Australia Zoo- Qld

Yipee!!! After fitting two days of school into one we take Friday off and go for a 'school excursion' to Australia Zoo!!

We all had a great day out! We loved the elephant feeding, patting the koalas, watching the playful otters, the amazing tigers the tasmanian devils and the wildlife show in the crocoseum. The grounds were so neat and tidy and just walking through the the zoo was spectacular!

We had heard about feeding the elephants at Australia Zoo, but had no idea how awesome it would be!! We loved being so close to the elephant and to feed him his morning tea. A great experience!

Claire had a go too! We fed them fruit and after we'd finished our hands were all slobbery and wet! Yuk.....but it was worth it!

Lucy wasn't game enough to feed the elephants at the morning session, but by afternoon had decided she could do it. She was so glad she did. She loved it and because there weren't a lot of people there she could feed them over and over again!

CRIKEY!!!! What a great day we had!! We saw lots of animals we'd never seen before like an iguana and komodo dragon and even one that we'd never heard of! Thank you God for such a creative and diverse animal kingdom!

What a gorgeous animal!!! We loved this zoo because you got to be up close and personal with lots of the animals. They also had zoo keepers walking around during the day with different animals you could go up and see. But these koalas were just sooooo cute!

The koalas were the animal Claire wanted to see most. She was happy to see them so close up and even happier when she could pat one!

The girls have their photo taken with a statue of the Irwin family. It was a big day out, but a fun day. We will be back for a few more visits before we leave Brisbane. With our tickets we got a 40 day free pass. After paying for our 1st visit, we can go back for the next 40 days free!

Sunshine Coast

Our weekdays are busy with Chris working with MMM each day and us girls busy with school. We decide to use the weekends to explore. We first took a daytrip up into the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. First stop was a lookout over the Glass House Mountains. This is such a beautiful area. We finish our day further up north and on the coast at Noosa! Huge day, but lots of fun.

There are lots of beautiful walks through these national parks. Chris had his mind on other things though as echoing through the bush was the magical sound of a four stoke motorbike or two!! The walk was nice, but to be riding through the forest.........

Chris and the girls enjoy a swim at Gardner Falls near Maleny in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

It was so lovely and refreshing on a hot and sticky day! What a great way to cool off! And fun!

As well as great walks and views, there's also some great food to taste in the Hinterland. We visit the Maleny cheese factory and enjoy some yoghurt for lunch. We also dropped into a chocolate shop, candy shop (where we saw candy being made and got to try a sample or two, or three) and the ginger factory where we enjoyed some gingerbread men and ginger beer. Mmmm yummy!

Lucy checks out the great view from the Hinterland over to the Sunshine Coast

NOOSA

Our last stop for the day is at the coast and it doesn't get much nicer than Noosa! Chris and Bridget catch a few waves. Bridget has just got the hang of bodysurfing and has a ball!!

What a way to end a fabulous day......watching the sun go down while swimming in the surf at Noosa! Such a gorgeous spot!

The girls headed straight for the trees once we arrived at Mango Hill. They have spent hours playing here and have even set up little pulley systems to get toys up and down easier!!

MMM Queensland!!!

Here's our 'home' for the next couple of weeks. We've arrived at Queensland's Mobile Mission Maintenance (MMM) headquarters in Mango Hill, just north of Brisbane. It's a wonderful setup and we're excited to have a concrete slab and lots of gorgeous shady trees!!

The time has come for us to leave family in Alstonville and continue our journey up north. We had a great stay and Chris was able to help out heaps with the shed/house. The girls have their last cuddles with the guinea pigs. They have enjoyed looking after them and playing with them.

For our last night in Alstonville, Cathy cooked us a delicious roast and the night was topped off with a chocolate fondue fountain!!!! The girls LOVE chocolate and even applied their own chocolate lipstick!!! Woo Woo! They had a special time with their cousins and will miss them lots.

Protestors Falls

On Sunday afternoon we decide to take a drive out to Nightcap NP and do the walk up to Protestors Falls. It was a beautiful rainforest walk.

The top of Protestors falls. It was so lovely and cool up here, perfect for a hot Sunday afternoon.

Chris and I just relaxed while the girls had fun exploring.

The girls decided to find leaves and have races against each other. They had so much fun!

Fun in Ballina

On Saturday night we took Mitch and Em (the girls cousins) with us to Ballina to the outdoor cinema. We had a really fun night and it was so lovely to be sitting under the stars watching Toy Story 3!

As we had to wait until dark before the movie could start, they had some fun things for the kids to do. The girls enjoyed trying to Hula Hoop!!

The girls were excited to see and cuddle Prime Possum. He was handing out a few goodies too!

Building in Richmond Hill (Lismore)

Chris has been hard at work at his sister's place. This was just a shed, but Chris has now put the flooring in, built the frames and put them up and is now putting the walls up.

Chris has put most of the walls up downstairs and is now working on the upstairs walls.

Recorder Lessons!!!!

I'm not sure how soon I'll regret my decision to start recorder lessons in the confined space of a caravan, but for now the girls are enjoying it and doing pretty well. I've been told to persevere and lovely tunes will come.........I hope so!!