A True Adventure

We were in Melbourne from Wednesday 11^th August-Tuesday 24^th August 2010

Paul, Leah and myself were met at Melbourne airport by Jared Haymes on Wednesday night. I have only met Jared briefly before, but I have known his wife Rachel for most of my life. She used to go to the same ward as we did for church when I was little and our families have been good friends ever since. The journey from the airport to Rachel and Jared’s house was about 1 hour. We arrived about 11pm at night. Rachel was in bed, but woke up when we arrived. It was really good seeing Rachel again. The last time I saw Rachel was in 2006 when Rachel was over visiting her family in England along with her husband and 2 children. She now has 3 children and another on the way.

Thursday 12^th August 2010

Jared took a couple of days off work, so that he could drive us around and take us to a few places. Today we went on a drive with Jared, Rachel and their 2 children Hannah and Laura. We drove along the coast and went up to Arthur’s seat. Here you can get a good view over the coast. We stopped up here for a while to go walking. The views were beautiful and the tree’s were gorgeous. We got chips along the coast between us. We haven’t had chips in a long time so that was a nice treatJ They are very different to British chips though, not as greasy and more crunchy.

Yum Hot Chips

We went to Jared’s Dad’s on the way back to meet him and his wife Faith. Paul was fixing a few problems on Ron’s (Jareds Dads) computer. Paul always seems to find broken things, no matter where we go. They had a Japanese student staying with them so I was chatting to him a little. They have different students staying with them. I thought this was a great idea. They loved meeting people from all over the world and it helped them to learn a little about the different cultures.

Friday 13^th August 2010

Today we all went out as a family. There was Jared, Rachel, Laura, Hannah, Leah, Paul and myself. (Beth there other daughter was at school). First of all Jared asked us did we want to see Ramsey Street where neighbours is filmed. I don’t even watch neighbours but still I was excited to see Ramsey Street. So we drove over to see the street. It is actually called Pinoak court in Vermont. Regular people live on the street. It is only used for the outside filming and they have studios for the rest. When we got to the street there was a big tour bus showing people around Ramsey Street. We just tried listening in on what they were saying. We got some pictures on the street, maybe you will be able to tell me whose house I’m standing outside?

Ramsey Street

We then drove on to Grants Picnic grounds, where there were loads of Cockatoos, Kookaburras, Roselle’s and many others. We put crackers in our hands to see if the birds would come over to us. I was a little nervous at first but relaxed. They were landing on our hands and we even managed to get a kookaburra to land on us. I was impressed with how brave Hannah was (she is 2 years old). She loves animals and insects. She was trying to give the cockatoos a kiss and hug goodbye.

Paul with a Cockatoo

We then drove up to One Tree Hill. This is up high on a hill, surrounded by tree’s. We could hear Kookaburras everywhere. There were loads of Eucalyptus trees. I picked up a few leafs. I’m going to make book marks out of them.

Ruth and Leah

We then drove on to Mt Dandenong, which is where you can view the whole city from above. We just took a quick look and got a picture together. Jared and Rachel were sat waiting in the car, as they charge $5 for taking your car in, so we just walked up.

Mt. Dandenong with Laura and Hannah

Next we went to Kalorama Park, to stop for lunch. There was a beautiful view from here, looking over a lake. We were also able to see lot’s of Kookaburras from here, After lunch we went to William Picketts Sanctuary, where you can see loads of Aboriginal Art and sculptures. We followed a 30 minute walk path that took us around.

William Picketts Sanctuary

Saturday 14^th August 2010

Today we went to Philip Island with the whole family. Philip island is reached by a bridge so there is no need to get a boat over. The island is about 30 Km in length. We went to Kitty Miller bay. This was a small bay surrounded by rocks.

Rachel, Jared, Beth, Laura and Hannah

We drove on to the nobbies, where we were able to see penguins along the side of the rocks. It is really beautiful here, surrounded by cliffs.

Penguins at the Nobbies-Philip IslandRuth and Paul-nobbies-Philip Island

Monday 2nd August- Wednesday 11th August 2010

We spent this week at the sunshine coast. We were staying in a small town called Nambour, with Liz and David Guy. Leah knew their daughter Elissa from when she lived in Brisbane 10 years ago. Liz and David kindly let me and Paul  stay in their house for the week. They have an area downstairs especially designed for when guests are staying. There is a living room, kitchen, bedroom and a bathroom. David did most of the work in the house himself. There was also a swimming pool outside.

We arrived in Nambour on the Monday night about 9.30pm. David Guy met us at the station and drove us back to his house. Leah went to stay with Elissa Guy in Petrie about 1 hour away.

Tuesday 3rd August

Today we got up early and got a bus from Nambour train station to Maroochydor beach. Maroochydor is just south of the river. We walked along the beach to Mooloaba beach. The beach was gorgeous here, with beautiful soft golden sand. We relaxed in the sun for a while and just enjoyed watching the surfers. The weather at the Sunshine Coast was beautiful, about 22 Degrees most days, with a nice sea breeze.

Maroochydore

Wednesday 4th August

Today we looked around Nambour town. Nambour is an old farming town with about 10,000 people living there. We both really liked the town, it had everything you needed. A shopping center, clothes shops, restaurants, banks ect. It is also surrounded by hills and greenery. Where we were staying there were just 2 other houses on the hill, so it was very peaceful, with no light or noise pollution.

In the afternoon we got the bus to the Kawana Shopping World (about 1 hour journey from Nambour). Leah rang us to say she would be at Moolooaba Beach about 4pm with Elissa, her children and her parents. We decided to head there to meet up with them. We all went for fish and chips near the beach.

After eating we all went back to Liz and David Guy’s house, where we are staying. Liz is very creative. She makes blankets, walll signs, teddies and many more things. She was showing me some of teh scrap books she has done for her children and to document her life. I thought it was a great way of putting photos and journal enteries together. I have kept a journal since I was 10 years old, so you can imagine how many journals I have by now. I think i will do some scarp books when I get home.

Thursday 5th August

We had a chilled out day in Nambour.

Friday 6th August

Today we got a bus to Caloundra. We got bus number 602 from Nambour train station. The ticket cost us $21.20 for 2 tickets. This allowed us to use the buses within zones 15-18  for the whole day. The journey to Caloundra took about 1 1/2 hours. We got off near kings beach. It was such beautiful weather, about 22 degrees. We sat of Kings beach for a while watching some kite surfers. Then we decided to walk along the coast.

Caloundra Beach

We followed a beautiful walkway from kings beach all the way to Moffat beach. It took us up higher, where we were able to see beautiful views across the sea. We passed by gorgeous houses along the way.

When we got to Moffat beach, we found a Chip shop, where we sat and ate some hot chips. Then we walked up to Moffat lookout, to watch the sun setting over the mountains. The sky looked amazing, with blue, purple and pink colours.

Paul Moffats Lookout

After watching the sunset we walked on to Dicky beach, where we got the bus back to the Sunshine Plaza. We took a look around the plaza, then got bus 602 back to Nambour.

Saturday 7th August

There was a festival on in Nambour today, which we went to. There was free entertainment and market stalls. There were also free music and dance classes for children. We loved it and thought it was a great idea to have a festiva like this every year. There were lot’s of familes there together.

Monday 9th August

Today we got a bus from Nambour to Noosa Heads. We  walked along the beach from Noosa Heads to Coolum beach. This is about a 10 mile walk. It was a beautiful sunny day. We wanted to make the most of the sunshine as we knew Melbourne was going to be alot cooler.

Sunshine Beach-Noosa

The walk was really beautiful and peaceful. The sands were golden and the sea perfectly blue. We took our time, stopping along the way on several beaches. The walk took us about 3 hours in total.

Coolum is a really beautiful beach, with a smalll town close by to the beach. There are lot’s of restaurants, bars and shops here. We took a look around, then got our bus back to Nambour.

Tuesday 10th August

We got a train from Nambour to Petrie this afternoon to go and stay with Elissa Hooper, the daughter of the couple we were currently staying with in Nambour. My sister Leah was also staying with Elissa. We spent the evening playing games with Elissa’s 2 children, Katie and Sam (age 7, 4). Micheal, Elissa’s husband made a beautiful dinner for us all. He made vegetarian Lasagne especially for me, and beef lasagne for everyone else. He also made a vegan chocolate cake. I would never of believed it was vegan, as it just tasted like any other chocolate cake. He gave me the recipe so I must try to make it myself when I get home.

Wednesday 11th August

We chilled out this morning with Elissa and her two children. Our flight was around 6pm from Brisbane to Melbourne. Elissa kindly offered to drop us off at the airport. We flew with Jet Star. This seems to be the cheapest airline around Australia. Another airline we found cheap were Virgin Blue. When we got to Melbourne airport we were met by Jared Haymes. We have known his wife Rachel all our life, through church. She moved over to Australia over 10 years ago and is now married with 3 beautiful children. Rachel and Jared kindly allowed me, Paul and my sister Leah stay with them in Melbourne.

Blogs on Melbourne coming soon

Ruth and Paul

(Sorry for the delay in our blogs, we haven’t been on the internet much and our current hotel in Sydney doesn’t have the internet, so we just get on when we get into a internet Cafe)

Friday 30th July 2010-Road Trip

We decided it would be a good idea to hire out a car one day, so we went into the city on Thursday to find the best company to go with. We found that Euro car had the best deal, for 1 full day at $47. Split between all three of us including petrol, this worked out cheaper than us getting trains all day, so it was well worth it.

Thursday night we made a rough plan of some of the places we were going to go to, and we borrowed a road map from Marey. We set off at 9am Friday morning, to get the car for 10 am. We had the car for 24 hours. Leah did all the driving. We set off towards the sunshine coast, and stopped at several places along the way.

First of all we stopped at the Beerburrum Lookout. There was a 1/2 mile climb up to the lookout, although this wasn’t much, it was all up hill at nearly a 45 degree angle. This wasn’t easy in my flip flops! Once we got to the top we were able to see out to the glass top mountains. These are a group of volcanic plugs. These are the centre of the volcanoes (lava) after the rest of the volcano has eroded away. It has left a picturesque landscape. We stopped and relaxed for a while looking at the beautiful views in the distance.

Glass Top Mountains

We then descended down the hill. The descending is sometimes harder than the climb, as it is hard to stop yourself from running down. When we got back to the bottom, we stopped for some lunch. We prepared a cool box with sandwiches and fruit before coming out.

Next stop was Buderim Ginger Bread factory, in Yandina. It used to be in Buderim, but had since moved to Yandina. BuderimGinger factory has been running since 1941. You are able to watch how the ginger is made in the factory and also look around the many shops at the outlet. The tickets for entrance to the factory cost about $20 each for adults. We decided just to look around the shops, although I’m sure it would have been well worth a visit. We all got an ice cream. All the flavours had ginger in it. I got Raspberry and ginger flavour. This was delicious.

Ruth and Paul enjoying their ice cream

There were several different shops, souvenir shops, macadamia nut shop (we were testing all the different Macadamia nuts). Leah bought some chocolate with macadamia nuts in. We then looked around the shops and bought some ginger bread to take home. There was a beautiful forest area that we walked around. There were many different trees and birds in the forest.

Outside the ginger factory

After spending about 1 hour at the factory we drove on to Coolum beach along the sunshine coast. We went in for a little while, but the sun was starting to go down, so the water was fairly cold. We spotted a lot of jelly fish along the beach, so we were watching where we were walking. After spending a short while at the beach we dove on to Noosa Heads National Park and drove up to the Lagoon Lookout to watch the sunset. This is a great place to watch the sunset over the mountains in the distance. There were a few clouds In the sky which made the sunset look really stunning! We were so lucky to find a perfect spot in time for the sunset.

Sunset at Lagoon Lookout

We decided to finish off the day by driving to Mt Coot-Thalookout, which we have been to once before during the day. We didn’t realise how busy it would be up there! Everyone else had the same idea as us. It was a great place to be at night time, as the city looks great from the lookout with all the lights. There is a café at the top which stays open till about 10pm, we got hot chocolates and just sat and watched the city.

It was a great day and we got to see a lot. It was definitely worth hiring the car out. It would of cost us a lot more getting around by trains, plus we wouldn’t have got to see half of the things we did on public transport. Ideally we would have had a car for the full time.

We had to get the car back to the city Saturday morning. Leah picked us up in the morning at 9.30am and drove the car back to the city. There was a big picnic in Roma Street parklands, in the city, which we decided to go to. It was a picnic to raise money for cerebral palsy. There were several bands playing in the park, including the Empty Chair Project, which was a big band, Spacifix, which was a New Zealand group whose music was a fusion of reggae, funk, pop and rock, also a group called Dave Dow and the human grove (a 12 piece funk, reggae, soul band. The event was really well organised and the entertainment was excellent. All the money was going to the Cerebral Palsy League (CPL)

Empty Chair Project

The Cerebral Palsy League supports children and adults with disabilities to pursue their own personal goals and dreams. They provide them with expert therapies, technologies, equipment and employment to meet their individual needs.

Leah had to go about 1 am as she was going to a car rally event in Redcliffe with her friend Marey. Me and Paul decided to continue watching the entertainment in the park.

Last week we were staying with Elissa’s (Leah’s friend) parents, in a town called Nambour, near the sunshine coast. We had a fantastic week their and loved being beside the coast and enjoyed our stay with Liz and David Guy. They have a beautiful home in Nambour, on top of a hill. The town is an old country town with about 10,000 people living there. We will write about our stay there in our next blog.

We are heading to Melbourne tonight. We fly from Brisbane to Melbourne at 6.00pm local time. (9am GMT 11^thAugust 2010). We are flying with  jet star. We found this to be the cheapest company. We are going to be staying with a friend called Rachel Haymes (Bowness) who we have known for most of our life. She is now married to Jarrod with 3 children and lives in Melbourne.

We hope everyone is well and we look forward to speaking more to everyone once we get to Melbourne.

Ruth and Paul

Monday 26th July 2010

Today we went to Loan Pine Koala Sanctuary. We were trying to decide between this place and the Steve Irwin’s Zoo. Marey, leah’s friend told us that the Loan Pine Sanctuarywas well worth a visit and very good value for money. The entrance fee is $30 (£17) per person. This allows you to watch all the shows and get really close to most of the animals, you even get to pet most of them. We got bus number 445 from stop number 41 on Adeleide street in the city centre. You will need to get a 3 zone pass, and if you are planning on returning to the city, then you are best getting the daily ticket, which costs $9 and allows you to use the ticket all day, between the 3 zones.

We got to the Koala Sanctuary in time for the first show at 10am. There are different shows running all day, but some only run once, so you are best getting there just before 10am. The first show was a sheep dog show. The farmer was showing us how the sheep dog is trained to get all the sheep in to a huddle and also how he get’s them into small spaces. The farmer whistles to signal the dog and the dog circles the sheep to get them into a huddle. Then when the farmer wants to get them into a gate, the dog keeps jumping over the sheep, to make them move over. He continues jumping over them, until they are all in the gate.

sheepdog jumping over the sheep to get them into the gate

We went to several shows throughout the day, including a bird show, koala show, wombat talk, koala talk and several others. We were able to get close to most of the animals. It was so nice to be able to walk amongst the kangaroo’s rather than just look at them through a cage. They were very tame and you were able to sit with them and pet them.

Sitting with the Kangaroos

It was really fascinating watching the kangaroos interact witheach other. At first we were a little unsure how tame they were, but we decided that if it was save enough for us to be walking around withthem, then they must be. We just sat with them for a while and took lot’s of pictures. We also got to pet an owl, Koala and hold parrots.

Paul holding the birds whilst they were feeding

Paul next to a Koala

Leah and Ruth sitting with the Kangaroos

Paul hopping with the Kangaroos

We had a great day out at the Santuary and enjoyed learning about all the different animals. It made a change to be able to get up close to the animals, rather than just look at them in cages! We would definitely recommend this place to people. The animals are well looked after and it’s great value for your money.

Ruth and Paul

Second week in Brisbane (20th-27th July)

Tuesday 20th July- We visited Mt Coot-Tha/Botanical Gardens- We got the bus from the city (Adeleide Street) to Mt Coot-Tha (Bus Number 471) We got a daily ticket which cost us about $7.90. (This allows you to use the ticket as many times within these zones, all day) The bus took us right up to the foothill of the lookout. You have the option of getting out at the botanical gardens, which is just before the lookout, but we decided to do that on the way back down. Mt-Coot-tha is a great place to view the city. We sat on the hill and just looked over the city whilst eating our lunch, which we had prepared before coming out. Leah brought some cards with her, so we were playing a few card games.

On the way back from Mt-Coot-That we went to the botanical gardens, which are free to enter. The gardens were really beautiful, with lot’s of different types of trees and lot’s of birds flying around. There was a lake in the middle of the gardens with black swans on.

Mt. Coot-Tha Botanical Gardens

We went to see Leah’s old house in Bowen Hills when we got back to the city. This was the flat that she used to live in Ros Lowther, then when they moved out, Elissa Guy and Marey Christou moved in to it. We walked over to a church near the house, that was up on a hill and we were able to see the sun setting over the city.

Wednesday 21st July- Today we went to the science museum in the city. Then we went to visit the Botanical Gardens in the city center.

Thursday 22nd July- Today we went to Cleveland Point, which is about 1 hour south of Brisbane. We got the train from Buranda  Train station (near where we were staying). There were lot’s of inland water ways, with each house having it’s own private pier with a boat. We were eyeing up all the houses, there were some beautiful one’s. After walking around the houses we walked over to the beach and sat for lunch.

Cleveland Houses

Then we got a train to Wellington point, which is 10 minutes North. We walked from the train station to Wellington Point, where we sat and watched the sunset over the city. It was really beautiful here, with great views across to smaller islands and over the city. There are places here to have barbecues and also a cafe where you can get food.

Wellington Point Sunset

In the evening I decided to go busking in the city for a while. I lent a guitar from Marey’s brother (who we are staying with). I haven’t busked since I lived in Dublin so I was afraid I’d find it really difficult, suprisingly I was ok. I really enjoyed it, although it was a quiet night, a Friday or Saturday night would be much better!

Friday 23rd July-Today Paul needed to work in the morning. In the afternoon we walked over to where my sister Leah was staying (with her friend Sarai in Annerley). We went into the city in the evening to go to the night markets at South Bank. The night markets are on every Friday and Saturday night in the city. The city is really lively in the evening, yet still has a very relaxed and laid back atmosphere. We saw a lot of buskers out, some very good ones, including a guy playing spanish guitar and a girl playing the cello by South Bank.

Saturday 24th July-We went to the Gold Coast today with Sarai and David (Who leah was staying with in Brisbane). Sarai’s parents live by the Gold Coast and they go most weekends, so she said we could go with her. It is about a 1 hour drive from Brisbane. We set off around 1pm. Sarai dropped me, Paul, Leah and her husband David off by the beach. The Gold Coast is a lot more built up than the Sunshine Coast, with high rise buildings all along the front. This really blocks out the sun unfortunately. A lot of locals prefer to go to the Sunshine Coast as it is more laid back and less built up, I would have to agree! Although the beaches it self are very beautiful.

We walked along the beach to Surfers Paradise. Me and David were the only one’s brave enough to get into the water. It was a little cold, but still beautiful. I just couldn’t come to the Gold Coast and not go in at least for a while!

Ruth and David-Gold Coast

Surfers Paradise is the most built up spot on the Gold Coast, with a shopping center and lot’s of food places along the beach. We stopped for Copenhagen Ice Cream…..BEAUTIFUL!!

Sarai picked us up from Surfers Paradise, and took us back to her parents house where we were staying for the night. They lived in a lovely bungalow about 10 minutes drive from the Gold Coast. Her Dad was making dough for pizza’s for us. He had to go out, but David finished them off. They were delicious!

Sunday we went to Mount Tamborine with Sarai and David. It is a lovely drive up here, with gorgeous views over the coast. There are lot’s of lovely tourist shops up here and cute little cafes. There is also lot’s of food tasting and wine tasting places up here. We went into a small olive oil shop with Sarai, as she likes to cook. They had loads of  different tasters out. We were testing different olive oils dipped with bread and seeds. After looking around the shops we went into a cafe to get Scones with cream and jam.

More coming soon……
Ruth and Paul