Tin Can Bay and other stuff

Hi all
A couple of weeks ago we went up to Tin Can Bay (where the dolphins play) with Andy, Jayne, Steven and Judith. We had to leave early on a Saturday morning which is normally my lay in day :-( Anyway, the purpose of the visit was to see the wild dolphins that come in to feed. We got up there at about 8am and we were only there a short time when a dolphin turned up. There was only the one that came but it was still lovely to see. Sam, Jayne and Judith got in the water and fed him.

After we had seen the dolphins we stopped at a small market in Tin Can Bay, it was amazing how cheap things were compared to where we live especially fruit and plants. When my mum was over we went to a local nursery and bought a load of plants including an orange tree (mum planted them all), we paid $150 and I reckon if we'd bought them at the market the cost would have been $50 - $80 :-(

On the way back we took the scenic route and went down the Freshwater track to the beach and we all went in the sea for a play and swim at Horseshoe bay. Poor old Steven got stung by a jellyfish and cried like a baby (maybe). Then we continued down and ended up at Noosa. We then went for some food in Noosaville then for a nice walk in the national park.

Overall it was a fantastic day, probably one of the nicest days since we arrived. Great company and great locations - can life get any better?

Yesterday (Sun 28th Jan) we went and tried out some Kayaks (with the same crowd as above), we are all thinking of buying one and it'll be great fun rowing around the local waterways. We are also talking about going away for weekends doing a bit of Kayaking, a bit of fishing, camping etc. I'm really looking forward to this. Afterwards we went to Caloundra and had some lovely lunch at Shelly's beach then we went to Bulcock beach for a swim. The current is very strong and the idea is that you jump in at the top of the beach and the current takes you down to the bottom. We all went in and it was great fun. I had a bit of a panic as I got a bit far from the beach but I made it back OK. Another great day, it only get's better (or can it?)

Today we are taking our visitors (Sam's dad and his partner Trudie) out for a drive.

That's it for now folks

Overdue update

Hi everyone that bothers to look at this blog. I haven't updated it for ages now, it's not that we haven't been doing things it's more like I've been to lazy to do it (I can hear your gasps of shock). Anyway, here goes.

We had our first visitor couple of months ago, it was Suzanne - our friend from the UK. When she turned up she was as white as a sheet, when she went home she looked like a half caste abbo. She had a better tan than us :-). We did all the touristy things like going to Australia Zoo, driving up the beach etc. The highlight of her visit must have been when Suzanne, Sam and David jumped out of a plane at 14,000 ft. Lowlight for me was when the parachutes opened. Anyway, we really enjoyed having Suzanne over and I'm sure she enjoyed her stay.

Sam, David and Suzanne after landing on the beach at Coolum

We then had David's Year 12 Graduation ceremony, it was a long hard journey but eventually David finished school. Both Sam and I were very proud of him and it's the first time we'd seen him dress up smartly for a long time. We went to the ceremony with our friends Andy and Jane who's son Ben also graduated. After the graduation there was live music and beers and we all had a good night. Us (the oldies) got kicked out at 9:30pm but the kids stayed late. The next day David and a group of his mates went down to Byron Bay for schoolies week (basically a big piss up). We were suprised but there were no dramas and everything went well.

Here's Ben, David and Daniel

Since then we've done a load of stuff, here it is in no particular order:
1. Been up to Rainbow Beach a couple of times, great fun roaring up the beach but very tiring as the sand is hard work. Had lunch at the Rainbow Beach surf club. On the way back on the 1st trip I got a stone stuck in my front disc brake and we had to stop in the middle of the forest and fix it. Here's the car looking a bit dirty and a bit sick. You may notice I have only 1 spot light as well. The other one shook itself lose after 20KM/s of rough track. Luckily enough we stopped just before it fell off. Needless to say when I got home I gave my pride and joy a damn good wash

2. Went to see a soccer match at the Brisbane Suncorp Stadium. Our friends Andy and Jayne took us which was very nice of them. Although I'm not that keen on the soccer it was good seeing it live.
Andy treated us to a meal out before the match - a nice doner kebab :-)

In November Sam's dad arrived, it was great seeing him again as we hadn't seen him for a few years. He hasn't changed much, just looks a bit older :-) In December my mum arrived. I was really excited about mum arriving and I could hardly sleep the night before. Again, she hasn't changed much - maybe shrunk a bit and put on a few pounds :-)


Then Xmas came, as per most things in our life we were very disorganized, we totally didn't get round to sending any Xmas cards this year (so Happy Xmas everyone) and we didn't put our tree up until Xmas eve. We had a manic few days before Xmas going out shopping, it seemed like we were constantly in shops buying things. I was really glad when Xmas eve came and the shopping was over. Of course, we had to go to the sales on Boxing day :-)
Xmas day was great, we (me, Sam, Mum and Jim (Sam's dad)) sat by the tree and opened all our pressies. We then had a big fry up for brekkie.

At lunchtime we had our friends round (Mick, Tracey and their son Daniel), it was great having them round but also sad as they are going back to the UK to live after only 3 months in OZ. It wasn't anything I did (before you ask), they are returning for family reasons. Sam and I are very sad that they are going because we like them very much

David, me, Tracey, Mick, mum, Jim and Daniel

For new years eve we went to a friends house and played games, drunk beer and generally had a good time.
For the last 3 weeks it's been pissing down with rain and very windy. Normally we wouldn't be bothered but as we have visitors over it's a pain in the arse. Hopefully it'll brighten up in the next day or so, fingers crossed.

Here's a few more random pictures, there's a load more on the flickr site (link is at the side of the blog near the top).

We hope you all have a good new year and it brings happiness to you and your families. Bye for now

My mum

Jim (Sam's dad)

Our Xmas tree

Me (hiding a football under my shirt), mum, Sam and Jim at Montville