Carnarvon Gorge to St George

Back to our travels once again.

After leaving Carnarvon Gorge we continued to head south.  It didn’t take long for the landscape to open up again, revealing wide open spaces.

The first town we came to was Injune.  This is only a small settlement but has a very good information centre with coffee shop and library.  I suppose this is because it is the main settlement heading north close to Carnarvon Gorge.  We partook of morning tea, as you do.

There was a small gallery space in the building as well with a nice display.

Outside we found a stunning sculpture of an eagle.

Behind the building was a museum, however it was closed when we were there.

Over the road an old building had been painted up like an old time shop.

From here there were no further settlements until we returned to Roma, where we had spent a few days on our way north.  As we had seen all we wanted to see there all we did was have some lunch and visit the supermarket to top up our groceries.

After Roma, for the first time this trip, we travelled on the same road we traversed on our way up, ending up in Surat. Remember we had lunch here on Mick’s birthday and had a good wander around.

This time we set up camp at the “Fisherman’s Park” on the banks of the Balonne River on the northern outskirts of town.  

It was a very popular spot and we were glad we arrived in the early afternoon and were able to nab a nice spot near the river.  

This is a donation camp with funds going to the local fishing club who use the money to restock the river with fingerlings.  A very worthy cause.

We just had a lazy afternoon at the camp and had to check out the bridge.  There is a pathway into town but we didn’t worry about going for a walk.

In the morning we went and had a look at the weir just downstream from town.

Then it was back on the road to St George.  We did encounter a large mob of cattle on the way.

Surprisingly, in amongst the cattle there was one sheep, a few horses, a donkey and a mule.  It looked like the working dogs were having a bit of a break.

When we reached St George this mural reminded us that we were in the heart of cotton country. We would spend a couple of days here, so more soon.

A Day Out With Rosie

I don’t know if you remember Mick bought a little red Suzuki Sierra three years ago called Rosie.  Well, she hasn’t been all that smooth sailing.  There have been little issues that have been hard to resolve.  Add to that, he only gets to play with her every now and then.

He is lucky, in that we have good friends who have a property just out of town that has a rather steep, rough section where he can take Rosie for test runs.  She will go fine and then all of a sudden lose all power.  The fact that it is intermittent makes matters worse when trying to locate the problem.  As a result, he hasn’t been game to take her for any distance.

Just lately, he has worked on all sorts of things that could be the problem and when he took her out to our mate’s place a couple of weeks ago, she ran like a dream.  Fingers crossed that she runs more reliably from now on.

As a result, we decided last Sunday to go for a drive in her and have lunch at Tarana.  

It is a pretty drive on quiet roads.

There are lots of little bridges.

The road is quite narrow in parts.

The cafe makes delicious burgers.

It was nice to see some wattle in bloom.

We called in to Flat Rock, on the Fish River.  It is a popular camp ground, but was quiet when we were there.  Yes, there are flat rocks in the river and the river was so named, as when Surveyor George Evans was mapping out the route for the first road to the west there were lots of fish in the river.  Very creative names, aren’t they.

We could see Ben Chifley Dam in the distance as we drove along.  It is our local water supply.

When we returned to Bathurst we finished off our drive with a lap of Mount Panorama.  There was definitely no lap record set, as Rosie is rather slow and underpowered.

We ended up doing just over 100kms on our run.

It was a really enjoyable drive.  It was a nice day and we were in no rush.

To our delight, Rosie didn’t miss a beat.  Such a relief.  Now we may take her for some more outings and Mick may look at joining the 4WD club.  

Hallelujah! A Solution to my Blogging Dramas

Some of you may have been hearing me whinge about not being able to add photos to my blog posts while using my iPad or iPhone.  This started a few months ago and is a right royal pain in the proverbial.  It appears to be an Apple/Google issue.

A solution was found by emailing the photos to the blog, as was a method that some used in the past.  This worked for a little while, but in the end it would sometimes let me send only a couple of photos and sometimes none at all.  The only solution at the time was to add the photos from my desktop computer.

Well, while on Zoom with Chooky and Co the other day she made a random comment about using a Blogger app for android.  That got me thinking there may be an app for Apple devices. A bit of investigating found a few.  Several had had no updates for several years, so I didn’t think they would be much use.  

However, there was one that had only had an update in the last few weeks.  It had a three day free trial and then has a subscription for $29.99/year.  I gave it a test out and lo and behold, it works.  I can add photos to my blog posts while using the app.  You can draft the posts in the app, but it doesn’t have as much functionality for formatting.  Once the photos are in, I can just go into Blogger and fine tune it.  I have now subscribed for the year.  I think it will be money well spent, especially for when we are travelling. 

I hope this may help anyone else with the same issues.

My Wishes for August

​Here we are in the next month already.  The last month of winter.  I really don’t know where this year is going.  Anyway, time to think about what I would like to get up to this month.

Let’s start with the stitching wishes.

MY MAIN MONTHLY WISH

As usual, I would like to use this to push myself to get something out of the way.  This time it is the Batik Fish Quilt.  I started this back at the start of 2024, so it is well and truly due to be completed.  I put the blocks out on the design curtain at the end of last month, so there is no excuse.  I really want to take this for show and tell at the end of the month.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The nominated colour this month is yellow.  Yay!  I have yellow blocks prepped. No colour substitution required this month.  Also, I only need to make one crumb block, as I already have two made.  

BETTY’S GROUP PROJECTS

I have the Rainbow Strip Quilt ready to quilt.  I hope to have that done soon.  I want to take this for show and tell as well.

There will also be a new block to make this month.

USING ELLY MAY

This will be the Rainbow Strip Quilt and hopefully the Batik Fish Quilt.  Any extras will be a bonus.

KNITTING AND CROCHET

I really need to get a wriggle on with my alpaca jumper.  This month I aim to have the front and back finished, including the neckline.  That will just leave the sleeves to finish.  It should be doable.

While I’m at my stitching days I will probably work on the C2C crochet squares.  They are a nice, no brain required project.  Ideal while chatting away.  I need 28 of these, so if I make four a month I’ll have them done in seven months.  I don’t really think it will take that long.

AN AUGUST ESCAPE RETREAT AT BARADINE

This smaller, shorter retreat is happening on the last weekend of the month, so I need to prep some projects to work on:

1. I have a jelly roll that is earmarked for a quilt, that requires no prepping beforehand.  

2. There is still some of the solid fat quarters that I used in a recent quilt, so I hope to prep a smaller donation quilt with those leftovers.

3. I have some novelty print that I want to use on a kid’s quilt, so need to find a pattern and get it cut out.

4. I will probably prep another kid’s quilt as well.  

I don’t expect to get them all done, but if they are prepped I have choices and they will be prepped to work on later at home.

15 MINUTES A DAY

This is also an aim.

NON STITCHING WISHES

1. Try a new recipe.  I have one earmarked and hope to try some others as well.  I seem to be on a roll.

2. Read or listen to a book.  We’ll see how I go with this wish.  I’m not doing so well.

3. Have a fun day out. I’m sure that will happen.

4. Use our caravan.  Yes, we are going to Baradine.

5. Catch up on my blog posts.  I still have to finish our Queensland trip from June and everything since.    However, now that I have discovered an app in which I can add my photos on my iPad it is much more likely to happen.

I look forward to checking back in at the end of the month.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud…….

Let me tell you about some daffodils in our garden.

These ones are rather special to us, as they have a story behind them. We have family friends that used to live near Rydal, where the Daffodil Festival is held.  They lived in a historic sandstone cottage, one of several in the area.  When they were first married, in the 1950s, there was another nearby that was in ruins and usually had stock grazing around it.  One year there were no stock and loads of these daffodils came up.  They, and another couple, filled 44 gallon drums with bulbs and then planted large drifts under their old oak trees and along the side of the road.  If Mick and I visited during flowering time we were given big bunches of them.  One year they gave us half a dozen bulbs.  We transplanted those bulbs and took them with us when we moved out of town and also when we moved back into town. 

Our friends were instrumental in establishing the Daffodils at Rydal event, which is a beautiful weekend.  Rydal is the perfect spot for a Daffodil Festival, Rydal being the home of William Wordsworth in the Lakes District of England, the area where my grandmother grew up.  I have her book of his poetry that she was awarded in Sunday School in the early 1900s.  I digress….. This is where I posted about our visit in 2011.   Aren’t the daffodils under the trees lovely.  We have been in subsequent years, but I don’t seem to have any decent photos.  Although our friends are no longer with us, the garden at their old cottage is still open during Daffodils at Rydal in September.  We hope to pop down this year.  

In recent years ours weren’t blooming much and really needed to be divided.  In 2024, once the leaves had died off, Mick lifted them and we replanted some and gave quite a lot away.  There were still lots of little bulbs in a plastic tub, so Mick popped them in all over the place.  Literally, all over the place. Last year, come spring time, there were heaps of plants emerging but no flowers.  Not even one.  The ones we gave away had the same result.  You can imagine how  disappointed we were.

We were so happy this year when we returned from our recent trip away to see some buds forming.

To have a few already flowering in July is very early.  Later in August we are going to have so many of these heritage frilly daffodils flowering and the ones we gave away are doing well too.  We are so happy and relieved to see them bloom again.