Brisbane Post Floods

Hello

The floods are subsiding both in Brisbane and the rest of Queensland.  We did not have nay flood problems besides a loss of electricity and it was hard to find food and fuel for a few days.  Nothing like what happened to others with loss of life, property and muddy destruction. 

Thousands of people in Brisbane and QLD have been helping out to start the cleanup.  We helped cleanup at our Friends house in St Lucia.  The whole flat was wrecked and we helped clean all the mud off and throw stuff out etc.  It was a muddy dirty business but felt good to be helping someone.  We had lots of people helping both known and unknown.  People turned up with baked food and drinks and the army boys were there helping to clean up all the rubbish with their heavy trucks and muscles.

Now we are planning our drive out to Alice Springs.  The roads are all opening up, we can drive out west now which has been closed for weeks.  We are going to try and leave for Alice on Wednesday and make it there by Saturday.  This gives us 4 reasonable days to do the 3000kms.  It should be a great drive and we should see some interesting QLD and NT country towns.

We have been buying a lot of stuff, being back in Australia and also stuff for the car, 4wding etc.  We want to be able to have a good chance of getting out of trouble by ourselves if we need to.

I don’t have any photos of the cleanup or the floods, there are plenty on the web though.  I will put in a few picks of the car, its very nice and should be a good car for the NT and our property.

Brisbane Post Floods

Back in Australia

Hello

We are back in Australia, got back last wednesday night.  We have had a great time since, picked up our car and been organising to drive to Alice Springs for Work next week.

The more important story though is the floods.

Yesterday and last night, along with the rest of Queensland under water, Brisbane and South East QLD have started flooding. 

Toowoomba in particular has been destroyed by a flash flood that has made the main street look like an apocalyptic playground.

This is Toowoomba above.  Toowoomba is not the kind of place that floods very often.  Down the range at Withcott, which is the closest town to our farm, they have been hammered too.  There is the small Gatton creek which runs past the town, but now the whole place has been washed away. 

Sydney Morning Herald Report

The Australian

News.com.au

QLD Flood Donations

We went out to Withcott last friday and they had had a bit of rain but were alright.  The road out to our farm had a few issues, we had to drive through a couple of creeks over the road.  Now is think those roads will be gone and our farm cut off.  That is not that bad really compared to what has happened to so many other people.  Our house is on top of a hill so it will just be a bit soggy.  I don’t think the tennants will be able to leave the property though so i hope they have some spare food. 

The floods are amazing and horrible and i hope everyone at least reads about the terrible things that are happening everywhere and maybe make a donation if they can to help the thousands of people all over the state that have had their lives severely destroyed or interrupted.

Back in Australia

Christmas Eve Preparations

So after our afternoon of sledding, we had to get back to the Cottage in Winster to prepare for the on going Gorge that would be Christmas.  Shanny had a variety of gourmet meals cooking or prepariating (a new word)at any one time.  She was cooking and stripping a goose, mixing stuffing, boiling leaks, and on and on.  Shanny loves cooking and was in her element.  The rest of the girls flitted about the kitchen like clucking chickens whilst shanny controlled them from the position of Rooster. 

Don, Myles and I stood or sat back and admired the women’s skills and recited prose, sang and consumed beverages. 

We dined that night on a slow cooked lamb shoulder Casulet with Gluten free sausages.  The meal was of course a delight and left us all in the mood for some good drink and dance.

We did not have too big a night as the next day was going to be a far larger feast of every proportion and dimension. 

Chickens, scratching about in the litter, Shanny on the right, coordinating the scratching.  Though this comment may sound derogatory, the women did a magnificent job and produced huge amounts of tasty food and drink.

Dan and Em, staring at Sophie. 

Myles, always in the spotlight, smelling his wine, full of blueberries, tannins, lavender and probably plums too.

Shanny, with another bottle of Champagne, ready to be bolted down by the Women, especially Elaine and Mary.

Elaine in the foreground, probably stealing more champagne, but then i think she bought it so i suppose that’s not stealing.

Corinne, nothing makes her happier than a clean glass.

Shanny and Corinne, what a good looking pair of Sheilas.

Myles and Corinne, cutting up the dance floor, probably to Dirty Bit (BEP’s).  Note Myles’ eyewear.

Christmas Eve Preparations

Lakes District Beauty

Over Christmas we stayed at the The Brown Horse Inn at Winster.  We actually stayed at the cottage next door which i think was owned by the pub.  The cottage was amazing, had 2 fireplaces, an AGA, 4 bedrooms, a nice kitchen and even came with a real Christmas tree.  There was a nice covering of snow in the in the area making the fields, rock-walls and bare trees all look very lovely.

When we arrived on Christmas eve we set out for a bit of sledding which we showed in our previous posts.  We also drove around just to look at the beautiful countryside.  We pulled into Lake Windermere which is the largest lake in the district.  The lake was amazing with some Ice around the edges and snowy high mountains in the distance.

The Lakes is somewhere in the UK that we never really managed to get to because we always lived down south.  The Lakes were usually about 6 hours away which is always too far for a weekend trip.  I would highly recommend the Lakes in any season and should definitely be top on your list of visits in the UK.

Corinne, Shannon and Myles, lake Windermere and the sun setting.

Ben and Corinne.  I have my special Christmas facial hair.

Sophie, happy as long as she has a couch and a bottle of Whiskey.  Sophie is 8 weeks old and is off milk and onto the good stuff.  She is Emma and Dan’s Baby.  She had a nice time over the Christmas period, drunk or not.

Lake Windermere.  click on the photo for a larger picture.

General Lakes District Scenery.  We driving to our sledding action on the first day.  Around 3pm with the sun already going down.

Lake Windermere again but from the other side. 

Lakes District Beauty

Sledding Happiness

A few more images below of the happiness brought on by a bit of snowy fun on the sled.  Myles and Corinne particularly look great with their big smiles.

Myles – trapped like a demon in the magical glass of the car

Corinne and Myles – Bliss

A very happy action shot of Corinne

Standing on the sled – a new and dangerous technique

Not standing on the sled

An action collage of Myles

Sledding Happiness

Christmas Sledding–The Lakes District

Over Christmas we stayed in a Beautiful cottage in Winster in the Lakes District.  We were next door to the Brown Horse Inn and were staying with Shannon, Myles, Elaine, Mary, Danny, Emma and Sophie (Corinne and Ben). 

There was a beautiful white blanket of snow in the whole area and we took advantage of it by getting our hard core £10 plastic sled out onto the slopes.

We are mostly all X-games winners etc so we conquered the slopes and made all the 5 year olds look useless.

We have some great Youtube videos below, in HD if you want and maybe next blog we will have some great pics of the amazing action.

Christmas Sledding–The Lakes District

Donkeys, Geese and Walks

Whilst we were living in Southport we did actually having 3 weekends off in a row which is rare in the world of veterinary punishment.  We drove out to Ring – O – Bells and walked up meadow lane to the local Canal and back again.  It was a great little walk of about 5miles and we stopped at the ship inn along the way and had lunch.  The day was cold and sunny and was perfect for a winter walk.

We walked past a few great farms with onions and potatoes being harvested as well as some very nice Geese and Donkeys that have featured below.  The surrounding countryside was quite attractive even though it was winter and all the trees and plants were bare.

A nice little view of the a bridge over the canal

 

Silver Birch – Beautiful trees especially against a blue winter sky

The view out our back window in Southport – not bad as far as the Uk goes

Donkeys, Geese and Walks

Returning to Australia and our Farm

In early January we will return from the UK after 4 years.We purchased our farm 2 years ago and have only really visited it a few times.  We have so many plans and ideas for thr farm and the house.  We can’t move back to the farm until July as it is being leased. 

In the mean time we are working in Alice springs for 5 months.  We’ve got ourselves the Lonely Planet book ‘Central Australia – Adelaide to Darwin’ to lead the way and have been doing lots of research on the interwebs.  This in itself is going to be a great adventure. 

We have been thinking long and hard about what we are going to do first on the farm.  We  obviously need to clean the house up a bit and get the general house area cleaned up.  Corinne really wants to get herself a Karcher pressure washer for the house and sheds.  She is unusually excited about this but i am sure it will be really helpful.  I am going to get a good heavy duty mower and brushcutter.  We want to get the grass around the house cleaned up and also start clearing the fence lines and making some paths so we can see the whole property easily.  So I guess we are gonna hit Bunnings hard and buy some tools and gardening equipment.

We also want to buy a Tractor with implements but that will come a little later.  Then off course we really need essentials like a bed, couch, table, fridge, microwave, washing machine etc.  I think we will start off at the Op Shops and in the trading post and weekend shopper.  Later on in life when we have renovated the house and are rich and famous we will be nicer, perhaps newer furnishings.

We still have another 6 months to plan our return and start building our life at Puzzling Gully.

Returning to Australia and our Farm