News & Updates from Vicki Avcin ~ AusCrafts · Page 82

Gee time flies. 5 years ago I was in Brisbane visiting the kids and we all went to Cirque du Soleilfor their OVO show.

But from memory there was a challenge on at CUP for everyone to take a photo where theyd taken their (new at the time) purple Crafty Bob bags.

It was surprising where Crafty Bob turned up and here I was all dressed up with Crafty Bob safely tucked away waiting for the big reveal outside the front of the huge tent down at Hamilton in Brisbane.

OVO was a marvellous performance and I really would love to see more of their shows but they only come to Australia every few years.

I think there has been one show in Sydney since OVO but I do keep an eye on where they go.

Hopefully theyll come back to Brisbane again and I will get to go to another show. So there we all were, my son, my daughter, me and………. Crafty Bob!

7 (not 10) little ducks went out one day, over the hill and far away…….. well up the hill and into our back yard.

Mum was close at hand and such well behaved little ducks they were too. Stuck by Mum and followed where ever she went.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that we were discussing how we always seem to have ducks coming up to the ground level water bowl and where we feed all our other birds but in nearly 10 years we have been in the house, weve only ever seen one lot of other baby ducks.

We do have foxes in the bush beside us and down the back in the environmental park so we thought that possibly there were ducklings but they never made it.

These ducks are a Pacific Black Duck.

The name doesnt suit them all that well but when in flight they do look very dark. The only black they have is a stripe from their bill to the eyes and they are predominately brown in colour.

These ducks are found in all areas of Australia apart from the very dry arid regions.

So they are common and they breed when food and water is plentiful, which there is at our place, even in the drought as we besides having 2 dams (usually with water) we also put a variety of water bowls out and feed is put out every afternoon for the different species of birds that come and feed.

It is not uncommon to see both these and the wood ducks wandering round picking after the rest of the birds have left.

So it was exciting to see Mumma bring this little clutch of babies up while she had a scrounge round and a drink as the adult ducks tend to be a bit shy.

Photo shows Mum and her ducklings out in the back yard early in the morning.

Living in a rural area we have an abundance of wild life around the property. One of the things we love is our wallabies who we see most days grazing around the property.

Since being here almost 10 years now, we have watched each year as the females go through the breeding cycle.

In years of drought they may have a baby (joey) but because there is not much grass for them to feed on the joey will not crawl up to the pouch and grow but for the past 3 years we have had the pleasure of watching the mums pouch grow, waiting to see that first sign of a head or a leg sticking out, watching the bub get its fur and to the point where he/she will hang her head out of the pouch, then starting to graze on the grass while mum is eating and excitement when we see bub out of the pouch for the first time.

Usually the first time they are out they dont stay out for long before diving back in to the safety of mums pouch.

Probably also a bit warmer in there! Well we now have our new bub well out of the pouch and just putting on the best cuteness act.

Quite amusing too when mum decides shell hop off down the back with the little one hopping along behind…… you can almost/imagine it saying smaller hops mum so I can keep up.

It really is an exciting time when we see them out and on their own. They are not tame (like in the sanctuaries) but they do know us and know we are no threat to them so they usually look up and oh its you and go back to eating.

Now this little one has to learn that too. Last years bub we call Cutey Pattootie, will get within about 2 metres of us with no worries. Maybe one day one will venture close enough to pat but we respect they are wild animals so we prefer to look and admire from a distance.

If you read last weeks newsletter, youll remember I told you about how I went up Mt Tamborine for lunch at St Bernards Hotel.

Mt Tamborine is a beautiful country drive very popular as a Sunday drive for many in SE Queensland.

Tamborine Mountain is located in the picturesque hinterland only an hour from Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The tropical rainforests are populated with distinctive, brilliantly colourful, exotic birds and many interesting variations of flora and fauna.It is known for its vineyards and winerys, arts and crafts shops and variety of eaterys , National Walking Tracks, Glider Zone (where people jump off the side of the mountain and paraglide over the hinterland), art gallerys and antique shops as well as its spectacular views with the Gold Coast visible on clear days.

But driving down towards Tamborine Village on the way to Beenleigh, there is one unique and quirky rock…. known as Piano Rock.

About half way down the mountain there is a black rock with its peculiar shape that stunningly resembles a piano.

Someone realised this and painted the rock about 50 years ago to look like a piano. It is a mystery as to who originally painted the rock but since then, it has been kept painted with someone refreshing it every few years.

When we saw it on the Sunday it had an addition, someone has placed a white candelabra on the top of the piano. (Photo although sorry its not better quality but we were in the car and there is no where to stop n the narrow road down the mountain).

This baffling mystery has had people talking for years as the person or persons are unknown and I guess that is half the excitement in looking for it as one meanders down the narrow winding road.

Well last week I said I would tell you more of my trip to Brisbane to spend time with family.

Sunday with Paul and Kelly we all went up to St Bernards Hotel on Mt Tamborine (in the Gold Coast hinterland) for lunch.

Driving up Mt Tamborine is a beautiful drive whether its a sunny or rainy day.

Located on the edge of an ancient volcanic escarpment, on a sunny day you can see all the way to the coast with views of Tamborine Valley, Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast and on a rainy day the mountain is shrouded in cloud and mist, which is what it was like on the Sunday.

It is a beautiful eerie feeling driving along the narrow roads when it is all misty and foggy. We arrived at St Bernards and were greeted at the door by Molly and her puppy Chiraz, 2 beautiful gentle St Bernard dogs.

Molly is the Mum and Chiraz is the 12 month old pup they have that greet guests and wander round lapping up the attention.

St Bernard dogs have always been part of the history since it was built. St Bernards house was built by Robert Muir in 1881 on what is now the Council Quarry on Kaiser Rd as an accommodation house for the manager and staff.

He also bought 2000 acres of scrubland at the top of the mountain where it was intended to grow sugar cane.

After Mr Muir was drowned in floods in 1887, the following owners moved St Bernards to its present site in 1898.

The main part of the current hotel (lounge and public bar) was built in 2012-2014 when it got its hotel licence.

Up to then it had been used as accomadation for up to 100 guests. Today it is one of the most popular hotels in the hinterland and the largest and most famous. Good country home style atmosphere with great food and one of the best views around! Lovely and cool in summer and very cosy with the fireplaces in winter.

And yes the food was excellent. By the time wed finished lunch the weather had cleared a little and we could see almost to the coast while we walked around the beautiful gardens.

It was a wonderful relaxing lunch but we had to head off and back to Bridgets for the rest of my time down there.

Photos are of driving up to and through Mt Tambourine and the Hotel and of course Molly and Chiraz.