Monday, May 27, 2013

House Sitting in South Grafton







May:  We have scored a great house sitting gig at Chester's place, right in the heart of Sth Grafton. 
The main street is 2 doors up and full of old shops and op shops with lots of very affordable stuff.  Today we got a feather doona, 2 mugs and a parka for $4.50. 
We were looking after Molly for a week, Chester's Shitzu/Jack Russell  then he came back from Balck Rocks and has taken her to Inskip Pt, Qld (one of the best camping spots ever) for some arty RnR for a month or so.  Before he left, he made up real pasta with a hand machine.  Yum.











We have been enjoying the local pubs:  the Walkers Marina has free pool on a Monday and Tuesday and at the moment, I am the reigning champion.  Until the next 3 game tournament with Danny that is. The Australian has cheap meals, around $12 most nights and the Post Office Hotel is open at 7am in the morning! 
We had a night at the South Grafton Bowls Club and a few wines later, I got up and sang a couple of Patsy Cline country tunes with the resident duo on stage. Tafe is good and challenging and we feel we are getting somewhere with it all.  We are making connections in the community to:  hula hoop workshop coming up and Danny took a pushy ride over the bridge today dropped his resume into a disability company for some part time work.
So we are pretty settled here...so much so that we have put our house in Scarborough, Qld on the market this week.  Yes, after much thought and discussion, we have decided to look at buying a place in Sth Grafton.  We have our eye on this one only a couple of streets from the main drag.  But there is lots to co-ordinate with buying and selling.  Luckily we have Matt, a good friend and real estate agent handling things up in Redcliffe.  Let's just wait and see what happens...




Friday, May 17, 2013

Drumming, Markets & Campdrafting


Anzac Day:  We popped into Mark and Kate's place to give them a hand with some steps / rabbit palace and rock shifting.  Then we had a camp at Corindi Beach down the highway.  Danny tried his luck fishing on the beach and we had our first real camp in the back of Harry Transit.  Comfortable, but the caravan park lighting was a bit bright.
Next day, we went off to Wooli for some more fishing.  You could see the brim in the clear river water...but they could also see us!  So no catchee.
April 27, 28: That weekend, we went to Tim's Rest for a drumming workshop.  Well, not to drum but to do some filming.  There was a jam session with some musicians from Byron and Barcelona and the next day a performance of the drumming routine they had been learning for 3 days.  Indigo and Fuggles especially liked the drumming ladies who gave them plenty of loving.

The Spanish fellow ( Contini? ) played the didge down by the dam for us.  He was good and the sounds echoed through Tim's property.


First half of May: 
We got stuck into Tafe work and finished filming for our News Stories.  We did some of our usual favourite things ie going to the Thai Restaurant in town and the Jam Night at the Naked Bean Cafe in South Grafton. 



We finally managed to catch a market at the Cathedral Fair.  Bit pricey to sell at $25 a stall, but we still managed to make some money on the trinkets we have been carrying around in Keith since we left Redcliffe last year.  And Danny met up with a bottle guy, Simon who knows all the ones we know in Qld.


We also have been going to the local Redmen Rugby games up the road from the caravan park.  You can sit on the hill with the dogs, have a beer and enjoy the countryside.
Next to it, is the horse grounds and last weekend, there was a Camp Draft on.  Having never been to one (and not really knowing what it was)
off we went with our camera for a look.  It was great and the riders really skillful in their attempts to herd the little bull around the guide posts. 
Autumn is definately in the air and so is a new plan for our future.  
But you will have to wait for the next blog to see if it all comes to pass.