A day trip to Calliope! (2/28)

For decades, my oma and opa (my dad's mum and dad - from Holland, hence the terms) owned a small home (with an outhouse for a loooonnnnggg time) in Calliope, Queensland, Australia. I have a lot of fond memories: playing in the back woods, petting the horses in the paddock next to them, walking the short ways down the road to the Calliope River to play and fish, playing chess there, making croquettes with my (blind) grandmother, sitting with her guide dog, Chad, going to "downtown" Calliope with Chad and Oma and being amazed at how he followed commands like "Chad, take me to the butcher" and "Chad, take me to the bank."

Oma and Opa moved out of that house a long time ago (maybe 20 years ago), and both have since died. But G and I have visited the house every time we've been in Calliope, this time is no exception. While we didn't bother the owners this time, we did stop to take some photos of the girls outside "Rain Lover" (named after a famous Australian thoroughbred, but also probably named for the idea that all of Queensland loves rain when it finally comes).

Before stopping at Rain Lover, we played at the Calliope River and then spread my Oma's ashes. She died back in January 2014, but with my dad getting sick in early 2015 and then dying in early 2016, nobody has been up to Gladstone (the bigger town nearby) to collect her ashes from the funeral home. My little family was proud to collect her today and transport her back to her beloved Calliope River. We spread her from the (now very dilapidated) bridge.

While crossing the road to stand in front of Rain Lover for some pictures, a truck stopped. The man inside asked me "you're not one of the >>> (my last name), are you?" Turns out he was very good friends with my aunt when they were children, and his family lived right behind Rain Lover. Everyone there has a LOT of acreage, so it probably was a fair distance but he still remembered all my family. I had seen him taking his lunch break at the river but had paid him little attention. He told me "I heard your accent and thought 'I know a family with that accent.'" And he was right. It was fun to catch him up on the whereabouts (albeit it sad to tell him that Oma, Opa and my dad have all passed away) and also introduce him to my kiddos and G.

We slowly made our way back to Agnes Water from Calliope - about a 90 minute drive - but not before stopping in front of signs to take photos of our C! (despite being vegetarian, we liked the "Calliope quality meats" sign a lot!)