Goodbye Cudgewa!!

Looks like the road trip continues …. We woke up the next morning and it was STILL raining. These tsunamis that come from the sky just go on and on and on, aye?? Those ocean ones are over in a blink of an eye. Bit more damaging though I s’pose!!! Anyway Mum and Dad decided to head off. The re-enactment had been cancelled and that’s what Mum really likes to see. The rodeo was still on but Mum hates rodeos. Reckons they are cruel things. She worries about the horses and the cattle. The humans’  put things on them to hurt them so  they buck better. Stupid humans I reckon ….. I’d like to hurt a few of them. I don’t like those bull fightin’ blokes either. Sticking speary things in them cows. How would they like a few spears stuck in them??  Too,  too cruel!!  We heard later that the rodeo was a bit of a disaster in the wet.  A few humans got hurt but the animals were all ok.  How good is that??  Ok …. A bit of sensitivity on my part ….. they weren’t hurt all that bad!!!  Anyway we took off and headed for Sydney for a week’s stay there.  Dad’s got some more work to do and Mum and I will catch up with Nan and my 2 legged sister again.  The trip was a bit exciting in places.  It rained nearly all the way but the countryside was just beautiful.  Funny but on the trip down to Victoria the countryside was so dry and brown that Mum didn’t even take too many photos cause it looked sooooooo crook.  Well on the trip back it looked like the Emerald Isle.  Everything was so green and beautiful.  What a difference a few weeks can make,  aye?  We took this tiny little back road when we first left Cudgewa and we travelled through a place called Tumbarumba.  Mum loves Tumbarumba.  It’s up in the hills and it snows there in winter time.  Not big time like your snow but it does snow sometimes.  Tumby, as it is called,  is a very pretty little town and the people are very friendly and very nice.  Mum and Dad had a VERY FUNNY experience there a few years back so I thought I’d tell you about it.  They arrived early afternoon in Tumby ….. Harri and Lucy was with them and they had been told that if they wanted something to eat that night they would need to book as there was a big convention or something in town and all the restaurants  (there’s only about 2 of them and restaurants’ is a very loose term)  were busy.  They were also told that the local golf club was a good place to eat if you liked Chinese food.  They set out to check it out …. parked in the carpark and Dad went in to have a look at the place.  Mum stayed in the carpark and took Harri and Lu for  a walk around.  Well … what a shock she got.  A whole lot of  blokes  pulled up in their cars and trucks, got out, stripped down to their undies and THEN …..donned  women’s dresses and headed off into the golf club.  Heaps of ‘em!!   Even two police officers.   They breed ‘em big in Tumby too.  All big mountain type blokes.  Mum couldn’t believe her eyes.  What was going on?????   Well she soon found out.  Dad came out of the golf club and it took him a while to stop laughing before he could tell her the story.  Harri and Lucy were left in the car and Mum and Dad went into the club house to see the spectacle.  Apparently it was a charity day and all the blokes had to dress up as Sheilas and go out and play a round of golf.  This they did. There were some VERY elaborate dressers there too.  One bloke had a bikini on.  OMD I would have liked to see that.  Another bloke was dressed up in the Charleston era clothes,  beads,  feathers,  high heels and all.  Here’s a funny twist though …. The blokes all left their wallets,  mobile phones etc.  on the bar while they went out to play.  No pockets in dresses, aye??  And here’s how good the town of Tumby is …. No-one was worried that they might be stolen while they were out there playing golf.  Great little town,  Tumby.  No-one locks their houses or cars or trucks, either.  Just like the good old days, aye??

Just out of Tumby Mum had a real treat.  SHE SAW A DEER!!!!!!!!  In the wild.  Not on a farm or in a zoo but just out there.  Mum has lived for 68 million years in Australia and travelled all over the place and  has never seen a deer in the wild before.  She’s been told they are out there but she’s never seen one before. It was two actually. A big one and a little one.  We had been driving beside a pine forest and it was right on the edge of the pine forest that we saw them.  Mum tried to get her camera out but she took too long and they disappeared before she could  get a photo but she saw them.  We all did!!  They aren’t native to here but nor are rabbits or goats or pigs and we have wild ones of those and Mum has seen all of them but until now NO DEER!!  She was VERY excited.  She’s seen all  your pictures of deer and really likes them …. fair made her day … crikey they are pretty things, aye?? That was the exciting part of our day. The rest of the trip was pretty ordinary. It was a long drive and I got VERY bored.  Did my share of barking much to Mum and Dad’s disgust.  What’s with them?  Whenever I barked before they would stop the car and take me for a bit of a walk. I’d get back in the car and be good and quiet for another little bit. NOT ANY MORE!!!!  They just let me bark away ….. hmmmmmmmmmph!  S’pose I’ll just have to be bored and go to sleep like Harri and Lucy did when they travelled.  Yeah????????  Well that’s what they think will happen!  I’ve got news for them …..I’m not Harri or Lu … I’m Charlie and you lock me up in that car and  I’m gunna bark and bark and bark and bark and bark!!!!!!!!! 

Crikey …. No pictures ….. what’s happened to my photographer???  Sorry … I’ll have words with her.  Here’s one of the Sydney leash free park we go to. It’s in an old cemetery. How good is that? There’s always heaps of dogs there and I’m sure the dead people like to have so much happening around them. Mum, Dad and Harri once saw some kids playing cricket and they were using one of the headstones for their stumps. Too funny.  It is a VERY OLD cemetery and Mum loves walking around reading all the headstones. There’s some VERY sad stories there.

Looks deserted but trust me .... there's heaps of blokes here. They all congregate in a big open section where we run and run.

Pwivacy pwease!!!!!!

Balmoral beach on Sydney harbour. One of Mum's favourite spots in Sydney.

From Balmoral beach looking toward the entrance to Sydney harbour. That's North Head to the left.The one on the south isn't South head. You can't see South head from Balmoral.  That's one of our famous ferries you can see if you make it a bit bigger.

Wanna run …. Love, Charlie.