Miles and Condamine

Today Vanessa also had the day off work, so we had a day in the car exploring the local area.  First stop was Miles - you can guess how many jokes we had on the way - 'I wonder how many Miles it is to Miles - oh no in Australia it is Kms' etc etc.  Anyone who knows Matt and Martin's sense of humour will understand that it was good to finally arrive and stop them.

Miles used to be called Dogwood Crossing, but when the trains came they renamed it Miles after the MP for trains at the time.  It is a crossing as two major roads intersect here.  This means it is a great place for spotting trucks and there are some great looking trucks in Australia.  It is almost the norm for trucks to have two wagons here, and quite often you see them with 3 wagons.  That's exciting enough, but also you get interesting things on the wagons: water tanks (for those out in the sticks not plumbed in, water wagons deliver much needed water), huge diggers (for the mines out here), huge pipes, logs, fuel tankers (yes these sometimes come in threes too), plenty of minerals, beefs (we call the cows out here beefs as they are so huge and obviously bred for beef) etc etc.

Pipe Truck

3 Tanker Truck

So we did a spot of truck spotting and then headed down to China Man's Lagoon and walked along a 2 km by a creek.  This was a very different walk to the rainforest walks as it was very very dry - the trees were thinner, less lush (some almost looked dead) and the ground sandy.  We came across a Wattle tree (the national flower of Australia) that was in bloom which was good.

The Wattle Tree

When we got to the end we went to a cafe originally for tea and a bun, but after seeing the food there, we decided to have lunch.  Burger with the lot for me and Matt.   I have been searching for a good 'burger with the lot' place since I have got here - brings back fond memories of my backpacking time here.  I have tried a couple but they haven't lived up to expectations, until today.  Today I found the crowning glory - it was massive.  A burger with the lot is: burger, lettuce, tomato (I of course asked for this not to be included as it is evil), caramelised onions, beetroot, cheese, bacon, pineapple and egg as well as the burger, all presented in a big bun.  It is huge and almost impossible to eat (although I gave it a good go).  It was as good as I remember, juice was running all over the place, it was messy, it was glorious.  I was a happy girl, my tummy very very full.

Burger with the lot

Attempting to eat it!

Once we could move again, we headed back in the car to a place called Condamine - a small place, by the River Condamine which has a pub and a great play area.  We sat outside and had pots of beer (a pot is smaller than a schooner) - was very refreshing.  Once again we watched the interesting trucks go by, trying to get waves from the drivers and Tom had a great time playing in the play area which was in the shape of a boat and was therefore the Manly ferry.

After a while we headed back.  Tom fell asleep in the back, I almost fell asleep in the back.  Came back, saw Mia at her Karate class (very confusing - couldn't understand a word of what was going on - something to do with a very strong Australian accent, and lots of Japanese (although Matt said he couldn't understand the Japanese either)).  Then bedtime for Tom and BBQ time for us - gorgeous Australian lamb, and belly pork.  Then catch up here and bed.

The boys drinking their beers!