Oct 2010 a

Thu 07 Oct 2010
Jen's workmates all pitched in together for the smooth running of the staff conference (approx 500 staff in attendance). Well done team!

Wed 13 Oct 2010
Mentally preparing ourselves for long haul (24 hours) in "cattle-class", for our big 2 week holiday in hometown Brisbane, Australia.

Fri 15 Oct 2010
So after work this afternoon we headed out to Heathrow airport!

Sun 17 Oct 2010
Landed in Brisbane, 6:30am! Don't feel too bad, decide to visit Jen's sister Vicky, her Stu and their daughter Alex, with Jen's mum n dad.

Mon 18 Oct 2010
We headed into town for a late lunch and wander about. After a light dinner we caught up with friends at the local south-side fighter practice. Steve got into armour and had some fun while Jen socialised.

Tue 19 Oct 2010
Suffering jetlag! Time for a long afternoon nap.... Had dinner with Jen's other sister Kathy, and her hubby Malcom. Excellent food and conversation, hard to leave.

Wed 20 Oct 2010
This morning the jetlag seems to be affecting us less. We caught up with Steve's ex-boss Hilary and his wife for morning tea. Late afternoon we visited the dentist, all good. In the evening we had dinner with Steve's mum and brother Shane and his Belinda. Unfortunately didn't bring the camera ooops!

Thu 21 Oct 2010
This afternoon Jen had a sunspot check, nothing cut out thank goodness. We've been really enjoying just taking it easy in the warmth of Spring in the tropics. This afternoon we caught up with our friends Alex and Rachel and stayed overnight.

Fri 22 Oct 2010
Today we visited an online pal of Steve's who lives across the road from Alma Park Zoo, and subsequently we were let in to the Zoo for free. Here are a few pics of the various Aussie wildlife we saw.

These fiercely territorial birds, the cassowary, are about the size of a small ostrich and are known to "zip open" and kill a couple of tourists each year thanks to their missive talons.

OK so peacocks aren't actually Australian birds, but the scrub turkey next to him is. These birds are cheekily gorging themselves from the kangaroo feeding trough. Jen's father has been having loads of trouble trying to discourage a pesky pair of scrub turkeys from his garden for a few weeks now. They scratch up the lawn and mess up the garden something fierce, and once they decide to build a mound (nest) in your yard its almost impossible to move them on. And because they're a protected species you can't just shoot 'em.

Tonight we had a wonderful home cooked dinner with Jen's best friend from High School, Kylie, and her boyfriend Tony and Kylie's mum n dad - who had all recently stayed with us in London. And after watching a soap-opera version of the Day of the Triffids on the telly, we stayed overnight. Thanks guys!


Sat 23 Oct 2010
Sun, sand, surf. Togs, towels, sunscreen. What a stunningly beautiful day in tropical paradise! Here you can see Jen's UK sun-deprived skin is paler than anything else on this Bribie Island beach!

Now to top it all off with a BBQ party with old mates (in Alex and Rachel's back yard). Thanks guys for hosting this for us!  

 

Sun 24 Oct 2010
Last night we stayed again at Alex and Rach's (thank guys!) This morning we did brunch with mates at the top coffee spot, the Three Monkeys Cafe.

On the way home, enjoyed this sunny vista in the West End.

Genuine tropical thunder storm tonight - great buckets of rain, and magnificent lightning displays! Nearby suburbs experienced blackouts. Enjoyed a traditional family dinner at Jen's parents place.

Mon 25 Oct 2010
This morning Steve headed out early for a round of golf with his ex-boss Hilary, after which he caught up with his mum and went with her to play cards with her friends.
Jen and her mum wandered through a couple of art stores, finishing with Jen spending some time at the local shopping centre.
We caught up with each other mid afternoon, had an early dinner (Sizzlers) and once again attended the south-side fighter practice.

OK, so here are a bunch of typical Aussie photos we took during our two week holiday, not really specific to any particular day or place....

Jacaranda trees give brilliant bursts of purple-blue flowers across the city this time of year. Not a native aussie tree but spectacular all the same.

A typical bitumened country road:
blue skies, puffy clouds and gum trees.

Various colours of dead gum tree leaves.

Magnificent but squwaky parrots - the rainbow lorikeet

Clockwise from top left: a currawong (who warble/carol beautifully), a kookaburra, sacred ibis, and a butterfly who stayed still long enough to be photographed.