DAY 14 - ANOTHER DAY IN GOOMERI AT THE BUSH CAMP....

 We woke this morning to overcast skies.... we didn't have a lot planned for today, we planned on having a pretty chilled out day.  After breakfast, some of us felt like getting physical and set off to do some of the walks around the farm..  There is so much wildlife to check out plus the animals on the farm,  and lots of birdlife...  

There are dams to go swimming or canoeing in also, but it was a little too cool for us to go near the water...

 

There were hills to climb to watch sunrises and sunsets,  there were dams to walk away.  On the previous evening whilst sitting around the camp fire we were given directions for some of the good walks but also warned to wear closed in shoes, and take a stick and always have our eyes peeled to the ground as snakes were very common around here and can be deadly, particularly the brown snake...

Ian and Kathy set out to do the walk up to the crest of the hill whilst Steve thought the creek walk would be nice. 

 On there way back they checked out the resident goat Bert and the farm animals...

Bert the resident goat...

It was mid morning by the time everyone got back from their walks..  After a cuppa together, we decided that a drive into Goomeri for a look around would be in order.  We had spoken to a few of the campers who strongly recommended that we should head into town and visit the Goomeri Bakery.  

We were impressed with Goomeri when we drove through yesterday. Goomeri is a former timber town that retains a relaxed old world atmosphere.  It is a very neat and tidy town and many of it's buildings were constructed in the 1920s and retain all of their original charm.  The town is steeped in history, the "Lest we Forget" town clock built in 1939 has become a landmark earning Goomeri the name of "Clocktown". 

It is also the home to Australia's only Pumpkin Festival which is held annually on the last weekend in May and features the exciting "Great Australian Pumpkin Roll".  The Festival is very popular and draws thousands of people to the town each year...

 It was about 11.30am when we left to drive into Goomeri. Just before we got to town, we got pulled over by the local policemen to blow into the bag.  I guess being a long weekend, there were a few parties going on, and he might have thought he might catch a few who had been on the booze the night before.  His comment to us was that we must have had a very boring evening the night before and after having a good chuckle with him, we continued our drive into town.  

 In the centre of town is The Goomeri Bakery. Owners Jo and Miranda Prendergast have a real love affair with this town. They currently own 3 businesses in the area employing over 50 odd staff.  Joe's Grand Hotel, Dusty Hill Vineyard and the Goomeri Bakery. All three were highly recommended to us and all three are 100% worth a visit.

We parked just down the road from the Bakery and the first thing that caught our eye was the rather large mural painted on the Pumpkin Festival building...

As we headed up the street towards the Bakery, we noticed that it was really busy with a queue up of people back out onto the footpath.  Obviously the mark of a good bakery.  In fact we were there for almost an hour and a half and in the whole time we were there, the queue to be served remained out onto the footpath the whole time.  There was a continuous stream of customers lined up to be served.  

 It was quite funny, but the policemen who had pulled us over for the breath test, had packed up very quickly and just happened to be in the line in front of us.  We got chatting to him and he gave us his recommendations from the bakery.

It was quite funny, but the policemen who had pulled us over for the breath test, had packed up very quickly and just happened to be in the line in front of us.  We got chatting to him and he gave us his recommendations from the bakery. 

He also told us a little about the history of the bakery too..  This bakery isn't your traditional bakery,  The moment you walk through the door you might be mistaken to think you're ordering something from the Du Pain et des idees.  The flour used in this bakery is imported from Paris, plus prior to opening just three years ago, several staff were spent to spend almost three and a half months in  Paris bakeries learning French baking techniques, patisserie skills and culinary traditions and then bought them back to lucky old Goomeri. The whole building inside and out has been polished with absolute class also.  

It didn't take long for the line to move forward and we did have a bit of trouble deciding on what we would like for lunch.  In the end we ordered two pies, one of their signature Vegetable and Eggs Benedict Pie and Steve ordered  the 14 hour slow cooked lamb, rosemary and red onion pie.  This pie looked amazing and tasted amazing too.  We also ordered a couple of sweet treats to take home,  One of the danish pasteries that the local policeman recommended and a Lemon Curd Tart.  We also ordered a couple of hot chocolates to go with it.   Ian and Kathy also ordered a couple of pies and a few sweet treats also.  

My beautiful Vegetable and Eggs benedict pie...

 Once we were served we found a spare table outside.  Just as we were served, a couple got up to leave, so we were very fortunate to get a table. as all the other tables both inside and out were taken...  The decor inside is quite eye catching cosy and welcoming.  The staff were hospitable, friendly and service was prompt with us waiting a very short time for our drinks even though the bakery was crazy busy...

After our lunch we decided to go for a walk up up the street checking out the lovely old buildings  and stores.  For a country town, we were surprised to find that most shops were opened on the Sunday, and it was very busy with tourists...

Beautiful flowering pots line the main Street.

As Goomeri is the Pumpkin capital of Queensland, it is also the home of another on the Big Aussie Icons, and so we had to photograph not only the big Pumpkin, but also a sculptured pumpkin that has pride and place in their main street.   

Another of the Big Aussie icons can be found in Goomeri..

The weather wasn't particularly kind to us whilst we were out walking.   As we checked out

The old railway station..

The bridge was erected by the people of Goomeri as a Lions Club project to commemorate Noel Angel who died in 1986.

By the time we left the bridge it was starting to spit with rain, so we decided to head back up into the main street so that we were at least shelted by the awnings of the shops.  We walked across the road to walk down the other part of the main street..

Being a real sucker for flowers, I couldn't help but photograph these beautiful ones as we walked past one of the gardens.  Goomeri is such a pretty and colourful place with flowering gardens and pot plants everywhere,  It really does add to the charm and character of the town...

There were quite a few pumpkin displays throughout town whilst we were there.  I am not sure if this is always the case or whether these all come out in the lead up to their pumpkin festival which is due to be held later in the month..

This next shop was a treasure find, and definitely worth paying a visit too.  It is loaded with some many gems and treasures of by gone eras and we enjoyed rummaging around in here and reminiscing.

They had so much stuff....

 

 By now the rain was pouring down, so we had to wait it out before heading back to the car...  None of us had umbrellas on us, and as it was quite cool, we didn't want to wet...

I had taken off a little before the others as I knew I was a slow walker and I wanted to give them a bit of time to catch up...

I managed to make it back to the Digger Perrett Park

 

I waited here until the others were able to join me.  It is a lovely well kept park right in the centre of the main street in town.  Once the rain had subsided, the others joined me and we made our way to the car.  By now it was close to 2pm, we took a little drive up Policeman Hill where the pumpkins are rolled down during their famous pumpkin festival, and then checked out the RV friendly showgrounds before heading back to the Bush Camp.

It was quite cold today, so we had a cuppa to warm up and then decided to have a game of Sequence.

Normally we would play out under our awnings, but the because of the cold, decided to head to the camp kitchen and play in there....

Playing in teams of the guys  verses the woman, we managed to fit in several games.  In the end, Kathy and I were the overall winners.  

Whilst we were playing, one of the young girls who is responsible for making the damper came and joined us.  She was interested in the game we were playing as she had not see it before.  We got to chatting with her and found out that she lived permanently at the Bush Camp and worked in Murgeon.  The damper nights were initiated by her family in gratitude to the owners allowing them to permanently live there.    They are a great idea and certainly get the guests together.  Mostly they only happen on a Friday and Saturday night, but because it was a long weekend, they were holding an extra evening of bonfire and damper on the Sunday evening...

It was nice to wander over for a while and watch the ladies at work making their dampers...  Again there were several dampers on offer again this evening, and none of them were a repeat of the night before.  They have many many different recipes and love to experience..

Some of the dampers ready to be cooked for tonight's get together...

The cooks getting  the fire ready for the damper...

Damper being cooked for Sunday night get together...

Once again at 5pm, the cow bell rang and it was time to gather around the camp fire.  We were a little more organised this evening and made sure we were all ready to go once we heard that bell.

There were no where near as many people turn up tonight and most of us could sit in front of the fire... It also meant that there was plenty of damper to be had by everywhere with seconds being offered on all of them.  Tonight we had peppermint damper, cheese and Vegemite to name a couple...

Again it was after 7pm when we finally wandered back to our vans.  It was way too cold to sit outside for dinner, so this time we went to Ian and Kathy's van for dinner.  Steve decided to cook dinner tonight.  We had bought some fish away with us that needed to be eaten, so he decided to make his famous Coconut milk and mango fish dish and we had it with rice...

This was our last night with Ian and Kathy, tomorrow they leave us to head across to Kilkivan and onto the Sunshine Coast for their last night, whilst Steve and I head in the opposite direction towards Kingaroy.  It has been a wonderful two weeks together...