Mooloolaba = Out of our budget!!!

Ok so I have been a little slack, sorry about that! :)

I have come to the realisation that no matter your budget, you still end up spending too much at Mooloolaba. With their fancy plaza and "City Like" activities it feels just like home.

We enjoyed 3 games of bowling with Dad, Went shopping with Mum, Chris played laser with Dad and the girls (Michelle, Holly, Steph, Callin), had dinner at Hogs Breath and Lunch at Sizzler, went to the movies etc etc AND had a day on the BBQ boat where we had a BBQ and enjoyed a spot of fishing. It was a very busy 4 days!

We had a few close games! I even beat Chris!

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

 The foam off Alex Beach, someone could't help themself!

Steph, Michelle & Callin

Chris, Laurence & Erin

Chris, Erin, Laurence and Holly

We enjoyed a great dinner at Sue and Vince's where we got to catch up with pretty much all of the family!!! It was an amazing night :)

I bought myself a little weather station which I am starting to learn how to read which is fun. Dad gave me a lesson on weather 101. I am intrigued!

On the road to Rockhamton

We left Finch Hatton on Sunday morning and drove on to Rockhampton. We stayed at a place called the Caves, just prior to Rocky. It was interesting but we didn't get any photos. (Maybe it wasn't that interesting enough). We went on a cave tour and yeah that's about it. It was very different to Jenolan Caves.

Anyway, on Monday we kept going and as we passed Rockhampton we spotted the Heritage village that we were told about. So we stopped to have a look and spent 3 hours there!!! There is 28 Acres of building and artifacts that have been donated to the village. It was amazing! So all of the buildings were actually used in the Rockhampton community.

Chris talking to the volunteer panel beater at the heritage village

a 1927 Chev ready for its restoration

One of the volunteers is building this tram from scratch!!!

We had a tour of the village in this Oldsmobile

The resident donkey!

Chris was lucky to miss out on being aquainted with the cane in his school days!

Who would of thought you'd see the day that Chris was back in a classroom!

This cottage was donated from a womans property when she passed away in 2006. The children have made sure that everything in this cottage was how it was when she died. Can you believe that only a couple of years ago an ederly lady lived here!!!

I don't suppose anyone was 6" who lived here! Look at the height of the doorway! And the walls are blackened from the stove.

She cooked from this right up until she died!

This was her brothers room, she lived with her sister and brother

Her shower

This is another lady's doll and salt and pepper shaker collection

I really liked this guy!

I wasn't quite sure what to think of the caveman troll...the carpet matches the curtains!

This was a classic!!! Con the Fruiterer!

I'm kindof glad we are not travelling in a van this old :)

And this is the point that the camera died :( about half an hour or so into our visit. Oh well!

So after Rockhampton we made our way to Hervey Bay and are going to Mooloolaba tommorow to see Mum and Dad (Adney) for the long weekend. Yay :)

HORSES!!!

Well what can I say, I forgot to put sunscreen on, Chris forced me to sit down to eat and drink every couple of hours but I was only out with the horses from 6:30am to 9:30pm. What's the big deal :)

I had an absolute ball. I did a course to be a TPR steward (Temperature, Pulse and Respiration), I helped the girls prepare for their ride and basically just helped where I could all day. It was the best day ever!!!

Chris played the computer all day because it was so hot outside, I didn't really notice that!

And we had a lovely dinner at the Criterion pub and caught up with Ron and Margie, the caretakers of the showground. It was the perfect day!

I got a few photos but not many because I was so busy.

Charles was so adorable. He would tell you where he wanted a scratch by turning around and pointing with his nose. Then as you scratch him he would walk around in circles so that you would continue to scratch him in all the right places. When you got a really good spot he would lift up his rear leg and his lips would go crazy!

The three horses lucky enough to be used as guinea pigs for the TPR course. And They didn't enjoy the temperature taking so much!

Karen taking Charles through his pre ride vet check

Louise, Leanne and Karen getting ready to go. Charles is starting to get really restless and he got a bit silly prancing around

They all start marching out at 4pm for the 20km endurance event

April had a bit of trouble to begin with because all of the horses were so excited. Just like us they get fidgety but once they are out their they just power on :) All of the horses that were left behind neighed and carried on because they either missed their companion or were upset that they wern't going!

The small things at Finch Hatton

Today Chris and I had a look at one of the nearby fishing spots to find that we would probably get hooked on everything but a fish. We definietly needed a boat for this spot. So we decided to go up to the lookout and have a picnic lunch. And surprisingly we had a ball! You wouldn't believe what with though :)

Ants don't mind yellow jelly babies :)

How many ants does it take to move a peanut?

Although it looks like we had nothing better to do, it's actually really interesting watching ants! They are so dedicated to the task at hand! And if they can't handle the mother load, others come in to help. It's amazing...yeah yeah I know small things!

Look at this guy! What a champion!!!

Our little picnic spot

The rain started to come in so it was time to head home.

By the time we got home it was pouring!!!

Lucky I had brought gumboots!

There is a horse show on this weekend at the showgrounds we are staying at! I am so excited!!! When we got home the horse floats started to come in. So we went over and chatted to the ladies. The event is an endurance event and some checkpoints go through the night. Tommorow I am going to do a course on the vet checks so I can help the vet. They need a few volunteers. I am so excited, we didn't get many photos yet because i feel like a kid in a candy store with the horses around! I have to try and put on my adult face when talking to the ladies but I just feel like a kid hanging around the horses!!!

We made friends with Karen, Charles, Ozzie and Rhonda

I guess i'll have to make friends another way! I can't try and befriend people with that kind of mess!!! Epic FAIL!