Home From The Gold Coast

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes in all forms and shapes. I received great birthday cards with pleasant inclusions, many best wishes via email and the odd email birthday card too. Thanks everyone for your kind wishes.

We dove to the Gold Coast to spend a couple of nights with friends (Det and Brenda) who we met on our trip to Vietnam and China. It is only two hours from our place to theirs at Burleigh Waters and almost 200k's. It is freeway for 99% of the trip so usually it is a relaxing ride. It wasn't long after we arrived we were enjoying drinks followed by a BBQ dinner.

The next day we visited Mt Tamborine. The Mt Tamborine area is a little like a trip to the Dandenongs outside Melbourne. It is in the hills and has its fair share of handicraft stores and boutique wineries. Having visited the Dandenongs on quite a few occasions the Mt Tamborine area though picturesque didn't have the same "wow" power. The weather was showery and this didn't help. One spot which was nice was the St Bernard Hotel perched overlooking a cloudy valley. It had a lovely outdoor area too but the weather prevented us from using it.

We had a great meal that night at a local club which completed an enjoyable day. We then headed back home the following morning through a couple a heavy showers of rain. Extensive roadworks made the return trip a little longer.

Today the weather is warm and very humid. Right now mid morning it is 31 degrees outside with the humidity hovering around 75%. I rode for over 10k's this morning, then washed the bottles for my next bottling and the lawn has been mown. I also dug away the earth surrounding the palm in the middle of the front lawn in readiness to have it pulled out. It just hasn't flourished there at all. A swim in the pool followed this morning's work. It was all hot work.

Both of the our next door neighbours on either side are in rental properties. In the small house quite close to ours is a young family with two little children. They agree their decision to rent that home was a mistake and doesn't suit their needs at all. On the other side is an older couple Andy and Jean with whom we along quite well with. They have decided to leave having gotten a new job helping to run an 'over 50's park' on the south side of the city. We are keeping our fingers crossed we get good neighbours in to replace them.