MMM Mareeba

The is the team from Mobile Mission Maintenance that we have been working with at Mareeba. The project is for the AOG church here. They are building a new church and it's been an ongoing project for 10 years now. The team is putting in a month or so to build a stage and a few other big jobs. The people from the church are extemely grateful for MMM and have blessed us often with yummy meals of an evening.

Our girls and the Parkers have set up a school room for our month in Mareeba. It's a little noisy with construction happening right next door, but they enjoy having friends to work with (even if they do get distracted)!!

They are doing some framework upstairs and putting sheets of iron up. It's a big church and there's plenty of work to do.

Chris and Tim working hard. This is a stage they're building at the front of the church.

Giddy Up!!!!

We were super excited that we were in Mareeba for the rodeo. It's one of the biggest rodeos in Queensland and we've been wanting to go to one for ages. The weekend kicked off with a ute parade down the main street on Friday night. The girls thought it was fantastic as lollies fell from the sky (well they were thrown from the utes and floats as they went past). They got a huge stockpile for the weekend.

Lucy and I enjoying the beautiful weather as we watch all the cowboys and cowgirls in the arena. We had an exhausting, but fun weekend at the rodeo.

The big event that everyone waits for...bucking bulls!!!! It was great fun to watch, but there would have been some very sore cowboys at the end of the weekend!! Ouch!

YeeHah!!!! The bucking broncos were very entertaining!! We loved to watch and see if they could stay on for 8 seconds!

As well as the rodeo, it's also Mareeba's Show day. We have a look around to see what's on display. Here the girls are checking out the big Brahman Bulls. It was nowhere near as exciting as The Yeoval Show, but they were happy to see heaps of rides and spend some of their pocket money having fun on some!

There is no doubt that Lucy is a 'Daddy's Girl'!!! When Chris sits down, it's only a matter on seconds before Lucy is there and climbing all over him!!

At the official opening on Saturday night, they had a ute parade and the truck there in the front is carrying all the Rodeo queens and princesses. I wondered how some of the utes could control themselves going so slow around the arena without doing a bit of circle work. It was all too much for one ute who couldn't resist and entertained the crowd on his way out!!

Friends from back home at Yeoval, Des and Laurel were in the area and stayed with us for a couple of nights. It was great to see familiar faces and catch up on what's been happening at home.

Butterfly Sanctuary- Kuranda

We visit the Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda. This photo was taken on our way out after we'd spent ages enjoying the butterflies. If you look closely at the girls faces, you'll see they weren't too keen about having their photo taken!! HeHe

These were our favourite two butterflies, the Cairns Birdwing and the gorgeous electric blue Ulysses butterfly. We've been lucky enough to see heaps of Ulysses butterflies while we've been exploring tropical Queensland

The Cairns Birdwing butterfly is after the flowers on Claire's t-shirt!! The look on her face says, "I know it's just a butterfly, but I'm still a little nervous!"

This Orange Lacewing butterfly loved Bridget's hat. It stayed on there for such a long time.

WooHoo! Back with The Parkers!

We are excited the Parkers have joined us in Mareeba. We weren't sure whether our paths would cross this year, but we are very glad they did!! We take a day trip and visit Palm Cove and Mossman Gorge. Here are all the kids at Palm Cove.

Mossman Gorge

After Palm Cove, we drove to Mossman Gorge. We could not get over how busy it was here!! We snuck down through the bush to the gorge to find our own secluded spot to have lunch. Very glad we did. It was lovely down there. Then we joined the crowds to do the walk and the kids enjoyed a swim.

What a beautiful photo! Lucy and Lauren and Mossman Gorge in the background.

Claire and Amy are inseparable! We have four, not three daughters at the moment.

It was so nice to sit and watch the kids play. They get on so well and are always willing to help each other out. Even it means becoming a human bridge!!! Thanks Lauren!

As well as the kids enjoying being together, I'm loving having Al around. It's lovely to be back together again (if only for a month).

Chris is holding up some fresh prawns from The Gulf that we picked up from the local markets that morning. He warmed them up a little while we cooked our bbq lunch on the back of the ute. Yummo!

Just laying back and enjoying the serenity!!! What a hard day it was!

It was stunning scenery driving into and out of Mossman Gorge. This photo shows a typical view of a sugar cane crop with Daintree National Park in the background. Gorgeous!!

Girls Getaway in Palm Cove!!!

Palm Cove holds special memories for me. We spent our honeymoon here, my sister was married here last year and now my good friend Jo from back home flew up and met Al and I here for 5 days. We felt very spolit, but had such a fun, relaxing, fantastic time and made even more great memories.

One morning it was calm and sunny, so I convinced the girls it was a good idea to go for a swim. Jo was about to head back to a freezing winter at home so jumped in just because she could!

All dressed up and ready for cocktails as the sun sets followed by a delicious dinner. Palm Cove has amazing restaurants and I'll never forget how good that meal was! Yum.

What a way to spend an evening... with a bottle of wine, cheese and great friends!!! We would sit here and chat for hours, nearly forgetting about dinner!

We take a drive up to Port Douglas for a look around and to reminisce on our honeymoon days!

Coffee, coffee and more coffee

Coffee works in Mareeba is amazing!!! By the time this photo was taken, I had tried all 21 varieties of coffee (some more than once), a selection of liqueurs and more chocolate than I'd like to remember!!! I felt great at this point, but not a couple of hours later!!