Ipswich

We left Roma after a lovely stay at Ups & Downs and set off for our next destination which was out of Condamine. It was interesting to find out that the Condamine river is part of the Murray Darling Basin - such a long way away! We camped at this spot by a lagoon which was a bit windy - however, after a pleasant evening around our campfire, rains descended in the night and we woke to a different site!!

                                        
We must have chosen the muddiest lowest spot as our annex was under water and we couldn’t do anything without being covered in mud!! The drizzly rain persisted so we packed up quickly and decided to forego another bush camp to come straight to Ipswich. It’s a  beautiful camp site here!!

                                         
It’s surprising how many gas fields we saw from Condamine to Dalby - they were everywhere and very big complexes too.

Ipswich has really turned the weather on for us now and we’ve been enjoying sunny days of about 25degrees with cool damp nights excellent for sleeping. We enjoyed a day at the Caravan and Camping show in Brisbane and thank heavens we’re not in the market for a new van as it’s all overwhelming and confusing. So many beautiful vans and campers to choose from and all are lovely. 

Dennis & Tops’s van received a thorough clean and with all the red dust off, it looks like new again. It is presently in at Lifestyle having some warranty jobs done. We’ve filled in the time here enjoying Rick and Flo’s generous company and even helped celebrate Indi’s 3rd birthday!

Dennis snuck off by himself to investigate a tractor place we’ve driven past several times, whilst Tops caught up with washing and Darryl and I undertook some retail therapy.

We enjoyed lunch out together at the Lions soccer club which was a lovely place to enjoy a quality meal at very reasonable prices.

From there Dennis Tops Darryl and I rushed to the Ipswich movie theatre and arrived just in time for the movie Rocket Man to begin. The movie was only showing in the lounge area, which is a little more expensive, drinks and eats can be ordered and we had beautiful comfy armchairs and footstools! We were the only four in the theatre and we sat and sat and eventually had to go and find someone because nothing was happening! So eventually the movie was started (with some apologies) and we all thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and loved the movie. 

Today we all visited the beautiful botanic gardens at Mt Coot-tha. The day was perfect for strolling around these lovely grounds and now we all want rocks, waterfalls, undulating grounds and exotic plants in our own gardens. Flo wants the extensive vegetable garden! Look at this huge cactus - and the beautiful Japanese gardens with bonsai trees.

                               

From there we went to Rob and Pru’s for lots of laughs and lovely food. It’s always fun when the Greenwood boys get together - especially when a golden gnome is passed on! Rob’s apple pie even rivalled Dennis’s! 

Tomorrow morning the van can be picked up so we’ll set off  southwards on Friday. After this lovely sunny weather, we’re not sure we’ll enjoy the cold! So we are coming to the end of this years trip. We have to stop and think about all the places we’ve been - and recall the great things we’ve seen. This country of ours is amazing. 

Until the next blog, we sign off and hope everyone is well.  ❌❌❌❌