An Unforeseen Welcome Stop

Back in 2015, I formulated a plan, but so far it has just not happened… Well, that’s just not entirely true.. I had planned to work in Toowoomba, just not for such a long stint.. But I can’t really complain about that, as I got to enjoy myself, learn few new skills, join a gym, purchase few extra items for Gigi, and more importantly, picked up some good friends along the way…

The next stop was supposed to be somewhere up north for winter, but here is the beauty of a nomadic life. You really never know if your plan is going to work as intended.. There are simply too many variables.. One thing is for sure. You never get bored or run out of things to do..

Yes, it would be fair to say that I’m loving it!

So, because of the need for a treatment from the doctor, I founded myself having to make an unplanned stop in Laidley. As it turned out, not a bad stop at all..

For a start, I got here right in the middle of the Spring Festival and I mean right in the middle of it. It actually took me a good 20 minutes to cross the main street to get to the showground, trying to avoid to run over people dancing in the middle of the road.. It was beautiful..

Considering the size of the town, I wasn’t really expecting this much fun and entertainment.. I mean, they really had a lot going on.. I will definitely make a point to stop here again next year Spring Festival. It did remind me a lot of when the Ekka in Brisbane back in the ’90 was all about having fun, not money like these days..

Eventually I got to the Showground, where again I was surprise by the size of the place.. Plenty of room, water and electricity available at every spot, spots available either in the shade or the sun, plenty of toilets and shower. I couldn’t see a dumping point with the showground, but apparently there is one in the middle of town..

The admission price it is also more than decent. $120 per week or $8.5 per person per night.. Ok, perhaps the view is not the best considering that we are on the flattest part of the valley, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is a good spot if you come at the right time of the year.. At the moment we are sitting on 25° in the day and a comfortable 10° at night. Huge improvement from the 1-3° of Toowoomba..

I was able to park right in the middle of the ground, and like almost everybody else wanting to take advantage of the westerly breeze, facing a north direction.. The ground is clean, and the grass is green and well kept. So far so good..

Right next to the showground is a field currently filled with broccoli.. They are harvesting the crop as I write this, and guess what the majority of people here will have for dinner this week?? Well the farmer did offer and said help yourself… So we did… I can see also Strawberry and Avocado from here, and I guess you can see where this is going..  Best time of the year to be around, apparently…

Most of the season pickers are from PNG and it was a pleasure watching them working and singing at the same time.. I honestly believe they were having fun while doing a job that Australians are obviously struggling to comprehend.. If I was still young I would be right there with them, as I did in France Spain and Italy in my days.. Fresh air, beautiful girls, fresh fruit and veggie for free, great exercise and you get paid good money as well.. It doesn’t get much better than that…

I eventually got to meet some of the residents or neighbours if you prefer.. There is where you pick up some great stories (and some bad ones) of people that have been on the road for many years, and they simply refuse to go back to a dwelling with no wheels.. I know I’m not an expert at being on the road all year ’round, but it makes you wonder why there is such a strong tendency among the majority of full time nomads..

Like Mick pointed out to me few weeks back after coming back from his holiday around Australia, most nomads are inside their caravan and possibly as sleep by 7 or 8 pm tops… Most of them have TV, so perhaps having a cuppa watching their preferred show is the norm.. I can’t say that I understand that, as even last night, there was an unbelievable sky clear of clouds to watch.. Maybe the fresh air is the culprit or maybe they have comfortable bed… Not sure

At the end of this month I’ll be moving again as the showground will be close for a couple of weeks. Not sure of where I’ll go as I still need to be close to Gatton for the next 6-8 weeks…