Western Adventures Day 7!

Today was Day 7 of The Western Adventures Of The Meandering Meares’ & after listening to the rain on the roof all night, we decided we needed an indoor option for our day’s exploring, so we hit the road to Winton to visit the Waltzing Matilda centre. 

Everyone knows Australia’s unofficial national anthem, “Waltzing Matilda”. The words were written by Australian bush poet A. B. “Banjo” Paterson … who happens to be my favourite poet. 

Banjo was on hand to welcome us. 😜 But did you know, he wrote the famous poem whilst visiting a property near Winton …

A copy of the original handwritten lyrics … his handwriting was almost as bad as mine! 🤣 We discovered during our visit that more people/bands have recorded a version of Waltzing Matilda than “Knocking On Heaven’s Door”! 😜 (totally guessing that, but it wouldn’t surprise me! 🤣) And on our return drive to Longreach (no accom available in Winton so we’re ’commuting’ the two hours back & forth from Longreach to see the sights. 😜) the sun had finally come out from behind the clouds & showed up huge swathes of wildflowers. There were oceans of white flowers, scatterings of yellow, but my favourite was the clumps of purple brush-like flowers …

GB is responsible for the two shots here … he’s a much more creative photographer than me. 😜 More adventures tomorrow, which means it’s now time for a cup of tea before shower & bed. This tourist-ing gig is exhausting! 🤣😉 

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

 (P.S. I couldn’t resist sharing this pic of a fine example of outback parking! 🤣😂)

Western Adventures Day 5 & 6!

Hello all! Hope you’re enjoying your week so far. GB & I are still on the road out west & I thought I’d catch up a bit with a two-in-one post. So, we had a couple of days at Barcaldine, or Barcy as it’s referred to by locals. It was a bit quiet because we were there over the weekend when most things are closed, but we managed to amuse ourselves. 😜

I finally got a daytime pic of the Tree Of Knowledge …

Each of those timber poles is suspended from cables & moves in the wind to replicate leaves … standing under it was like standing under a giant wind chime. 😜 We also spent a couple of hours at the Australian Workers Heritage Centre …

Lots of interesting displays …

A display that was established to celebrate the centenary of Australia’s Labor movement. It was a travelling display that found its forever home in Barcy, where the movement began.

Labor House displays highlighted more of the Labor party’s history including some vintage election campaign posters … they were much classier than modern political propaganda. 😜


And the starting point for it all … the shearer’s union. There were lots more displays, I just didn’t take more pics. 😜

Today we left Barcaldine to head for Longreach only to find that our reputation for attracting rain whenever we’re on holiday was intact …

Ah … the best laid plans of mice & men. 🤣 As a result of the weather, the river cruise we were booked on for tonight was canceled … we’ll try again tomorrow … weather dependent. 😜 So we had a wander along the main street before settling into our cabin where we’ll be based for the next couple of days. We’re now tucked up listening to the rain on the roof. Nice! Despite it messing with our plans. 😜

And that’s me up-to-date now … you’ve caught up with our travels. 😜 I’ll be back soon to share some more. Oh … OPAMers … it’s time to email me your tally for August & update your sidebar lists. I’ll be doing a double random draw in the next week for July & August. In the meantime, though, it’s time for a cuppa. 😉 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 4!

Day 4 of our western road trip saw us wave goodbye to Charleville & head further north. I was a bit excited about this leg of our trip because it took us through the little town of Tambo. Now, most Queenslanders will know what the very special thing about Tambo is, but for inter-state & overseas friends … it’s the home of Tambo Teddies! 🥰😍 These special bears are made from sheep skin & are uniquely Australian. As you can guess, one special teddy flung himself off the shelf & into my arms, begging me to adopt him … so I did! 🤣😂

This sign is across from the Tambo Teddies shopfront … a Tag Along Teddy & a Tambo Teddy out for a walk in the sun … look both ways … safely first! 😂🤣 

A couple more hours down the road & we made it to Barcaldine, whose claim to fame is being the birth place of the Australian Labor movement. Striking wool shearers gathered under the Tree Of Knowledge to form the unions that would evolve into the political party we know today …

Sadly, the majestic ghost gum was poisoned in 2006 in an act of vandalism & couldn’t be saved. However, the trunk was preserved & a symbolic art installation keeps the legend alive …

Night photo shows off the display.

And that’s it for Day 4 of our road trip. Next episode coming up. 😜 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 3!

I’m back again to update you on our travels … we had a couple of big days where I didn’t have the energy to post, so I’ll play catch up. But … I’ll keep to my pattern of one day per post, which means there will be a few posts go up tonight for you to enjoy. You may want to grab a cuppa & get comfy. And there will be pics for my “needy” friend … you know who you are! 🤣

OK … Day 3 of The Western Adventures Of The Meandering Meares’ & we explored some of the sights of Charleville, starting with the Bilby Experience. 

They were so darn CUTE!! 😍🥰 we spent quite a bit of time watching them furtling around. These little critters are under threat thanks to introduced pests like feral cats & foxes, though some headway has been made in restoring population numbers in protected areas. Next …

… we took a look through Historic House, which once housed the National Bank branch … some gorgeous vintage treasures on display …

We had a giggle when we realised that our guest room has as many antiques & vintage treasures as this museum display! 🤣 And sticking with historic buildings, we took a guided tour of Hotel Corones, which boasts the longest bar in Australia. Drinks were had … as a historic reenactment, of course! 🤣

Here’s GB enjoying an adult ginger beer. 😜 This hotel was built by Greek immigrant Harry Corones to rival the fancy hotels in the city. Over the years it’s hosted many celebrities & boasts many of its original features as well as lovely historic displays.

This was originally the men’s smoking room … lots of lovely vintage clothing on display.

Gorgeous lead light windows are featured throughout …

…& Australia’s fanciest bottle-o. 🤣 Where else have you seen a bottle-o with decorative plaster ceilings, an Art Deco stage & a giant mirror ball?!! 😂🤣 It was originally the grand ballroom, with nightly dances held during the war years when there was a large posting of American troops at the secret American military base … which we also visited …

Just quietly, I don’t know how you can call it a “secret” base when it has walloping great signs all over the place … unless it’s run by Wile E Coyote! 😂🤣 Our last activity in Charleville was a visit to the Cosmos Centre for a night viewing of the skies through large telescopes … a must-do if you’re ever visiting Charleville, but no pics … cos it was DARK!! 🤣.

And that’s the end of Day 3 of our road trip. Stay tuned for the next adventure. 😜 Til next time …

 BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Western Adventures Day 2!

Day 2 of The Western Adventures Of The Meandering Meares’. 😁 Before hitting the road, we had a bit of a meander around Roma … where it was apparently Dachshund Day …

…  though this was the only Dachshund we saw … I think Clifford the Big Red Dog may have some explaining to do! 🤣 And the objective of our search …

… I was in fabricaholic’s heaven with a visit to Ace Drapery where not only was there a HUGE array of all sorts of fabrics, I could also have bought wool, a bath mat, mixing bowls, school uniforms & a cocktail shaker. 🤣 I could have spent all day there exploring, but GB convinced me that it was time to hit the road to our next port of call … Charleville. A quick reccie once we arrived included making some bookings for tomorrow, as well as visiting the Rock Pool …

… usually I’ll edit my pics a little to improve lighting or get the colours in pics to match what I saw in person, but this one needed no tweaking … just the rich orange soil, dusty green & eye-popping blue of the Australian outback. 🥰 A bit more exploring around Charleville & we found …

… some local silo art. (The colours in the first pic are true to life, the second has been lightened to show more of the lovely details in the artwork that were a bit hidden with the angle of the afternoon sun.) Who says there’s nothing to see out west?! 😉

We’re having a blast exploring more of our home state … are you enjoying travelling with us??! 😉 Stay tuned for the next instalment. 😁 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

 KRIS

Zombie Flu & A Road Trip!

Hello, hello! Yes … I’m still in the land of the living, it’s just been a crazy few weeks. Despite doing all the right things, both GB & I were ambushed by zombie flu (AKA Covid) which took us out of circulation for a week or so. That was then followed by a crazy busy work week for us both as we prepared for a long-awaited & much-needed holiday. Nobody really does either of our jobs when we’re away, so it’s a scramble to work ahead to cover all bases.

But now … WE’RE ON HOLIDAY! WOO! HOO! 🥳😁😎 Yes … we’re just a bit excited about that! 🤣😂 So today was the day we were hitting the road … & we woke up to no electricity in an unplanned outage! AAAARRGGHHHH! Now for townies (people who live in a town) this is only a minor inconvenience, but since we live out of town on acreage, if we don’t have power, we don’t have running water. Not to mention it was an overcast, blustery day with little natural light coming in to light our packing. However … amidst much improvising & muttering, we hit the road …

Like the wagon trains of the US Wild West, we headed … Westward Ho! 😜 First stop was an unplanned one … Dalby for coffee & brekkie that our power outage prevented. 😜

With the driver appropriately caffeinated, it was back on the road. Next stop … Chinchilla.

…where we checked out the big watermelon & …

… GB checked out a giant digital sign he helped design & install. Then we were back on the road. Next stop … Surat …

… where we visited another of GB’s work projects … the Surat Cobb & Co Changing Station Museum where GB helped install & program some interactive displays.

…& we decided we were glad we weren’t travelling in one of these. 😜 One more stretch of driving to land at our overnight stopping point … Roma. Where, after a tasty dinner of Thai at the motel restaurant, we took a moonlit stroll to check out another of GB’s work projects …

… The Big Rig. He helped design, program & install the equipment for the pretty light displays. I think that’s the last of GB’s work projects this direction for us to visit. 😉

And we’re now tucked up for the night, ready to see where the next instalment of The Western Adventures Of The Meandering Meares’ takes us. Stay tuned! 🤣 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS 

Another Month Gone!

Well … it seems that another month has passed me by … we’re closer to the end of the year than the beginning … EEP! On the plus side, we’re also closer to the end of winter. 😜 And the end of the month means it’s time for good OPAMers to update their sidebar finishes list & email their tally for July through to me. 😉

I didn’t have any finishes to add to my tally except for the quilt I showed that I finished off for GB’s workmate. But … I did START something. 😜

I’ve had this French General layer cake tucked away for a while waiting to make it into something special. I LOOOOVE the soft French reds & blues & the range name, “La Vie Boheme” , “The Bohemian Life” seems pretty appropriate for someone whose brother says she’s a leftover hippie. Tee! Hee! Hee!

And it’s going to be a new patchwork tiered skirt. 🥰 Stay tuned. 😉

I hope you’re all having a good weekend so far. I’m enjoying a quiet one at home after a busy, stressful week at my grown up job. One more day to catch our breath before getting back on the hamster wheel … I think I need a cup of tea! 🤣 Take care, stay safe, keep stitching & keep smiling. 😊 Til next time …

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS! 

KRIS