Beaches, Jazz and Goodbyes

If you missed the first few blogs to Australia 2014 series please use the links just below!

Australia 2014 Part 1
Australia 2014 Part 2
Australia 2014 Part 3
Australia 2014 Part 4
Australia 2014 Part 5
Australia 2014 Part 6
Australia 2014 Part 7

The last two day’s we were in Brisbane, Mike wasn’t working, plus we were still showing Mike’s friend Don around, so on the Saturday morning, we decided to take him to Surfers Paradise since we loved it there.

We’d forgotten it was Anzac Day and as we walked through the main city centre, we were surrounded by a parade of all sorts of military units and the streets were thickly lined with onlookers. We stood for a while watching too, we wanted to respect Australia’s history like we do our own.

Aussie Uniform

Once we had made our way to the South Bank train station, we headed south to Surfers Paradise and lucky for us it was a beautiful hot day – perfect for a trip to the beach.

When we arrived, we took Don to the Q1 building (some of you may remember the stunning shots from our first visit to Australia) where you can view the city and beach from 270 metres above ground level. Don was as awestruck as us, and even though we’d been there before we were still in awe of the spectacular views.

View from the Q1

There's a reason it's called Surfers Paradise

The Q1 viewing deck also has a fully stocked bar and restaurant so we stayed for cocktails and nibbles. When we go back one day, I’d love to go for a late dinner there, I can imagine the lights of SurfersParadise are just as amazing as sunny days.

Back on ground level we headed to the beach, which was clean, not too busy and the sea was crystal clear, I was so happy to be back. Mike and I did our obligatory couple on the beach selfie, which is now my profile picture on all my social media. Don, bless him, was really missing his wife at this point, and wished she’d been able to see Australia too.

Mike and I

Before we headed back to Brisbane, we did some shopping, all buying tacky and fun gifts for loved ones at home.

Once we were back in the city, we met up with Pieter, Renee and a couple of their friends. We went to a restaurant called ThePoint Bistro on the South Bank where they served modern Australian Fair, whilst a three piece Jazz band played. Conversation flowed beautifully helped along with copious amounts of wine and beer.

The South Bank Crew became....

Feeling a tad drunk, silly and playful,  we then had to decide whether to go to a chocolate restaurant or a liquid nitrous ice cream parlour called Nitrogenie (a hard life choice, you understand!)– we opted for the latter, where we indulged in huge ice creams (mine being Nutella!) which we took to pub, where we washed it down with yet more booze – full and bloated did not cover it!

...the NitroGenie Crew

The next morning we met up with Don for breakfast in our hotel, I chose to stick to fruit and coffee after the gluttonous feast the night before. Sadly Dons flight was early afternoon so we said goodbye and 

Mike and I opted to just wander round the city one final time.

Whilst in town we went to a shop where they sold tea in traditional tea leaves and imported flavours from the whole world. We wanted to buy Renee and Pieter a gift for all their company and hospitality, being English we felt tea was a fitting gift, we then checked out of our hotel to spend our last few hours in OZ with them.

They loved their gift and we sat with them both and Rennee’s parents for dinner, accompanied by the tea we’d bought (which was the best tea I’ve ever tasted!).

After some very sad goodbye’s (Mike no longer will be visiting Brisbane for work) we checked in at the airport and headed straight for the business lounge. Our flight home was uneventful and Mike’s Dad Tony picked us up from Heathrow.

A cold British Spring Day brought us back down to earth with a thud, although we will not have the perks of going to Brisbane on business, we vowed we would go back soon, as it is still our favourite city on earth – we love you Brisbane!

L x

Seafood, Sushi and Stereotypes

If you missed the first few blogs to Australia 2014 series please use the links just below!

Australia 2014 Part 1
Australia 2014 Part 2
Australia 2014 Part 3
Australia 2014 Part 4
Australia 2014 Part 5
Australia 2014 Part 6

Seafood, Sushi and Stereotypes

Despite the helicopters, museums and nights out, the reason we were actually in Australia was for Mike to attend a training course! So, on April 22nd – 24th,  Mike had to go into work whilst I lounged by the pool, ordered room service and managed the odd hour of work,– a hard time in my life as you can all imagine and couldn’t go out without my mobility scooter – so I was trapped! ;)

A hard life!

On the 22nd two of Mike’s colleagues had flown in from America. Lucy (English) and Don (American) had never been to Australia before, so Mike and I, now seasoned Brisbane guides, took it upon ourselves to show them the city as best we could in such a short time!

That evening I met Lucy and Don, and the four of us went to dinner on the river at a place called George Paragon’s Seafood Restaurant. The food was incredibly tasty and unbelievably fresh! I had a vegetarian starter with avocados and a main of grilled schanpper and king prawns, all with an amazing view of Story Bridge.

We chatted about America verses England. As Lucy is a Brit, living in Texas, she was the best person to ask ahead of our move to Denver, all whilst we took the Mickey out of Don and his homeland!

After dinner, we hopped onto a river taxi for a night tour of the city, this plan went slightly wrong when we realised the boat was only covering about 4 stops of usual route, so with jet lag taking hold of Don and Lucy, we all went back to our hotel.

The 23rd was much the same in the day. Mike went to work, whilst I worked on my tan, swam in the pool then I “laboured” away at a whole one article – I didn’t want to strain myself too hard you see!

In the evening, Mike came to collect me and we met Lucy, Don, David (as in David, Jutta and Siwa) and their workmate Leo. Looking around our table, back at the Bavarian Bier Cafe, we looked like a bad joke waiting to happen; 3 English, 1 American, 1 German and 1 Colombian – not an Aussie in sight.

Our multicultural table! 

The men partook in litre sized beers (Don, being American, didn’t know what a litre was until a giant tankard arrived in front on him!) and we all indulged in sausages, pickled veg, pork roasts and plenty of creamy mash, I could feel my internal Weight Watchers counter explode!

Mikes Big Sausage

There was a lot of oil/rocks/geek talk going on, so it was here I ran up a £50 data bill to keep me amused - oops!

With bellies full and ideas shared, we all headed home.

On the 24th whilst Mike was training, I actually did a lot of work! I still managed a couple of hours by the pool to rest afterwards though!

As was now a mini tradition, Mike came and got me and we headed to the South Bank with Lucy and Don, where we met with Pieter for sushi at a place called San Kai. I adore sushi but although he’ll eat it, Mike cannot see the fascination and craves the meat and carbs!

We were later joined by Tobias, who is German, so again our table was an amusing collection of nationalities; 3 English, 1 American, 1 South African and a German – and still no Aussie in sight!

After dinner, we all headed to a bar where the guys were in search of the biggest, girly or “fru fru” cocktails they could find. They did so well, there were ones being lit on fire, others with umbrellas, sparkly mixing sticks and fruity art, with one cocktail coming with a plate of bacon!

Despite being surrounded by Degree’s, Masters and PHd’s we chatted a lot of very funny... how to put this... crap! We then played a game of Country Stereotypes where we’d shout out random things reminding us of different countries. Answers ranged from silly, odd and offensive, Tobias treading through treacherous water when he shouted “bad taste... in everything” when  it was England’s turn!

The bar closed at midnight, but we decided to go looking for another, only to find everything was closed or not selling alcohol – confused we asked why? We were told as it was past midnight and officially Anzac day none would be sold until it was over – boo!

So we headed back to our hotel, saying Goodbye to Lucy, who was off early the next day to Darwin for swimming with crocodiles – as you do, and Mike and I made plans to meet Don the next morning!

L x

P.s If you want to enter my Australian Competition please click here!

David, Jutta and Siwa

If you missed the first few blogs to Australia 2014 series please use the links just below!

Australia 2014 Part 1
Australia 2014 Part 2
Australia 2014 Part 3
Australia 2014 Part 4

Hi

I’m so behind with all my news this time, I feel overwhelmed as to how far behind I am! I apologise as always, life just seems to run away with me! Still here I go....

As you may remember for Australia 2014 Part 4, we’d been drinking cocktails and star gazing, so they day after I was exhausted so we had a quiet morning then headed to Mikes friend David’s house. They met at work and we were going to dinner so that I could meet David’s lovely wife Jutta and their completely adorable daughter Siwa.

We had planned on taking a train but they were closed for track repairs. Some of you may remember this happened on our first trip to Brisbane and the train company gave us a 40 seated bus to ourselves and paid for an hour long taxi ride home again – all completely free! Well they did it again! This time our personal coach driver not only decided to take us to the nearest train station, on finding out about the short walk to David and Jutta’s house, he dropped us off at the end of their road! UK train services need to take note!!

David and Jutta are from Germany, hence the beautiful and unusual name for their little girl. We had a wonderfully relaxing day with them. When we got there, we had a beer in the garden chatting about the fruit and vegetables they were growing in their garden and the foods they make themselves, for example Jutta makes her own yogurt – being the food that I am I was incredibly impressed.

It was decided that we should go for a walk in the forest nearby so that Siwa could ride her bike. It was a typically gorgeous Aussie day. I was happy to warm my old legs up and see more of Queensland.

Siwa

As we walked and chatted, I found David and Jutta are not followers of modern lifestyles/conveniences. They travelled for a year around Australia in a camper van when Siwa was a baby, so much so that when they were home, Siwa was asking for her torch to light the way to the bathroom as she hadn’t, in her short life, used electricity and lights much – bless her!

The family do not have a TV, have taught Siwa to be fluent in German and English and encourage her to have a technology free childhood. For all their hard work Siwa is a bright and engaging child. It was so refreshing with no one rudely checking and updating their phones or switching the TV on for X-Factor in the middle of a conversation.

After and delicious dinner made by Jutta, the family walked us to the train station all bare foot.  Siwa hilariously stepped in dog mess on the way, she was completely unfazed or precious about it, wiping her feet on the grass, where she found a new friend in a frog – we had had a wonderful day, thank you David, Jutta and Siwa!

L x 

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

Steak, Cake and Sickness

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

Australia 2014 Part 1
Australia 2014 Part 2

Unlike our two previous trips to Brisbane, we had a feeling this trip wouldn’t be as jam packed this time.  We’d exhausted a lot of the city’s main attractions. As you read the coming blogs you’ll notice we were almost living there rather than being tourists. We now have a few lovely friends in Brisbane and some family, so we wanted to use our time to generally relax and catch up with people.

On day three we had a late start and breakfast, and then we “forced” ourselves to lounge by the pool in the 29 degree heat! I could have stayed there all day but Mike gets bored after an hour so, we hoped into the pool for a couple of hours. It felt like our private pool as we were the only people there for 3 hours!

After our hard morning by the pool we went back to our room for a hard earned nap lol!

Ironically, we had come all the way to Brisbane and were looking forward to seeing more of our friends Jen and Brian, only to find out they were flying to the UK on the evening of day three! We caught up with them for dinner just before they caught their flights!

We all headed to the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel, known for its amazing steaks....and steaks we had! They were perfect, medium, juicy and very generous!

We were sad that we wouldn’t be seeing Jen and Brian more during our trip but thank Heavens for Facebook! (And Hashtags! ;)

Day four was my turn to be sickly! I woke up with terrible nausea, but did my best to ignore it.

As we had exhausted the first two pages of trip advisor, we went to page three to find the more random exhibits Brisbane had to offer.

We decided on going to the Town Hall where the Brisbane museum is. There, we found the full history of the town from its Aboriginal beginnings, to the Brisbane World Expo in 1988 all the way to today. 

Mike had a great moment when he recognised one of Brisbane Citys original free settlers as someone who may be a distant relative through his roots in Scotland – small, small world we live in!

Brisbane Town Hall

As I was feeling better by lunch, we went to the Shingle Inn, Brisbanes oldest cafe’, also situated in Brisbanes town hall. With dark wooden clad walls and waitresses in traditional tea house black and white uniforms, Shingles is a charming little gem that many of the city’s own residents had no idea it was even there!  

As much as I’d like to fib and tell you that the Shingles signature coffee and a couple of macaroons was the cure, it was not the best idea for my delicate tummy and the nausea returned. So we went back to the hotel. 

Whilst Mike worked, I continued our sloth themed holiday alive by having an afternoon nap.

The decadent but offending lunch! 

I woke up feeling loads better. We’d arranged to meet our South African Friends Pieter and Renee for drinks and dinner. We met them at a very busy bar on the river front forgetting it was the beginning of a long weekend, so every office worker within a mile radius seemed joined us in a glass of wine (lemonade in my case!).

We all headed back into the centre of town for dinner and decided on a restaurant called Vipiano. Much like Nando’s does, Vipiano is a great place for meeting friends as each diner receives a customer card to which they add their food and drinks to so that there isn’t that awkward bill splitting at the end.

I chose pizza and a cocktail, feeling sure that I felt 100%, and whilst the boys talked work and studies Renee and I gossiped over cocktails.

About 15 minutes into dinner the dreaded nausea came back, stopping me in my tracks. I donated my incredibly delicious apple and cinnamon cocktail and asked the staff to box up my pizza. Despite this, I thought I’d just needed to avoid all food and drink and  just carry on.

By the time we’d made it back to our hotel it was clear I wasn’t well at all. As we got to our floor I told Mike to quickly push me back to our room..... TOO LATE! I’d thrown up all over myself twice in the 100 metre walk!

So, the night ended with me showering in my clothes, taking anti sickness pills and going straight to bed – how does the boy resist me?

L x

Back in Brizzy

 We arrived in Brisbane, the jet lag already setting in!

Our friends Jen and Brian (who you may remember from past OZ visits here and here) picked us up from the Airport and took us straight to our hotel; thankfully they appreciate jet lag more than most and didn’t expect a long catch up!

We were staying in the Brisbane Hilton (My TA review here). Oh my, it’s very posh! There's a beautiful marble clad foyer which is where their restaurant and bar were found too! Checking in was lovely and quick as Mike is a Diamond member of the Hilton Honours reward scheme.

Inside the Hilton

Our room was and 3x as big as our one back home, with city views, huge bathroom, a desk and cozy arm chairs.

Our Hotel view with Brisbane Town Hall in the centre :)

We were so pooped, we didn’t fancy going out so we ordered room service. This was my first time having room service, I was ridiculously excited (small minds!) and we ordered a classy selection of 

pizza, chips and milkshakes!

Room Service

With a very full belly and snuggled in my white fluffy hotel dressing gown we hit the sack.

On our first full day in Brisbane we decided to reacquaint ourselves with our favourite city. We had a wander through the city centre, over the river into the South Bank. After a couple of ours we headed back to the hotel with jet lag setting in and Mike (we later found) had a mild case of food poisoning.

After a nap, Mike’s phone lit up with a message “Pig and Whistle? Now-ish?”. How better to ease us back into the Brizzy life than dinner at an English pub – irony!

Our message was from Peter and Renee, who you may also remember for previous visits to Australia here and here. It had been two years since we’d visited so we had a lot to catch up on! We’d finished by 8pm and it was still 22 degrees – I could just feel my limbs thawing out already!

Finally by day two we were starting to move into the appropriate time zone! After a lovely complimentary breakfast at the Hilton, and another walk around town, we headed to Brisbanes’ Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) after hearing about a fascinating exhibition called Falling Back to Earth by Cai Guo-Qiang.

You all know by now, I’m no expert in art. But I really do not know how to explain Mr Guo-Qiang’s work other than with the word Epic! There was Heritage; made up of 99 animal replicas all drinking from the same lake. Then there were 99 wolf replicas all running/flying towards a glass screen called Head On. The symbolism of 99 suggests that the sequence is not complete leaving room for expectation and questions but you’re better off looking at my photos that taking my word for it!

Heritage

Head On

Head On

By late afternoon we were staving and decided on a “dinner” of pancakes at Brisbanes 24hr Pancake Manor! For the first time in about a decade, I left my camera AND my mobile at the hotel, so just imagine, three large pancakes, smothered in berrys, ice cream, marshmallows, chocolate sauce and cream all melting on top... diet? What diet?

L x

Third Time and Very Lucky

Hi,
Please excuse the lack of posts lately, I'm having a mini relapse (I think my body loved the warmth in Australia and the UK is bloody cold at the moment) so my limbs are all twisted and I'm on my full meds again! Plus there have been a few....erm... dramas? I don't know if that's the word, but there has been a lot going on and I've felt a tad overwhelmed!

Anyway... Australia

Yes, I am a jammy so and so! I went to Australia for the third time in 3 years. Please don't hate me! Mike had training with work... I say this limply because his course is 3 days long...we were there for 14!

Anyway, as always, I love to write about my travels, so here it goes....again!

The Journey

Picture the scene; It's Monday April 7th. After some mundane food shopping, I settled on the sofa to catch up on some TV. Mike is in our study, most likely doing Genealogy research - it's his guilty pleasure! He walks in to the living room and the conversation goes like this;

Mike: So, do you want to come to Australia then? (It had been discussed for weeks but I didn't see it happening)
Lynsey: Always, when?
M: Saturday
L: Which Saturday?
M: This Saturday.
L: *Looks confused*....as in 5 days time?
M: Yeah
L: It's a bit cheeky though.
M: Why? I have air miles and 6 free days in the Hilton Hotel there.
L: Shall I check the diary?
M: Really?
L: Hell no!!

So cue frantic car/flight/insurance booking, summer clothing shopping and major hair removal!

So, 4 days later we took an airport car to The Holiday Inn by Heathrow Airport. It's the same hotel we used for New York, clean, friendly staff and a huge disabled friendly room. You can find my review here (notice the comments below from their General Manager :)

With a 4:30am alarm set, I was asleep by 9:30pm!

The alarm went off, I was instantly angry, only made better when I realised what was happening! I positively leaped from the bed *may be a slight exaggeration, and physically impossible for me!* and into the huge shower. I chucked on comfy clothes, ignored my make up case but still had to straighten my hair much to Mike's confusion.  Girls, am I alone in this?

We arrived at the airport and within 20minutes I was asleep sat up in my wheelchair, so much for leaping eh?

As Mike travels so much for work, we get to use the Singapore Airlines lounge! This is still a complete novelty to me. Free magazines, booze, food and wifi - my simple mind was joyful! Unlike the first time Mike took me into a lounge, where I was too scared I would be chucked out or charged £20 for a single drink (this is London!) this time I had breakfast, several coffee's and nabbed copies of Marie Clare and Hello!

Singapore Airlines were as brilliant as ever. We had rung up to inform them of my special needs and informed them I was bringing the wheelchair on my travels. Throughout the checking in, boarding and both flights they were thoughtful, they didn't make me feel like a nuisance, they kept me informed of their plans too.

Singapore Airlines - Hotels in the sky!

Singapore Airlines are now my favourite airline, so far no other has come close.  They're service in economy feels like first class with menu's, cocktails, personal screens with 100's of films, TV shows and plenty of music to keep you amused for the 21hrs of flight time!

Our midway point was at Singapore, where we headed straight for the lounge again to keep loved ones informed and annoy our Facebook friends with hideously annoying holiday status'! 

The only bad bit of the whole trip was the aisle seats they use to get disabled/elderly people to their seats on the plane. I'm not thin, but I'm only a UK size 14 yet these chairs gave me almighty bruises on my thighs and bottom, sadly this can't be rectified as airplane aisles are all small and compact but be prepared if you're any bigger than a size 14! The first time I went to Australia a just about fit....last time we came I had inches either side, this time I just about fit...wonder whether I'll fit on the way back?? eek!

L x

Last OZ Blog; Coming home

My last day in OZ was spent in Mike’s office, we had to check out of our apartment at 10am so after several sweeps of the place to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything we headed to work.

I sat blogging, e-mailing, tweeting; all the while Mike did actual work coming back occasionally to check I was okay, bless his heart it was home from home sat there, laptop, coffee, camera full of photo’s – I was fine!

We went out to eat with a few of the guys from the office to the Arrivederci Pizzeria where they make metre long rectangle pizzas! Between five of us we ended up with 1 ½ metre’s of the stuff! I opted for the sea food one, instead of a salad; my tummy roll named OZ wasn’t going to mind another layer and hey it was the last day – I needed pizza!

Pizza - Now you see it

...Now you don't

The two flights home went very well, I slept through the first, watched 6 films on the second, I even managed to act relaxed in the business lounges; or was I just too tired to care? lol!

Getting to Heathrow we had a moment of déjà vue when staff informed us they couldn’t find my wheelchair and that there was no note made of any in the holdall  (same thing happened last year – it had been taken to 1^st class - lucky chair!) Mike looked over the co-ordinators shoulder and pointed that in bold letters next to my name was – OWN WHEELCHAIR!

After some frantic radio communications it was finally located!

Sadly Mike and I had to say Goodbye at Heathrow, he was off to Texas the next morning for a conference; I admit that even after all that time in Australia together I found myself tearing up; what can I say 6 years and dozens of goodbyes and it still gets me.

My lovely friend Karen had arranged for our friend Frank to pick me up from the airport and he took me on a guided tour around central London; I was beyond exhausted at this point but as we all know I love old London and enjoyed my personalised trip.

Coming home I somehow forgot what we had done to the flat before leaving; half a kitchen, no carpets or wall paper and all manner of kitchen equipment stored in our bedroom. After 5 hours sleep in two days I just collapsed into bed.

For my wonderful time in Oz I completely deserve the jet lag, but the pain of coming home to cold damp England was dreadful, a moment crying at 4am, I thought “I’m not going on any more holidays – too much pain to come home to” which is of course completely ridiculous lol! I wouldn’t have given up this trip for anything. I just have to get used to home again and anyway being the jammy moo that I am I have 12 days until I’m holidaying in Spain lol! – A very lucky girl I know!

As for my weight and the extra tummy roll called OZ, he must have been a figment of my imagination as I did my 1^st official weigh in, in four weeks today and I’m exactly the same weight I was before I left, for all the pancakes, steaks, lamb, pizza’s, scones, wine, sushi and taco’s I ate I actually managed to maintain my waist line – who’d have thought eh? Certainly not me!

L x 

Anzac and Avengers

Anzac day, we had contemplated going into town to watch the commemorative service, parades and marches starting at 3am – 1. I didn’t fancy getting up at 2am and 2. There were over 8,000 descending on the central business district (CBD). After a lazy morning Mike and I did the 21^st century thing and watched the events on TV – better view for me anyway.

We had some lunch and then caught a Citycat ferry to Bulimba, meeting Pieter and Renee, since neither of the cinemas in the CBD had any tickets left for The Avengers!

Mike and I are self-confessed comic book movie fans and just had to see the most anticipated movie of the Summer on the day of opening. Queues were out the door (luckily we’d had the brains to book online) we were in good company, the geeks…. People around us were discussing the potential for this movie to be dreadful (I could not entertain this thought!) and pitting the characters against each other in fantasy fights; Hulk always seemed to win.

Anyway, the film was awesome, had it not been sold out I would of excitedly gone straight back in for another viewing, I won’t say much more than that – too easy to give it away, and I wouldn’t want to ruin it for any fellow Marvel fans!

Borrowed from IMDB.com

The four of us spent the next two hours going over the quote’s and scenes in a coffee shop; the staff there had to (not so) subtlety start locking up and putting chairs on tables before we relinquished our mini Avengers fan club meeting.

So there you have it; our Anzac day, not very patriotic but action packed never the less; now to wait for the sequel!

L x 

Montville and Mooloolaba

Just like your average 9-5 couple/housewife the weekends are for making the most out off. I've felt very much the little wifey at home whilst here -  Monday to Friday’s – waiting for the hubby to return at 6! So after two late nights’ we still got up to go exploring with Pieter and Renee on Sunday.

Driving up the North coast first stop was the Maleny CheeseFactory, after ten minutes trying all types of the stinky stuff we bought – milkshakes and smoothies (Like I needed food to sit in the apartment and nibble on!?!)

From here we had a quick peek at the Montville Scenic lookout point; my fancy SLR got a healthy work out here!

Monville Scenic Lookout

An hour North from Brisbane, sitting pretty on the Sunshine coast was the town of Montville. 430M Above sea level it boasts some stunning lake, mountain and rain forest views.

A very hilly Main street is where you find the cutest café's, Antique dealerships and boutiques. With shop names like Chocolate Country, Jasmin Cottage, Ruby and Rose Interiors, plus there’s even an old fashion clock shop selling grandfather and cook coo clocks.

The Clock Shop

We stopped at the Poet Café for Scones with fresh cream and jam. These were delicious; but not proper scones, more like cakes – Renee laughed at Mike and I for declaring their non scone status – we’re “so English” – well of course we are darlings – poncey Southerners too!

After a bit more exploring Montville we headed to Mooloolaba Beach. Although a cloudy day it was still a gorgeous 25 degree’s. Mike and Pieter played Frisbee whilst Renee and I sprawled out on towels laughing at the boys pride in being able to throw and catch with decent aim lol!

Mooloolaba – meaning red snapper fish and/or red bellied black snake in Aboriginal is in the heart of the Sunshine coast, once a sleep surfer’s haven now a busy town of high class cuisine and shopping.

We stayed on the beach until Sunset and headed to an Italian restaurant (For the life of me I can’t remember its name!) where I enjoyed wild rabbit cannelloni.

Mooloolaba

Although by now Pieter and Renee should be sick of us, we made plans to meet up at least once more before we left.

And so the final week started.

L x

Wheels, Boats and Ladradoodles

After Friday’s feast; Saturday was unsurprisingly a fat day!! But also a very gorgeous 29.2 degrees outside and not wanting to waste the day Mike and I headed into Queen Street for a bit of a browse, unfortunately neither of us are great shoppers and got bored!

Knowing how much of a typical tourist I am Mike asked if I’d like to go on the Wheel of Brisbane, rather than walking past it again to yet another restaurant!

Its $15 each for 12 minutes on the wheel, there seems to be some myth that it’s up to $50 each and completely inaccessible – not so, one of the pods had seats that flip up to fit a manual chair.

We had a pod to ourselves and I had one of my three cameras to hand. My Olympus got a great work out. The wheel boasts some gorgeous 360 views of the city, suburbs and mountains, plus some forced (by me) cheesey couple photo’s of us at the top.

Views from the Wheel of Brisbane

No more photos Lynsey!

After the wheel we saw the River City Cruises boat was about to leave for a tour down the Brisbane River, we hopped on with help from the crew (the boat isn’t accessible) not before trapping my pretty new maxi dress in one of my front wheels, ripping a whole in the bottom of it! Although annoyed I was just glad the pulling of the wheel didn’t expose my modesty as the dress was strapless!

River City Cruises

The River City Cruise takes you from the South Bank to Breakfast creek in Newstead, a 1 ½ hour cruise when it’s that hot is luxuriously wonderful with the breeze and an on board bar! There are brilliant views of the city as well as a recorded history lesson along the way, and on the way back our captain told us more personable stories about the city, it’s people and the 2011 floods - also taking the mickey of his Newcastle (UK) born shipmate – worryingly unlike the rest of the passengers I could completely understand him and his Geordie accent, but thought he was Irish – doh!

Views from the Boat

After the cruise we had time to come home, change, raid the local off-licence for wine (Called – NED!!!) and XXXX beers before catching one of Brisbane’s amazingly accessible (are you reading London Transport!?!) trains to see Jenna and Brian.

Jenna was cooking us dinner and this was the first time I had visited their stunning new house and met Ciara their crazy Labradoodle. We were joined by Brian’s brother Dave who has also emigrated from the UK.

Jen had been following our Brisbane food trail and had decided to cook us a healthy and delicious  roast lamb with a Greek salad, sweet potatos and soda bread, ah my weight watchers counter would be proud!

Jenna had also made us a lemon and lime tart, She's known for her dessert disasters so we tentatively tried it before all wolfing it down – she’s cracked it an edible pud!

After being attacked by gorgeous Ciara a million times (I wanted to steal her and bring her home!) Dave offered us a lift since he lives in the West End and we chatted to him about the Aussies fear and loathing of rain, what he missed about home (in his case Ireland) and the Aussies bad habit of calling football  - soccer and flip flogs thongs – Oh Aussies you amuse us Poms!

L x