A Country Ramble

Wednesday 30 October

This week we were only four again, but we were the original members of our group, which started in 2013. At that time, Margot, Laurel and I had known one another for many, many years. Jenny had been invited by me. A chance conversation between Jenny and Laurel led to the discovery that they had both attended Kilcoy State School in 1968 and although Jenny was a year ahead of Laurel, they had been in the school musical together. They had mutual friends. The seed was sown to visit Kilcoy but it has taken until this week for it to actually occur.

An early start to beat the traffic, saw us driving through the pretty town of Woodford at 8am. It was so charming that we quickly decided to park and explore.

As with so many country towns, her main street was wide with an inviting, shady, green nature strip. This green was sadly, the only 'green' we saw all day. Hopefully the rain we have had here over the past two days, also fell in that area. The 'autumn' leaves are totally out of season, but that is not unusual.

Jacarandas and art work transformed the water tower and the sale yards. I doubt that the sale yards are still in use.

[Laurel]

Our meanderings took us passed an excercise park so a work out ensued.

[Laurel]

Opposite was this lovely old 'Queenslander' style home.

[Laurel]

A cute garden

The local pub had been modernised. One of its staff was married to a Canadian. We were commenting about the Halloween decorations when she joined us and invited us in to see more. We were impressed with all her plans to make Halloween a happy, and community time for the locals.

A twenty minute drive had us entering the wide, main street of Kilcoy. Little had changed 'downtown' but the growth of the local meatworks has seen a major spread of housing.

Jenny sitting on the steps of the old ANZ Bank, her first workplace. She told us the story of how in her first week, she had to stand here and ring the bell at 9.30am and shout that the bank was now open for business. She was also asked to walk to the Commonwealth Bank and ask for the scales to balance the ledger.

Jenny's parents owned a beef cattle property well out of town. She stayed in this home with her Grandmother, during the week, to attend school.

Morning Tea was in Yowie Park beside Fred Greensil Lake. Note the fascinators bought in the Woodford, St Vincent De Paul Shop for $6. We are now all set for our Melbourne Cup Luncheon at Parliament House on Tuesday.

Kilcoy State School

We discovered a 5km walk around the perimeter of the town. A local advised us to be on the alert for snakes. An uneventful passage was made.

The Yowie

"Kilcoy is very proud of its yowie statue and it is a great tourist draw card. A yowie is a strange, mythical creature, believed by many to inhabit the rugged mountain ranges surrounding Kilcoy. 

The Somerset website lists the following Yowie facts:

Yowies are large humanoid mammals ranging from 2.1 to 3.6 metres tall

Fur colour ranges from rusty red to dark brown and black

They are reported to have a strong odour similar to rotten eggs

They are nocturnal

Their manner varies from shy to overly aggressive

They are thought to be very intelligent creatures

Yowie is believed to be an adaptation of the Aboriginal names ‘Yuuri’ and ‘Yown’

There have been thousands of Yowie sightings reported

The last reported Yowie sighting in Kilcoy was in 2007."

It was now lunchtime. A short drive took us to Woongooroo Estate Vineyard and Cellar Door.

Along the way, we happened upon these amazing log sculptures.

[Laurel[

Somerset Dam

A little wine tasting while we waited for our lunch to arrive.

Today wasn't about walking, but we did a few more k's than expected. It was a day of friendship, rekindling of old memories, laughter and surprise at the beauty of these two lovely towns, even in drought.

I would love to read your comment.