District Superintendent's House

 My father worked for the Queensland Government Railways as the Maintenance Engineer in Maryborough back in the 1950's and 60's. His office was just a few yards from the District Superintendent's House.

This aerial photo was taken in 1964. This was the main station yard for a district stretching from Gympie to Bundaberg and west to Mundubbera. The station is circled in green, the superintendent's house in red and our house in yellow. I used to go to school across the street from our house.

Since the station was set up as a terminus that suited steam engines, the arrival of diesel and electric engines that did not need to be refueled resulted in the closure of the station and the station yards. The area at the left is now a shopping mall. The station itself is heritage listed but the various railway houses are now privately owned.

The Superintendent's House fell into disrepair and was only restored a few years ago. It is now a BNB and we decided to stay the night as my birthday present.

If you click on this link, you will see the bnb listing including a photo of the front of the house (which I forgot to take).

About 60 years ago, the Superintendent invited our family to dinner. We children were presumably old enough to be trusted to behave. The current owner was keen to meet us to talk about the old history so we turned up at 3 pm for afternoon tea.

The Superintendent position was of great importance in the city and the house reflected that importance with larger rooms suitable for entertaining. The entrance to our bedroom is at the back right.

The house was completely gutted when the current owner took over and none of the furniture or contents are original. She is obviously a collector.

Our room was very comfortable.

The dining area.

We were invited to see the kitchen and this massive old stove which the owner found somewhere and had restored.

Afternoon tea, and no, we did not eat it all. But we talked and talked for hours.

During the visit 60 years ago, my father was pleased to be able to show me a large room to the side which apparently could be used as a ballroom. Alas, it is now divided up and not yet restored, but my father lusted after that room as a listening room for his records. There would have been refrigerator-sized loudspeakers at one end.

About all that remains that shows what was special about the house. It was such a pity that it was allowed to fall into such disrepair,

The local ferocious beast,

We settled into a smaller lounge and talked until 6 pm.

This fireplace uses coal and there was plenty of coal available back in steam engine days, It can get quite cold in these old wooden houses in winter since there is no insulation at all.

The next morning, we had an excellent continental breakfast.

The front verandah. It had rained overnight and it was a pleasure to hear the sound of rain on a galvanized iron roof. There is something very relaxing about these old wooden buildings.

The red flowers of a poinciana tree which flower here in November.

My father's old office across the laneway. It's no longer used.

It's a pity that these old buildings have lost their purpose in life.

Still, we really enjoyed our stay at the bnb and it is wonderful to see life restored to a magnificent house.

Royal Flying Doctor Service

Every Aussie is immensely proud of this service where medical help is delivered to people in the outback. In addition to this role, the Service is also used to transport patients to major hospitals for treatment not available in smaller hospitals. 

About a month ago, I was climbing the 35 steps to our unit when I felt some chest pain. Since my triple bypass in 2015, I know you don't try to tough it out and I asked Marianne to call the ambulance. Soon after I arrived at the local hospital. After some blood tests, it was determined that I had suffered a mild heart attack and would need to be transferred to Brisbane for an angiogram.

I spent a few days in Hervey Bay hospital waiting to be transferred to Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane. As usual, I enjoyed teasing the nurses because the rest of the time you sit on your bed like a bump on a log.

The plane. They shove you in on a stretcher at the back door. There are two pilots, a doctor and a nurse. In addition there was another patient.

Of course you are hooked up to monitoring equipment.

I had a good view most of the way.

At Prince Charles Hospital, I shared a room with another bloke and was lucky to have a window.

The menu at Prince Charles.

The food choices at Hervey Bay were very limited. At Prince Charles, you picked up the phone and ordered what you wanted.

The fruit cake was just a pale imitation of my Mother's recipe.

Not bad, particularly since I could wash it down with a relatively decent cappuccino.

The angiogram resulted in a stent and two balloons. After almost nine years, it was time for the Rotor Rooter.

The next day, I took a Uber into the city and then a bus back up to Hervey Bay. By chance, the bus took a route that crossed a bridge at a spot where I rowed a dingy in Maroochydore when I was about 10 years old.

So I was fortunate in that I found out what was wrong with me and hopefully I will be good for several more years.

By the way, it was all free except for the Uber ride from the hospital to downtown Brisbane.

Gayndah and Munduberra

Our units were built in the 1980's and recently the main sewerage drain cracked next to our building. They had to shut off the water and sewerage for most of a day so we took the opportunity to go for a drive.

 

Some poor kid had to work down there all day creating this trench. I suspect he realized that there are better jobs.

A little bridge.

We awoke to another beautiful sunrise. They are common here in winter, particularly in the early morning.

Our route. For the curious, it's pronounced mun-dub-ra not the android auto version of munda berry.

Both towns are surrounded by citrus orchards, so Gayndah has a 'big orange'.

The usual wide street you often find in country towns.

We stopped at the Gayndah bakery for a coffee and a nibble.

For the first time in forty years, I had an apple turnover. My nickname for this common Aussie treat is 'rat coffin'. If you order extra cream as well, it becomes 'rat coffin with pus' which some find a bit off-putting. It was delicious.

Local courthouse.

The upper story was interesting.

Two old country pubs on opposite corners.

The town appears to have fallen on hard times with several empty shops. Sixty years ago, it was very prosperous, but residents typically get in their cars and drive to the nearest big city to shop.

Marianne was complaining that we needed to find a toilet and a few seconds later, this rather nice facility appeared.

Half an hour later, we arrived in Munduberra.

An even wider street.

Interesting table top.

The crappiest brickwork I have ever seen. I suspect it was deliberately bad.

XXXX is the name of the local Queensland beer.

The old station, closed many years ago.

My father worked as the maintenance engineer for the district and would come to Munduberra and Gayndah as part of his inspection routine. It's sad to see these closed railways, but they became uneconomic.