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Easter 2019

May 5, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

For Easter this year the Aussie and I spent a few days in a town called Canungra which is located in the beautiful Lamington National Park. The Aussie had visited Lamington at the end of 2018 and had gone on some hikes and we planned to do the same.

The forecast before we left was optimistically for rain. This of course was an understatement as it poured down pretty much on and off from just after we left Brisbane until well after we got back!

We stayed in an AirBnB homestay which means you have a room in a house owned by the host. We didn’t know what to expect as we have booked a few AirBnB trips but always an apartment so we had it to ourselves. We arrived and were greeted by the host who was absolutely lovely and quite the character. He had come from a law enforcement background so once we got chatting we had lots of in common stories! He did though wisely say that he didn’t think we would be going for a walk and he was right about that.

We travelled down mid morning on Good Friday and surprisingly we avoided the expected traffic jams. We drove through beautiful rolling countryside and into the National Park.

After arriving and unpacking the rain came down hard so we pottered around for the rest of the afternoon before popping out for dinner at the local sushi bar called Ginja Ninja Sushi Cafe. The Aussie has visited Japan and said the set up was very like a few of the Japanese Bars and restaurants that he visited there. I thought the food was really tasty as well.

On Saturday morning we got up and headed to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Resort with the intention / hope that we could go for a walk as a lot of the walks in the area run from the resort.

The journey there was interesting, being windy roads all the way there. There were lots of parts where only one car could go down the road as well as some traffic lights. When I plugged it into the Satnav it said the trip would take 50 plus minutes but it was only 35km away so I thought the Satnav was having a funny five minutes but it was very accurate!

We stopped of for a coffee in the restaurant which was nice and we watched the pouring rain come down whilst admiring the view from the balcony.

We then decided to take a walk along the Treetop Walk , stopping off to feed the birds en route, and of course the rain came down even harder and my coat which I thought was waterproof quickly demonstrated that it was not! The walk itself was really lovely and I would go back again on a less rainy day to check it out at a slower pace. We also stopped of in the Botanic Gardens which was quite lovely as well.

We decided to head back into Canungra and stopped off for another coffee and watched the world go by for a little while before heading back to our AirBnB.

We had a lazy afternoon and I even had a nanna nap which was very much needed and enjoyed before dinner and bed time!

Sunday we headed back to Brisbane via the town of Boonah. Again the Aussie had visited and stayed here last year with his friend so he wanted to take me there to check it out.

The town is a very Aussie town with old hotel / pubs and the people were so friendly and welcoming it was lovely. After a quick pitstop to eat lunch we drove back home and did our unpacking and trying and failing to get our washing dry!

Monday was Easter Monday and I popped over to Naomi’s house where we headed out on an almost 10km walk. It was wonderful to get out and stretch our legs (and there was no rain!) and catch up with Naomi. We put the world right and made plans for the coming weeks and months.

Our Easter weekend was not as intended but it actually really didn’t matter at all because it was just what we wanted and needed. We were both quite tired from the last few weeks and needed the rest.

How did you spend your Easter break?

Friday Night Adventures in Brisbane

September 6, 2017 by Vicky Leave a Comment

Last Friday, the Aussie and I hopped onto a bus and headed into the CBD which took about 15 minutes, spitting us out at King George Square where the Brisbane Twilight Markets were happening.

Brisbane Twilight Markets
We are used to markets, and pretty big ones having visited Mindil, NIghtcliff and Parap Markets in Darwin numerous times so had great expectations and I was really impressed and will definitely be going back.

We were also just looking forward to exploring Brisbane at night as we haven’t done that yet and the Twilight Markets were the great start point for that.

The Twilight Markets are a Brisbane City Council initiative where the items on sale are 100% handmade and locally produced items. They also provide live music and a crafting area where this time round they were showing people how to make macrame.

At the markets there were probably 20-30 stalls stocked full with all original hand made items from jewellery, delicious smelling and tasting foods to beautiful art work. I was looking for gift ideas and found plenty of unique and beautiful items to choose from. There were also food samples before buying which almost made it impossible to choose what to eat.

From the schedule on the BrisStyle website and Facebook page it looks like the next Twilight Market is being held at the Workshop Rail Museum on 20 October 2017 and King George Square on 9 December 2017 which will be just in time for those Christmas Gifts!

Diversity@Dusk
We didn’t hear anything about this event beforehand but whilst going for a walk around the CBD we spotted a stage and could hear music through the Brisbane City Library and after a walk around the corner we discovered the Diversity@Dusk event in Reddacliff Place.

This was the grand finale of Queensland’s Multicultural Month and what a great way to conclude the month and celebrate diversity!

There was a band playing all original music Greshka when we arrived who were great and the line up before and after was pretty cool. We found amazing looking and smelling food from all over the world, market stalls and lots of free stalls where you could have a free massage or your name written in Chinese writing amongst other things.

This will be an event that I will visit again next year and will look out for.

After visiting the two events we went for more of a wander around the CBD (I needed the steps for my FitBit!) and were met with more live music, shops open until late and just a great Friday night atmosphere which is something I really missed in Darwin. It reminded me of the UK of nights after work in Bristol where I used to work as a lawyer in some ways which was great. I can say for sure I love city life!

About Me!

My name is Vicky and I am a Lawyer from the UK who upped sticks and moved to the Northern Territory in Australia in August 2013!

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