Drive home

After a fabulous weekend at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast with Kylie-Ann and Brian we drove home Sunday afternoon and were treated to the sunset from all angles.

Coolum Cool

I hate to break it to the rest of the world but south east Queensland really does have some of the world's best beaches. Long, white, sandy beaches. Sub tropical vegetation mixes with the Australian bush. Fabulously refreshing surf, making both keen surfers, swimmers and toddlers happy as they dodge the waves crashing onto the beach. The sun is pure. The beaches clean and safe, patrolled by the surf lifesavers. The best bit of all though is the space. There is plenty of it and I realised on Sunday why I am so bad at sharing beach space. When I'm at home I just never have to share, it's only when I venture abroad that I'm faced with the prospect of cramming in between lovers and families, on their mobile phones and eating their ham and cheese breadrolls.

Gigi and I spent the night with friends at Coolum beach on Saturday. Sunday dawned and it was quintessentially perfect beach weather. Wide open blue skies with white clouds scattered merrily across them. Gorgeous temperatures perfect for dips into the ocean followed by stretching out on the sand to dry off and catch some sun without risking burning to a crisp before noon. A five minute walk from our beach position we accessed true Aussie meat pies, healthy curried lentil and vegetable rolls, fish and chips and reasonably good coffees.

I was suddenly reminded of how much I'd missed the Queensland beach experience while living in Italy. Let me help you imagine how good it was with these photos!

Eumundi Charm

Saturday morning we drove up to Eumundi to enjoy the markets. Billed as Australia's premier craft markets they have been held since 1979. Today they are a major tourist attraction, yet the little township of Eumundi has still managed to retain it's charm. There is always a magical quality to the place, and the hundreds of market stalls just add colour, conversation, aromas and music. It is easy to spend a lot of money on art work, clothes, jewellery, homewares and other ecclectic items but it's just as easy to wander around and spend very little, enjoying the taste testing of flavoured breads, roasted nuts, mini banana smoothies and spicy chutneys.

I expected to take lots of photos of colourful displays, children's clothes, fairy costumes, camels reluctantly giving rides and bright splashes of artwork depicting the local flora. Instead I took photos that captured the broader environment rather than the finer details.

A peak inside the local pub.

Kids blow off some steam at the playground.

1. Multi tasking musician. 2 Didgeridoo collection on display

1. This enormous fig tree provides welcome shade.

2. The pub's idea of entertainment publicity.

1. The vegetation behind the Krishna restaurant.

2. Gigi spent an hour testing out the didgeridoos.

Easter Coasting

After an aborted attempt to drive up to the Sunshine Coast on Good Friday, thanks to the ridiculous traffic jam, we ventured up on Easter Sunday instead. My sister Kim and her entourage were up from Melbourne for the weekend, hoping to sun themselves at the beach. The weather had other plans, sometimes overcast, sometimes bright. However, many of the beaches on both the Sunshine and Gold Coast were closed over the weekends due to the unsafe surf conditions and rips. Not that the beach closures and warnings from surf lifesavers stopped some idiots from swimming in the rough seas. 100 people were rescued on Good Friday, 3 sent to hospital and one man drowned. And that was just one day out of the four day weekend.

We spent the day with Kim and her boys (and collective others at different times), at the beach briefly for a paddle and a play in the sand until it started to rain and two rainbows spread out across the ocean. We went for a swim in the pool instead and it's wonderful to see the boys paddling around with confidence. Afternoon coffee with my Aunt Kathy who is now living the expat life in Kazakhstan but has been back in Brisbane recently was another bonus. The boys spent a lot of time climbing all over Gigi, and he certainly has the uncle role down pat.

While the weather teased us with moments of clear skies and burning sunshine it was too mixed up for it to be good beach weather. However, I did enjoy seeing the stretches of white sand again, pounding waves and walking through the coastal bush to access the beach. It really does epitomise Queensland and the lifestyle that we are lucky enough to embrace.

Scallywags

Look at these two scallywags. My nephews Joshua and Lachlan, ready to be served up on ice cream and drizzled with chocolate, maybe a sprinkling of 'nuts'! Delicious boys.

New work place.

This is my new office building in Brisbane central business district. That's me on the 15th floor.This is the view when I walk out of the building.

Family dinner

After two years away from Brisbane Gi and I took my parents and sister Tania and her family to dinner at a favourite Chinese restaurant. The occasion? Nothing special, just an excuse to get together before my parents headed off on a New Zealand holiday and a way to partially appease my guilt for being such a lousy sister, aunt and daughter at birthday times. The most delightful thing about being home is seeing the changes in my nieces. They are both attending school now and have completely different personalities. I'm happy that they even remember who we are after two years of abscence. Their big smiles and little arms wrapped around my neck for hellos and goodbyes makes my heart melt. The pictures below are evidence.

Gi and Jenny. Jenny and scallywag Sarah.

Jenny and kooky Katy.

My sister Tania and her husband Mark.

My parents Geoff and Jane.

Nephews at Play

Gigi and I spent a day babysitting our nephews Joshua, 4 1/2, and Lachlan, 2, recently. The distractions included a walk to the local park where they enjoyed the slippery slide and swings before a game of 'Hide-n-seek' amongst the gum trees. Joshua was especially intrigued when Gigi got down into the blades of grass and studied the ants and bugs.