11th May cont.....
The rain eased off late in the day and we were able to light the open fire. It is just lovely sitting around a fire. Joined by a few of the campers where different conversations were had.
Just on dusk we looked across to the fish cleaning table & a guy was there with his catch, as per photo, so now we know there is barramundi in this lake. It went over 1m in length, but wasn’t sure on the weight. Nice fish though. This particular person comes fishing here 3 days a week from Brisbane and everything he catches he snap freezes and takes back to raffle and the proceeds goes to the Children’s Hospital. Lovely gesture.

12th May.
Well today it is raining and not a lot we can do outside, although D’Arcy is packing away a few things outside between showers.
13th May
Packed up and ready to leave for Bargara, when we receive a phone call from our friends Carol & Len in Bundaberg, wanting us to call in on our way past for a cuppa. Well, it was great to see them and they insisted we park here at their place. They are on 11/2acres and very beautifully laid out with lots of paw paw trees , fruit and other vines. With only a few minutes to the Sugarland Shopping complex and just about everything you want without going all the way in the CBD of Bundaberg, only about another 10mins. & sometimes busy. The local airport is practically next door although they are not on the flight path so we don’t hear the planes. We got set up and of course the celebration drinks came out before a rest and then a lovely bbq dinner.
14th May
Very fortunate here as well as a great site we have for the van they have a gym set up in the garage so I was out there first up thismorning to give it a shot. It really felt good.
As D’Arcy had lost his wallet it was time to head to town to all the places for replacement cards. As Len & Carol guided us it all went really smoothly. My turn to cook dinner, so it was lamb shanks simmering away in the afternoon. Very good, even if I do say so myself.
15th May
After doing all the mundane things, like the washing and cleaning we headed into town so as I could visit the hairdressers. You need these things sometimes, well I do!!! As the footy is on tonight we decided to go to dinner early at the Chinese Restuarant in the Brothers Leagues Club just up the road and head home to watch it. Unfortunately The Titans, our choice didn’t win against the Broncos, Carol & Len’s choice, but a good game anyway.

17th May
Up early and off the markets at 6.30a.m. Nice & crisp this early now, but the produce we purchased was really top class and lasts longer. Carol & Len had their grandson, Cody for the day, who is 8yrs and a really top kid. So polite. D’Arcy had fun showing him how to fly his helicopter and at the end of the day decided to give it to him. He was over the moon.

Monday we had the F250 serviced at the local Ford dealer.
Wed. 20th.

D’Arcy’s birthday. I took him to lunch at a local cafe in town, overlooking the Burnett River . A very casual day. I cooked roast beef

for dinner using the DreamPot and turned out
just beautiful, along with roast veges. Carol W. made a pavlova and a good night was had.

Friday 22nd
We moved out to Bargara Beach Caravan Park- http://www.bargarabeach.com.au/ Only 30mins. From Carol & Len’s but a lovely small village atmosphere with good walking track. As you walk along the pathway they have imprinted a message “Have You Done Your 10,0000 Steps Today?” with signs posted every 800mtrs with the number of steps you have taken to that point, e.g. 800mtrs-500 steps. Sign posted all the way to Kelly’s Beach the distance each way is 4000mtrs. As I only have short steps I figured I done more than the 500, but still didn’t make it to the 10,0000. Oh well, the bike riding made up for that. Sunday Carol & Len came down for a visit to bring us some mail and we had lunch down at the local hotel. Lovely woodfired pizzas, with thin crispy base. Cody was also with us as he spends Sundays visiting with his nan & pop. Butcher bird enjoying leftovers.

We took a drive out to Elliott Heads, just a little south of here. A pretty spot normally, but the wind was blowing and didn’t look very inviting on the water, as you may see by the photo.

On the way came across this sign.

How’s this for a bargain???????? Ha Ha

Today is our last day here at Bargara so have added a few pics around here.

Bargara Village
Rock Pool Neilsens Park

Turtle Playground

8th May

Kookaburra visit

If only I had a fish to clean!!!!!

8th May
Today we again tried the fishing thing out on lake in our inflatable. No luck with the fishing, but spent a bit of time retrieving my lures from the trees. Only 1 we couldn’t get back as it was snagged underwater. Tried trolling and casting. The good thing was that it was so peaceful and relaxing.
9th May
Started today with a trip into Gin Gin to the markets and butchers. As I said before, great meat in this part of the state. We invited our park managers, Kelly & Rob for dinner and a great night was enjoyed. D’Arcy was pleased as I decided to cook a bread & butter pudding for dessert and as usual always make too much, but leftovers is thoroughly enjoyed by D’Arcy.
10th May – Mother’s Day.
To-day started off with a late breakfast as there was a heavy fog thismorning, which didn’t clear till about 8.00a.m. so stayed in bed a little longer. Called my mum to wish her the best for Mother’s Day and she thanked us for the flowers we had sent. It is always good to hear from the kids at any time, but I had a call from all 3, Kellie, Darren & Jackie as well as talking to my granddaughter, Hailey & her mum, Shari. Hailey told me she now has a pet puppy, Zena, who is 8wks. old & really enjoying her. (Hailey, I am waiting for a photo) Jackie, Paul, Taylor & Chloe were all heading out for a picnic and fishing at the Spit on the Gold Coast. Hope they had more luck fishing than we are here at Lake Monduran. Kellie & Rory phoned in the afternoon as they had spent the weekend away visiting with a friend in the country. In the early evening D’Arcy was outside to fetch something, (I think a bottle of red) when he gave me a call to pass the torch. There was a small brown snake hanging around the end of the annex. The straw broom handle then came in handy.....don’t want those fellas finding their way inside.
In the afternoon we went for a leisurely walk. A circuit around the area, up hill and down dale....
So, my day was spent doing a lot a reading and just being lazy as well. Although I we did prepare and cook a steak pizza in our bbq oven, using the pizza stone which was great.

11th May.
Started the day with a walk. As it is quite hilly here in parts I elected to walk the dam wall 3 times & once to the lookout, which takes me an hour. While crossing for the second time D’Arcy caught up peddling his bike, which he manages to do a couple of times. He said he rode the bike up the hill to the approach to the dam today, whereas before he had to get off and walk. He got that heart rate pumping today. We are heading off from here on Wednesday so D’Arcy is potting around and
starting to pack a few things away. Just as well he got the inflatable deflated and folded up as it started to rain, which we haven’t seen any of for quite awhile. Well, it is nearly happy hour again and about to put a small lamb roast in the bbq oven for dinner. Till next time......

Lake Monduran

7th May 2009

We are now at Lake Monduran, http://www.lakem.com.au/ 20klms. North of Gin Gin Qld. Arrived here on 25th April – Anzac Day –daughter Jackie’s birthday. It is a lovely place. The dam is the Fred Haigh Dam and is the water supply for the irrigation of the Burnett region, which includes Bunderberg and surrounds. The lake is 32klms from the dam wall to the top. They stock it with 50-100,000 barramundi finglings every year. Only about 1/3rd survive and it takes 15months for them to grow to the legal limit of 58cm and approx. 2.5kg. To date they managed to elude our lures. Apparently a lot of others as well.
The park is managed by Rob, his wife Kellie along with their 2 children, Emily & Jack. We had the privilege last weekend to be invited along to their spit roast dinner which was just beautiful. Our friends Di & Trevor were here also for the weekend and we had a great time.
Rob also does fishing charters and we had a trip with him for a couple of hours late one afternoon, just to get the rundown on how to catch barramundi, but with no luck. The lake has lots of trees, which the barra love to hide around, but you have to be careful not to get your lures caught. The only thing I managed to catch was the beautiful sunset before heading home.

D’Arcy & I went out for the day fishing and packed a picnic lunch, which we had in the dingy, tied to tree branch & watched some swans “swanning” around. D’Arcy managed to catch 3 catfish, which he carefully let go. On our way back later in the day our trusted new outboard motor decided to just stop. Couldn’t figure out the problem, so had to tie up to a tree and call for help. Just as well we had mobile phone service. Called Rob and not a problem for him, within half an hour he was there to give us a tow. The next morning the motor started fine. Still do not know what the problem was.
Had a few nights around the “conversation pit” with a very warm fire going. One night our friends Rachael & Greg ,had their 2 boys, Charlie & Hamish, cook us all some marshmallows over the coals. Even though now the temperature has dropped quite a lot in the evenings & mornings, the days are lovely & still warm, around 22-25deg.
As Gin Gin is only about 15mins. drive away the markets are on Sat. Mornings so we managed to head in & pick up our fresh produce. The local butchers is recommended as well for their great meat and the Traveller’s Rest Cafe, for their award winning pies, which even I had to try one for lunch one day a laksa (chicken & seafood) with a lovely pastry. Also picked this cafe for breakfast on market day, as we headed in very early.
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of John & Fran, who we met back in Pialba, come out & visit. They are now in the park at Bargara, where our next stop will be next week.
Have taken lots of pics, but too many to post here, so these are just a few.
Till next time.....Still having a few problems sorting out organizing the photos....please bear with me....