Oh no, not again!

Where are we … ? We are in Hervey Bay. As the crow flies, it’s 1.5 hours north of Gympie.

What were we thinking?

Image by Alexas_Fotos, via Pixabay.

We have very, very short memories! What were we thinking? A year ago I recall blogging about the midges and how prolific they are in this area. Well, when we arrived, we got out of the car to greet the homeowners and sat on their patio chatting – unprotected. That was enough for AJ to be eaten alive! I had a denim on with a long-sleeve shirt, fortunately. However, he was in shorts and open sandals. Once the homeowners left, he needed to park the van in the backyard and level it. It was late afternoon. Too late we remembered to spray insect repellent.

From that day, for 10 days he lived in pure hell. I don't think there was a spot on his arms and legs that was not bitten/stung/attacked! The first three days he was quite ill from the reaction. Nothing, but nothing removed the itch. Several trips to the pharmacy resulted in zero relief! He reacted adversely to each and every bite, clearly allergic to the peskies. 

Image by Pete from Pixabay

A strong antihistamine helped a little, but he needed to teach, and it can make him drowsy. He is now terrified of putting his nose out of the door and who could blame him? Somehow, he still gets a new bite now and then, probably when he goes (5 steps away) to the van to fetch something or to throw rubbish in the bins. You reason that if you go quickly, you should be safe. Seemingly not! Mornings, evenings, all day long! They are savage. Otherwise, they're finding their way into the house too. 😫

A midge is the tiniest of tiniest insects. In America, they are called “no-see-ums”! That says it all. Unless you’re wearing white, you don’t see them. And the bite only begins to itch up to 24 hours afterwards. No fun! So yes, what were we thinking, in agreeing to come back here!?! 🥴

After a few days, he began walking with me in the mornings to get exercise. The suburb we are in is a wetland, next to a creek – paradise for midges.

Like a man from the snowy regions, AJ is completely closed up with only his nose and mouth exposed. 😆 Fortunately, it’s still cool in the mornings. Other than that, unless we go to the beach where there seem to be no midges, he does not go out. Cabin fever has set in, with one week to go before we leave. We cannot wait to be back in our van and to flee this place.

I have not been spared either. Watering the garden is my task. I spray tropical strength commercial insect repellent on myself along with my mix of natural essences. (Probably not a good idea to mix the two, but I’m desperate.) Trust me, they still find a spot to bite. When they do, it stays itchy for about 3 days. 😣

There hasn’t been much sightseeing. A couple of visits to the beachfront were a treat though … the area is beautiful. We love early morning walks along the Esplanade. We visited the Urangan Pier one Friday afternoon, for fish and chips in the park. But it was a cold, windy day, so we didn't tackle the walk out over the ocean.

Views from the Esplanade.

Hervey Bay is known as a retirement hub. Many old folk live in the area in over-fifties-lifestyle villages. However, it is increasingly becoming more popular with tourists, and the Esplanade will soon change to accommodate a 20+ story high rise for apartments and a hotel. Not all the locals are happy about it. It will become a hot spot, not unlike Coloundra on the Sunshine Coast, where we housesat a few months ago.

This is Hervey Bay at present …

Journey to Hervey Bay 

The journey to Hervey Bay was interesting. But first, some news … just before we left Tandur our permanent visas were granted. We received the visas via email on 28 September, but we only saw the email 2 days later. 😅😆 Funny how something you wait for, for almost 6 and a half years, can be such an anti-climax. We are extremely thankful and humbled to be here on a legitimate visa. But, that said, with all the political upheaval in this country, don’t for one minute think that we are in a better place than you, no matter where you are reading this from. Indeed, if the ‘Voice to Parliament’ referendum of a few days ago had passed, we would’ve found ourselves in an increasingly Marxist, socialist-run country. Don’t be deceived – it had nothing to do with Aboriginals and improving their representation in society. 

[As an aside, this country is not racist ... but the recent referendum has opened many wounds and pitted the Yes camp and the No camp against each other in an ugly way over the past year. The ideological leftist agenda is causing Australia to change. In Queensland last week, very quietly, the Queensland government passed a law banning the public display of hate symbols. The law was passed, without actually stipulating WHICH symbols are banned. Someone merely needs to be offended by something. We all tend to think of the Swastika or the Hamas flag, or something as hateful. Did you know that, to some, the Christian cross that you wear around your neck is a hate symbol? Christmas symbols are also increasingly under attack.]

Anyhow, back to 30 September … we left the Adorables (dogs) behind in Tandur with a little sadness, because we have come to love them so much. They are so much fun! 😄 

With two nights to spare before we were to begin this housesitting, we drove halfway and stopped at Tiaro where there is a free camp for caravanners. This was only the 2^nd ‘free’ camp we have stayed at. Essentially a large car park for vehicles with caravans.  

It was quite the experience. Never have we had neighbours that close! 😁 We set up, had lunch, and later took a walk through the town to the old historic Railway Hotel from the early 1900s, where we had a cool drink each. 

Walking back, in the late afternoon was lovely with many birds in the trees around us. The idea of free camps, mostly council-run, is that they would draw caravan nomads to the towns to stay for the night, thereby encouraging them to spend a dollar or ten in the local hotel pub (& restaurant), café, bakery, butcher, grocery store, etc. This helps to keep the small towns alive.

Maryborough showgrounds

From Tiaro, we left for Maryborough, which was only a 20-minute drive up the Bruce Highway. We were booked to stay at the Showgrounds campground. A large site, with many vans, but so far apart that you’re not really aware of your neighbours. Unless of course, somebody’s awning puts on a display with a racket to go with it! As we were setting up, we heard an almighty thump, and about 100 metres away was this campervan. The awning had been pulled out but not secured to the ground. It had a washing line hanging from it with a shirt, a towel and an item of ladies’ underwear, fully on display. 😆

The next minute, it took off, the washing waving in the wind like a banner, it bent over backwards, hit the roof, where it lay until the wind picked it up and put it back down again across the side of the van, looking much worse for wear. All bent and out of shape. 🤦‍♀️😬 Turned out that the van belonged to a senior citizen, travelling alone. Several people rushed to assist once she arrived back at her van. The nomad community is always helpful and supportive.😀  Bless her, perhaps she had thought that it wasn’t that windy, so no need to fasten down the awning. Always a huge mistake. Awnings are not cheap.

There were tons of caravans with horse boxes everywhere as there was a show jumping event taking place at the showgrounds. That reminds me... upon our arrival at the venue, we followed some directions from the campsite App on how to enter the site and find the area for caravans. Well, we got it horribly, embarrassingly, wrong. 🤦‍♀️ We arrived with caravan in tow and found ourselves at a dead end, right in front of the stadium without batting an eyelid. 🤣🥴🤭 There was no way out without making a huge U-turn in front of said stadium, while onlookers were trying to see what was happening in the show ring. Oops! Epic fail.

Anyhow, the next day, hoping no one would recognise us, we decided to walk around and watch some jumping. 😅 Horses are amazing creatures. So powerful. So majestic. 

A mural painted on a wall in the showgrounds.

It made me think of a Bible verse where God challenges Job(?) with some facts …

“Have you given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?

Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is terrifying!

It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength when it charges out to battle.

It laughs at fear and is unafraid. It does not run from the sword.

The arrows rattle against it, and the spear and javelin flash.

It paws the ground fiercely and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows.

It snorts at the sound of the horn. It senses the battle in the distance. It quivers at the captain’s commands and the noise of battle."  Job 39 v 19 - 25

And of Psalm 147 where the writer notes that …

He [God] takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might.

No, the LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.

 This same God notes that putting our trust in horses and chariots is futile …

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

But we will remember and trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20 v 7

“Well”, you might say, “that one no longer applies”!

I’d argue that today’s ‘horses and chariots’ are our bank balances, our medical insurance, our homes, our friend circles, our vehicles, and our social media reputations. Any others come to mind? Every time we climb into our vehicle to tow our van, I am reminded to trust in the name of the Lord our God and not in the roadworthiness of our vehicles, or the skill of my beloved husband. Every morning when we rise with yet another ache or pain, or stiff joint, we are reminded to trust in the Lord our God. Every time we feel our bellies churn with butterflies at what lies ahead for us in the next ten years of supposed mandatory financial ‘self-sufficiency’, we are reminded to put our trust in the Lord our God. He shall provide all our needs.

Yep, the horses and their blowing nostrils, their strength and courage, had me thinking. 

But to get back to our travels … the following day we left Maryborough and arrived in Hervey Bay, AKA midge hell.

AJ just managed to fit the van into the back yard.

It's a lovely, meticulous home. No pets to care for. Just the garden. In cloudy weather, however, the house tends to be gloomy because of the midge screens in front of the doors and windows. And there have been too many cloudy days, which also favour the midges – they hate strong sunlight. To pass the days, AJ preps for courses, then teaches. I do some planning work on the computer. When not working, we keep ourselves entertained watching news and videos on YouTube.  We recently watched a full hour of Andre Rieu in Bahrain. What a pleasant experience. It reminded us of Doha, especially the song near the end sung by the Arab guest artist. Just lovely.

Next week, when we leave here, we are planning to head back to Maryborough for a few nights. There is much to see there and we have not had a chance to explore that area yet.  After that, God willing, we are heading west for a week to explore another part of Queensland in and around a town called Biggendon, before we head back to Gympie for the next few months.

Until next time, stay well, stay safe. Blessings, and thanks, again, for stopping by.

Sandy and AJ 🌼

Just a final note:

At a time such as this, we pray for peace in Israel. I would like to bring Psalm 2 to you …

Why are the nations so angry?

Why do they waste their time with futile plans?

The kings of the earth prepare for battle;

the rulers plot together

against the LORD and against his anointed one.

“Let us break their chains,” they cry,

“and free ourselves from slavery to God.”

But the one who rules in heaven laughs.

The Lord scoffs at them.

Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury.

For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne

in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”

The king proclaims the LORD’s decree:

“The LORD said to me, ‘You are my son.

Today I have become your Father.

Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,

the whole earth as your possession.

You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’”

Now then, you kings, act wisely! Be warned, you rulers of the earth!

Serve the LORD with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry,

and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities—

for his anger flares up in an instant.

But what joy for all who take refuge in him!

 We pray for peace in Israel. 🙏

Hello, Hervey Bay!

 Where are we now...? Hervey Bay!

Image capture from Google Maps Data (c) 2022 Australia 

As you can see, Hervey Bay is a city North East of Gympie, a 1½-hour drive. Situated on the Fraser Coast, it is a bustling town, thriving from whale-watching tourism. At the moment it is whaling season. Apparently almost $11 million is injected annually into the region from whale-watching tourism. Hervey Bay has been named as the world's first Whale Heritage Site by the World Cetacean Alliance. Nearby is Fraser Island (or K’gari, as it has now been named) – a popular destination for tourists and locals alike for fishing, camping and 4WD expeditions, only accessible by ferry. 

There is much to see and do in Hervey Bay alone. In the coming days we hope to make up a list of places we’d like to visit in the mornings and on weekends when AJ doesn’t work. We look forward to discovering the area. Sadly, the house is a 20-minute drive from the beach, so there are no frequent beach walks – we are trying to conserve our fuel consumption.  

The weather at present is moody and cloudy. We still feel cold. Coming from the desert it will take a while for us to adjust. The current temperatures here are winter temps in Qatar. As tourists, we truly look the part! The only ones covered to the chin when we go out. Locals are dressed for summer, and along we come in our jackets. 😁

Those darn peskies!

The house we are minding now is in a suburb of Hervey Bay, called Eli Waters. Saltwater canals fed by the Eli Creek, wind between immaculate houses. There are walking/cycling paths along the edge of lakes where we walk each morning for about 5.5 km. 

The area is a mangrove wetland.  We have been warned to look out for snakes, yes, but also for sand flies, aka, biting midges, aka black flies. 😣 The locals could use any one of the three names for these pesky creatures, but they are one and the same. They are especially prevalent when there is no breeze. Tinier than a mosquito, they pack a nasty punch, which begins to itch sometimes only 24 hours later.  We were told that if we wanted to sit on the patio, we would need to put the fan on to blow them away. Sunrise and sunset are when they appear the most. They are worse in rainy weather (thankfully it’s been dry) and at full moon or new moon. A complex insect if ever there was one. The smaller ones are able to fly through the mesh of fly-screens … 😖

Image from Indefiniteleave.com.au

In Tandur I was bitten by what I thought to be mozzies on the one occasion that I didn’t spray my feet and ankles and went walkabout in the garden. I was in agony for days, and I’m beginning to wonder if they weren’t biting midge wounds. Yes, I call them wounds! 😣 I am allergic to mosquito bites, but this was so much worse. They have left scars on my feet and ankles that I’m hoping will eventually fade. We are constantly spraying ourselves with Sandy’s Essentials' Peskies-Off spray when we step outside. It seems to work, and that makes me happy; I’ve had one bite since we arrived, and it was the day I relied on the wind to stop them and didn’t spray myself to hang up the washing outside. AJ, who never gets bitten, is suffering from multiple bites because he thought that, like mozzies, they would not bother him and chose not to spray himself on the first two days. He quickly discovered otherwise, poor guy. 

AJ's legs showing midge bites

😬 The thing is, as soon as one sees or feels a bug, you feel as if your skin is crawling all over with them! 😅 There'll be no relaxing on patios while we are here! 

Remedies? We have been given all manner of remedies … the most popular local remedy is a spray made up of equal parts of Dettol and Baby Oil. Another remedy the locals believe in is consuming large amounts of Vegemite. It's the Vit B, they say, that the midges don't like. 😅 (... one midge to another, "Ugh! Don't bother with that guy, he's on the Vegemite bottle!" 😂) This Aussie staple is Australia’s version of the beloved UK Marmite … except that it honestly has a more medicinal, albeit salty taste. 😄 Believe me, you can buy Vegemite flavoured Baked beans, Vegemite Pizza, and more. There are recipes for Vegemite hot cross buns, and Vegemite roast potatoes. The Aussies are crazy over their Vegemite. We’ve started eating it on toast, but vast amounts… nah! 😅

© CC BY-SA 3.0

Heavy-duty insect repellents for tropical areas are sold in the stores, but these are no joke – they have a high concentration of DEET (diethyltoluamide). I can’t imagine long-term use of that yellow goo and what it could do to a person's system. Natural repellents sound far more appealing of which there are many on the market here. Especially when you're practically bathing yourself in the stuff all day long. 🥴 We’ll continue to test my mix to make it effective. I perfected a spray to repel Qatar’s flies 😄 … I’m hoping to beat this annoying midge as well. In the meantime, it’s a running joke that we hear from everyone ... "midges love international tourists!" The locals have seemingly become immune to them. 😄

God’s grace and mercy    

People call us lucky!

“You're so lucky”, they say. We disagree.

Why? Well, six years of planning have come to fruition. We sacrificed a load of things over those six years to save for this. We worked our butts off and were content with staying home when others went away or had fun times out. We planned carefully and asked our Father many a time for His will to be done in our lives. Not lucky... blessed. Blessed by pure Grace. We are amazed at how God has facilitated things for us. How many times did we run to Him, put things before Him, ask for His will, and beg Him for guidance along the way. Pure grace! Grace and mercy. No, these two concepts are in no way similar. Here is a lovely explanation of their difference.

We pray that we will never take his kindness for granted. Yet, there are times when we stray, stress, and rush, and forget to ask for His guidance. Sometimes He says no. Sometimes He’s silent. But mostly, we are gobsmacked at how He has worked things out for us. For weeks on end, before we left Doha, we felt that He was giving us the same promise of protection from His word. Our blog post in July discussed this. Eventually, we sat up and took notice, but our stress levels ran high regardless.

 

Upon our arrival, our family facilitated our stay with a warm welcome. We launched into getting the equipment for the van and the Ute. The cost of everything caused us to break out into a sweat. But because the van will be our home, we pressed forward with what we needed. Thankfully, AJ was retained as an instructor by his company in Qatar. What a help and what a gift from our Father! More mercy and grace.

 

After 2 weeks AJ began to work. A routine that has taken some getting used to. His ‘workday’ starts at 13:30 and ends at 21:30. The first week of training was a struggle in the family home because of the busy, playful, children. But then came the first house sitting. There we were, in beautiful quiet surroundings, with ample space in a large home and AJ ensconced in a study. Caring for the dogs was a joy! Towards the end of the week, the homeowners called and generously offered their home to us for an extra 2 days to avoid having to move in with our family for only 2 nights. They remembered that we had said we were leaving for the coast on the Monday after they collected the dogs. (That house is their weekend home – they live elsewhere full-time.)

‘That would make things easier’, we said, ‘thank you’!

Two hours later our daughter called to say they were all ill with a mystery virus. It had hit some of them in the family harder than others. We were amazed at God’s provision and protective hand, as we could not afford to be exposed to a virus and then move on to meet the next homeowners directly before they travelled abroad, possibly infecting them too. Also, we do not have a medical card or cover yet. Our application was delayed in the mail due to some unknown factor. God’s timing and goodness left us speechless. Mercy! Grace! (The family in Gympie are only just recovering from the nasty virus, almost 10 days later.)

In Tandur the dogs were collected as planned. The last two days were spent packing up, cleaning the house, and catching up with online tasks. AJ was given an unexpected course to teach and was able to spend the last day preparing material, well into the night. Early on Monday 3 October, we departed for Hervey Bay. The drive was pleasant, along a different route to the last time when we came up to meet the homeowners. We arrived early enough to do a quick walk along the esplanade in Hervey Bay. It was so good to finally see, and smell, the ocean. 

We planned to stay the night in a motel, as we needed to be at the new house sitting early the following morning. We had to be at the motel and checked in by 14:00 so that AJ could begin teaching a group in Doha. A few minutes before the time I went to check us in, while AJ used a hotspot from his phone to connect his laptop to the internet, in the Ute, to link up with his students. In true digital nomad style, he transitioned from the Ute to the room like a pro. 😊 He settled himself into a corner of the room to teach, while I went off in search of some supper. Fresh fish and chips sold from the nearby Marina. 

 

The next morning AJ was up at 05:00 to continue prepping for the new course later that day. We had to be at the house-sitting venue by 09:00. We gobbled down a small brekkie with coffee and rushed over. We had offered to give the homeowners a ride to the station in Maryborough, the town where Mary Poppins was born! 😊 (Yes… I sense a blog post in the making … 😉). From there they would take the train to Brisbane International Airport. Before they left, we were given the rundown of instructions, acquired the all-important Wi-fi password and were presented with a fabulous lasagne lunch, along with salads no less, to enjoy later in the day! They had catered a delicious meal for us, at a time when they were packing and preparing for a major overseas trip! 

“The pantry is yours; the wine rack is yours”, they said. “Use the meat in the freezer! Please help yourself to anything you need. The vegetables in the garden are yours. We bought you brown sugar.” (They remembered, from 3 weeks ago when we came to meet them, that we preferred brown sugar in coffee!) They moved all their tools around in the garage so that our Ute would fit in. What an amazing couple! Such a blessing for us. 

Grace and mercy abound.

Returning to the house after the ride to the station, we went into unpack mode and well and truly moved in. We were speechless at God’s care, evident through this secular couple. As we had no groceries yet and were feeling a little lost and strange (and hungry!), we were overwhelmed with gratefulness for the lunch. AJ had to begin teaching at 14:00, and once again the space was just perfect for his use – well away from the hub of the house and the noise I might make in the kitchen. Later, I did my first solo shop for groceries. I took a wrong turn and got lost. Only then did I decide to activate google maps 😆. Arriving at the store, I felt jitterbugs… strange aisles, strange faces, strange names for things, strange brands. Strange checkout methods too -- vegetables are weighed at the till and the till operator packs the bags. It all felt so unreal. And to cap it all, I had had to park the Ute for the first time, in a very small space, under pressure, with a queue of cars behind me waiting to pass. 😅😆 And the jolly thing felt huge – I was expecting a bump or a scratch at the very least. Lol. Before we could blink, our first day in the house in Hervey Bay was over.

There is more pressure to take care of this property. They are clearly very particular, with absolutely nothing out of place! Everything was sparkling clean and neat when we moved in. The lady of the house used to be a nursing sister, so the house shouts clinical cleanliness, all in white, minimal style. The kitchen has white stone benchtops. Gulp! But so far (a week in) so good. There are strict instructions on how and when to water the plants, with specific plants mentioned. After 21 years of not having a garden worth mentioning, there’s me, running to Google to find which is which. 😊 No animal to take care of this time … their beloved dog died 2 months ago before we arrived in Aus. His name was Jack. On the list of plants is ‘Jack’s Gardenia’, with a note that ‘this plant is very important’. (Jack’s ashes are in an urn on a shelf in the study. 😧) Trust me – I cannot see a Gardenia in this garden. Not for the life of me! And I know what a Gardenia looks like. 😖😬 I even checked that I had it right by googling Gardenia images. 😯

 

They return on 5 November at 7 in the evening. After handing over the keys, we’ll spend the night in a motel nearby to avoid driving at night. The next day we make our way to Brisbane to take delivery of the van on 7 November. The time is getting closer. Not once have we practised what we were taught in the towing course 😣… we had better get our noses in those course notes. 😅

 

Andries is teaching 5 days a week. While he teaches I write, plan, budget, and catch up on correspondence. I’ve managed to put a bucket list together of things to do and see while we are in Hervey Bay. After a week we’ve managed to cross off 4. Three weeks to go. Grace and mercy sustain us.

My workspace in the kitchen

Last Sunday we visited the local Baptist Church and received a mighty blessing. So pleased we went, even though that age-old enemy tried to keep us away. We pray grace and mercy over them as a congregation. We pray over you as our followers and prayer partners; over South Africa, our birth country; over Qatar and our children and friends there, during this difficult time of the FIFA World Cup event; over Australia too, that is fast becoming a secular, Christian-averse country. 😕 Over our children and grandchildren who live here, for a future in the Lord, and for many chances to witness to them of God’s beautiful plan for salvation for all mankind.

 

Friends and family, we appreciate you. We pray for each of you. May God extend His grace and mercy over each one of you. In Jesus’ name.

 

Until next time. 🌼 Blessings from us. ♥

Graphic insert: Pigeons by Mohamed Hassan via Pixabay.