Brisbane

Brisbane Park Run Tour – New Farm

April 7, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

Of all of the Park Runs I have tried so far I would say that New Farm is my favourite. Me, Naomi and the Aussie have visited a few times so far and I plan to go back again.

1. Course

The course is lovely, it runs along the river which is one of my favourite places to visit in the city, and back again.

2. Accessibility / Manoeuvrability

The course has nice wide paths so it is easy to go past the other participants and people also enjoying the river on foot/scooter/bikes. Another plus is that it is mainly flat and there are markets nearby which you can enjoy after your run.

3. Volunteers

The volunteers are lovely, very helpful and informative. They are also very encouraging as you go past.

4. Photography

So far I have liked the photos which they publish after the event. They usually take them by the finish line when I try and get that last minute burst of energy to run!

5. Ambience

The best thing about Park Run is the ambience. Everyone is very supportive and positive and it really doesn’t matter if you run it in under 20 minutes or walk it in an hour. The main thing is that you are there giving it a go and getting better every week.

Mount Coot Tha Botanical Gardens

March 31, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

The Aussie and I live so close, about 10 minutes away, from Mount Coot Tha and the Botanical Gardens and we have lived in Brisbane since June 2017 so it really was about time that we visited the Gardens!

We have both been working long hours including during the weekends so we set aside our Sunday so we could spend some lovely time together and also explore the gardens.

The gardens themselves are 56 hectares in size and we only touched the surface but it is such a lovely and tranquil space to have a wander, take a seat in a shady spot and watch the world go by.

There are lots of different areas including Lagoons, a Rainforest Walk, a Bonsai Garden and a Japanese Garden as well as some longer walking tracks.

There was also plenty of wildlife around the gardens including lizards, ducks and a LOT of spiders!!! The spiders webs were everywhere including between the plants that is an absolute nightmare for me!

We took a walk around the outside of the Gardens which was lovely albeit it a bit warm as the sun was blazing. Luckily there are plenty of shady spots under trees or a shade cloth if you need to escape the sunshine.

I really enjoyed our time, especially the Greenhouse area and also spending some time sitting in the Japanese Garden.

I look forward to getting back there again soon to explore some more.

Take a tour around the Gardens

My February Faves & Things I have loved in February 2019

March 10, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

Another month has flown by in a whirlwind but also felt quite slow as I was working my notice at my old company!

I didn’t take a lot of photos it seems but here are my favourites:

During February, Naomi and I went to a recording of The Guilty Feminist at the Powerhouse in New Farm which was brilliant and very amusing. This photo was taken as I walked from my car. I love the city view, especially at sunrise or sunset.
This photo is of a bunch of Galahs which I encountered on one of my morning walks. I walk around the park area a couple of times to make up my 5km’s and so passed them twice. The birds were not too impressed that I interrupted their breakfast on either occasion!
(middle) I took this photo which is literally a giant spiders web that was across the driveway to the house. I have a bit of a problem with spiders and am about as keen about their webs so was not very impressed that one kept making its home across the driveway which I had to walk out of in the morning to go exercise! After a few days the Aussie move the spider and luckily he / she has not returned yet!
We went to watch the fabulous Sarah Millican on her tour around Australia. I think we laughed from the very first moment until she left the stage. At the end she was handing out “No” and “Champion” badges and somehow we ended up with 3!
This photo was taken outside of Brisbane City Hall just before we went inside to watch Sarah Millican.

MOVIES:

On the basis of Sex – This movie is based on the true story of an American Lawyer (Ruth Bader Ginsberg) and her first sex discrimination case when she was acting for a man in a tax law case. Despite the subject of the case itself (tax law cannot be very interesting at all) the movie is brilliant (you should also watch R.G.B ) and I would highly highly recommend it (even if you are not interested in law!)

Stan and Ollie – This is the story of Laurel and Hardy who it turns out I didn’t know very much about. The story was funny as you would expect but also sad when you learnt what actually happened between them. I would recommend the movie.

TV SHOWS:

Berlin Station – the Aussie and I binge watched the three series of the show during February. The show is about American CIA Agents who have been placed in the Berlin Embassy and carry out all kinds of espionage antics all across Europe. If you like a good spy thriller and a good guy/bad guy show then Berlin Station might be for you!

BOOKS:

Two Women by Martina Cole – I haven’t read any books by Martina Cole before and picked the book at random on my Kindle app but really enjoyed the book. The book starts with a woman being transported to a new prison whilst she appeals a murder conviction and jumps back and fourth from her brutal childhood up to the present day. The twists and turns keep you guessing about what actually happened to result in her incarceration.

Coughs and Sneezes

January 9, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

After a whirl wind and fantastic Christmas break spent with my family and catching up with family and friends which I will write about in coming posts, the Aussie and I have now made the hop on Saturday morning and arrived back in Brisbane on Sunday night and were back to work on Monday morning.

We hopped on a 12 hour plane from London Heathrow to Singapore which I spent binge watching a show called The Americans, which was actually great and I want to track down the other series, because I couldn’t sleep at all. We spent two tired hours in Singapore Airport where I needed to walk and stretch my legs after the first flight and then we had a 7 hour 15 minute flight from Singapore back to Brisbane where I managed to sleep on and off but it wasn’t restful.

Monday and work wasn’t too painful. I woke up at 4am and couldn’t sleep any more but that meant I managed to unpack both of my suitcases (I had to commandeer my Dads suitcase because mine was a bit over stuffed), get everything up and running in the house again and back to “reality”.

Both of us left the UK a little under the weather (the poor Aussie was so unwell he had had to sleep in the New Years rather than come and celebrate with my good friend Becky and her Husband who we visited for a couple of days) and it continues a few days later.

I am not sure if there is some element of jet lag but I was pretty wiped out by bed time last night. It doesn’t feel like the usual jet lag that I have experienced in the past but it means no working out for me which is driving me a little crazy because I am keen to get back in to the gym.

I went for a very gentle walk yesterday and was exhausted post work and I am feeling a bit sorry for myself and my cough this morning so I will have to reign in my enthusiasm and rest for the next few days so I do get better quickly.

Notwithstanding, the sickness this year has started off great and I hope that you are all having a wonderful start to 2019.