Other photos from our rural Queensland holiday

I lost a couple of hours sleep last night with pain from an ear infection and so I'm not firing on all cylinders today. Here's a post I've been meaning to put up with photos from the rest of our time away (i.e. the not-camping bit) on our recent holidays. There's quite a few photos, but not much text. So sit back and enjoy.

Carnival of Flowers
This is an annual event in my hometown that will celebrate it's 70th year next year. Its two main events are a street parade and a garden competition. In the week following the parade, the private gardens are open for the public to wander through and enjoy. Mum and I did just that when we were there a couple of weeks ago. Here are some photos, starting with the Japanese garden at the university.

My mum enjoying this small garden that was
completely packed with plants. 

This garden included a number of whimsical non-floral items. 

Central Queensland
The next day we travelled up north to visit David's family. It had been a while since we'd travelled these outback Aussie roads, where there are almost no passing lanes and not a few large trucks. I got my adrenaline going a few times passing trucks with two trailers.

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law manage a property between Emerald (13,500 people) and Springsure (1,100 people). It's a vastly different locality to where we usually live in Tokyo.

An outback sunset from my sister-in-law's house.

Their house. The only other house in sight of this is their boss', just to the right of the photo. 

View out the front of the house. 

My sister-in-law also breeds alpacas. Such fun to photograph: they were very curious and friendly. 

My sister-in-law with her passion: alpacas.
 

Our youngest mowing the lawn (that was only green because it was watered with bore water).

On our last morning, the boys climbed one of the silos. Pity we missed the sunrise, but it was still spectacular.

My sister-in-law's verandah is a place I sometimes daydream about in Tokyo. Very
peaceful, just a little dusty at present, with a dirt road only 100m away.

The main street of Springsure, the closest town to where my husband spent his first six years of life (on a property).

Guinea fowl. These are fun birds to watch. Quite hilarious when they run. They move around in groups and function as "guard dogs" alerting people to danger by loud "hooting". At night they roost in trees near the alpacas, so if
something like a dingo shows up, my sister-in-law and her husband know about it. 

Three cousins enjoying the trampoline in the cool of the early evening.

We received great country hospitality and it was a relaxing week. Here, on my last day, I enjoyed a cup of coffee enjoying the view and hoping those clouds would bring rain soon to the parched land. Getting out of the city was wonderful, though. I didn't take my computer and didn't check email for a week. It was a much-needed break.