It has been far too long since I last posted. So for now, I will mostly post photos and captions. While Dave has been working I have volunteered with numerous projects and taken advantage of various things life in the city has to offer. The weather here has turned cooler, much like a Whidbey summer. We are enjoying wearing jumpers and socks again. As such, hiking and camping is more enticing. It also helps that the wind is dead and thus kiting is not feasible. I will endeavour to post again before our return to the states at the end of July. Cheers to more adventure!
Many of my days are spent here with this collection of Queensland history.
The Museum of Brisbane put out a call for people to come build cardboard constructions. I figured why not. The pieces from the community were included in an installation by Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan at the Museum of Brisbane.
The installation opened a few months later and I found my piece!
Another view.
We get really nice sunsets from our balcony. No filters used.
And we can't stop making pasta. Too easy. Too tasty.
A fun jaunt to Cedar Grove for a day of launches by the Queensland Rocket Society.
A typical Australian sausage sizzle. Also known as a snag in a rag.
From Cedar Grove we drove around Tamborine Mountain and discovered more flying objects. It was quite impressive to see the number of paragliders in the thermals. We probably watched at least a dozen and a half launch.
We FINALLY set up our guest room.
Cause we had our first guests! We welcomed Dre & John from London.
This image captures jet lag.
Having visitors meant another trip to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Normally this cassowary is quite reclusive, but on this day he granted us a closeup.
Some serious dinosaur side-eye.
The ever noisy lorikeets. At Lone Pine they have lorikeet feedings where you get swarmed by hundreds of these birds. You also can't hear yourself talk. The scaly breasted lorikeet is on the left and the rainbow lorikeet on the right.
A good picture of my favourite bird, the tawny frogmouth (Photo courtesy of John).
I worked up the courage to touch the emu! (Thanks John, for this picture)
Dave took a trip to Adelaide for work. So John, Dre, and I grilled some roo burgers on the roof. Verdict: quite tasty.
Golden Orb spiders at the Mount Coot-Tha Botanical Gardens (20 min walk from the apartment).
Dave had a meeting in Sydney. So we made a weekend of it!
On Saturday we took a ferry across Sydney Harbour to Manly.
The view of Sydney from North Head (above Manly). Now a park, it was once a Quarantine Station and later a military post.
Sunday we headed to Cockatoo Island. It was used as both a convict precinct and later as a shipbuilding facility.
I volunteered for a bike race- Tour de Brisbane. These guys are professional racers waiting for the start.
A weekend hike with friends in Main Range National Park, southeast of Brisbane.
Vegetation and topography.
So many questions.
Dave went to Darwin for 5 weeks. So I took over the dining room table.
A day later.
In May I volunteered with the Brisbane Street Art Festival. I spent a day with this mural and the artist SATR from China.
Chasing beauty.
Sheep Chen is an artist from China. The gold coloured symbols were used to map the face onto the facade.
Adding colour.
Some street art temporary walls. On the left is Sisters Inside- using the aboriginal flag as a background. Tina Tran is in the middle and long time street artist Lucks is working on the bunnies.
I went back to the International Education Services building. Sheep Chen is further along and Melbourne artist Adnate had just started.
Lucks finished work. Fun fact: a gallery that was off to the right had a Lucks canvas for sale in the window for over $2k.
One of the largest poinsettias I have ever seen.
Balcony gardening. We had to wage a substantial battle against ants that decimated our chilli plant.
I told you. Sunsets from our apartment tend to be pretty.
And spectacular.
Dave returned from Darwin so we took a walk. An 8k (5 mi) walk to Felons Brewing Co. In the background is the Story Bridge over the Brisbane River. Adventuresome souls can climb the superstructure.
And then we decided to road trip! With a very loose plan we headed north to explore more of Queensland. Above is sunrise on the Inskip Peninsula. The stars the night before were fantastic. We spotted the Big Dipper, Orion, the Southern Cross, Leo, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, etc.
The Carlos Sand Blow south of Inskip point. I am the tiny dot.
This wharf at Hervey Bay was a bit longer than the one in Coupeville. At approximately 880 metres, it is over a half mile long.
The infamous Bundaberg Rum Distillery. Side note, Bundaberg is very reminiscent of the Tri-Cities in Washington. A major agricultural centre and not much else.
The Bundaberg Brewed Drinks show room.
The exterior. We tasted all 17 flavours of soft drink and brought some home.
I am terrible at selfies. Particularly when being bit by a bird. This was taken at our campsite in the Horizons Kangaroo Sanctuary.
Queensland scenery. Lots of trees and lots of cows.
A taste of Oregon while camping at Coochin Creek.
The start of our hike in the Glass House Mountains.
More.
The aptly named paperbark trees (Melaleuca quinquenervia).
Another aptly named flower- the bottlebrush.
Ancient lava flows.
We climbed Mount Beerburrum. It had a paved road that mostly went directly up with very few switchbacks. Interesting to note is that most of the forests below the peak are tree farms. You can see a few controlled burns clearing out the understory. The smoke was reminiscent of summer on Whidbey when surrounding areas are burning.
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