Sunday, 7 October, 2018

This week, Dad started on the POC (Practical on Course) portion of the training.  Dad spent his time with the guys half in the classroom and half at the airplane on the ramp.  They discussed and practiced various jobs and troubleshooting that they will be required to do when working on the airplane.  They also spent time learning how to access and use the various manuals they will need to use to do this work. 

I continued on with my walking back and forth to the gym and going to my classes.  Monday was a holiday here (although Dad still had to work), so I didn't get to go to my 'Body Balance' class, which was disappointing.  I also spent the second half of the week doing some serious socializing! :-)

This week, we booked a second cruise - this one will be over Christmas and New Year's.  It is a 16 day cruise on Norwegian Cruise Lines.  It starts in Sydney, makes a few stops in Australia (including one in Tasmania which we are really looking forward to) and then heads over to New Zealand making a number of stops there before heading back to Sydney.  We have never been on a Norwegian ship before so it will be interesting to see how it compares to other cruise lines we have been on.

We went out on Friday and yesterday to celebrate Dad's birthday.  We each had an iced chocolate on Friday when Dad got home from work (yummy!!!).  Then, yesterday, we had dinner at our favourite restaurant here (the 'Cock and Bull') so that Dad could have a really nice, big, delicious steak (I had the kid's sized spaghetti).  After dinner, we picked up a chocolate mudcake and ice-cream for dessert.  We each had a piece of the mudcake, put the rest in the fridge and then took it to church today and gave it to the sister missionaries (they were really grateful). :-) 

 Lunch out with the girls from my Aquafit class (Meredith, Pam and me)

My iced chocolate as an appetizer :-)

 Pam asked me on Friday if I would like to join her and her husband as they took a friend out for lunch in a town called Mareeba which is about an hour from Cairns - Pam thought I would enjoy the drive up and back and also seeing a new place I had not been to before - she was right - this sign above was at the restaurant we went to eat at

 Cute metal animals at the restaurant

The order number for our food at the restaurant

My second iced chocolate of the week

At the restaurant: me, Maria, Bill and Pam

 Views from Henry Ross Lookout on the way back to Cairns from Mareeba

Cable Waterskiing Park - cable skiing is a way to waterski, in which the waterskiers rope and handle are pulled by an electrically-driven cable

Dad with his birthday iced chocolate

Lunch out on Saturday with the girls from Aquafit again - Nancy, me, Pam and Meredith - Nancy couldn't come on Thursday, so she joined us on Saturday

My fourth iced chocolate of the week (eek!)

The view from the restaurant where we ate lunch

Sunday, 30 September, 2018

This was our third week in Cairns with two more to go.  This week,  Dad had two new students from Adelaide join the course (just for this week to learn about the engine of this plane).  On Wednesday, Garth, another QAC instructor, came up to teach the avionics theory portion of the course to the two guys who Dad has been teaching all along and Dad took the two guys from Adelaide and did the practical portion of the engine with them.  For the next two weeks, Dad will be working again with the original two students and they will be doing the practical part of the course.

I continued on at the gym and went to all six classes.  The Wednesday 'Body Pump' class was really difficult and if that had been my introduction to it, I might not have gone back.  However, Friday's class was better, so I will stay with it.  I am glad that there is a really good gym near where will be staying in Brisbane for seven weeks starting two weeks after this course ends so that I can continue on with my fitness goals.  Too bad my two friends I have made here can't come with me to Brisbane. 😀

Yesterday, Dad and I went for a walk along the foreshore of Cairns.  It was such a beautiful walk - it was a lovely warm day and there were many people out and about down by the water.  No-one was in the water - it was low tide, but also there are stingers and crocodiles around.  The city has built a great area down by the water which has a large wading pool, play area and cafes.  We enjoyed our time out in the sunshine.

We booked a cruise this week for our 60th birthdays.  It's on a cruise line we haven't been on before (P & O), so we'll see how it goes.  It's going up the east coast of Australia and we've already been to the places it will dock at, but we aren't going for the destination, we're going for the relaxation.

Me under a cool looking tree we saw on our walk along the foreshore 

Dad sitting on a guard rail dividing the boardwalk from the beach (at low tide)

The wading pool (they call it the Lagoon) so people can swim in it without worrying about stingers and crocodiles

Our 'end of the month treat' - another helping of 'Death By Chocolate' - so good - mmmmmm!!!

Sunday, 23 September, 2018

Another week down here in Cairns and three more to go.  Dad’s course continued to go well this week and both guys passed the second exam.

My week has been the same as the previous weeks here in Cairns. I have made two friends at the gym and they both go to all the classes I go to.  Pam is from the state of Victoria and Eve lives here in Cairns.  It’s really nice having some people to talk with and socialize with while I am here - it makes it so much nicer.  Pam is leaving Cairns the day before Dad and I do, so Eve will be sad when we leave, she says.  Pam, who is 72, encouraged me to try the ‘Body Pump’ class this week and so I did on Wednesday and then again on Friday.  It’s mostly working with a barbell and free weights.  It is really hard and you can tell how hard I have worked in the class by the amount of sweat on me. :-). Although it’s not my favourite class, for sure, I know from my readings how important it is to do strength training and so I will continue to do the classes and just be exhausted at the end of each one. :-)

I began on my ‘journey to good health’ on 6 August (when we got to Cairns the first time we were here) and it’s going really well.  When we got back to Hervey Bay after our first stint here in Cairns, I weighed myself and I had lost 11 pounds. We don’t have a scale here, so I don’t know how much I have lost since coming back to Cairns, but I know that I must be losing weight as my clothes are fitting much better.  It’s quite exciting!

I have been listening to podcasts on my iPod while I walk back and forth to the gym.  The one I am listening to now is a weight loss one where the host interviews people about their weight loss journey.  I am learning a lot of things as I listen.  One of the things that this host has mentioned a few times is that, in her experience, it’s much harder to maintain a weight loss than it is to lose the weight in the first place.  She also says that however we are going on our weight loss journey (in relation to what we eat and the exercise we do), we must be able to maintain once we have reached our desired weight. Dad and I have been doing really well on our eating plan and we do believe that we can eat this way for the rest of our lives.  We are eating normal food, just in smaller portions.  We also only have treats once in a blue moon.

Me with my half of our pork rib dinner

Me with my half of the 'bangers and mash' dinner - I took half of my sausage home for Dad to have for lunch tomorrow

We went for a walk along one of the main streets and came across this cute bench - we love the art work

Sunday, 16 September, 2018

At the risk of sounding repetitive, this week was pretty much the 'same old, same old' from when we were in Cairns for the four weeks before our week at home last week.

Dad's course is going well here in Cairns.  He only has two students on this part of the course, so he thought it would be a short day every day (less students equals less questions), but there is so much info to cover during the course that his days have been between 7 and 8 hours long.  The guys had an exam on Friday and both passed, so that was a relief!

I continued on with my gym routine (Body Balance and Aquafit) and started with some weight work this week.  There are a couple of ladies I have made friends with here who also go to the gym six days a week.  One of them has encouraged me to try a 'Body Pump' class this coming Wednesday which works with weights, so I'm going to give it a go.  I don't have a scale here and it's annoying as I don't know how much weight I'm losing.  But, I'm still determined to keep going and, hopefully when we get home from Cairns, I will see the fruits of my labours on the scale.

 View from our balcony where we are staying in Cairns

Dad's portion of our meal (he had already eaten some :-) which we had last night (Meat Lovers' Chicken with french fries and salad)

Sunday, 9 September, 2018

What a crazy, busy week it's been!!!  We are used to this, though, as it's always the way it is when we come back home and have a limited time here.  We got a call from Sarah (QAC office manager) this past Wednesday and she asked Dad if he was sitting down - then, she proceeded to tell him that things had changed as to the location of this next course and we were no longer going to Adelaide, but instead we're going back to Cairns.  Good thing we are so flexible, eh? :-)

This was our week: Dad - doctor, chiropractor, dentist, haircut, general errands and lots of prepping for the upcoming course.  Me: afternoon tea with Luise, Aquafit class (x2), lunch with Robyn, afternoon tea with Robyn and Haidi (a friend who used to live in HB, moved back to Wales, but was back visiting HB), afternoon tea with Bronwyn, chiropractor, massage, doctor, facial and lunch at Leanne's (friend from church who is also a teacher).  Phew!

Iced chocolate with my teacher friend, Luise

Iced chocolate all around with Robyn, me and Haidi

My third iced chocolate this week when I went out with Bronwyn - she doesn't like getting her picture taken :-)

We flew up to Cairns yesterday and are staying at a new place as the previous place we were staying in was booked up.  We actually like this apartment better than the previous one - nicer apartment, better stocked and better location (in the downtown area).  We will be here for five weeks (unless things change ).  

Sunday, 2 September, 2018

Another course down for Dad and it was definitely a success.  Everybody passed and everyone was happy about the instructor and his experience.  :-).

My week was 'same old, same old' - Aquafit classes, Body Balance class, lots of walking each day and knitting group.  After Aquafit class on Tuesday, a few of us in the class went out for morning tea as both myself and another lady were leaving this week.  I tried an iced chocolate at the little cafe we went to (it was okay) and we had a nice time chatting with each other.

Iced chocolate from when I went out with the girls from Aquafit

This was our lunch on the Friday before we left Cairns - our end of month treat - 'Death By Chocolate' - so delicious!!!

Me and Dad in front of the serviced apartments where we stayed in Cairns

Dad and I flew back to Hervey Bay yesterday and today received a lovely welcome back at church - it's always so nice to come home. :-)

Sunday, 26 August, 2018

This week was pretty much the same as last week.  Dad's first course here in Cairns finished up on Friday.  This was the practical part of the course and they were fortunate to have access to the plane for three out of the five days - the rest of the days were spent in the classroom using the simulator.  The simulator, which runs off a special laptop, is able to simulate problems which might occur on the airplane and allows the students to follow and perform, via the computer, the troubleshooting steps which need to be taken to fix the problem.  This allows the students to learn how to troubleshoot issues and allows Dad to observe that the students have learned how to fix the airplane without having to actually work on a real airplane.

I continued on with my Aquafit and Body Balance classes and attended my knitting group on Friday.  I asked one of the leaders of the group to help me out with a crochet pattern which she was able to do.  It's for a lap blanket which I had made previously, but I couldn't remember how to begin the pattern - it's been ages since I crocheted my first lap blanket.  I want to be able to crochet a second lap blanket while we are in our next city (Adelaide) for Dad's work.

Dad and I went geocaching yesterday - we just did one cache which turned out to be on the edge of a cemetery.  It was very easy to find and we were able to drop off two travel bugs and pick one up which was in the cache.

Wednesday's meal: Our lamb shanks dinner - this is how large the dinner is and why Dad and I share each meal :-)

Saturday's meal: Our Mexican Chicken Parmiagana meal - this is one of our two favourites at this restaurant

When Dad and I were walking down the mall yesterday, we came upon a display by the 'Cancer Council' - this was one of their fundraising drives where you can purchase items and the money goes to cancer research - we bought a pen and were given this beautiful daffodil as well