Clara Waters & Other Rail Tales

2/7/2018 Monday R & R woke about 6:45am to a warm 15*C which was cloudy with no rain.  They had breakfast, showered and packed down at 7:30am.  Shortly before 9:00am they left the camper at the caravan park and went into Caboolture to go shopping.  They parked the Ute on the street near the shopping centre and walked to the railway station to claim their refund on the Translink gocards.  For some reason one of the cards was not working and therefore could not be refunded whereupon the lady suggested that RA ring the help line.  On their way back to the Ute, R & R popped into two op shops and did their food shopping.  While RA rang Translink, they had a cup.  The conversation revealed that RA should go back to the station and request a form for a refund and return the card with the form.  RA asked which card was which, of the two they had bought so she would know who should fill out the form and, it transpired that, there was a terrible mix up with the cards.  R & R went back to the station but the card had already been sealed in its return envelope.  It showed total confusion as the numbers of both cards were on the stickered envelope.  RA was not happy about the trouble it had caused them and the thought of having to write it all down and fill out a form to get a refund.  But it was the principle!  So, it wasn’t until about 11:30 that R & R were on the road having gone back to pick up the camper.  They were pleased to leave Brisbane behind in the rearview mirror and planned on heading to Miles, Roma and beyond, to Mitchell, in search of Clara Waters.  RA set the Navigator for Woodford about 30kms west on the D’Aguilar Highway. There were built up areas with housing in between grazing.  It was hilly and winding country for the most part, with beef right up to the top of the hills which were not wooded.  They drove through the Beerburrum State Forest and past the Bracalba Quarry.  Heavy dark clouds loomed in front of them over the hills but it was sunny.  At Woodford about 11:45am, R & R stopped for coffee.  To the north east they could see a solitary mountainous cone, Mt Beerwah (referred to in the story “The Day the Mountains Played”), which rises to 556m, much taller than the others around it.  Shortly after noon, RL set off for Kilcoy about 25kms further east through the D’Aguilar National Park and away from suburbia.  It became more hilly and in between the wooded section there was more cattle grazing to the tops of the hills.  With all those hills, there had to be more valleys and, with that, more rivers and creeks and RL and RA could not help but notice Sandy Creek, Scrubby Creek and a distinctive minty smell in the lower lying areas.  About 5kms out of Kilcoy they noticed a very large meat works facility and to the south a very large lake system called Somerset.  About 12:30pm, R & R popped into the information centre, the art gallery, the historical society and craft buildings at Yowie Park where they had lunch and chatted with their daughter, S.  It was delightful sitting under the trees at a picnic table watching all the water birds at the pond.  All in all, they spent a couple of hours there before heading west again for Moore about 30kms.  The country side was much as it had been in the morning with more creeks like Emu and Wallaby and then the Brisbane River with green crops alongside it just before Moore.  RL pulled into the free camping area called Stanley Gates Park and they had coffee while they contemplated the fact that it was still early in the day.  The dark clouds were beginning to make rumbling sounds.  It was agreed to set up regardless and wait it out.  About 4:00pm, R & R were set up and safely in side as it began to rain.  It was dark early but not cold, being still 20*C.  It rained quite steadily for a while.  RL read while RA checked the maps and wrote the form and letter to Translink.  They prepared dinner and chatted with their daughter, H, before reading a draft post.  After that RL read and checked out the maps while RA wrote her diary.  The call to set up early and not go further was a good one … especially for RA since she would not have enjoyed driving through the stormy weather for a place unknown.

3/7/2018 Tuesday It was 10*C but a heavy mist shrouded everything when R & R woke at 6:30am.  They had breakfast and tidied up so that RA could put up a new post while they waited for the flies to dry out.  Word refused to work and presented a notification that RA needed to renew or buy Microsoft again.  Eventually, she worked it all out and, finally, Word was responding as it should.  That done, RA published the new post which only took about half an hour.  By 9:00am, there was no mist, barely a cloud in the sky, the sun had come out and it was already a much warmer 17*C but everything was still damp and dirty to pack away.  About 10:00am, RL was driving out of the small community of Moore, heading west on D’Aguilar Hwy for Kingaroy 75kms away. The first part of the journey was to Yarraman, passing through the timber towns of Benarkin and Blackbutt.  It was quite winding and steep with the level above sea rising a couple of hundred metres and in places the walls of the road needed to be covered to protect travellers from rock fall.  Again, there were lots of little rivers and creek lines, forested sections like Benarkin, Googa and Pinda State Forests as R & R drove through the Balfour and Blackbutt Ranges and in between there were farms with cattle and sheep and horses.  Forest included pine and there were tall trees with creepers growing over them and that distinctive smell of a particular plant RA was not familiar.  Overall, despite the continual traffic and the poor condition of the road, it was a very pretty drive with everything washed clean by the rain from the night before.  All things considered, RA was grateful that they had not continued through this section in the storm the evening before.  Blackbutt was quite a large town and took pride in being Friendliest Town 2008.   At 10:30am R & R stopped in Yarraman for a cup of coffee and a banana.  They walked up and down the main street, posted the mail RA had written, including cards for the grandchildren, and popped into an op shop.  Yarraman called itself Trail Head referring to the rail trail, for walkers and mountain bike riders, which begins at Blackbutt and goes 148kms to Ipswich, the longest in Australia.  RL pulled out of Yarraman about 11:15am up its hill, which was steep enough to require a passing lane, for the short journey to Nanango 21 kms north.  The country side was similar with farming in between and behind the Yarraman State Forest with its hooped pine.  Overall there was a decline in height above sea level with a couple of descents marked as 6 and 8%.  R & R passed the turn off to Meandu Coal Mine and Tarong Power Station but could not resist stopping at Hannibal’s Bucket which was Nanago’s entry statement.  A little closer to town, Nanango had a great park full of interesting plaques and memorabilia from its wood logging and gold mining days.  Nanango was established in 1848 and is the fourth oldest town in Queensland.  Near the park there was a peanut van selling locally grown peanuts and peanut products as well as macadamia and cashew which are grown on the Gold Coast and though R & R were tempted they did not taste or buy.  RL took the heavy vehicle by pass out of town towards Kingaroy about 25kms away about 12:15pm and it was not long before they were driving past the lavender farm and into Kingaroy.  Kingaroy had sets of lights and was a really big centre supporting its local industries of farming, primarily peanut and secondary beans and pulses.  It was a pleasant 19*C in the noon hour when R & R headed for the information centre. Imagine R & R’s delight to smell peanuts and awe at taking in the PCA (Peanut Company of Australia) silos.  They could not resist the invitation to watch the DVD presentation and view the museum and take in all the details about the rise of the peanut industry in Kingaroy.  Believe it or not: the massive silos are capable of holding 13,000 tonnes of peanuts, 80% of Australia’s peanuts are managed at the facility, peanuts were first grown in Australia by Chinese gold diggers in the 1870s, the Australian Peanut Market Board was set up in 1924 and peanuts grow well in Kingaroy because of its red volcanic soil.  R & R had noticed the change in colour of the soil as they drove closer to Kingaroy.  There were other very interesting sections in the museum: the airfield at Kingaroy was selected as a training facility for the American airforce during WWII, hence the introduction to Australia of the navy bean (what Australians call baked bean), Kingaroy had a woman, who graduating as a pharmacist in 1924 and contributing to the community in multiple fields over her life time was awarded an OBE, there is a particular type of early plastic which looks like bone, 10 interesting WWII facts including “canary girls” whose skin went yellow from making shells with TNT, since 1990s Maton has made the soundboards of its acoustic guitars from Bunya pine, and, the origin of the Anzac biscuit. R & R popped into a couple of op shops on the way back to the Ute for a late lunch and then checked out a couple more after.  They had been tipped off that just north out of town about 5kms on Murphy Rd there was a smaller peanut shelling company that sold peanuts at a reasonable price, so about 3:40pm RL headed there.  It was easy to find with the instructions given and the office was where it should be, at Gate 2.  There R & R bought 3 x 1KG bags for $5 each.  On their way back through Kingaroy RL stopped at Bean Growers Australia facility, where all manner of beans and pulses are processed to take a couple of photos.  Then they set out, south on Bunya Highway 10kms to Alwyn Francis Bridge Rest Area which sits above the Stuart River.  It was a lovely spot in the afternoon sun at 4:15pm to have a coffee and some peanuts and read the maps before setting up the camper.  R & R went for a walk and chatted a while with a fellow camper before coming in after dark to think about dinner.  They chatted with their daughter, S, while eating and then wrote and read a while.  R & R planned to head for Dalby the next day … “Um, more mountains.” RL thought!

4/7/2018 Wednesday R & R slept heavily and in for it was 7:20am before they got out of bed.  It was a pleasant 11*C but it looked like maybe some weather was brewing so they breakfasted and set down.  About 9:30am as they were about to leave a light mist began to dampen everything so they sat in the Ute and had a cup before leaving, with Dalby about 100kms to the south.  At 9:45am, RL headed down Bunya Highway for Bell 60kms.  What began as wide open undulating farming with adequate pockets of trees, wineries, peanut and bean growing and piggeries became increasingly steep with cattle grazing in the higher countryside.  R & R passed through Kumbia, over Manum Creek which was at 500m and saw huge power lines coming from the Tarong Power Station before passing through Coopers Gap.  The Bunya Mountains lay to the east at some distance, shrouded in mist, while Haly Mountain at 957m was immediately to the west of the Gap.  It was a long steep decline down and round skirting the bottom the Great Dividing Range, back down to 500m and red soil again.  R & R passed the Dingo Fence Trail road, saw cotton fluff on the side of the road and noticed more cropping near Walkers Creek as well as several cattle stud farms before the descent down to the township of Bell.  It was 11:30am and as they needed to stop for the toilets, RL turned off the main road and parked near the park over the road from the Catholic Church. It was a lovely warm 19*C in the park when RA noticed the word mural and couldn’t resist.  What a treat!  Our Lady Help of Christians in Bell had, in their old wooden church, paintings retelling the biblical salvation story on its interior walls and had to be seen to be believed.  They were beautiful!  In the gardens they had a trail depicting the fourteen Stations of the Cross – the story of the crucifixion.  Each had a different section of garden with its own artwork: wooden carving, pottery, metal tin sculpture, mosaic.  Again, it was amazing to see how beautifully the artworks told the story in immaculately planned garden settings.  There were also other religious statues and artwork as well.  R & R also took a couple of photos of the bottle trees which grew in the area. About an hour later, RL set off again south ward towards Dalby a further 40kms. The country side was much flatter and down to 400m.  R & R noticed that there was a lot of ploughed ground and irrigation with cattle and feed lots and sorghum where there was no need for fencing.  As they approached Dalby they noticed a big education complex of the high school, TAFE and Ag College (Bunya Campus).  Dalby was busier than usual down town as several of its main streets had been cut down to single lanes to accommodate road works but shortly after noon, R & R were parked at the rear of the information centre.  Armed with a map, they walked the streets, looking around, popping into op shops and picking up a couple of grocery items at Coles and some fuel additive at SuperCheap Auto.  About 1:45pm they went back to the car for a late lunch and within half an hour they had parked at The Crossing.  Dalby was first established, in the days of Cunningham, as a place where it was possible to cross Myall Creek; the only track available to and from the few pastoral holdings to the west.  Originally founded as Myall Creek Station 1841, it was later renamed as the township of Dalby in 1854.  R & R walked the couple of kilometres trail along the creek observing all the panels and taking photos of monuments along the way, including one about the success of Cactoblastis for the eradication of prickly pear in the region.  Myall Creek is of particular interest for R & R because it features in Slim Dusty’s song “The Brass Well on Myall Creek”; a story of what might have been, of misspent opportunity!  After a cup of coffee, they refuelled including the three jerry cans as it was the lowest price per litre (148.9) they had seen in quite a while and by 4:00pm they were heading west, facing the setting sun, on Warrego Hwy 46kms for the free camp site at Warra.  As they drove out of Dalby, they noticed a power station, a cotton facility and the recycling centre. The road ran roughly speaking parallel to the railway, where they saw a train with coal, with the Condamine River a little further to the south.  Myall Creek which runs through Daly is a tributary of the Condamine.  But what they noticed most was that the country side was flat, flat as … as far as … the eye could see, with no random trees, only lines of trees which suited the growing of crops like cotton and sorghum… and the soil – black.  They passed through the siding of Macalister which had silos and a sign for Wilkie Creek Mine.  At 4:45pm just before RL drove into Warra, RA’s brother C, rang so they chatted while the Navigator took them to a rest area that did not exist.  The conversation was promptly terminated while R & R had coffee to contemplate what to do next.  It was getting late to try and find anything further away.  As a long shot they drove to the railway station that they had seen promoted in the brochures.  It did have toilets and looked RV friendly but R & R were not sure.  They chatted to a lady who had parked her camper van in the same area, and she said that it was a free camp spot listed on wiki camps.  They set up and within half an hour they were back on the phone to finish the conversation with C.  After dinner RL read while RA wrote her diary.  It looked like RA would have to get wiki camps on to their phone … so they would not get caught out again.

5/7/2018 Thursday R & R had slept well considering that the RV stop was in between the railway and the highway and were out of bed at 6:30am.  It was 9*C but a mist descended so there was no real hurry to leave.  R L downloaded his photos and both RL and RA selected the best pics for the next post.  They tidied up and went for a photo walk before packing down.  The stop itself and the toilet facility was the old station house and there were several interesting buildings and monuments in Warra so R & R took their time.  Prussian born Ludwig Leichhardt explored around the region in a couple of expeditions in the years of 1844 to 1847.  There was a monument to him having camped in Warra on October 4th 1844.  Interestingly, he and his party disappeared without a trace, last seen at Mt Abundance, west of Roma. Another interesting monument in Warra referred to the Warra Coal mine which lasted only five years.  It had been very prosperous when water seepage became an uncontrollable problem causing its closure. On their walk, R & R noticed that it must have rained recently as the soil was soft underfoot.  It was only 16kms west on Warrego Highway to Brigalow which had many grain silos and was named after the Brigalow tree which grows in the rich black soil of the area. From Brigalow, RL turned south 10kms to the Kogan Creek Power Station.  It is the largest and most efficient 750 megawatt coal fired power station in Australia with coal being augured four kilometres from the Kogan Creek Coal Mine.  Shortly after 11:00am R & R were back in Brigalow and heading west again to Chinchilla only 20kms away stopping briefly at the Boonargo Memorial Hall.  The hall was dated 1936-86 and is a memorial to the Cactoblastis insect and the people of the district for their efforts and commitment to the eradication of the prickly pear epidemic.  Introduced in the 1850s the prickly pear was rendering good farming land useless by the early 1900s, so much so that in 1924 a man named Allan Dodd went to South America and sent back the eggs of the Cactoblastis.  This marvellous moth proved to be the most successful case of biological control. For the most part of the mornings journey the countryside was flat and revealed that cropping included sorghum and cotton as well as hay and green feed for cattle, which supports the fun facts that the Western Downs has 4,600 cattle properties including 68 feedlots and produces 38.2% of Queensland’s cereals and legumes.  It also produces 194,000 pigs annual and Chinchilla produces 25% of Australia’s watermelons. Shortly before noon R & R were at the information centre in Chinchilla to enquire about fossicking for petrified wood.  The fee for a permit was much greater than the $1 each for two little pieces R A bought so they decided that fossicking was not on the day’s agenda. At the Chinchilla cemetery, over the road from the centre, there was another memorial to Leichhardt and to Charley Fisher, an aboriginal tracker and guide, as they passed through the area on 9th October 1944.  R & R went down town to look at the public art in the main street and check out the op shops.  Their daughter, H, rang so they chatted for ages and ate a late lunch.  About 1:40pm, R & R headed south out of Chinchilla towards the Chinchilla Weir on the Condamine River and promptly crossed a grid which came as a surprise to RA. It was no surprise to RL as he knew it to be part of the Dingo Barrier Fence, the longest fence in the world at 5,600kms.  R & R were pleasantly surprised to come into a large herd of cattle grazing the long paddock with a rider on horseback and a utility to supervise them.  There was also a couple of spare horses, hobbled and with bells, grazing with the herd.   A couple of kilometres further, there was a cluster of vehicles which must have been the drovers current camp.  From there RL drove a further 60kms to Condamine the township.  The road was appalling and for at least 20kms on both sides of the road there were gas wells, gas producing facilities and tall fences with restricted access signs on them.  About 10kms out of Condamine, R & R passed the Condamine State Forest and then a cotton farm before stopping for a cup of coffee and a biscuit at the Condamine Bell.  A 2m brass replica, of the type of bullock bell designed by local smithy Samuel Jones, was a reminder of how important the sound of a good bell was for the bullock owner in the early days.  Shortly after 3:00pm R & R were headed north up the Leichhardt Highway towards Miles 33kms where they intended to sleep for the night.  On the way they passed the airport where an ambulance was turning in, leading them to believe that the Royal Flying Doctor Service operated in the area.  It was still a delightful 24*C when R & R popped into the Miles information centre about 3:40pm.  The lady there alerted them to the fact the place that they had intended to sleep was disrupted by road works so they would be better to sleep at the free camp site at Gil Weir about 6kms south.  It sounded like a good idea so R & R went to take a look at it.  There were other campers there already, so they set up and went for a walk before dinner. In total they had only travelled 150kms for the day.  Their daughter, S, rang while they were eating.  RL read and RA wrote.  Together they downloaded the Wiki Camps app on their phone … and watched the quick How To video ... with the view to trying it out the next day. 

6/7/2018 Friday R & R woke at 6:30am to a light mist though it was not cold at 17*C but it certainly put paid to packing up and moving off early.  It continued to mist even more heavily while RL rested and RA dipped into the maps, checked out points of interest in the area and looked up Mass times nearby.  What RA learned was that Gil Weir, where they were camping was on the Dogwood Creek, which at its junction with the Condamine River near Surat is the beginning of the Balonne River, and was so named by Leichhardt, the explorer, on his birthday 23rd October 1844 as it was abundant with the dogwood shrub.  The dogwood shrub has small yellow pea flowers much like Stirling Range poison.  The town actually began as a teamsters’ camp named Dogwood Crossing.  More importantly RA learned that, despite her understanding that Clara Waters would be somewhere in the Mitchell (the region), she would be found quite close by on the Warrego Highway only about 7kms from Miles at Paddy’s Creek Historical Site.  RA knew that there had been so much roadworks over the last few kilometres and that there were more ahead of them, that she hardly dared to believe that the site may be accessible.  R & R had late breakfast at 8:30am.  RL read a while and RA did some domestics before they headed for Miles at 9:30am.  The mist was much heavier requiring windscreen wipers as RL headed west in search of Clara Waters.  At 7.7kms from Miles, having passed a section of road works, RL pulled into the site.  There, stood a white cross on a cairn with a plaque on it. Its inscription told the story of fettlers’ wives and children who died and were buried at the site in the early days of the rail extension westward.  In 1878 Clara Waters 17 years of age died a few days after giving birth to a baby son who did not survive.  RA had been wanting to find the site and the name of Clara Waters which Slim Dusty immortalised in song.  The original poem was written by the late Roy Wheeler who died in 2008.  As R & R drove back into town, there was a large herd of cattle grazing on the road verge and drinking from the puddles on the bitumen.  They were accompanied by a rider on a trail bike.  It was still misting at 10:30am so R & R decided that a visit to the Art Gallery at the Dogwood Centre would be a good way of passing the rest of the morning.  It was an unusual display as it was all audio/visual (not painting, pottery or textiles) depicting a range of social issues.  R & R found it quite interesting.  Apparently, it was a touring exhibition from Darwin and heading next to Caboulture.  The library was housed in the Centre and there was also a display about aspects of the history of the region.  These panels were also presented in a folder of separate pamphlets so RA took one to read later.  About noon R & R had lunch back at the camper and despite the gentle mist, the view from Café R & R at lunchtime was serene, looking through the trees, watching a pelican patrolling the weir; so still and quiet, like a McCubbin painting.  R & R had a quick 20-minute cat nap before reading the draft of a post.  At 2:20pm, they had a coffee and flipped through Wiki camps for fun.  Believe it or not, wiki had The Railway Fettlers Final Resting Place listed as a free camp site.  Shortly after 2:30pm, as the sun was trying to shine through the clouds, R & R went back into town to find the open Vinnies.  RA was fortunate enough to find a lovely pair of near new brown leather boots for $3 but she was even luckier to find pieces of petrified wood on the ground at the door of her car.  Her understanding of the fossicking rules was that it can be picked up on road verges as long as it is not dug with a tool.  R & R picked up a few small pieces each and were content with their finding.  They then went to Chinaman’s Lagoon and walked from the beginning of the lagoon, along Dogwood Creek, to the rail and road bridges a couple of kilometres and back again past the first cemetery in Miles.  There were only a few head stones there, as it was discovered that the creek flooded often enough for it not to be a suitable spot for a cemetery.  About 4:30pm, R & R headed back to Gil Weir having put some more fuel in the Ute at 146.9c/l.  They had a walk down to the weir and along the river to see if there were any good spots for photos at sunset.  RA worked on her ipad.  She has a habit, each day, of flipping through the photos she has taken that day and deleting about half before entering details about the places they have been in the day and the amount of money spent.  She then put the most recent post up before preparing dinner.  RL read.  After dinner RL rang his brother, S and then they returned a missed call from S.  RL read more while RA completed her diary.  It had been another incredible day … having found Clara Waters and some petrified wood.

7/7/2018 Saturday R & R woke to 14*C at 7:00am and although it was not cold there was a dampness to everything.  After breakfast, they sorted out the accounts for the Spot and Sat phone while they had good reception.  It would be a sad story for R & R if the credit had expired just as R & R might need to use them.  Despite the flies being damp, R & R tidied up and packed down and were on their way to Roma west on Warrego Highway about 40kms.  They stopped again at the Fettler’s Camp Historical Site as the weather was pleasant to see if photos taken in the sunshine would be any better than those the day before.  They had coffee and wandered around a while.  RL commented how easy it would be to lose one’s way in that type of countryside. The words of the song “On the Banks of the Condamine” had been rambling round RA’s head for the last few days. It’s a song about Willy and Nancy in days long gone.  He is preparing to leave to join the shearers from Roma on the banks of the Condamine and she, desperate to join him, implores that she is willing to wash his moleskins on the banks of the Condamine.  It proved to RA that just like Clara Waters, women followed their men into the outback and did their best to cope under extreme conditions.  About 10:30am, RL set out in earnest for Roma but there turned out to be many small settlements each with its own story that R & R needed to read.  First was Drillham where 4 children (aged between 8-14 years) of the same rail worker’s family accidentally drowned in the Drillham Weir in 1893.  Interesting, though they were all siblings to the same parents, they were all born in different parts of Queensland and New South Wales.  It reinforced how difficult life must have been, having to move constantly to keep in work.  Without a doubt, the railway featured in the history of all the towns and settlement in the area.  Ulimaroa had and impressive set of silos but no rail station.  Originally the siding and its buildings were used for the delivery of cream from dairies but as dairy farming changed to cropping, grain was handled there.  In 1980, in a severe storm the building was blown over onto the track and a train finished the demolition job.  This point on the rail line is its highest at 354m with a small mountain Waituna being 401m just a little to the south west.  The road was relatively flat to undulating the entire journey with the rail line running just to its south.  Brigalow black soil and sandalwood loams provided ideal conditions for a good nature strip with mostly beef and grain being produced.  About 11:00am, R & R stopped at Dulacca, which means emu tracks, for another break.  They looked at all the monuments, took photos and chatted with other travellers.  RL had noticed a lot of vans and it turned out that everyone was heading to Birdsville for the Big Bash beginning Tuesday for three days.  Birdsville was somewhere that may had been on R & R’s agenda but they were not inclined to attend the event and fight with everyone for a space on the road.  The Big Bash was made up of 7,000 people who had paid around $600 a ticket. RL would need to think his way through that one over the next couple of days.  R & R turned south, at noon, just before entering Yuleba and drove down to Judd’s Lagoon which was only about 3kms out before returning to Yuleba. Back at Yuleba (which means place of the water lilies), R & R walked round to look at all the monuments and public art.  There was a cool wind from the south despite the sunny 20*C.  Cobb & Co’s last mail run in Australia began at Surat (about 80kms south) and ended at Yuleba in August 1924.  Next stop was at Wallumbilla where, in 1956, a collision between a Westlander and a Western Mail resulted in the loss of four lives.  R & R had their eyes open for a particular piece of aboriginal art that they had seen in the brochure.  They asked at Calico Cottage and the ladies were not sure about it so when R & R saw it as an entry statement to the sales yards (on the highway) they stopped to take a photo and RL rang Calico Cottage to let them know.  It was after 11:00am when RL pulled out for the last 20kms to Roma.  As they drove closer there were a couple of green crops and cattle studs.  R & R arrived at Roma, on the Bungil Creek, checked in at the caravan park, popped the tent up and were having late lunch with the wash in the machine by 2:15pm.  They hung the wash and showered before heading downtown to shop at Woolworths.  Within the hour they were back getting the wash back in and putting shopping away before a cup and heading for 6:00pm Mass.  The service was quick and they were back within the hour.  RL cooked the meat on the BBQ while RA prepared the salad.  They had just sat to eat when S, their daughter rang and after dinner RL rang H, their other daughter.  H and her family had arrived safely at Mt Barker to stay in R & R’s house for a few days. R & R were exhausted after a day of so many sad monuments … and the clear night bode for a cool morning.