Sunday, 9 April, 2017

Phew!  We are back home and Dad is very happy to be done this course.  He really enjoys teaching, but this course has been quite draining since he basically had to create the course.  The guys all passed - all of the guys already had experience working on the B737, but needed to take this course to make it official on their licenses.

I spent my week going to the gym and socializing (big surprise there, eh? 😊)  On Tuesday, I met up with my Aunt Beth (Poppy's sister) in Brisbane.  We met at 'The Coffee Club' and sat there the whole time we visited (5 hours).  I enjoyed an iced chocolate (of course!) for morning tea and we stayed there for lunch as well (I was good for lunch only having a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich).  It was so nice visiting with Aunt Beth - we get along really well and never have trouble filling in the time chatting with each other.  It's nice to find out what my cousins and their families have been up to, as well. Because Aunt Beth is nine years younger than Poppy and she moved to Sydney when she was quite young, I never got to know her kids when I lived in Australia, so this gives me a chance to get to know them, through her, a little better..

 

 Aunt Beth

 See the bird in the middle of the picture behind the table?  It just flew in the cafe - it happens all the time and it doesn't faze anyone - it walked around checking for any crumbs on the floor and then made its way back outside again

A beautiful church I saw from the bus on my way home from hanging out with Aunt Beth

On Thursday, Dad and I met up with Niles, a fellow instructor of Dad's, for dinner.  Niles chose the restaurant, a little German place called 'Des Alpes', which he raved about to us.  The meals were a bit pricey, so we figured that they would be big portions - Dad and I decided to get a salad each and then share the main meal.  Not such a good idea.  The portions were quite small, although the food was tasty.  We had a great time catching up with Niles - he is such a nice guy and so easy to talk with.  We were hungry after we left him, though, so we drove to the nearest Hungry Jack's (Burger King) for a kid's burger. 😏

 Me sitting outside of 'Des Alpes' waiting for Niles

 We noticed the doll and teddy on the 'swings' near 'Des Alpes' - how cute!

 Table which we sat at to wait for Niles - I love the saying written on it

 Here is the meal Dad and I shared - three little pieces of meat - pork and beef - about four bites each and a glorified hash brown

Dad, me and Niles at 'Des Alpes'

On Friday, I walked to QAC (Dad's work) to meet up with Dawn and to see Melinda (one of Dad's bosses) and her new baby - Ava Grace - she is three weeks old and such a cute and healthy looking baby.  I got to snuggle with her (when I could get her off Dawn {the grandma}) and it was so nice having a baby in my arms again.  After we got our cuddles in, Dawn and I went off to the mall to spend some time hanging out there together.  Even though I am not a big fan of shopping, it always seems that I end up buying something while I am with Dawn. 😊 This time, it was a blue purse I have been looking for for ages, a security bag that I am going to use when we go to France and Italy in June and some dresses for my granddaughters (yep, spoiling them again, what can I say? 😊

 Ava Grace Murphy - isn't she such a cutie

Me holding Ava

Dad and I spent Saturday morning cleaning the house and getting it ready for the next instructor to come to.  Then, finally, it was off for home - it was a 3 1/2 hour drive and we drove straight through.  Even though we enjoy travelling around Australia for Dad's work, it is always so nice to come home.  We are here for three weeks now, which will go fast, I am sure - we always seem to end up having no trouble filling up our time while we are home.