Happy Easter

Hey guys, it is time for another update of our ongoing Australian Adventure which closely resembles a normal life. The longer we stay here the less it feels like we are visiting. The weather is still fantastic as are the new people we have met. We have still been able to get out somewhere new each weekend which is great. So why don't I give you a rundown of what we have been up to...

A couple of weeks ago one of our friends competed in a mini-triathlon and we used our refined encouragement skills (not participation skills). It was a lot of fun and didn't take nearly as long as it does to cheer Scott on for one of his races. We got a photo of everyone at the end of the race.



We made the shirts the day before. We were the only ones dressed up so we stuck out a little bit but it was a lot of fun. I am hoping to corral that emotional high of watching lots of people cross the finish line to motivate me into running a 10km next month. I have said this before though so we will see.

This weekend we went to check out Mount Coot-tha lookout point (http://www.ourbrisbane.com/living/suburbs/mt_coot-tha/history/). The views were awesome and it made me realize that Brisbane is actually flat. I don't know why I thought otherwise but I just assumed that there were some hills. Even Mt. Coot-tha wasn't really a mountain. It was more like Hill Coot-tha. Lisa mentioned that it was a lot like Mount Royal in Montreal. I had to take her word for it. As usual, a couple of photos....





After the lookout we went over to the "Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary" (http://www.koala.net/index.htm) which ranks right up there with a trip to the aquarium. Those little fur balls are pretty cute. This place will definitely be added to the "Rick and Lisa - Tour of Brisbane" for all visitors. We will be purchasing a season pass to that place.





As proof that Koalas are irresistible to say no to, here is a picture of Marylin Manson (aka Brian Warner) holding a Koala....



They also had kangaroos and a few other animals there.





Overall....great trip, won't be the last.

Saturday included a massive dinner at a German restaurant that tested each of ours digestive capacity. I don't think I have ever seen a serving that big, it was huge and delicious.





Anyways, I am running out of things to write. Time to jet I guess. Write us with an update when you get a chance.

PS: Did you notice the joey in the kangaroo pouch (2nd kangaroo photo)?

I am a terrible blogger...sorry

Hey all,

First I am sorry that I have been a lame blogger. I realize I owe you all some info and some pictures, so here we go :)

OK, so here is a pic of the fake beach behind my house, it stretches further down and goes just beyond the corner. Its a bit of a cloudy day when I took the pic and no, I am not in the picture. I took it as I was walking home with my camera phone. Eventually when we go down to the beach, and when one of us does not go into the water, I will get a picture of one of us in the water.



Moving on, like Rick said before, we have finally got all of our furniture and have some art on the wall. A couple of things went wrong, of course, and so we are going to have our entertainment table replaced in a bit (they installed a shelf wrong and all the hardware is showing) and they didnt follow the specific specs of the couch so instead of getting a new couch, we are getting a second side table...which by the way, they were supposed to call me to organize delivery, and they have not....crap! I need to make a call.......

Ok, I am back, called the place and they thought I already had it! This sort of thing, by the way, has been the story of our lives! Arg! Anywho....I was promised a call back today with the delivery date and time, we will see if more heads have to roll, hehehehe.

We had a great time at surfers paradise! We ended up making our day trip into a overnighter and got to go to SeaWorld, the surfers paradise beach (where we got yelled at by lifeguards for swimming in the wrong place :) ), eat some good food, and look at the ridiculously expensive art (we thought we would get something for our place but when a place wants $250,000 for a sculpture, its time to leave). We got some sun (in a good way, while wearing 30plus sunscreen, Brisbane has scary skin cancer commercials). Here are some pics we took at Surfers and then some pics at SeaWorld.


This is me, right past the Surfers Paradise sign, standing in the essence of Surfers Paradise. It was a Monday, so it was quiet and really beautiful.









The famous Surfers sign, and if you look close that is me on the left, we had to take this picture from across the street. It would have been difficult to find someone that would not have taken off with our camera to take a picture of us both :)











At SeaWorld they have all these huge pools in the middle of the park were they have trainers working with Dolphins at different stages and randomly, they decided to put a giant boat in this one that does not really do anything :) And yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am wearing a sack dress and flip flops! HOWEVER, I believe in having a waist hence, the belt.







SHARK! hehehehe. They have a HUGE shark exhibit and this giant one decided to come after me (through the glass) so I took a picture :)




Ricks homage to Pete...
Pete, just for you! (and maybe a little for Mitz, Ron and Jennifer :))














This is Ricks first time driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the street, he did a great job! Everyone was safe and sound. By the way, everyone should get a GPS when renting a car in a city you dont know, no maps...just follow the arrow...lovely!

We have been invited to go to Fraser Island on Mar 29&30 but we are still deciding if we are going to go. Fraser Island is just off the eastern coast, about 3 hours north of Brisbane. It is known for this amazing lake called Lake Mckenzie. It has super fine white sand and clear blue water without all the downfalls of the ocean, for example, no deadly jelly fish, rips, sand EVERYWHERE b/c of the waves, and of course no sharks. We of course will keep you in the loop and let you know.

Oh, a random story for you all. So a week or so ago I am down in the parking garage taking out the trash and I see, leaning against a pillar, a laptop bag and a tote bag. There is no one around and it is just leaning there like someone put it down and then forgot to take it with them. I assumed it belonged to someone in the building as it was right by a parking spot. I went up and told Rick and got my cell phone so when I went back down I could open the bag and see if there was any contact info so I could return it or at least call the person it belongs to. So I opened the laptop bag and all that was in there was one business card for a real estate agent and...porn. Yup one business card and porn DVD's. So as fast as humanly possible I dropped the bag, got upstairs and washed my hands for like 5 minutes. I am guessing that the business card was not the owners as if he was the owner I would assume as a real estate agent he would carry more than one business card, so I am happy in the knowledge that I will never know which one of my neighbors it belongs to. :)

Anywho, more job hunting for me. I am hoping that I should be hearing something this week as most the jobs I have been applying for have closed yesterday. Wish me luck.

AND by the way... if you want regular blogs and interesting pictures I expect the same from you! :)...2 way street people! :)

Later!

Lisa

I am back to Auz and Malaria Free Hopefully......

Wow, typing that title just reminded me that I haven't taken my malaria pill today......whoops. I have to take them for seven days after I leave PNG so I will have to remember that.

I see that my lovely wife has been so busy that she hasn't had any time to blog.....bad wife. Which by the way the Canadian government finally recognizes us as married. Turns out our marriage license that Ian sent to the government got lost in the mail. Yes, apparently that actually can happen. Just before I left we finally got the rest of our furniture. There were a few small problems, nothing major but we did end up getting an extra side table out of the deal (thank you Lisa!). So here are some photos of the place.









Now we have gotten a few comments/complaints that although we are posting photos Lisa and I aren't in any of them. Well your point has been taken so here is a picture of Lisa.



The mask is a Papua New Guinea head mask from the Fly River region which is where the mine is located. I actually bought it in Cairns but I didn't really have a chance to do much shopping during my trip.

More photos of us are on the way. We are taking a little spontaneous vacation to the Gold Coast. We are renting a car in the city (gotta start driving some time) and heading out to Sea World (yes, my idea) and then spending the night at a hotel with an "ocean view" room and then heading to the beach on Monday. We are pretty excited about the trip and we will make sure to take some photos of us.

Well gotta a big day tomorrow. Cheers!

Rick

LP:We are not going to Sea world, we are going to Surfers Paradise, while yes, we will visit sea world (was there any doubt) we are going to be staying and visiting surfers paradise....just wanted to clear that up :)