Fish and chips, in most cases, is fish and chips and provided things have been done right nothing more needs to be said. I've had some pretty good examples of the combination over the years with the best (Swains in Gladstone - highly recommended) being quite sublime and while what we found here wasn't quite up there it was an example of what you get when things are done right.
From there the laundry went into the dryer, Hughesy set out in search of the elusive Commonwealth Bank auto teller and a query in the Post Office revealed that the EFTPOS machine there was as close as I was going to get.
Two runs through the spin drier had got the laundry to the point where a light airing would finish the job, so it was a case of back to base with a walk from the Botanic Gardens pencilled in for the late afternoon, followed by a jaunt up to the windswept summit of Grassy Hill.
The spell back at base allowed me to catch up on the travelogue, to the point where, more than half way through the trip I'm right up to date with the day to day detail and I had the time to peruse the publications I'd picked up at the Historical Society and followed that with a spot of quiet R&R instead.That didn't last too long, in any case, and it was just after three-thirty when we headed back towards the Botanical Gardens and the walking track to Finch Bay. It's part of the Scenic Rim Walking Trail, and we'd looked at adding assorted other sections to the schedule, but given the up hill and down dale nature of the track we'd probably have been rearranging the plans pretty smartly if we'd included the Finch Bay to Cherry Tree Bay and Cherry Tree Bay to Grassy Hill tracks in the plans. Maybe if we hadn't spent those hours clambering over the top out near Laura...
As it was, about half way along the Finch Bay track there was an unanimous we'll be heading back to the Botanic Gardens along the road, since we knew that route was almost totally flat.
Don't get me wrong. It wasn't a case of being anti-exercise. I like walking, but at this point in time I'd prefer to walk the climbing-induced aches out of the leg muscles along a relatively flat surface.
That was not, however, going to be possible if I wanted to get all the way to the top of Grassy Hill. Madam had been up there the previous afternoon, and hadn't revealed too much detail about the top, except to remark that the view was spectacular and that the conditions up there were windy. More...