Moranbah

The drive from Finch Hatton towards Moranbah was really interesting with endless fields of sugar cane with mountains in the distance. It was a relatively short trip (2.5hours) to get to our ‘destination’. It was quite amazing to see all the coal mines on the way into Moranbah, it seems to be booming with investment. Large camps for FIFO (fly in fly out) workers and trucks carrying all sorts of supplies. The town itself is nice with a town square, aquatic centre and the Black Nugget Hotel. We picked up some supplies and headed to Mark, Brooke and Riva Woodbridge’s (Ben’s sister’s husband’s brotherJ) house who had kindly invited us to join their family for 2 nights and a day. We parked the camper up on the front footpath and wound up the camper. We found ourselves right at home and spread out. It was great to sit at a dining table and relax in the lounge room that night. The next day we had a morning of school work (greatly improved by the promise of a ride on the quad – thanks Mark) then headed into the Aquatic centre for a swim and play.

The afternoon went fast, Mandy enjoyed snuggles with Riva, while the kids enjoyed some time playing with Riva, watching lots of TV and riding on the quad bike.  Sam was a little nervous with me behind the wheel, but seemed to relax once mum stepped up front! 

We had a top BBQ dinner (thanks for cooking Mark) then at 8:30 with kids in bed, Brooke and Mandy chatting, Mark & I took off for a farm just out of town to go “pigging” with 2 of Marks dogs. This was a new experience and I was looking forward to seeing how it is done. It involves driving around and letting the dogs pick up the scent of a feral pig finding it then dispatching it quickly. As it is often with fishing there were none biting but we did see the dogs pick up a trail. We followed them using a GPS tracker on their collar – hi tech stuff. On the way home Mark had been telling me about the wild deer just behind the back fence with a big Stag (with bigger antlers) and wouldn’t you know it there they were at midnight eating the grass behind the house. Mark had his eye on a trophy so off we went but I think the deer had an idea of what was being planned and scurried off.  After bush bashing it in the unbreakable Hi-Lux we were outsmarted again and again… much to the frustration of Mark! It was terrific to drop in and get to know these guys, and we were blessed by their generous spirit.