Saturday .......

Most days we take our visitors out to see the sights of the Sunshine Coast. Friday morning was a time for the beach again. The water is certainly much cleaner now and everyone enjoyed themselves at Kings Beach for the morning. Later that afternoon it was a quick visit to the Caloundra Air Museum. There is a reasonable range of aircraft to view there.

The kids are beginning to slow down so it was good to see them both in bed at a reasonable time last night.

Saturday was time to bottle the home brew which had completed its fermentation stage. Andrew enjoys helping when ever he can so this was a bit of fun for both of us. They were both up helping me at about 6:15 this morning!

We also cleaned the pool together and then gave the garden pots a quick water. I am home again right now while the other 5 (the car can only safely carry 5 people) are having a look at the Hinterland.

Most forecasts for this week has included "Occasional Showers". Most days this has meant about 1 minute of a few drops of rain and then clear again. It has remained about 28 most days with some cloud cover. The weather is ideal for showing people around the Sunshine Coast

Thursday Update

Tuesday was spent fairly quietly as a recovery day from the Australia Zoo trip on Monday. A trip to some shops in town during the morning was followed by a swim in the pool during the afternoon. Though rain was forecast there was hardly a drop. After tea the kids (and others) enjoyed a swim in the pool with the lights all on. It looks like fun don't you think?

Wednesday was a trip to Brisbane, Queensland's capital city, about 100 k's south of us. Some car travel saw the group take a train into the city. One of Brisbane's main sights is Southbank. It is the former site of Expo 88 and has been transformed into a public garden and recreation area. It is great spot to have a swim in one of the many man made pools. Looks nice doesn't it?

From there it was a cruise on the River Cat, a catamaran 'bus' trip up and down the Brisbane River. It is a great spot to view the city from as you cruise effortlessly up and down the river. This was followed by a stroll through Brisbane's main shopping area and from there to the Roma St Gardens. This is a beautiful quiet spot with many glorious flower gardens.



Needless to say the kids slept well overnight and awoke a little later on Thursday morning. With a 'brew' to be bottled sometime over the next few days, it was all hands to the deck to get the bottles washed. Needless to say there was water everywhere but the kids enjoyed it and the bottles are washed ready to be filled in the next day or so.

Then it was off to the beach!

The weather remains cool, humid but dry with the forecast saying "Occasional Showers".

Australia Zoo

On Monday, Chris, Wendy, Andrew and Emily went to Australia Zoo for the day. They caught the free bus in Caloundra and headed about 20 minutes or so out to Beerwah and Australia Zoo. They had a great time and the kids are almost the perfect age to do that sort of thing. It was great for them to see Terri Irwin in the thick of the 'show'. However Bindi was not on yesterday so they missed her.

The kids were aghast at the feeding of the crocodiles and had the best day possible. It was fairly warm and quite sticky with the temperature about 30 degrees.

They saw everything, crocodiles, snakes, elephants, tigers, kangaroos, Australian animals such as the echidna and all sorts of birds. Emily loved patting the kangaroos while Andrew was brave enough to be photographed on this model crocodile!

Remember to click on the photo for a larger view, then on 'Back' to return to this page.

Last night we went to a local hotel for a meal before getting home about 8 pm. Overnight we had another 26 mls of rain lifting the month's total to over 200mls (over 8 inches in the old scale) and already above the January average.

Today is overcast and cool with temps in the mid 20's or just above. It remains quite humid.

I have added a movie link on the right (Andrew & Emily In The Pool) to show the kids enjoying the pool and a quick look at a walk we all had along the Caloundra Boardwalk.

More Rain To Come In The Next Few Days

On Saturday the visitors and Trish headed down to Kings Beach and had a swim in the surf. The water was still full of sea weed and was not nice and clear following the storms and flooding rains over the previous 3 or 4 weeks. But never the less the kids had a great time.

A swim in between rain showers in the pool helped to fill in the afternoon.

Meanwhile I continued 'burning' DVD's and a couple of CD's for them to take back to Melbourne with them.

Saturday night the rain cleared so we ate fish 'n chips by the beach and afterwards had a walk along the sand under the flood lights. It was warm and not too windy. Emily nearly fell asleep while eating her "Cold Rock" ice cream at 8:30 pm. The kids fell into bed after a great day.

Sunday saw us head to the Bowls Club for a $7 breakfast! It is a huge meal and was enjoyed by all. After that it was time for a walk through the Caloundra Main St Market which seems to get bigger and better each time we go there. From there it was back to the house and a swim in the pool. It is about 29 outside right now!

You can catch up on the latest weather at Caloundra by scrolling down this blog page to the section "Now In Caloundra". Showers and rain are forecast for all this week!

Last night Kate's husband Arj had his 40th Birthday Party. I am looking forward to seeing the photos! Happy birthday Arj!

Cool Caloundra While Melbourne Swelters

The last couple of days have been 'warmish' but overcast with the threat of rain. The pool has remained the popular spot with the grand kids along with having me download their favorite movies from the web and then burn them into DVD's!

We managed to get out for a while Thursday morning for a walk along the boardwalk and to investigate many of the playgrounds which abound down by the beach. We took a look at the sea water pool which looked great except for the blustery wind and dirty looking water, a reminder of the stormy conditions we had the week before. The Bowls club was our venue for an evening meal and Andrew seemed keen on the "Keno".

When we awoke on Friday the rain gauge held about 7 mls of rain and the skies were ready to drop some more. Meanwhile in Melbourne they had just been enduring their third consecutive day with temperatures above 40 degrees. Texas Lou, that is well over 100 degrees! After heat for that length of time everything is HOT!

While the others went for a look around some shops in the morning in the wet weather, Andrew and I burnt a DVD then set about making some beer. I have been asked about 25 times in the last few days if I was making beer and today it was a relief to say "yes!". He stirred the mix as I added the water. It was quite a production line affair and we had the brew away in the garage where it will ferment for the next week or so. We will wash the bottles sometime next week.

From there it was time to give the floors a quick vacuum while the place was fairly empty. Andrew again did a good job and with a little help from his Pa we got it all finished and looking a little better. Then he sat down and watched The Simpsons Movie I had burnt to DVD while I jumped on the internet.

Despite being about 25 degrees, the kids went back in the pool this afternoon. They were glad I had disposed of the Cane Toad which had ended up in the pool overnight. My two iron put this pest out of its misery! They are a real pest here in Queensland.

Later that afternoon we caught up with Kate and Charli via Skype over the computer.

Earlier this year we were give a great blow up chair to use in the pool as a gift. It is the chair Chris is sitting in in the previous post. We put the chair into use in October and it has been a popular addition to the pool. A few days ago it developed a leak and went flat. I looked at repairing the leak but couldn't get to it. I emailed the company in USA which makes them and told them I wanted to fix it if possible. I was told by reply email they cannot be repaired. After another email where they wanted some purchase details I was told today I would be receiving a voucher to take to the local K Mart store for a replacement. Great service and just goes to show what a quick email can achieve!