Aussie Aussie Aussie

Well it was birthday time for my family so we decided to meet everyone in Brisbane, Australia to enjoy the celebrations.

Louise, my sister, surprised Dad by making him a great golf birthday cake for his 70th and Ruben & Daniel couldn’t resist helping granddad blow out the candles. We had a great night out at The Stokehouse for dinner & drinks on the river. Had been a while since we’d all been together.
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Lou’s birthday was spent in Surfers Paradise(SP) where we enjoyed the abundance of beaches in this touristy area. What a busy place with lots of high rise apartments on the beach.

 Happy B Day Lou

Happy B Day Lou

The long coastline from the Spit before SP to Burleigh Heads

The long coastline from the Spit before SP to Burleigh Heads

view of SP from boat cruise; lots of apartment blocks

view of SP from boat cruise; lots of apartment blocks

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The barbie on the Surfers boardwalk was the best dinner ever, so Ruben said and of course a tourist attraction to the many Asians, who also got photos of us. The best dinner however was outdone when we all went out for Japanese Teppanyaki and enjoyed the performance by our chef.

The boys cooking up a storm on the boardwalk in Surfers

The boys cooking up a storm on the boardwalk in Surfers

lots of action to watch and keep the kids entertained

lots of action to watch and keep the kids entertained

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August is a busy month for birthdays in the family. In Canada Brett’s grandma Alice was having her 90th and had a party with 100+ guests. Wowsa!

While in Aus we spent time with Louise’s boys seeing what life entailed for those with kids. These 2 boys are very active so keep Lou & Stu jumping.

Ruben receiving a certificate at school assembly

Ruben receiving a certificate at school assembly

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Daniel liked to hang out with his new buddie, uncle Brett

Ruben with his Aussie Football league team members, "the gorillas"

Ruben with his Aussie Football league team members, “the gorillas”

Mini golf or is it playing in the tunnels? Oh well they are having fun!

Mini golf or is it playing in the tunnels? Oh well they are having fun!

We were both impressed with Brisbane and the coast. Whether it was cruising the boardwalks in Brisbane by bike, river cruises, or walking the many beaches in the area there was plenty to keep us entertained.

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The Brisbane wheel

The Brisbane wheel

Brisbane's downtown core is quite compact; view from Mt Coot-Ta lookout

Brisbane’s downtown core is quite compact; view from Mt Coot-Ta lookout

Enjoying music in the park on a Sunday

Enjoying music in the park on the Brisbane River on a Sunday

Great bars to sit back, relax and catch up

Great bars to sit back, relax and catch up

Made a trip up the Sunshine Coast as far as Noosa, which was a beautiful area with a great national park at the headland to enjoy. Noosa wasn’t as built up as Surfers but still a touristy place. Great beaches to wander from Mooloolaba north but a little on the cool side for us to swim in.

The glasshouse mountains looked majestic in the distance from Bribie Island

The glasshouse mountains looked majestic in the distance from Bribie Island

The views along the coast at Mooloolaba are nice

The views along the coast at Mooloolaba are nice

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A lot of swimmers but the water was too cold for us.

Overlooking Noosa a popular holiday destination

Overlooking Noosa a popular holiday destination

Hiking around the Noosa Heads National Park was very picturesque, even spotted a dolphin off the headland.
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We hired a pontoon boat for a day out on the Noosa River. Tried fishing but gave up after all our bait was taken and enjoyed a BBQ. The boys spotted lots of blue soldier crabs on a sand bar, which was great for entertaining them.

 A great way to see the river inlet

A great way to see the river inlet

fishing kept everyone entertained

fishing kept everyone entertained

we parked up on a beach for a BBQ and energy release time

we parked up on a beach for a BBQ and energy release time

Ruben & Daniel found blue soldier crabs on a sand bar normally under water

Ruben & Daniel found blue soldier crabs on a sand bar normally under water

After seeing the glasshouse mountains in the distance we decided to stop on the way back from Noosa. The glasshouse Mountains were named by James Cook in 1770 supposedly because he thought the peaks resembled glass furnaces in his hometown in Yorkshire, England. They were once lava plugs within volcanic cones where the sandstone was eroded over millions of years to reveal the plugs that are there today.
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P1090659While in Australia we of course couldn’t resist watching a couple of the Bledisloe cup rugby games where the All Blacks whipped the Wallabies. Go All Blacks. The Rugby cup is coming up so should be interesting.
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And so you ask where are the photos of the kanga’s and the Cuddly koalas that are meant to be here. We searched all over the place but could not spot any out in the wild, soooo off we went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

There are three Koalas here, see all the paws

There are three Koalas here, see all the paws

lots of kanga's lazing about

lots of kanga’s lazing about

A Perentie lizard, which grows to 2.5m. Australia has all sorts of animals

A Perentie lizard, which grows to 2.5m. Australia has all sorts of animals

The birds of prey show at the Koala Sanctuary was a highlight as we got to see some amazing birds that we didn’t know were native to Australia.
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Before we knew it we were off to Los Angeles where we caught up with Laird & Cathi.

Brett's online shopping waiting to be packed into our luggage. Hmmmm...

Brett’s online shopping waiting to be packed into our luggage. Hmmmm…

Went to the outdoor theatre to see The Big Fish with Cathi, Laird, Morgan & Elizabeth. Great venue.
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couldn't resist the stop here to see the views of LA, which is huge

couldn’t resist the stop here to see the views of LA, which is huge

At Manhattan Beach

At Manhattan Beach

While walking the boardwalk at Manhattan Beach we saw one of Bertram Drillings trucks doing some geothermal work on a beachside ppty, reminding us of friends back in Canada.

Good Times, but we have to get back to the boat to prep for sailing this season.