Sat, 14^th

Still overcast and misty this morning. BOM app says we got 99mm. David arrived while we were having breakfast. At least it is nice and cool so they can get straight into work on the patio boards this morning.

Quizzed David on UK travelling - he and Amanda are going back over to see Ella in May and will go to Germany to find where Lorenz Geck lived etc.

Steve called out - ‘did I take a photo of the patio’, no, so I went up and took some to post on our family page too. The timber is pre-oiled so no need to paint it - just a coat of oil occasionally.

They realised they need a wider board to finish off where the posts are and they have run out of nails so they went for a drive back to Bundy so they can finish it off tomorrow.

I caught up on my blog - yeah.

More rain at 5pm as Terry and I settled in for drinks. The boys got back at 5.30 with the board and nails.

Terry rang Stephanie to say thanks for his gift - a walking stick thing so he can lean it again a wall etc and it doesn’t fall over. She had been on a energetic hike with her man, Zac, to Cowley Falls in the Wooroonooran NP off the Palmerston Highway up from Innisfail. The 50m falls were well worth the trek and we are happy to look at her photos as even she said it was a tough trek so I don't think we will be doing it.

Another shower of rain in the evening - much cooler too.

Silverside and roast vegies for dinner. Finished off the banana cake and custard for dessert.

 

Sun, 15^th

Another cool morning, 19 degrees and still overcast.

The boys continued with the patio till morning tea when heavy rain with wind started. Paul came over so we chatted for an hour till the rain eased. The boys put in the last nails as more rain started just before lunch.

I caught up on my blog. Joan sent me and email about the Mumma Mia theatre restaurant in London. Sounds wonderful but once I worked out the prices and of course the pound is double our dollar it worked out very expensive - $440 for the show and dinner and then we would have had to stay at a hotel nearby which was $500 for the night. Just a bit too extravagant for us.

David left at lunch time as he had to see Amanda’s parents in Bundy before heading home. More rain started. Steve will finish the trim around the edge when the rain stops.

Terry left at 2 as the rain hadn’t let up. Will see him next week when the battery charger arrives.

You can see the green grass shoots growing before our eyes after the rain. Steve will have to mow before we leave! It was so brown and dry when we arrived.

Malcolm rang for a chat. Looking forward to their trip to NZ. Will catch up with them in Auckland on the 29^th April before we both fly home on the 30^th.

More rain through the night.

Mon, 16^th

23 degree min, overcast but patches of blue sky showing as the clouds move across the sky. Very windy too as we went for our morning walk.

Steve continued with the edging on the patio and I started sorting out what needs to go in the suitcases!

Annalise did video call but we couldn’t hear her so we looked at bonny Cooper - he has grown so much. Beau was at day care. I rang her back so we could chat properly. Must be my older phone. It is fine on What’s App which Jon uses. Jon should be home next Friday so will chat again then.

Misty showers on and off all day.

 

Tues, 17^th

22 degree min, another shower in the early hours. The sun came out so I put the washing on.

Steve finished the deck - great job.

I had messaged Sarah so she rang me back and we chatted about my UK/Europe trip - she has done a lot of travelling so I wanted to get her advice on getting about, accommodation etc for our extra 10 days. She and Ben have settled into their home.

Leanne rang - we have the flight allocation email, we are flying with Qatar out of Brisbane. Now to change it to the later departure date and ask a few questions. I will ring HolidayMax tomorrow as we have 24 hours to confirm which flight we want. There are so many to choose from. So glad this has come while I am still in Aust. Now I can got to NZ and just enjoy it without having to worry about flight choices etc.

 

Wed, 18^th

Julie’s birthday - sent her a FB message for a lovely day.

Nice blue sky and cool this morning as we head to Bundy. The battery charger has arrived at Terry’s. Joined him for a cuppa and Phil called in too. Lots of dark clouds here.

I rang HolidayMax and the chap explained what to do. I did it but it put in another flight but the right date, 15^th Sept. I rang them back (long wait time to get answered) and the lady said to put it in an email which one we wanted and they will sort it. They did which was wonderful. Messaged Leanne that it was all sorted. She will look at the seat allocation cost once we can go onto the Qatar Airways booking site - it is free if you wait till 48hr before the flight. Then I looked up where Qatar is!! Will ring Qantas Travel Insurance tomorrow and add the stop over at Doha Airport to the countries we are visiting, just in case.

I printed out our NZ itinerary - all ready to go now.

Got some groceries to get us through to the 27^th then back to Woodgate. Very windy here.

Took our drinks down to the beach and sat on Granma’s chair and enjoyed the view.

 

Thurs, 19^th

Hot and humid for our walk this morning with no breeze blowing.

Brad’s birthday so sent a message for him to enjoy his day.

Steve put the battery charger in - all good. He then raised the camper and pop-rivetted the teflon skids under the camper to raise it up a bit on the back of the truck to take pressure off the headframe.

I have everything up-to-date for a change so got out my cross-stitch and started on our nephew Tim and Taryn’s wedding cross-stitch.

Nice afternoon drinks at the beach on Granma’s chair again.