Happy Valley Retreat Stanthorpe

... park and enjoyed the peaceful scenery.

Armed with only a small local map and the lights on high beam, we followed our noses through the dark woods to find our beloved bistro. We were delighted to discover it as charming and welcoming as we remembered. The food, service and atmosphere made it one of the best evenings we have ever enjoyed.

The staff were excellent, the mouth-watering menu had very reasonable prices and ...

... we hope to go down to the Gold coast area. That is surfers paradise and where they recently held the Indy cup. Chat later and will tell you who won the Melborne Cup. Hey, here we are back again. Guess what - my horse came second ( Bauer #12) and Nancy's third ( #4). Together we won about$75. It was terrific to watch the race, catch the excitement and to win. Just a reminder that our blog will end on Saturday when we leave for Sidney for our last few days. Chat later C & N

... fluent english speaking people in the hostel we found it difficult to make friends . Also my whole head blistered because of the sun/heat - so when that happened that's when I wanted to chuck in my hat (not that i had one.. which is why my head blistered lol) One other bad thing about the type of work there at the time we came to Stanthorpe was the weather - if it rains, you don't work. Simple as that. We were laid off three times ...

... simple farmers and small business owners) understand community level, demand side economics (now if only we could get our high and mighty Republican politicians to understand the same elementary concepts). I imagine this is an insight perhaps gained in part by their isolation both internationally and intranationally or maybe by the fact that the government does much less here to subsidize the cost of transportation (fuel) than we do in the States.

... that face us in this century, all delivered through a thick German accent. He is striving not to be a doom and gloom forecaster, but to simply see if it is possible to live in a truly sustainable manner out here in rural Australia. As he put it, at Jerra Park, "Ve haf a big sahndbox, und ve play." He drove us out to the place along a dirt track that also served as driveway to the spectacular Border Ranges National Park, a landscape of craggy mountains and ...

... took over during Vietnam, they protested, smoked lots of weed, and somewhere along the way law enforcement mysteriously stopped caring about pot. Some kind of precedent was set, I can't remember the rest. Most people can't. So thirty years later, Nimbin's become the pot capital of Oz. You can take bus tours here that leave you in town precisely long enough to grab, munch, buy some ****** hemp bracelet, maybe some spacecakes too or a bong or ...

... this well, so have a look at the website and look at the pictures, I can't do it justice -- but it was cool to be in a virtual reality-esque environment. Before we crashed into bed, though, we headed down to the beach to light up some sparklers we bought a few days before (30 for a dollar at Pac Fair!) and although it took FOREVER for them to ignite, it was fun dancing on the beach in the dark with them. Sunday we just got up, had brunch at Pancakes in Paradise ...

... a baked fish dinner with pumpkin mashed potatoes and asparagus. On Saturday the guys (Matthew, Brenton and I) made a prawn (like shrimp) stir-fry. Cooking meals together is inexpensive and fun. It brings us all together like a family. On Sunday, Will (Krystal's roommate) drove Krystal, Jason and I to The Channen Markets. The market has a more hippy feel that the Lismore market and offers more crafts for sale. Afterward, we ...