1 Oct 10 - Ipswich

By Lou: It was lovely to catch up with some family in Ipswich. We also hit my mother in law Margaret’s washing machine pretty hard and marvelled at how many bags and ‘things’ we had packed away in the car as we emptied it for a clean.


Jaime is recovering from pneumonia but true to her fighting spirit she whipped up a brilliant spag bol for us and Dave one night and we had a great evening chatting. Grandson Seth is nearly two years old and just adorable. He was a bit shy when we first saw him but some Tonka trucks soon brought him out of his shell. After he saw us the first day he was asking Jaime for Sam and Poppy. I slipped her $50 to repeat ‘Nana Lou’ 50 times a day in his presence.



Sam was rapt to see Nana, sister Jaime, nephew Seth and cousins Beau, James and Hope. I was delighted that the week-long nagging of ‘when are we getting to Ipswich?’ was finally over.

Apologies to friends we didn’t have time to catch up with…perhaps it will be less manic when we return from our trip.



By Craig: Longreach was the last stop in holiday mode however on the way through to Ipswich we were able to stop over in Dalby and catch up with an old Whitsunday colleague. Aaron and his wife-to-be Katrina were very welcoming and we all enjoyed a dinner at the local tavern before camping in their driveway. In the past from time to time, Aaron and I had enjoyed a spot of fishing in Shute Harbour and had enjoyed catching Sweet Lip and Coral Trout but unfortunately time did not permit a fishing trip.


On to Ipswich with arrival at mum’s meaning it was finally time to unpack the trailer, fridges and clothes, check out damage to both vehicle and trailer and store all our stuff away for the 4 weeks we plan to be away in the USA and Melbourne. It was also an opportunity to catch up with Jaime-Lee and Seth (our beautiful grandson) and Dave, Seth's dad. Jaime was generous with her time and it was great to see Seth who was a little shy at first but his gorgeous little character shone through. Uncle Sam was also taken by the little man (Seth) and they played together well.
Sam was treated to an outing with his big sister and although it included a trip to the doc’s for Jaime he didn’t mind at all although upon return Jaime commented on the number of questions a 7 year old could ask in one outing. Our answer was simple: plenty and you have it all to look forward to.