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The Exploring Willow

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25.01.2022 This month's travelling blog is now available https://www.robertonfray.com//the-bellara-mining-heritage/

24.01.2022 Following the start of my web page http://robertonfray.com I have uploaded three new blogs under my main headings. Each month I plan to add another blog. Under 'Surrey Hills' tab I will add stories associated with Surrey Hills that either weren't covered in my book, or I only provided a brief outline. This new blog is a summary of Chapter 6 in the book which describes the construction of the Van Diemen's Land company's wooden horse-drawn tramway in the late 1870s. Go to https...://www.robertonfray.com/category/surrey-hills/ Under the 'Travel' tab I keep you provide stories about where we are travelling and what we are seeing. Today's blog tells the story about how, within 6 weeks, our dream to travel around Australia was affected by the COVID pandemic. See https://www.robertonfray.com/category/travel/ Finally, in the blogs under 'Forestry' I will recall experiences I had as a forester. Some will be humorous, some will be serious, but most of all, they should be entertaining. Hopefully you may learn a bit about our wonderful forests you may not already know about. Today's story is a cracker where I recall learning much more about our native forest-dwelling animals and dealing with a forest blockade by activists. Click on https://www.robertonfray.com/category/forestry/ I hope you enjoy reading the blogs and feel free to provide some feedback. While viewing my website you may see a message or icon which asks permission from you to receive notifications. This permission will allow us to notify you in your browser window of any new content I add, including new blogs. This way you will know straight away when I have something new to read. Subscribing to notifications is anonymous and you can opt out at any time through your browser notification settings.

24.01.2022 I didn’t win the cleanest car and van award last month, but I did get a minor prize for the cleanest awning

23.01.2022 Not a bad morning at the beach (in Victoria that is)

23.01.2022 Another video of GBR

22.01.2022 This month's travelling blog covers our visit to Cooktown. It is a different take on the town. For those of you that have experienced the same conditions we did, make sure you grab your earphones and lie back and listen to the music I provide and let me know if you agree with my comparison. https://www.robertonfray.com//01/08/the-cooktown-crescendo/

22.01.2022 Look what I bought to accompany my coffee this morning. Wonderful selection to choose from.

19.01.2022 On a relatively cool Sunday evening, ideal for a fennel and Maryland chicken oven bake washed down with a light-bodied Lisbon (Portuguese) red.

18.01.2022 Caught up with Robert MacAulay and his wife Rhonda at their new residence in Hervey Bay today, for a coffee and a chat. They have moved into a Lifestyle village for over 50s. For those of you that know Bob, his thoughts on the rules and regulations with this sort of investment are gold: Me: Congrats on your house at Hervey Bay. Whereabouts is it?... Bob: We bought a small cottage in over 50s village at Urangan Me: Have heard about those and keen to find out more Bob: We have a land lease - we own the home but not the land and pay a weekly maintenance/service fee which covers all common areas, use of community bus, facilities etc. The land lease industry is heavily regulated with rules, the village owners also have rules that at first read can be daunting, but they are what they are. Time will tell with me as I'm used to making the rules not following those made by others. We hope you enjoy your new cottage Bob and thanks for your little gifts. Hopefully you may be able to set up some of your own rules!

14.01.2022 Sorry but I couldn’t resist going back out to the reef with the GoPro on such a wonderful day. Here is today’s video with background music. Saw a turtle but couldn’t capture it on film but got some fish this time. This reef is similar in character to the Great Barrier Reef. It is a hard coral community fringing the coast, which is rare, especially this close. It consists of reef building hermatypic corals. The Scroll Coral you see in the video is formed of numerous folded plates, which can reach a metre in length. It grows in a cup shape, often with ruffles and curls.

14.01.2022 I hope you enjoy this months blog about an interesting phenomena I have noticed while staying at Queensland caravan parks. Does it also happen elsewhere? Would you be a member of this exclusive group? Make sure you sign up to receive an email notification every time I post a new blog on our travels. Details on my home page https://www.robertonfray.com... https://www.robertonfray.com/2021/02/12/the-4-oclock-chorus/

12.01.2022 Thanks to the tip from another Willow van owner we spent 4 nights at Lake Maraboon Holiday Park, just outside Emerald. We learnt all about red claw crayfish and enjoyed the Red Claw lager and spring rolls. But the real highlight was being sited next to ‘Doc’ who has spent 4 months at the Lake, each year, for the last 20 years. Each afternoon at 4pm a staff member picks him up in the golf buggy to take him to the bar for the happy hour. He even has his own stool reserved for h...im at the bar. And he gets dropped back the same way, although he cheekily adds he sometimes drives back himself. Red claw crayfish is a pest in the dam despite being a native to Australia. Divers have found the crayfish literally crawling over each other half a metre deep in the lake floor. A female apparently lays millions of eggs. The taking of Red Claw is regulated and each person is allowed 4 pots. Doc goes out most days, depending on the wind, and catches 3 freezer loads of red claw to take home each year. Doc loves a yarn and we learnt everything you need to know about Red Claw. Despite being a sprightly 85 year old, he is fit and healthy. He was a truck driver for 52 years and tows his van from Brisbane with his tinny and trailer on the roof of the car. The only drawback he faces now is not being allowed to go out in his boat by himself. We hung on every word of wisdom Doc shared, except his recommended way of eating red claw - white bread, butter and plenty of salt. That’s it as Doc wasn’t into ‘fancy’ food. Personally I prefer a quick fry with garlic and chilli after cooking in boiling salted water. How do you like your Red Claw?

12.01.2022 Had fun exploring Scareness reef this morning. Make sure you have your volume turned on.

11.01.2022 Some GBR still shots to highlight the colours

10.01.2022 We are getting some chilly mornings on the Atherton Tablelands. The mist rising off the lake at sunrise makes for some great photo opportunities. It also means my planned early morning swims are not happening!

10.01.2022 After spending nearly 12 weeks at Hervey Bay during the lock down restrictions, we left Tuesday last week after intrastate travel restrictions were lifted. First we headed to Bundaberg to get the van serviced and spent 4 nights at Bargara staying at the caravan park near the main beach. The park is a very large one and was nearly full while we were there. We had a surprise from another Willow van owner who were on the other side of the park and who read on the Willow fb site ...Continue reading

09.01.2022 Enjoying One Track Mind and Pier to Pier cocktails on a balmy afternoon. The former is a Italian Vermouth (punt e mes), Oz gin, maraschino a cherry liquor and orange bitters. It is a boozy, bitter and rich cocktail. The latter is Ruby grapefruit , rose vodka, a pink peppercorn liquor and Prosecco - a brighter citrusy and fresh cocktail.... Cheers

09.01.2022 Geez I love it when our van gets voted the cleanest in the park.

06.01.2022 How good is the outer barrier reef. Yesterday we did a day trip with one of the many cruise options. We decided not to visit Lizard or Green Island and instead spend our day exploring as much of the reef as we could. Moore reef is quite a large reef. We spent the day on a pontoon moored permanently at the reef. We snorkelled, went on the glass bottom boat and watched some fish feeding. Unfortunately didn’t see any manta rays, turtles or sharks. The colour under the water was... spectacular. Hope you enjoy a sample of the videos I took while snorkelling and have the volume on.

04.01.2022 I guess you can do a dump while attending to dumping duties with this set up.

02.01.2022 Every month caravan parks around Australia provide an award for the cleanest car and van in their park. I am chuffed to have won it for the third time this year.