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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Our recent adventures before Xmas...

Hey readers;

Louise loose on the blogosphere again with some late Christmas wishes and New Year ones for all;  We have been having a lovely laid back time here on Magnetic Island; the rainy /wet season is upon us and it has been pouring over the last week or so.  Which is a bummer as we have Jonathon and his mum Anne arriving on Sunday for a lightning visit (2 nights) only.  I am just praying for some dry weather; its been very very stormy. Speaking of which, I have to share an embarrassing but  true story;  I have already posted this on Facebook so apologies if you have read it already...
Two nights ago,  I got up at 4am in the middle of an evil thunderstorm, to use the loo, and a HUGE clap of thunder exploded over the house! I screamed and ran out of the toilet, leaving a puddle on the floor behind me... Matt nearly died laughing... Oh - the shame, the shame.   It will not be long before I am wearing the bloody incontinence pads, I can see that...

Now, quickly changing the subject; Check this out below, all the effort in the garden is rewarded.
Our tomato plants are giving us fruit!  Woo hoo!


Here is Matt holding our first few home grown tomatoes, which he used in a lovely spag dish later that night; 1/12/11

We also have some basil and sage plants doing well, plus some chilli and other herbs.  There is something curiously satisfying about growing food.

There has not been a great deal of stuff going on since my last blog about a month ago in November; work is drying up as it is the wet season!   We have been only working a few days a week but that's all good as we can get to those jobs we have been putting off: Like cleaning the fridge and oven;  I always say to Matt would he like to get familiar with some chemicals and latex, and then show him the rubber gloves and the oven cleaner... Somehow he looks disappointed?

Anyways I digress;  Matt's Aunty Lyn came up from near the Gold Coast to stay with her mum Joy at Nelly Bay.  She bought her cute dog Tully who was featured in a blog way back in May I think it was.  We did the lunch specials at Peppers  at Blue on Blue, which has a good lunch for $20 per person, 2 courses and includes a glass of wine.  But as it was a weekday and I try to stay off the booze until at least Friday night, I (boringly) stuck to Diet Coke.


Nana Joy, Matt and Lyn: Peppers at Nelly Bay, 7.12.2011

Louise in the frame; 7.12.2011

Now the other annoying thing that happened is that our TV that came with the house, a lovely CRT TV (Changhong Brand) that weighs a ton, decided to pack up on us!  So we had to make a pilgrimage to Joyce Mayne Electrical shop in Townsville and get a new one;  I was expecting to have to pay a fortune for one that had a flat screen, connected to the net, and makes mad passionate love to you if you ask it nicely - sorry, that's Matt I'm getting confused with -  but to cut to the chase we managed to get a new one (LG Brand) for $500, and Joyce Mayne (or Maynge as I call it) gave us a discount as we had purchased our amp from them back in August when that went bung.  Lovely.


the old TV that came with the house; needs Superman to lift it...


the new TV: even I can lift this one:   talk about technological change!

Now the other funny thing I have to share is our recent visit to Florence Beach which is about a 7 minute drive down a very pot-holed road.  Its a National Park Beach and has 2 resident Crows, who we call Mr & Mrs Russell.  These two are the absolute epitome of bird cunning and stealth;  we have seen them in action before, opening up bags of swimmers and stealing food, so I thought I was a match for them, but no, as it turned out.   We decided to have a quick swim there last Saturday (10th) and I put some fruit inside a zip up cool bag from Woolworths, and on top of the fruit was my shorts and sarong and my book I'm reading; the bag was zipped tight, with Matt's thongs on top;  they would never get inside that!  But bugger me, as we were swimming I saw them on our towels and quickly charged back up the beach to reveal....


Our fruit lunch pecked at and now un-eatable...10.12.11


this is the stuff they pulled out of the zipped bag!  This is how I found it;  One crow was watching while the other was sneaking into the bag for the food;  I was more cranky they'd pulled my bookmark from my book.  I shall padlock the dam bag next time we go. 10.12.11


 I also want to say thanks heaps to Peta and Trevor around the corner who invited us to their block party on 10th December for Christmas; it was an epic event, with loads of tables and chairs and lanterns set up; a wooden rowing boat filled with ice and booze, a stage and a drag show!  What more could one ask for?  But I was very good and stuck to 2 drinks of red wine only and then onto the Diet Coke.  Just can't deal with hangovers anymore...  It was a blast and stupidly I didn't take the camera with me!  Dam and blast...

On Sunday 18th we had a flying visit for 2 nights from Jonathan and his mum Anne who is out from the UK for a few weeks to stay with him and his wife Kate in Sydney and their baby Sienna who is 2 and a cheeky little monkey.  Matt and I drove the around the island to show them the sights and we had 2 lovely BBQ dinners on our decking;  Anne and I shared a lovely bottle of champers while the boys decided to jump into the spa!


Jono and Matt in spa; 19.12.11 (9 pm)

It was a quick visit and I hope they can come back again for a bit longer...


Now for Xmas:  we went to visit our chum Darran at his house in Wellington Point, near Brisbane; his long time pal Chris was also there, plus Georgie his flatmate, and a French friend, Guilame, who with Chris, drove up from Sydney:  ( a trip of 925 km)  -   We arrived 23rd Dec via Jetstar, and the 24th was taken up with buying up big at the local booze shop and supermarket for Xmas day.  We also dressed the Christmas tree and got the ham ready:  And a very big Xmas day it was too; Darran started us off with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for brekkie, which sustained us   until lunch at 3pm.  We had the turkey that the steroids worked on big time, for it was a monster and a ham that was baked in the BBQ to perfection.



Chris hard at work Dec 24 night with Matt and Dazza testing the cocktails out...



Guillame, Darran, Chris and Matt testing the cheese plate out; 24.12.11


Dear Dazza does tend to get a bit cross eyed after a few drinks... 24.12.11


Xmas day lunch; L-R Darran, Georgie, Guilliam, Chris, Louise  25.12.11



If you can't wear a Virgin Mary T shirt on Xmas day, when can you? 25.12.11


It was dark when we decided to eat the Xmas pud that Darran had made from scratch; it was fab!


Now the next day, around 4pm we decided to have a cocktail party on the front lawn; the neighbours all kind of joined in, and Chris's brother Tony and wife Pam also came for some Daiquiris; Darran certainly knows how to make a killer one!  We had mango, strawberry, banana, then started on the Midori and made more cocktails with that;  Lovely...  As I don't drink that much I was having water in between each one, which saved me from being too rough around the edges the next day...

The 2 doggies, Sam and Zac with us enjoying a cocktail on the lawn. 26.12.11

On Wed 28th  Darran, Chris, Matt and I decided to go to visit Noosa, 2 hrs north or Brisbane.  I was last in Noosa in 1983 and to say the place had changed would be a massive understatement.  Its very trendy now, with lots of trendy shops. Had a fab lunch at one of the pubs on Hastings Street.

here is Matt and I overlooking the main beach...28.12.11


Sand sculptor at work!  Noosa Beach 28.12.11

We left Darran's place on 29th to come back to our island home after a lovely Christmas; thanks guys, we should do the same this year as well.

Our NYE was a bit odd this year.  We usually go out to a club or party but no!  Instead, we were going out the night of 1st Jan with Jono and Kelly,  in Sydney to see DJ Sasha at the Metro in George Street.  Did I mention that my husband is a DJ groupie?  And that Sasha is one of his faves? 

But I digress!  What to do New Years Eve on Maggie Island?  Only one thing worth bothering with, the local fireworks display at Nelly Bay marina.   For a local display it was very good, lasted about 20 mins and we sat on Nelly Bay beach and watched it with the locals.    Came home, went to bed sober (now there's a first for NYE!) and then we got up next day and flew to Sydney, feeling fresh as a daisy which is more than can be said for the rest of the people on the plane.  Sore heads all round us...

Our pal Jono kindly picked us up at the airport and we had a lovely BBQ with his wife Kate and baby Sienna and his mum Anne.   Then to our chum Geoff's flat in Freshwater: Geoff was away but kindly let us use is flat for the 3 nights we were in Sydney.  Here we are just before going out, and that Xmas pudding Darran made is hiding under our clothes...


1st Jan 2012 night : off to see DJ Sasha in Sydney

We had a fantastic night, got to see Sasha do a 5 hr set behind the decks, which (and this coming from someone who was not that much of a fan) was very good. 

Came home on 4th and back to work on Friday 6th; back to the Beachside apartments, back to reality, and back to cleaning rooms there!   Bugger, but it was nice while it lasted (our Xmas break):  But  its onwards and upwards for 2012.   Our New year resolution?  To go on a world cruise on the Queen Mary 2, 105 days and very, very expensive!  If you feel like contributing to our trip, please let me know as all donations are gratefully accepted.  Maybe if I registered as a charity I could say contributions would get a tax deduction?  

Time to close now,  we have young Navarone here staying with us at the moment, he is the son of our pal Dewi, just turned 14 and no complaints so far!  (I will chat about his 2 week visit in the next blog.)

adios amigos

Louise