Category Archives: Travel

Carnival of Flowers – Toowoomba

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On Monday 22 Sept a group of Waves residents ventured to Toowoomba on a bus tour. The day was organised by Lena Nizeti. Many thanks to Lena for organising the day out.

Lena takes a break in the Winners Flower Garden

On the tour were Lena, Candace, Jill, John, Kathy and Lynne. Midge and Mike had planned on joining in but had to cancel at last minute.

Jill, Lynne, Lena and Kathy at Picnic Point Lookout.

After an early 7:00am start, followed by several pick-ups between Redcliffe and Taigum, we were finally on our way. Coach driver Mark made a stop in Marburg, right at the edge of the Black Snake Creek where some morning teas and cakes were enjoyed. Luckily no one saw any black snakes.

B S Creek, Marburg, QLD

I estimate that several months of planning and research found this underwhelming location for a Morning Tea. It was just a short stroll across the local Skate Park to the toilets, shown in the background.

Then it was off to Picnic Point, Toowoomba for the first “Flower” stop. On a clear day there you can see for miles. Luckily it was a clear day.

After Picnic Point, the tour stopped at the home of the winner of the Festival home garden competition.

The front garden area of the home on Burke St had every square cm filled with different flowering plants. It was very colourful. A plea from the Owner for some regular volunteer gardeners did not elicit any takers.

Next stop was at Queens Gardens where we parked near the Botanic Gardens.

There were many very colourful garden beds around the Botanical Gardens area.

Many garden beds had carefully placed plants with attractive designs.

Next Stop- Lunch

Ten minutes back on the bus and we were at the “Blue Mountain Hotel” for our included lunch.

Lunch was served “alternate-drop” and you got either a chicken schnitzel and chips, or a few slices of roast pork with vegies.

Those with the Chicken Schnitzel mostly managed to stretch the meal to three mouthfuls. Those with the roast pork were able to separate the pork to show three slices.

After Lunch

The next and final “flower” stop was at Laurel Bank Park. Here many more flowering attractions than were at the Botanic Gardens. We had an hour here to explore the many garden beds and attractive grounds. In the south-west corner of the park were some garden beds with several different coloured tulips.

There was a wide variety of plantings at the Laurel Bank Park. An hour here passed quickly as there was a lot to see, and it is a large area. Luckily it was not very crowded and there were many shaded seating spaces.

Back on the Coach

Now as 3:15pm approached, it was time to get back on the coach and head home. we managed to hit the City area right on 5pm so traffic was considerable. We had several drop-off stops starting in Aspley, then Taigum, Sandgate, Brighton, Clontarf, Margate and finally to the Redcliffe stop at 6:10pm. It had been a longgg day and most were exhausted.

The tour was provided by Red and White Tours, Sandgate. Our driver was Mark and he was assisted by Abigail.

Money When Travelling

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Wise Money App for Your Travels

If you are planning some overseas travel in the future, you might consider signing up for a WISE account.

WISE is not a Bank, but an international money system with a Visa Debit card. The card has a micro-chip and works as a contact-less payment card. Just wave it near the payment terminal presented to you when making a purchase.  You can load almost any foreign currency onto the card and the exchange rates are way better than Visa/Mastercard or Bank rates. You load the card initially with Aussie dollars, and convert however much you want to spend in the foreign currency using the app on your phone. You will need internet or Mobile Data at the time of transfer. Easy.

I travelled recently to USA and relied heavily on my Wise card for shopping, sightseeing and transport. It worked better than I expected.

 

Some benefits are

  1. the great exchange rates and no MCD/Visa 3% rate surcharge,
  2. being able to choose almost any currency,
  3. paying very small charges.

There is a $10 fee for your physical Wise card, but if you use the affiliate link I have for you below, you will be offered the physical card free.

Here is the link to sign-up and get a free Wise card:-  Sign Up To Wise

Convert Currency

Got Home with Money Left Over

So after your travels, you have some Euros, GB Pounds, Vietnam Dong, Indonesian Rupees, and whatever left on your Wise card.

Easy, using the App just convert the foreign balances back to Aussie dollars and spend the money at Woolworths. Coles, Aldi etc.

 

Before Travelling

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So, You Are Heading Off For a While

Background: At a nearby group of strata units, a recently widowed elderly gentleman, lets name him Harry, headed off on a lovely cruise around Australia.

The cruise was about three weeks.  Whilst gone, one of his neighbours noticed they had not seen him for a couple of weeks and they alerted the local police.

Police visited the home and could not arouse anyone inside, because they were gone for three weeks.

Then the concerned police broke down the front door of the unit and discovered that it was vacant and there was some travel information on a table.

Harry arrived home a few days later to find that his home had been invaded by the police, and door had been temporarily fixed.

 

Moral of the Story

This recent story shows how it is important to let your neighbour(s) know when you will be gone travelling, and an approximate return date.

In cases such as this, it is up to the Owner/Resident to repair all damage done when emergency services make a forced entry.

Oh, and don't forget to isolate the water to your Unit. Make sure all un-needed appliances are turned off/unplugged.