Esk, Queensland

Youngest son, his wife and their 3 little ones have moved into their own home after 3 and 1/2 months.
My late dads house sold in 3 days, the new owners have moved in - so that is the end of that!
It's a relief to have that all over. (the house I mean)


On our way home on our holiday we came through a town called Esk in Queensland. Esk is named after the Esk River in Scotland and England.  The population is approximately 1,800 people.  The country is flat and the little town is not that far from the Somerset Dam as the crow flies.

Esk was established due to a short lived Copper mine, settlers came in 1840.  The Post Office opened in 1874.  A Lutheran Church was opened in 1941. There is a school as well as a War Memorial.

 Just south of Esk we came across some crops growing.  The 2 below photos were taken from the car traveling at 110km per hour.

 

 

Glass House Mountains. Queensland, Australia.

We have arrived home from Queensland, whilst there we visited the Glass House Mountains National Park.  It's a heritage-listed national park in the Australian State of Queensland, 70km (43mi) north of Brisbane.  
The Park was established in 1944.  In 2010 the Queensland Government announced the expansion of the park to include an additional 2,117 hectares.

Glass House Mountains were named by Captain James Cook as he sailed north up the coast of what is now Queensland in 1770 as part of his incredible voyage aboard his ship HM Bark Endeavour.  They were so called as the shape of the mountains reminded him of the huge glass furnaces (glasshouses) back in his native Yorkshire.  Info via Wikipedia.
 

Mt. Coonowrin is one of the Glass House Mountains.

How much are you prepared to pay!

On our way south we called in to Wangaratta to spend the night.  We chose the Hotel/Motel with a Restaurant so we didn't have to go out for dinner.

I presented to the Receptionist, only one room available at $210.00 for the night. I told her that was far too expensive for a clean bed for one night. I was asked, "How much are you prepared to pay"?.
"I said $150.00". She went to the computer and informed me there was a room available for $165.00, so I said yes!

Weird how only one room was available, then all of a sudden one appeared from nowhere.

The meal in the dinning room was delicious.

Sunshine Castle, Sunshine Coast.

Work commenced on the Castle in 1972, completed in 1973, it's a Norman/Medieval Castle. The Castle caters for Weddings and many functions including Opera.
The original throne from the set of Xena The Warrior Princess and Hercules which were filmed in New Zealand are on display.  There are fairytale displays and many doll displays with dolls from all walks of life and countries.  For us it was something different.

The Great Hall.

Have no idea who this man is, but I captured the moment.

This is the loo/toilet which was called the Privy, which was situated as far away from the chambers as practical and often had double doors to keep away the smell. The Privy was sited at the end of a short passage in an outside wall, similar to a balcony over a moat or river. The Privy had no glass and was completely open.  It was fitted with a wooden or stone bench with a hole in it.  Chutes were provided for the discharge which often lead to the Castle Moat.