 |
| How to torture your child in a fun way. |
Visiting people our parents know that to us are total strangers? No, haven't done too much of that on this trip. Mum was not to be denied however. Shona McDowal was Mum's best friend, and a very regular visitor to my home growing up. Mum insisted in the nicest possible way that we get in touch with Shona's nephew Wal, and his wife Rach in Emerald. We hadn't planned on touring anymore mining towns in outback Queensland, but then Mum had suggested we should, and so we did.
 |
Impressive, old school form
|
"How do you want to start?" asked Rach. "Wine, beer, bubbles, or would you prefer to park the van now?" Dad's old idiom "first things first" came to mind, and the van was backed into the yard without delay. It became obvious rapidly that Rach's enthusiasm for a drink was equalled only by her enthusiasm for a chat. In half an hour, it became even more obvious that she and Wal were a match made in heaven and this visiting thing was off to a fabulous start.
The next four days were a blur of water skiing, flying, swimming, loud talking, drinking and touring. We all went water skiing on the dam, Sara unable to resume her glory days on a single ski off a long rope but was a star on the short rope. Wal took myself and the kids for a tour of the area in his plane, possibly getting a little close to one of the local coal mines. Their kids, Georgie and William, although littler than ours, were great fun, as was Crinkles the dog.
 |
| Cotton circles from the sky |
On the last night, we went out to Rob's shed. Rob's shed is the reason so few of the local farmers go to the local pubs. They can store their beer in his shed, and drop by whenever they want to drink it with people they actually want to drink with. A simple concept, but one that works nicely. On the night we went, Rob even put on a "son et lumiere" for us. A massive storm front pushed through just to our north bringing lightning and a bit of rain. Rob, Wal, Ryano, Bob, Glenn, Danni and Scott huddled around their iPhones, studying the radar just like their cotton farming fathers did in years gone by...or didn't as the case maybe. Cityboy Hamish got a good talking to re the future of farming (crap), government (crap), American government (crap), global warming (crap), and Brazilian cotton farmers (really crap), and mostly kept his mouth shut until Wal fell asleep and Cityboy had to fend for himself deferentially. After all, I was a guest in Rob's shed, and Rob is a big unit at 6'8".
 |
| Kids, Wal, and his toy (almost paid for) |
We dragged ourselves away the next morning and headed gradually to the coast. The gradual thing was through no fault of our own, it's just that in Queensland, it appears to be against the law to drive on a road that is not being worked on. Back to the coast, Yeppoon (waterslide in the park), 1770 (surfing again!!!), Bundaberg (turtle laying eggs that needed relocating), and Rainbow Beach where the towball fell off the back of the Disco as I was perfecting yet another reverse park. No matter, money and time and a very dodgy bloke from Rainbow Wreckers who drives a Jaguar will have a crack at repairing it on Saturday. We'll be on Fraser Island.
 |
| The GT Hoses gang (William and Georgie on the right and Crinks in the middle) |
H
The next four days were a blur of water skiing, flying, swimming, loud talking, drinking and touring. We all went water skiing on the dam, Sara unable to resume her glory days on a single ski off a long rope but was a star on the short rope. Wal took myself and the kids for a tour of the area in his plane, possibly getting a little close to one of the local coal mines. Their kids, Georgie and William, although littler than ours, were great fun, as was Crinkles the dog.
No comments:
Post a Comment