Surfers Paradise to Andora Downs

Wednesday 24 October

Strolled down a couple of streets and checked my e-mails. Walked back to the main shopping-centre and watched a group of school children sing. Bought two shirts at one of the souvenir shops. Hurried back to the coach and I was just one minute late. The penalty was wearing a typical Aussie hat during the whole trip to the farmstay.

After a couple hours we arrived at Andora Downs farmstay, where we were guests at the Boyd Smith family. Paul and Chris were looking forward to see them and to eat their famous mash potatoes, really to die for. The group was split into four groups, because the sheds could only fit around 10 to 12 people each.

After settling down in our shed, time to stretch our legs and to explore the area at Andora Downs. We had tea or coffee with some really tasty biscuits at the main eat and entertainment area. Afterwards there was an optional for people who wanted to ride horses. The rest of the group went with two tractors around the compound. First we settled up the horses and getting people on it. Quite funny to see, how they climb the horses. Everyone mounted and we were went off to go around the area. From time to time others had the opportunity to ride the horses as well.

We stopped near a hill and started to climb it for a better view of the surroundings. Derek didn't feel well on the summit and threw up. Oh, boy it surely wasn't a nice scene to look at. Going back to ranch someone fell from a horse and it ran away. 7:00 PM. Dinner, a starter vegetables soup. The main meal was mash potatoes, meat and vegetables. Yummy! Dessert was pancake with cream. Stuffed after the delicious dinner.

Tonight's entertainment was Aussie style bush dancing. Everybody together on the floor and we got some instructions how to dance. It was quite funny to do all the dancing moves, it didn't matter if you couldn't dance at all. The moves were quite simple and gave us quite some funny moments too! It was pretty warm inside the room, didn't do much and already broke some sweat. After a while I was sweating like a pig. I had no condition at all. Better stay aside and take some pictures of the whole event.

A big 10 for everyone who was on the dance floor. I didn't participate with the other dances, so it gave me time to capture the dances on tape. Later on I talked with two Japanese girls who were working here on a working visa. Played pool with the others and went to our shed to pack for Fraser Island. Wrote my diary and went off to bed.