Birthday Treats

Lots of things have caught our eye since we have been living in Brisbane. Finding the time to go to places, or do things gets a little tricky; the hum-drum of life pushes them down the list.

So what better timing than to try to do some as part of Birthday Day activities. That’s what happened.

Favourite dinner and a cake decorated with edible flowers from our garden and then a day full of surprises.

Food, discovering laneways, more food, playing with kittens and cats at not one, but two cat cafes and then watching the sunset on one of the shortest days of the year.

Crikey !

So then I got a job.

It was a temp role, 500 people all at once to assist in the recovery after the Townsville floods. What a system and organisation ! There are many countries which should look at this model and find ways to implement it in the event of natural disasters. Holy cow. It lasted about 4 weeks or my team did, smaller teams probably stayed on for a couple of weeks after that tidying up loose ends. It was shift work 5 on 2 off and I worked the afternoon/evening shift. It was a great bunch of people from all walks of life and with such a variety of skills and a willingness to help out.

My team even had a couple of team lunches – the luxury of starting after lunch that the morning team missed out on.

It was fun though and I missed it when it ended. The money too with all those penal rates !

On one day off we went to Australia Zoo, the brainchild of Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" and a legacy continued by his family. I was technically just the driver as Lauren and her visiting Welly friend had planned to go then discovered they would lose most of the day travelling on buses and trains.

If you haven’t been – you should go. Mid week is best I reckon – if you can do it – and not school holidays. Enjoy the photos – there are lots #sorrynotsorry

On the way back we took a detour for fish and chips by the sea to catch the sunset at Woody Point. All the seagulls wanted in on the action too !

Islands and islands

Living on a large island as I do, and growing up in a nation comprising three main islands it is just part of life to see nearby off shore islands. Not that I even visited any while in New Zealand - some of them are on my list for "maybe" this year - Kapiti, Somes (Matiu). I lived in Auckland for almost two years and never made it to Waiheke, so maybe that should go on the list too.

Australia has many more islands to explore and a lot of them are on that list too - Rottnest, Daydream, Hayman, Hamilton, Fraser... But I have at least visited Australia's island State. Tasmania, rich in history and unspoilt forests, rivers and beaches.

Since leaving landlocked Victoria we've been enjoying the fresh sea breezes and visits to the beaches. Sometimes only for fish and chips and sunset watching, because why not. But there are many off shore islands in Moreton Bay some which can only be explored if you have a boat (or a friend with a boat). The largest though have regular ferry services.

We spent a day or part of a day at Stradbroke Island in January. Lauren had a weekend away and we met up on the last day to go exploring. We didn't realise the bus service was quite as rudimentary as it was, so we are planning a revisit and taking the car. 

 This is an Australasian Bittern, they are a secretive species and apparently not often seen. (we saw two) Their initial reaction when seen in the open is to adopt their infamous freeze stance. They are so good at this at first I thought it was a sculpture.

We finished our day back on the mainland, with fish and chips near the lighthouse and watched the sunset, all the while planning another trip across the water.

Hello from the other side

 - of the Tasman, that is !

The last few weeks have been a blur of boxes and sorting and selling and packing. I'm glad that part is over.

After farewelling workmates and saying goodbye to the stress of packing and cleaning we headed south for a couple of days in Wellington. Time to catch up with friends and family there as well before that early morning flight.

On the way we stopped in Taupo and caught the sunset - and got up early in the freezing morning to catch the sunrise too. 

In Wellington we were reminded of the weather we had left behind. Idyllic one day, horrendous the next; but that is what makes it great at the same time. Not enough time to see everyone though. Maybe on the next trip.

We were up bright and early 3.30am ! and off to the airport for a relatively smooth trip arriving in Melbourne at 8.00am. We needed to visit the bank where we had opened our accounts, so we caught the bus into the city and found a great place to get some breakfast (no food on the plane for our fare option).

It had been awhile since my last visit to Melbourne - maybe 12 years ? surely not that long. But it all still felt so familiar. We enjoyed wandering around in the sun before catching the bus back and picking up the rental car. 

Bendigo (new home town) is just 90 minutes from Melbourne and has regular bus and train services, so I KNOW we will be back that way to catch a show or two, or to just wander the streets.