Sausage, Stars and Bug Spray

If you missed the first few blogs to this series please use the links just below!

Australia 2014 Part 1
Australia 2014 Part 2
Australia 2014 Part 3

Fully recovered from my 24hrs bug or Sun Stoke (I’m not quite sure which) Pieter and Renee invited us to the home they were buying last time we visited Queensland.

Pieter was picking us up at our hotel, we arrived in the reception and did a double take as our friend Sue-Ellen was sat their waiting for us too! After a couple of excited hugs Pieter had arrived and off we went to theirs!

Sue Ellen had baked Scones, Renee had prepared lunch and we were all joined by Renee’s parents. I was a little nervous as Renee’s parents have very thick South African accents (and I’m awful at deciphering anything other than Southern English dialects!) but I warmed to the accent and the occasional switches into Afrikaans.

Sue Ellen and her Scones

We had such a lovely day; music playing, lots of laughs (mostly down to Mike) plenty of food, beer, great conversation and a stroll through the park, Renee and Pieters house backed onto, where the boys regressed to childhood!

Mike and Pieter

The following day we were meeting up with my cousin Andrew (His and my Father are brothers) and his girlfriend Christie.

An hour late (as always!) we met them in the town centre where we decided on the Bavarian Bier Cafe for lunch.

After ordering litre beers for the boys and girlie fruit beers for us girls, we started to catch up.

It was very sweet seeing Andrew so loved up. Because of the distance between the UK and Australia, Andrew and I didn’t meet until I was 14 when he stayed with our Nans place for a couple of months. He was the cool older cousin with the funny accent, the same accent that got him both in and out of trouble a lot!

Andrew and Christie

Lucky for Andrew, Christie is gorgeous, blonde, sweet, funny and intelligent to boot, the boy has fallen on his feet. Although a bias opinion I think Christie didn’t do too badly either!

Mike and I ordered the Bavarian Tasting Platter which had: Crispy Pork Belly, Haus Sausages, Schnitzel, Sauerkraut, Red Cabbage, Creamy Mash, Granny Smith Apple Compote and Löwenbräu. It was bloody huge! Enough for 3 or 4 people, although we both tried our best, the platter, despite its deliciousness, beat us, to be fair, we had all equalled our blood supplies in beer by this point!

Mike and I outside the cafe with Story Bridge behind us.

We were seeing Pieter and Renee again that evening Mike, Andrew, Christie and I went back to our Hilton Hotel and had cocktails while we waited for Pieter to come get us (again! Bless him!). 

We said our goodbyes to Andrew and Christie with every intention of going out with them later for an engagement party... unfortunately we didn’t make it, I was too tired and too sore – muchos sadness.

So, anyway we went back to Pieter and Renee’s as we were going stargazing with them and a couple of their friends. We drove to Mount Glorious with a picnic, a telescope, Mike’s fancy pants camera and plenty of bug spray!

We arrive to a picnic area that was incomplete darkness, the only source of light being our torches and the stars themselves.

I was in awe. I’d never seen so many stars and so clearly. It was a real wow moment!

One of Mike's photos

Using Pieter’s tablet, with a very useful app and his telescope we saw Jupitor, Saturn (clearly with its rings) Mars and a shooting star! I, of course, made a wish; I’ll get them where ever I can!

Mike spent ages trying to photograph the skies, luck was against him as we’d forgot one piece of his tripod, and he’d forgotten to look up the settings he would need for the best pictures, but I think he did a great job despite all of this.

It was getting late and the German sausage was a distant memory, so we tucked into sandwiches, crisps and wine whilst doing light art (some very creepy!) in the perfect darkness. 

Me, sitting alone, in the dark... creep myself out!

I started to get bitten by mosquito's so I sprayed myself with the bug spray.... only to find out later it was foot deodorizer, I smelt lovely but I was eaten alive - doh!

Close to midnight Renee and Pieter dropped us off at our hotel and we fell into bed!

L x