Maryborough to Lakeside (still day 5)

So here's Ned as I mentioned the cute-ish building on the right is the Ned Kelly Motel, the building to the left is a GIANT!! and I mean HUGE service station/supermarket/fruit shop/take-away store - it had everything!
But I digress,   we also got a bit excited while taking the photos, as we saw a police car speed by, and thought something cool might happen, but he was just showing us what NOT to do I think. We jumped back in the truck and headed off to Lakeside or to be more specific - Kurwongbah.

I think it was un-eventful, but to be honest I don't remember anymore? as i said it's all getting a little blurry. Gympie rings a bell, but maybe just because it's 'popular/famous' to everyone??

We annoyed 'Selena' some more,by detouring a little which made us later then we said we would arrive.We were nearly there (kinda) at around 5ish when i saw a turn-off to see the "big Pineapple" - now i hadn't planned on us seeing this - for some reason i thought it was more south? perhaps closer to the gold coast? probably mixing it up with the big banana? anyhoo  a quick exit off the freeway and around a corner we went, to a HUGE car park on the opposite side of the road.  Thankfully there was a big pedestrian overpass, We chose our park nice and close and the children tore out of the truck, while mum got a bit cranky because nobody bothered trying to help with strollers and baby Sophie's etc "GET BACK HERE!!" vocalizes mum, grudgingly the children return and help with everything. 5-10 mins later "right, sorted? lets go... And we will WALK! not charge up like loonies!" so off we go up this 3-storey ramp back and forth and back and forth, the children getting faster and faster as i push the stroller along (not slowly mind you) so i give in to the pleading looks and off the 3 big kids race within seconds (they WERE fast!) "AAWWWW! Bugger MUU-UMMM!! the gates are shut!" "oh what completely?" (Is there any other way?)  So we have a look at the busy road and head back down the 3 storeys to the car, urging Claire and Kaytie to slow down, because i could just see them falling and us turning up to 'Aunty" Karen's house with a lot of blood and a handful of teeth! Another 5 minutes to reload everything and we'd discovered after looking at the road that we didn't have to go down to the car park, we could have driven like 100 extra metres and done a 'U-turn' (more of a crescent turn really with the trucks turning circle) so that's what we did and pulled up right in front of the pineapple, Samuel was straight out of the truck ready to put the adventure bears at the base for a photo when after barely getting a foot over the "fence" a car zipped up beside him and told him "you can't do that! we're shut,  you can't come here" "huh?!?" says/thinks Samuel "S'alright, get in the car Samuel and give me the bears" So I brave the traffic whizzing past on my side and line up the bears for their photo, meanwhile Rent-a-Cop 1&2 are warily eyeing me off to make sure me and my 5 children weren't going to vandalize or molest their precious pineapple :) So after all that here's our 'evidence'



Yeah 'cos that red tape is gunna keep out all the REAL bad people too!

SO after that we finally listened to 'Selena' (I truly think she enjoys telling us 'where to go'!) and headed off to Lakeside, driving along and do you know where she sent me?! over this teeny tiny little "two" lane bridge that had a weight limit of 5 tonne, now if you've been paying attention you'll know that at the townsville dump i found out that my truck weighs 4.92 tonne** the completely legal weight allowable for my license. So we held our breath driving over this 'bridge' and thankfully survived (to do it a few more times even!) and on the homeward stretch we went, UNTIL, we discovered that 'Aunty' Karen had neglected to tell us that the road was closed!! "OOPS, yeah sorry 'bout that" she tells us later ?? :D mum goes Uh OH and i pull into the car park nearby and smile sweetly at 'Selena' she tells us to go to the highlighted road?? "What highlighted road?!? I don't even know which direction I'm supposed to be facing to get to that highlighted road!!"  So i call Handsome Hubby, - because he will be soooo helpful to my situation being only 3700+ km away (as the crow flies) - I ignore his sensible advice of calling Karen and proceed to, ever so slowly, (and oh so inconspicuously too in a V8 F250!) to creep down this closed road and we get to the bottom and discover the barricades! We sit there for what feels like an eternity all the while Samuel is sitting beside me saying things like "we've got an F-truck, just drive over the top of them!" "we'll fit through that gap there, wouldn't hurt the truck anyway" " Just get and move them for me please Samuel"says I. Guess now, who couldn't manage to move them and then guess who had to get out and hobble over rough, sharp pointy road base?? so move the barriers drive 10m close barriers and then drive maybe 50m more to the driveway. and then up it too, because it's very long :D so long you need a golf buggy - I wish I had have taken photos of those fun times :D 

LAKESIDE

It's for sale if you want to buy it?? was it 14 acres?? i keep forgetting.

it has Lake views too, bet you didn't know that ;P

I really wanted to write lots more tonight, but I'm buggered and we are going to see Pandas tomorrow (FINALLY thinks Lily!!)

Good night Sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite - apparently if the (motel etc) room smells really sickly sweet there's a good chance there are bed bugs - or really nasty air fresheners??

OX(OX)oxoxoxoxox
B(J)slkcs

** Jamie disagrees with the T'ville dump weigh bridge and thinks it is out - it could well be, because then they could get extra funds on "overweight" trucks? I'm just saying........ ya know, putting it out there.......????