Possum Galore
A life ‘Down Under’!
Back at Frogknot.
We set off early today about 10.30 am. We meant to call at Bunnings on the way but were half way to Frogknot before we realised we had forgotten to go. We also forgot to bring the new charge controller to replace the one that was stolen with the solar panel! At least, I remembered my towel this time.There were signs on the high way warning of delays at Cunningham's Gap. They gave the telephone number for up to date traffic information. We rang it but there was no mention of delays at Cunningham's Gap. We lived in hope.Just through Aratula our hopes were dashed. There was a queue of traffic and they had all switched their engines off. It was boiling. Will got his book out and started to read. The chap in the lorry behind waddled up to the side window."I wonder if they will take as long as they did the other day?...an hour and three quarters!" He beamed with delight at sharing his good news. We were saved by a ringing sound. He looked around..."I think that's me?...It is me!" He waddled off to answer the phone in his truck.Will went back to his book and I looked out of the window for snakes.
Traffic Jam Putting on a brave face!
Thankfully we were only stopped for half an hour and headed on up the Gap. We stopped at Bunnings in Warwick. It was not what we are used to...massive great stores with canyon like aisles of DIY treasure. This was like someone's garage...ok, a big garage, but a garage nonetheless. I think there were more staff than customers and I was everyone's 'Mate'. "Ok Mate?", "Alright, Mate?", "Need help Mate?" "Find what you want Mate?" 'Mate' must be the most overused word here...well, by the male population.We found what we wanted, we didn't need help, Ok?, Alright!We continued on to Stanthorpe and stopped for supplies at the Supa IGA, (Supermarket). Will bumped into yet another old acquaintance by the bacon but this time remembered her name. We packed our supplies into Roxy and headed up to Glen Aplin.We got to Frogknot at 3.00pm. There was not one rat dropping!...well, a recent one! It all looked really good. Something had been nibbling things in the garden, but some of the plants were still growing and there were lots more leaves on the lemon tree.We didn't do much. We were tired and hot. I had a wander. There had been no rain while we had been away this week. The dam was a little lower. The stick I stuck in the mud at the waters edge about a fortnight ago is now about 2 foot from the the water. I couldn't see any turtles but I did find possum and kangaroo tracks in the mud.
Possum Kangaroo
The cicadas had moved again and were now in the trees right behind the house. Lovely! Every time we go to the toilet we will get peed on. I could see it raining down in the sunlight.
We walked out to the rocks to watch the sunset. It is not as good when the sky is clear. You need some clouds to reflect the light. We sat there and listened to a kookaburra chattering then there was another noise behind us. Will jumped up!"That's a koala!" he said. We waited quietly, listening. We heard it again...a low grunting sound. We walked carefully in the direction it seemed to be coming from, looking up into the eucalyptus trees, but we didn't find it. Koalas at Frogknot! How exciting! I hope we get to see one here too in the next few days.I could already feel my skin itching as we walked back...all my newly hatched daughters had come to drink my blood, like their mothers before them and their grandmothers before them!Back in the house, I closed all the windows, got out of my shorts and into my trackie bottoms and put on my long sleeved fleece for protection. Some thing was tapping at the window behind me. It was a Christmas Beetle attracted by the light. I went and shut all the doors as well...unfortunately I can't shut the cracks in the wall...it got in. It buzzed around like a thing possessed crashing into the wall and floor, completely out of control, as if it was just learning to fly. It ended up on its back on the floor trying to right itself giving Will time to scoop it up and show it the door.It's other name is a cock-chafer!I think that's a good place to finish for today.
Home Alone.
I have mentioned before the weirdness of the approach of the festive season in these tropical climes but I will say it again...it is very odd walking into the cool of an air-conditioned supermarket from the baking heat of the car park to hear Paul McCartney “Simply having a wonderful Christmas-time.”. It’s all very ‘Twilight Zone-y’ to me and is going to take a lot of getting used to. Apparently, house decoration for the festive season is pretty serious over here and there is already one house just up the road that twinkles at night like Blackpool illuminations....but we are not even in December yet and there will be more to come. There was a whole segment on the news the other night that listed local areas to visit once December starts where the neighbours in whole streets festoon their houses in twinkling tat! Will has promised a tour one night.Will has an induction evening tonight for the parents of the new starters in the new school year and he is going it alone while the Kindergarten teacher is tied up with a domestic medical emergency. He took Dulcie to the optometrist this morning. I had to stay home alone in case the ‘Blue Care’ (home-help) woman came. I was hoping she would because I wanted to find out if she had caught that ‘King Brown that was running, slithering wild about her place. We didn’t see her. She came later in the morning when Will and I were out shopping for and hunting down the bargains Dulcie wanted.This evening he went off to the Kindergarten having prepared his power point presentation and having cooked our tea...Butter Chicken. His brother Danny and sister, Wendi were coming for tea with Dulcie and I. I was ‘home alone’ again with Will’s family. It was quite daunting. They are all lovely and all I had to do was steam some bok choy, cook the rice and toast the naan but I was sooo nervous!All went well however. As usual the talk ended up on the subject of snakes! Wendi had seen a large carpet snake (python) heading onto her roof from a nearby tree and later that night she and her husband heard thumping sounds coming from the attic. Her husband, Geoff went up to and saw two male pythons battling for the territory. They heard the loser slithering away later in the night.“Did you not block up the holes where they got in?” I asked.“No” she said, “they can’t get in the house.”So I told her the story of Ros’s Possum...You wouldn’t think they could get in...but they can eat your walls down!
"Heeeeeere's Possy!"
Last night our lovely friend Ros got a fright when her resident possum chewed a hole through the plaster in the wall of her dining room!...and this is one of the cuter creatures!