A Taste of Brisbane's Celtic Festival

 Sunday 10 October, Moorlands Park, Brisbane.

The previous weekend, Warwick [a 2 1/2 hr drive away] held their CelticFest, celebrating the Southern Downs' rich Scottish and Irish heritage. I was extremely disappointed that I was unable to attend. I had learnt highland dancing between the ages of 7 and 9, when we lived at Afterlee. 

I then happened upon this small event in Brisbane, and although it was an extremely HOT day, I loved every minute of it. 

Arrival, 9.30 am - It had been a mad dash to reach the upriver ferry before its departure. Huffing and gasping for breath, I walked inside to sit down, to be greeted by my friend Jocelyn on the same ferry. A great start to the day.

The jacarandas are flowering, but the grass is brown from lack of rain for far too many weeks.

There were numerous stalls of tartans, family history and genealogy, celtic jewelery and food stalls. Bottled water and icecream sales had long queues all day.

These three Irish Wolfhounds and their owners were very welcoming.

Visitors were encouraged to wear their tartan, kilts and celtic attire.

Winners

I was thrilled to discover this group. 

Hopefully, next year I will find time to join them of a Friday morning.

A delight to watch the dancers in full admiration of their finesse, whilst dancing in such steamy conditions. That said, I admired all who had turned out in their tartans! Sweat was dripping from me in my light clothing, sitting in the small amounts of shade I could find. There was little breeze.

Greg Peaty - Celtic Musician

A member of the massed bands.

Whilst I had been totally enjoying the mornings program, I was becoming disappointed that I had seen few bagpipers. Then, with little warning, my heart was beating rapidly to the deep pulse of the drums and the ancient wail of the bagpipes as the massed bands marched across the small arena. They then played for a good 20 minutes. Whether from my Irish /Scottish heritage or not, I was incredibly moved by their performance.

Moreton Bay Fiddlers

Australian Celtic Women and Q.I.A Dancers

The program, discovered at the end of the afternoon.

The heat was too  much for Joc and as the initial performers weren't as thrilling as later in the day, she left at 11am. I decided to see how I would manage for another hour. Greg Peaty took the stage sooner after and I was hooked for the rest of the day. By 4pm the heat had exhausted most of the attendees, but the modern Limmerick Band kept on singing. Just after 4pm I made the move towards the ferry terminal, their music following me.

My diary is bookmarked for a similar event next year.

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Supermoon

 Wednesday 5 November - Lota

The first time I can recall looking for, or having any knowledge of a supermoon, was January 2018. Such a big fuss was being made in the media, that the both the Hungry Hikers and the Gaiter Girls, took themselves to Lota on the bayside to hike and then watch it rise.

Because of the time of sunset, its arrival was almost missed by the Hungry Hikers. It was a lovely moon but not spectacular. The following evening the Gaiter Girls hiked and waited and waited. Alas, it was a cloudy evening and we saw some of it for just a minute!

We were well prepared, but disappointed. 

Having visited Lota the week prior, and watched the sailing boats from our moon watching spot, the seed was sown to return for November's supermoon.

Unusually, Leanne and I were the only Hungry Hikers available to walk. We quickly covered our 10 km along the lovely bayside shoreline. 

Spot our hats reserving our table, on our return..We didn't want to lose the prime position in the time it took to return to our cars and collect the evenings provisions.

We had timed our walk well and once set up, relaxed with a glass of wine to wait the 20 minutes for the moon's arrival.

A lovely passing walker offered to take this shot for us.

Within minutes of turning around after the above photo, and 10 minutes earlier than expected, my eyes suddenly focused on a blurry moon, rising above the horizon. I grabbed my camera.

17.59 pm

Not being a 'photographer', [using only a point and shoot and iPhone] I find it fascinationg how the light effects the quality of the image. The iPhone couldn't see the above, but later it had better clarity than the camera.

Leanne's Iphone 15 pro, 18.04 pm

My Iphone 8, 18.06 pm.

Camera

iPhone 8

The pastel shades of sunset were becoming stronger and spreading across the horizon.

Camera

As the moon rose higher, a few wispy clouds wafted across its face.

iPhone15

The next 2 images were taken at the same time - 18.40 pm.

iPhone 8  

iPhone 15.

As we continued to sit and enjoy the extremely pleasant ambiance of the evening, we became aware that the tide had been rising. In fact quite quickly. Within minutes the mudflat was covered and we were treated to the lovely sound of water lapping against the seawall.

Ha, ha! That was in between 50 runners jogging past 3 or 4 times!

It was 7.30 pm when, with great reluctance, we packed up and bade the moon farewell. The joggers were still jogging.

Last views.

Camera

iPhone

Meanwhile I have a dear friend who lives on the Gold Coast. We always share moon photos. These special images arrived as I was getting into the car. They were taken across the Broadwater.

An absolutely perfect evening.

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Here and There

Out and about over 2 weeks.

The week that I was at Lennox Heads, the weather here in Brisbane was excessive for spring. I thankfully enjoyed the cool coastal breezes. From the middle of July we had only 14 mls of rain. On my return from camping, my first job was to remove my very sad looking sweet peas that had given me so much wonderful colour over the previous months.

Sunday evening a massive thunderstorm passed through, dropping 19 mls here but sadly, in many areas the rain also brought damage from wind and huge hail.

Monday was a sizzler! 38C! I did nothing.

Tuesday the temperature dropped to a very welcome 22C and it rained constantly. 65mls. So welcome!

Wednesday, Hungry Hiker Day, we didn't know what to expect and chose an afternoon walk culminating at Night Feast at the Powerhouse.

The day dawned dry, a perfect spring day. Our walk of 10 km was along the Brisbane River and side streets.

The following Sunday I took two friends to the Bayside. Our initial destination was thwarted as, even at 10am, the park was filled with families enjoying the lovely day.  It was just as busy out on the water. The park we finally spent the day in gave us a great view of the water action, even if from a distance. 

A very grand, old eucalpyt tree. [gum tree]

Tuesday arrived. Janice and I were again the only Gaiter Girls available to walk. It had been over 4 years since the Gaiter Girls had visited Springbrook National Park in the hinterland.  As we had had so much rain, we headed there thinking the waterfalls would be quite spectacular after the heavy rain. They were lovely but not spctacular.

Jacaranda season is coming to a close, as can be seen in this park on the journey up.

We were expecting sunshine, but the whole day was misty, damp and beautifully moody.

The view to the coast from the ridge we were walking, before dropping down below the cliff line, was ever changing with the mist floating high and low.

The smiles tell the happiness we were feeling.

Moments along the 6 km Twin Falls circuit. 

Not so enjoyable were the numerous leeches trying to hitch a ride. For some reason they thought Janice was the best escort.

Hike done, a cuppa was enjoyed surrounded by the lush green forest with entertainment from the birdlife.

A 30 minute drive took us to the Natural Arch. Janice had never previously visited. I took few photos as Matthew and I had walked the trail in May.

https://outandabout3.blogspot.com/2025/05/a-walk-with-my-son.html

My camera didn't focus on the flowing water or trees this visit, but nature's sculptures and tiny creations.

Cat bird - they really do sound like a meowing cat.

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