Sunday, 29 April, 2018

It's been a busy week at home as it always is when we get home from being away.  It was full of appointments: chiro, facial, haircut for Dad and to the doctor (script renewal for Dad and getting an x-ray for me to check to see if I have a chest infection because my dry cough is still annoying me).  I also started up with my Aquafit and Tai Chi classes again.

Dad and I were out shopping on Monday and decided to stop in at the Coffee Club - I had tried their mini pavlova and really wanted Dad to try them.  The deal included a drink and so we both got an iced chocolate along with the pavlova - so so yummy!
Dad with his iced chocolate and our pavlovas - he ordered a mixed berry and mine was passionfruit

On Wednesday, we took Robyn out for lunch to the Boat Club Cafe.  Robyn always collects our mail and parcels, but this time she went above and beyond having to drive to Maryborogh (30 minutes from HB) to get a package for Dad.  I always take her out for lunch when we get back to say thanks for picking up our mail, etc., but this time I told Dad that we should both take Robyn out and take her somewhere a little nicer for her going the extra mile.  The meals were all yummy and it was a wonderful day to sit out by the water to enjoy our food (and iced chocolates).
 Dad and me at the little cafe at the Boat Club - we took Robyn (below) here to say thank you for all she does taking care of our house and our mail while we are awaty

On Friday, Dad and I went out to Hogsbreath Cafe for lunch.  While we were in Perth, Garth (the instructor from QAC who was with us in Perth) gave us a gift certificate for Hogsbreath, but we didn't get a chance to use it there, so we decided to use it Friday for a delicious meal - they had a special on: appetizer, main meal, and dessert for $30. - that left some money over for some nice drinks.  

 Cheers to Garth - we toasted Garth at Hogsbreath
Our dessert - a very yummy Rocky Road sundae

I took Dad to the airport on yesterday morning to send him off to Melbourne - he will be teaching there for a week - I will pick him up next Saturday and then we will head to Brisbane on Sunday.  After I dropped him off, I met up with my friend, Luise for afternoon tea.  Another iced chocolate and a lovely catch-up with a good friend.
Me and Luise at 'Happy Days' enjoying our drink (me with an iced chocolate, of course!)

Sunday, 22 April, 2018

This was our last week in Perth - it seems like those eight weeks went really fast!  The rest of Dad's practical part of the course went well and everyone was happy with Dad's instructing and knowledge of the airplane.

On Monday night, I suggested to Dad that we go to the Belmont Tavern for their ribs special for dinner - they were the yummiest we have tasted in a long time.

Our ribs meal which we shared - definitely enough for two!

I continued with my exercise classes and also met with a personal trainer to discuss how my strength training exercises have been going.  Brendan (the personal trainer) gave me a few more exercises I can do when I am travelling and don't have access to a gym.  

On Friday, I went to the knitting/crocheting group at the Senior's Centre and showed them my finished lap blanket - they were all duly impressed!  It is actually a very easy pattern, but it looks like it is more difficult than it is.  All I have left to do now is to sew in all the loose threads.

Yesterday, we met up with our friends, Rosalea end Rob.  They used to live in Hervey Bay and we have kept in touch with them since they returned to Perth a number of years ago.  We met up at a local hotel for lunch which boasted about their ribs.  It turned out that the ribs were nothing to speak of and we were quite disappointed with our meal.  However, I had bought a mudcake to celebrate Rosalea's birthday (Rob had been away at work and no-one had celebrated her birthday on the day, so I thought that it would be nice to take her out for her special day and have a cake as well).  The mudcake was delicious and Rosalea really enjoyed being spoiled.  It was nice to have another catch-up with Rosalea and Rob before we headed back home.

Me, Rob and Rosalea celebrating Rosalea's birthday - we also bought her the frog on the table - it's for her garden and it's a solar frog so it shines at night - she loved it!

We arrived home today after a long flight from Perth to Brisbane and then on to Hervey Bay.  The local shuttle company was waiting for us when we got to the HB airport and we were home in no time.  It's nice to be in our own home if only for a week (for Dad) and two weeks (for me).

Look what was waiting in the mail for me when we got home.,,,,,


Sunday, 15 April, 2018

Dad was back at work this week, but he really likes this part of the course as it's the hands-on practical part.  The students really enjoy this part, too, as it gets them out and looking at the actual airplane, learning how to use the airplane maintenance manuals and how to troubleshoot issues which might come up during their shift.  Garth joined Dad this week as he had to teach the electronics part of the practical.

I continued on with my exercise classes and had two knitting classes this week, as well.  In my first knitting group, one of the ladies showed me how to use four double pointed needles to knit something which would end up with no seam (I don't like sewing seams in my knitting projects).  She showed me how to knit a toque - I decided, however, that having to handle knitting with four needles was too finicky and it was easier to sew a seam up, so I ended up taking my knitting out once I got home.  But, at least I know how to do it now and if I want to knit a pattern badly enough with four needles, I can do it.  At my other knitting class, one of the ladies showed me how to start decreasing on the crocheting lap blanket I am making.  I am hoping to be able to finish the blanket this week, so the woman can show me how to complete the finished product on Friday before we leave Perth.
My crocheted blanket so far - I started the crocheting at the bottom of the triangle (bottom of the photo) and will now decrease starting along the dark blue stripe at the top of the picture

On Friday, I had my final meet-up with my friend, Thea.  We decided to make it an easy day: lunch, a ferry ride across the Swan River, a gelato and a ferry ride back - and, of course, lots of yakking. 😊
 Thea with her hot chocolate (lunch time) - the heart made on the top of the drink was so cool
My lunch (quiche and salad) along with the obligatory iced chocolate
 The ferry
 Me and Thea on the ferry
 A view from the ferry
 Setting up a for the '2018 Buddha's Birthday and Multicultural Festival'


 Me with my yummy gelato - two scoops: one chocolate (of course) and one sour cherry
 You can take a gondola ride on the Swan River
 Fountains (water park) near the ferry terminal
View from the return ferry ride

Yesterday, Dad and I met up with our friends, Rosalea and Rob (they used to live in Hervey Bay a number of years ago and we became good friends with them then and still keep in touch - whenever we are in Perth, we catch up with them, at least for a meal).  This time, we met up at a great Chinese restaurant - the food was fabulous and the company was lovely.  Dad had work to do at home, so I went over to Rosalea and Rob's to spend some time with them since we have only been able to meet up this one time while we have been here (they have been busy with moving houses).  It was really nice to be able to spend the whole afternoon catching up with them.
me, Rosalea, Rob and Dad at the Chinese restaurant

Sunday, 8 April, 2018

Dad had this week off from teaching while Garth taught the electronics part of the course.  It was nice for him to have some down-time after teaching for five weeks straight.  Even though Dad was not working, I still went to my exercise classes.  I didn't want to even take a week off since I have been doing so well at keeping up with them.  I did, however, skip my Tai Chi class on Wednesday and dad and I went geocaching for the day.  We were able to pick up a bunch more travel bugs to bring back to either Hervey Bay or Canada, so we were happy about that success.
 Great hiding spot - the geocache was actually part of the rock - the cache owner had drilled a hole in the bottom of the rock and put the cache container in the hole
 View from the path which led to the cache above
 Dad went geocaching on his own while I was at my Senior's Circuit exercise class - the first find is the little white pill bottle behind the metal box in the middle of this photo
 This geocache was really tricky - the container was magnetized to the bottom of that support rail (see photo below of the support rail)

 Another tricky geocache - this container below was inside the hand rail for a set of steps on a walking path - the container is sticking out of the hand rail in the above picture

 Dad and I went out for lunch after my class and his geocaching - we shared this yummy meat pie, mashed potatoes and peas lunch - delicious!
Dad and I went geocaching again after lunch and ended up having to go on quite a walk to find this one (700 metres each way) - it was bit of a difficult walk as a lot of the path to the geocache was sandy and we were wearing running shoes (instead of bare feet) as we were in the bush and you never know what creatures are lurking there 😳  The cache was a treasure trove of travel bugs as well, so it was well worth the walk

On Saturday, Garth said he was going to drive to a nice place called Hillary's Boat Harbour just for something to do and asked us if we would like to join him.  We thought it would be a nice day out and so off we went together.  It was a beautiful day, too - sunny, warm, blue skies - you know...the norm for here. 😊  We were even able to do a geocache with Garth - he wants to be able to do it with his kids, so we looked up where we could find one close to Hillary's and made that our final stop for the day.  After a bit of searching, I found it and then Dad found it and then Garth.  It even had a travel bug in it which was a bonus!
 Hillary's Boat Harbour



What is a day out without an iced chocolate

Sunday, 1 April, 2018

Another week down for Dad and it was the last week of theory for him - he was glad to be done this part of the course - five weeks is a long time to be teaching, Dad says.  I reminded him that we public school teachers taught for thirteen weeks in our first term with only two days off - he wasn't impressed. 😃  All the guys passed the final exam - phew!  Now Dad will have a week off while another instructor, Garth, teaches a week about avionics (the electronics part of the course).  Then, Dad and Garth will both teach for the following week and Dad will teach the final week on his own.

On Tuesday, after work, Dad went geocaching by himself.  We had tried to find this one cache near the airport previously and, even though we spent a long time searching for it, we just couldn't find it.  We really wanted to find this one as it had a couple of travel bugs in it and we wanted to help their owner move them along.  Dad contacted the owner of the cache, explained the situation and asked for a hint.  Using that info, he was able to find the cache and retrieve the travel bugs - success!
The cache container that was hidden really well in a bridge which went over a highway near the airport
A view of the bridge from the backside. The cache was hiding in the support for the light bar that lights up the side of the bridge structure

I continued on with my exercise classes and my strength training sessions at the gym this week.  Also this week was another meeting with the library knitting group - they were much more welcoming this week and one lady there even remembered me from last time we were here in Perth!  Another of the women was using four double pointed needles to knit a baby beanie and I asked her if she would show me how to do it next time we met to which she agreed.

On Wednesday, the sister missionaries from the ward we are attending here, came to visit with us at the house.  They just wanted a chance to get to know us a little better since we are visiting here for quite a while.  One of them is from Sydney and one is from Melbourne.  We had a lovely chat with them and then they left us with a spiritual message - the funny thing was that the message they left with us was from a passage of scripture I had just read that day in my scripture study. 😊  It's always nice to have the missionaries in our home as they bring such a sweet spirit with them.

On Thursday, I met up again with my friend, Thea.  She and her son, Jackson, had to drive to Fremantle which is about 20 minutes from their house to drop something off, so Thea asked me if I would like to join them for their appointment and then she and I would go off and leave Jackson to find his way home after he met up with some friends.  Fremantle is a really nice place - lots of beautiful architecture - and I enjoy going there.  We had a really nice time eating lunch at the 'Coffee Club' and chatting away the time.
 Thea with her mint milkshake (and lunch)
 Me with my iced chocolate (and lunch)
Our lunch dessert - a yummy passionfruit pavlova

Dad had the day off work on Friday as it was Easter Friday - he was so worn out from teaching the course that he just wanted a day off to do nothing - I didn't even get out of my jammies that day - having a 'day off' every once in a while is a nice way to rejuvenate.

After staying home all day Friday, it was time to get out and about yesterday and so we spent the day geocaching.  We searched for twelve geocaches and were able find all twelve!  It's been really good for geocaching in Perth - there are tons of caches out here. 
 Such a cute cache
 The cache owner put a small plastic container into this cute cache which held the log book, etc.
 This cache was slid into that pole - I am holding the top cap of the pole which was slid on top of the pole - very tricky, eh?
 Lunch time - we found this cute bench to sit on
 This was our view from the bench
Interesting gnarly rooted tree 
 
Cool bird standing on the bridge we had to walk over to get to a geocache