Sleeping!

Dont know what it is but Warren and I have both had trouble sleeping of late. Being in the caravan there is no hassle.

So Warren yesterday suggested that it might be our mattress. Shouldn't be as we replaced in March or around then.

He also went on to suggest that we swap our mattress with the one in the spare room. Luckily they are the same size.

Boy oh boy mattresses are hard to move, its not so much the weigh more the size of them and then also getting them around corners etc.

Anyway we changed them over and we both had a good nights sleep, thank goodness.

The new one that we bought was quite firm across the thicker part of our bodies and Warren felt that he was sleeping on a slight rise with his head and feet hanging down the other side. I didn't have those sort of issues but it was very nice to get a good nights sleep.

Glen Innes

It was very cold here.
This was unexpected, not the cold but what we found there. I didnt know that it existed but Sheridan had been there before.

It was in Australia’s 1988 Bicentenary Year that the Celtic Council of Australia developed the idea of erecting a national monument to honour all Celtic peoples who helped pioneer Australia. Glen Innes responded with a 46-page submission for Australian Standing Stones, inspired by the Ring of Brodgar in Scotland’s Orkneys.

 Glen Innes was chosen. But no money came with the right to build the Stones.

They spent three months scouring the bush within 50km of Glen Innes for the stones. They had to stand 3.7 metres from ground level, which meant each to be 5.5 metres in total length.

They found only three stones which could be used in their natural state – others had to be split from larger rock bodies. 

It took more than six months of further effort, spearheaded by Bob Dwyer, who went on to become Glen Innes’ Mayor, and businessman Ted Nowlan, using a 12 tonne forklift and other heavy equipment to load and transport the stones on a timber loader to the Centennial Parklands site. The weight of the stones averaged 17 tonnes.

The above paragraphs have been taken from the Glenn Innis site. the park where the stones sit has been improved since the photo was taken and it is a very nice area now with picnic tables and bbqs just the other side of the stones. The stones area has been paved all stones numbered. 

Gunnadah, a town in New South Wales

Driving into Gunnadah, we were looking for a particular road, missed it and had to double back to go up to Pensioner's Hill Lookout.

This shelter was on the top with picnic tables around and BBQs.

Just over the edge of the hill, a structure had to been built so that people can walk further out. it was a very strong looking build so i had no qualms about going out on to it.

Apparently the park had been revamped over the last few months and had only been reopened last month.

Dotted along the path to the summit, (that sounds rather grand, the summit, and it was a summit but we had only about 160 metres to the top from the car path) were these fantastic sculptures, there were about a dozen of them.

After we went into the township itself looking for breakfast. We ordered eggs and bacon, hold the toast, with a side serve of mushroom and avocado,  what a feast, we couldn't finish the plate and we didnt eat for the rest of the day.

Another road trip.

Its amazing what can happen in school holidays.

I knew Sheridan was thinking of going south for a few days but didn't know when.

Texting her on Tuesday regarding work rosters, she said that she would be heading out in an hour or so. I asked heading where?I wasn't sure if she meant home or somewhere else as I knew she was out at the time.

Soon the phone rings and she says, couldn't be bothered texting so ringing and then said that she was leaving to go south about 4 pm, it was now 3 pm.

Then the comment came 'Unless you want to come for a drive."

Me "Well, I had thought about it!"

Her "Throw some clothes in a bag and get down here"

Me "It will take me til 4.30 at least to get there"

Her 'I can wait"

Meanwhile Warren's saying "Go on, off you go, get off the phone and get some things together." Looks like i am going on a road trip!

Warren helped me pack and then drove me to Sheri's arriving at 4 pm, it is a 40 min drive on a good day. We transferred to her car and off we set. Just on dusk, we did a little deviation to pick up our first cache, then into the next town/city for a well earned rest and hopefully a good sleep.

As I was told that we would be leaving at or before 7 am, we did!

 My packing was good, didnt forget anything, except some perfume but I can live without that for a few.

In three and a bit days, we travelled about 2000 kms, talked and laughed a lot, took some pics and saw lots of new and different things. more blog posts with photos to come. thank goodness, my camera was sorted.

Canada Day

One hundred and fifty year this weekend. One thing about geo caching they/it likes to celebrate lots of things.

Sheridan put on an event for cachers to meet and greet and enjoy pancakes, maple syrup and ice cream for breakfast in her local park starting at 8 am.

I packed coffee for us as well.

A nice group of people came and it was good to put faces to names. I meet and chatted with several there and it wrapped up by about 9.20 am.

I realised that we were two off a little milestone so we tried to find two caches on the way home. We did but had to visit five to get two.

As a result of attending  the event day, we get another souvenir, woo hoo. Now we have one of every state in Australia except Tasmania, one for China and one for Canada.

Fat Head Pizza

What a name for a pizza! Thats what we had for dinner tonight. Of course when I suggested pizza I had forgotten that the oven was stuffed, just the switch but it means that it cant be turned on at the moment.

I have seen Jamie Oliver make a pizza in a fry pan so I thought  if he could do it why not me?

This is the end result.

The crust is made from mainly grated cheese and some cream cheese, an egg and a little almond meal to make it form, roll between two sheets of baking paper then into the hot fry pan.

It was too soft to turn over so i just added the toppings. there is no tomato paste but tomatoes, mushrooms, olives some cooked pork topped with more cheese.

Warren favourite dish when we were in China was twice cooked pork and while this was cooked pork I suppose it was only warmed though as i was concerned the base was going to burn.

Warren offered to get it out of the fry pan, I retired to the lounge room so I didnt see what he did. The bottom was crisp and not burnt and it did taste good.

The recipe was enough for two so i have frozen one for next week as cant have pizza two nights running can one?

Coo-ee Muster

I had heard of the Cooee muster but didnt know too much about it. Paying a visit to Gilgandra and there was the story.

Here was the statue in the middle of the town. This is a town that we have driven thru many many times heading north or south but because the highway bypasses it, have never actually been intot he town before. The highway cuts along to the South and just touches a little bit of it but there was so much more to it.

it was war time 1915 in France and Allied had taken a lot of casualties, recruitment numbers were down. The local butcher William Hitchen with his brother the local plumber felt the need to do something and they came up with a plan to march to Sydney and sign up to fight. Due to lack of money and poor roads, little transport, they had to walk, all 320 miles. Twenty six brave young men left Gilgandra, towns along the way held rallies and fed them when they came into town and usually a few from that town or area joined in the march. By the time they reached Sydney, there were 263 of them, all ready and willing to fight for their land and freedom.