Ryalls' Return to Red Range & Ben Vale

29 Church St, Glen Innes, NSW
Emmaville Ryall Graves

Red Range & Glen Innes

Last Wednesday (25 Feb) my Aunty Dympna and younger sister Loretta (Ret) excitedly headed off in the car to revisit the family stamping ground in New South Wales. First stop was Yamba, just over an hour south of Ballina. We admired the view of the beach, then had a coffee break before driving inland with our compass set due West, with the celtic town of Glen Innes in our sights. Rainstorms were predicted, but the day was perfect with no rain until about 30 mins from our destination. Now a road trip with three women isn't complete without a stop along the way to check out a shop or two, so we plotted to have lunch in Grafton. My friend Jen had mentioned that the Lincraft store there had a good scrapbook section and we enjoyed perusing the knitting and other crafts. After that break we were only 2 hrs from our destination, crossing the Great Dividing Range, Australia's most substantial mountain range and the 4th largest in the world. The scenery during this part of the drive alternated between wide open pasture land where cattle and sheep grazed, to eucalypt forests, creeks, and typical scrub. We stopped the car at Bellbird Pass, as my Aunt said you could always hear the Bellbirds here, but to our dismay we couldn't hear any bellbirds at all! We got back in the car and came to another pass, and this time got out to check the view. Lo and behold, the sound of bellbirds was almost deafening, yet so 'pure'. Listen to the video clip to hear what we heard and see the scene we were witnessing.

Each of us was very keen to divert off the beaten track and find our great-grandparent's farm at Red Range, 30 mins from Glen Innes. We found Red Range Road, and the GPS said we were at Red Range, but all that we saw were two occupied houses and not a store or anything else. We couldn't even find anyone to ask questions. Mind you, even in its hey day, Red Range was apparently only a hardware store owned by our ancestors, and a few houses on local farms.

Glen Innes, with a population of 7,870, held some nice memories for all of us. My grandparents owned 3 houses in the town, and one of them became my dad's house. He never lived in it, apart from short visits. It was where my sister and I spent 3 months while Mum & Dad were on holidays from the Northern Territory. We attended the local school which gave our parents time to have to themselves. I took a photo of the old house at 29 Church St for the family to see. Around 5.30pm we checked into our motel and before I had opened the zip on my overnight bag, I expected to hear the champagne cork pop. As it happened, the cork was very stubborn, so I offered to go and find a strong man to pull it out. I went walking and found a young couple outside their motel room, and the guy was very obliging - the fact that he was a young Frenchman in his late twenties and recently out from the south of France gave me an opportunity to use my schoolgirl French. Oh yes, and after much struggling and resorting to breaking the cork then using a corkscrew, he got the cork out! The chilled strawberry champagne was delicious. The three of us toasted our absent family and then ambled across to the in-house steak restaurant. Another wonderful day, celebrated.

Our first port of call the next morning was a visit to the Australian Standing Stones which are the official national monument to honour Australia's Celtic pioneers. They comprise a circle of 24 stones representing the 24 hours of the day, 4 cardinal stones marking true north, south, east and west. When viewed from above with the other 24 stones, they form the Southern Cross, our star constellation. There are another 7 stones marking the summer & winter solstices, the longest and shortest days of the year. The main focus of our journey was to see Ben Vale, the property where my dad and our Aunt grew up, and then continue the 10 km into Emmaville (population 400) where Aunty Dympna's two brothers (my uncles) are buried in an old, unused cemetery. The old house no longer stands on Ben Vale, but the shed my grandfather built is still there. We walked along the old driveway, the same route our dad walked and rode his horse and bicycle on, and our Aunty was able to share her nostalgia. It was very special for all of us. She told us that when she was born in 1924, her parents had just bought a 1923 Buick and were the first family in the district to own a motorised vehicle. They had used horse drawn vehicles up until then.

Our next stop was the town of Emmaville, noting there wasn't much there but a post office, general store and a primary school, but it did have two churches and two pubs! Typical aussie country town. In front of the Catholic Church were the most beautiful roses, which I have used on the photo collage. The trumpet flower on the other collage was a wildflower growing profusely on the highway heading to Casino once we left Emmaville.

The directions we were given to locate the old, unused cemetery were spot on. It is now on private property, but we found it nestled under gum trees and overgrown. There were only about 60 graves there, and it didn't take long to locate the graves of the two Ryall brothers. We were all surprised by how emotional we felt. Eddie died aged 20 years in 1933 and his brother Maurice died in 1944 aged 34 years. RIP. We believe our dad, Greg Ryall, would have been chuffed to be looking down and seeing two of his daughters with his sister making the pilgrimage back into our history. All in all it is a trip the three of us will always remember fondly.

Bellbird Video: Remember to press the arrow to start the video.

Friendships

Pelican 181 on the River

Jen & Leonie Breakfast at Shelly's Beach

Flowers in our Day

In May 1970 (yes 38-5 years ago) I started my nurse's training on the Gold Coast. On that day I met Jenny, and we were great buddies during our 3 years of training. We then decided to do our midwifery (maternity) training together in Adelaide, and we shared a room for 12 months until our training was finished, and we both got married shortly afterwards. Jenny has a sister Leonie, and the three of us have been mates for all that time. Over the years we have been busy raising children and working, and although we always stayed in touch and caught up whenever we were in the same town, it was only this weekend that the three of us got together, without spouses or children, and had a wonderful time reconnecting. We had a common interest, learning how to work with photoshop tools, and we laughed and chatted for 2 full days. The girls booked a room in the motel across from my B&B, which was very convenient. Murray is still living away at RAAF Base Amberley, so the girls could come over here, set up their laptops, and we could share tutorials to our heart's content without interrupting anyone else.

We didn't just work on the computers though. On the first day we had seafood overlooking the Richmond River at Pelican 181, then went to the movies to see "Slum Dog Millionaire". Not quite what we expected, but I enjoyed aspects of another culture - India. Next day we had breakfast overlooking tranquil Shelly's Beach and admired the wildlife including a spectacular specimen of a water dragon, dolphins cavorting in the waves in front of us, and many birds. So peaceful. For lunch we sat in the cafe of a nursery, overlooking a macadamia orchard, and listened to the kookaburras laughing. We took some beautiful photos of flowers to adorn our future projects in Photoshop. We made our way to a gem of a place known as the 'House with no Steps' just out of Alstonville, only about 15 mins from Ballina. They had a very beautiful gift shop, an interesting nursery and an adjoining cafe where we sat and had our afternoon tea. We chatted and caught up on what all our kids were doing, and before we knew it, time had passed and we headed back to Ballina via a different, but very scenic route. We had planned to go to a restaurant for dinner, but preferred to pick up a hot chicken and slice up some avocado and sit on cushioned, comfortable cane lounge chairs in a delightful gazebo area at the back of the motel. I know it seems as though all we do is eat, but that is not quite right! After an hour or so, we went back in to do some more lessons on the computer before deciding to call it a night. I went to walk across the road and the girls walked me out, and as it was such a lovely night, with the stars of the Southern Cross and Orion's Belt twinkling away overhead, we decided to walk to the end of the street and sit on the bench overlooking the river. Around 11pm we noticed some rowdy youths heading our way, so we made a hasty retreat. They passed by without hassle, but we said our goodnights and rested our weary heads.

Sunday morning Aunty Dympna and I went to Mass together, and afterwards we picked up Jen & Leonie and treated ourselves to morning tea overlooking the river at the RSL club. Caffeined up we then went back to my aunt's to peruse her hand made card selection. She uses quilling, tatting and a variety of appliques to make her cards individual and appealing. She donates them to her retirement village by selling them at one of their stalls. Back to my place for one last photoshop tutorial, and then it was time for the girls to hit the road and drive 1.5 hrs back to the Gold Coast. We all agreed it was fun, stimulating (learning new things) and very relaxing. The opportunity to have time to reconnect with special friends will be one of many lovely memories of our 6 month stay in Ballina. You may have noticed the flower collage is not my usual style; that photo and the addition of the flowering gum to the group photo are my first photoshop efforts.

Australia Back to Normal

Sandy & Joe Bill are back on US soil once again and hopefully Australia can settle down. From the moment the Meadors arrived, our country has experienced unprecendented floods in the north and the worst bushfires on record in the south. On the day we went to the Daintree Rainforest, a young boy was taken by a crocodile. On the day we visited Sydney Harbour, a navy diver doing a naval exercise in the harbour lost an arm (they are still hoping to save his leg)to a shark. The day after we swam in Bondi Beach, a man swimming on that beach was bitten by a shark which was the first attack at that famous beach for 80 years! I was too scared to watch the news each night they were here, fearing what I might see. I hope I can relax now!

Well, Murray & I are both back home in Ballina after a most wonderful, whirlwind 12 day holiday with our friends. Today will be taken up with dental checks and a financial meeting that were planned weeks ago, and then Murray will have one day, Saturday, to rest up before he packs his bags to go to a RAAF Base just south west of Brisbane (3.5 hours from us) where he has two weeks Reserve admin work offered to him. It will pay for his return trip to the US that is coming up shortly, so that is great. I will have to content myself with walks along the river, learning yogapilates via DVD, reading, and spending time with family & friends.

Sydney & Bondi Beach

In the Shadow of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Mighty Handy Green Bag
Guylian Chocolate Shop - Sensational!
Anyone for a Gelato?
Bondi Beach Bodies
German Restaurant Beer Challenge
Opera House by Night

Yes folks - yesterday we were back visiting the Rocks in Sydney (site in Sydney Cove where the original settlement was made) and walking over cobblestones laid soon after the first settlers arrived here in 1788. We also walked under the end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (opened in 1932) which is the world's widest long-span bridge. It is nicknamed 'the coathanger' because of it's arch-shaped design. Did y'all know that Crocodile Dundee (Paul Hogan) was a painter on this bridge before he made it to Hollywood?

Sandy & I had noticed a very delectable looking chocolate shop as we wandered around the harbour the other day, so when we made another trip back there yesterday, we both knew we just had to try a hot chocolate at the Guylian Chocolate Shop. The guys joined us and we sat inside looking out the glass windows to observe all the activity in Sydney Harbour. The visit was a great decision as we unanimously agreed that the hot chocolate was delicious. That said, we can't fail to mention our daily taste testing of the various icecream and gelato shops - from Caloundra to Manly to Kings Cross to Sydney Harbour - we have undertaken extensive testing and enjoyed every morsel!

Despite our visit to Bondi Beach the previous day, Joe Bill felt a bit cheated as the weather made it unsuitable for swimming - too cool and showers of rain. He was desperate to swim at Bondi Beach, and wouldn't you know it, after lunch yesterday the sun came out, so we changed into our bathers and went to the beach. The water was cold when you first stood in it, but once you dived under the surf, it was very refreshing and enjoyable. The waves were fairly rough though, but some of us braved them for a while. Sandy preferred to top up her tan and relax on her beach towel. My daughter Kim had bought me a tiny bag that fits into a small pouch and hangs on my purse. That green bag has come to our rescue numerous times to carry umbrellas and for our trip to Bondi, our towels. Thanks Kim!

Dinner time saw us back in Sydney Rocks area to have dinner at a German restaurant with my son Benn and Daina again. I don't get to see them too often as they live in Sydney and I live closer to Brisbane, so it has been nice for them to meet our American friends and for us to have extra time with them as well. As usual we tried the different menu selections and enjoyed the German oompapa band. The blueberry schnapps was very nice - thanks Benn. As we wandered back to catch a bus to our hotel, we admired the Opera House and Sydney Harbour bridge by night. By 10.30pm we were back safely in our hotel.

It is now Thursday afternoon, and Sandy & Joe Bill are safely ensconced at the Sydney Airport ready for their flight to Los Angeles that leaves in 2 hours. Safe travels.

Sydney, Australia

Sydney Opera HouseSydney Harbour Bridge Manly Beach Surfer

Joe Bill & Tanja (new German friend)

Pat, Joe Bill & Martha (New Irish Friends)

Bondi Beach

Mexican Restaurant (Murray, Trish, Sandy, Joe Bill, Daina, Benn)

We touched down at Sydney (city population 4.3 million) airport at 5pm yesterday (Monday) and took the 30 minute taxi ride to our accommodation on the outskirts of Sydney - it was a 25 minute walk from the CBD. After the high 44.6C (112F) temperatures in Sydney the day before we arrived, we were relieved to find a cool change had passed through by the time we arrived.

This morning we decided to jump on a double decker bus and do a tour of Sydney and Bondi Beach - the overcast and drizzly conditions weren't ideal for sightseeing around Sydney Harbour and the beach, but we enjoyed our day and had lots of laughs. The first bus we hopped on was a bit a of worry - we wondered what we had got ourselves into as the engine in the back was louder than the speaker giving the commentary. Fortunately our first stop (Opera House) was not far up the road and the next buses we caught were great - what a relief. On our last leg we met a lovely Irish couple - Pat & Martha. Once they knew Sandy & Joe Bill hailed from Arkansas, they entered into a lively discussion on Bill Clinton.

The Opera House is a World Heritage site and is an iconic building and one of the world's greatest performing arts centres. It has 2679 seats and on the roof are 1,056,006 white and cream tiles. When you stand on the steps of the Opera House, you look across the harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge - a stunning view. After walking within the Opera House, we made our way dodging the puddles to catch a ferry for the 30 min ride across Sydney Harbour to Manly, a suburb north-east of Sydney CBD. Joe Bill & Sandy tried a bit of Aussie culture by eating an authentic meat pie for lunch. They have now witnessed all aspects of our classic advertisement for Australian Holden cars that goes: "Football, meat pies, kangaroos & Holden cars" - We ate dinner at a football club last night, they had a meat pie today, they patted kangaroos at the Australian Zoo and they saw a Holden car at Manly today. They can tick all of those boxes now!

Back on the bus and off we went to Bondi Beach 7 km (4.3 mi) east of Sydney. The beach is 1 km (0.6 mi) long and a beautiful beach on a sunny day. Despite the poor weather conditions today, there were a few hardy surfers riding the surf, and Joe Bill managed to grab a board and hug the owner! We had a 30 min wait for our bus connection, so we walked to the pavilion on the edge of the beach, and enjoyed a coffee and muffin, served to us by a lovely young lady from Germany. It has been very interesting to find that nearly every cafe or restaurant we visit has staff from overseas, all here on working holidays - Switzerland, Germany, Sweden are just some of the countries I recall they were from. Back to our hotel for a shower and rest, before walking up to a nearby Mexican restaurant where we were joined by my son Benn and his girlfriend Daina for a pleasant dinner. We left them with a plan to meet again tomorrow night at a German restaurant at the Rocks, the area that was the original settlement at Sydney harbour.

Aboriginal Culture

Aboriginal Cultural Park Cairns
Boomerang Joe
Corroboree

Ferry Operator on Daintree River

Thala Beach Resort Pool

View of Coast from Daintree Rainforest

As I mentioned in the previous blog, Sandy & Joe Bill visited an Aboriginal Cultural park yesterday. From all accounts they had an interesting morning and were amazed to compare similarities between the Australian Aborigines' history and that of the American Indians. Joe Bill showed the Aboriginals a few nifty steps they could add to their traditional corroboree dance, and both Sandy & Joe Bill learnt the skills involved in throwing a boomerang and having it return to them. Enjoy these photos of their cultural experience plus those of our travels further north into the rainforest.

Sadly, while we were enjoying the beauty and cool dampness of the rainforest yesterday, Australia experienced its worst ever bush fire tragedy with 108 confirmed deaths and over 750 homes destroyed in towns north of Melbourne in the state of Victoria. Meanwhile, record floods have been occuring in a major city 3 hours south of us here in Cairns.

Cairns-Port Douglas- Cape Tribulation

Cairns north to Port Douglas, Daintree and Cape Tribulation

Thala Beach Resort

Joe Bill don't climb the coconut tree!

Port Douglas Beach

Bulls, Kangaroos & Sandy

Well, we sure have packed a lot into our day today. It started with Sandy & Joe Bill spending the morning at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park while Murray & I sat having coffee & pancakes while reading the paper on the ocean front at Trinity Beach. Joe Bill, shy & retiring as he is, told us he was dragged kicked and screaming to join in with the aboriginal dancers in a traditional male dance (corroboree). However, anyone who really knows Joe Bill would agree he probably paid them to call him up! The photos should reach the blog by tomorrow...watch this space.

After they finished with the Australian indigenous people, they were ready for lunch, so we made our way 45 miles (40 minutes) north from Cairns to Port Douglas. We made a quick stop to check out the highly recommended view at the Thala Beach resort before reaching Port Douglas by 1pm. Can you believe that Joe Bill's 'boy' Bill Clinton & his wife Hillary chose Port Douglas as the only vacation stop on their 1996 historic visit to Australia. They were there again, dining at the Salsa restaurant (that we would have eaten at except they had no airconditioning and it was so hot) , when he was advised of the 9/11 attacks. He subsequently returned to the United States the following day. It's not hard to work out why he singled out Port Douglas - it really is a lovely location.

Lunch finished, we were back in the car and decided to continue north to the World Heritage Listed Tropical Daintree Rainforest, the largest continuous area of rainforest in Australia. At over 135 million years old, it is the oldest rainforest in the world. It has 13 species of birds that are found nowhere else in the world. Sadly just out of Daintree we took a ferry over the flooded Daintree River hoping to continue north to Cape Tribulation, only to hear that a 5 year old boy had been taken by a crocodile there this morning. His family ran a business on the river, and the boy had been walking with his 7 year old brother and his dog. Apparently the dog entered the flood waters and the boy went in after him and disappeared. His brother saw a large crocodile where his brother disappeared. As we crossed in the ferry we could see the emergency workers continuing their search along the river. Truly a sad and sobering sight. This is our last night in Cairns as tomorrow we fly to Sydney.

Cairns Tropical Rainforest

Boarding the Skyrail

Tropical Rainforest Boardwalk

What do you think Sandy?

Waterfall from Train

Tropical Butterfly in the Wild

Pool Competition

At 10am a shuttle picked us up at our hotel and dropped us at the Skyrail for a 50 minute enclosed 4 seater chairlift ride up the mountain to Kuranda. After 20 minutes of tranquil riding above the tree canopy we embarked at a stop where we walked along the boardwalk amongst the tropical rainforest and viewed the gushing Barron Falls; a waterfall that provides 60 megawatts of electricity. Back on the ride for another 30 minutes and we reached our mountain top destination of Kuranda. We were very fortunate with the weather - although overcast, the rain stayed away. Joe Bill had his eye on a Drizabone (oil slicker coat) which is the traditional Australian cattleman's outerwear for wet weather gear. At this stage I broke away and spent time in the butterfly enclosure while Sandy, Joe Bill & Murray visited an authentic aboriginal art gallery. We all met up again in time to catch the train, and I noticed Joe Bill had a big smile on his face, a slimmer billfold and he was carrying a large brown bag - yep, he had bought his Drizabone! Thanks for helping boost the Australian economy - we promise to come to America in March and reciprocate!

For the ride back instead of taking the skyrail we took the skytrain. It was a very scenic 90 minute ride down the mountain - through tunnels, past waterfalls and amongst the tropical undergrowth. As we got further down the mountain we could see Cairns nestled in the valley with the ocean behind it and a mountain to the south. Rolling grey clouds looked ominous, and sure enough, just as we started out to walk a few blocks to dinner, the rain came bucketing down. Fortunately we were only one building from our hotel, so we returned, got in our hire car and drove to dinner instead. Just as well as the directions we were given were way out, and we would have been walking for hours in the wrong direction and never have found the place. Once in the car, we stopped a local and refined the directions, and arrived at the Cock & Bull Tavern that proved to be a very popular dining spot. After our meal Murray & Joe Bill had 2 games of Pool and they won a game each.

Snorkelling: Great Barrier Reef, Cairns AUSTRALIA

Off to Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
No, not Sandy, but it is the Great Barrier Reef
Donning Wetsuits

Disembarking at Cairns Marina
Beautiful Cairns

OK Murray, what steak will we have? Decisions, decisions...

Outback Jack Rack (Ribs & Bibs)

We woke to a humid, overcast morning with low lying clouds shrouding the nearby mountains. A new cyclone is brewing, but that didn't stop Joe Bill & Sandy putting on their bathers and packing their bag for a day trip to snorkel the waters of Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world. It is 1200 miles long and is home to 400 species of coral and 1500 species of fish. At 8.30am we accompanied them to the marina and waved them off, and we were there at 4.30pm when they berthed. They had a great experience and saw the colourful coral and vibrantly coloured fish and met some lovely people. Needless to say they were very relieved that the cyclone stayed away.

Tonight we dined like kings at Outback Jack's restaurant not far from our hotel. Just as well, as the monsoon rains were fairly heavy at 6pm. The delicious ribs were not enough for our hearty appetites, so we wandered down the street and each ordered a different flavoured gelato. Yum!

Day 3 & 4

Watch out fish, here we come!North Arm Richmond River, Ballina, Australia

Australian Outback Spectacular - Yee Haw!
Could you help me with my camera?

Joe Bill & his Bride at Dangerous Palm Cove

Wednesday was a beautiful day in Ballina, so Murray & Joe Bill went to the sand bar on the river and got some yabbies to use as bait. Sandy & I sat on a bench and watched them for awhile, and timed it just right to witness Joe Bill pull in a small whiting fish. We then took a drive into the country, accompanied by my 85 years young Aunt, and had lunch at a delightful restaurant called Eltham Pantry. We then drove 1.5 hours north to have afternoon tea with my younger sister Loretta and her husband Peter who live on the Gold Coast. A late decision saw us getting tickets to attend the Australian Outback Spectacular (Aussie version of the Dixie Stampede) and we donned our ten gallon hats and took our seats in the arena. The background scenery of the Australian bush was beautiful, but then I am prejudiced of course. The horses put on a great display and the riders were very talented. I loved seeing the riders wearing their Drizabones and looking very much like our traditional stockmen and women.

After the show we drove up to Brisbane and checked into a motel which was only 15 minutes from the airport for our flight to Cairns this morning. As we drove into the grounds of our motel late at night, Joe Bill thought he was experiencing deja vu. The motel reminded him of Bates Motel in the movie Psycho, and he was a bit wary, but did not mention his concerns until this morning. Fortunately he had no complaints. Cairns was a very smooth 2.15 hr flight away and despite the recent cyclone and residual tropical depression, we were greeted by blue skies amid the threatening clouds. Our motel overlooking the ocean is spacious with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a kitchen & laundry. Our taxi driver recommended that we catch a bus to Palm Cove to enjoy the lovely beach. Well, none of us thought much of the beach for a start, but when the female lifeguards said it was a very dangerous beach due to deadly jellyfish, we were glad it was windy and spitting with rain and therefore we had not been tempted to go in for a swim! Joe Bill espied a pretty young Japanese lady and quickly came up with an excuse to chat with her - he thought he had a Japanese Nikon camera and went over to seek her assistance, but she pointed out it was a US Kodak camera! Oh dear, Joe Bill!! But yes, she was cute....