Friday we settled back into the Top of Town Van Park. Had a quiet day catching up on washing clothes and cleaning the van. Late afternoon we went for a walk along Quart Pot Creek and the manicured parklands that meander through the middle of Stanthorpe. Friday night we had a delightful meal at the ORSO Thai restaurant. Saturday we had another relaxing day. After completing the grocery shopping we called into the Collectables Fair being held, next to the van park, at the Showgrounds. Nothing took our fancy but we did take the easy option of buying lunch and coffee from the food stall.
Sunday we broke camp and had a pleasant drive west to Texas finding a perfect campsite on the banks of the partly flooded Dumaresq River. Texas is a RV friendly town, so named as a reference to a territorial dispute between the United States and Mexico. Original settlers, the McDougall brothers, found squatters on their land on returning from the goldfields. Once their legal right to the land was recognised, they named their property in honour of the rather more famous USA dispute over Texas.
The camp area has a large flat grassed area and access to showers and toilets in the town area. Being Sunday afternoon the Main Street was deserted but we found a good selection of shops and local businesses worth checking out on Monday. We had a drive around the local area coming across some deserted Tobacco drying sheds, the now defunct Riverside Ice Works and Texas Rabbit Processing Works. Monday we decided to stay another day and enjoy the solitude of the riverside camp and the friendly vibe of Texas. It also allowed us to enjoy some locally baked bread and meat pies from the Spar and make a small contribution to the local economy via the Rowell Variety Store, an incredible floor to ceiling shelf packed treasure trove.
Tuesday was a late start with us departing Texas around lunch time, driving the 126 km to the Millmerran Showgrounds, another cheap overnight stay. We got to share the grounds with about 80 cyclists taking part in a charity bike ride for cancer. The amenities were good and our neighbours surprisingly quite. Woke Wednesday morning to cyclists departing in their allotted groups. It was also 5th April, my birthday. As per custom Joan cooked a special birthday breakfast whilst I opened my presents; a wallet, a shirt, trousers and a good bottle of wine. We also had a very enjoyable celebratory lunch on arrival at the Jondaryn Woolshed after a not so enjoyable drive from Millmerran.
Don't think the GPS selected the best route from Millmerran to Jondaryn, turning off at Brookstead and taking us via Norwin through black soil country. The narrow strip of bitumen was not only very potholed but in parts felt and looked like the results of an earthquake. It was a rather slow and bumpy trip towing the van, compounded by the soft and often water covered verge. Highlight of the trip were seperate phone calls from my daughters and grandkids wishing me a happy birthday.
Jondaryn Woolshed also proved to be a good waypoint. We had visited here about 30 years ago with the girls, not long after it was opened, but memories of that trip are very vague. As I said lunch was good, as was the campsite though a little windy and cooler than anticipated. Thursday was still overcast and windy but we took in the sights and had another enjoyable lunch in the Woolshed cafe.