Easter is almost here, that means school holidays. Also thousands of visitors are expected to pour in from all over the world for the Commonwealth Games, 4th to 15th April. Locals are being implored to have a game plan. Stay off the roads, don’t use the public transport, walk, bike or just stay at home. Many locals are getting out-of-town. Some have put their houses up for Airbnb whilst they are away. The general consensus is that it will be chaos…
So I decided, on a whim, to have a day out. A Sunday drive, while I can still get on the road.
Because of all the recent rain The hinterland waterfalls should be spectacular, so let’s drive up to Springbrook and take some photos.
The road is narrow and windy but very few cars are on the road. Strange, I think, on such a glorious day. Then the signs start to appear ROAD CLOSED. Oh well we will just see how far we can get.
Well that is definitely the end of the road. I ask this bloke purposely striding from somewhere behind all those barricades what the story is. He tells me the bridge was washed away by cyclone Debbie that hugely destructive cyclone that tore through the area last March, (we were in New Zealand at that time) that was a whole year ago and still not fixed. The waterfalls are on the other side of the non-existent bridge. It will be a 30-40 minute detour to get to them.
Then I spot his mate.He looks exhausted, and so he should be, he has just walked since 7-30am up and over and around the mountain. It is now 2-00pm. “You could get to the waterfalls up that way” he says, with a grin. They are in training for the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea and they are planning to treck it later this year.
Instead we spot this interesting little bridge, seemingly going nowhere, so we sit down to have a sketching session.Just back a few hundred metres from the closure I’d noticed “Polly’s Kitchen”. We’d been before, but many years ago. Time to go with the flow, forget the waterfalls and have lunch.
It is a delightful Queenslander house converted into a café with large shady verandahs looking out across the valley. No photo of the house or our meal, I’m slipping a bit on the photography front, as I was busy sketching this lovely little gazebos while waiting for the meal. I just loved the way the sun was highlighting the foliageThe gazebos is used for weddings, but no wedding today. It is on the banks of a stream and the original was washed away in the March 2017 floods. After a tasty lunch of corn and coriander fritters, salad and chips followed by apple pie and ice-cream we wandered down to have a look at the stream.
It does look very tranquil today, but looking up I could see all the debris deposited way above my head by the flood waters last March.
Time to head home as I am now trying to fit in a walk around the block each afternoon.
It is just on sunset as I power past Pelican Lake, well actually I only strolled and then came to a full stop to catch this beautiful sunset.There are still 10 days before the invasion of the hordes so maybe I will fit in another trip to the hinterland before then
I hope you have all had a pleasant weekend and I also hope the weather is improving in the Northern Hemisphere.
I’ve just looked over my shoulder and it’s not improving in the least, Pauline. Just the odd blizzard, but not a lot of snow on the ground. Grateful for small mercies. Mick has a job up at Chester-le-Street this morning and I may go with, just for the tootle out. Thanks for your calm presence, and good luck in the Games. 🙂 🙂
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You are certainly having it tough this winter. I wonder how much longer it will last. We are back to hot,dry days again.
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Might be the sign of a good Summer to come, Pauline. 🙂 🙂 But it might not!
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Well at least all the cold should’ve killed off all the garden bugs
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Oh, goodness, keep away from the hordes! Hope you fit in another hinterland trip 😊
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It will be crazy. I don’t think the roads or public transport will cope. Fortunately most of the action is the other end of the city from us
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Wishing you all the best, Pauline!
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Thanks Sue
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Forgetting the falls and having lunch. Made me smile. Sounds just like us. That gazebo is very lovely though.
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The falls won’t be going anywhere, so next time…. watch this space…😊
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I am…
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We stay off the highways on Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day otherwise you can sit in a non moving parking lot of cars. Best of luck to you during your chaos. 🙂
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Fortunately being retired means we can, mostly, chose non busy times to travel. We will be using our bikes a lot to get around. That is our “game plan”…..
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I’m a bit like you, I always follow a road closed notice until I reach the part that is actually closed, as sometimes it gets you to where you are going! At least you can still walk or cycle to the beach and the cafés when the hordes appear so I am sure you and Jack will just take it all in your stride 🙂
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We used to find that sometimes on walking tracks the sign would be up but often only a tree branch down that could be climbed over. Our bikes are going to be very handy, though shouldn’t be too bad down this end of the Coast
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Delightful ramble today, Pauline – thank you! Perhaps some early Autumn gardening & sketching might keep you both entertained at home for… oh, maybe a week, or 10 days? 😉
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Haha yes Del. After all the rain and being away a week there has been a lot of growth, so autumn pruning time coming up….
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Queenslander house? I know what that is.
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Perfect for this climate, but sadly out of fashion now
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Perhaps ‘fashion’ is the wrong word. It implies a certain degree of style. I doubt that contemporary homes will ever by stylish; and I doubt they are fashionable even as they are built. They are what happens to be available at the time. They are cheap and easy to construct.
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Maybe “type” would be a better word to use…. I agree nothing very fashionable, in my eyes, about most modern houses
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Shame about the waterfalls but a nice day nonetheless.
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The waterfalls will still be flowing for a while after all the rain we had a week ago. Hope to get there this week
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When the Commonwealth Games were in Glasgow last time we went on holiday! Friends who are, unlike us, sports fans, used our house for a bit and everything seemed to work out ok for the city, so maybe it won’t be so bad.
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That is good to hear about Glasgow. I hope it goes ok here but I don’t think we have the infrastructure to cope with so many people all wanting to go around at the same time. One accident on the motorway and everything grinds to a halt…. 😳
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Fingers crossed for you!
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Thank you
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A nice day out! Thank you for taking us. But stay clear of the hordes…and well, today we had sunshine. Sunshine. Just have a taste of that – you are so used to it that it is difficult to convey the feeling…Seems we have not had a real sunny day since October last year!
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I can understand your joy at seeing the sun. Similar to how I feel when we get rain after weeks of drought. We will be using our bikes a lot when the hordes are here
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Yes, I see you are right in that. And so good with the bikes – then you will get out and about anyway.
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It will be an interesting couple of weeks
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It will.
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Such a beautiful sunset, Pauline.
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Very calming to sit and watch
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Shame they haven’t bothered to maintain/repair the local infrastructure. Presumably too busy building/updating the stadiums.
I can imagine the area will be a madhouse come the Games. I hope you have enough supplies to stay bunkered down until it’s over.
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When I asked what was going on they said they’ll probably fix it after the games….
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Typical.
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🙄
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You made the most out those road closures! What a delightful afternoon. I was hoping to see some sketches since you gave up photographing the area in favor of sketching it instead. 🙂
The stream and gazebo look lovely.
It’s raining here today, but I hope to join you on a walk around the block if we get a break! My legs are itching to be moving. I’ve been pacing around the house…it’s just not the same.
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I know what you mean about a break in the weather Deborah, I’m still hoping to get to see the waterfalls when our weather clears up a bit, or a free day when I haven’t got other things to do. Every day it has been showery, not good weather for going inland
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[…] time for a Sunday drive, the long way round, to the other side of the road closure that defeated us previously on our quest for waterfall […]
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