Saturday 20 March 2010

63 - You Are Going Where?

On the 1st April we leave Goondiwind and head direct north to take up a 6 months gig commencing 7th April........not as a management couple, but good old coal face workers....can't wait!!

An outback resort.......



And I am going to be one of these guys




working somewhere here



The bride will be working here



And here too



Stay tooooooooned for the next advise (he he!!!)

62 - Still at Goondiwindi

Well as the heading says, we are still in "Gundy."

Been here near on three weeks now, with another ten days to go, making a departure date 1st April. A liitle more news further down on "where do we go next."

In the meantime, a little more on Gundy........well to mine it is one of the nicest, and most friendly town we have come accross in our travels.. The town is pretty, the streets are clean, and the folks are good old fashion country folk. I just love it here out west.

I read a million stories about how the Geriatric Gypsies, like us, who pour monety into the local community....and we are no different. Sure the town is quite wealthy, just in its own infastructure. However I am having the Val getting a full work over, mechanically next week, four new tyres on the RetroLiner, the bride as she does supports the local newsagency with the never ending stream of scratchies and lotto. She has also spent money on new uniforms for our next gig, as well as yours truly also to spend a motza also on new uniforms next week. More on that again later.

The motel as I have mentioned before has, and is a good gig. However this will be our last one, as we are retiring from these unforging hours to do...................................stay tooooooned.

This is the view from our residence overlooking the reviver driver park . Only one better view was the one at Bermi a few years ago.

This is the view taken also from the balcony looking left. The motel in the back ground is the Ascot Lodge, the sister building to the one in Kingaroy. Strangely enough we have been asked to manage this one.

A few distances from Gundy

The bridge over the McIntyre

The Gunsyn Memorial

Gollow the history of Gunsynd

Our Gunsynd
Gunsynd was one of the most courageous and charismatic horses to race in Australia. He loved the crowds and the crowds loved him.



Gunsynd was bred in northern New South Wales, and bought for $1,300 by a group of friends from the Queensland border town of Goondiwindi – which forever put that town on the map and earned for the horse the affectionate nickname of the “Goondiwindi Grey”. Under trainer Bill Wehlow, Gunsynd won his first three starts in Brisbane and his first start at Warwick Farm, ran sixth in the 1970 Golden Slipper, and a week later won the Fernhill Handicap.

In his three-year-old preparation, Gunsynd won twice in Queensland before being placed in the Rosehill Guineas, the AJC Derby and the Queensland Derby. His last start for trainer Wehlow was as a four-year-old when he won the Doomben Flying Handicap.



Transferred to trainer Tommy Smith, Gunsynd realised his full potential. Under Smith Gunsynd had 32 starts for 17 victories and only one unplaced run. In the spring of 1971 he won the Epsom Handicap, the Toorak Handicap, the George Adams Handicap and the Sandown Cup. In the autumn of 1972 he recorded 5 straight wins including the Futurity Stakes and the Doncaster Handicap. In the spring of 1972 he captured the Cox Plate, ran a magnificent third in the Melbourne Cup under 60.5 kgs, and won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. In his final campaign in the autumn of 1973 he won the Blamey Stakes and a second Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

On his retirement Gunsynd had 29 wins from 54 starts, with the then Australian record prizemoney of $280,455.




Visit the Gunsynd Memorial Statue, located near the Visitors Information Centre, then take the time to browse the Gunsynd and Rodeo Memorabilia Display.

Saturday 6 March 2010

61 - Goondiwindi Qld

Well here we are, back in the land of a female premier, xxxx beer, the Broncos, Titans & Cowboys and floods. Wecome to SW Queensland.

For our followers of this blog, yes we are doing another gig for a month, at The Jolly Swagman Motel in Goondiwindi, about 4 hours west of Brisvegas.

A bit of useless information, Goondiwdindi is the birth place of the famous race horse Gunsynd. I thought that info would turn you on (he he!!!)

The Jolly Swagman is a huge property, 56 rooms...the biggest we have ever relief managed. However the beauty is, she is fully staffed. the bride and I are managing....not cooking, not cleaning rooms, and not doing everything. We are managing all the necessary things to make sure the wheels continue to turn. A nice refreshing change.

We arrived from Narrabri in quite unpleasant weather. Windy & wet. We then spent about a day and a half changing over with the resident owners. Like all properties, it was a steep learning curve for the first couple of days, and was brain dead for a short while there, but we survived. We now have the operation in control.

The residence is just Ji-normous, which is so comfortable after some of the rabbitt warrens we have had to endure. However I will add our last gig at Dubbo was very comfotable as well.

The Jolly Swagman Motel

At the time of writing this blog, being Sunday 7th March at 2.30pm, the Queensland traffic branch (police) have taken about 20 rooms for about 5 days to conduct road inspections. Drug and alcohol tests on all heavy vehicle drivers, traversing the Newell Highway. which is the main route from Brisbane to Melbourne.

I have never seen so many pretty police highway patrol cars, bikes and unmarked "hoons cars" ever. I offered them the Val for their unmarked patrol purposes, but was politely declined. "How Rude." The Val was the choice of patrol cars back in 1978........a'h I forgot it is now 2010...bloody hell, we have those last 30 years gone!!!!!!!

Being a seventies tragic, I am still in that time warp, just won't go away.

Are there any patrol cars left in Brisvegas?

The ute in the back ground is one of the under cover jobbies

Drug test unit with a bike thrown in. Four bikes are here as well.

That's all for now. Stay toooooooned. You never know, there may be more exciting things happen in the next month at the thriving metropolis of Goondiwindi!

CYA