Lipton Tea Bikes

Friday night I got to go to my first Broadway play over here which I couldn't wait for.  I saw We Will Rock You which was the music of Queen.  It was...wait for it....FANTASTIC!!!  The crowd was totally into the show, singing and dancing in their seats.  It was really funny and the singers were extremely talented!  Such a lovely evening out:)

Saturday there was a big centennial celebration for work out at the RAAF Air Force Base so headed out there for the day. 

Brian, me, Mehnaz and Dave with an F/A-18 behind us (gotta support our local STL product), haha.

Went inside a C-17 and above the seats were these bags--made me laugh that they'd have barf bags on this plane.  I always check for the barf bags when I get on a plane!

This is a C-17 in the background with a cool 100 sign they had that you could take a picture with.  Dave is the front and Brian and I are behind (I of course had to do something fun and get in the middle of the 0), haha.

Sunday went for a bike ride on these bikes that are all around town.  I call them the Lipton Tea bikes because that is the logo on them.  Felt like Dorothy riding it because of the basket on the front, ha!

You can see the city behind me.  It was an overcast day, so it was perfect for riding!  

Medieval Festival + Mt. Barney Hike

A co-worker of mine does medieval reenactments and he told us a few months ago about a big festival that was coming up.  I thought it sounded like fun so I sent out an e-mail and got a group of us excited about going so we went and purchased our tickets in advance so we wouldn't miss out.  The festival was called the Abbey Midieval Festival and they were expecting something like 17,000 people to attend each day (it was Saturday and Sunday).

This is the castle where we watched a lot of the events at.

This was the opening parade where each of the groups walked by in all of their getup.

This was Turkish oil wrestling.  They covered themselves in olive oil and wrestled.  This was one of the events I wanted to watch;)

We went to a jousting match which was really fun to watch.  I think it's probably a lot harder than it looks.

This is my co-worker Nigel in his tent that he made.  It was very impressive!  They had a bunch of little villages that you could walk through and learn about different things.

There was a cannon that they shot off and they warned us that it would be loud, but I had no idea--it was so loud my ears were ringing afterwards.

We all agreed that it was a lot of fun and it reminded me of my favorite show Game of Thrones, haha!

Sunday I woke up early and headed 1 1/2 hours south to Mt. Barney to go hiking.  Someone at work had recommended it so I added it to my list of things to do.

The scenery started out like this through what I would call a pasture.

Then it went through a rainforest.  The temperature changed drastically, it was probably 5-10 degrees cooler in the rainforest.  

At one point I came across this.....I decided to just walk through the water and let my shoes and socks air dry as I kept going.  

Saw a few mountains in the distance at one of the peaks I walked up.

Driving back to Brisbane I pulled over because I saw this....I said what in the world is this, it looked like a cow and a camel in one.  I asked at work today and come to find out it's a Braham cow.  I have never seen one of these in the States--totally awesome if you ask me.  I thought he had scoliosis or something, haha.   

Another fun weekend Down Under!

Lots of Balls

Woke up on Saturday, went to the fat burning session at the gym, and then off to the driving range to hit some balls!

Had to practice for the game of golf I was going to play on Sunday.

Had a few hours to kill before my evening plans so I decided to catch some rays.

I will inform you that it is illegal to tan in a tanning booth in Brisbane (they don't even have them), so I made my own tanning booth on my balcony.  I only get rays for a few hours in the am before the sun goes behind some buildings so I have to catch it at the right time.  I don't want to lose my tan from vacation, so I gotta do what I gotta do.  

Saturday night met up with some friends and went to the Eat Street Markets.  Think of a festival with ALL food--it was a foodie's dream come true!  I decided on the Greek stand and got a lamb kabob and a chicken kabob.  I've been on a health kick lately so I went light on the dessert.

Decided on a mini alcohol infused cupcake.  I chose an orange one and you push the little syringe and it infuses the cupcake with alcohol.  You had to be 18 in order to buy one (that is the drinking age here).  Let me just say, it was fantastic and I was quite impressed with the concept!  Such a fun night out--thanks for suggesting the idea Claire:)

Brad, me, Ross, Debbie, Dave & Claire

Sunday was the big day of golf.  Headed to the town of The Gap (I shit you not).  For proof I took a picture off of my phone of the weather.  I also wanted my Gap buddies to see this fun town that exists in Australia! 

Dave, Brian, me, Ross and Brad

Since there were 5 of us we split into teams.  Brian and Brad vs Dave, myself and Ross.  We still did a scramble so we could keep the game going at a steady pace.  I will let you know that we used my ball on more than one occasion (remember how I told you I was Tiger back in his days of glory), well I wasn't kidding (well....kinda) ;) 

I am not the best golfer, but I can hit the ball and it's a lot of fun.  I have already contacted a few friends back home to play when I get back.  I have clubs, might as well use them--right?!  I will have to go shopping for some actual golf attire though-ha!

Another fun filled weekend in the town of Brisbane!

Chocolate Class

Someone had recommend a hike to me so I thought I'd give it a go on Saturday.  Boy was I in for a surprise!!!  It was about 1 1/2 hours south on the Gold Coast and the hike was the Purling Brook Falls 

Started at the top and then the trail went all the way down to the bottom of the waterfall and then you walked back up to the top.  Took about 1 1/2 hours.  

It was one of the most beautiful hikes I've done here.  Lots of waterfalls and pretty lookouts!

This is an ancient tree we saw.  Pretty dang cool!

After the hike, drove to the top of the mountain to this lookout.

I had signed up for a chocolate cooking class about a month ago and today was the day of the class.  I  had been to this shop on the chocolate walking tour I did a few months ago and saw a flyer for this cooking class you could do so I inquired more about it and decided to sign up.  

  

We got to make a ton of chocolates as you can see.  Some we filled with yummy fillings and some were just chocolate with designs.  All of the chocolate is Belgium chocolate.  I do not need to eat all of these so I'm going to take them into work tomorrow and share.  I thought it would be good to learn how to make these so I can make them for holidays and special occasions.  The class was 3 1/2 hours long and we were busy the entire time.  

Accomplishment

The Friday before I left for vacation Florian texted me and asked if I could stop by the gym because him and one of the owners had something for me.  Hmmm....I decided to get a workout in before I left and then when I got done he asked me to get down on one knee and he and Cleo presented me with the 1st ever Member of the Strong award.  It's like Member of the Week but they put a twist on it.  I was totally flabbergasted.  Cleo said at their team meeting they decided to start honoring members and all of the trainers voted for me--wow!!!  She said I am very positive and I train really hard and I am very friendly with the other members.  I was just blown away that of all of the people at the gym they chose me.  What a great start to my vacation:)

 All of the trainers signed and wrote me notes on the back!

Disastrous Weekend

   

We received an e-mail at work on Friday saying that a huge storm was coming and to stay inside unless you really needed to go out.  I thought--it's just rain, how bad can it be?!  I had plans and I was going to stick to them, this was my last weekend before I go on vacation (which they call holiday).

Woke up early on Saturday and drove up north to the Eumandi Markets.  It was raining cats and dogs so I walked around with my umbrella and checked out the vendors.  Over 200 of them had cancelled due to the weather so I didn't get the full experience and plan on going back sometime.

 
Wanted to check out this cool store I saw in the Weekend Notes that I get e-mailed to me with things to go and see called Nut Works, but due to the storm it was closed because they lost power-ugh.  Saw something across the street and drove over there and it was the Ginger Factory.  Went inside to check it out and ended up going on a tour of their ginger factory (which I found out one of their customers is Starbucks) - wow!  Their ginger is bought all over the world.  At the end we got to try lots of different products that had ginger in them.  Then I went to the bee presentation they had and got to hear a beekeeper talk about her job and the importance of bees.  They had beehives there and she put on her suit and showed us the inside of hive and boy oh boy did I learn a lot about bees and their importance.  She said that it would take 500 men to do the job of 1 bee (in regards to pollinating).  At the end we got to try lots of different honey's.  I had a day of learning, that's for sure.  I really enjoyed all of the stuff I learned.

Decided that since I was so close, I was going to drive another 30 minutes to Noosa.  Found a cool cafe to eat lunch at and even though it was pouring down rain I wanted to get a picture of the beach that's up here since I've heard it's so nice.

Saw this cute little bird trying to stay dry (as you can see all of the rain behind him)!

Here's the beach on a dreary day.  It didn't keep the surfers away, there were a ton of them out surfing! 

On the way home stopped at the theater since I love doing that on a rainy day.  Saw Money Monster with George Clooney and Julia Roberts.  It kept my attention, nothing to write home about though--you can wait for it on Redbox.  Not something you need to see on the big screen.  I will however tell you that I went to a different theater and there were more food options.  They had sliders, fries, onion rings, wings and a few other things.  So it appears my local theater is just smaller and that's why they have less options.  

Sunday I decided to head over to Tangalooma Island and spend the day there.  It was supposed to be cloudy and windy but no rain.  Took the ferry over at 7:00 and were greeted by these guys; 

Tons of birds and pelicans.  When I left at 2:00 they were still there, interesting...

It was a chilly day so not much was happening so went for a nice hike (they call bushwalks).

No idea why this teepee was in the woods but thought I'd take a picture.  There was a little fire pit next to it, so not sure if all of it was for decoration or what.  The teepee wasn't big enough for a person really, but maybe it had some meaning for the resort that was on the island, I never went and asked.  

Saw this snake and I have no idea if it was alive, so I took a picture and ran by as fast as I could in case he wanted to have me as a snack, ha.

On the beach I saw this starfish.  I should have put my foot by it, but it was HUGE!  We had been told all of the animals on the island are protected, so....I couldn't take him and dry him out--but I really wanted to.  

*NO NOT CONTINUE READING IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH*  Decided to head back to Brisbane so I got my ticket and the guy said it was windy so the ride back would be bumpy.  I do get motion sickness, but I figured if I made it over ok I should be fine going back.  Boy was I wrong!!!! 

 

Ok.....this wasn't me, but it was close.  Our boat was small and the waves were big and I felt like I was going to die.  We went down and then back up and the boat was covered in water--felt like you were on a roller coaster.  The deck hands walked around passing out barf bags and I made sure to take one.  I was doing pretty good, but then I started to get hot so I fanned myself with the bag.  I kept saying, you can do this Tiffany.  Then the guy in front of me got sick and and the minute the smell hit my nose I lost it.  The lady next to me was so sweet and wasn't effected so she kept passing me barf bags and opening them for me.  I went to pick up my bag and there was a leak so barf was going all over me, it was DISGUSTING.  The deck hand came over with a trash bag to put it in, but I was already all nasty.  At least it was my barf and not somebody else's, if that was the case not sure I would have survived.  This was 10 min. into the 75 min. ride too.  About 30 min. later I looked over and saw someone's barf bag on the floor and it was running out and onto the floor and I lost it again.  By this time I am dry heaving and tears are coming out of my eyes because I have nothing left in my stomach and I was shaking.  You can imagine the smell of the boat by this time.  After this I was able to doze a little bit and then we were back in Brisbane.  I got home and immediately threw everything I had in the washer and jumped in the shower.  I then took a little nap and when I woke up I was starving, wonder why-ha!  I ate dinner and then went to bed around 8:00.  This was by far the worst day I've had in Australia and possibly in my life since I was seriously scared to death on that boat.  Note to self--if it is windy outside DO NOT GET ON A BOAT.  Thinking back, if I had known this was going to happen I would have gotten a room on the island and came back today.  No way would I ever wish that experience on anyone!

When I came into work today and told my team what had happened they said, did you not read the e-mail we received and the advice we gave you about staying in?!?!  I said...well obviously not.  They found my experience hilarious to say the least.