Leaving Brisbane!

So thats us away from Brisbane, we hired a Toyota Yaris for a week and headed up towards Bowen were we met Carol who was a great host and lives in a beatiful place called Rose Bay in Bowen.

Before we left we needed to get a good last view of Brisbane so we went up to Mt Coot Tha to get some nice photos and then we went in the direction of Rainbow Beach

Motorshow!

I (Niall) was delighted to learn that the Brisbane motorshow was being held in the convention center just across the street from us, so i had to drag Zara there just to see here jumping around as soon as she saw the toyota stand:

She could already see herself driving around in the brand new Rav 4!

But i also found the car of my dreams :-)

Weekend with John!

John and Robyn always made us feel very welcome, lovely barbies and not to forget Johns great home brew :-) and we had a great guided tour around the sunshine coast.

John looking after the pool in Buderim

We also had a drive around the coast in the Mits Pajero, that john lent us for the day.

A good view of Moloolaba and Maroochydore.

Weekend in the Getz

We hired a Hyundi Getz for the weekend and on Saturday we headed up to Mount Mee (north of Brissy) and visited Brisbane Forest and Fresh Water Sanctuary, and a Deer farm on the way, some beautiful scenery and it was suprisingly green in places.

On Sunday we headed south of Brissey and went through Beenleigh Historical Village on the way to Mount Tamborine one of the wine making areas where we did a forest walk and a couple of wine tastings!!

Australia day!!

We were lucky enough to be in Australia to celebrate Australia day. We went to the free party at Southbank,where there was everything from face painting to free concerts, and of course, lots of Australian flags!!!

Moreton Island day 2

• Our second day on the island was a bit more relaxing, we discovered a few beautiful spots and beaches ...

We even went for a swim in a beautiful natural jacuzzi!! :

The nature was very generous with us during that weekend, after the big sea turtle we saw a huge goanna just in the campsite, and even saw a few dolphins before we left the island.

But snorkling in the shipwrecks was magic, so many fish, so close and so many bright colours, can't wait to go on the reef!

After our last lunch on the beach it was time to get the ferry back to the mainland, snifff, always too short :-(

A little taste of paradise....

• Last year on the 22nd of January Zara took me out for a walk at the Glenariff forest in Northern Ireland, it was our first date! To celebrate our year together we went for a 4wd weekend on the 3rd largest sand island in the world:
  
  
  
  

• Our journey started saturday morning at 6.45 when a taxi was booked to take us to the ferry, our driver Nelson helped us to wake up with some nice samoan music. We got on the ferry after all the big 4wd's and got a cup of tea to keep us going for the two hour cruise that finally took us to Moreton island. The island is 98% national park, protecting the flora, fauna, sandy coastline, freshwater lakes, wetlands and forests. Moreton is 38 km long and 19,000 ha in area. It is one of the largest sand islands in the world.

• Once landed we met our guide and driver Sol (pronounce soul), so the 9 of us jumped in the Land cruiser of we went to " THE DESERT", a huge dune in the south of the island where everybody comes to experience Sandboarding (or sandeating depending of your skills :-)

• The whole first day was a bit of a rush because in our group there was a family of 3 that were only staying 1 day and they had to be back at the ferry for 3.30, so after the sand boarding we headed to the Blue Lagoon campsite and went for a dip in the freshwater lake, crystal clear and 25deg. water, delightfull!

• Once we got rid of the sand stuck everywhere, we had our first lunch with the group of New Caledonian teenagers that Sol and his girlfriend Isa were trying to look after. Then we went to the north of the island where you can find the oldest lighthouse in Queensland, on the beach track going north we were very lucky to spot a big sea turtle going for a swin after having laid her eggs.

HAPPY NEW YEAH!!! BONNE ANNEE 2007!!

2007 has started slowly, we went to South bank parklands with our Scottish Andrew on New years eve, it was packed with 100 000 people! It was a great night out, 2 great fireworks and lots of Dj's and just a little beer and Champagne... :-( So our first day of 2007 was spent on the streets beach with a very sore head.
It just took us ( or just Niall) a couple of days to recover form that one!! And since it has been very quiet, back to work and getting ready for our next trip which will be Moreton Island one of the largest sand islands in the world!

Christmas Holidays Down Under

Its the Christmas weekend - Can't believe how time flies. We didn't do anything too exciting the last couple of weekends, just rented DVD's and went to the cinema to see the new James Bond film.

So on the Saturday before Christmas we just went down to Streets Beach in Southbank, came back to the apartment got showered and headed back down to Southbank to watch a beautiful fireworks display before eating some fish and chips whilst sitting on a picnic rug watching an openair movie - a really brilliant experience - except we didn't take any pictures.

On Sunday (Christmas Eve) we headed down the Gold Coast to Dream World where we spent a full day walking around the park, looking at the animals, watching some shows and going on some of the thrill rides - although I watched Niall on most of them!!!!! Great day













Christmas day!!! So strange it was about 27C and the sun was shinning - we headed down to the Gold Coast again but this time to Surfers Paradise!!!







After a picnic on the beach and a hard days sunbathing we headed back to Brisbane for a nearly traditional "Chicken" Dinner -



Definately a Christmas with a difference - but I would definately prefere a good old Northern Irish Christmas with my family any day!!!!

Boxing day was quiet - it rained all day!!!!

In Oz

We have finally arrived in Austalia. We were very kindly collected from the airport by John (Henry) who is a family friend - infact he was my Mum and Dads bestman!!! And we stayed with John for the first couple of weeks out at his house in the surburb of Birkdale.

On our first weekend we went up to Buderim with John and also met his partner Robyn, - we had a wonderful weekend and visited the beach at Noosa - beautiful. And a big thanks to John and Robyn for their hospitality. Although they haven't seen the last of us yet!!!!


One of the first big attractions we vistited was "Australia Zoo" What a fantastic place.













We are going to settle down in Brisbane until March and then we hope to spend 3/4 weeks exploring the East coast of Australia before we start our homeward bound journey.

So far we have been in Brisbane now for about a month and a half and we love it. The weather is fantastic always between 24-32C and it very rarley rains.

We have managed to find a reasonable priced small apartment based in central Brisbane just between the areas of Southbank and Westend. We are about a 5 minute walk from the bus and train station. We are about a 20min walk from Queens Street which is the cities main shopping street, and a15 min walk to Streets Beach which is a little man made lagoon and beach in the Parklands at Southbank. To sum it up we are within walking distance of all of the main city attractions and if its too far to walk, we just catch the bus or the train!!

This is just across the road from where we live and there is a french bakery, a fresh supermarket, a cafe, arestaurant and an off license in this little area.

We are both working - Hip Hip Horay!!! Niall is working in a little coffee shop from 7/8am - 2/3pm Mon to Fri and has also been doing a few evening shifts at an Italian restaurant. I am doing admin temping. So far it has worked out well for me and the jobs i get can range from a days too 2 weeks work and i could be on reception or doing general admin stuff, although there have been a few days when i haven't managed to get work. The picture below is both of Nialls jobs - the red building with the trees is Raw (the cafe) and the 2nd building is The Fox which is where the restaurant is. It is literally just around the corner from the apartment.

By chance one day when we were looking for jobs we discovered a FREE concert in Queens Street Mall by the Lovely Westlife. Well I could hardly sleep for excitment the night before. It was Fab (Niall loved them too!!!) They were so close and soooo lovely and I actually got to meet them!!!!!


One day i accidently fell down the step just outside our apartment - Don't know what happened to me because i am usually not accident prone!!!!!! But it was sore - i hurt my big toe and 3 days later after a visit to the doctor and a hell of a lot of pain and..........

No more big toe nail!!!


Last weekend (1-3 Dec) was the 1st weekend that we managed to start really looking at the city ( up to now its been finding our feet and getting settled)

So Saturday we went to the museum (Which is just a 5 min from our apartment) and had great day and we then went for a Turkish dinner in Southbank.

Sunday we hired some roller blades and headed off through Southbank over the Goodwill Bridge, through the Botanic Gardens and over the Storey Birdge before we made out way back into the city - It was such a laugh, and one stage we were both lying on pavement in the middle of the City because I had fallen and then Niall laughed that hard he fell too!!!