Greetings all,
We've settled nicely into the Moggill house. Scott's working like an absolute demon! His job up here is pretty stressful - mostly the people kind though because he's still loving what he does. I'm still not working. I'm selling some stuff on eBay to make a little extra cash which is quite fun. I did have what I thought was a good business idea but unfortunately it didn't pan out. *shrug* So it's back to the drawing board.... In the meantime I'm keeping myself busy with another project - it's Top Secret at the moment. It's just a pity it costs money & doesn't earn it. But it's a lot of fun & will be worth every penny I'm sure. When I've got the finished product in my hands, I'll reveal all so watch this space!
The weather in Brisbane is a little cooler than when we arrived 2 months ago - thank goodness! There's supposed to be a shower or two today but the sky is just a beautiful blue so far. But that can all change in half an hour. And boy, do we have some serious rain here! Have a look at the pics further down the page to see what I mean.
Our rental agreement on the house says that we only need to keep the lawns mowed and the edges trimmed - all the pruning & hedge shaping is done quarterly by the agents. So we needed a lawn mower & a whipper-snapper (weed eater) - the perfect excuse for an expedition to Bunnings on a Saturday morning. Now in Cape Town Builders' Warehouse have a boerewors stand outside the doors on a Saturday morning. The smell is absolutely irresistible and Scott just HAD to have his boerie roll. Well here we have Bunnings Warehouse and their sausage sizzle.
Sausage sizzle outside Bunnings
The traditional Aussie sausage sizzle. Absolutely bloody awful! No butter on the bread & if you get a yucky dry sausage, you better have a big bottle of water to wash it down! But never fear! Scott can sniff out a good saussie sizzle a mile off & the Bunnings closest to us didn't disappoint. They had proper buttered hot dog rolls with excellent sausages. Yummy!So licking the tomato sauce off our fingers, we headed inside to make our purchases. Damn! Lawn mowers are expensive!!! So we went with Scott's favourite brand..... Ozito. It's a little bit of a situation joke but I'll try and explain... A while back Scott bought a drill which was on special at Bunnings - it was an Ozito & it was cheap but works like a charm. When he came home and showed it to me, he started with the whole Japanese accent, narrowed his eyes and said, "Aaaaah, Ozito, veeeelly good quarity!" So now whenever he sees an Ozito product, he does this.
So we're in the lawnmower isle and we come across the perfect lawnmower for us - small, compact, powerful enough and cheap. It's an Ozito. I knew it was coming and I couldn't run away without attracting attention. As soon as Scott saw the mower he proclaims far too loudly, "Aaaaah, Ozito, veeeelly good quarity!"
Scott showing me that it's an Ozito..... veeelly good quarity!
Aaaaah! Ozito!
Finally, we can get some of the weeds mowed!
It's a great little mower!April Fools Day was a great one for me - and certainly no trick! I had a buddy in primary school - Noelene. Her and I were inseparable! And when we moved up to high school, were damn naughty! After leaving school, she headed for the UK. A couple of years ago, she moved to Christchurch in New Zealand. Nols has a real cushy job at one of the big property agents and has to come to Brissie for business every now 'n then. As soon as she found out we'd moved here, she let me know about her impending trip & she set aside time to come and spend the day with me. It was absolutely awesome to see her again! And so wonderful to know that friendships formed so early in life definitely do not fade. When you read this Nols, thanks for a great day!
Nols & I on the patio in Moggill The day Nols spent with me was beautiful - hot, no wind, not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day - in fact I dipped into the pool a couple of times.
The very next day, it rained and rained and rained and rained! It just didn't stop. Not even for a second. Heavy rain - not a drizzle in sight. Every now and then it would really come bucketing down - a real wall of water. Our pool level rose about 10cm just during daylight hours. The entire back garden was under about 5cm of water. The water was falling so fast that at times the drains couldn't cope and the water backed up all the way up to the gutters and started overflowing at the top.
Water gathering outside the lounge and study windows at the back of the house. The water had already started backing up & started overflowing from the gutters above.
The front of the house where the water was pooling - another 3cm and the garage would've flooded!
My view of the downpour from the officeWe had a bit of a gap in the weather on Sunday 5th April so we decided to head out to Mount Tamborine to check out the new
Rainforest Skywalk. We took a
little detour when Scott's bloody GPS (General Piece o' Shit!) got a
little confused. For such an expensive gadget which is
supposed to tell you which direction to go in, it is (at times) a
little rigting-befok! For those non-Saffers reading this, a mild translation of rigting-befok would be "directionally confused"....
But we finally got there - thanks to the trusty old fashioned map! ;)
Scott really tried to get a decent pic of this but the car's movement didn't make it easy. Unlike Sydney, the Brisbane toll roads (I think there are only 2) are not completely automated yet. There is one booth where you actually pay a person and they give you change. The next booth is the one we took. If you have the exact amount in coins, you can just throw it into this receptical on the wall (it looks like a big urinal - sorry, no other way to describe it!). The coins fall into the hole at the bottom and the gates open for you. Easy!
Scott on the Skywalk
Me on the Skywalk
Mmmm.... what a handsome explorer!
Mom! Don't look down!!! Or anyone else scared of heights for that matter. Actually, it's not really that bad on the walkways. They're very sturdy and new so no rusty joints which would make me nervous.
Some gnarled vines and roots
The end of the Skywalk. Yip, no supports underneath. It's a 40m long cantilevered walkway 30m above the ground. Walking to the end is a little unnerving because it sways quite a bit. There's a sign saying not to try and make it move more but of course, boys will be boys! All boys! Every father, brother, boyfriend and husband we saw had a go at scaring their female companions! And Scott was no exception! :)
A very resilient little sapling trying to resist the roots of a strangler fig
The walkway decends onto the forest floor, over streams and winds it's way back to the starting point.
Playing the fool!
A nice one of us down at the river
Picture postcard....
A cool shot of Scott with an intertwined vine.
I love getting Scott to go traipsing into the bushes for cool photos!
In all the greenery of the rainforest, this flower really stood out.
Taken from the end of the Cantilever
Scott on the Cantilever - a little blurry because of the swaying!
One of the walkways behind meAfter the walk in the rainforest, we headed into the village of
Mount Tamborine. The main drag is called
Gallery Walk and has all these crafty, arty shops with a few cafes & wineries dotted around the place. Unfortunately we had to get back to Moggill by 4.30pm so we couldn't browse all the shops but it does give us a really good excuse to go back!
A metal sculpture in a garden
The street reminded me of the main street in Franschoek except with alot of interesting shops instead of just restaurants.
The German Cuckoo Clock shop - one of the ones we'll have to go back to...
Whistling Duck Village - a little alcove on Gallery Walk with 6 insteresting shops
One of the shops in Whistling Duck Village had Golliwogs!
