A Day At The Trots.

Saturday 23rd August.

Back onto the Warrego Highway eastward towards Toowoomba which we took a wide circle around. This is a very large city with a population of around 165,000.

Leaving Toowoomba there is an extremely steep hill winding down from the high elevation of Toowoomba, so low gear in manual was engaged so as to keep off the brakes as much as possible. We plan to stop for two nights at our next overnight stop which will allow us a relatively short drive on Monday morning to meet up with a guy from PM Lubricants to collect some diesel addative PM800 which we use in both the motorhome and the Citroen. Then on to Tallebudgera for a week at our favourite caravan spot beside the Tallebudgera inlet.

During our stay here on the Gold Coast we intend to catch up with some caravaning friends and also with Carol Mac.

We checked on a recommended camping spot about 20 km's east of Toowoomba but decided that as it was right beside the highway this was not an ideal place to spend a full day tomorrow.

Our selected spot was reached further along the Warrego Highway at a place called Marburg. The showgrounds are located about 1 km south of the highway where power and water hookup are available. Having spent the last 31 nights "freedom camping" we felt that it was about time for the luxury of power and water in a nice setting. Upon arrival at the showgrounds mid afternoon we discovered an added bonus. For the $18 per day charge we also had a trotting meeting in progress which we could attend at no further cost.

After settling in on a nice grass site and seeing the caretaker we walked across to the trots meeting in time to see the last three races. They had two bookies, a kiosk and bar. I had two bets on the last two races and collected in both of them with a first place then a third place on the last race of the day. After dark there was a dance in the hall at the showgrounds which did not disturb us from watching the footy on TV.