2024 in Review

A few major things happened this year. Firstly, I finally retired! In early April I pulled the plug, something which I found very difficult to do, but have had no regrets since.

In March we went to some National Parks in South-East Queensland that we had always wanted to visit, but missed out on a couple as the weather deteriorated. We really enjoyed Spicer's Gap, Main Range National Park, Glastonbury Creek Campground, D'Aguilar National Park Amamoor State Forest, Brooyar State Forest, Ravensbourne NP, Mapleton Falls, & Paradise Dam.  In June we went with friends to Monal Goldfield and the Boyne Valley, staying at Ubobo.

At the end of June we headed to Canada. The first month there delightfully spent with the family at a Chalet between 2 lakes at Montcalm. Everyone enjoyed being able to swim, fish and paddle, and the place abounded with wildlife. Marc came over for the first 10 days as well, which was fabulous. A couple of side trips to Mont Tremblant National Park were very enjoyable. We went camping for a few days, to check out the camping gear, at Domaine de Cedres.

The family headed back to Montreal for a few days, and we went to Ottawa, before meeting up again for a road trip to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where we camped in National Parks. 

We re-joined the Off-Road Club and went on a couple of trips to the Boyne Valley. 

Full write-ups of all these trips will come later, (Darryl says don't hold your breath, but I'm getting there!).

The year is being topped off beautifully by a visit from our Canadian family, who arrive in Rockhampton on the last day of the year.

Below is a couple of activities undertaken during the year, iNaturalist and Kiva, (micro-lending to disadvantaged people).

https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/2024/ozikris

Chris' iNaturalist

https://www.kiva.org/team/genealogists

Blogiversary! 20 Years!

 

It's 20 years today since I made my first blog post on this blog. It was for the CQ 4x4 Christmas Party Chris & Darryl's Trips: 4X4 Club Xmas Party in 2004.

Up until this post there have been 600, and we have enjoyed some amazing events, parties, and travels. 

We have travelled to overseas to New Zealand (North and South Islands 3 trips), Canada (3 trips including the Rocky Mountains, the Badlands, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, as well as Montreal, Quebec City & Toronto, USA Seattle, Hawaii, Los Angeles, and a cruise to Alaska, China and Japan, Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Greece & Spain, Singapore & Thailand. We have also cruised from Tokyo to Sydney with stops at Vietnam, Bali, Hobart, and places mentioned previously.

In Queensland we have travelled all over South-east Queensland, North Queensland (several trips), Channel Country, Western Queensland & Central Queensland, including: Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Innisfail, Toowoomba, Winton, Cania Gorge, Isla Gorge,  Byfield, Charters Towers, Mt Bartle Frere (highest mountain in Queensland), Walsh's Pyramid, Atherton Tablelands, Normanton, Bourketown, Ingham, Paluma, Eurimbla, Blackdown (at least twice Darryl at least 6 times), Goodedulla, Lawn Hill, Riversleigh, Pocupine Gorge,  Lamington and D'Aguilar, National Parks, Keppel Island, Boyne Valley several times to Bulburin, Dawes, and Kroombit National Parks, Glassford, Mount Jacob mine, Mt Morgan, Benaraby, Mt Etna, Bunya Mountains, Girraween, Elliott Heads, Gin Gin, Mount Perry, Hervey Bay, Innott Hot Springs, the Sunshine Coast, & up to the tip of Cape York

New South Wales to Sydney, National Parks including the Blue Mountains, Waterfall Way, the Warrumbungles, Orange, Adelong, Carcoar, Cootamundra, Hill End, and Mt Kosciusko.

Victoria to Melbourne, the Gold-mining areas in Victoria of Beechworth, Bendigo and Ballarat, the Great Ocean Road, Mt Macdeon, the Grampians, Walhalla and drove from Dargo to the Alpine National Park.

The Northern Territory (2 trips) to Darwin, Alice Springs, Ayres Rock, Kings Canyon, Katherine & Kakadu, Nitmiluk and Litchfield National Parks, Gosses Bluff Impact Crater, Wolf Creek Crater, Mataranka.

Northern Western Australia with Kununurra, the Kimberley, Derby, Bungle Bungles, and most of the Gibb River Road.

Tasmania including Hobart, Bruny Island, Salamanca Markets, Sydney to Hobart Yacht race finish, Cradle Mountain, Walls of Jerusalem National Park, Port Arthur, Mole Creek, most of the large dams, the west coast, and drove up Jacob's ladder.

This map shows just a little of where we've been in Australia & New Zealand.

I have documented family & friends' events with births, deaths & birthdays, concerts (Status Quo & Deep Purple), engagements, reunions, work and Christmas Parties, social events, bushwalks, floods (Rockhampton 2008) and cyclones (Marcia which hit Rockhampton in 2015).

I have about 40 draft post that I'm working on, and there's plenty more travels coming. I'm also working on fixing up the photos in some posts that have disappeared. So, there's more to come. 

The 20 graphic was created by AI - Microsoft Co-pilot, the map is from my Google timeline.

South Australia 16 May 2023

I spent the morning at the National Trust, and found more grave locations. Darryl walked uptown.

Memorial in Queen Square to those who lost their lives mining

How copper was discovered at Moonta

Queen Square in Moonta

At 1pm I went to the 'Dressing of the graves' at Wallaroo cemetery. What this involves is honouring certain people who are buried there. Family will place memorials. None of my family were buried at Wallaroo Cemetery (as far as I know), as the Wallaroo Mines Cemetery (where mine 'are' buried is near Kadina). 

We then did the self-guided historic drive around town.

We wondered if it was going to rain - looking out towards the jetty

The old Police Station on the left

Wallaroo Library & Council OFfice

Baptist Church

Even the Primary School has historic buildings

This church is now a holiday house

This was followed by a delicious dinner hosted by my amicable cousin Ben at Moonta Bay, (who is not actually related through any of my SA families, but rather from a Queensland family).

South Australia 15 May 2023

It was 1.4C at 7am!

Our first destination was Pink lake, which honestly didn't really live up to it's name.

"Pink" Lake!

We had morning tea at Port Victoria then walked their self-guided Geology trail.

A nest of hairy caterpillars

We walked down to the jetty then someone said a magic word - "Dolphin!" 

After enjoying the dolphin twisting around under the jetty it was time to get to Moonta for the cemetery tour I was booked in for.

The ladies running the tour dressed for the occasion

There was quite a large crowd on the tour

The Salvation Army Chapel inside the cemetery

A memorial to miners who died mining

Broken headstones provide a great refuge for shingle-back lizards

This is a special area where many, many children are buried, mostly in unmarked graves

This is the memorial for the children

Edward VIVIAN (my 3rd great-grandfather), and Beatrice DAWSON, one of his grand-daughters

William Stephens BRAY and Amelia (nee GRIFFIN) - 2nd great uncle and aunt

Arthur Thomas BRAY and Bessie J (nee COWLING) - 1st cousin 3x removed

Joseph BRAY and Catherine (nee WARNE) - 2nd great uncle & aunt

We checked in to our accommodation, "The Cornwall Hotel", but found we couldn't get a meal there. Being a Monday night apparently most of the takeaways in town were closed! This is despite it being the first week of the Kernewek Lowender celebrations, when there are lots of visitors in town. It was so hard to find a reasonably priced place open for dinner we decided to buy a chook from Drakes and ate in the dining room at the Cornwall Hotel.

After dinner we took a walk around town and enjoyed the historic buildings.

The 'Cornwall Hotel'

Corner Ellen & George Sts

George Street

At least 'someone' was putting on a nice display for the week

Ray White Real Estate, George Street

A street view down George Street

A beautifully restored cottage on Blythe Terrace

What would have been the old Post Office on the corner of Henry and George sts