The Finishing Post: Goondiwindi Grey?

"The Goondiwindi Grey"

I wrote a post in 2013 about the little town of Goondiwindi on the New South Wales/Queensland border, a town I had never been to in my life, but was home to my Nan's favourite racehorse,  Gunsynd, also known as "The Goondiwindi Grey", a horse that oddly enough passed away 21 days after my Nan did-
Highway 42 and the Ultimate Answer?

On my second and longest road-trip this year when I drove from my hometown of Brisbane to the bottom of Tasmania and back, I tagged Goondiwindi on to the last town I would spend the night in before heading home to Brisbane the next day.
Goondiwindi would more, or less become my road-trip finishing post, as I drove from Armidale over the New South Wales/Queensland border and spent my last night on the road there.
Occult Armidale?

The bridge over the Macintyre River
I crossed to get into Goondiwindi

Flood heights the Macintyre River reached in years gone by

I got into Goondiwindi just before sunset and headed to the town's famous statue to take some pictures with the intention of visiting the museum to the racehorse the next morning when leaving for Brisbane.

The Goondiwindi psychic, Julie McKenzie

Julie McKenzie Enlightening the Ether
My father was in a nursing home suffering from dementia when I visited Goondiwindi, but by the time I would embark on my third road-trip for the year he had passed away, which is odd when I see the date I posted this post linked below on September 16th, 2013 -
On the Road with 88
And his funeral would be held on September 16th, 2016

My dad's birthday was April 8th, 1930,
same day Brisbane City Hall opened

Dad would always brag to me how he was born (in Toowoomba) the same day the Brisbane City Hall was opened, and I laughed when I saw Sir John GOODWIN opened it, considering how dad and Nan were mad horse-racing fans always chasing a good win.
Bizarrely Nan would pass away on my father's birthday in 1983 and her favourite racehorse (Gunsynd) would pass away 21 days after her in April, too.

Even the public toilets that are not far from the statue carried the horse theme with the signs COLTS for the male block and FILLIES for the female block.

As I was walking back to my car past the statue a little bird flew up to me for a bit of a chat.
I hadn't seen a Willie Wagtail in years.

I then went and checked into my motel room and opened the bar fridge to get some milk for the coffee I was making myself and saw a familiar name on a specially marked bottle of Heineken beer. 
I don't normally drink the bottles found in motel bar fridges, as they tend to be a bit pricey, but I would make an exception for this one and have it with my nachos I would order that night while watching my team the Sharks play Parramatta live on my motel room TV screen ... and win ... just. 
On a Synchronicity Kick in Armidale

Sharkys Takeaway in Armidale

Mm ... nachos, beer and football ... my idea of heaven;-)

The funny thing with the beer was as a kid growing up at the racetracks it was always one of my fantasies (to anyone who would listen to me) to own a Melbourne Cup winning horse named BREW and race it in silks of my favourite football team's (the Sharks) colours, sky blue, black and white.

My father passed away on the 13th of September, 2016

BREW winning the 2000 Melbourne Cup

I always felt I would see this happen in the future ... and I did in the year 2000 ... but I didn't own the horse and didn't even have a cent on it when it won, as I didn't want to jinx it considering the year before in the 1999 Melbourne Cup I had backed BREW and it ran 10th.

The Sharks won their first NRL Grand Final in 2016

Outside my motel room on a grey
Sunday morning in Goondiwindi

The next morning at around 8:45am I stepped out of my motel room and found fog everywhere.
Goondiwindi Grey?

It was even grey on the other side
of the river in New South Wales

The main street of a fog filled
Goondiwindi on Sunday morning

The clock tower above the museum
striking opening time 9 o'clock

Only 362 km till I'm home again 

Inside the museum in Goondiwindi's main street

I could have used a plate like that for my nachos last night;-)

I own a copy of both of those old 45s.

Johnny Greenwood must have signed
 this one for Nan years ago

Tibrogargan

Tibrogargan is one of the Glass House Mountains which I climbed years ago with some old workmates. 
Climb Every Mountain?

I bought a local paper before leaving Goondiwindi, but that's for a whole other post sometime soon -

UPDATE: Here is that post -
You Wouldn't Read About It ... But I Did
And you sound like a little champ AJ (the kid on the front page), always follow your heart and you'll win more times than you lose, that's for sure.

Leaving Goondiwindi out on
highway 42 for Inglewood, still foggy

A little further out on highway 42 
blue skies start to appear

Then nothing but blue skies do I see on highway 42

After a quick stop in Inglewood it was time to leave highway 42 and head for wine country, Stanthorpe, but that's for another post -

On the Road with a Grumpy Old Bastard from Stanthorpe