Just over a month now and we are starting feel like this is home. Is it ever going to be OK to be a Queenslander? I don’t own a sleeveless shirt or a dodgy hat. I generally wear shoes and some sort of upper carcass coverage to the supermarket or the pub, and generally arrive at said venues via car, scooter or foot, rather than a horse! Fu(k me, I could be in trouble here!
This part of our land however, is the Australia that you dream of. Wake up to parrots, magpies, heaps of unknown, noisy species and kookaburras. Smashing out brekky and coffee on the deck whilst the local parrots smash out the seeds overlooking the creek and bush is a truly shitty experience.
2-minute drive or 10-minute walk into town reminds me of the DY that we fell in love with 24 years ago. No traffic lights, no traffic, no tolls, no high rise and the clowns that run the nation are 1000km further away!
Work on our pad is going to be an ever-extending list of utterly essential and ‘nice to have’. The lawns are now largely under control and I have stopped looking for ways to smuggle a small herd of goats into the back yard. Time to focus on a few other things…
There is a wood burner in the lounge to annoy climate change moaners and keep Mr Frost and his chilly chums outside in winter. Mid-April here with 28-30 degree days questions the need for extra heat, but $20 bags of hardwood from the local servo won’t feed this greedy little bugger for long. Popped out for a lunch with the fabulous Chris and AM who offered us use of their ute for a blast up and down Rainbow Beach. Images of unsuspecting bellends stranded in the sand whilst King Neptune wafts around, trident in hand are not really on our ‘to do’ list. Use of said ute to collect a heap of firewood seemed like a much more sensible option. Whacked on some scruffy work gear and steel capped boots, grabbed the extra chunky gloves and headed off to collect $150 worth of winter warmers that J4X found on Marketplace. Rocked up at some bloke’s rural hideaway and chucked everything that we could find into the ute tray. Everything that is except a few nasty looking black scorpions, inch long ants and a selection of generally feisty looking critters. Hauled our load back to Cooroy and stacked it up under the house. Turns out that is a really bad idea in the tropics. Ravenous termites see firewood as an open pantry and a welcome mat to start scoffing the house frame. I had never heard of an ant cap! 6 of the buggers are now inbound courtesy of Bunnings, will grab the concrete blocks next week too, problem solved! The tricky task of reducing truly adult sized logs into useable portions is going to require several hundred swings of our newly acquired log splitting axe. A Ute load of wooden pallets is being dealt with courtesy of the circular saw and I reckon we are set for anything that the Queensland winter can throw at us.
Winter also threw us another curveball when the airmiles eating entity that calls itself Qantas informed us that we had about a week to use a bunch of points or hand them over the likes of the now departed, arrogant Irish dwarf. WA looked like a warm option, but accommodation is next level pricey in the winter. Tasmania is probably the chilliest Aussie option in July but Hobart and 8 nights in a motorhome are just about affordable if the Orange Oompa Loompa sorts out his beef with Iran. Red wine, hearty grub and wood fires here we come!
Back in renovation reality, time to tick a few more tasks off the list…
We have booked a chappie in to give the roof a dose of chlorine based, pressure wash love then give the out of reach bits a bit of a blast before we repaint.
Super bright downlights in the kitchen are awesome but not much fun for cozy evenings in the lounge when you are trying to watch telly after dark. Dimmers and reliable LED downlights are expensive and unpredictable, so app-controlled smart lights look like fun. Fun is a bit of an understatement when standard white or yellowish lights become infinite colour options synched to trance music at the touch of a button. Sadly, linked fire alarms in every room restrict the use of smoke machines. Gunna put a couple of these puppies on the balcony and announce our arrival to the neighbours! Bedroom lights got a slightly more adult makeover.
It is a sad day when the cold porcelain of a dunny is more comfortable than the cheap and nasty seat that adorns it. Quick trip to Bunnings sorts that problem and the dunny returns to its status as a useful reading room.
Boxes are now fully unpacked and pictures generally filling wall space. Time to start socialising!
Our lovely pickleball mate, Megan invited us over for a sleepover and an 80’s music and dance night at Coolum Bowl-o. Lock that fu(ker in! Living opposite a Dan Murphy’s and walking distance to the bowl-o is going to test the sturdiest of livers, Megs didn’t disappoint with a fearsome array of nibbles and slurps. We were at boarding school together in the 80’s and no strangers to getting on the piss under the gym before the school disco. This should be a hoot without having to hide from teachers! Turns out that 80’s music Oz is 100% different from 80’s stuff in Dorset. Having never heard most of the tunes, competing with Lethario & Co on the dancefloor was interesting and exciting. You know it has been a long evening when the bowling greens look more comfy than the walk home.
Forever the explorer and seeker of fun, J4X finds a field of sunflowers to have a romp around in. Play the game of avoid the snakes and bees then head off with a heap for $1 a stem. Don’t mind if we do.
Having treated the pesky cockatoos to a few blasts from the hose, our new avian friends join us throughout the day, generally redecorating our deck and making a nuisance of themselves.
A gentle 10 minute scooter ride to Eumundi Markets is a handy excuse for eating German sausage and sampling local produce. Like gin! Found a purple version that turns pink with tonic. Cracked one of those cheeky chappies open on the balcony. Won’t be sharing this with the kookaburras.
I could be in the market for an Akubra soon.
