Sunday, August 30, 2015

We spent Monday and Tuesday in Brisbane.  Dad needed to spend some time at QAC to work on getting things ready to teach in Canada and to get his airport pass renewed.  It was nice to see everyone at the office again and to meet some new employees.  We also had to see an accountant about our taxes.  We stayed at a motel overnight - it was a bit dated, but the bed was comfortable.  We also did two geocaches in a nearby park and found both of them.

On Wednesday, I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor to make sure that my stitches were healing nicely and that the incision wasn't red anymore.  Everything checked out okay.  That night, we went to dinner at our friends, Bill and Faye's ( Bill is a co-worker of Dad's).  We haven't seen them in a while as we have been out of the Bay for ages and so have they.  It was really nice to see them again and to see what they had been up to since we last saw them.

On Thursday, Dad and I went geocaching again - this time we found three of them.  We chose ones which had a geo travel bug in them.  These are special trackable items that people place in a geocache near where they live and then other geocachers take them and place them in other caches around the world.  We want to pick up as many as we can before we come to Canada so that we can place them in caches over there.

The first geocache we found was in a garden at the front of a cafe - it was placed there by someone who did it in memoriam of their mom who liked to sit on these benches and look at the view of the ocean (geocache on the table was behind the large plant in the background)

The view of the ocean from the benches

The second geocache underneath some prickly plants at the base of a tree

view from the second geocache

Third geocache we found under a rock at the base of a tree

That evening, we went out to dinner again.  This time, it was to Elaine and Martin Cooper's - new move-ins from church.  They are trying to get to know people in the ward and so have been asking people to come over for dinner.  It was nice spending time with them and getting to know them a little.

Martin and Elaine Cooper with me

On Friday, I went out with my friend, Thea - girl's day out.  We went to the Hervey Bay Regional Art Gallery - we both enjoy art.  There were two exhibits showing there: The Fraser Coast Gems features work of retired artists, draftsmen and engineers from the Fraser Coast, and The Annual Competitive Exhibition for the Hervey Bay Art Society - that one attracts over 300 entries from across Australia.  I took some pics of the first exhibit, but there was a big sign in the second one forbidding photos, so I didn't get any of that exhibit.  Some of the artwork we really liked and others we weren't so fussed on.  It was really enjoyable walking around and taking in the various types of artwork.  After visiting the art gallery, we went for afternoon tea at a local cafe called 'Bayorama'.  After checking out the menu, I decided on an iced chocolate (surprise, surprise :-)  and a scone with jam and cream.  Both were really delicious! :-)  It was really nice having a 'girls's day out' with Thea  we get along really well and are becoming good friends.

Piece of artwork that was part of The Fraser Coast Gems exhibition - this chair was covered with some kind of cement and then the pieces of tiles were placed in it - Thea wanted to take it home :-)

Piece of artwork in The Fraser Coast Gems exhibition

Piece of artwork in The Fraser Coast Gems exhibition - it shows various things you would see around the bay: whales, dolphins, ibises, seagulls, fishing, boating, windsurfing, people running, walking, biking, scootering on the boardwalk, people sitting on a bench looking at the view of the ocean

Thea and me with our treats at the Bayorama Cafe

my iced chocolate

my scone with jam and cream