Downtown Tieri

The last couple of weeks have been consumed by domestic duties in Tieri.  We have spent good time in Tieri with our grandchildren doing the usual bush things like catching yabbies (crauchies), having a backyard fire and cooking them, playing golf, and generally being reasonably outdoors most of the time.  Brendan left some gardening for us and now that it has got quite hot, the grass is taking an effort to keep green.  There is always watering to do at the Golf Course as well.  Speaking of which the amalgamation of Golf & Bowls Clubs that Garry is working on is going well.  We have hired a greenskeeper from Victoria and have rented a house for him in Capella.  He starts on 24 October and will take the pressure off the volunteers.  I hope it rains soon or he will have a battle on his hands through summer.  The amount of paperwork invloved in putting two clubs under one name is unbelievable.  I put the application in last week to join the 2 licensed premises under one licence and applied to move the 4 pokie machines from the Golf Club to the Bowls Club under one licence.  The application to the Qld Govt was approximately 80pages long including 23 attached forms.  I am still 3 forms and one letter short.  I cannot understand why such a complicated process is necessary to achieve what can be said in one sentence - did I mention that there were 4 seperate cheques to be drawn to accompany the applications all made out to exactly the same Govt Department!!  Anyway we will get there - I do understand why part time volunteers get frustrated with the process and give up.
A trip to the beach at Yeppoon with the boys to visit thier great grandma provided some variety.  They spent about seven hours on the beach the day after we arrived as the weather was perfect - not too hot but hot enough to be in and out of the water regularly.  A trip to the movies to see Zookeeper was ok.  I think the best bit was the popcorn and there were a few funny bits in it provided by the animals.
I must comment on the Fitzroy Development Road or the Dingo Beef Road as we knew it. The road runs from Dingo north to near Nebo (Mackay).  Instead of the narrow single lane bitumen strip that ecisted when I last lived in the region, there is now a wide 2 lane bitumen road in very good condition.  The mining boom has obviously provided some good things.  There are a few trucks on it but if you are travelling in the area choose that road, its one of the best in the region.  You need to ignore most maps which show a little or secondary road only.
Apologies for not much travelling new this time but we will be back on the road in 14 days from today.
p.s. Our son and daugther in law are enjoying their holiday in Italy and seeing many great sights.  Brendan has loaded about 300 photos onto his Facebook page so far.

Tieri Duties

Our long weekend at Armstrong Beach was very relaxing and enjoyable - beach walks but no fishing.  I did manage to supply a couple of muddies for afternoon tea courtesy of a mate of the van park manager.  $10 each was good buying and they were offerred just after cousin Fred left (sorry) and just before we visited brother Bruce, Sonia and the kids at Half Tide Beach. Bruce cooked  them up in his special pot/s and they tasted great.  Thanks also to Bruce for the running repairs to the camping table that suffered some minor damage when packed up the other way.
CAMP OVENS - Anyone in need of Camp Oven should not go past one made by Bruce.  He has perfected a design that converts old car wheel rims into camp ovens complete with fitted lid.  The design is clever and provides an oven with a large flat base, is solid, and being made from steel rather than the usual cast iron, will not crack if cold water is thrown onto the oven when it is still hot.  You can throw this oven in the creek as soon as you take it off the fire and it won't crack.  Bruce can make them from 10", 13", or 15" wheel rims which, for the real enthusiast can be stacked inside each other.  Bruce can be contacted on 0419 320 451.
We attended a 50th birthday party at the home of Robyn & Brian Mills outside Kuttabul on Saturday night.  It was a mexican theme and much fun, eating, and drinking was had by all (except us who skipped the drinking bit). 
On Sunday morning we hit the road again back to Dysart for a lovely Fathers Day lunch with Kirsty, Ben, Isobel, and Madelaine. We heard all about the visiting Koala from the girls.  We then headed for Tieri which is to be our base for September.  We parked in Fabs and Emily's side yard much to Elliot & Violets delight as they had been hanging out for us to have a sleepover at their place for a while.  We had a nice week there enjoying the company of Elliot & Violet for breakfast each morning.  Fabs and family set off for Agnes Waters on Friday early for a weekend at the beach.  Fabs is playing Robinson Cup Golf at Miriam Vale on Sunday - a regional Queensland Teams Comp. 
After Fabs left on Friday we packed up for our shortest move yet - Banksia St Tieri to Platypus St Tieri and set up camp in Brendan and Michelle's side yard where we will be for the next month. Carol & I will be looking after Henry & Charlie while Brendan and Michelle travel overseas for their 10th Wedding Anniversary.  One week of school to go and then 2 weeks holidays for the boys - bring it on!!
Garry has been doing a bit of work this week for the Tieri Country Club which is the amalgamation of the Golf and Bowls Clubs.  As Tieri is a one company town, Xstrata have been very good at supporting the town and the club.  I look forward to a few more things to do over the next few weeks.  This week we have hired a full-time greenkeeper for both Clubs and Garry has to organise the purchase of a ute and the rental of a house for him and his family (with the help again of some Xstrata people, thanks).  We are about to advertise for a new Club Manager also so I look forward to that challenge in the coming days.

At a beach and loving it...

After our stay in Dysart we came across to Armstrong Beach about 1/2 hr south of Mackay.  I found a van park on the beachfront and it is small, old, but clean and very quiet.  All we can hear is the waves and the birds.  It turned out better than the website said because after we arrived I discovered that if I left the mobile inside the van, the signal was so weak the phone wouldn't ring. Carol went into Mackay for some retail therapy today while I managed 11 holes at the Sarina Golf Course.  I really enjoyed the course as it quite hilly and bendy and playing well helps.  I have yet to wet a line and I am told this is a great place to fish with 5 estauries within 5 kms but you need a tinny and I haven't made that leap yet.  We met up with Cousins Fred and Graham with Jan and John-Robert for dinner last night at the Duke (pub) in Walkerston.  They are all well and we enjoyed hearing how much it costs to run a 4WD from JR - 18yo telling his father how much a new set of tyres is going to cost (someone??). We hope to catch with brother Bruce, Sonia and family tomorrow. Bruce is working at Racecourse Sugar Mill in Mackay and they are crushing at the moment so he is working longer hours.  Daughter Kirsty had a koala wander into her backyard from the bush out the back of her house this morning.  It is only young and frightens easily but has been a thrill for the granddaughters.  Glad he arrived the day after we took our van out of the yard.  They can be quite destructive to annex canvas.  We are enjoying our rest at the beach and will return to Tieri on Sunday or Monday to babysit Henry and Charlie (grandkids) for a month.

Armstrong Beach 25 metres away.  Hay Point / Dalrymple Bay is about 20 kms away over the hill in the first photo.