Tewantin to Toowooomba – an inland route, and our thoughts turn to the mundane chores of packing the car and setting the cogs of home routine in to action. A final walk and swim (well it would have been if it had not been raining 🧜‍♀️🌧) and we are off. Though the giant Creepy Crawlie didn’t seem to notice the rain….lol.

While today’s drive might be a means to an end, it is a drive full of contrasts with hopefully more gems to find.

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So we travelled back along the M1, then followed the small communities of Wanuram, D’Aigular, hippy Woodford and stopped for brunch at Kilcoy. The town has done a terrific job of preserving its early European history through many boards identifying the timelines of the various buildings and the streetscape.

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Having found a modern bakery at CJ Pastries with a gluten free steak and potato pie, and OM spotting a sausage roll and an apple turnover we drove to Yowie Park. Yes, there is a statue to the mythical creature. The wildlife frequenting the waterlilly lake don’t seem to be worried about it though!

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Onwards towards home bypassing Toogoolawah, then through Esk with its Antique shops attracting weekend bargain hunters, before winding our way through childhood nightmarish flashes of dark shadowy drives between Nambour and Toowoomba on a Friday night to visit maternal grandparents. The scenery through Ravenshoe, then Hampton, Geham, then Highfields is green and has that distinctive smell of lantanae and lush grasses……the smell of coming home.

And as we pull in to the driveway it will be closing the chapter on our nostalgia trip and time to

□ apologise profusely to the garden for our neglect this past week and give it a long, cool watering

□ unpack, clean and polish the trusty Toyota tripmobile

□ wash the salty smell of the coast out of the clothes

□ linger over the products we bought while finding pantry positions for them

□ and relax in the familiar surroundings of home

Thanks for travlyn with me on this trip……..ciao til next time