Dad has now finished teaching this course - he just has to give the students one more exam on Monday morning. He is very happy to be finished the course - the prepping took up so much time and he's quite tired from the week. Dad says that he learned a lot while teaching the course as it's not an airplane that he has a lot of experience working with. He was teaching about the Airbus A330 - he has a lot of Airbus experience, but not with this particular model. He really enjoyed teaching this group of students - they were very inquisitive and asked tons of questions - that makes the teaching/learning more interesting for everybody. After Dad gives the exam out and marks it on Monday, he then becomes the student until Thursday when he will have to take an exam of his own about an airplane engine which he has never worked on.
I went swimming again this week on Tuesday, Thursday and yesterday. When I went on Tuesday, it had been six days since I had gone (since I didn't go the Friday before last) and I found it much harder than going two days after the last time I had gone. So, I decided that it was better if I go three times a week. I am finding that my arms are starting to hurt a little (I guess from the consistent exercise), but it's a good hurt. :-) Dad told me that there is a pool in the complex we are staying in in Perth the week after next. I hope it's a long pool and not just a dipping pool (if you know what I mean). It's an outside pool, so I'm not sure if it will be heated or not. Dad's boss and his wife were just out there the week before last and they said that they did not use it as the weather was too cold. Hopefully, it will be nicer when we are there. If not, I will look for a community pool nearby and either walk there or get Dad to drive me there after work. They say that it's important to find some kind of exercise that you enjoy doing or you will likely not keep it up - I really am enjoying swimming (even if it's hard work) - I think it's quite appropriate that I was born a Pisces. :-)
On Wednesday, I walked down to the pier (about a fifteen minute walk from the apartment) and caught the free ferry which goes up and down the Brisbane River. It was a beautiful day (sunny with a cool breeze) - I was able to sit on the top deck and enjoy the sun and breeze while I checked out what was on either bank of the river. Although it was a nice day for 'sailing', I found it a bit boring to be doing it on my own. I have decided that I am not a good solo traveller - I would have much preferred that Dad was with me so that we could have talked along the way.
On Friday, I walked downtown again and met up with my Aunt Beth and Aunt Janet - they are Poppy's younger sisters (they both live in the Brisbane area). We met up at 10am and found a cafe to have a coffee/tea/hot chocolate in. We found two really comfortable couches across from each other and spent the morning catching up with each other about what had been going on in our lives since we last saw each other (which was in January when Nana and Warren were here). Aunt Beth's son, Adam and his partner just had twin girls in July who were eleven weeks premature and so she was showing us lots of pics of them. When lunch time came, we were still at the cafe and so we ordered lunch and continued to chat - we ended up spending over five hours together and it was great! I hope to be able to get together with them again next time we are in Brisbane in November.
Today was a really restful day - I love Sundays! :-) This afternoon, Dad and I spent two hours walking around the downtown area of Brisbane. We walked on the boardwalk beside the river until we got to the Botanic Gardens. When we were walking through the gardens, we saw a lovely little goanna (like an iguana) on the footpath (picture down below). He was as still as still could be, but we just knew that he was quite aware that we were there. After walking through the gardens, we walked up Queen Street Mall and sat down on a bench to people watch and chat. It was such a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. :-)
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