Two Aces and the Blue Heeler

Still warm and sunny with temps in the mid 20's. The locals are starting to say that this is the best winter that they have had for many years.

Highlight of the week was a visit from Di's sister Jan who had been attending a Writers Festival in Byron Bay. On Monday we drove south from Tallebudgera Creek to Ballina, a distance of about 100 km, to pick up Jan where she had been staying with her friend Maggie. We had an excellent lunch at the new Hardwood Restaurant in Ballina. The restaurant is owned by a one-time plumber and is decorated with lots of old tools and copper pipes, heat exchangers and a hot water heater rescued from a building site, and now cleaned up and displayed in the restaurant.

On Tuesday we started the day with a walk to Burleigh Heads for a coffee and a visit to Woolworths Metro store for a few supplies. For lunch we caught up with Jan's sister-in-law Dianne and her husband John at the Talle Club which is located across the road from the caravan park. We had an excellent lunch and caught up on each other's news. Dianne and John used to live in Sydney but moved to Robina on the Gold Coast about 12 years ago.

On Wednesday we were up early to take Jan to the Greyhound Bus Terminal at Surfers Paradise as she was heading for Maloollaba on the Sunshine Coast where she was catching up with Allison, another old friend from Sydney. While we waited for the bus to leave we had an excellent breakfast while we read the papers.

The sunset over Tallebudgera Creek.

Another view of the sunset.

A copper hot water heater circa 1920's rescued from a building site by the plumber who owns the Hardwood Restaurant at Ballina.

The weather continues to be marvelous - if anything it is getting warmer - mid 20's.

A couple of times we have had a pair of dolphins in the creek, no doubt cleaning out the fish.

The highlight of the fortnight was a visit to the Gold Coast Caravan and Camping Show at the Racecourse. As usual it is hard to go to a show and not buy anything. We came home with a new mat for the annexe and another small folding table. The mats are supposedly made from recycled plastic in China and retailed by a couple of suppliers, one in Brisbane and one in Adelaide. We bought ours from the Aussie Mat Man for $200.00 for a 5 metre by 2.4 metre mat.

Every time we go to a show like this there are more and more caravan manufacturers, and the caravans are getting bigger and bigger. The latest craze is 4WD Expedition Vehicles as they like to call them. Provided you have enough money of course.

A couple of dolphins in the creek.

Small Tear Drop Vans.

A mid range Truck Camper.

Room for the toys at the back.

Spare wheels at the back with cranes to lift them up.

Top of the range Expedition Vehicle - Built on a MAN 4WD weighing in at 18 tonnes and costing about $680,000.

New mat in the annexe.

Di posing again.

Another folding table - I think that the folding tables are breeding.

The weather continues to be great - low to mid 20's every day.

This week we made an overnight visit to Noosa so that we could go to the Eumundi Market. We stayed at the RACV Noosa Resort where we had a self contained apartment. The 5 star resort has its own bar and restaurant and is outstanding value for money. The Eumundi Market was very crowded and parking was at a premium. While we waiting to try and get one of the last parking spots available for 4wd vehicles only, a face came to the window, looked at David and said "I know you" - Turned out to be Kerry Bryant-Adams, an ex employee of CPA Australia in Melbourne - now retired to the Sunshine Coast and volunteering on Market Days.

Another weather photo at Tallebudgera Creek.

Dredge moored in position in the Tallebudgers Creek, ready to pump sand to Burleigh Beach.

Pump Station for the Tallebudgera Creek Dredge.

Our lunch venue in Noosa.

Bedroom at the RACV resort

Lounge room.

The balcony of our apartment.

View from our balcony at the RACV Noosa Resort.

Another view from our balcony at the RACV Noosa Resort.

Parking was at a premium at Eumundi.

The Original Eumundi Market.

Police Pipe Band entertaining the crowd at Eumundi.

Early model Holden unloading stock for a market stall.

The weather keeps on improving - low to mid 20's every day, although a tad cool over night when it gets down to 10 degrees.

A few photos will tell the story.

Self propelled caravan - does the driver sit on the left or the right - or perhaps that's him with a remote control.

Avida van that is not a Winnebago.

Avida vans are definitely not Winnebagos!

A real Winnebago.

The dredge waiting for low tide to get under the Tallebudgera Bridge.

Today's weather photo.

V8 speedboat on Tallebudgera Creek.

This bloke is getting dangerous.

The latest in scooters.

New panels on the fridge doors.

Another great day in Paradise.

As the Cats played the GWS Giants in Sydney last week and are due to play the Brisbane Lions in Brisbane this week they spent the week on the Gold Coast. As well as swimming at Broadbeach and checking out the attractions of the Gold Coast, they had training runs on Tuesday and Thursday at the Broadbeach footy ground - the home of the Broadbeach Cats. The ground is a very attractive suburban footy ground surrounded by plenty of greenery.

We decided to go and watch the the Thursday morning training run with Colin and Merle Sewell who are also Cats supporters. There were several hundred Cats supporters along to see the team train. Most of the kids had Geelong footy jumpers and the most popular numbers were 14 - Joel Selwood, and 26 - Tom Hawkins.

Goal kicking practice did not instill great confidence - only a few seemed able to kick goals - I hope they play better than they trained. Tommy Hawkins managed to hit the point post and the goal post, and he did not kick too many goals.

Proceedings were being monitored by a drone - probably spies from Brisbane!

After the training run the coach and the players spent a lot of time talking to the fans and signing autographs - these days a very important part of the modern footballers role in the community. One glaring omission from the training session was Patrick Dangerfield, who was in Geelong attending the birth of his son George Patrick Dangerfield. Those cheeky buggers over in Adelaide have claimed George under the father/son rule but I'm sure that will only mean that Danger will keep playing for Geelong for a few more years yet!

Once the training run was over we drove up to the Spit to get some prawns from one of the prawn trawlers for tonight's dinner.

The home of the Broadbeach Cats.

A nice suburban ground at Broadbeach.

Di with Merle and Colin on the balcony of the Broadbeach Cats footy clubrooms.

Coach Chris Scott on his way to the TV cameras with the Geelong media manager.

Goal shooting practice - Andrew Mackie being a backman is looking the wrong way.

Does any-one know where the goals are?

A huddle with the coach prior to training proper.

Getting ready for a Red against Blue practice game.

Looks like Matty Scarlett to me.

A drone keeping an eye on things - Brisbane spies perhaps?

Motlop outnumbered again.

Motlop again.

Mitch Duncan signing autographs.

Chris Scott signing autographs.

Looks like kissing babies is part of the action.

Di with Colin and Merle.

A good crowd turned up to watch the Cats train.

Tom Lonergan due to play his 200th game on Saturday.

Andrew Mackie signing autographs.

Steve Motlop signing autographs.

Prawns for tea.