Adventures in Hervey Bay: July 2014

Sunday, 27 July, 2014

Last Sunday, we were joined at the unit by Faye and Bill Duncan. They used to live in Brisbane, but recently moved up to Toogoom which is about 15 minutes from HB. Bill is another instructor for QAC (Queensland Aerospace College) and the four of us get on together really well. Faye also knits and crochets, loves reading mysteries, enjoys walking, and watching cop shows - as you can see, we have a lot in common.

Bill and Faye

On Monday, we ordered some new luggage for me and were able to pick it up on Tuesday. It's so nice - I love it! Both suitcases (one carry-on and one large one) have four wheels on the bottom and they are so easy to push along. They are also both very light, so that I can fit in a lot of stuff in each of them. In Canada, you can put 10kg into your carry-on, but in Australia, you can only have 7kg, so I wanted a really light bag as the carry-on.

My new luggage (love the red colour! :-)

Dad's first course started this past Wednesday and it went very well. It was an engine course and there were 11 guys on the course. Some of the guys had been on Dad's courses before and were glad to see Dad was instructing this course.

Faye and I have mostly spent our days knitting - I have been working on a couple of new projects.
I finished knitting another baby beanie, am still working on the baby sweater and am also working on a toddler beanie (which will be given to a child in a developing country) and a trauma teddy (which which will given to a child who has experienced a trauma or to resident in a nursing home).

Toddler Beanie

Trauma Teddy

On Thursday, Faye and I went shopping at the DFO (Duty Free Outlet) where we did more looking than shopping. :-) We did go out for lunch, though, which was nice - had japanese actually - pretty nice - pretty much the same as chinese from what I could tell from what I bought (black bean and beef plus sweet and sour pork over egg noodles).

Dad and I were planning on going on a day trip yesterday, but unfortunately, it didn't work out as planned. We went to one store to buy a pair of track pants for me and when we came out, we were planning on going for a nice long walk by the river, but it was raining. So, we went to another store where we wanted to check for something and when we came out of there, we thought we would go for a walk by the river, but it was still raining. After going to one more store and there being more rain, we decided to head home and cut our losses. We hope that the weather will co-operate next Saturday.

Last night, we went out for dinner to a local hotel with Faye and Bill. It's a very relaxed place, the food is quite good and the prices are reasonable. I had a chicken parma (parmesan) and Dad had a veal parma dinner. We spent a couple of hours there enjoying our time with Bill and Faye. We then came home and had a Boston Bun for dessert. Bill had recommended it to us and we had bought one earlier at a bakery. A Boston Bun is a large spiced bun with a thick layer of coconut icing. It was freshly made and was quite delicious.

A Boston Bun

Sunday, 20 July, 2014

I have been lax I know in writing my blog, so here I am catching up. We are in Melbourne right now and the weather is very cold (by Australian standards ;-) Thankfully, our unit here has central heating. :-)

When I arrived in Melbourne after being in Canada and Dad arrived there after teaching in Perth, we had five days together to relax before heading back to HB. On the Tuesday, July 8th, we decided that we wanted to get out and go for a drive. We decided that we would go to a city called Geelong which is about an hour away from the unit here. We decided that we would make one stop on our way to Geelong - at the Point Cook Aviation Museum. It's an RAAF (Royal Australia Air Force) museum and is the birthplace of the Australian Flying Corps and the Royal Australian Air Force. The museum tells one of Australia's most important aviation stories, that of the second oldest air force in the world. Even though the airplanes were not ones that Dad worked on, he really enjoyed walking through the museum (and I did, too).

The day was grey and cool and it started raining while we were in the museum, so we decided to drive back home and leave our visit to Geelong for another day.

We had a week at home and it was a week full of appointments and relaxation. On the Monday after we got back, I had a day of pampering. I started off by getting a lovely hour long massage from Ali who is marvelous. Dad took over after me having a half hour massage before heading over to his chiropractor. While he was doing that, I headed over the have a manicure/pedicure - they did a lovely job - so relaxing - and I decided to go for a bright bold red colour this time (pic below). Dad and I met up and went out for lunch to the Hog's Breath Cafe. Dad then went home and I went over to meet up with my teacher friend, Bronwyn - I enjoyed an iced chocolate while we chatted for a couple of hours. That evening, Dad and I watched the movie 'Non-Stop' - you were right, Krystal, it was totally my type of movie - very recommended if you like a good action film.

On Wednesday, we had the most totally lazy day we have had in ages - we didn't even get out of our pyjamas all day. :-) We didn't have any appointments and we didn't feel like doing anything - so we didn't! :-) It was actually really nice to relax so fully.

On Thursday, I had a mini pampering day. It started off with another hour massage with Ali followed by a 45 minute facial (which included a mini hand and foot massage). The girl who gave me the facial did a fabulous job! They charged me $10. more than the price listed online which I was not happy about. When I questioned the cashier, she said that the website says that prices are subject to change and that they had changed their prices in January. I thought that they could have updated their website, but didn't say so. I did send in a comment on the website, but have not received any feedback. I will try another salon next time.

We met up with Robyn and Geoff on Friday - we met up for lunch at a local cafe which we wanted to try - it was just a so-so meal overall, so Dad and I were disappointed, especially since it was our choice of venue. We went back to their house after lunch to get in a visit and also to have some dessert which Dad and I had made - banana bread with cream cheese icing - yum. :-) Robyn and Geoff were so sad that we had to fly out the next day and so had to leave the leftover banana bread with them. :-)

We flew out of HB yesterday around 11am - the flight to Melbourne was uneventful and, after landing, we took a taxi to the unit. (rant coming :-) We have always found taxi drivers here in Melbourne to be quite friendly and open to conversation. I tried to start one with this cabbie, but to no avail. (Dad said later that maybe he just doesn't like to chat). Okay, I thought, that's fine. But then, when we got to the unit, while Dad was paying the fare ($18. for a ten minute drive), I got out and waited by the trunk for the driver to get out and get us our luggage. Next thing I know, Dad yells out that the driver said that the trunk should be open. I had to get my luggage out myself. Wow, how rude! I have never had that happen before - I was quite surprised! Dad said that the guy was likely upset that the drive was such a short one to our unit and so the fare was a small (?) one. It's not our fault that the unit is so close to the airport! I wish I had thought about getting his cab number - I would have called the company to express my annoyance. Anyway, rant over. :-)

Trip to Sunbury, Victoria - 31 May 2014

Dad and I went to this cute little town just for something to do, but we didn't get to download the pics before I had to head over to Canada in June. So, here are the pics of Sunbury, a little town about a half hour from our unit.