Driving west to Miss Betty ... continued.

Part 2.
In the morning, we rise to the sound of more gentle rain. A welcome respite from the heat but a threat to the rising humidity.

Outside our Pioneer Hut, nature breakfasts in the cool air.

Driving to Miss Betty ... via a western route ... Part 1.

After three weeks away, MLP has three days leave. Yea!  If we tack them onto a weekend, we can turn them into a road trip to see Miss Betty before we head south. But where to go for these five days?

I've always hankered to see the Undara lava tubes ... and ... MLP just looovvveees to drive.  So, we have hatched a plan ... drive west ... then north ... then east ... then south. A spectacular plan. Over 1000kms, give or take a couple of hundred kilometres, not far in FNQ. 

So, let's get started.

First we have to drop Ralphter off at the Townsville Pet Resort along the way.  He can't be home alone.

Pet Resort! Who ever decided pets should board in "resorts"?!?  But it IS a resort and he loves being pampered there.

We then drive west with Defence Force Land on either side.

A red flag flies ... live firing in progress. Gulp!

Hope they don't overshoot.

Hope they're not on their Ls for firing.

Hope, hope, hope.

Lessons I learnt from ...

Wow, this sounds like it's going to be profound and soul searching!  Life's lessons, THE very important lessons ... and from whom I learnt them.

But where to begin?  There have been so many life changing lessons. Possibly the best place to start is with my older-and-wiser sister.  She's been around for all of my life so I've probably learnt more from her than I realise. (I'm sure she would agree!)

Lesson 1.

Dry as much washing as possible on hangers on the clothes line. 

Yes, I know, profound, very profound!  But, hey, it makes putting the washing away fundamentally easy and it eliminates peg marks. I don't know why I didn't think of this before I saw it in action on my sister's clothes line ... I suppose that why she's older and wiser!

So, on washing days, I raid every wardrobe for empty hangers and head to the line with my basket and my cache of hangers.  Every T-shirt, shirt, dress, cardigan ... goes on a hanger and into the FNQ sunshine (of which we have plenty). Well, maybe not cardigan, they don't get a showing up here!

My clothes line looks something like this ... 

How to make a hanging driftwood Christmas tree.

What to do with a pile of driftwood collected by my pineapple-loving friend and me as we strolled along a spectacular, palm fringed, tropical island beach many months ago?