Last night I drove our 2 sons and Bec to a 'fancy dress' party at Ashmore about 8:30pm, and then drove back to camp. Lukey rang at 12:53am, they were ready to come home, so I drove there, picked them up and drove them to their respective homes, I got back to bed at 1:56am and tossed and turned for awhile before drifting off to sleep. We awoke about 7:30am, Marg was chipper as she didn't go with me, I was a tad tired, BUT we had a BIG day ahead of us. We were taking Mont and her friend to Paradise Country Farm.

Marg made us some cheese sangas and the girls' mums made their lunches. We picked the girls up from Mont's house at 9:30am and 10 minutes later, we were parking at the Paradise Country carpark. The ticket office is located in the central building about 500 meters from the carpark. I bought 2 'old farts' tickets (2x$20) plus 2 kids (2x$20) with opal mining (2x$5) and gem fossicking (2x$5) a total of $100. Not bad value. You could buy your lunch there for $20 each, we gave that a miss. My cheese sangas were YUMMA and cheaper.
Marg had worked out the timetable and it went smoothly. First port of call was the baby animals with feeding, the girls fed the baby goats and nursed a bantam chook and patted other baby animals. They were happy. We then walked over to the Billy tea demo, which was entertaining, even the girls showed interest. Followed by the Stock horse demo which was interesting. Followed by the whip cracking, boomerang throwing (none returned due to the breeze BUT on Wednesday when we sussed out the place, I DID see a boomerang return to the thrower), then saw the Australia kelpie and sheep demo, followed by milking a cow. I might add that the crowd was 99% Asian and consequently, the announcer repeated whatever was said in 'Asian'. Their money helps our economy. When it was photo time, I did notice that they were very pushy, SO when it was photo time with the cow, they were pushy in front of our 2 girls. The 2 staff members had name tags (Donna and Rob), so as the girls and I waited in turn, the tourists would push in front of us, until I casually mentioned this to Rob, who after the next photo was taken and everyone rushed to be next, he stopped everyone and ushered Mont and Sophie to the cow, while Donna asked them if they wanted to milk it, which they did, while this was happening, I was taking plenty of photos. I thanked Donna and Rob and we walked over to the Roos, emus and koalas. The emus were in an area which we were not allowed in, the roos had a roped off area which is their rest area and we are not allowed in there. No prob, as some of the roos were in the 'public' area and the girls managed to feed them, so they were happy. The koalas were in their trees and fenced in, but they were within one meter of you, so were easy to see but naturally, you couldn't touch them. The girls were happy.

Lunchtime: there was a marquee without sides probably 20m x 10m with benches and seats under it, just near the Dingo enclosure where we ate our lunch. Our cheese sangas were yumma and the girls ate all their lunch.
After lunch, we checked out Dennis the Dingo before the girls did Opal mining. They received a pair of safety glasses and a mining certificate and then go into 'a cave' where they pick at the walls and find some opals. The Opal mining is set up in a man made cave with numbered patches on the cavewall. You pick at a numbered patch and there are 2 or 3 clay balls which you crack open and inside is a piece of opal. Mont got 1 small and 1 large pieces, while Sophie got 3 small pieces. The girls loved it.

Next was the gem mining, here they give you a plastic bag of sand which contains various gems. In the gem area there is a poster of various gems that you can find (32 in total). You partially empty the sand into a sieve and rinse the sieve in the running water to remove the sand and your gems are left. The girls thought that this was the best part of the day. The opal and gem mining for $5 a ticket was excellent value.
The last attraction was the sheep shearing demo, again this was interesting. Just before we left we promised that we would give the girls $15 each to buy something.
Bad Mistake: I reckon that it took them 20 minutes before they finally decided on what they wanted. Just when you thought that had decided, they changed their mind, this happened a few times. By this time, I was turning into a grumpy Grandpa, but didn't show it. They ended up with a didgeridoo and a boomerang.

We returned the girls to Mont's home about 2pm and then Marg and I drove back to camp. We were buggered and managed to have a nice nanna nap for a few hours.

Dinner was a scratch meal. We had cereal.

Tomorrow, if I have recovered from today, I will ride.

We slept well until 6:00am and had recovered after being buggered yesterday. I got up and went on the internet, while Marg watched 'Sunrise'. I had brekky and as usual, left Marg in bed as I changed into 'cycleman' and rode my small route (Surfers, The Spit, coffee and Lands End about 34kms). The wind was a light building breeze from the South. I took a few photos at Surfers and while having a coffee at cafe Rockpool, I watched the guys ride their Airwheel, which is like a segway.

After showering, Marg and I drove down to check out Pacific Fair shopping, as for over the past 12months it was being renovated. It is still not finished and wont be finished by its scheduled date of mid 2015. We had a coffee at Michels and went to Coles. We are still trying to get the Telstra $30 sim card for $1, but Coles Pacific Fair had runout of stock, SO we decided to call into Coles Australia Fair on the way home, as we had some shopping to do. Aus Fair did have the sim cards on special, so we collected 2 simcards.

Back at camp, we had lunch and I spent most of the arvo, updating this website with yesterday's farm trip, while Marg read her book and did her crochetting.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 34kms gives me a total of 621kms for May and my 13th ride at Southport for a total of 565kms OR if you are really into figures, I have ridden 565kms since leaving home back on 3rd May.

Dinner was nanchos. They were yumma.

Tomorrow is BINGO.

We slept very well until 7:00am, when I got up and went on the internet, while Marg watched 'Sunrise'. We had brekky and got ourselves organised for Bingo and left at 8:20am. Arrived at the Sharks about 10 minutes later, the carpark was chockers as they had a few function going, but Bingo was a tad quieter than normal. I brought 2 full sets plus 2 lucky numbers for $46 and then sat at 'our' table, as it was free. Marg and I marked the various games and were ready for the 9:30am eyes down with heaps of time to spare, so Marg went and ordered coffee and cake. Our luck isn't with us, the same result as last week, we both didn't get a look in, not winning anything, we were close but no cigar.
Our Bingo summary after our 3rd week, paid $46 won ZERO currently losing $134. Off to a great start. We both let the team down big time, there is always next week. Our luck needs to change.

Back at camp at lunchtime, Lukey rang us, it was Mason's injections day and weighs and measures. He is 16 weeks old and 7.01kgs aand 71cms. They wont be finished before school finishes, SO he asked us, if we could pick up Mont. Of course, we would. We left at 2pm and drove to school, parked and waited until knock off time. We picked up Mont and drove her home, checked on Mason, who had recovered from his injections. We were back at camp by 4pm.

Dinner was spag sauce sangas, they are yumma.

Tomorrow, I am again Lukey's chauffeur as his car has an oil leak and is booked in to be looked at.

We slept very well until 7:00am, when I got up and went on the internet, while Marg watched 'Sunrise'. I had brekky and left Marg in bed as I had to meet Lukey at his mechanics at 8:00am. Lukey's car has an oil leak and is due for its 200,000kms service. I was late this morning, he beat me to his mechanics, I still got there before 8am. I picked him up and we drove back to his shack and picked up Mont and took her to school, then I dropped Lukey at home, he was working from home today. I headed back to camp.

Back at camp, I changed into 'cycleman' and headed off to Burleigh Heads, stopped at Robbie's cafe for a coffee, where I thanked Sherry for organising the photo with Robbie, then off through Broadbeach, Surfers and out to the end of The Spit where I saw the Pirate's Pirate ship about 1 kilometer offshore then upto Lands End and back to camp. Total of 58kms.

As Lukey's car wasn't ready in time, Marg and I went and picked up Mont from school and took her home, where we stayed (playing with Mason, who is 16weeks, 7kgs and 71cm) until 5pm, when Lukey's mechanic rang him to say the car was ready. We dropped him off at the mechanics and headed on back to camp.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 58kms gives me a total of 685kms for May and my 14th ride at Southport for a total of 626kms OR if you are really into figures, I have ridden 626kms since leaving home back on 3rd May.

Dinner was nanchos. They were yumma.

Tomorrow we visit our Club (CSI Southport) at 4pm for the pokies, a few chilled refreshers and dinner.

We slept very well until 7:00am, when I got up and went on the internet, while Marg watched 'Sunrise'. I had brekky and left Marg in bed as I changed into 'cycleman' and headed off to Lands End , then to Burleigh Heads, stopped at Robbie's cafe for a coffee, then off through Broadbeach, Surfers and out to the end of The Spit, then upto Lands End again and back to camp. Total of 66kms. As there was a very light breeze, the water was flat and absolutely beautiful.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 66kms gives me a total of 751kms for May and my 15th ride at Southport for a total of 692kms OR if you are really into figures, I have ridden 692kms since leaving home back on 3rd May.



My little man, Mason was coming over about lunchtime for a coffee at Cafe Rockpool, actually, his mum was bringing him. After I showered, we walked down to cafe Rockpool for lunch. As we sat down, I noticed Chaz Mostert, the V8 Supercar driver for Pepsi Ford. He was having lunch at 'our' cafe, how dare he. We sat 2 tables away and I had my back to him, as I didn't want to interrupt his lunch, BUT as soon as he was leaving, Marg told me aand I was up and talking to him. He was here today doing a promo for the Gold Coast 600 in October. It is sponsored by Castrol who also sponsors Chaz, SO they flew him up here from Melbourne to do the promo. I think Chaz was 'happy' that he met me.
After lunch, we walked back to our camp and Mason and his mum drove back home. Marg had a quick nanna nap while I buggered about on the computer. At 4pm, we drove to 'our club' (CSI Southport), as it is Thursday and Marg plays the pokies, I drink beer and update this website, then at 5:30pm, we have dinner.

Dinner was pizzas. They were absolutely YUMMA.

Tomorrow we are going to Helensvale - shopping and I have to buy a train ticket.

Today, we were off to Helensvale to the Pirates' movie set, train station and shopping Centre.
We slept very well until 7:00am, when I got up and went on the internet, while Marg watched 'Sunrise'. We had brekky and left camp around 9am and drove to Helensvale. Just before the shopping centre, we turned left and drove upto the movie set and took some photos. Next week, I will be working on the Trailblazers RV stand at the Brisbane Caravan show, so I bought a senior train go card, then over to Westfield where we did some food shopping. On the way home, we drove to Jay and Bec's land and saw that their house had started. The footings are being marked out. We are all rapt that the construction has started.

Back at camp, we had lunch and I changed into 'cycleman' and headed off to Tallebudgera Tourist park, to see David and Di who arrived yesterday. I meet them and we chatted, while David and Di were having lunch. I cycled back to camp, stopping at Cafe Rockpool for a coffee. As the sun was setting, Marg and I sat on the bench seat and looked at over the Broadwater. The view was just beautiful.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 40kms gives me a total of 791kms for May and my 16th ride at Southport for a total of 732kms OR if you are really into figures, I have ridden 732kms since leaving home back on 3rd May.

Dinner was salsa sauce sangas, they were yumma.

Tomorrow nothing is planned.

Today, we have Troy the Hot Water fix it man coming, as our HWS has stopped working. Bugger.
Checking my stats, as at yesterday when it refused to work, we had been away for 1,056 days. The HWS would be used at least twice a day so at least 2,112 times. Whether that is good or bad. Stiff shit, it died.

I have slept better, weirdo dreams. The alarm went off at 7am and we got up and dressed, as Troy was coming between 7:30am and 9:00am, he arrived at 7:35am. Bloody prompt. He did his thing and found that the thermostat was buggered but more importantly, the diode on the 'motherboard module' thingy was rooted. Bottom line, Troy got our HWS back working.

After Troy left, Lukey rode up on his motorbike for a chat. I eventually changed into 'cycleman' and headed off to Labrador then down to Surfers and out to The Spit, where I was watching and following a beautiful yacht (about 60 foot) it reminded me of the magnificent yacht 'Condor" which is now based out of Airlie Beach. As you can see I took a few photos. It appeared to be crewed by 3 people (Dad, Mum and son). There was a light onshore Easterly this morning, so 'Dad' sailed the yacht through the seaway, down to Southport Yacht Club under mainsail only. I rode along the road watching them. When he got to his berth at Southport YC, Mum dropped the mainsail and stowed it to the boom, then he motored into his berth. They are obviously very experienced yachties. It was magic just watching the yacht gracefully slicing through the water. JUST Beautiful. After watching the yacht approaching their berth. I watched George and his mates swim past me. Life can't get any better. I then stopped at Cafe Rockpool for a coffee and choccy muffin.

Marg and I spent the remainder of the arvo, just buggering about at camp. It was just magic.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 40kms gives me a total of 831kms for May and my 17th ride at Southport for a total of 772kms OR if you are really into figures, I have ridden 772kms since leaving home back on 3rd May.

We are that relaxed that we couldn't be bothered making anything special for dinner, so I am having egg sangas while Marg is having some of her homemade soup.

Tomorrow nothing is planned.

We both slept well. I awoke just before 6am and put on my earphones BUT my little portable radio is now full of static, not normal for FM. Update: A new battery fixed it.
As Marg was snoring like a chaff cutter, I got up and put on the Hot Water, after 30 minutes Marg had hot water and I went riding.
Being Sunday, there were people everywhere, walking, jogging and some just being real 'pains in the arses' - ignoring my bell and passing comments. As Ben Cousins says "Such is Life". I rode through Labrador to Lands End (my northern turnaround point) and then headed south with a slight tail breeze, all the way to laycock Ave, Surfers (my southern turnaround point) before retracing my route from Surfers to Southport LSLC and then hitting the gravel path (Federation Walk) all the way to the Spit. I stopped at the end, sat on 'my' rock and ate my 2 bananas before riding to Cafe Rockpool where I had a coffee and choccy muffin. Such is life. No. Living the dream. No. Life is good.

Back at camp, Marg was still in her nightie, I showered and changed while Marg did the same. We planned to visit the Robina Shopping centre, but Jay rang to say that he had some of my redirected mail, so we decided to pick that up at Arundel and drove to Robina. As we drove out of our Caravan Park and waited at the traffic lights to cross Marine Pde, the traffic heading South was bumper to bumper, a quick discussion in the car and we decided to visit Helensvale instead of Robina (less traffic). We will visit Robina during the week, less people.
We picked up our mail from Jay and Bec, nothing exciting. Confirmed with Jay that he can drive me to the Brisbane Showgrounds on Wednesday for the start of the Brissy caravan show. No probs, he can BUT I have to be at his place by 5:20am, as that is when he leaves for work. Bloody Hell, I will have to get up about 4am. That's the middle of the BLOODY night. I will be catching the train on all the other days BUT I need tgo bring my chair, laminated posters and other junk, a bit much to bring on the train, SO no option but to go with Jay.

We arrived at Helensvale Westfield, Marg found what she was looking for, some sort of beads that melt and then we had coffee at Michels before heading back to camp. We spent the rest of the arvo, just chillin' out back at camp. Marg managed a quick nanna nap, while I updated Mason's webpage and this page.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 34kms gives me a total of 861kms for May and my 18th ride at Southport for a total of 805kms OR if you are really into figures, I have ridden 805kms since leaving home back on 3rd May.

Dinner was Quiche Lorraine. It was yumma.

Tomorrow nothing is planned.

Last night was a warm night, we didn't need a blanket. I slept well, Marg was too warm and slept shithouse.

I won't be riding for over a week, as I am at the Brissy Caravan show, SO I rode to Burleigh Heads with a coffee at Robbie's cafe. Rode back through Surfers stopping at the Spit where I ate my bananas and watched a guy with his dog on his surfboard. I thought that it was animal cruelty. It just didn't look right. I stopped at the Pirates 5 movie set at the other end of the Spit and spoke to Costa (Gate keeper) for about 15 minutes, he wasn't busy BUT the 'Black Pearl' a replica ship is making its way to his location from Brissy. Left Costa and headed to Lands End and then back to camp.

Back at camp, Marg was dressed, I showered and changed and we drove over to Oz Fair for lunch at Cafe Moccachino. Marg had scones, jam and cream while I had a 3 egg omelette. It was yumma BUT not as good as Marg. After lunch, we did some food shopping at Woollies and then back to camp. For the rest of the arvo, we did bugger all BUT we both managed a nanna nap.

My riding stats: Today's ride of 58kms gives me a total of 58kms for June and my 19th ride at Southport for a total of 863kms OR if you are really into figures, I have ridden 863kms since leaving home back on 3rd May.

Dinner was Marg's homemade soup with toast. It was yumma.

Tomorrow is Bingo.

Queensland winter arrived in force overnight with a minimum of 9.6°, I got up about 3:30am and found my sleepingbag, I was then very warm. We finally woke up about 6:45am. We had brekky and got ourselves organised for Bingo and left at 8:20am. Arrived at the Sharks about 10 minutes later, the carpark was empty, as there were no functions happening. I brought 2 full sets plus 2 lucky numbers for $46 and then sat at 'our' table, as it was free. Marg and I marked the various games and were ready for the 9:30am eyes down with heaps of time to spare, so Marg went and ordered coffee and cake. Our luck has finally changed. I won $55 and a couple of games later, Marg wins $20.
Our Bingo summary after our 4th week, paid $46 won $75 currently losing $105.
We have turned the corner and now on a winner.

Back at camp at lunchtime, Marg had to have an injection, SO we drove to Terry White Pharmacy and bought the medicine and then walked down stairs to the Medical Centre, who injected her. Back upstairs for a coffee and some shopping at Woollies. The rest of the arvo was spent around camp, sitting on the benchseat overlooking the Broadwater in a cloudless sky, even though it was cool. (Jeans and T shirt weather).

Marg cooked sausages, onions, gravy and mash. It was YUMMA.

Tomorrow, I am working at Brisbane Caravan show, while Marg will have a ball doing her thing without me.

I slept fair last night, as I had set the alarm for 4:30am but woke about 4:10am got up and showered. Very strange, I was the only one in the amenities at that hour. I left camp at 4:50am and drove to Jays at Arundel. Naturally, he was up, as this is normal for him but NOT for me. I loaded my chair, hat, posters and backpack into Jays station wagon and we headed along the M1 to the showgrounds. Jay said that the traffic was good, I reckon that it was crap, there were a number of stops and bottlenecks before we even hit the gateway offramp. Anyway, it was good being chauffeured into Brissy, as I am always the driver. We arrived at the showgrounds at 6:25am, so Jay drove me to where he was going to pick me up and also took me past Phil and Chris's apartments and showed me where the Bowen Hills train station was. After all this, he dropped me out the front of Phil and Chris apartments, it was 6:30am. A tad early
The apartments are the Code apartments, which are self contained and about 500 meters from a showground entrance. I waited out the front until 6:45am when I rang Phil and he came down to let me in. Their apartment was nice, it was on the 6th floor and has great views of Brissy.
Phil and I left the apartment a bit after 8am and walked over to the Trailblazers RV stand and set it up ready for all our customers. Phil and Chris have a monster 4WD off road slide on , a normal slide on and a 20 foot off road fifth wheeler on display. I blu tacked my laminated sheets and posters onto the outside of the fiver. My display consists of a poster size map of Oz showing all our trips with highlights marked, a poster of our rig, sheets of our fuel economy (overall, best, worst figures) and a small photo of the tray of the mighty Navara showing it in travel mode with all our 'crap' loaded.
As the public were queuing in their droves, the show organisers opened the gates 15 minutes earlier than planned. Our stand had peaks and troughs of people, some times there were 15 odd and at other times there were none. At lunchtime, I walked over to the old pavilion and ate my lunch in the shade. I also bought a 5 litre bottle of Bio Magic for our toilet, I haggled over price and got a $14 savings. It all helps.
By mid afternoon, I was feeling my legs as we were standing up for most of the day, so I was sitting more than standing. At 3:45pm, I left as Jay was picking me up closeby. He arrived about 4pm and we drove down Ann St through the centre of Brissy onto various roads until we got onto the Gold Coast hwy. There a number of bottlenecks and stoppages on the way but Jay said it was a good run, I hope that I never see a bad run. We got back to Jays about 5:30pm and I picked up the mighty Navara and drove back to camp arriving about 5:50pm.

I was absolutely buggered.
Dinner was sausage sangas, they were yumma.
I was in bed by 8:00pm ish.

Tomorrow is another day at the Brisbane Caravan show, while Marg will have a ball doing her thing without me.

After yesterday's tiring day I slept very well. As all my junk is at the show, I don't need to go with Jay at his ungodly hour, so I am catching the train.
I set the alarm for 6:30am and woke earlier, so I was up and in the shower by 6:20am, had brekky and left about 7:05am and drove to Helensvale train station for the 7:39am flyer to Bowen Hills, it is approx 1.25hour trip. As you may remember I bought a Senior go card but the show ticket allows free travel, so I asked Helen the station mistress "Does my show exhibitors ticket allow my free travel"?, she said yep, just show the ticket checker at the gate and when I get to the other end show the ticket checker my ticket and I shouldn't have any probs.
The train is a ripper, it has free wifi, so I opened up my app, find my friends, and followed myself to Bowen Hills station, see I am quite crazy. At Bowen Hills I walked to the end of the platform, there were 'go card' readers and no barriers so I walked up the stairs and onto the street where Jay showed me yesterday. I was about 200 meters from Phil's apartment and about 500 meters from the show entrance. I can live with that.
I arrived at our stand at 9:10am and Phil and Chris were not there as they were at a Dometic breakfast, another junket. They arrived about 10 minutes later, we setup our stand, rolled out the awnings, erected their banners and blu tacked my display and then the advertising stuff. All this takes about 15 minutes, if Phil and Chris don't get interrupted with their many friends dropping by for a chat. Their friends are all various caravanning fraterity. During the day, we had our busy times and some quieter times but on the whole Phil is happy with the show so far, he has made some sales. We hope to make more during the next 5 days, if I don't die in the meanwhile, for someone that is retired, standing talking to people is bloody tiring.
Again lunchtime was spent eating my lunch in the old pavillon in the shade and checking out some of the show. The showgrounds are in the middle of some extensive renovations and their caravans and accessory stands hidden everywhere. It is like a rabbit warren. At 3:45 I packed up my back pack and walked about 300 meters to my meeting spot so Jay could pick me up and drive me home. He arrived a bit after 4:00 pm and away we went. The traffic was similar to last night Jay dropped me at the Helensvale station where I picked up the mighty Navara and drove home, arriving just before 6pm. Jay did say that tomorrow night (Friday) the traffic should be shit as it is the long weekend holiday. I can't wait.

Got home no probs. Dinner was spag sangas. Yumma.
I buggered about on my laptop, watched the news and then thought about bed. I eventually went to bed about 8 pm as I was buggered. I think that this will be my norm until the end of the show.

Tomorrow, is the same catch train, talk, and get driven home.

I had the alarm set for 6:30 am but woke and got up at 6am. Had a shave and shower and that time there was a guy in my favourite shower, Bastard.
Marg got up and stripped the bed as it was washing day. As I left Marg was putting the washing in the dryers. I drove to Helensvale station, traffic flowed, parked the mighty Navara in the carpark beside a lightpole and walked over and through the barriers as it was open and caught the 7:39am flyer from Helensvale to Bowen Hills.

Another day in the workforce.

Arrived at Bowen Hills, walked the 500m to the show entrance, I arrived about 9:15am. Phil and Chris arrived a few minutes later, Phil locked the keys in a compartment and I started setting up for the day. It's all about timing , just as I had nearly finished, Phil and Chris arrived. Timing.
It was a busy day, Jay rang me to tell me that he was working from work, no drama, as I would catch the 4:08pm flyer from Bowen Hills to Helensvale. Lunchtime, I walked over to the oval and sat in the pavillon but this time I sat in the sun. I also had to check out some opposition, which i did.
About 3:45pm, I packed my backpack, said goodbye and walked to Bowen Hills station for the 4:08pm flyer. After 3 stations it was standing room only. Got to the mighty Navara at Helensvale it was how I left it, drove back to camp. Thank god, Jay decided to work from today, as there as an accident on the M1 (Gold Coast hwy) and they closed the highway, we would still be driving home at some ungodly hour. Don't forget that it is the long weekend and every bastard heads to the Gold Coast for the weekend. I drove into our camp and it is chockers, they obviously were all heading to Broadwater Tourist park.

Marg cooked sausages, eggs, spag on toast for dinner, it was absolutely yumma.

I watched the news and a bit of TV, checked my emails etc and was in bed by 8:00pm. I am buggered after another day's work.

Note:I have typed the daily updates on tyhe train, to and from the show. It takes 1.25hours, I have to do something.

Tomorrow is another day at the Brisbane Caravan show, while Marg will have a ball doing her thing without me.

I set the alarm for 6am, as the trains are now 30 minutes apart compared to 15 minutes on a normal weekday.
I awoke about 5:30am, after an excellent 9.5 hours sleep, I never sleep that long. I laid in bed listening to 92.5Gold FM and thought why lay in bed while I could be getting ready, so up and off to the shower. I planned to catch the 7:54am which would get me to our stand about 9:15am, but I thought that is a tad too late, so I now plan to catch the 7:24am which gets me there at 8:45am. A lot better. SO I had brekky weet bix and fruit, checked that I had my ipad, modem, power bank and phone and also had my cheese sangas for lunch. All checked. I also added some cappuccino packets.
Left camp at 6:55am and drove to Helensvale station, had a 10 minute wait on the cold platform. The train arrived on time and was nearly empty. I sat in a window seat with the sun streaming in and keeping me warm.

Got to Bowen Hills on time and walked to our stand arriving about 8:50am. By the time Phil had arrived I had setup our stand, rolled out the awnings, etc. being Saturday we were busy with mainly families but it was good fun, at lunchtime I walked around various sections of the show. During the afternoon, the rain clouds had starting moving in, I left a little bit early and walked over to Bowen Hills station, I had to wait about 15 minutes for the train but I was sitting undercover and it didn't rain. All I got was a couple if drops.

While in the train I wrote this for our website.

Arrived at Helensvale at 5:40pm, a couple of minutes late. Found the mighty Navara where I parked it, untouched, thankfully. Got back to camp just on 6pm, watched the news and at 8pm, I went to bed. I feel a routine developing here. Marg cooked sausages, potatoe gems and vegies for dinner. It was yumma.

Tomorrow is another day at the Brisbane Caravan show, while Marg will have a ball doing her thing without me.

I had the alarm set for 6:30am, but I will never sleep until then. I went to bed at 8pm and this morning I woke at 5:30am, and laid in bed and listened to my radio through my earphones. Got up at 5:50am, walked over to the amenities for a shave and shower. Had my weetbix and fruit for brekky and checked my email. Marg got up about 6:30am and stayed up. Today Lukey is picking her up and she is visiting Mason, she will enjoy that. While I have been 'working', Marg has had a ball, doing whatever she wants too without me interrupting her. She has walked to our club to play the pokies and lost.
I left camp at 7:00am and arrived at Helensvale about 7:15am with a 10 minute wait. The weather is not as cool as the past 3 mornings. My 7:24am flyer arrived and there are approx 30 people on board, I counted them as it pulled in and I sat in the back carriage, as Bowen Hills exit is at the rear. Arrived at our stand at 8:50am and had it set up just as Phil and Chris arrived. Being Sunday there were heaps of families and tyre kickers. At lunchtime I walked and purchased 3 rolls of rescue tape. It's good tape. While I was out I bought a new water filter as our current one probably will need replacing soon and its a lot easier to buy one at the show instead from the internet. Back at our stand heaps more people and then it died right down, so at 3:30pm Chris sent me home, who am I to say NO to a lady. I caught the 3:53pm flyer instead of the 4:23pm flyer, so I should get home about 5:30pm and did.

Marg made macaroni cheese and it was yumma.

I watched TV for awhile before retiring to bed about 8:30pm.

Tomorrow will be the same routine, up early, train, work, train and bed.

I slept shithouse last night, I woke numerous times, so today will probably be a struggle.
I got up at 5:45am, walked over to the amenities, shaved and showered, had brekky weetbix and fruit, buggered about on the laptop before walking out the door at 7:00am. While I have been working, Marg has been enjoying herself without me. Yesterday, Lukey picked her up and they went back to his shack, where he did some of our washing while Marg played with Mason. Lukey is such a nice son. on the way back to camp, they did some good shopping.

I arrived at Helensvale station with 10 minutes to spare. The train arrived, I took a window seat and started writing this.
Arrived at our stand about 8:50am, setup the stand and Phil and Chris superb timing, they arrived just as I finished. It was busy as usual. Lunchtime, I ate my sangas in the shade of the old pavilion. On my way back to our stand, I got brochures to South Australia's Yorke and Eyre peninsulas, Flinders Ranges and the Murray also a brochure of Birdsville. Marg and I may do Birdsville next year.
After a busy afternoon, Chris let me leave early, so I could catch 3:53pm flyer to Helensvale. Arrived back at camp about 5:30pm.

Dinner was last night's leftover macaroni cheese and it was STILL yumma.

I watched TV for awhile before retiring to bed about 8:30pm.

Tomorrow will be the same routine, up early, train, work BUT IT IS THE LAST DAY. YIPPEE.

I slept very well last night after going to bed at the late hour of 8:40pm. Had the alarm set for 6:00am but awoke at 5:30, got up at 5:50, walked over to the amenities, had a shave and some bastard was in my shower. Not happy, Jan.

While having brekky the motorhome next door warmed up his motor at 6:23am, waking Marg and I suppose, many other campers. As Marg was awake she wanted Kochie on, so I turned on TV and she watched the recording of sunrise. I left camp at 6:50am for the 7:24am flyer. Got to Helensvale to just miss the 7:09 flyer but I couldnt be stuffed running for it, so I caught the 7:24 flyer. Big disappointment, there was no wifi on my train.

Arrived at our stand about 8:50am, setup the stand and Phil arrived just as I finished. As it was the last day, there were more staff than customers but that is normal at these shows. About 3pm, we started packing up the stand and at 3:45pm, I left and was picked up by Jay and then we picked up Lukey at The Valley and Jay drove all of us to Helensvale. It was great going home with my 'little' boys.

Marg surprised me by cooking corned beef and mash, absolutely yumma.

I watched TV and buggered about on my laptop.

Tomorrow, I am doing 'Sweet F A'. We have to do some food shopping.