OUR FIRST WEEK IN QBN

On our way down from the
Central Coast to Queanbeyan
The country side was so beautiful & green & lush

It's no wonder though after all our rains!!

As we got closer to our destination

We passed a sign which read
Lake George
This Lake is massive @ 25 Km's long & 10 Km's wide
Strange though as we looked out we could see nothing but
Grassy land for miles & miles!
We could not work out where the Lake started & where it ended!
No wonder it was empty it would take months of non stop rain to fill this huge area!

The trip down was good!
Even though the weather was more like a
Winters Day than a Summers Day!

Well we reached QBN & booked into our Caravan Park
Many of the locals eagerly informed us that this park had flooded earlier in the
Month & was totally evacuated!
It sits on the Queanbeyan River
We could see all the debris that mother natures destruction had left behind after the
Rivers Rise & Fall!
Hopefully that wont happen again!
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Day 2 & it was once again time to seek out some employment
Seeing as we had nearly 2 months off over Chrissy!
I rang the local Nursing Home
Within the next  few days
I had started work!
That's a first that I beat
Mark to the Mark!
Hahaha!!
It is nice to be Nursing again or Caring as I call it
It is so gratifying to put smiles on
Peoples faces & to be able to help make their days happy!
 I love it!
I was walking along the corridor the other day & low & behold I ran into a lady
I had worked with for many years @ my old Nursing Home back home
We both could not believe our eyes when we saw each other!
Such a small Country we do live in!!!
Husband is working once again for a local builder!
He came home after his 2nd day with stitches in his hand, after he sliced it open on a porcelain basin!
Oh dear looks like I will be the bread winner now, while he recuperates!!

I love it here!
We are about 2 minutes walk from the heart of town!

It reminds me very much of Mt Isa, the only difference is that when you drive
Out of town you are not out in the middle of nowhere with nothing around
but rocks rocks & more rocks!

 Canberra is only about 15 minute drive away with lots of
Outlying suburbs along the way!

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Last weekend we decided to do some sight seeing

The War Memorial was our first stop

WOW!!

When we first walked in a tour was about to begin

Which we joined in on
We were lucky as there was only one other couple plus us!
We all agreed on the later day war tour!
Our tour guide was fantastic & the whole Vietnam exhibition was fairly new & done so very well!

This fighter helicopter was donated by Dick Smith

This place is massive & it is impossible to see everything in one day!
Our guide ended the tour with a couple of stories!
One of them went something like this....... A young boy & his parents migrated to
Australia from New Zealand back in the early 1900's
His father wanted to settle in the country on an orchard & his mother in the city
The young boy stayed with his mother, his dream was to fly air planes.
He was so infatuated with flying that as a small boy
He climbed to the top of their home & on the roof called to his mother
Come watch me fly!
 Before she could stop him he was on the ground!!
He broke both his legs!
As an adult he was refused in to the Royal Australian Air Force because of his broken legs!
At the same time though
The English were desperate for any pilots to fight in the war 
They advertised, he applied & was delighted to be accepted!
In 1942 in the defence of Singapore, his plane was shot down by the enemy
He tightened his harness as the plane plummeted to the ground!
It quickly caught fire & he was trapped
A priest nearby ran to his aid & dragged him out of the burning inferno!
He was alive barely & had sustained shocking burns to most of his body with his face unrecognisable.
It was believed by all that he was missing presumed dead!
After his hospital stay the priest who saved his life decided to stick him on
Ship & send him back home
He was still so very ill & could not walk
& was strapped into his stretcher
The captain refused him entry on his ship as his condition
Was so bad he did not think he would survive the trip!
The priest said to the captain
Well I am not taking him back with me so,
 You can do what you want Chuck him over board then if you have too!
With that said he had no choice but to let the man sail.

This poor mans story just keeps getting worse!!

The ship he was sailing home on was blown up by enemy fighters & he was catapulted out
Still strapped to his stretcher he landed upright & floated out in the ocean for days before another Australian ship came to his rescue & homeward bound they went!

Unbelievable!!

He went home & recuperated on his fathers orchard

Where he was happy to spend his days working on the land farming!
Oh my goodness as you would!!!
I bet he was now thinking he had nine lives!!!
Anyway to finish this incredible strory......

He was very well liked by the locals in the community & many of them
 Suggested he should enter into politics which he did!
He became
Our 19th Prime Minister of Australia!
John Gorton

The Australian War Memorial is a must see place to visit so so well done & you can go back many times as it is free admission
All they ask is a coin donation, which we happily gave!
So interesting & a very moving experience!
Makes you very very proud to be an Australian!!!

Till Next Week

CHEER'S & ENJOY!!