Sunday, 19 October, 2014

Happy 35th anniversary to us! :-)

This week has been full of school and exercise.  Dad's course started this past Monday and he has 19 students in the class - 16 from Jetstar and 3 from Qantas.  Dad says that this group is a bit rowdy/noisy at times and he has to settle them down, but it usually doesn't take long once he says  that they are going to have to stay longer if they don't start listening and stop talking. :-)

While Dad has been teaching, I have been going to the gym/pool next door and working out.  I have been going to aquafit classes and they have been fun and quite a workout.  Some of the women in the class introduced themselves to me in the first class which was really nice.  All but one of the people in the class are seniors.  I also swam some lengths - trying to get back into it after being off for so long.  When I started swimming my first length, it was like I had never been away - I love swimming. :-)

On Friday, I took a break from aquafit and went to a gym class.  It, too, was geared towards seniors, but was a good workout for me as well.  It basically consisted of a warm-up, a series of stations, a 5 minute workout on the treadmill and a cool-down.  While I was on the treadmill, I noticed that one of the tvs was showing an NHL game.  I asked one of the instructors to show me how to get the audio using my earplugs on the screen of the treadmill.  Wouldn't you know it.....the channel showing on the big tv in front of me did not come in on the screen of my treadmill - what a tease it was.  I did, however, watch the game on the big screen and just imagined the commentator calling out the game.  It was so cool to see my favourite game again - I do miss watching my hockey games.

Yesterday, after I finished talking with you girls, and Dad had finished his prepping for Monday, we took the rest of the day and went out and about and had a fantastic day together.  We decided that we wanted to take go on a self-guided heritage walking tour of the city of Newcastle.  I love doing this wherever we go to a new place as it gives us a really good insight into how the town/city came to be - and, it also gives us a great workout - we walked over 10,000 steps yesterday.  Below are some of the sights we saw............

Newcastle is a port city - this is one of the places where ships dock for loading and unloading

Carriage Shed - where the railway carriages would be brought to be cleaned and serviced

This is a monument to commemorate the importance of coal in the early days of Newcastle

Surf lifesavers' quad bike and trailer for inflatable boat

An ocean pool (in the middle)

a paraglider

A series of photos showing a paraglider taking off

This morning we went to church at the Charlestown ward (a suburb of Newcastle) and the members were so welcoming - we had so many people come up to us and welcoming us to the ward. :-)  It's so great that we can go anywhere in the world (just about) and be with other members of the church.

This afternoon we went for a walk to Nobby's Head - a headland on the southern entrance to Newcastle Harbour.  Along the way, we saw a lighthouse, sailboats, paragliders, parasurfers and amazing scenery.  It was a wonderful walk and a beautiful day - sunny, blue skies and 23C.  Here are some pics..........

a parasurfer

a parasurfer catching air

a coal cargo ship leaving Newcastle Harbour

Nobby's Head

Just thought this huge concrete pencil was cool :-)

Sunday, 12 October, 2014

Our week was so full-on - it was supposed to be a relaxing week and it started off well.  Monday was a holiday here (Labour Day) and so everything was closed.  Dad and I totally relaxed - we even went for a nice walk along the Esplanade.  On Tuesday, we went to Bundaberg - we invited Robyn and Geoff to come with us - Dad had to go there to have his interview to become an Australian citizen.  He had to take a test on a computer with questions relating to Australia (a lot about the government and history of Australia).  He passed!!!  AND, he got 100%.  We are so excited - he now has to wait for all the paperwork to go through and then he will be informed when he can go to a citizenship ceremony.  It was a great birthday present for him! :-)  After that, we went for a walk along a beach not far from there. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to be outside - the sun was shining and the sky was blue and the temperature was perfect!

After our lovely walk, we went out for lunch to a chinese restaurant which Robyn and Geoff's daughter-in-law had recommended.  We each ordered two small dishes which we shared along with a large plate of rice.  The food  was delicious and it was fun to try so many different choices.

Birthday lunch for the birthday boys (Geoff's b/day is on the 18th)

On Wednesday, Dad got a call from work to say that they wanted him to go to Newcastle (about two hours north of Sydney) to teach another course.  We knew the course was coming up, but we thought we would have another week at home before we headed out.  But, that's the way it goes sometimes with Dad's work - good thing we can be so flexible. :-)

I went to see my doctor on Thursday - I had to make a list of things to talk with him about since it was going to be a few weeks before we would get back to HB.  He did take a look at my arm (tennis elbow) and told me to continue to do the exercises and take the meds which the physiotherapist in Perth had recommended.

On Friday, we went up to a little town called Toogoom (about 15 minutes from HB) to see Bill and Faye (Bill is an instructor with Dad's company and we spent some time with them in Melbourne).  We went for a walk on the beach (with their dog, Holly) and then had a delicious afternoon tea of homemade scones (baked by Bill), a Boston bun, rockmelon and watermelon.  It was nice to catch up with Faye and Bill - we get along with them so well.  

Low tide at Toogoom Beach - with Holly

Dad, Bill, Faye and Holly walking along Toogoom Beach

Faye, Holly and Bill

After we left Toogoom, we went to Robyn and Geoff's to meet up with them so that we could go to dinner in one car.  There's a restaurant here in HB called Hogsbreath which sends you a coupon for a free dinner on your birthday.  Dad and Geoff both received their coupons this month and so we decided to go out and celebrate together.  We were planning on going out next week to celebrate (closer to Geoff's birthday since we had had lunch out on Dad's birthday), but since we were leaving for Newcastle today, our plans got changed.  Everyone enjoyed their meals and we saved a lot of money.  Not only did Dad and Geoff get their meals free, but I also had a coupon for a 'buy one meal, get the second meal at half price' - score!! :-)

Geoff and Dad with their free steak dinners

Yesterday, our friend, Denise and her husband, Robert, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Their daughter and sons invited all their friends and family to join them at a local park for a barbecue and time to mix and mingle.  We were really happy to be able to be able to share in this special day with them.

Me, Robert, Denise and Dad

This morning we flew to Newcastle (with a three hour layover in Brisbane).  While we were in the airport there, we noticed a bunch of television cameras being set up by the major networks in Australia.  A woman sat down beside us with a huge camera, so I asked her who the cameras were waiting for.  It turned out that she was a photographer for a major Queensland newspaper.  She told me they were waiting for the captain of the Wallabies (Australia's national rugby union team).  Since we had lots of time to pass before our flight, we stayed where we were able to watch the goings on.  After about half an hour, Michael Hooper (the captain) showed up.  All the cameras surrounded him and when everyone was ready, the reporters started asking questions.  It was interesting to watch and a good way to pass the time.

Television cameras setting up - the woman on the left is the newspaper photographer

Captain of the Wallabies being interviewed

Our hotel in Newcastle is very nice - two rooms - one a bedroom and ensuite and the other a living/dining room and kitchen.  The fridge is a bar fridge and quite small and there isn't an oven, just a microwave and a two burner cooktop.  There is a sport's club next door which provides very nice meals at a very reasonable price and so, after looking at the small kitchen facilities, we have decided to make our own breakfasts and lunches, but to eat our suppers at the sport's club.  There is also a gym and a pool next door which we have free access to since we are staying at this hotel.  I think we are going to enjoy our stay here. :-)

View from our hotel room  - where the Newcastle Knights (rugby league football club) practice

Warren, this photo is for you :-)  (from the right hand side of the above photo)

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Dad's boss's wife went home on Monday and so my shopping days ended this week. :-)  I stuck with the exercising, though - back to the gym for bike riding and treadmill walking.

Dad's course finished on Friday and boy, is he ever glad to be done - that was a long five weeks.  He had two more tests this week and scored 100% on both.  Dad said that he was glad to have received the high marks when Harry was teaching so that he could see that Dad really did know his stuff.  So, now that he has completed the course, he can teach it starting next year.

On Wednesday, after Dad got home, he drove me to my friend, Rosalea's place, so that I could  spend a couple of days with her.  Rosalea and her husband, Rob, lived in HB for a couple of years and we became friends with them when we first moved here.  Rosalea's granddaughter was born four years ago and so they decided to move back to Perth shortly after the birth.  Rob works in the mines and so he was gone for two weeks and Rosalea was glad to have me visit.

Rosalea and me

On Thursday, we went out for the morning/early afternoon.  Our first stop was to a physiotherapist - Rosalea had a knee operation earlier this year and she needs to get physiotherapy to help her recover.  I told her that my left arm was still hurting and she asked if I would like to see her physiotherapist.  I originally was going to wait until I got back to HB, but I couldn't get an appointment with my doctor until next Thursday, so I decided to go for it with Rosalea's physiotherapist.  Jane, the physiotherapist, was fabulous!  She poked and prodded both my arms to figure out what was wrong - it's the tendon.  She taped it for me and then gave me a couple of exercises to do.  She also told me to take some medication to reduce the inflammation.  So, I now have a nice bright pink bandage on my arm.

My lovely pink bandage

After that, we went to 'The Coffee Club' - Rosalea had never had an iced chocolate, so I HAD to buy one for her (and me, too, of course :-)  She loved it!  We decided to get 'Subway' for lunch and then head home as she was tired by this time.  We spent the rest of the day sitting and chatting and watching a little tv.  Dad picked me up the next morning (Friday) and we spent the rest of the day cleaning the unit and packing to get ready for our flight on Saturday.

Our iced chocolate from 'The Coffee Club'

Dad and I flew from Perth to Brisbane yesterday, arriving in Brisbane around 3:30pm.  We caught a bus to the airport hotel and were pleasantly surprised when we saw our large room.  After dropping off our luggage, we walked across the road to the outlet mall to look for a wallet (I'm calling it my 'Canadian wallet' as I will use it when I come to Canada so that I don't have to change my wallet over every time I travel).  There are so many nice wallets out in the stores here, but I wanted one like I bought in Canada which has a wrist strap on it.  We went into this store and asked if they had wrist straps for sale (the girl gave me an extra one she had in the back) and then I happened to find a really nice wallet at the same store - leather and at a good price!

My new 'Canadian' wallet

Dad and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching tv.  It was so nice not to have anything to do.  This morning, we got up early to take advantage of the buffet breakfast which was included with the price of the room.  It was a great hot and cold buffet and there was everything there you can imagine (except for waffles).

The flight home was uneventful (all 40 minutes of it) and Rob, our shuttle driver, was there to pick us up.  It turned out that he had overbooked and so his wife, Bernie, came to drive us home along with another couple.  After dropping them off first, we were going to be dropped off next - then Bernie got a call from Rob saying that she needed to do the pick-up at a hotel.  She asked us if we minded going to the hotel and then to the airport before taking us home.  We were quite okay to do that - we had had such a short flight and so were not tired.  It was good to finally get home, though - we are hoping for a nice relaxing week.  We still have no idea where/when Dad will be going next, but we will just take things as they come.