The Travels of Mouse: Nambucca Valley top ten

Hello people, Mouse here.

I must say, it’s been a top notch experience so far. Last time, a few years ago, it was very nice and all that, but this time…

Dad has created a Top Ten Reasons to Love Visiting the Nambucca Valley:

1. Friends we miss and haven’t seen for ages. Lots of Aunties and Uncles. Lots of strokies and a big bag of super treats from my favourite, Aunty Dale. I love you, Aunty Dale ❤️.
   
2. The joint birthday party, something we should repeat next year because it was Fun. Orange cake filled with fruit, and cream on the side.
   
3. The After (Lunch) party the next day with even more new friends both human and canine. That’s Miss Dolly the kelpie having a snooze behind her Staff, Uncle Matt.
   
4. Big, beautiful, empty, white sandy beaches for me to run on. Dad’s put a video on my FaceBook page, it’s a comment to the last post there, if you scroll down. I haven’t lost all my form in retirement, it seems.
   
5. Strawberry tarts from Nambucca Bakery & Cafe (Staff pick). Dad’s birthday treat. You were lucky to see this, as he’d already started in on it when he remembered to take a photo. It didn’t last long. They never do, according to Mum. Prolly pretty good, then.
6. The delicious food at Nourish Café & Grocer, Valla Beach (Staff pick, but I concur – I got bits of Mum’s salmon and sweet potato fries and Dad’s burger and cheese)
   
7. The view (and sniffs) at Seelys Lookout Sky Pier, Orara State Forest. I approve, as I’m allowed out of the car in State Forests, and the sniffs can be spectacular!
   
8. Next time, we’ll be visiting with VanEssa. Bigger, comfier, more convenient. What is it they say? “Happy Staff, don’t make me laugh. Happy Mouse, Boss in the House”. Something like that, anyway.
   
9. The Nesting Needles Patchwork & Fabric shop in Coramba (Mum’s pick). Mum and Aunty Chippy parked the Husbands at the doggo-friendly pub next door and Did Shopping. The Husbands did beer. I did a bowl of water and lay on my blankie, sighing loudly. I think I got my point across because Mum and Dad gave me treats later, when they had lunch.
10. The sound of surf at night to lull us all to sleep. And we have all slept very well… At least, I have. Mum says I did lots of bum fluffs from too much chicken. Dad says he wouldn’t know, as the CPAP machine prevents the fumes reaching him. I wouldn’t know. I was asleep.

I think I’d agree with most of Dad’s points. I’m fairly meh on the subject of strawberry tarts and fabric shops, to be honest, though. But the plan with Aunty Chippy and Uncle Jonathan is to come back again same time(ish) next year, have the same get-together with everybody (if possible) and do lots more exploring in the fun places the area has to offer. Mum is developing a list already. Dad is muttering Oh Lord under his breath (dunno what he expects Me to do about it…). Aunty Chippy is looking excited. Uncle Jonathan is looking resigned. So I expect it’ll prolly happen. I leave that sort of thing to the Staff.

It’s Aunty Chippy and Uncle Jonathan’s last night here, so Mum is making Nasty Goreng, or something like that.  (Nasi, not Nasty, Mouse – Mum) so they don’t have to cook. Mum and Dad have two more days here and then we’re off too. It hasn’t been long enough, but I need to check everything is OK at home and tell Lotti All About Everything.

Right, must be off, I detect that My dinner is in the offing.

Mouse, out.

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The Travels of Mouse: sun, sand and Mini-me

Hello people, Mouse here

Some of you may be wondering why the silence over the past few days. Well. Mostly it’s because we’ve been very, very idle, which is how I like it, but also because the phone reception here isn’t very good; we’re at the bottom of a cliff and behind a dune, which make for peace but not many bars of signal, so downloading images takes a long time.

This holiday park is lovely. It’s shady, very quiet (apart from a muffled roar from the surf behind the dune and butcher birds singing), and roomy. The bathroom is huge and clean and modern, which is nice for the Staff, and there are plenty of grassy bits for me to use. I do have to share the amenities with some rather larger permanent residents, most notably a 1.2m long goanna, who strolls around like he owns the place. Most uncouth, but I’m steering clear. I don’t do reptiles…

I have a choice of walks, but I do enjoy the sandy path up and over the dune and onto the beach. The sand here is squeaky!  Dad says it’s because of the high levels of silica. Even my paws make it happen, not just big human feet. I’ve told Mum to put in a YouTube link to show you what it sounds like. It’s nice white sand, very, very fine and it just drops off my paws so I don’t walk it into my floof (or the caravan, thankfully – Mum).

Anyway, the other day the Staff did Shopping and Laundry, which is boring, and yesterday we went to Valla Beach and had lunch at Nourish Café and Grocer, which is not: I got bits of both their lunches: salmon from Mum and burger and cheese from Dad. Mum says it was yummy and worth a mention here because the tables on the front verandah are dog friendly. The portions were pretty generous, and the grocery was good too: they had the milk I like (lactose free – Mum) and some very nice cakes. Dad had Ricotta & citrus crème brulée slice and Mum had a Fig & macadamia tart.

Later on, we went for a walk on the squeaky beach, and there were whippets!  Always fun to meet other sighthounds, but some of them were very forward and kept pestering and licking me and running in circles. There was one, though, who was more respectful, called Shadow. He was rather tall for a whippet, and black, which is of course the Best colour, and he wanted to show me his rock, which his mum said he’d been carrying around for a while. I gave it a polite sniff, and then he decided to bury it! The Mums decided he was my Mini-me, and I can see their point…

And then in the evening, Aunty Chippy and Uncle Jonathan arrived!  They had done a mad dash up the coast from Melbourne and had done 1400km about 24 hours, stopping briefly here and there for food and naps. They have a very nice cabin here, and they came over after they’d showered and unpacked to eat with us and plan for Saturday’s picnic party. Mum has lent Aunty Chippy a whole bunch of quilting books, so there’ll prolly be some boring chat about that, and she also handed over the miniature sewing room model she made for Aunty Chippy, which has been carefully carried all the way here in one of Miz Lizzie’s lockers. Amazingly, it’s still all in one piece and the light still works!

I’m expecting to score some very decent handouts at this picnic party, judging from what they were saying. I must fill Diesel-dog in when he arrives, he probably doesn’t realise the snacking opportunities ahead of him! There will be many Aunties and Uncles and most of them won’t know about limiting my intake of snacks, so I shall be playing the field with my best Poor Starving Greyhound impression! I’ll let you know how that goes.

Time for another snooze, I think. Mum took me out at 6am, but I’m not quite ready for breakfast yet. I’d better fortify myself for the day ahead at some stage, though. Walkies to take, strokies to demand, snacks to cadge…

Mouse, out.

🐾

 

The Boomerang – we’ll come back

Hello people, Mouse here.

The other night, we went out to eat, or rather, the Staff did and I helped. Mum fed me before we left, I assume in case I didn’t find the offerings satisfactory, but the Staff were hungry. We’d seen that this place had been renovated not so long ago, and Mum phoned to ask if there was dog-friendly seating. And there was, and they were very friendly about it! So off we went to the Boomerang Hotel.

Dog-friendly dining

Waiting for the Dog Tax

They got me settled with floof and water bowl, and proceeded to inspect the menu. Quite honestly, it all sounded pretty tasty and I’d have Helped with anything they couldn’t manage, but in the end, it was steaks, because they don’t eat steak much at home. The suggestion that I would make life difficult if not given a steak of my own is an Outrage…

General plateful

Well, the steaks were good, the service was fast and friendly, and Mum says the small glass of house chardy was quite acceptable and the red wine jus that accompanied her steak was the best she can remember having, and she could have drunk a jug of it. Eeeuw, but never mind.

Bistro menu

Dad was very kind and Helped with her fries, and I Helped both of them with the chewy bits of their steaks. I must say, I was a bit miffed that I wasn’t allowed to do the usual Dishwasher Pre-Wash function, but Mum said we were in public and other families didn’t have Pre-Wash and we didn’t want anyone getting jealous. Staff can be very puzzling sometimes…

Anyway, we’ll definitely come back to the Boomerang soon. Do you see what I did there?  I am a Humorous Doggo, especially when fuelled by steak and the box of leftovers given to us by the nice server lady. Mmmm, fishy! Barramundi, I believe. I’ll also get Mum to put it on the dog-friendly restaurant list on the Resources & Information page, so other doggos and their Staffs know it’s a good place to go.

Mouse out. Time for a chickypop!

The Travels of Mouse: too many bends

Hello people, Mouse here.

I’ve had to speak to Dad about this before. It disarranges me to be sliding about in the back of the car while he flings the car around sharp corners (Um, ‘sliding’? ‘flings’? No exaggeration there, then, Mouse? – Mum). Well, anyway. Yesterday they asked if I wanted an outing, which of course I always do, but they didn’t tell me we were going up the Gillies. I urge you to click on the link so you can see my complaint is fully justified… Such a relief to get to the top, even if the Staff were enjoying the view. I do concede there were some decent sniffs to be had out the window and I had my head out a fair bit, bends or no bends.

Sniffs on the Gillies Range

We went to the Mungalli Creek Dairy for lunch. I made sure to position myself at the entrance for maximum attention and admiration, and in prime position to receive suitable bits of Mum’s lunch. Several very nice ladies offered strokies, which was very satisfactory. We’ve been there before several times before, so I won’t bore you except to say biodynamic dairy farm café, tasty cheese, yoghurt and ice cream made on site, and home made cakes and cheesecakes. Mum’s local ham and Havarti cheese toasted focaccia was most acceptable. Dad didn’t let me try his Italian-style focaccia because olives. Fair enough. Suffice to say they have lots of dog-friendly seating, both picnic tables out the front and the whole front verandah area. I approve…

That girly pink bowl belongs to the café, not me!

Carrot cake, flourless chocolate cake

They did bring home cake, though, and I got an exceptionally aromatic dried chicken neck treat which for some reason I wasn’t allowed to have in the car. I can never understand this human obsession with ‘bad’ smells. There are no ‘bad’ or ‘good’ smells. Just smells. We have 50 times more scent receptors in our noses and our sense of smell is 100,000 times more acute than humans. So don’t tell me the human nose is more ‘particular’. You lot are just wired funny.

Crawford’s Lookout, towards the North Johnstone River

On the way home, we stopped at a lookout so Mum could ooh and aaah at the sight of some trees and a river in the distance. Apparently it’s called Crawford’s Lookout and it’s on the Palmerston Highway at Wooroonooran. I wasn’t allowed out of the car because it’s a National Park and apparently I might scare the wildlife.

And then we came home and Mum fiddled about with a needle and bits of fabric and Dad snoozed, and I may or may not have snoozed a bit too.

Not sure what the Staff have planned today for my entertainment. I’ll just snooze a while to conserve my energy till they have it sorted. I’ll let you know how it turns out tomorrow.

Mouse out.

The Travels of Mouse: Getaway to Riverway

Hello people, Mouse here.

It’s been a funny old day. It was sunny this morning but rather cool and windy all day, so rather than sit about getting chilly, the Staff thought it might be fun to do some reconnoitring. Sunday is the Greyhound Walk, and Dad wanted to check out the start point and the parking opportunities, so that’s where we went.

I have to say, Aunty Gail has picked a top-notch place for the Walks to happen. Riverway is a leisure precinct in Townsville with all sorts of stuff to do: sports stadium, arts centre, galleries, swimming lagoon, fishing boardwalk, playgrounds… well, you get the idea. Well-behaved doggos are welcome. Mum says she’ll post a link so you can go and look if you’re interested. We wandered around admiring the landscaping and the huge old fig trees and the river and the very well-kept grounds.

The Swimming Lagoon is gorgeous, apparently (if you like that sort of thing, I don’t like to get wet, myself), the Arts Centre is grand and elegant, and the riverside walks are well kept and well-used.

Mum made me stop so she could get a photo of this paddle-boat which is made to clear water-hyacinth from the river to stop it getting choked up. I just think it looks as if it would be fun to steer about!

There was a big Army Open Day at Laverack Barracks today, thousands and thousands of people all looking at machines, and trucks and helicopters and equipment and displays and exhibitions, big transport planes flying in and massive queues to get in. I think the Staff would have quite liked to go, but there was some question about My attendance, since there would be working dogs doing displays and apparently Ex-Racing Dogs would not be welcome. An Outrage! Still, it’s an annual event, so maybe another year when I’m otherwise engaged. Mum tried to get a decent photo from the highway as we went past it all, but apparently there was just too much traffic. Sorry, chaps, you just can’t get the help…

We had coffee at the Fat Dogz Café at Kirwan, which I have visited before (dogs encouraged!), and then after lunch, we went to the Strand to meet Aunty Mel and Lucy and the lovely Miss Libby, who is very petite and elegant. She’s another black greyhound (the Best colour, of course), and she makes me feel very tall and burly, ahem!  Aunty Mel had brought treats for the Staff, and Libby and I got our own Burgers!  It was a bit of a landmark moment, as Mum had never introduced these delicacies into my diet, and she didn’t let me have the pickle or much of the bun. The meat patty did slip down very nicely, I must say… Mum says she’s somewhat nervous of the digestive consequences tonight, but my own thought is “where e’er you be, let the wind blow free” and the Staff will have to put up with whatever eventuates. It was worth it! Miss Libby and her Staff may be able to come on the Walk if time allows, so I’ll hope to see them again tomorrow, but if not, there will be other times.

Tomorrow is another social day: coffee with Aunty Kate (aka Manic Mum) in the morning, and then the Walk in the afternoon. Lots to look forward to! And now, it’s time for my Even More Beauty Sleep. Until then.

Mouse out.

 

The Travels of Mouse: the Punkha Wallah*

Hello people, Mouse here.

Well, it has been scorching hot and distinctly uncomfortable today. 35.5°C/96°F, and not a breath of wind. We have spent as much of the day as possible in the air conditioned car, or in the shade, or in the rather toasty caravan, staying out of the glaring hot sun.

First on the agenda was visiting Aunty Kate, Mum’s friend who has the blog Manic Mumdays. I always enjoy visiting her, except for the fact that I have to wear that insulting muzzle at her place of work because they believe that a dog too large to fit in the shopping trolley/cart must necessarily be inclined to bite people or other dogs. As if I’d sully my delicate palate with anything like that… Still, the cool concrete floor and air conditioning was very nice, the Staff enjoyed their iced coffees and Aunty Kate gave good ear scratches! The Staff also bought a very tall skinny object which, it appears, is a ‘column fan’.

Then we went for lunch. There’s a doggo-friendly place in the city centre called the Old Railway Café. No guesses about where it’s located… It’s outside, but under cover, and the Staff enjoyed their tasty wraps, and I enjoyed bits of their chicken, bacon and cheese. The only shame was that we came too late for what appears to be a magnificent breakfast selection! The lady in charge there also knew how to scratch my ears… I’ll add this place to the doggo-friendly café listing on the Resources & Information page too.

And then, because it was too hot to do much else, we went for a drive, along the Strand, through Rowes Bay and up to Cape Pallarenda. The sky was hot and blue, the sea was warm and teal-turquoise, Magnetic Island was looking moody and dramatic, and I wanted to go home for a nap. So we did.

Now comes the reason for the mysterious title. Turns out that I am the one who is to have most use out of the column fan. I was lying there panting hard and seemingly looking a bit distressed. Mum bustled about and turned the fan onto me, and laid cold wet washcloths on my head and ears to help cool me down. Combined with the fan action, it did the trick and after about 20 minutes of Mum doing punkha-wallah* service, I was cool enough to drop off to sleep. The Staff got everything as cool as possible and then had snoozles themselves. Best way to deal with the heat, I feel: just sleep through as much of it as possible. By 4.30pm the worst of it was over.

Tomorrow, we’re heading home again. The forecast is showing ominous signs of Weather on the horizon, and I want to be home if there’s going to be any of that Thunder stuff. If the Staff can’t arrange for better weather, they can at least get me to where better weather is. At least we’re not getting the drubbing they’re ‘enjoying’ down south, with some fairly terrible rains and flooding.

Time to tell Dad it’s time for evening walkies. I can go and intimidate the Bush Stone-Curlews that hang around this place in numbers, not that I’d lower myself enough to actually chase the noisy things… Cheeky birds keep eyeballing me in a very disrespectful way!

Till next time,

Mouse 🐾

 

The Travels of Mouse: A ‘flying’ visit

Hello people, Mouse here.

Well, today was very interesting!  It was a dreffly hot day (it’s hard being a black dog when it’s 34°C/93°F), so we decided that sitting in the hot sun inside a tin box (aka the caravan) was not a good option. Air conditioning can only do so much, and really, I can’t hold the Staff responsible for the weather, tempting as it may be. We decided to pay a fellow Greyhound-admirer a surprise visit!

Aunty Gail is a lovely person. Not only does she organise the group known as Townsville Friends of All Greyhounds, but she also works for the extremely useful, important and generally admirable Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) here in Townsville. We were visiting for two reasons: firstly because we wanted to make contact in the event that we may be in Townsville at some future date when the Friends have their monthly group walkies; and secondly, because Aunty Gail has recently lost her beloved greyhound Gareth to illness, and I wanted to offer my condolences and some affectionate greyhound nose-boops to make her feel better.

It was a nice surprise for all of us!  We had a really good time, she showed us the hangar where they were maintaining two of the three air ‘ambulances’, we talked about greyhounds and their proper care and feeding, and we promised to visit again next time we’re in Townsville. I must say, those RFDS people do an amazing and very important job, and cover a huge territory.

We found a very nice doggo-friendly café for lunch, called Fat Dogz. They’d have to work pretty hard making Me fat, but Mum and Dad certainly seemed to enjoy their lunch and iced coffees, and I thought the large puppacino I received was rather decent. I’ve asked Mum to add them to our list of doggo-friendly cafés on the Resources & Information page.

Later on, we had another meeting arranged, this time with the lovely Aunty Melanie, Uncle Grant and Miss Lucy. I enjoyed that one a lot! They had also recently lost their dear Elly, a gorgeous caramel-coloured girl, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 10 after a short illness. They have been missing her a lot, especially Miss Lucy, so I was very happy to offer strokies-opportunities and a chance to get some hound-love. They are all very nice people who know how to appreciate a greyhound properly, and I was very happy to help. Mum told them about this blog, so I hope they will find it entertaining and perhaps useful. I also hope they find a new doggo to love very soon.

It has been a busy and interesting day, and I have been far more social than usual, so I’m having an early night as I’m zorsted. Apparently tomorrow there’s a good chance of rain, which will be nice if it cools things down, but not so nice if it means a thunderstorm… The Staff have been discussing ways of keeping the sun off the caravan a bit more in future, since this caravan park does not have many trees to shade the sites and we’re getting hotter than we’re used to. Mum says it requires a bit of shopping and the use of the sewing machine. I shall be sure to lie on the sewing room floor and supervise (he means he’s going to lie in the way and stare at me until I give in and provide a chicky-pop – Mum).

Time for my important beauty sleep. I have a standard to maintain, after all…

Mouse, out. 🐾

The Gourmet Dog: Restaurant Review #3

Hello people, Mouse here.

Our untiring and selfless search for Doggo-friendly places to eat continues. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it… Mum says that in her opinion, any place that has an outdoor eating area ought to welcome doggos, and so far, we have not been disappointed. Yesterday, we revisited an old friend of Mum and Dad’s: the Hog’s Breath Café in Mackay.

It’s right in the heart of Mackay’s ‘eating out’ district, being on the corners of Victoria and Wood Streets. Not fancy-schmantzy, but good steaks, ribs and burgers, and a few  other tasty things. There is pavement seating out the front, and doggos are welcome in this area.

Mum had Prawn & Mango Asian Salad with nam jim dressing and a side order of sweet potato fries, which she shared with me and Dad. She says the meal was reasonably low carb (because diabetes), and sweet potatoes are lower GI than white potatoes. Whatever… I like sweet potato better anyway! I also got a couple of bits of prawn after Mum had licked off the nam jim dressing, which smells OK to me but is apparently full of chilli, which I wouldn’t want. She says it was tasty, the prawns were well cooked and just spicy enough to be interesting without taking the roof of your mouth off!

Dad had Braised Lamb Shank with broccoli, curly fries and onion rings. Definitely NOT low carb, but that’s not something  he has to worry about. I had a bit of the lamb too, after Dad had removed the sauce, which had lots of that nasty onion in it. That was very nice indeed, and if I’m honest, I prefer lamb to prawn. Dad says the lamb was tasty and very tender, and the sauce was generous and rich, lots to mop up!

We took along my floof so I was comfy beside the table, and our neighbours  were very nice – the son, who was visiting from Brisbane, also had a nice Lady greyhound at home, so knew exactly how I like my scratches!

After dinner, we strolled down the street and dropped into another couple of places with outdoor seating to check their doggo policy. Both were very happy to receive Me, so there will definitely be more restaurant reviews in my future!  I got lots of attention and some strokies, as is only right, so I don’t mind this going out to eat thing at all!

Till next time,

Mouse

The Gourmet Dog: Restaurant Review #2

Hello people, Mouse here.

And here we are with our second restaurant review. It seems the Staff are rather keen on this particular type of team activity, can’t imagine why, ahem (Don’t pretend you don’t also love getting a steady stream of tasty bites from us – Mum)…

Today for your delectation, I present Bing’s Nomiya, offering a luscious selection of Japanese foods. Some of them, such as Dad’s Beef & Chicken Yakiniku, were too spicy for me to enjoy, but I was able to help Mum with her Chicken Teppanyaki. The Staff also had Pork Gyoza and purple sweet potato chips in tempura batter, both of which were unsuitable for my insides. The portions (without rice but with plenty of vegies) were perfectly sized for lunch, and with the addition of steamed rice they’d make generous dinner servings.

Next time, Mum plans to try some tasty Tonkotsu Ramen, while Dad likes the sound of Wagyu Beef and vegetables in Black Pepper Sauce. Personally, I’d go for my own personal serving of the Teppanyaki Chicken. I don’t really feel I got enough of Mum’s serving to get a proper taste… There are 104 dishes on the menu, so I think it’s going to take a few more visits for us to thoroughly explore our favourite options.

The waiting staff were very friendly and helpful, we sat outside on the fenced shade deck, the Staff on high stools at a bar table, and I had a corner of the deck to myself, safely out of the way of passing feet and sizzling hot dishes of food. The food arrived very quickly, and very hot, and I got strokies from the waitress and a bowl of water from the handy tap outside – very considerate to doggos to have that there, I thought.

Right, that’s it for this visit. I must go and sleep off my snacks…

The Gourmet Dog: Restaurant Review

Hello people, Mouse here.

The Staff and I have decided that we’re going to start writing a review of any doggo-friendly restaurants we visit, so that other doggo families will know where they can all dine together. I’ll also be posting the names of the restaurants/cafés on the Resources and Information Page for future reference. To locate that page, just click on the black bar at the top of this post (above My logo) for a drop down menu.

So, on to business. Mum and Dad thought I’d enjoy a night out (actually, I thought I’d enjoy not cooking for a change – Mum), and we felt like a bit of an outing. On our drive around town, I stuck my head out of the window to do an advanced nose-recce to scout out suitable places, and informed them where to stop. And the winner was…. Let’s Do Greek! It smelt divinely of barbecued lamb, and even the humans’ blunt noses could detect how delicious it was.

Dad went in to ask if their outdoor seating at the front was available for doggo visitors, while I stuck my head out of the car window giving my best ‘adorable but starving dog‘ impression. The impression clearly had the desired effect, since they confirmed dogs are welcome out there, but sadly the place was already fully booked for a banquet that night. However, take-away food was still available. It’s popular and often very busy, so if you want dog-friendly seating, it will be important to book to ensure you get a spot.

They got Chicken Santorini, Chargrilled Octopus and Salt & Pepper Calamari, with side orders of Greek salad and lemon potatoes. Every last scrap disappeared except for the potatoes, as the portions were huge, and Mum says she’ll find a way to use those up in something tomorrow. I sampled the chicken and the octopus, both delicious, and Mum says the octopus was outstandingly tender, which was a lovely surprise.

The restaurant staff were very kind and accommodating despite clearly being extremely busy setting up for the banquet, and the wait for food was short. The prices were reasonable, the portions were generous, and they use recyclable take-away containers. They aren’t a fancy ‘fine dining’ place, it was authentic, delicious and different from our usual steak, Indian or Italian ‘night out’ food. I particularly appreciated it because I was able to share the food, which I can’t do with Indian or Italian due to dietary issues. We’d recommend it to anyone looking for something generous, tasty and served with a smile.

My social secretary (he means me – Mum) has a list of other places to try which have said they welcome doggos.

Look out for future reviews.