My Toowoomba Family!

A little bit about Toowoomba for people like my Dad! :) Toowoomba is located 130km west of Brisbane in the state of Queensland.  There are roughly 132 000 people living in the smaller suburbs that make up the Toowoomba region.  It is the largest inland city in Australia, and has over 150 well maintained public parks and gardens!  Toowoomba is situated on the Great Dividing Range (the mountain range in eastern Australia), and has some of the most gorgeous natural lookouts and views I've ever seen! ... Anyways.  Moving on.

Today marks one week in Toowoomba, with the Girdler family.  How did I ever get so lucky?  I have not only been welcomed and accepted, but made to feel like a family member, and I love it.  It is such a terrific thing to experience while traveling, and living around Australia.  I have come to realize that I'm really not much of a "backpacker" as much as I'm a traveler who lives in one place for a few weeks then goes elsewhere!  Other backpackers I've met are always on the go, staying in one place for a few days of adventure, then continuing on.  I've summed up my nearly three months here with 10+ day stays in each location, besides my two five day stays in Noosa!  I wouldn't change a thing so far.  Every person I've met, every city I've been to, and every memory I've created has put me where I'm at right now, and I will gladly keep riding this roller coaster of life in Australia!  Everything seems to be working out so organically, I can't help but let it roll on, and I'm excited every day to see what comes next!

This week allowed me to settle in with my new family, and gave the three kids times to adjust to my presence.  We did something exciting nearly every day, including building forts (which were up all week and slept in too!), jumping on the trampoline and playing in the sprinkler (a nice way to cool down when it's nearly 40 degrees!), a picnic in the park with scooter rides, making dinners with the kids, a trip to the local outdoor pool, Ava's fourth birthday, and a barbecue!

An element of hilarity and excitement for the kids is the latest addition to my travel bag, "Big Head."  The story behind Big Head goes as follows... when Alex and I visited Phil and Nicole in Tweed a few weeks ago, we told them about our then up and coming trip to the Steve Irwin Zoo.  Phil suggested to their son Max, that he show Alex and I what he got to bring home from the zoo.  Max showed Alex and I a stuffed koala, that Max called Buster.  Buster spent the evening with us on the table, and needed to be stood back up several times, since he was continuously falling over, due to his over-sized head.  Phil and Nicole told us how they call him "Big Head," but have to do so in a joking manner, because Max really didn't think it was as funny as they did.  After Alex and I had spent the day at the zoo, we popped in to the gift shop to pick up a few things.  I was after something I could send home to Allison (obviously, since it was her dream to be there!), and something for Kinley.  Oddly enough, Max's koala Big Head didn't even cross my mind as I scoured the stuffed animal wall looking for the best, squishiest, and softest most perfect stuffed animal for my little Martian... until I saw them. a Mini army of them, stuck in the corner!  The decision was made.  Kinley was getting her very own Big Head!  He was without a doubt, the best, squishiest, and softest most perfect little dude!  I found the one with the most characteristic face, and took him to the counter.  I thought about sending Big Head home immediately, or allowing him to see Australia before sending him home.  When I learned it was going to cost me nearly $50 to send him home, the decision was made!  He needed to travel before going home.  So far, Big Head has been to Brisbane, Noosa, and Toowoomba.   Better than that, though, Big Head has drawn pictures, jumped on a trampoline, been on the train, a Greyhound bus, has gone to the beach, has been a princess and worn a tutu, slept in a fort, ridden in a stroller, ridden a scooter, danced to Crazy Frog, has gone shopping, made cookies, and played Wii!  Most importantly, he has become an integral member of the Girdler family, and has made it quite clear to me that as much as he'd love to meet Kinley, he needs to stay here.  He has suggested I buy one of his siblings from the zoo, and grant them the happiness of a perfect family to live with and be loved by, since this Big Head has found his in Toowoomba!  There's no way in hell I can take this koala away from these kids, especially Ava, who has him with her at all times!  It's really sweet.  I wouldn't put up a stink about going to the zoo again though, in order to get another Big Head! :)

Age is just a number, and this statement is so true when it comes to company and friendship.  I've truly found a friend in Rachel, and really enjoy her company.  I don't see much of Dave, since he's up and gone by the time I wake up, and isn't home until dinner time.  He's hilarious, and is a really genuinely nice man.  This week, I got to spend my days with Rachel and the kids, and it's been great!  There hasn't been a day go by so far that I haven't laughed and smiled, or had a meaningful conversation.  The kids always have me joking around with them, and involved in their fun.  Ava and I have spent a lot of time colouring in the last few days, since it's one of her favourite things to do, and is one of my favourite ways to wind down and relax!  She melted my heart yesterday when she asked me, "is your Dad handsome?" ... What a sweetheart!  Through the lump in my throat, I squeaked out, "yes he is!"  I can't say enough good things about this family.  Kids will be kids, of course. But they are so polite, so well raised, and a real treat to be around!  This week is the last full week of summer holidays for the kids.  Lots of activities lined up for the next week, including finding a job.  I'm feeling very optimistic about it!

Will post again soon!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Below: My Toowoomba Family!

Friends make traveling even better!

The world is a small place.  No matter where you find yourself, it seems that someone you know has been there, or knows someone who has.  Traveling opens your eyes to new ways of living, new ways of life, introduces you to new people, and makes you thankful for everything you have.

After Alex left, and I watched him rise to the second floor on the escalator to make his final boarding call, I was picked up at the airport by a girl I feel I’ve known for years.  A girlfriend of mine that I have known for my whole life, Erin Anweiler, is a figure skater.  She has skated nationally, and at world competitions.  A few years ago, she was in Australia and met and lived with a girl named Anne.  They became insta-friends, and are still in communication almost daily, regardless of the distance!  As soon as Erin knew I was going to be in Australia, she connected Anne and I and we have been in touch for a few weeks now!  Anne lives in the Brisbane area, and this worked perfectly for us to meet up and hang out after Alex had left.

Anne picked me up shortly after 5pm at the Brisbane Domestic Airport, in a Mazda identical to the one I sold before my trip!  It’s an Aussie Luda! (That’s what I named my car!)  Exact same colour, tinted windows and everything.  It felt strange sitting on what was the driver’s side in my Luda, while Anne escorted me around via the “passenger side!”  We got lost in conversation immediately!  It’s so great to feel like you just walk in to a natural friendship!

We went down to South Bank, where we parked the car and walked along the boardwalk there, that was swarming with people walking, running, biking, skateboarding and using the public picnic and barbecue facilities.  The evening was perfect! Light breeze and a lovely sunset over the hinterlands! We walked to a chocolate house called Max Brenners that wasn’t aaactually made of chocolate, but was close enough!  There was every type of chocolate dessert imaginable.  We each got an ice cream brownie sundae, with whipped cream, chocolate beads and chocolate sauce – YUM!  

After putting ourselves into food comas, we did our best to waddle back down where we’d come from, passing Kangaroo Point and worked off some of our chocolate feast, since we had to make room for dinner! Dessert before dinner?  Why not?  We walked along a huge rock face, where there were heaps of people climbing and watching.  The rocks were all lit up for the evening adventurists!  We had to sprint quickly for a ways to catch a free city hopper boat that took us across the river, and into Eagle Street Pier, where we walked to Queen Street Mall to grabs some eats at an Italian restaurant called Vapiano!  This restaurant was unlike any restaurant I’ve ever been to.  When you walk in, you’re handed a small two sided menu, with all different types of pizzas and pastas and salads and drinks available.  You’re also handed a card, like a hotel room key, but this is your bill!  You find a lineup for your desired meal, and when it’s your turn to order, you tell the chef and then swipe your card!  The balance will carry for the evening, and you pay upon exit!  All food is made at the restaurant, and is all so fresh!  Each table even has planted herbs for your usage if you so wish.  Anne and I split Rucola Raviolis, (ravioli with rocket at ricotta, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts), and con espinache pizza! (oils and spinach and garlic, tomatoes, basil, pesto, feta and prawns!)  

After dinner, we walked back and caught the hopper back across the river.  We walked back to the car, and headed to Anne’s apartment.  I must add that the conversation hasn’t even paused until this point!  We both have the gift of the gab, and enjoyed each other’s company!  Anne’s little kitten Tilly was thrilled for us to be home.  She was a rescue kitten, and was Anne’s birthday present in mid-December.  Tilly is a gorgeous little kitten, with the most unique colouring I’ve ever seen.  She’s got a light brown coat, with little stripes here and there of black, with a rusty brown that zigzags all over her body, and consumes her back left leg.  She’s beautiful, and is quite the little lioness!  Sleep was much needed for both of us, and was eventually needed for Tilly after playing in the shoes and clothes, and after hunting a few bugs.

In the morning, Anne and I went out for breakfast together at a restaurant called Vagelis, where Anne had some eggs benedict, and I had some French toast with fresh fruit and loads of syrup, of course!  Anne dropped me at the Central train station so I was able to catch my train to Noosa, and headed to work.  Anne is a Personal Trainer Manager at a gym in Brisbane, and is so happy and motivated!  Such a happy soul, and I understand why she and Erin clicked so well.  I had definitely met another gem along my journey, and will undoubtedly be keeping in touch with her.

The train up to the Sunshine Coast isn’t as direct as getting on in Brisbane and getting off in Noosa.  Transfers are required, but are pretty straightforward… until you think you’ll be wise to look up a “better” system.  I figured I’d go a little further on the train than what the “journey planner” had outlined for me, and get on the bus I would have caught anyways, further along it’s route, saving me from some too-windy roads on a coach bus.  Luckily, after sitting on a sidewalk under the protection of a big leafy tree for a little over thirty minutes, the bus came!  Matt was the lucky random recipient of a verbal diarrhea phone chat, which he’s used to!  It was around 40 degrees, so by the time the bus arrived, I was pretty enthused to get onto an air-conditioned bus.  

Finally arriving at the Noosa Junction stop, I pulled my bags up the steepest hill ever.  No exaggerating, it’s a 45 degree angle, so pulling a wheely bag up the hill backwards had my knuckles sore from holding on so tightly, in fear I’d let go and it would end up back at the terminal.  But I made it!  I found my sleepy friend Lindsey having a nap!  We caught up for a bit, before her boyfriend Mitch got home.  We accompanied Mitch to a local tattoo shop here, where he got some new ink dedicated to his grandparents.  It’s a really beautifully done Bonsai tree, with anniversaries of their passing.  Lindsey and Mitch both eventually had to go to work that evening, so I spent part of the evening relaxing and reading, and

Ended up passing out around 10:30pm.

On Thursday morning, Mitch was up and out the door for an early shift, leaving Linds and I to sleep in a bit!  When we got up, we had some breakfast together on the deck then got ourselves together for a fantastic hike through Noosa National Park.  It was breathtaking!  The paths rim the sea, and we stopped along the way to snap some pictures and take in the scenery.  The sky was cloudless, and the breeze kept us cool while we walked.  We walked the blue trail you can see on the map, stopping at Tea Tree Bay, Dolphin Point, and turning around at Hell’s Gate, which gave us a perfect view of Alexandria Bay.  Around where it says Picnic Cove, there are the neatest Fairy Pools that you can climb down to and swim in when the tide is out.  When the tide is in, the wide and deep cuts in the rocks are covered by the surface of the water, and are full, but exposed when the tide is out.  I explained it to Mama like this: it would be like filling a bowl with water, then setting it on the bottom of the sink, then filling the sink.  When you pull the plug in the sink, the bowl will still be full of water. :) Since the pools are always full of water, algae and some ocean vegetation exists, and clings to the rocks.  The wind was a little strong, rippling the water, which prevented us from a clear view down into the pool through a calm water’s surface.  Regardless, I went for a swim, and the water level hugged my shoulders and earlobes.  It was a slippery climb out, but I managed!  We were joined by a friend of Mitch and Lindsey’s named Mic, who visited with us for a while before continuing his run back to the parking lot. 

We ended up meeting back up with him once we’d made our way back, and he brought our attention to a huge Guana that was being fed by a picnic table where we had parked the car!  This beast was huge, and isn’t someone you snuggle with.  Mitch got pictures of one that was similar in size devouring a possum just over a week ago near the house.  Mic treated Lindsey and I to lunch and a few drinks at the Noosa Surf Club (which you can also see on my little cute map!)  The food was incredible, and the company was great.  Lots of laughs.  We had to get back to the house so Linds could get ready for work, and I headed to Big W (Aussie Walmart) for a few things, and to print the lovely pictures of “Allison’s Trip to the Zoo!”  When I got back, the boys offered me a Corona, which I obviously accepted, and we got into a game of Uno and had a few drinks together.  Lindsey brought home some pizza, and we called it a night! 

Like myself, Lindsey loves to write.  On Friday morning, we met up on the balcony, had a tea, and caught up on our writing.  Unlike myself, Lindsey keeps the most amazing journals!  They have everything pasted into them from receipts and old tickets to pictures and even shells!  Amazing.  I finished organizing the pictures I was mailing home amongst a few other things, and we had some breakfast before getting ourselves beach-ready and made our way down to Sunshine Beach for a few hours, stopping in at the Post Office quickly.  The beach was great!  The breeze kept us cool, and was such a nice relief from the humidity in town and in the house.  We did a grocery shop, then headed home.  I made one of my favourite dishes: One Dish Taco!  Lindsey approved, but Mitch was at work, so he definitely missed out.  Lindsey and I watched The Fighter, killed a bag of popcorn, and went to bed shortly after Mitch got home.  

The times I find myself sitting alone on a balcony, listening to the choir of birds, cicadas, and breezes blowing through the leaves of the surrounding trees are the nights I enjoy the most.  They allow me time to think, reflect, remember and most importantly, organize my mind.  It’s a machine in motion at all times, and that makes me who I am.  Always thinking, processing my days had and days to come.  Today, Lindsey and I were down at Sunshine Beach for a few hours together.  She’s definitely a friend that understands conversation, and the simplicity and beauty of silence.  She is an extremely admirable person, who volunteers while she travels the world – something many backpackers can’t factor into their travels either based on time, or money.  But Lindsey has got time management down to an art, and through her travels, really changes lives, whether directly or indirectly.  I should take a few leafs out of her life notebook of values and morals.  Even though she and I think very similarly, and share several personality traits, I truly admire and respect the amount of volunteering she does while she travels.  She spent eight weeks in South Africa volunteering and teaching kids to surf!  She has helped at a women’s shelter. She’s currently volunteering weekly at a second hand store that raises money for a suicide hotline.  Those examples only scratch the surface.  Her heart is huge, and I’m really fortunate to know such a determined, ambitious person, with such a love of life and desire to learn. 

Next chapter for me starts now!  The family that I met through Alex, the Girlder family, has invited me to live with them and live with them while I find some work in Toowoomba!  Talk about a blessing!  They are the sweetest family, and the kids are so well raised and polite.  Dave and Rachel are lovely, and are such a dynamic and lovely couple.  I’m really excited for their company!  I will find some work in Toowoomba, likely regional work of some sort.  I will have some updates by next week!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

A shout out to my little martian! I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU! 

Alex Visits the Gold Coast!

 That’s it?

I’m no longer staying on the Gold Coast.  I’m traveling alone again.  Alex has gone back to Western Australia.  I just had two indescribable weeks and made an incredible new friend - that’s an understatement.  So what have I been up to since I wrote last?  Quite a bit – so hang on, and enjoy the ride!

Phil and Nicole granted Alex and I a car for a week!  We were ecstatic and very fortunate to have been granted the use of a company car to sightsee and travel around at our will, which was such a blessing. 

On New Years Eve, Alex and I went to Springbrook National Park, about 40 minutes away from where we were house-sitting.  The park is in the hinterlands of the Gold Coast, and is therefore up, amidst, and surrounding some steep hills, winding roads, rivers, waterfalls, little farms and old houses.  It is so green and peaceful, and has dashes of colourful flowers and fruit trees scattered around in all directions.  Alex thoroughly enjoyed the roads we were driving on, which were really windy and hugged cliffs and steep inclines!  The constant smirk on his face screamed “I’m loving this!”  The majority of the hills were covered in thick flora and rainforest-esque trees, with big leaves, although there were many different species all over.  There were often little hidden waterfalls and runoffs that were so naturally gorgeous.  Many lookouts that we went to allowed you to see for miles!

We had lunch at a picnic area, where Alex ate his first peanut butter and banana sandwich, made by yours truly!  After lunch, we hit a highlight of the day and drove for nearly an hour to a natural bridge, where over the years, water has made its own path and created a bridge formation in the huge rock faces.


On our way back down the hill, we stopped at a little family park, where Alex swam in the river and got eaten alive by huge flies. We had subs for dinner, and got ourselves organized for a chilled out evening on the beach, and planned on watching both the early set and midnight set of New Years Eve fireworks!  We couldn’t have made better timing… we made it to the beach, laid out the beach blanket, poured a drink, and CRACK! The first firework sprinkled and light up the sky.  An exquisite light show was put on at 8pm, and again at midnight for the ringing in of 2013.  Between the two shows, we laid on the beach, shared a few drinks, chatted about anything and everything, watched the moon rise, and even had a quick nap!  The day out and about had really tuckered us out.  After the second, (and better of the two!), show, we walked back to the car, calling Mama and Papa on the way, and made our way back to the house.  The traffic was wild, since everyone was heading home, but we made it, and were sleeping shortly thereafter.


New Years Day, the Robina Towncentre was open, and Alex needed a few things, so we had a pretty easy start to the year, walking around the mall, wandering in and out of shops.  We picked up a movie, and watched that in the evening.  It was my choice of movie, one I’d seen several times, and Alex sat through it and enjoyed it! I was going to refrain from sharing the movie title, but it was: The Notebook! (Sorry Alex!)  He did quite well, and from what he said, he enjoyed it to the best a man can.  The audio was rubbish though, so we ended up returning it and he got his money back.  No evidence!


On the 2^nd, we went up the coast to Surfers Paradise!  What a place! Hustle and bustle of the Gold Coast.  Tourists and locals everywhere, running along the footpaths and beaches, keeping the servers and staff busy at the restaurants that line the streets, and keeping the lifeguards on their toes with squeals and screams of excitement while jumping into the waves as they roll in.  Alex treated me to lunch at a restaurant just over the road from the beach, and then we cooled ourselves off with an ice cream treat before hitting a few local surf shops.  We also went in to a huge arcade called Time Zone, which I had never been in to!  I’ve never really been one for arcade games, but this place gives it a whole new meaning!  There are games of all sorts, and several variations of each game!  I like to think I kicked Alex’s ass on a driving game, then he kicked mine on a “quick hands” reactions game, that requires you to hit a lit up button quickly before it goes out – but there are several lit up at a time=, in a 4x7 grid that’s about four feet high and two and a half feet wide.  I was so determined!  Our hearts were racing with competitive energy and I was laughing so hard my face hurt!  We had a hoot hanging out in there for a while, before continuing our walk about Surfers. It was a good thing we had let our stomachs settle by the time we saw a bungee ride for two, just outside the busy centre!  Similar to the structure at Wonderland, that lifts you and drops you like a superman bungee jump, this ride has a similar frame.  The capsule you sit in is pulled down below “ground level,” tilts back, and has the riders sit in a reclined position.  When you’re flung straight up towards the sky, you reach a max height of 57m in two seconds! (It’s over 150km/h!) You bob and bounce, and spin around a few times before they lower you down again, where they ask you how it was – and then offer you a deal you can’t refuse! Round two for $10! Done!  So Alex and I stayed harnessed in, and went for ROUND TWO – NO HANDS! What a thrill!  After that excitement, it was time to get home, walk the dog, eat, and relax – especially because we had a full day planned SURFING the next day!!

So we got up early on the 3^rd, since we needed to factor in the hour time difference between the two states of Queensland and New South Wales, and headed south on the coast to Byron Bay! All of the morning classes had been booked out, so we enjoyed our morning wandering the beach, checking out a spectacular look out, having some lunch, and popping in and out of a few surf shops.   We were scheduled to be picked up by “Gaz” (what Aussies call people named Gary!) around 2pm, conveniently enough, where we’d parked the car.  So Gaz and his side kick Johny picked Alex and I up, and then we went on to pick up 11 others from Switzerland who were staying and studying English in Byron Bay.  Gaz and Johny are what Australians refer to as “Okka Aussies” … proper, slang speaking, rough around the edges, funny as hell, OKKA AUSSIES!  I was in stitches listening to them banter back and forth about anything and everything, trying to pick up on their strange slang terms and jokes that were really only funny because of how they were relayed, or how hard they laughed between themselves about it.  They apparently have a “word of the week” for entertainment, and the word of the week while we were there sounded like “vazzie!” – and to them meant “let’s go!” in French.  Who knows.  It was still a riot to hear them say or yell VAZZIE!! throughout the day.  So we all got a rashie to wear, and were paired up to carry two boards at a time down to the beach.  They were carried with one person at the front with the noses or the boards under each arm, and one person at the back with the tails of the boards under each arm.  Good system that helps with the wind at the beaches, and helps with the length of the boards.  Alex had surfed before, and I’d tried it on a smaller board that’s harder to learn on.  We followed along with the intro session, and then hit the water with the boards.  What a blast!  We were in the water for nearly three hours. We came out with sore achy shoulders, from paddling around in the currents and rips waiting for the perfect waves and for our shot at successfully riding a wave to the beach.  What an afternoon!  After we packed up and headed back up the coast, we had some dinner and attempted to watch the Matrix – which I had never seen.  We failed, as our eyelids became sandpaper and we dozed off for the night. 

 

We set the alarm early on the 4^th, and made our way down to Burleigh Heads beach for the sunrise!  Ambitious souls we are… but was it ever worth it.  It looked a little too cloudy to see anything incredible, but just like the best sunsets, the sunrise was only emphasized by the clouds along the horizon.  Being out of the house by 4:25am, neither of us expected to see may people out and about in Varsity Lakes or along the beach.  We were very wrong!  There were people everywhere!  I guess we should have expected that, since starting your day in such a beautiful place only makes sense to get up early and enjoy it!  There were nearly 15 surfers catching waves when we arrived, and that number had soared to over a hundred by the time we headed home around 5:30am.  The footpaths and beaches were swarming with runners and walkers, and surfers were riding the sea before they started their respective workdays. What a site! 

We went back to sleep for a few hours, and had a pretty relaxed day together.  We did some yard work, and then actually watched the Matrix, since we’d failed the night before.  I had never seen the Matrix before, and I loved it!  What an interesting concept.  That night, we went a ways down the coast to Coolangatta, where we had a drink, then met up with Phil and Nicole for dinner at a place called Bread and Butter!  It was and evening of delicious and lovely company.  We laughed and chatted and told stories and thoroughly enjoyed the night.  We had antipasto, garlic pizza, chicken fingers, garlic prawns and fresh bread and cheese, and a fresh meat lovers pizza.  We ordered several different things and spent the evening munching and sharing the dishes.  Phil and Nicole are two of the loveliest people I’ve ever met! An absolutely perfect evening!

On the 5^th, we got up relatively early to get organized and to pack our belongings, since we were heading to a city called Toowoomba to visit some more of Alex’s family friends.  Ron and Trish were scheduled to arrive home late that night, so it was perfect.  The animals wouldn’t be alone for too long, and Ron and Trish would arrive home to a clean and empty house.  We took Athena for one last long walk, and laughed while she entertained us in her favourite muddy pond, then did some last minute tidying and packing before hitting the road.

Toowoomba is the “biggest inland city” in Australia, with roughly 130 000 people.  It is about an hour and a half west of Brisbane, and is in a very lush, green, hilly place!  It’s quite nice, with many different high viewpoints that allow you to see forever.  We met up with the Girdler family and had a low-keyed afternoon with a few drinks on their balcony, that has an incredible view.  Rachel and Dave are from the UK, and have been traveling for the last few years with Dave’s job as an engineer.  They have three children, and two sweet heart cats!  Dinner was delicious, as were the drinks we had that resulted in us laughing and joking and doing the beloved famous “can you make a horse noise?” pictures! Too funny! 

The next morning, we woke up and had some breakfast, and then went out with the family to see some of the lookouts and sites of Toowoomba.  We ended up at a café at the top of a hill, and had a coffee and visited as a group there for a while before heading back down the hill.  Alex and I had a very busy day!  We left there, and headed back to Varsity Lakes to say hi and bye to Ron and Trish, then went to Tweed to see Phil and Nicole, who took us to the train station where we rode the train right into Brisbane.  We got off the train at Central Station, and the hotel that Alex had booked was a simple ride up to escalators!  We stayed at a five star hotel called The Sofitel, and it was very posh!  We had a gorgeous room and view.  Alex treated me to a buffet dinner at the Sofitel’s restaurant, where we enjoyed a starter plate of cheeses, meats, salads, and bread.  Our second plate was fresh seafood, including muscles, oysters, small crabs, and sushi.  Our main dishes was beef vindaloo and curry rice, with some veggies on the side. We managed to stretch out our dinner into a two and a half hour visit and enjoyable dinner, with a bottle of white wine.  It was fantastic.

On the 7^th, we went to the AUSTRALIA ZOO, aka the STEVE IRWIN ZOO!  What an amazing day!  We even took Allison with us, since it’s always been her dream to go.  We did everything from feeding elephants, to seeing the crocodile show!  I got my picture taken with a koala (NAMED DIESEL!!!) and Alex got his picture taken with a python called Monty – how original.  We watched the Bindi show, and even went to do a fast donation tour of the animal hospital.  We had a very full on day, that had us smiling and laughing from start to finish.  We got lucky with the weather, as it was supposed to rain all day, but ended up being only slightly overcast.  We trained back, with one stop in a small town called Landsborough, for a drink.  We had Dominos for dinner, and had a quiet evening in after an incredible day.

The 8^th was a strange day, since it was the wrap up of the two weeks.  We had breakfast at a really neat little café restaurant that had outdoor seating in a tree covered outdoor lounge behind the building.  After packing and checking out at 1pm, we left our bags with the concierge and went to a park where we enjoyed smoothies and each other’s company before heading back to grab our things.  We rode the train up to the airport where we had a very surreal goodbye, loaded with thank yous directed at each other, and a quick recap of good times and memories, with promises to stay in touch.  The two weeks flew, and I’ve gained an incredible friend.  Alex is back to the mines for the next three weeks, then off for one, before his last stint of three weeks before his visa runs out. 

For now, it’s time to reflect and bring on the next adventure, which I will be writing about very soon!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!