11/11/2010 Sunshine Coast

Rememberance Day on the Sunshine Coast

Brisbanes Mt Coo-tha Botanic Gardens OCT 2010

One of my "must do" activities on this little jaunt around Oz, is to try and visit the main Botanic Garden of every Capital city.

We only have Darwin (which I did do years ago) and Canberra left to visit. Some of the gardens have been amazing, and others just ok. This one, Mt Coo-tha was definitely one of the better gardens.

This big pool inside the Tropical display dome, helps to keep a controlled humid atmosphere so plants that normally cannot be grown in Brisbane can thrive.

One of the things that really make a garden something special (to me) is the inclusion of art and sculpture.. and even better if it is interactive..

There were quite a few in Mt Coo-tha, little sparkly mosaic leaves, koala seats...

and xylaphones you could play (it looked like a giant skeleton of a leaf) Dave was stylin!

I recommend taking the day out to see it, pack a picnic basket or there is a lovely cafe overlooking a pond surrounded by gorgeous flower gardens and food-scabbing ducks!

OCT - Dave's 39th Birthday at Australia Zoo

for Dave's Birthday this year we decided to go to the nearby "Australia Zoo"
to be honest our preconceptions were not very positive.... but how wrong we were!


Australia Zoo was extremely well done, and a fantastic (if a little pricey) day out - we enjoyed seeing all the crocs and different animals.

The best part of the day was the shows that took place in the Crocoseum, they were informative, humorous and showed how intelligent/well trained these different critters are... very food motivated (just like my cat Megsy)

I even got to pat a wombat, that was taking it's handler for a walk on a leash.. provided I stayed behind him and didn't interfere with his grass munching!

The koalas were my favourite, they were, mostly, wide awake and most intent on chowing as many eucalyptus leaves as possible.... every koala for himself!!

The snake display was most impressive and this skeleton display was amazing...

as was this extraordinarily long elephant :) hee hee..

surprisingly, I think this was the exhibit that the Birthday boy enjoyed the most....
the piglets!

I took a photo of Dave to show how popular he was.... he received so many birthday phone calls that he was on the phone most of the time we were there..... but check the big mouth Koalie Bear in the foreground!!

what a Cracker!!

Sunshine Coast - September 2010

We went to Maroochydore to visit my Cousin Cheryl, Steve and their fab four kids, Michael, Savannah, Ryan and Nathanial.
We had a really fun time with them ALL!! Our ears needed to adjust to the noise :) so many kids with so many things to say and best of all...... SO MANY HUGS TO GIVE AWAY!
Especially from this little guy!

They took us to the amazing Eumundi markets - they were fabulous! I really enjoyed them and could've stayed for hours!
Afterwards we went to the BIG PINEAPPLE (unknowingly we made it there before the place unexpectedly got sold and promptly closed down)

Out for tea - watching videos waiting for it to arrive

I love this photo - so "Endless Summer"

Brunswick Heads - August

After our trip to Sydney and a coupla weeks in Mullumbimby, we headed to the coast and spent a lovely week in Brunswick Heads. It seemed we had found the sun again and some warmth.... it was lovely.
Dave enjoyed some true relaxation and quiet time - I think for about half an hour before he got restless and bored - hee hee :)
I got a bit more sewing done - this was a bit of a test run on making a handbag using mainly recycled fabrics.

SYDNEY Weekender - August 2010

SYDNEY,
Dave had a course to attend, so whilst he did that = I explored the city.


On arriving in Sydney we took the train into the city, a double decker train. A novelty for me, pretty sure I haven't been on one before.

We had some time to explore together, and decided to take a tour of the Opera House... which was spectacular and the views were simly amazing. We enjoyed seeing inside this iconic and historically contraversial structure.

We got to mung out on some mighty yummy food, in some great little cafes and restaurants...

I enjoyed finding all the markets.. Paddington Markets was great , not to be confused with Paddys Markets - (cheap imported junk) located in the suburb of Paddington, there was so many beautiful things to eat, hear and see. I even got serenaded with "a little ray of sunshine"
CHINESE FRIENDSHIP GARDENS

This was one of my favourite spots that I found.... I wish I'd had our proper camera, as my phone camera does not even hint at how lovely it was... Just have to go back again!


A few more of our favourite things... A signed Masterchef uniform in the window near our hotel, a funky tin car near the asian food hall where we went looking for tea one night, a display for the release of the new iPhone 4 at midnight opposite the train station in Darling Harbour. The Monorail... a few shots on and from the monorail.... I LOVE THE MONORAIL!
Centre Point Tower - our last stop

Dave and I splashed out and went for a really lovely lunch up in Centrepoint tower's revolving restaurant.... it was such a nice way to say goodbye to Sydney. We flew out a few hours later.