Around Goodna

We have mostly had gorgeous Queensland spring weather! Bright sunshine, 70-almost 90F, but no humidity, and Craig didn't mind riding yesterday despite the high temperature (there was quite a breeze = headwind.. at times). Approximately 21-30C.
One day we cut the ride short, when we heard hail was on its way, and this turned out to be true. Another day we might have felt 10 rain drops, but this was close to home.
We have ridden west of Brisbane, in beautiful, and hilly horse country. Just like at home, there are large homes, gorgeous gardens and yards, long driveways..
There are few points where you can cross the Brisbane River, some of the bigger roads are not nice to ride on despite there being a bike lane (just lots of traffic and nothing exciting to see), so we could have planned a little better ahead of time. I agree it will be easier to drive to a more remote start now that we have a car.
But we surpassed the 1000-mile mark (1600km) since we left home - not bad considering the fact we only have a couple of days with > 50 miles.

Link to pic's around Goodna


Our new friend Heather has again showed us around by bike, and her friends keep including us in dinners they plan. We have experienced much more than we ever expected, due to the kindness of them all!
Bob Z. said Paul Theroux was unimpressed with the Australians in a book from 1992, and considered them obnoxious, prejudiced drunks (against the Aboriginal native peoples here). All we can say, is that many countries have their fair share of rude drunks, and so far we haven't met anyone who fits this description here. Instead, as I said in my previous post: we are impressed with how polite people are when using public transit. And Heather & friends are all very accomplished, well traveled people, who would fit right in with our group of active friends at home, and many seem they would give George quite the work out, too.
Have no pictures from Moreton Bay, as I didn't want to ask Heather to stop. We got a late start as Craig & I had our 2nd travel clinic appointment in the morning, and as soon as we got on the bikes, north of the city, my derailleur broke. Craig fixed it, and we had a pleasant, and this time, easier ride along the ocean front. There was a Wednesday afternoon gentleman's sailing regatta, wind- and kite surfers, and people fishing. Craig had one picture from there fortunately.

We walked around the cultural highlight of Goodna - it's annual Jacaranda Festival. Craig says it reminds him of a small county fair from his childhood in Indiana. But the Jacaranda trees have been beautiful, and in full bloom, since we got here almost 2 weeks ago.
Goodna is a working class town, conveniently located on a main train line in to Brisbane. We only picked up a rental car today, Saturday, as we need one next week.
Our hosts are very nice, and their cottage is perfect for us. It is in their front yard, and their young adult kids have taken turns living here over the years - so there is everything you might need.
One negative, was when first one maybe 8-year-old boy, and then 2 others, approached us near the grocery store, and begged for money. One kid said he was hungry, but in no way looked neglected, and the other 2 simply asked. We were surprised, and should have come up with something more useful to say than a simple 'no'.
Am finishing this post Tuesday, when we are starting our first house sit in Helidon, still farther west of Brisbane. Thanks to Pat S., and her experienced house sitting friends, we are trying this free housing option. We have more space than we have had since leaving home, we have a real couch, we could close doors and hide from each other, but fortunately we don't feel the need to do so... Craig is hoping we can watch some of the classic Australian movies our new friends here told him about, and the house comes with a large screen TV.
In exchange for all this luxury, we will take care of the owners' 2 cats, and feed the fish. Our hosts were very nice, and we hope to do things well, as we are their 2nd ever house sitters, and the first woman they tried, was totally crazy, and had to be sent packing early.