Just by the way of some insight, The 2 Hour Circle activities are usually well researched and prepared with a planned execution to be carried out over 3 days. Sometimes the weather causes problems, sometimes health causes problems and sometimes an unexpected expense may cause a problem. But, as they say in the classics, the show must go on. With that in mind I thought that I might like to tell you about my weekend. So if you’re willing to stick around, grab your favourite beverage, make yourself comfortable and prepare yourself for the odd chuckle.
Thursday I spent with my daughter chasing bushrangers and, after much research and not being to find the answers I was looking for, I decided I needed to see for myself. Unfortunately, the clue that I had led me to a closed gate and, back to the drawing board. The day was not a total loss though – I discovered more about a tiny town and, after talking to the locals, I have promised to revisit Toogoolawah soon.
Friday, we jumped in the car and headed to Spicer’s Gap, so named by Alan Cunningham and we’ll talk more about him in future projects. I was advised that, for the trip to Spicer’s Gap, I would need to leave Scooter at home due to the final climb being more appropriate for 4WD vehicles and definitely not road bikes. (or sports cars for that matter). We did manage to get some interesting video and this will be coming to the page soon. We even did a little “tongue in cheek” clip on yowie hunting, which you can find on YouTube if you don’t mind a little bad language.
Throughout the week a sponsored advertisement regarding a burger had been fiercely targeted in my direction (why Facebook would think I want to know anything about burgers is beyond me – one of life’s little mysteries I guess). So, Saturday morning rolls around, Scooter is dragged enthusiastically out of the shed and the navigation system set for Mt Cotton. It wasn’t the mountain I was aiming to conquer, it was that burger. Alas, it was not meant to be; for, as I removed my helmet and gloves, a friend who had arrived earlier informed me that the venue was closed. After reading a very apologetic letter taped to the door, the question was “well, what now?” All of the plans that I had of bringing the story of this burger to my beloved audience dashed, along with an hour of exhaust smoke.
Our friend suggested that we go to a little place in Cleveland so, with no other ideas on my behalf, I said “lead the way”. As we drove into Cleveland, the history of the place was not immediately evident and, without having done any research I started looking for clues, until, of course, we were distracted by – you guessed it – lunch.
We stopped at a little place called Smoked and Loaded. I ordered a sensible sized burger called “The Boss”, while the girls took in some Loaded Meatlovers Fries and chicken bites. Over lunch our friend reminded us she had an appointment and, as we were now running behind schedule, we made arrangements to explore the town while she attended her meeting via zoom.
The first thing that I noticed about what appeared to be the main street, was that there were a lot of really cool looking places to eat. So, even if there was no other reason, we’d be wanting to go back. We learned that there was a Lighthouse nearby on Raby Bay but, since it was a bit far to walk, we thought we’d look at bit further around town first, and, in doing so, we stumbled upon a neat little art gallery called The Art Den. I hope my photos do the artwork justice because they truly are lovely and we even got to meet the artists who were working on projects when we dropped in. After gaining permission to take photos, I felt that it was appropriate to explain to them who we were and, at Sharon’s suggestion, do a free business plug - about which they were absolutely delighted (so keep an eye out for that).
After all that talking it was time to go and get something to drink. We dove into a little mall to take advantage of the air conditioning, at which point Sharon blew a shoe, with the sole coming right off. Just by pure coincidence there was a shoe repair shop directly in front of us. With the cost of repairs $39, and a pair of thongs purchased, (to alleviate Sharon’s embarrassment of walking around in bare feet) I decided that the only way to retrieve the budget, which had now been blown, was for me to rob a bank. That conversation was had whilst enjoying a cup of coffee and caused some rather odd looks from the locals (if you look at the photo you’ll understand).
After deciding that no-one was going to take my finger seriously we did a little more exploring at which point we learned that our friend’s appointment had gone overtime. But never fear! A pub was near. No better way to save the day than with a cold beer. I admired the painting of the lighthouse which was hung on the wall of the pub and did a little research on the local history (ie; a google search) and, it turns out that Cleveland has quite an interesting history, potentially dating back to May 1770. Interesting to note that European settlement was banned between 1824 and 1842, I would suggest due to the penal colony. However, a new township was planned for development in December 1850 and Cleveland was then proclaimed a township.
Soon our friend reappeared and asked if we would like her to take us to see the lighthouse. Why not! As she drove us towards the lighthouse, the history of the township became more evident but I’ll talk more about that on our next visit. I have to say the lighthouse was probably the smallest one I have seen in my travels, built around 1865 and decommissioned in 1975. The lighthouse was to be demolished but instead was carefully removed and placed in its’ current position. To give you an indication of the size of the lighthouse there is a photo of me standing next to the entry door. Good thing I’m only a little bloke! For comparison there’s a photo of someone more regular-sized.
Across the road is the Lighthouse Restaurant Bar Café and you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be going back there for some fresh seafood. One lunch a day is quite enough, so we opted for an ice-cream instead. Whilst there is a photo of a boat, I decided it was a little choppy to head out onto the water so I stopped to have a chat to my friend the sea turtle, said my goodbyes with a promise to return, retrieved Scooter (poser that she is) from the eyes of the odd admirer and made our way home.
So, all was not lost and we had quite the adventure and we look forward to seeing you again, wherever we end up, out in what we like to call The 2 Hour Circle.
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