Category: Mount Isa

Our inaugural family camping adventure

/ Renae / 4 Comments

I grew up camping. Even though Hubs can’t believe I could ever be so tough and not-princess-like to “rough it”, as a kid it was always an adventure and there was always fun to be had no matter what. Can I help it that, as an adult, I’d rather have a flushing toilet instead of having to squat, and a hot water to shower in, instead of a cold bucket of water to splash over me? And that I’d prefer a tent over a swag? (Who wouldn’t?? Seriously??)

Anyway, a friend of ours who has organised a few 4WD days with us was keen for a trip to stay at Lawn Hill National Park (check out the map of Qld to the right of that page – we actually couldn’t be any further from Brisbane if we tried!) and we were SUPER keen too, so he booked the campsites (there aren’t many there and they book up fast!) and we (I) offered to organise the food for everyone (7 adults, 2 kids, 3ish days). It was all booked and we were enthused. I spent a couple of days getting the food organised, as well as eskys and all camping paraphernalia I could think of (thank you google).

We planned to leave on the Thursday whenever we could get away, and meet the others up there late Friday night (aka we would see them early Saturday morning). Hubs was on night shift Wednesday night and I spent all of Thursday morning getting everything ready to pack in the car. Of course, out of the all the days to be late, Hubs didn’t get home til 9:45am (he’s usually home by 8:30am) and I informed him that everything was ready so if he was keen, we could “just pack the car” and leave asap, instead of him having a couple of hours sleep first. He was happy to be persuaded so after a shower and coffee, he got to packing. This took about 2 hours all up by the time we fit everything in, and this was the end result! (This is obviously on the road.) (Oh yeah, and we borrowed a canoe for the weekend…)

Gosh there’s so much to tell about this trip but I don’t want this post to be too wordy! Our camera batter died on the second day and my phone was dead so we had to rely on our friends to take photos which I copied over last night. But after 4 days of camping, we neglected to get a photo of our tent set up, which is a shame as we were quite proud of ourselves that we managed to set the tent up first try after never having done it before and only ever seeing the tent up once just before we bought it for $70 at a garage sale in Townsville over a year ago! And with Hubs not having slept for 24 hours!

There’s so much more I could say, but instead here’s what you’re waiting for:

We stopped at the Riverslea Fossil site:

The next day while Quinn was sleeping and I was “supervising” Hubs took Chanbe on a walk up a “big hill”. That’s the gorge right in the middle and the campsite to the left. Rather stunning, no?

The next morning, our friends had arrived so we decided to check out a lovely swimming spot. Hubs, Chanbe, Felix and Erica took the canoe and Sonia, Amber, Lindsay, Quinn and I went by foot. It wasn’t very far, but it was a very exposed track.

Matchy-matchy stripey tops!

After the desert-feel of the walk, we go to the top of a (small) hill and had an “ooooooh” moment.

We couldn’t have timed it better, with the canoe load arriving at the same time.

Just a touch (a touch) of paradise

Obviously Chanbe had an absolute ball

And Dadda enjoyed his Tarzan moment

There was a lot of this… 

…and this…

A beautiful sunset at the camp ground

On our way home on Sunday, we stopped for lunch at a creek crossing.
Years and years ago I found this recipe that I’ve always wanted to try!
You cut the tops off oranges, scoop out the guts (to eat later!), fill with cake mix, put the top back on, wrap in foil and put in hot coals for 20 minutes (ish!)

You can see the oranges in the foil underneath the jaffles

They were super delicious! Very moist and orangey.

Quinndy pointing delightfully at something

Chanbe made a very close friend in Lindsay, our pediatrician friend. A good friend to have!

The whole group on our way home at sunset

There are so many photos that I didn’t get like the campsite set up (as mentioned) and my super-grubby kids on the Sunday after not bathing for 2 days and me just giving up on wiping noses or food off faces. It was super adorable, though I did enjoy taking to them with a nice wet washer before we got into the car!

I also hadn’t mentioned that Hubs had been feeling ill since waking up Friday morning. He powered through the 3 days of camping, but then collapsed in a heap on Sunday night when we got home. After 2 more days of fevers and aches and pains, I sent him to the doctor. He had to have Wednesday and Thursday off work and still isn’t 100%. This is a photo Chanbe took of him:

So all in all, apart from the sickness, it was an amazingly successful camping trip and we had a lovely group of people to share it with. We are already looking forward to the next adventure! Maybe this time I’ll even remember to get a photo of the tent!

The good stuff

/ Renae / 2 Comments

I’ve spent a great deal of time and blogging space this year listing the things I don’t like about Mount Isa, I think it’s about time I shared some of the things I do like.

Winter
Wow. Mount Isa seemed to bypass Autumn entirely, with temps ranging from 22 to 36 degrees one week, and down to 10 to 22 a couple of weeks later. It’s been getting down to under 10 overnight since I arrived back from Brisbane a week ago, and I must admit I was caught completely off guard. People told me it would get cold here, but after what felt like the endless summer, it was very hard to believe. Now, I believe it.

Dark mornings
It doesn’t get light here until after 7am which means the kids are generally sleeping in until then. This is such a bonus and we are loving the later mornings. Even in summer it doesn’t really get light til 6:30am, so it’s been a pretty nice change from Townsville.

The transient population
This can be a good and bad thing, as friends come and go frequently, but the good thing is there’s not much of an “us and them” mentality amongst the “locals” as there are very few of them! And if you’ve been here more than 5 years, you’re considered a local! Very different to some small towns we’ve lived in.

The small number of celebrants
A win for me! I’ve already lined up 2 weddings this year through celebrants who are leaving town who had my details. My networking when I arrived sure paid off! This is very exciting as I’ve really missed doing weddings. I have 3 in total booked in in a 6 week period; 2 up here and my cousin’s wedding in October down south.

Bin collection is twice a week
Okay, this may seem like a weird one, but it’s actually fantastic. Especially in the height of summer with stinky nappies in the bin. There is no recycling up here so bins get fuller quicker. But I think it’s more to do with the stinkiness in summer. Regardless, I love that even if we forget to put the bin out one day, it’s only 3 days til the truck comes again. And with a 3 year old boy in the house, it’s bonus entertainment!

Size of the town
Yesterday I had to go to from one side of the town to the other, twice. It took less than 10 minutes each time. No traffic, no hold ups, only the regular RBT to have to contend with. Easy peasy.

The playgroups
The playgroups here are so fantastic. I’ve met some really lovely mums through the 3 different groups I go to. A lot of the same people go to the same groups so there are always familiar faces which is nice.

The 4WD tracks
We have been 4WDriving a few times since we arrived and it’s been lots of fun! We have met some people who are also keen and generally free on the weekends to do fun stuff. The weekend just gone, we headed to Rigby Falls (they were pretty much dry) and went fossicking for Maltese Crosses, without much luck. But it was a great day out and Chanbe rather likes going on a “bumpy drive.”

Hubs’ timetable (at the moment)
Hubs is currently working in emergency which is a 8 days on, 6 days off timetable. And those 8 days are a mixture of 4 different shifts, so there are only 2 days where he is away from 7:30am until about 8pm. The other days he either has a late morning start, or an afternoon start, or most of the day off followed by an evening or night shift. Granted, he spends most of the next day sleeping, but it’s still nice knowing he’s right there. Those are the days the kids and I are mostly out to give him sleep, so it’s extra incentive to get out there!

There are other little things I like about living here, but these are the things that immediately came to mind. This is also part of my better attitude I am striving towards at the moment. Baby steps…

In case you’re wondering…

/ Renae / 1 Comment

… here’s what we will be up to for the next few weeks:

The kids and I will be flying down to Brisbane on Tuesday thanks to relatively cheap flights. We were going to drive down but circumstances changed so I booked flights last week. I must say it’s a bit of a relief. That drive was going to be long and boring! And it really would have eaten into the short amount of time Hubs has off to visit. He will fly down on Thursday, and then we’re leaving the kids in the capable hands of grandparents while we live it up in an apartment in South Brisbane for a couple of nights. We have a wedding to go to Saturday arvo/evening – the reason this trip came about – which will be a lovely excuse to doll up and have a dance. (As if I need an excuse!)

Hubs will be staying until the following Saturday so we’ll just be catching up with friends and family in that time. After we farewell him Saturday morning, the following few weeks will be filled with socialising and a good old relax. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to all that sleep! I can barely keep my eyes open as I type this.

We’ve had a lovely few days with Hubs’ Dad and our nephew visiting and working on the kombi. They are driving it back to Brisbane and left this morning. It was a little sad, but for the last 6 years, it’s just been sitting outside our various houses and not being driven, so hopefully that will change in Brisbane.

I should really go and pack now! Might see you soon.

What a difference a day makes

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Okay. So I’m not out of the ditch yet, but I’m finding a way. I’m looking up and seeing where I need to go, and figuring out how to get there, instead of sitting down, throwing my hands in the air and giving up. This is progress.

After my revelation on Friday, my day didn’t really change that much. It was nice to acknowledge where these feelings were coming from, but it didn’t really help with how to change my situation. I had a planned playground meet-up on Saturday morning, with a girl I met through playgroup not long after I arrived, and we clicked quite quickly. I was excited by these plans, and organised with Hubs that I would walk to the park (about 3.5km) and he could bring the kinds once I arrived. Getting in exercise has been difficult lately for a number of reasons, so I knew this was a good start to my weekend.

I spent almost 2 hours there with my friend and her 3 kids. Her daughter is 4 and is very strong-willed, so she can hold herself with Chance. In fact, the 2 of them played beautifully together. I hardly had to intervene which was so nice. Her 2 year old son was happy to follow the bigger kids around, and her 7 month old little boy was happy to chill out with us, while Quinn made her way around to all the food we had on offer. It was such a good visit. I really needed to see Chance’s good side that day, and boy did I ever see it. My friend is very honest and down to earth and I felt comfortable spilling my guts to her. It was nice to have a friendly ear to listen and empathise.

I came home at lunch time with renewed energy and got quite a lot of housework done before another friend came over for afternoon coffee. Again, it was such a great therapy for me to just be able to be myself and not try too hard. The kids were great and by the time my friend left around 4:30, I was again topped up. It’s so easy to play with Chanbe when I’m feeling that way. I hung out with him and Quinn out in the open area of the townhouse complex where he rode his bike and Quinn played with the ball and toddled around. Only twice in an hour did we have to stop for cars. It’s much nicer out there now that it has cooled down ever so slightly.

I went to bed happy and exhausted last night. It was one of the best days I’ve had in a while. Now that I know what my “problem/challenge” whatever you want to call it, is, I can be aware of it and not be so down on myself for being unmotivated or lazy.

I had hoped Friday would be a turning point, and now I’m getting a bit more optimistic that it was.

My greatest joy and my biggest challenge

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My son. 

How my heart bursts with love for this little guy. He makes me laugh so much with his funny games and silly jokes. He tells me he loves me and gives me hugs and kisses.

He always wants to help me in the kitchen, or with the washing and folding.

He is Quinn’s biggest fan, and also her biggest pain. I can’t tell you how often I’ve had to say “can you please just leave her alone????” This is a photo of me after a really bad few hours with my Chanbe. He was just having a bad day, and as my emotions escalated, so did he. I just couldn’t stop crying. It broke my heart that my little man was being so hurtful to his sister, and to me. I was at my end. So what did he do? He came over, sat on my lap, gave me a cuddle and said “Mama, why are you crying?”


I told him I was sad that he wasn’t making good choices. He thought about this and assured me he would start making good choices. It was a bit hit and miss for the rest of the day, but we got there in the end.

I know that this is just a phase he is going through, and I am comforted by the fact that 80% of the time he is amazing and a delight to be around. I have to remind myself of this on the hard days. Today started as one of those hard days, but we are both determined to turn it around. The more calm and patient I am, the better he responds. Duh. 
I feel so blessed to have this son of mine, and I know that one day, we will be great friends. And once Quinn gets bigger and is able to hold her own, I’m sure they will become best buddies too.
In the mean time, we will just have to take it one day at a time. 

Racing around

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I’ve been a bit slow with blogging about stuff as it happens, so here’s a post about what we got up to 2 weekends ago. Hubs and I have been whinging a little that there’s nothing much to do up here, so when opportunities get presented to us, we really try and take advantage. So when we heard that the races were on, we thought we’d go along and check it out. They started around 2pm on the Saturday, so after Quindy had her nap, we all got dolled up and hit the tracks.

Isn’t it fun trying to get your 3 year old to pose for a nice family photo?

We had NO idea what to expect – how big it was going to be, how much it would cost, what the place was actually like – so we just went in head first and hoped for the best. We knew there were going to be a few doctors there that Hubs works with, and a few of the mums I’ve met through playgroup were heading in too, so we would at least know a few people.

By our standards (we had only really ever been to the Wang races on Melbourne Cup Day) it was quite small, but that suited us just fine. Quinn was happy to wander around looking cute:

And Chance still had a bit of a cold, so he was happy just to chill out and watch movies on my phone:

We’re really glad we went along and had a great time meeting new people and spending time with new friends. Speaking of which, Hubs met the friend of one of the doctors he works with and he mentioned a group of his friends were going 4WDriving the next day, and that we would be most welcome to come along. So in the spirit of taking people up on their offers to do things, we said yes!

We met the group around 10am Sunday morning and after a little rendesvous, we put the kids in the car…

and headed off! (ha ha.)

We headed north about 40km before we turned off onto the track. It was a pretty tame drive, but there were a few squeals of excitement/fear from me at a couple of creek (dry) crossings.

There were 6 cars in the convoy and a lovely bunch of people emerged at the swimming hole we arrived at:

Unfortunately our friend hadn’t mentioned to bring togs, so Hubs just jumped in with his clothes, and the kids had spare clothes so they went in too. It was so lovely. I was very sad I hadn’t brought my togs 🙁 Next time! It was a really lovely few hours and we hope to head out with the group again sometime soon.

We arrived home to unpack, change, and head out to a friend’s place for a BBQ. So yeah, a very big weekend for us! The following weekend, Hubs had to work, so this is his first full weekend with no plans for some time. We are thinking about heading out to Lake Julius tomorrow just to check it out, but no firm plans at this stage. The weather is finally a little more bearable today (only getting up to 32 today! Woo!) so a trip to the park might be nice too.

We’re trying to make the most of it, and slowly getting there.

Peacock Park

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This is one of the options we have for BBQ time in Mount Isa. Peacock Park as it is affectionately known, is at Lake Moondarra, nestled behind the spillway. So you don’t actually have a view of the lake, but the surroundings are quite lovely. It’s very shady and even though there are BBQs there, we always bring our own.

There is a half-decent playground there, but no swings unfortunately. And it’s always green which is a bonus in these here parts of Australia.

A nice place for a BBQ and catch up with friends. I’m sure it will be even nicer once it’s not so damn hot…

Leaving “home” to come “home”

/ Renae / 6 Comments

Hubs and I left Brisbane and moved to Melbourne in June 2008, just before I started this blog actually. Every place we lived in from then on, I seemed to prefer to Brisbane. Melbourne had amazing coffee and beautiful food, the public transport was incredible, and Hubs and I were newlyweds living in an exciting town, exploring it together. Wangaratta was a nice change of pace and it was where our little Chanbe was born. Mount Beauty was, well absolutely beautiful, and we met some lovely people there.

In the time we lived in Victoria, whenever we visited Brisbane, I always complained about how bad the traffic was getting, and I was generally excited to get back “home” (ie wherever we were living at the time).

I wrestled with so many emotions during my trip to Brisbane in the last fortnight. It brought up feelings in me that I hadn’t felt about the city in a long time. I was homesick for my hometown. I miss my friends who have made so much effort in the last six years to keep in touch and to catch up when I’m in town. And my family. I miss my family so much.

I miss the city I grew up in.

As I was driving to West End on the second day of my trip to meet up with a friend for some yoga (and wine) (together!) (Best. Yoga. Ever!!) I went through the northern suburbs where I attended church and youth group, and later became a youth group leader; I passed friends houses I used to drive to for Melrose nights back in the 90s; I drove the familiar route from Aspley to Kelvin Grove, and reminisced about all I had been through in those streets and suburbs. I drove past my old primary school, high school and uni (all in the same block) and through the city where many a fun night was had with my gal pals.

I had come home. And it hurt that it was only going to be for a short time.

Of course my home is where my Hubs and family are, but I just wish that physical place was Brisbane at the moment. I’ve kind of touched on how I’m finding it a bit tough up here, but it runs much deeper than that. I know it’s early days, and things might turn around, but Hubs and I are wondering if we made the right choice moving out here. Hubs has had a few disappointments at work which has taken away from his enjoyment of the job, and I am really struggling in our very small house with no yard. And there’s really not much to do here with the kids in the afternoons. It’s a question of “do we go to the lake, to the family fun park, or the pool?”

And it’s so hot. So so so hot.

Hubs and I are already talking about where we want to move to next year and the list just keeps growing! So far we have discussed Cairns, Perth, Broome, Melbourne, Ingham, Brisbane, Bundaberg and even South Africa! Hubs and I have come to the realisation that the “place” we move to isn’t going to make us happy, instead it’s our attitude and feelings towards our life that will determine our happiness. We know we have to stop looking outwards at things and places for happiness, and start looking within. Which means regardless of how we feel about being in Mount Isa, we can be happy here too.

It just might take a bit more effort than we thought. Now. It’s Sunday afternoon. We went to the lake this morning, and the pool is closed, so it looks like it’s off to the family fun park!

Counting down

/ Renae / 1 Comment

The kids and I are heading to Brisbane next Tuesday for a whole, glorious week. It’s my Nan’s 80th birthday, and you know me – it doesn’t take much to convince me that a trip to Brisbane is a good idea! I’ve already booked in some much needed girly time with some friends, as well as the assumption that my dear (wonderful, supportive, generous) parents (ie Mum) will be getting up with the kids each morning so I can have a bit extra sleep. I haven’t been able to get to sleep very well for the last week or so, and it’s really messing with me during the day. My usual patience is limited, and my cranky factor is quite high at the moment. Not good for anyone around me!

I’ve been taking the kids to 3 different playgroups on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays which has been so nice. I’ve met some lovely mums and have arranged an afternoon swap with one of the Doctors wives so that one day I look after her 2 girls (Chanbe calls them “my girls”) and she does the same for me another day. It’s just for a few hours, but it means we can get stuff done. It’s my afternoon today, and the only problem I’m having is deciding what, of the 10 things I want to get done, I should focus on.

But right now, I think I’ll have a nap, in preparation for my big afternoon!

Comments? Questions?

/ Renae / 3 Comments

Greetings everyone! It seems my comments haven’t been working. Well, I’m pretty sure they haven’t been working, otherwise you lovely things just haven’t had much to say to me lately 🙂 I’ve changed the settings from embedded to pop up window, so please, if you don’t mind, feel free to leave a comment here or there in the next week so I can be sure everything is working nicely.

In the meantime, here’s some cuteness for your day!

And this is what happens when Chanbe asks Hubs to help him get dressed, but doesn’t use his manners.