In and Around Quilpie

So, we have been in Quilpie for just over 2 weeks and we have managed to keep ourselves pretty busy! There really is a lot more to do here than in Birdsville!!

Every Friday night we head up to the Lawn Bowling club for 'bowls'. Pretty much the whole quilpie community comes out for it, so it's a great place for us to meet new people here. This past Friday Dave even had the opportunity to bowl with Brendo's team. Brendo is a boilermaker in town and he was kind enough to save a spot on his team this week for Dave. Boy, was it ever an crazy night for bowls. The night started great, then came the weather. Dave bowled in a wind storm, dust storm and rain storm, all in a matter of a game. It was insane how quickly the weather changed! They ended up calling the game a little early because of weather, which is too bad because I know Dave was having a great time And next Friday Brendo said I would get to play...fingers crossed I don't make a totally fool of myself. Lawn bowling is actually pretty hard because the bowls (you can't call them balls or else you get in trouble here!) are weighted and they curve different ways depending on how you throw them, so this should be interesting!

 

Last Tuesday was also Melbourne Cup in Australia. Melbourne Cup is the biggest horse race in Australia and known all over the world. The country pretty much shuts down for it (depending on what state you live in). Quilpie had a public holiday to celebrate - it is the only holiday I know of where people get time off work to gamble and drink! But it was pretty exciting. Everyone dresses up with their fascinators/hats and gorgeous dresses to watch a 3 minute horse race. And the gambling...insane! Most people in Quilpie went to the Bowls Club for the afternoon for a luncheon and to watch the race. We had to work so we didn't get there until after the race was done, but we did get to watch the race on TV. Neither of the horses Dave and I picked to win did though :( But once the races were over the club put on some races of its own for more gambling! There were Chook (Chicken) races and a race of Jack Russel's, which was my favourite part of the day. For the dog races, they dress them up with little saddles on their backs with tiny fake jockeys while they run...it's so cute! The Chook races weren't very entertaining because not many of the chickens ran. People had to go up behind them and scare them just to get them to move! That night we went over to the pub for a post-Melbourne Cup celebration with some people...I am sure that some of those people did not have a fun day at work the next day if you know what I'm saying! It sure was a party!

We have also kept ourselves busy on Tuesday nights with touch footy (rugby). It was cancelled last week because everyone was too drunk after Melbourne Cup to play, but it'll be back on tonight and I plan on trying it for the first time this week. It looks easy, but this whole not being able to throw backwards thing may prove a little harder for me. Dave played a few weeks ago and really liked it, so I"ll give it a try this week and see how it goes.


Our neighbours at the caravan park, Katrina and Jeff, have also been kind enough to take us on a few outings around Quilpie to see some of the sights. Two weekends ago they took us to Lake Houdraman (or Lake Boogeyman, as Katrina likes to call it), which I wouldn't really classify as a lake, but they sure do. They even take their jet ski's out on it and water ski. The water level is apparently pretty low right now because Quilpie is in a drought, so not many people use it much anymore except the wildlife. We got to see a bunch of emu, cows, herrings and other birdlife there. From the lake we went to Baldy Top and Table Top, which are two hills nearby. The best part of the trip is we got to see some wild kangaroos pretty close to the car and I even got a few good pics of one. This past weekend they took us to another town nearby called Adavale. It's smaller than Birdsville if you can believe it. Apparently it used to be a bigger town but it is right in a flood plane, so every few years it gets really flooded and most people have just decided to move away. The population now is only 25 people. But don't you worry, there is a pub there! Outback towns have to have a pub in them! There is even this place nearby that is a pub without a town called Toompike. We haven't had a chance to go yet, but hopefully we will because it's apparently pretty neat. Lots of animals around, but all there is, is a pub!

 

This past weekend we also got to see our first live cricket game - Quilpie vs Charleville. Unfortunately Quilpie lost, but it was still fun to go watch the game. Although, it isn't the most exciting game to watch and it was hot as hell outside, we still had a good Saturday afternoon!

Other then that we've just been working and hanging around. The managers of the caravan park have gone away on vacation for a month so Dave and I pretty much run the show here right now. There is someone filling in for them while they\re away, but we feel in charge most the time! I have also had the chance to ride my first ride-on lawnmower. That was exciting. And we spend a lot of time sitting outside with Katrina, Jeff and Hank just chatting. For those of you gymnastics enthusiasts out there, I have finally figured out who Hank reminds me of...Bela Karolyi!! He looks exactly like him and has an accent as well, so I crack up everytime I see him! Laura and David, all I can think about when he talks is an announcer saying "what a birthday gift for coach Bela Karolyi" ...remember that! hahahah

Anyways, I digress...

I hope you are all doing well. Thanks for reading!

xoxo