SUNDAY DRIVE

The hot weather we have been having makes me just want to stay inside in the cool of the air-conditioning but today we decided to get out and take a drive ( in the cool air-conditioned car !!) to see the sunflowers.

They are growing in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane and about 2 hours later we came upon this field.

As you can see it is very dry and the poor flowers on the edge of the field were showing the lack of water.

You can see how withered the leaves are and the background is pure country Australia - grey-green and brown.

 However as you move further into the crop it gets better and soon there is a sea of happy yellow facing the sun.

 Such a pretty crop.

We were a little early as this was the only field properly in flower.

The rest will probably burst forth in the next two weeks.

On the way home we passed this pretty house in Gatton.

It is built in the typical Queensland style,

set high off the ground to guard against floods but mainly to catch any breezes that may be around.

Wide verandahs and a central hallway leading past a bedroom on each side at the front  to a "lounge" room (living room ) and dining room with kitchen and bathroom in the enclosed part of the back

 verandah.

A very practical design for our climate. You will find many of them in any Queensland country town.

You may remember I posted about "Old Queenslanders"   here  way back in 2010. 

It has been one of my most visited posts over the years.

We were home by 4:30 and it is finally cooler than the 32 degrees it has been all day so I'm off for a cool Aperol Spritz which is our drink of choice in the heat.

Cheers.

A DAY AT THE BEACH WITH SCOUT

Do you remember Scout?

 

 

She lives with Sally and now she's all grown up.

 

Scout's favourite place in the whole world is

the beach.

 

Where she lives on Queensland's beautiful Gold Coast there are special beaches that are set aside for people and their dogs.

 

Recently we spent some time with them on the beach.

Scout's favourite game is to catch the Frisbee.

 



She fixes the Frisbee with a Border Collie stare,

gets ready

 



 

and she's off !

 

 

She's good ! Catching them in mid-air

 

on the fly !

The Frisbee gets covered in sand.

 

Scout gets covered in sand too !

 

Back and forth, back and forth.

 She tears up and down the beach with her precious Frisbee.

Sometimes other dogs want to join in .....

 

  but she never surrenders that Frisbee

 

and when Sally throws it into the water

 



 

she just charges in after it !

 

She's a great swimmer.

 



 

Doesn't mind putting her head under water

 

and often Sally joins her for a swim.

We played for over an hour until she was completely worn out.



 

  Then we sat on the sand and watched what the other dogs were doing for fun.

 

 

 

 

 Doggie Heaven !

 

Cheers.

 



SUMMER IN THE CITY

When the end of the week rolls around

and the weather is fine and the temperature balmy,

sometimes the need for an outing comes upon you.

So it happened on a recent Friday evening that we set out for an aimless wander along the river at Southbank in the city.



We were not the only ones feeling like an outing !!

Southbank was bright and sparkly with lots of people of all ages out enjoying the lovely evening.

The lovely bouganvillea walkway was ablaze with colour

 

By 7 o'clock darkness was falling as it does here in the sub-tropics....

very quickly !
.

Families and couples were enjoying picnic teas on the grass as the city began to sparkle across the river.



It was only a short time before it was completely dark

 

 so we caught the ferry across to the other side of the river for a bite of tea .

The paddle steamer restaurant was loading up for the dinner cruise.

Then it was off home again on the CityCat ferry.

We sat out the back and watched the city disappear

with the breeze adding to our enjoyment of another fantastic evening

in our lovely modern city.

Cheers  .....

 from Brisbane

 

A VERY GOOD REASON

This



is the reason why we try to go overseas when the weather there is cooler.



We 're not looking for hot sunny days and beautiful beaches when we go on holidays, we have them
 here !
 

This morning we drove for about 70 minutes to reach these lovely beaches.

We had breakfast.
Then shoes in hand and sun visor on, Tony and I strolled along the lovely white sands

 

 and paddled in the clear, refreshing water of the Gold Coast beaches.

The temperature was in the high twenties and we are facing six months of hot weather ahead but today was almost perfect.

There was even a humpback whale frolicking in the deeper water off the beach.

It's school holiday time and families were out enjoying the wonderful Spring weather.
 

Of course a delicious gelato was just what we needed before we set off back home.

It's a hard life.

Cheers.