TravelStream™ news feed for member manicmaiden2000 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/manicmaiden2000 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:14:44 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213682880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213682880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213682880/tpod.html Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:14:44 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Today has been a relaxed and lazy day. Ellen chose to spend it at the park, so off we went with our packed lunch and various activities prepared.


Ellen has been busy making necklaces from the shells we collected at the beach at the weekend, so watch out for the postman !


Ellen tried everything out in the park, and just to make sure everything was safe me and Zoe had a go on a few things too.


Weather has been a mixture of cloudy and warm, temperature about 22C
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213651980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213651980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213651980/tpod.html Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:03:08 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Wynumm Bayside Parklands, Australia

Today we had a little drive out to Wynamm Bay-side Parkland's. We enjoyed a walk along the sea, spotting all of the different types of birds. It was a warm day and although the wading pool was closed which was a little disappointing, Ellen had lots of fun in one of the many parks.

Here along the Beach they have BB Q's That anyone can use, you simple press the button and off you go, Zoe was in charge of that.. What we didn't count on was the sausages taking about an hour to cook ! Zoe nearly through them all in the sea many times. But when they were finally ready they were very nice !

Next we took a drive up the road to the Mangrove Boardwalk. We had a lovely walk around, looking for wildlife. Unfortunately Ellen was in a bit of a hyperactive mood ( probably the dip dip at lunch ) and sung most of the way round so probably scared everyone away.

We all did a bit of bird spotting in the look out, and went to see the Mangrove plantation along the boardwalk - which are really weird tree's that grow up through the marshlands, looks quite creepy.

On the way home Zoe plonked the map on my lap, and as you all know this is not my area of expertise ! It took as while to get home with Ellen in the back saying, "Mummy's not very good at maps" over and over again :)

I now have a lovely heat rash on my back, chest and tummy. I am hoping that will clear up before we go to The Great Barrier Reef at the weekend.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213478760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213478760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213478760/tpod.html Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:08:40 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Caloundra, Queensland, Australia

This weekend we packed up the car to spend the weekend with Zoe and Har's friends Kath and Steve and their children Harper who is two years old and her twin brothers Max and George who are one. We stayed with them in the beach house in Caloundra. It was a bit chilly on the beach but we went anyway, built sand castles and collected shells. Ellen also had fun at the park which is just of the sand. There are parks all along the beach in the shade which is great.

The men enjoyed the rugby or football as they call it while the girls had a bottle of wine and a gossip :)

The morning was special as it was Kath's birthday so we all went to a local cafe for breakfast which was really nice.

On the way home we stopped at Kawana waters beach - it was a real wow beach, quite beautiful and what seemed like miles of sand. Ellen and Harley had a paddle. I thought Ellen was about to get her leggings wet so i took them off her so she just had her t shirt and knickers on. two minutes later Ellen is knocked over by a wave and is soaked through. Ellen saw the funny side luckily , being as me and Zoe could hardly breath for laughing.

Zoe cooked us a nice roast dinner this evening, yum
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213345860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213345860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213345860/tpod.html Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:46:05 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brisbane, Australia

A chilled out day today, did nothing this morning which was relaxing. This afternoon Ellen and I went back to the out of the box festival while Zoe was busy cooking and cleaning ( nothing changes there shar) LOL, actually i must say that Zoe has been remarkably calm about us creating mess in her lovely house !


The film we went to see at the festival Ellen thought was great, i fell asleep at least 10 times !
Ellen also enjoyed making shaddow puppets, she made a penguin.


We also tried out the BBQ at the festival, we both had a sausage in one bit of dry bread - tasted a lot better than it sounds although i don't know why they don't just get some sausage buns.


Ellen is now happy because she is allowed a very very very little bath instead of the dreaded shower !
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213318740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213318740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213318740/tpod.html Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:08:31 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Hi Everyone

Today we went back to the 'Out of the Box ' festival to see a performance of Aboriginal culture, it was really interesting, this time Ellen got up on the stage with some other children to do the Aboriginal Emu dance - arrrr so proud of my baby LOL

Next we went to 'City Beach' which is basically a man made beach on the south bank, it actually really good and although the weather was very hot Ellen got straight in the freezing water bravely walking from one side to the other. I refused to join in on that bit but we did have a few races up and down the beach - think the Aussies may of thought we were mad but hey they are the ones with a beach in the middle of the city !


This evening we had BBQ pizza, yum yum, but Ellen wasn't so keen on the beetroot.


Zoe is a bit of a super cook and Ellen is getting used to trying lots of new things, most of which she loves.

Hope you are all working hard, miss you
:)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213219320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213219320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213219320/tpod.html Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:59:03 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Caloundra, Queensland, Australia

Today was a fantastic day and one Ellen has been waiting for. We headed off to the beach on the Sunshine Coast in Caloundra called 'Kings Beach'. It was beautiful, the weather was perfect and we had a relaxing fun day.

Ellen spent her time collecting shells, jumping over the waves, making a sandcastle and making sand angles ! She was excited and happy all day.

I had a paddle in the sea, quite cold but you get used to it, and i even managed to read some of my book !

In the photo's you will see some jets of water in a play area, Ellen wanted to wash the sand off herself under these until she realized that they were harder than she thought, unfortunately for her Zoe was there to make sure she did it :) but Zoe didn't expect to get so wet herself !!

Hello to everyone at home
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213136280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213136280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213136280/tpod.html Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:38:02 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brisbane, Australia

Today is the beginning of a children's festival week called 'Out of the box' which is located in the South Bank area of Brisbane across the Cultural center precinct. We left early and caught the 'City Cat' which is a cool boat that goes up the river to the South Bank - we loved that bit.
Our first shows the the traditional songs and dances of different cultures such as Aboriginal, Torres Strait and the Pacific Island. It was really interesting and lots of fun, Ellen was right up the front on her little cushion but she did decline the invitation to have a go on stage !

Ellen was then keen to have a look around the Queensland Art Gallery, It was a wonderful building with lots of relaxing water features. Zoe was a little surprised at Ellen's keen interest in art but happily answered all of her questions :) . There was a big painting of Jesus so Ellen was very happy !

Next we went to an exhibition called 'Family Album' where children explore different ways to create an album and take photo's themselves, this was one of my favorites - take a look at the photo's.

We then went to the Megaphone Project where Ellen spent lots of time running from one giant megaphone to another shouting as loud as possible and she also made one to bring home which she toot tooted through all the way home and for the next 4 hours !

Lastly we had a story telling session where we heard an aboriginal story about a min min - Ellen enjoyed it

To end our very busy day Zoe made me go to her spinning class, which for those of us who had never heard of such a thing - It is where you ride an exercise bike for 45 minutes in what looks like a broom cupboard with someone shouting at you when to turn the gears up and when to stand up - It was an experience !!

We have also introduced Zoe and Har to the wonders of High School Musical - now they have the bloody songs in their heads too :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213045740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213045740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1213045740/tpod.html Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:27:37 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brisbane, Australia

Today Zoe twisted my arm to go for a run along Brisbane river, it was a lot better than i expected and the sun was shining which made it nicer. But after that it became a bit grey and rainy so we all went off to try a bit of bowling. Har was the champion - just , and Ellen came in second even scoring some strikes !!

Ellen is not getting used to the showers yet, every evening we have a little drama but that is becoming quite normal now.

Ellen and Zoe have been doing more cooking today. This time they have made scones which were yummy. Jamie Oliver has nothing on this pair !!!

We are having such a lovely time and it is just lovely to see Zoe and Har again.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1212969780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1212969780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1212969780/tpod.html Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:20:44 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brisbane, Australia

Today we went into town to the Big BBQ in the park, Ellen loved the group on stage who were the Boogie Woogies, very similar to High 5, Loads of fun ! I think every child in Brisbane was there so it was a bit busy to do everything.

We went into the city for lunch, enjoyed a bottle of wine - they drink a lot here :) and Ellen had a game of Mr and Mrs (don't ask). We also went into our favorite Tat shop or tourist shop as it is known and Ellen was in heaven.

This evening it was lovely to speak to Mi Mi and the girls on the web cam, even though we couldn't see them ! and we spoke to Shar Shar on the phone.

We went out for a lovely Chinese meal this evening - Ellen liked the very pink prawn crackers ,the special fried rice and the water !

I have now been bitten about 20 times by the bloody mosquitoes, so i am now prepared with spay before i go out and a gel just encase the buggers manage to get through that and bite me.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1212881940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1212881940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/manicmaiden2000/1/1212881940/tpod.html Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:01:51 -0400 Australia - Here we come

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brisbane, Australia

This morning we had some of Zoe and Harley's friends Steve & Kath and Reece and Sarah along with their lovely kidsaround for Brunch. We munched on a yummy fruit salad and croissants with ham and cheese - delicious.



We also managed to fit in some of the new addiction 'scrapbooking', well i help Ellen with her's and Zoe does mine just perfectly ! Ellen gets some work done and then we all go for a drive with Har.



Off to Mount Cootha which is only a short drive away, It has beautiful views of the city and the river.



The roads near Taringa and surrounding areas are really bendy and hilly - Think i may take travel sickness tablets next time we go for a drive !!



this evening we watched the Bill on TV - excellent
]]>