LOVE A FAMILY VISIT

 We had a visit from our eldest daughter, Carol and her husband, David. They flew from Melbourne last week to visit us, celebrate a birthday and to do a job.

Carol has had two years off work and she is now getting back into the workforce. She has a consulting job at the Sunshine Coast Airport, so she had to come to Queensland for a few days. David had his birthday at the same time so he came to celebrate with his family, who also live in Brisbane. So we were lucky to have an unexpected visit from them.

Carol baked us a custard tart:

David cooked us dinner:

Carol did some work preparation:

But she had time to bake us a Swiss breakfast loaf called a Züpfe:

She also cooked David a beautiful Birthday cake and took it to his parents home:

Then it was time to say goodbye as they set off to the airport to fly home to cold Melbourne. They enjoyed the warm sunshine while they were here.

Bill hasn't been feeling too well lately and it was early in the morning.

I LOVE DAISY HILL FOREST.

 Ever since we moved to Springwood 52 years ago, we have been walking in Daisy Hill Forest. Over the years it has changed its name and now it is called Daisy Hill Conservation Park but I still call it Daisy Hill Forest. Daisy Hill is the name of the suburb next to Springwood where we live now. We lived in two different houses in Springwood before moving to Daisy Hill, where we lived before moving into 'Elements Retirement Living' village which is in Springwood. So as you can see we haven't moved far since we settled down after a whirlwind time living in Papua New Guinea and Switzerland when we were young.

So we have been living close to the forest for a long time and have seen a few changes. Here is a little history of the area.

The Dennis family were the first Europeans to settle in Daisy Hill. In 1870 they acquired 800 acres. They named it Daisy Hill because their daughters had seen  daisies (Olearia Nernstii) growing on the hill.

Olearia nernstii in a nursery.

 Daisy Hill Forest was declared a timber reserve in 1874. In 1917 it was declared a State Forest. The first in Queensland. In 1901 part of the forest was used as a rifle range but mantles and targets were destroyed in a bush fire in 1908. The land was reinstated to the forest in 1952.

In 1986 it became a State Forest Park. The forest was used for timber, honey, gold mining and grazing. In 2006 it was gazetted as Daisy Hill Conservation Park for habitat conservation and recreation.

When we first started visiting the forest it was just bushland with a small picnic area and children's playground. Later a ring road was built through the forest and a big recreation park made with toilet blocks, shelters and BBQ's installed. There were walking and bike trails made. 

In 2018 there was an upgrade made for the Commonwealth Games expected tourists and now in 2023 we are getting more improvements.

They are making a wheelchair access from the end of our street, making more mountain bike trails, additional parking and new amenities.

Consequently, the access from our street is closed but we can still access directly from our village but we can only go one way we can't do our usual circuit. So we walk through a different park close by until the work is finished. There is another entry point in Daisy Hill which is open but we would have to drive there. The Conservation Park covers 1500ha/3706.5 acres.

Closed this way.

Open this way, our village to the left.

Our local state member of parliament, Mick de Brenni (left) and one of our residents, Rex are turning the first sod at the start of work on the improvements. Our Managing Director, Chiou See is next to Mick. The other people are locals who use the forest regularly and many belong to "The friends of the forest", a volunteer organisation that helps maintain the Park.

Soon we'll be able to do this again.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US.

 Last night at our monthly village dinner we celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary, We celebrated with the people on our table and a few others who came up to congratulate us at the end of the dinner.

54 years ago in Pt Moresby, PNG

A BIG BIG CORK TREE AND AN OLD OLD STATION

While we were in Tenterfield we heard about a Cork Tree, which was supposed to be the biggest in Australia. We looked on a map where to find it. It is actually in a residential area. It was brought from England by Edward Parker and planted in 1861.

My friend Val and the big cork tree. I couldn't move any further back to get the whole tree in the photo.

Then we went to see the old Tenterfield Railway Station. The trains no longer run through Tenterfield since 1988. The line was moved to a new route from Sydney to Brisbane.In 1991 it was opened as a museum.

The station was opened in 1886 by the Governor of NSW and officially named "the great Northern Terminus. It was described as one of the most extensive and handsome buildings on the Northern Line.
130 years later the building still has its charm.

Each of the rooms housed artifacts and old photos. Val and I took in the exhibits. Peter was interested in the role the station had helping transport soldiers north during WW2.

I found these two old farts in the Waiting Room.

Val and I passed this lovely house walking home. Typical of country homes. Next morning we drove home via a different route. We passed mountains. We passed farms. We passed Sugar cane fields. We passed rivers.

This one is the Tweed River, which forms part of the border between Queensland and New South Wales. Then home sweet home.