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...

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.

Holidays in Redcliffe & the Grafton Show

April 1-20:  
We finished off Term 1 at Tafe with some filming of my news story.  I was supposed to interview one of the owners of our caravan park, but he doesn't do internet stuff (which is fair enough) and so we got his brother to fill in.  Turned out well and also got some shots of real estates and a written interview with The Salvos.
We were having some issues with keeping the Fuggles in the annex, but when we got to Redcliffe, our renters were chucking out an opening baby gate.  Perfect. They are also keen for long lease which suits us. 


We popped into a newish collectables shop in Reddo and Danny said:  "There's a picture of you, Sammy".  When we packed up to leave on our adventures, I gave the crayon picture of my 8 year old self  (which I never liked!) to a local op shop.  The shop owner was very excited and my sister Melissa wanted it to go with the one she has.  So we went back a couple of days later, but was the picture still there?  Melissa will have to wait and see.



Danny's dad, Jimbo is quite adept at caricature.  They always have a pronounced nose and are not what you would call flattering.   We had a great stay in Reddo:  managed to catch up with many friends this time  and had lots of laughs with the family.  Danny had a Gypsy Jam with Sean, I had a birthday lunch with Barb, Shazza & Trish and learned a new hoop trick with Sam, Lisa and Ginger Ninja.


We drove back to NSW on a beautiful clear day and stopped off again at Broadwater for lunch at a dog friendly, old church cafe.  I did the middle leg of driving Harry Transit - full of roadworks and a wrong turn at Chinderah.  I had my serious driving face on most of the time I think!




When we got back to the Sunset Caravan Park, nothing was amiss.  The fridge was still on and the annex still up.  We were happy to be back in our cubby and put up the baby gate for the dogs.  After a bit of food shopping and relaxing, we went off to the Grafton Agricultural Show yesterday arvo.  I was impressed with the Champion Pumpkin, while Danny couldn't resist a Dagwood Dog.  (instant regret after one bite!)

There was a Salvo's cafe and a man with a sign that said:  Live Band 6pm.  So we went in and had a cuppa and listened to the young band.  Loud, heavy rock with a few original ballads thrown it.  Happened to be their album launch with mum and dad doing the sound mixing and selling CDs.  They were good and rocked the hell out of the cafe clients and passes by (one lady with fairy  floss hair did some great dancing).

Danny was instructed to win another soft toy for Indigo and shot the required 4 ducks.  So Carnie Dog 2 was gratefully welcomed home by indigo.  Oh, we also saw this Transit at the show which is the same model as Keith. 

Show observation:   Grafton Carnies were definately not as interesting as the Redcliffe Carnies.

Keith moves to South Grafton - Sunset Caravan Park

 March 1-19:   The rain finally stopped.  Then it was time for the final  preparation for Tim's return to Tim's Rest, Chambigne:  mowing, whipper-snipping, slashing, weeding, mopping, sweeping, window cleaning and so on.  But we got it all done and Ray and Danny did a great job on the tractors to grade and roll the dirt track. 
Keith rolled out of there with no troubles and went to get fitted for his annex (thanks again Ray for that one). 


March 20, 21:  Keith moved into the Sunset Caravan Park, but we stayed on at Tim's to await his return.  Tim was very happy with the state of the track and property and we had a few beers with him and Ray to celebrate his home-coming.


March 22:   On Friday arvo, I caught the train and then bus up to Brisbane, while Danny and fur girls stayed on at Tim's.  The trip was interesting with a young man and a woman my age to chat to the whole way.  A gentleman near the rear of the bus had a nasty accident in his pants and the aircon carried the smell into all our noses.  It was hard work to get from gagging, but we managed to keep ourselves in check. 
I arrived late, and my mate Nase picked me up from Roma St station and drove me a few kms to his home in Paddington.  He cooked me a lovely vege risotto and we chatted on till about 1am. 

March 23:  Me and Nase drove down the road to Latrobe Tce and had breakfast for Lewis and Tracey.  It was good to see them after a 

year of being away.  Meahwhile, Danny left Indigo and Fuggles at Tim's and drove to Byron Bay.  He did camera on a multi-cam gig for one of our tutors, Andy Bambach.  It was a private party at the old Byron Bay Brewery with Mi-Sex playing and other bands.
I hung on in Reddo that arvo with Danny sister Linda, caught up with my mother-in-law Jean, then got ready for Sam's 30th Birthday Party down the road in Clontarf.  Everyone had to wear a cape:  I made mine out of Harry's curtain material and Linda had a nurse one that Jean made.  It was a fun party with lots of catching up. 
Glad I went and so was Sam.


March 24:  Danny had a good gig with Andy, some red wine into the early morning and a swim at Byron. After a quick visit to the Redcliffe Markets and the shops, (a girl can never have too much Sussans sleep wear)  it was time for me to get the train to Roma St and then the bus and train back to Grafton.
Danny had had some dramas after picking up the girls from Tim's as a big, fast storm blew in and brought down branches and collapsed the annex back at the caravan park.  Unfortunately I wasn't too sympathetic when he informed me about the hatch above the bed being left open.  But when I got back, it wasn't that wet at all and I just put the hair dryer over it for a while.  All good. 


March 25-31:  We settled into life at the Sunset Caravan Park with Danny building some dog fencing and proofing to keep the girls in. It isn't totally fool (or chihuahua) proof, but we will get the baby gate from Danny's folks place when we go up in the holidays.  We went back to Tim's to meet up with the mower man who fixed Tim's ride-on and pick up the last of our stuff. 
Tafe continues to be challenging and fun with our New Story assessment looming and ideas for our major project being researched.    We've been watching free movies from the caravan park collection, the best being American Beauty with the audio commentary on.  We have also discovered ABC and SBS's programs available online to watch. 
Most of Easter was spent doing our character bio homework for Tafe and we took the girls down to the river at South Grafton for a walk.  You can still see lots of debri from the floods and we found an old training shed with a few exercise bikes near it.  Danny took some cool photos, inc a shot that I will use in my New Story. 
We have been living at the Sunset Caravan Park for a week:  
life here is simple and drama free so far.

Tafe, Jean's 70th, Raw Comedy & another Flood!

 Feb 9:  Danny visited old Bazza in Scarborough and then drove back to Grafton. Meanwhile, I learnt my comedy routine.  It had been a quiet couple of days without Danny and Fuggles, but I had missed them.
Feb 10:    We took Harry Transit for a drive up the highway to Maclean and had lunch at the pub.  Then we met up with a guy at a Dirt Bike Meet who has a property that we were looking at staying on. (but on later inspection, we went decided it wasn't suitable as there were free range chickens and lots of ticks).













Feb 11-21:  Our Tafe course: Diploma of Screen & Media began and we had a great first week.  Tutors very experienced and tailor the course to your individual goals.  At the end of the week, we did a couple of trips:  Dorrigo and Cascade where Danny's Dad is from which is beautiful rain forest country.  Also to Glenreah to look at another possible care taking property.  There were lots of animals - miniature donkeys, guinea fowl, geese, chooks, 5  cats and a dog.  We declined on this one too and decided to start looking for a rental in town.  Back to Tafe and then the rain came back.  We were tossing up about whether to go up to Redcliffe for the weekend.  If it wasn't heavy rain in the morning...we were off.
Feb 22-28:  Only light rain, so we dropped off Gandi the cattle dog to Tim's friends in Grafton and headed up to Qld.  It had been almost a year since I was in my state of origin.  That night, we caught up with Todd, Jill and Christie in Clontarf at their new place - Wow, what a house!  Next morning we went back to Pearl Street and got some stuff out of our storage in the old Jam Room.  So much stuff crammed in their, but we packed up some stuff and I got a haircut from our lovely renter, Gabby.  Then it was time to grab the family and make our way into The Valley for Jean's 70th birthday at The Vietnamese.  We had a good chat with our favourite waiter, Tyson who is training to be a pilot.  Jean even got a photo and kiss from him!

 It was a great night...we were supposed to go back to Grafton the next day.  But after speaking to our neighbour Ray, that wasn't going to happen. Over the next few days, the creek bridge went under and the river on the property came up higher than last time (to the guest house steps) and Ray towed Keith up the hill.  So we stayed in Redcliffe and we dropped into our old workplace, Cascade.  It was wonderful to see everyone again after a year away.  Then I had an idea:  do my Raw Comedy competition gig that night, Tuesday while we were already there.  So I did!  Danny's family and Mick, our old neighbour came and we had a fun night.  I was nervous - I had wanted to get over my fear of Stand Up for about 15 years.  I was on last as Bev the Bus Driver (pic above), but it went well and people laughed.  I didn't get through to the next round, but I had done it.  Mission accomplished.  On Thursday, we drove back to Grafton once we got the word from Ray that the creek was down.  We picked up Gandi from town and drove into Chambigne.  The dirt track wasn't in great shape when we left, but now it was much worse for wear after two floods and continuing rain.    The grass was long and the sandflies abundant and their was a dead rat at the house gate:  we were home.

Harry Transit MK2 gets Registered!

Friday, Feb 8:  Harry got his Queensland registration today. *sigh of relief * To say:  there's been a bit of drama, might be an understatement.  So I will take you back to where we left off...the floods.

Jan 28:  Rained all night, Tim's Toyota which is parked down a cement ramp got flooded in, water was cascading down the hill and onto the front porch area and the river was well over the bottom gate.  It continued to rain all day.

Jan 29-31:   The rain stopped but the flood waters kept rising.  Danny painted Harry with a roller, with me doing the fiddely inside the doors and front grill areas.  Oh, and Danny put his back out and became a crooked man, literally.  We went for a drive to the bridge for a look and it was well under.  The painting was finished by the end of Thursday, but would Harry be able to get out for his RWC the next day?  Feb 1-4:  Danny and I get all dressed and ready to take Harry to town but...the bridge has boards missing and needs repairs and so we can't go.  Pete, a friend of Tim the property owner, buys groceries for us and we walk them over the bridge.  Hoorah food!  We had been playing:  eat what's in the fridge and pantry and had run out of milk.  I started weeding the back of the guest house and Ray loaned Danny a 1970's vibrating massage pad for his back.. It was fun and seemed to help.  I shamois, vacuumed and wiped harry down...geez he looks good.

Ray and I went to the bridge to put sand on it and low and behold, Polly's boyfriend (who doesn't win any prizes for friendliness) had been with his tractor and done the job.  Good for him.  So all we had to do was spread it around a bit and rake it over.

Feb 5:  Harry goes to Reimers Mechanical for his RWC.  Oh dear.  He has Qld modification plates and they can't do it without an engineers certificate.  The nearest man is in Ballina.  So we ring him...$600!  Shissen.  We come back to Tim's Rest to have a big think about it all.  Do we go ahead with the NSW rego, do we get him registered over the border in Qld or do we sell him and buy something else?  It was doing our heads in.  Danny went up to see Ray and I got stuck into cleaning the chook house.  Felt much better after that!A decision was made and Danny booked Harry in for a gas inspection and RWC with old Smithy (who did Keith) both in Clontarf.                                                       Feb 6:  We take Harry back to Reimers Mechanical for a Pink Slip, which then got us an Unregistered Vehicle Sticker to allow Danny to drive him up to Redcliffe.  Phew.  But it wasn't over yet.      Feb 7:  Danny and I get at 5am and he drives off with Fuggles, the foxie / chihuahua as his co-pilot.  I stay and mind Gandi the cattle dog and Indigo Velvet, and do some mowing.  Danny rings me to say that the gas man can't do the gas cos it's out of date, but another guy says he can tomorrow. But will he certify it?

Feb 8:  Yes!  The gas is certified and then it's just up to Smithy to road worthy it.  I get the call from Danny about 12 with our new registration number.  Relief is not the word, but it will do.  Danny is staying in Redcliffe to get some acupuncture for his back and I managed to get most of the house yard mowed this morning before I ran out of fuel.  So we will both sleep, in separate States, but well tonight.  

What a big effort by Danny to not only restore Harry Transit, but to go on the journey to Qld for registration.  Good on ya, mate!