GOING TO MARYBOROUGH

27/05/05. SAN is still hurting from the treatment that she has received from Norman, she said that I will just have to get on with my new life from now on and Norm will just have to get a life ?. We are on our way to Maryborough today and we are now having a cuppa at a rest stop at Gunalda, I have been talking to a couple who are traveling in a converted bus and it is there first free stop and asked if we are staying? San & I looked at one another and decided to leave Paddys rest stop behind us, the night went very well, no "trouble" our new "reststoppers" are named Vivian and Brian who are good company, Brian has asked us to hook up to his generator, great I can watch the footy tonight, we have now spent 2 nights here without any trouble it has given us a confidence boost.
We are on our way to Maryborough, we have just found out that it is the birth place of author MARY POPPINS I thought that she was just a fictional character. There is a lot history associated with this city and the old Queenslander houses are just fantastic - some are older than 100 years, we have spent a week here and have only seen a small part of the area and will have to call back next year.
31/05/05. Moved onto Childers and we are staying at Barb & Peter Fullers property at Apple Tree Creek, they were friends that we met at Swansea some year's back.
They have 5 acres and a huge dam they call them lakes up this way, we had no sooner settled in and Pete came around the back of the verandah with a huge JUG of HOME BREW it was Fantastic better than commercial beer by far, it nearly made me homesick (only joking), we stayed out the back for a few hours and drank well into the night, so quiet and serene here, the sky was full of star's and the Milky way was incredible. We stayed 5 day,s at the Fuller's and we left the van here so we were able to do the Tourist thing.
We went to see Judy & Max Moore at there new home at Elliot Heads east of Bundaberg, we liked it so much here so we have booked into the local caravan park, all this area is full on with sugar cane as far as the eye can see , it was great to see Judy and Max again, we will see them soon.
Whilst in this area we also checked out Poona, Boonaroo, Moore Park, Woodgate and Howard which is an historic town with heaps of murals and old shops, and then on to Bagara beach to have a look at the caravan park, it is excellent so we have booked it for 2 week's.
We have also had a look at the Backpacker's lodging's at Childers, it is called the Palace Hotel and the scene of an horiffic fire which resulted in the death of 15 travelers.
In 2002 fruit picker Robert Paul Long was found guilty of Murder and Arson because he had deliberately lit the blaze on June 23 2000. They have now made it into a loverly Memorial to those that lost there live's in the fire, touring through made Sandra cry she said that it will stay with her for a long time -- so sad it was, but a great town to visit.
05/06/05. To day we said good bye to Barb and Pete and have moved onto Bagara Beach Caravan Park, right on the ocean with 16kms of beach front and lots of Volcanic Rock strewn all along the beach.