Muswellbrook

Jag har efter en del om och men fått tillbaka min dator som drabbades av ett virus. Jag har på senare tid varit utan antivirus program och klickade dumt nog på "scan" när en ruta som var väldigt lik Windows dök upp, vilket spred viruset till hela datorn....Tack vare en datorkunnig vän fungerar den nu åter, men med ett helt annat program.  Jag har numera Lixus Ubuntu software istället för Windows Vista! Fungerar alldeles utmärkt!

I helgen som gick, gick en stor galopp tävling av stapeln i Sydney. Vi var kvar i Newcastle, men var hembjudna till en av Wyatts kollegor där vi tillsammans med ett gäng kollade in loppen. Vi hade satsat en blygsam summa på de flesta loppen, vilket såklart gjorde det extra spännande! Jag vann tillbaka mina pengar genom två vinster, Wyatt förlorade alla sina! I övrigt var helgen lugn.  Matthew och Chris, två vänner från tiden när vi bodde på Cambridge Hostel, var här i lördags och på söndagen var vi iväg på utflykt.  Vi hade tänkt ta en tur till Muswellbrook, där de enorma kolgruvor som är huvudindustrin i Newcastles ligger.  Efter ca 1,5 timmes körning insåg vi att det inte var så mycket att se... Vi kollade in de från vägen och körde sedan vidare. Däremot stannade vi till vid ett litet reservat vid en sjö vilket var mycket fint! Lite picknick blev det också!

 Newcastle, sett från färjan till Stockton

 

Galoppdag!

 

                   Wyatt o Chris                      

Random Happenings

The catch of the week, by far the most meaty of the fish so far Jo and I were extremely excited while we were rock fishing during the night. Finally a tasty large enough to eat fish that Jo looked up and appeared to be a type of Cod! Sweat bejesus my mouth began watering in the tasty anticipation of not  only a dinner but a free dinner. To sum up the disappointment, only after this fish was humanely put down did we learn that she was not a cod but known as the "Old Boot." Why was it known as this you may ask? Because its skin is tough as leather and it has the table qualities of the name. Sad story i know but the fish was put to good use as future bait.

We are entering the overcast and slightly cooler fall. Along with the rain there is a nice array of colorful rainbows that dot our sky, one on my way to work at the lights and the other off of our balcony in the harbour.

This friendly little guy had hitched a ride on my shoulder when we were outside at a Barbie. I believe that this is a praying mantis. Although we have only been living in OZ for 4-5 months you somehow forget that you are living in a truly exotic place. It takes the appearance of some animal or insect to remind you that you are not in Kansas anymore, nor the prairies of Alberta or even the sleepy town of Lund.

And finally the finale. I figured that Johanna would leave out some pics from our trip to Brisbane. Although there are way too many to put up i was certain that she would leave these beauties out. Just so that everybody knows that yes Jo did have a few sparkling drinks to celebrate the entry into the 30's. As you can see here below Johanna proudly shows off the bottle of white sparkling wine that she has demolished. In addition you see that we have taken the others out on our walk through the city, of course we played it safe and had them covered with a bag. Happy B-day Jo, i hope you had some fun because i sure did...xxx!

Brisbane!

First of all, thank you so much to friends and family for all your birthday wishes through phone calls, email, SMS, cards, facebook etc!

We had a great weekend in Brisbane, what a city! It didn't feel as congested and busy as Sydney and since it's a pretty compact city, we managed to get around by walking.  We spent the 3 days there walking, eating, drinking and being generally touristy!  The city is a great mix of old and new and there are so many beautiful old sandstone buildings hidden amongst the skyscrapers.  There were some places of the city where damage from the floods in January was visible, but it's amazing how fast the city has bounced back considering the scale of the floods.  All the riverside restaurants were open and the city was buzzing!

Southbank

Birthday drink and dinner by the river!

Subtropical garden in the city centre

River boat cruise

I had the best breakfast ever, pancakes at       the Pancake Manor, an old church made into a   restaurant


                                                          
                                                                                                    

A great view from the Wheel of Brisbane

An afternoon beer break to write some cards

Brisbane Casino

Amazing trees in the Botanic Garden

We're off to Brisbane!

My beautiful lover, friend and partner has surprised me with a trip to Brisbane for my birthday! He was suppose to go up for a dental conference and be back for Saturday, little did I know he had booked flights and hotel for the two of us to stay until Monday!

I'm so exited and are looking forward to see what Brisbane has to offer.  It looks like a great city so I'm sure we'll have a busy fun weekend.  Yikes, can't believe I'm about to leave my twenties behind me...

As part of my birthday gift, I got this cool Billabong travel bag from Wyatt.  I better get off and do some packing!

Have a great weekend!

Bouddi National Park

There is so much to see and discover in the area we live in, and last weekend we decided to head south of Newcastle for a change.  We ended up in hiking in Bouddi National Park with surrounding beaches and bays.  A beautiful area and a lovely day despite a sudden downpour of rain and a few arguments as to wether or not it's wise (not to mention safe) to poke around with long sticks in the nearby bushes during our hike, looking for exotic creatures (snakes, salamander and spiders) to pop up... You can probably guess who the guilty one is...

   McMaster's Beach

The start of our hike

Getting ready to poke...

Heavy rain

Soaked

Nearly there!

Maitland Bay. Like Cast Away, completely deserted

Welcome to the world!

We've had quite a busy week and weekend, but our adventures pales in comparison to the arrival of two beautiful little babies in the last week.

5 days ago,  Emma and Oystein welcomed their little daughter Linnea to this world, William is now a big brother and I'm a very proud auntie!! Grattis till hela familjen!

Today in Canada, Cass and Cassandra welcomed their little son Lucas James, Abigail Grace is now a big sister and I'm a very proud uncle! Congratulations, good work Cassandra!

At times like this is really tough to be so far away, but you're all in our hearts and minds and we're with you despite the physical distance.

Newcastle Showgrounds

Tro det eller ej, men trots att vi spenderar en hel del tid med var nyfunna hobby fiske, hinner vi faktiskt med annat också! I söndags spenderade vi ett par timmar på Newcastle Horseshow/Market som bjöd på äkta marknadskänsla med spåtanter, hundutställning, hästhoppning, karuseller, vedhuggningstävling, massor av marknadsskräp till försäljning och sist men inte minst massor av mat!! (det blev chili korv med ost och lök för vår del!!)

Diverse fåglar...

Världens sötaste lilla Shetlandsponny föl!

Färgade höns påsken till ära

Kaktävling!