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Eatons Hill

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    • TravelerBig Adventure
      Day 606

      Eatons Hill

      January 20, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

      We have arrived safely in Brisbane after a long flight from Heathrow. We travelled with EVA Air via Bangkok and Teipei. We arrived at 10:30 am to be greeted by Jamie and the girls in lovely warm sunshine. Lovely! Spent the remainder of the day chilling at Jamie and Renee's place. Examined the new pool that is being built in the garden. Looking great - just a shame it isn't finished as it is so HOT!!! A cool off in a refreshing pool would be just perfect. Still, hopefully by the time we leave in April we will be able to make use of it. Slept very well and awoke refreshed, ready for a shopping day with S and S. Renee and Jamie were at work, so we were in charge of the girls. We spent 3 hours at Chermside shopping centre, where the girls browsed and deliberated on what to spend their Christmas dollars on. We came back laden - they managed to buy lots of goodies with their 60 dollars each!!! Day 2 with the girls we set to on a sewing project. We were making felt gnomes!!! Both of the girls enjoyed the activity and concentrated for 3 hours to complete their first little gnome. More to follow in future days. Later in the afternoon we drove into Brisbane city with the girls. We walked along the south bank, which was busy with families enjoying the man made beach and pool next to the river Brisbane. The girls made use of the park, before we met up with Jamie and Renee after their day's work. We ate at Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers - a great little restaurant serving very tasty food. Next stop - Cirque du Soleil, situated next to the Brisbane cruise terminal. The huge marquee was packed, and must have seated 2000 people. A magnificent show - quite a spectacle to behold. The girls were enthralled (as were the rest of us) and at times did not know where to look next - there was so much going on on the stage. A very late night for all of us, and we all arrived home feeling exhausted. We are still acclimatising ourselves to the time difference, and were very ready for our beds!
      We had a lazy day on Thursday, then on Friday we took a walk along the seafront at Redcliffe. In the afternoon we watched Sophie training at her Gymnastics club.
      On Saturday we went for a walk at Sandgate and watched fishermen on the pier for a short while. Sophie took her roller blades and Samantha her bike. In the evening we enjoyed a bbq and Kevin, Harmony, Bianca and Emily joined us all for a few beers.
      Sunday was Australia Day and the day Jamie was formally accepted as an Australian citizen. We all went to his acceptance ceremony which was in the theatre at Redcliffe and he received his certificate along with 114 others from many other nations. A very interesting ceremony (although the girls did not agree!).
      After the ceremony we wandered along the front at Redcliffe, through the Sunday street market, to enjoy a celebratory lunch at Mon Komo. The adults shared a seafood platter (meant to feed 2 but SO much beautiful fish) and a starter platter of chicken wings, mini burgers, rice rissoles and chips. So much food, but we managed to eat most of it.Samantha had her face painted whilst we waited for the under 12 Lamington eating contest at Suttons Beach - our girls did not take part and it was not pretty. We did not stick around for the adult version.
      Monday was bank holiday so we all drove up to Caloundra on the Sunshine coast for a day at the beach - the girls' last chance for the school holiday as they return to school on Tuesday.
      After taking the girls to school with their dad on Tuesday we spent the morning at Eatons Hill getting our trailer and Ute sorted for our road trip. Jamie meanwhile spend some time tidying up the garden which was benefitting from some rain showers. For lunch we slipped off to Chermside where we enjoyed a brilliant Thai meal at Kinn Derm - very tasty.
      Upon returning we packed up our equipment, food etc ready for our trip the following day      Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      Day 2,038

      Eatons Hill

      December 22, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      We had a family trip into the city to see the South Bank family Christmas show. Arriving a little early we met Renee, who had just left her office, at a street Xmas market.
      The show was a mini panto which was well performed. Afterwards we tumbled into Ole restaurant for a tapas evening meal. Very nice too. The south bank was very colourful with plenty of people enjoying the lagoon. As we walked back to the car we stopped to listen briefly to the carols being performed by the Brisbane river. A very festive atmosphere.
      The following day we celebrated Jamie's 40th birthday with another visit into the city. Parking up at New Farm we walked into the city along the river - the girls and granny taking turns on the electric scooter. Our target was the restaurant "Kickin'Inn" specialising in Cajun seafood.
      Jamie was given a complimentary prawn martini salad for his birthday, which set the tone, and we ordered a bag of mixed seafood for the table - literally. The youngsters had their own choices made up too.
      The food was fabulous, eaten directly from the table, and we were provided with gloves and bibs to aid the process.
      The staff sang hbty and presented birthday boy a chocolate cake to finish. Summer managed to eat most of it.
      In the evening as we hadn't eaten enough (!!?) the girls turned out the chocolate cake that they had prepared for dad - yum      Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      Day 1,964

      Eatons Hill

      October 9, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      We are having a lazy day today, with the girls at school and day care we took the time to get our map of Australia out so we could plan our road trip south to Melbourne.
      A bit warmer today so Karen has been in the pool.
      Samantha has jut returned from school and is busy making cake pops.
      The Jacaranda trees in Jamie's plot are almost at their most colourful.      Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      Day 1,967

      Eatons Hill

      October 12, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Weather gradually warming up since our arrival. Karen currently in pool with Summer. We have spent a couple of days getting our itinerary sorted for our road trip to Tasmania and have had the car serviced locally in preparation.
      We are making 4 stops on the 1000mile drive to Melbourne choosing the inland route.
      Yesterday we drove into New Farm and walked into the City along the river to have lunch at the River Quay Fish restaurant on the South Bank. Bob the local lizard padded around by our feet as we enjoyed a seafood platter. The bougainvillea are beginning to flower along the south bank walkway and with the Jacaranda in full bloom made it all very colourful.
      After lunch we wandered through the Botanic gardens which are yet to reach their summer colours before returning along the river to the car.      Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      Day 1,967

      Eatons Hill

      October 12, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Another hot day, hot enough for A to go in the pool on the afternoon. In the evening we went to Sophies school dance show at Albany High. The school is renowned for its dance excellence programme. The show lasted from 6:30 through to 9 pm and was excellent from start to finish. Sophie performed on four dances. Every dance of 30 on the night to a very high standard. It was great to meet Renee's parents once again.Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      Day 2,025

      Eatons Hill

      December 9, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      We had booked into the morning performance of the dance show, so we all arrived in Redcliffe nice and early to enable the girls to get ready for the show.
      We wandered down to the sea front to pass some time prior to settling down in our seats at the Redcliffe theatre.
      What followed was most impressive - two and a half hours of dance to the theme of "Christmas Wonderland" based upon The Polar Express.
      There was a cast of 150, all from the 5th Element dance School, and the ages of the performers ranged from 18 months (dancing polar bear) to 22 years. The costumes were very colourful throughout.
      Sammy and Sophie impressed us, once again, with their efforts.
      After the morning performance we left the girls to get ready for their next performance in the afternoon, and we returned to Eatons Hill to prepare ourselves for a week long camping trip with the family to Stradbroke Island.      Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      Day 2,034

      Eatons Hill

      December 18, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      Now we start the serious preparations for Xmas. The streets around Jamie are awash with Christmas lights with some most spectacular displays of decorations.
      We have spent a lot of our time in and around the pool with the girls. Sophie and Sammy perform their acrobatics at every opportunity. Little Summer is getting very confident in the water, and can now swim underwater across the pool.
      Renee had Wednesday off work, so we all piled into the car once again to complete the Northlands Gorge walk, which is part walk part swim. A pretty challenging "walk" with steep ascents and descents for the walking part of the trek. On several occasions we waded and swam through fairly deep water. Summer used her inflatable shark to aid her buoyancy, and was confident to leap into the water whenever necessary. We were all weary when we reached the car after the return journey.
      The pile of presents under the tree grows each day. Santa delivers the Christmas stocking contents for the 3 girls, the rest of the presents being put under the tree. Excitement is mounting as the big day draws near.
      The weather is largely being kind to us. After returning from Stradbroke to high temperatures and scorching sun the temperatures are now more reasonable (26 - 30 degrees). A storm or 2 thrown in, but generally pool weather. We eat most meals outside - making the most of the opportunity to do so before returning to a British winter.      Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      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.      Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      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.      Read more

    • TravelerBig Adventure
      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      Read more

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