Australia
Eatons Hill

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    • Day 321

      Brisbane

      April 10, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      The final day in the tent for a while as we packed up to return to Brisbane. We will a few days in Brisbane with Jamie and family before we fly back to the UK.
      This camping trip was brilliant fun. We saw some great places and met nothing but friendly and helpful people. An absolute joy.
      We enjoyed a great few days with the family in Brisbane prior to our departure back to UK. Such fun taking Sophie and Samantha shopping for their birthday presents - early presents, but we will be in the UK when it is actually their birthdays. They just love shopping, and it is quite entertaining watching them go from shop to shop counting their dollars in their purses at each shop.
      On Saturday we met Gina, Paul and Ellie in Brisbane, as they were over in Australia to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary and Ellie's 21st birthday. We hosted a bbq in Eatons Hill in the evening which we greatly enjoyed. So nice to catch up with all of them again. Who knows when and where we will next meet!!!!
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    • Day 280

      Brisbane

      February 28, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      After a brilliant trip to South Island New Zealand we have returned to Brisbane . The Canterbury Crusaders rugby union team were on the flight as they are playing one of their Super 15 games against the Brisbane Reds this weekend. There were some very big men on the flight. Jamie met us at the airport. It was good to see him, Renee and the girls again.
      We have spent a week and a bit in Brisbane performing two main functions. The first being Granny and Grandpa to our two beautiful grand daughters. Renee and Jamie took the opportunity of our presence to book a restful Spa trip to a retreat in Bali for a few days. Schools runs and after school entertainment has been the routine, although Sammy was off School for three days due to a mild case of chicken pox (they vaccinate here which has obviously reduced the impact.) The other activity was to collect our new camping gear from the manufacturer which we did on Monday 4th. Since then we have been finishing buying the various other bits necessary and preparing ourselves for a trip northwards along the coast starting on Monday.
      To summarise the week
      Crusaders beat the Reds.
      Great BBQ at home by J and R
      We entertained Renee's parents on Sunday - nice afternoon.
      Lots of games with Sophie and Samantha. (Granny is getting good at dodge ball.) Some Snakes and Ladders games can last for an eternity, high fives, etc etc)
      Excitement with new camping gear and planning the next part of the trip.
      School run, trip to doctors.
      Home made Sushi - well done girls and we honestly thought it would be impossible to eat that much.
      Trips to shopping outlets (bought the obligatory fishing rods to complete camping equipment)
      Gymnastics club for Sophie and swimming for Samantha
      Friday "At Home" film night we watched "Gnome Alone" surely the product of a deranged mind.
      Trip to Flipout (trampoline warehouse.)
      Walk along the promenade at Sandgate, Fish and chips at Dougs (excellent.)
      Trip to a new BMX cycle track -brilliant facility for cyclists, scooters and skateboards - Sophie greatly enjoyed the tracks, Samantha ran along beside.
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    • Day 241

      Brisbane

      January 20, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      We returned to Brizzie to look after the girls for J and R again for three days. Another fun three days visiting the Lagoon at Redcliffe, Frew Park and a trip into the city - taking the City-Cat from New Park into the South Bank where we lunched at a sushi bar.
      A quick visit into the city to get Claire's UGG boots in blisteringly hot conditions before an escape back to air conditioning of the car along the river again - the girls waved at daddy's offices as we passed.
      We did much research on vehicles to accompany the camping equipment and have eventually managed to find a suitable one which we have arranged to pick up at the weekend.
      Australia day this weekend so the country will be celebrating. The Borumba Dam site we were at last weekend where there were perhaps forty campers during our stay will be full with 500 set ups - probably each one with boat in tow - the dam will be very busy.
      Our first experience of the Australia Day celebrations has been a good one - we went into the South Bank in Brisbane and had a mooch around the Streets market and then were drawn into the Plough Inn which was packed with revellers. They were setting up an eating challenge competition which comprised of 20 people around a table - each was given 2 kg of bbq spare rib and the task was to eat it as quickly as possible. Tactics were very different - Sean the reigning champ from last year stripped the meat from the bone prior to chomping - this was very successful as he won again in 8 minutes 43 seconds. Other tactics included not taking the challenge too seriously, taking it very slowly, then after 8 minutes and 43 seconds returning with the huge pile of ribs to their family for a good free nosh. We benefited as one family on the table next to us had both parents in the competition who used the second tactic and they offered the ribs around. They were very tasty.
      We listened to some live music before J, R and the girls joined us late afternoon where we enjoyed a lovely sharing meal at Popolos an Italian restaurant on the South Bank. The girls played on the park climbing frames and slides prior to the evening entertainment which was a firework spectacular on the river in front of us.Sunday saw us go to Renee's mum and dad's house for an afternoon of chat and great food. many thanks go to them once again.
      On Monday we went to Bribie Island for a morning at the beach followed by a fish and chip lunch.
      Tuesday was Sopie and Samantha's first day of their new academic year and we were able to watch them meet with their friends and new teachers after the holidays. The girls were weighed down with all the books, pens etc that they will need as they carried it all in in big boxes.
      In the afternoon Jamie and I went to pick up the new motor.
      After that we had quiet day to prepare ourselves for the journey to New Zealand
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    • Day 233

      Brisbane

      January 12, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Chilling day back at J and R's.
      Stew, Em and co left for UK first thing, then we took Kirsty into the airport for her flight to WA. Had time to check out some UGG boots for Claire in the city centre.
      We looked after the girls for three days whilst J and R went back to work, which was great fun for us, if a little tiring. We checked out some camping equipment stores for our plan to buy some gear over here and the girls loved examining the details of the tents etc. We took Sophie and Samantha to a local beach, the lagoon at Redcliffe, one of the many parks around Brisbane and to the cinema to see the latest Mary Poppins film. All great fun, and the girls were so well behaved. Weather extremely hot and sticky, but thankfully Jamie and Renee's house has air con as well as fans in every room. We made good use of them!!!!
      The girls love eating sushi and showed us their skills at making it.
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    • Day 229

      Brisbane

      January 8, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      We have arrived safely in Brisbane, and are enjoying the company of our family. Jamie, Kirsty and our lovely grand daughters were at the airport to meet us with broad smiles all round. Sophie and Samantha were as chatty and as lively as usual.
      Stewart, Emily, Magnus and Jemima were camping at Tamborine Mountain and joined us the next day when the noise levels went up a gear. The cousins were great together. What a treat to have everyone together!!!!
      We enjoyed a glass of fizz or two to celebrate all being together. The "big pop" causing excitement.
      Jamie and Renee prepared and produced a great meal on the bbq.
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    • Day 1,364

      Eatons Hill

      February 16, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      We enjoyed more family time with Jamie and the girls. Jamie prepared a great spicy noodle dish one night and the following day we bought a big snapper from the local fishmonger and cooked it on the bbq in a spicy sauce - very nice. The three girls are great fun and the two bigger ones are great sisters to little Summer, who is quite a character. Sophie managed an aerial jump for the first time in the garden which she was pleased about, and it was fun watching Summer trying to emulate her not quite managing to do a full roly-poly.
      On Thursday, Karen's birthday, we prepped up for a road trip. Jamie and Renee had bought Karen a bbq for the trailer and a battery fan/light for warm evenings we were hoping to experience. We did food shopping in the morning and reacquainted ourselves fully with our camper trailer in the afternoon. We were all excited about a trip with Jamie to the Everglades Ecocamp site at Noosa where we had booked in for the weekend.
      In the evening sunshine we enjoyed ourselves in the pool with the girls.
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    • Day 1,396

      Eatons Hill

      March 20, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      We returned to Brisbane to family on the Saturday whilst we waited to be contacted by the fracture clinic at Logan General Hospital.
      We had a quiet weekend at the family home watching the girls play and playing scrabble and monopoly together.
      A picked the older girls up from school on a couple of days and after an ice cream we took the drone to the park for a play. The afternoon temperatures were extremely hot.
      Karen made Sushi with the girls one evening which was a great hit and Grandpa cooked two curry meals from the Meera Sodha vegetarian and meat cook books which were all most enjoyable.
      The girls practised their acrobatics in the garden and little Summer tried once again to emulate them.
      We re-evaluated our planned road trip with the family prior to Easter, cancelled the Canarvon Gorge element of the trip and inserted a trip to Yeppoon in its place.
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    • Day 1,401

      Eatons Hill

      March 25, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      We got the call to visit the fracture Clinic early on Friday morning, Further x-rays were taken and Karen was asked to do a weight bearing x-ray which was painful. it was confirmed that surgery would be the best outcome and we would be contacted with an appointment for some time within the next 14 days, but hopefully it could be done some time in the coming week.
      We spent the weekend with the family once again and enjoyed a picnic at Sandgate, shading ourselves from the sunshine under a canopy. We let the girls loose with Alan's camera and they took some nice pictures of the afternoon.
      On Tuesday Karen phoned the hospital to see if there was a planned date for her surgery and was told that currently her name did not appear on this week's schedules. That was a great disappointment, however, the following morning we were advised that surgery was booked in for this coming Thursday .- happy days.
      All went smoothly on the day of the operation and Karen stayed in overnight for observations etc after the general anaesthetic. By mid afternoon the next day she was ready to leave to return to Eatons Hill.
      We decided to wait until the morning to determine if we would carry on with our planned road trip up the coast with Jamie et al.
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    • Day 1,419

      Eatons Hill

      April 12, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      We had a great trip back south to Brisbane, passing through the Tropic once more. The roads were really quiet and the route via Biggenden really beautiful. We stopped at Biggenden for a sandwich at the Bakery. We would classify Biggenden as a one horse town, although that's being generous, however its main purpose is to serve the cattle farming community which surrounds it. The only real traffic we encountered was for a short period around Gympie and the stretch around Caboolture.
      We arrived back at EH at 16:30pm having left at 8:00am.
      On Wednesday we were up early once again for a visit to the Logan Hospital fracture clinic. Karen was worried, but the visit was a great success. We were seen to very quickly, her wound was healing well with no complications and the plaster was removed in favour of a moonboot. LGH discharged us from their care with notes for us to deliver to our doctors in the UK. Once again we have nothing but praise for the medical services. Massive thankyou to all concerned and the Reciprocal Medical Agreement we have with Australia.
      In and out of the clinic in under 1 hour we returned via the mall at Aspley to stock up for provisions for the weekend and for the family's return to EH on Thursday.
      Sushi, lamb/spinach curry, Bengali dal, sweet potato vindaloo, sausage rolls all done ready for the weekend.
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    • Day 2,024

      Eatons Hill

      December 8, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      The last day of our road trip saw us complete the drive north to Brisbane. 200km all on the Pacific Highway passing through the Gold Coast.
      We arrived in time to spend a little time in the pool with Sophie and Samantha before they needed to go off for a dress rehearsal of their dance show.
      They were scheduled for 7 hours dancing at the theatre in Redcliffe where the performance was to take place tomorrow.
      Thereafter we enjoyed the company of Summer, Jamie and Renee at home by the pool. We drank our Friday fizz to accompany a wonderful bbq cooked by Jamie.
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