21st to 29th Still at Kooroorinya

A bit of news to tell.
     Have, at last, got an appointment date to have my knee operation. I am heading for Townsville on Thursday 3rd October for a pre-admission appointment on Friday 4th then the actual operation date is 25th October. So, a few changes to our plans, we will taking the bus down to Townsville a couple days before the Operation date and spending as long as needed 'til I am up and running (running? maybe!!) again, then we intend to come back to Kooroorinya for another couple of months maybe and continue our travels when we are ready. Hopefully we will only be away 'til mid to end of November.
    Had a visitor one evening in the way of a black headed python on the lawn while we  where enjoying a night cap. It appeared out of the darkness into the porch light and Yip was looking kinda apprehensively at something which turned out to be the snake, about one and a half metres long, pretty inoffensive really, a good example of it's species Jim reckoned, when we where sure that it was a harmless species we just moved it into the garden and out of the section area.
     Yip is doing marvellously, at this stage we have had her for just on three weeks and she answers to her name, comes to a whistle, leads on a leash like she has done it all her life sits before taking food of any kind, either out of our hand or in a bowl. Has put on a lot of weight and is actually gaining some muscle tone, so, yeah going really strong. Still not keen on strangers or anything different from what we have here when we are at home by ourselves but is getting better, each time we have visitors I bring her out to socialise her and each time is an improvement on the last.
     

Some bad news I'm afraid. We have to re home Dash!!!! The last couple of trips in the bus and/or the car she has developed an hysterical dislike to vehicle travel, just uncontrollable and wanting to get under the seat or anywhere but in the car. We have tried some tranquilisers which we got from a Vet, but have decided that this is not a good solution for Dash seeing as we will be doing a lot more travelling yet. It is not an easy decision to make and will hurt like hell, but we want to do the best for Dash, so we will re home her with a new family that doesn't need to take her in a car.
    

Another month all but gone, keep on keeping on and I'll catch up next month.

6th to 20th Kooroorinya nature reserve camping

Saturday 14th
    Not much been happening up 'til now so here I go with some more to tell.
 This morning I went for a walk as usual and found something I had heard about but up until today had not seen. In the bottom of Towerhill creek, which is only sand, dry as, I spied a couple of holes in the sand, they had been dug by kangaroo's looking for water. Pretty impressive as they were about 2 foot deep and about 18 inches round and at the bottom was a small puddle of very clean water. So, now I know how the Roo's survive in this harsh drought time, even though there is water in the creek at various billabongs, there was none at this point of the river bed.

                                                                        Here Dash is checking out the hole dug by the Kangaroo's

    











On getting back to the camp Jim says he either saw a fox or a dingo pup at the boundary gate, but by the time he got there it had disappeared. Well, I made us a coffee and were enjoying this when Dot and Dash went after something in the garden which made a noise as they got to it and we thought whatever it was, the dogs had it. As we got to where they were, we discovered that it was in fact a dingo pup, in a pretty bad state too, as skinny as anything I have ever seen that was still walking around, the little bugga was skin and bones, hiding under a small tree yipping at Dot and Dash as if it was ten feet tall and indestructible. We managed to coax it out to eat some tinned dog food and she drank plenty of water, must have been very dehydrated. It had a look around as we watched her, even came inside the house, then she decided she had seen enough and took off across the paddock too fast for us to catch her and disappeared again, much to my disappointment. Jim reckons she will be back when she gets hungry again. I hope so and I will hang on to her this time as I have already decided on a name for her. Oh well, have to wait and see, better get on with the rest of the day.






this is Yip on the very first day she arrived to stay with us  and accepting food and water from me in the yard at Kooroorinya, before she disappeared out the gate down the paddock.

Monday 16th
     During the night the Dingo pup came back!! Jim awoke about eleven pm to her whining at the door, he brought her into me and she seemed to recognise me as a food source as she started to lick my lips for something to eat. I gave her a feed and some water with a little milk in it and she ate the lot. I put her in the bathroom on a shirt of Jim's and she fell asleep on it in a very short time, so I went back to bed as well. By the way I have named her "yip" cause she yipped madly at Dot and Dash when they first found her.
     In the morning we spent a lot of time with her and are amazed by how she has taken to being with us, I am keeping her on a lead at all times as she is pretty jumpy of any noise or sudden movement or other people around a would bolt if given the chance. We are going to give her a feed every 3 or 4 hours for a couple of weeks to get some condition on her, she is so-o-o skinny you can see all the bones in her body. We reckon the powers that be (what ever that is) has sent her to dingo Jim and me to look after her for the rest of her life, which we will do with very much pleasure.
     We have a bloke and his young son camping here and they came to have a look at a fair dink um Dingo pup and she doesn't seem to mind being handled by the young Lad.
     We have had a few campers in since this and Yip is not very keen on other people at all, or their vehicles, but she will get better as time goes by.

     That's the news for now, We'll have our work cut out for us in training her I guess, but we have done it before and know what is in store in training a Dingo, very much different to a domestic dog, but all the more satisfying with the challenge.

Friday 20th
     Jim has gone shopping in Hughenden today so I have the day to myself. Spent a lot of time with Yip, she is coming along in leaps and bounds, putting on weight already and really smart. Dot and Dash are grudgingly accepting her but keeping her at a distance, have had a few moments of play together but under tolerance, hopefully they will soon accept her completely.
     Still enjoying being caretakers of the kooroorinya camping area, having a ball as is our usual habit of late. Catch ya when I blog again soon.

1st to 5th Sept. Prairie and kooroorinya

     First day of another month and Fathers day to boot, Happy fathers day to all the Dads.
Monday 2nd
     In Prairie still for today only. While we were in Kooroorinya last week we heard that the caretaker was pulling the pin and we threw our hats in for the job and got it!! So today I went into Hughenden again to stock up on provisions and drinks etc to last us a bit longer than usual. We have committed ourselves to the job for 2 months for a start and we will see what eventuates after that. We have use of the caretakers cottage, it is quite nice and the lawn around the donga is nice and green and there is a pretty garden that I can work on (or not if I choose) Not much to the job really, clean the amenities when needed, mow the lawn (when it rains and the lawn grows!!) and answer the phone and any questions the punters (campers) may have. It is really quiet at present as there isn't much water in the creek and the camp site is a bit out of the way from the norm. So that's the plan for the next couple of months, taking it easy as usual.
     Won't be posting much for a while so will catch up when something interesting happens.

Thursday 5th
     All good, very quiet as I thought it would be and not much really to relate to you except a funny story about Dot and Dash this morning. Taking our usual early walk, they, on the lookout for chase material and a bit ahead of me. Much ado and barking, what have they cornered, on catching up with them they had an Echidna cornered under some scrub and didn't know what to do with it as it kept biting back with it's quill's, it had gone to ground in a ball and they were trying to dig it out, without success. I managed to make them leave it alone unharmed, but what an experience for them, Dash had blood on her nose from the quill's but Dot was fine. So, that's the excitement for today.
     That's all for now, next post when I get around to it. Chow for now.

Richmond to Prairie 22nd to 31st Aug

      Saturday 24th August,
   
    

    We have been in Richmond since Wednesday 21st, generally having a quiet time.. This replica of a Kronosaurus Dinosaur is on display outside the Information centre which is where we first went to find out what Richmond has to offer, thought it might like a look at my couple of dogasauruses!!. The info centre is called Kronosaurus Korner and has a huge display of Fossils from around the area.




 



     I took a bit of time having a walk around the little town and was impressed with the gardens and how tidy the place is. There are some lovely old buildings in the town and this is one of them, the Federal Palace Hotel, amongst other quaint shops and the lovely gardens, there were bougainvillea, roses and hibiscus, to name a few and they were in full flower which I thought was pretty impressive in all this dry country side.







     There are Kangaroos by the dozen in the paddocks around where we are camped and Dot and Dash thought they were in "Doggy chase Roo", heaven, but they backed off a little with really big ones, 'specially when one jumped clean over Dot, gave her a bit of a start and wasn't sure which way to go, chase it? or leave it go?, she decided on the latter, didn't stop them from keeping an alert eye out from the safety of camp and they had a ball chasing the smaller ones, when I let them.

We had a neat time in Richmond but all good things must end, eventually. We  headed off again this morning for Hughenden. Had a rest stop for morning tea about 11am, I caught sight of some more Emus on the roadside, a couple of them minding their own business. The road travelled along side the rail track for some time and a Train travelling in the opposite direction gave me a cheap thrill when we got a big wave and a long sound of the horn as we passed, (only in the outback?).

    

     We arrived in Hughenden around lunchtime and found the local free camp to spend the night. The camp site is not much, just a dust bowl and no rubbish tins or anything.
     Went for a walk with dogs to the Flinders River, dry like all the creeks and rivers around here, as you can see in the photo. The Flinders river  is Queensland's longest, extending 840 km and this is only a small part of it for sure.
      We decided Hughenden didn't have much going for it, only stayed for the night

                Sunday 25th
     We got a late start from Hughenden, travelling 44km arriving in Prairie at about 11am where we found the Pub still closed. The Proprietor said hello and were we looking for somewhere to camp? upon confirmation of this fact he said "the camp ground is around the back and the gate is open, Jim could be in charge of the camp as we were first here!! ( ha ha how easy is it to be boss?) and when we had set up we should come have a drink". So this is what we did.
     This is the Pub Terrace, it is full of Memorabilia from days gone by, it is an Original Nostalgic Queensland Pub. The dining room is something to be seen, a really nostalgic setting with chandeliers and big old furniture, it took my fancy that's for sure, I loved it.


    
    The camp site out back is a small paddock fenced off from the rest of the countryside, the whole area is full of old machinery, the front of the pub has old horse saddles on hitching rails from old days when horses were the only mode of travel. It is surely something to see.









    

     On the side of one of the walls of the pub is this Mural of Cobb and Co. Coaches. This area used to be the main horse change centre for the Cobb and Co. way back when!










     Went for a walk with the pups in the afternoon and discovered this nice park, the windmill is a 35 foot Comet, it is huge and a great landmark for the area I reckon.

There are all sorts of live stock here, a Buffalo, Alpaca, which belong to the pub as pets, also sheep, horses, cattle, dogs, chickens & roosters, and deer. We saw a red deer wandering along the highway, tame as anything.

We had a great evening at Prairie and found out about a Nature reserve 54 km south of here which we are going to go have a look at tomorrow.
      
       Monday 26th

     We are going to Kooroorinya Falls Nature Reserve this morning. There is a 2km horse racing track there and a camping area, bush style camping only $10 per night. The "Oakley Amateur Picnic Race Club" hold a race meeting there once a year and it is, by all accounts, a great weekend in May with 600 odd people attending, the rest of the year it is only a camping area with the falls being a pretty
sight when the creek is flowing. Unfortunately it isn't flowing now, but it's a sight to see anyway. Dot and Dash are standing on the edge of the canyon with the fall at the back, its pretty high up from here.




   This photo is from the top of the fall looking back over the camp ground, our bus is at the back in the middle.


     We had a glorious 4 nights here, only a couple of other campers each day. We spent our time eating, sleeping and having a drink in the afternoon and evening. On the last day, Thursday we had the place to ourselves which was probably just as well, as we found ourselves sitting under the star lit sky singing "Catch a falling Star" Ohhh!! way to go.

This is me beside a sign some-one put up, pointing out the places to go on race day, all good fun, our camp site was here, beside a fire place, I spent each evening cooking our meal on it.








    Friday 30th

     We were getting to a stage where we needed to replenish the larder and drinks, so have travelled back to Prairie today and I took Jimny into Hughenden to do the shopping, leaving Jim to look after Dot and Dash in the bus.
   
This is the pet Buffalo at the Prairie pub.

Spent another night here and will stay 'til the end of the month,-oh! that's tomorrow.




 Saturday 31st
     Another month gone by, have had a nice day here at Prairie today and not sure where we will head tomorrow, find out in the next instalment of "My Story".
       Having a ball, laughing a lot, taking care of each other. Life is full of love.
                                           See ya soon.