to you all We are back from our short and hurried trip to Queensland! We travelled a lot of miles, saw a lot of things, met a lot of people, and spent enough sleepless nights in roadside motels to appreciate the peace and quiet of "Riverbend"! We spent most of our time in and around Bundaberg which is the area where we would like to live during the time when we are not overseas. Bundaberg, despite its population of some 38,000, is still a friendly countrytown. We also liked Childers and Burrum Heads. Childers , some 50 km from Bundaberg, is a National Trust town and has a real community spirit.     People know each other without living in each other's pockets as they can satisfy their curiosity from the constant stream of visitors who stop over for a day or two or, in the case of a whole bunch of overseas backpackers, work in the area as fruit pickers. The town is surrounded by rolling hills which are covered in sugarcane and avocado plantations. Everything seems to grow in the deep red soil! Most of the town's population live in highset "Queenslanders" which are ideal for the subtropical climate. The footpaths are shaded by huge Brazilian leopard trees where locals and visitors sit at small tables taking their refreshments. This continues well into the night when the four pubs open their doors to the warm breeze. Before we had finished our first drink at the Childers Hotel, we had met people from as far away as Perth and Tasmania and struck up a long conversation with the licensee who happened to have lived just about anywhere, including my own "stamping grounds" New Guinea, Burma and Saudi Arabia! It's a small world and it all comes together in Childers! We may decide to settle in Childers or we may choose the larger Bundaberg or perhaps be tempted to be back on the waterfront at Burrum Heads but all of this will have to wait until we have sold "Riverbend" which may be a few more months yet. Best wishes and from the Riverbend Quartet! Peter & Padma & Malty & Rover Friday, 12 September 2003 P.S. What's in my book-bag? Lucy Irvine's RUNAWAY, Robert Dessaix's AND SO FORTH, and Bernard-Henri Lévy's WHO KILLED DANIEL PEARL? We have just watched the video FINDING FORRESTER - worth watching! PREVIOUS LETTER   NEXT LETTER