Adventures in Hervey Bay

Sunday, 9 December, 2018

This week was Dad's first week of practical training for his course. He still does a lot of teaching in the classroom and this week, they were able to go and get some hands-on experience at the airplane three of the five days.

I continued on with my Aquafit, Body Pump, Yoga and Body Balance classes at the gym.

I forgot to mention last week about our advent calendar which I made last year, but didn't get to use until this year. I really love it! It's made with a 24 mini muffin pan. I found 24 pictures of the story of Jesus and glued them onto magnets. Inside each muffin hole is a scripture which we read each night. It's been great to put so much of a focus on Jesus Christ each day of December leading up to Christmas Day.

My advent calendar

This evening, we went to a fantastic performance at the Kangaroo Point chapel which is right next to the Brisbane Temple. The Christmas musical celebration included two community choirs led by a wonderful director (with a fabulous pianist and organist) and an actor (woman) who narrated a story about her family's traditions growing up and what they do now mixed with the stories of how some carols came to be. It was just incredible and it really helped us be in the mood for the real 'reason for the season'.

Program for the Christmas Musical Celebration which was held in the chapel

Outside the chapel were various groups performing Christmas musical numbers (this group was made up of young adults)

This group singing in front of the Brisbane Temple was made up of Samoan members

Dad and me in front of some of the beautiful flowers on the Temple grounds

Sunday, 02 December, 2018

It was so good to be home this week and, as usual, it was full of appointments (chiro and facial) and social engagements, as well as my two Aquafit classes. Dad and I also went kayaking for the first time. (we bought the kayaks about 1 1/2 years ago) and we absolutely loved it! We took them down to a quiet part of the beach and just paddled close to shore for about 45 minutes. We can't wait to get them back in the water again and for a longer time.

The tide was so high that the waves were coming over the breakwall - we were walking along the foreshore from the chiropractor's to the pier

Me with my double gelato (chocolate and passionfruit) at a new store in town - so yummy! Reminded Dad and me of the gelato we bought in Rome...

Dad kayaking

Me kayaking

My friend, Maureen, with our iced chocolates - we went out for lunch and had lasagna with chips and salad (child's size) along with our drinks - mmmm!

Our view from the restaurant where Maureen and I ate lunch ('Cafe Balaena') - it was quite a grey day, but was warm with a nice breeze

Robyn and I went to 'Sundaes at the Pier' (the same place Dad and I had our gelatos) and we got gelatos for morning tea - we took our gelatos across the road by the beach and sat and chatted for a while - then, we went back to the gelato place and ordered lunch - with the obligatory iced chocolates, of course :-)

We had the missionaries (Elder Gilbert from Utah and Elder Boenari from Malaysia) and Robyn over for dinner this week, too - we made it really easy, though, since we were so busy - roast chicken (from the store) with salads (from the store) with a mudcake and ice-cream (from the store) :-)

Sunday, 25 November, 2018

This week (during the week) was pretty much the same as the previous weeks. Dad's theory portion of the course finished up this week with all the guys passing the final exam - phew! Harry will teach next week for the avionics portion of the theory part of the course, so we have a week off coming up - Dad is looking forward to that.

I continued on with my exercise classes, walking 10,000 steps each day and knitting coasters.

On Thursday, I met up with my Aunt Beth (Poppy's youngest sister) at a local coffee shop - 'The Coffee Club' (where they sell the best iced chocolates). Aunt Beth lives in Brisbane so we try to catch up with each other whenever Dad and I are in town. Aunt Beth and I get along so well and we had a lovely time chatting over lunch (we spent 3 1/2 hours there).

Aunt Beth and me at 'The Coffee Club'

Yesterday, we drove back to Hervey Bay and it is so good to be home. We have a chiro appointment this coming week, but that's it for Dad, so he will be spending a lot of time relaxing. I, of course, have Aquafit classes to go to and friends to catch up with, so I will be a busy girl. 😊

Sunday, 18 November, 2018

Well, this week was pretty much the same as last week. Dad's course continues to go well with all the guys passing the two exams Dad gave them. One of the exams was quite hard and a few of the guys just made the passing grade. One more week to go for Dad in this theory portion of the course and then we get to go home for a week.

I continued on with my exercise classes at the gym and walking to Dad's work each day to get in my 10,000 steps. I also did a bit of knitting (baby hats for the hospital) and some crocheting (coasters for Christmas bags we are giving to some widows in a nursing home in Hervey Bay).

Me after my 'Body Balance' workout at the gym

Preemie baby hats for the hospital (I need to have someone else sew the back seam up as they need to be done a special way)

Crocheted coaster for the Christmas bags for seniors

While we were at the mall one day, we made a wonderful purchase. When I was at the mall with Dawn last week, I happened to notice a bunch of lovely prints of giraffes. So, when I went with Dad after that, I showed him the stall where the prints were. I wanted to get a large one, but we decided that we just didn't have room in our house for one that big, so I 'settled' for three small ones. I am slowly building up my giraffe mementos. :-)

My three adorable giraffe prints

Yesterday, Dad and I went geocaching again and had another great day outside. We managed to find three out of four of the geocaches. When we got home and Dad was inputting the info into the geocache website, he happened to be reading the logs of the first geocache which we couldn't find. He found out that we were looking in the right place, but were not looking high enough. We are going to go back and try to find that one next weekend.

View of the park and surrounds where we found one of our geocaches

Interesting branch/root formations in an area where we found one of our geocaches

Sunday, 11 November, 2018

This week was pretty much the same as last week with a few minor changes.

Dad's course went well again this week. It is full-on with these guys as there are a lot of inexperienced mechanics on the course and that means that, at every break and lunch, there is always a line-up of guys wanting clarification of things Dad has been teaching them or they have questions about the information they have been learning about. Dad is pretty tired by the time he gets home each day, but at least he has taught this course so often now that he doesn't have as much preparation to do each night as he has had to do on previous courses. The guys had an exam on Friday and they all passed. Dad does a review of the questions anyone got wrong, though, and that took up a fair bit of time on Friday after the exam.

My week was taken up with my gym classes that I attended last week and I started another one this week called 'Body Pump' - it's hard work (we work with weights). but I love it as I am getting stronger and building my muscles. I also kept up with walking my 10,000 steps each day, so I am pretty pleased about that.

On Thursday, I ditched my Pilates class (I am not fond of that class, so I didn't mind missing that one :-) and met up with my friend, Dawn (Dad's boss's wife) at a local mall. I met her at morning tea time and so I had to have my iced chocolate (she is the one who turned me on to those a few years ago) and it was as delicious as usual. We had a lovely time chatting for ages before we got up and did a bit of walking since she knew that I wanted to get in my 10,000 steps. After our walk, we had lunch and then did some more walking around the mall before we went home. I always enjoy getting together with Dawn - we always have a nice time together.

Dawn in front of a beautiful water fountain outside where many of the mall eateries are

Dawn and I enjoying our 'morning tea' (me with my iced chocolate :-)

On Friday night, we went to the Temple - it was so nice being able to get in a session there. We always love going to the Temple and being able to do the work for someone who has passed on. It is so peaceful in there - it's great to feel calm and be able to focus on the things we learn in there to help us to be become closer to our Heavenly Father and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Dad and I in front of the Brisbane Temple before we went in to do a session

Me enjoying another iced chocolate (which Dad and I shared) at dinner at 'Cafe 63' after the Temple

On Saturday, we met up with our friend, Niles, who is also an instructor with QAC. Whenever we are in Brisbane (which isn't that often), we try to get together with Niles. We met him at 'Cafe 63' (our 'go to' place for a meal when we are in Brisbane) and had a great 3 hour chat over lunch. It's always nice to catch up with Niles - he is very easy to talk with.

Niles, me and Dad at 'Cafe 63' for lunch

Sunday, 4 November, 2018

Dad's week has gone really well at work. He is teaching 19 guys on this Fokker 100 course. This is the largest class he has had in a while and they are asking lots of good questions which Dad is pleased about. They had their first exam this past Friday and all passed - yay!

I joined up at the local gym again (I went there last time we were staying in Brisbane) and it's been great so far this week. I went to Aquafit three times, Pilates, Senior's Circuit and Body Balance. All of the instructors are fabulous and even though some of the classes are challenging, I enjoy getting stronger and fitter. :-) Next week, I will also begin taking Body Pump and Yoga.

On Tuesday, I met up with Robyn in the city - she was here to attend a church activity that evening, so we decided to use her time during the day to get together and hang out. We spent most of our day sitting on the city ferry cruising up and down the Brisbane River. It was a lovely warm day, beautiful scenery and great conversation.

Robyn standing beside a very large bush in the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane

Loads of motorcycles parked near the Brisbane River

Below: photos taken from the Brisbane River ferry (the City Cat - it's a form of transit for Brisbane - it costs the same as one trip on the train or bus in Brisbane)

Spire from the Brisbane Temple

Beautiful Jacaranda trees in bloom

A selfie of Robyn and me on the ferry

Can you see the Ibis bird on the table - they are scavenger birds (sometimes called 'bin birds') and they love being around any type of food - they will climb on tables in parks and outdoor restaurants just waiting for a crumb to be thrown to them or for people to leave so that they can eat the leftovers

Robyn in the walkway we took to get back to the place where she was staying in Brisbane

Yesterday, I took a final exam for the online course I have been taking for the past two months. It was called 'Lose Weight and Keep It Off'. It was an interesting course and I learned a lot. I got an A+ on the final exam. :-) I plan on taking some more courses online in the future.

Yesterday afternoon, Dad and I went geocaching at Mount Coot-tha (really a big hill) and we found two out of two geocaches (yay us!). We were hoping to pick up a travel bug in one of them, but it was gone even though no-one had logged it as having taking it out. We also dropped a travel bug in each of the geocaches. Another fun day treasure hunting! :-)