J+N Down Under XV--A LOOK BACK

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NIKKI: Wednesday, August 11th (cont'd) - Just after we left Cowra, I got to thinking about some of the other places we visited along our long trip Down Under. A couple of places in particular keep coming back to me:


Back on July 11th, Jonesy and I did a daytrip out of Brisbane to Toowoomba and Kingaroy.

Toowoomba, a university and cathedral city, hosts Easterfest annually over the Easter weekend and the Australian Carnival of Flowers each September. Speaking of flowers and plants, jacaranda, camphor laurel and plane trees line many of the city streets, ensuring the city's reputation as "The Garden City".

As for Kingaroy, a town in the South Burnett River Valley of about 8000, it is known as the "Peanut Capital of Australia" because Australia's largest peanut processing plant is located in the town and peanut silos dominate the skyline. The South Burnett region hosts the annual Kingaroy Peanut Festival---annual, that is, up to and including last year's Festival. On January 1st this year, it was decided from now on to hold the Festival every two years, as most other Queensland towns' festival are held. So, no Festival this year, but come 2011, watch out!

Here's a pic of Jonesy and I, sampling some freshly seasoned, tasty peanuts from the famous Peanut Van. Specially flavoured fresh peanuts in a wide variety of favourite flavours. Mmm-mmm! We liked them so much, we decided to splurge and buy an additional 320g bag each to nibble on along our trip. Of course, now, we're probably wishing we could've bought some for the plane trip back to Canada. Oh well...

BTW, here's some trivia for you: Queensland is the only state where the vast majority of all Australian peanuts are grown, and yet, while everyone else on the continent (the territories and states, including Tasmania) calls the stuff made out of peanuts "peanut butter" (like we do in North America), only Queenslanders call it "peanut paste"! Go figure...

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Continuing along the last leg (or two) of our trip Down Under....

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Another what-if postcard and journal entry from two 1½th-year university students Jonesy and Nikki, exploring the Land Down Under.


Special thanks and humblest apologies to John Dundas Holden Mitsubushi, 79 Kingaroy Street, Kingaroy, Qld 4610.

6TEEN, Jonesy Garcia & Nikki Wong © Fresh Animation (nka FreshTV) Inc & NELVANA Ltd.