TREE CHANGE ANYONE ?

Good friends have recently made a " tree change".

They've sold their house in the city - in our street- and moved from the suburbs of the city  to the country.

This is the country they have chosen.

The area they have chosen is called the Glasshouse Mountains.
Those strange looking mountains in the photo are the Glasshouse Mountains.
Thousands of years ago they were volcanos.
Now all that is left after the outside has been eroded away is the volcano's plug in the centre of the volcano.

They were named by Captain Cook as he sailed past in 1770.
(He thought they looked like glasshouses -go figure !!)



The land surrounding these remnants of volcanos has rich dark soil and is  great for agriculture.

Mangos, pineapples, macadamia nuts, avocados, lychees, kiwi fruit and strawberries are just a few of the crops that thrive in the area.


Today we left home at 7:30 and headed north to join them for breakfast at a local cafe ........




sitting on this pleasant verandah



with  this delightful view.

These are mango trees




and calmly lazing in the shade beneath these trees

 

were a few locals ! 

  

 

 It was quiet.
The sky was blue and the sun not too hot.

A delightful spot.....

 

and look what's growing in their garden!

I'm sure they'll be happy there.

Cheers

PICNIC DINNER CELEBRATION

As you know yesterday was our Wedding Anniversay.
Many of my teaching friends of a similar age also have anniversaries in January.
It's our long Summer holiday so time for honeymoons and weddings in the days when you fitted your life around the school year.

But I'm never getting married again in January!!!
 (or any other time for that matter!!!)

* We've just had Christmas and New Year !

*It's HOT !!!

* Everyone is in a semi-coma from the heat and too much food.

* Half the restaurants are closed while their owners are on holiday at the beach with everybody else .

* And when it's time for your Anniversary you are in food and celebration overload.

So, how did we celebrate our Anniversary?


A last minute, spur-of-the-moment picnic dinner at that pretty spot overlooking the city that I showed you yesterday!

I packed a BBQ chicken, whipped up a cool, non-fattening salad.
Tony grabbed a chilled bottle of bubbly from the fridge and...



just on sunset we set off.

Good friends Ro and Terry joined us.

There's a lovely area above the cliffs where picnic tables and electric BBQs are dotted under shady trees and we were lucky to find one in a prime position.



We set out our picnic





The evening was cool and the view delightful....

and it improved by the minute as darkness fell...

and the city twinkled below us.

 

 

Fresh air ,
a cool breeze,
chilled champagne,
light Summery salad,
delicious cherries
mixed with friendship and laughter...

what a nice way to spend our Anniversary !

Cheers.

TOOWOOMBA ROAD TRIP

After yesterday's shocking weather (35 degrees C and a howling hot wind ) today was much cooler ( about 25C) so we set off on a short road trip to Toowoomba, about an hour's drive west of Brisbane.



It's a two lane highway most of the way and a pleasant drive.

At first we passed through open fields.



There's plenty of grass cover after the good rains we have had over the past two years but with no rain now for 75 days all is dry and brown.

 

Next we passed through the fertile crop growing area around Gatton.

Flat ploughed fields stretch off to the distance ready for potatoes, beetroot, beans, melons,onions and pumpkins.

Nice to see a few of these. I think they are left for wild life habitat.

 

These huge sprinklers provide irrigation for the newly planted crops.

Further on we are back to scrub.

Lots of dry grass. You can see why there is a lot of concern about bushfires this year

and talk about controlled burning off has already begun.

How's this for a typical Australian vista ?

As usual we encountered huge trucks along the way - most with double trailers fully loaded

and travelling fast..... faster than we were ....

 and passing us at speeds over 100kph even though they are not supposed to be able to go that fast !!

It happened several times - very scary !!
(pity they don't stay over in the left lane like they do in the UK !)
 

From the flat plain we climbed up the range to lovely Toowoomba the "Garden City" and though yesterday's hot wind has cut short the spring flowers, the trees made a lovely green tunnel.
 

 

Business done, a quick bite was in order so we visited our favourite Cafe Valetta.
 

 

where we shared a Club sandwich ( dieting !!!) and a delightful coffee .....

 

before heading back down the range towards home.

 

Beats working !!!

Cheers.

TIME FOR AN OUTING

It's ages since I've taken you on an outing. Life has been so busy with family commitments.

Last night we decided to go into the city for the Laser Light Show that is a part of the River Festival that happens every year at this time.
As usual we traveled by City Cat into town and were greeted by the lanterns all along the river shore.

 

They looked so pretty

 

just floating there above our heads.

There were lots of people there for a mid-week, school night



possibly because the weather was perfect although there was a cool breeze blowing off the water.

Of course we were there for the light show..... and so were an ever increasing number of families.

Tony set up his tripod and it wasn't long before the show began.




Set to music

 

 

 Sadly the display only lasted for about 10 minutes so we wandered off along the river looking for a nice spot to have dinner.

We finally settled on this one.

 

A glass of red wine, a lovely wood fired pizza, pleasant surroundings...

and good friends. What more could you ask for?
( sorry about the poor photo quality - via phone and Facebook )

Then it was back to the River Cat

past this unusual " sculpture".

A lovely night out.


Cheers.