Hot Buns

On our way towards Brisbane we decided on a free campsite at Tiaro, 40km south of Maryborough. We passed a few bushfires on the way and the smoke combined with dust from NSW's duststorm made for rather poor visibility. One bushfire was very close to a crematorium, which made for some interesting discussion. Our site for the night was in the bush near the Mary River. After we had settled in amongst the trees the wind picked up and the smoke became quite thick. We made our escape plans, checked the smoke alarm (AKA dinner bell) was working- thanks mum- and took the boys down to the river for a quick wash before dinner. The water was quite chilly so the boys were out quickly and the older two ran back to the caravan to warm up. Unfortunately Darcy met misfortune while getting his pyjamas on. In the process of warming himself near the oven that was roasting our potatoes, he got just a little too close and seared his rump. At first we thought the burn was only minor as he laughed, but then he started to feel it. Greg took him back to the river as we had very little water, and there were no taps nearby. After a while we realised how big the burn was, about 10cm diameter, so I took him off to Maryborough Hospital, an 80km round trip, where they had a suitable dressing for him. Darcy is a bit sensitive about the whole thing so we ask that you please don't make him the butt of any jokes...Thankfully the bushfires didn't come close to our campsite, as it would have been tricky for Greg to move the van without the car.

No visit to Queensland would be complete without a trip to THE BIG PINEAPPLE!! Dry activities had to be found as Darcy would need to keep his dressing dry for around a week, and it doesn't get much drier than this. The Big Pineapple is as touristy as you can get. The absolute highlight of the entire trip for Greg was a ride on the nutmobile to visit the macadamia farm (sorry, too much sarcasm?). Actually the kids really enjoyed it and I must admit that the brand new goat kid on it's wobbly little legs calling for its ma was very cute, as were the baby chicks that we had a cuddle of. Darcy smuggled out a couple of macadamias, although we later bought some, and even Jess is now very competent at cracking them open with a hammer and offering everyone the crumbled insides.