BIRTHDAY BEAR SWIMS WITH A WHALE SHARK

Our friend Chris had a birthday recently and we were invited to celebrate at their new place in the country. After they spent some years travelling around Australia in a caravan, they have now decided to settle down again in a small country town about three hours drive from here.

They have a big block of land with a huge tree, sheds and a cute little house. Wallabies visit everyday too.

Chris and Helen went on a tour to Western Australia a few weeks ago. While on that tour Chris was very brave and went on an excursion where you snorkel on the Nigaloo Reef and swim with the largest fish in the world, a whale shark. They are not dangerous like other sharks.

So when we arrived at Chris' house  we saw that Bear was dressed in a wet suit with flippers, goggles and a snorkel. There was also a whale Shark close by.

Chris was happy with all of us for being there for lunch with Birthday Bear. (if you are not familiar with our Birthday Bear tradition click here.)

 A big tree and a little house.

Can you see the wallaby in front of our car?

Wally the wallaby comes every day for a snack of seeds......

and a drink from the bird bath.

Chris was happy to have a snorkelling companion

Chris made us a lovely lunch and we sat outside on a beautiful,warm winter's day.

BRISBANE AT NIGHT

Oh dear it is a month since I have posted here. I've been busy making photo books for the grandsons. I make them a year book every birthday and their birthdays have just passed so I've been sorting a years photos of them. As well as that I've been trying to keep up with all the activities in the village and prepare lessons for a photography class. Excuses! Excuses!

The other night a friend took us into town to practice night photography. The Story Bridge was purple to bring attention to elder abuse, something that shouldn't happen in modern societies but shamefully it does.

Brisbane CBD from Kangaroo Point cliffs.

From a ferry terminal.

 A tree in lights in the park under the bridge

Under the bridge

WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO OUR FOREST?

Most of you know that I live next to a forest. The locals call it Daisy Hill Forest but its real name is Daisy Hill Conservation Park. My friends and I walk there every morning except weekends. Some months ago when I entered the forest I came across trucks and fences stopping us from entering certain parts of the forest, mainly the picnic area. What are they doing to our forest??

Then all was revealed. The government has provided funds for an upgrade to the park. 

The picnic area will have new facilities such as shelters, BBQ's, toilet blocks and pathways.

We were not too happy about our usual walking paths being blocked off but we made a new route.

Now the first section of work is complete. The ring road for cars has been resealed and the park paths have been concreted like this one.

New shelters and BBQ's

New facilities

New activities for children. Turn the handle to guess the sounds of the wildlife.

So the picnic area has been spruced up and our bush tracks have new signs but luckily there are still acres and acres of untouched forest.

BOB'S BIRTHDAY BEAR

Bob had a belated Birthday Bear celebration. Before the celebrations Bear agreed to having a ride in the washing machine at Ann's house. However, Bear declined the offer of a spin in the dryer but opted to hang around in the sun all day trying to get dry.

 At the end of the day Bear was still damp so it hung around inside the garage for the night.

 At last Bear was all cleaned and shaven and ready for his new outfit for Bob's party.

Bob and Chris have bought a property in the country. Bear is dressed ready to help Bob with all the chores on the property. First they have to erect a kit home and keep an eye on all the native fauna. They need to make a place for the alpacas they hope to raise. 

 This time the celebration was held at Helen's home. Bob and Chris had come from the country to stay the night because Chris and Helen were leaving on a trip on the next day. Chris is far left and Helen far right. They are going to Western Australia on the famous Indian-Pacofic train and then touring the Pilbara Region.

 It was an impromptu party, so fish and chips and donuts were the fare for the event. Unfortunately, Bill and I couldn't make it that evening because we were on our way back from Melbourne.

Bear enjoyed the donuts best.

BIRTHDAY TIME IN MELBOURNE

Our grandsons have their birthdays close together, so this year they celebrated their birthdays together. We flew to Melbourne to help out and celebrate with them. We were lucky in that our other daughter from Sydney was in Melbourne too working for her company. So we all met up and spent three days together.

On the evening we arrived, we met Carol at the Swiss Club restaurant for dinner. Bill loved it. Swiss beer and food.

 The girls enjoyed Cheese Fondu

We even had Swiss music.

The next day we went shopping for the party and picked up the boys from school because mummy and papa were at work. On Saturday the Jumping House arrived and was pumped up much to the boys excitement.

 In the afternoon the guests started to arrive. Each boy invited his whole class plus all their cousins which made about 50 children. (I thought that was a crazy idea but it all turned out okay.)

 The kids loved the house which had climbing activities inside.

Later rain clouds gathered and it started to shower.

Someone gathered up all the shoes and jackets and brought them inside.

 Luckily it wasn't long before the sun started to shine again.

Bernie did a great job at entertaining the children with musical games.

Inside, Aunty Carol was decorating the cake. I was making Fairy Bread and friends were warming up party pies and sausage rolls.

After lots of fun and games it was time to sing happy birthday and...

blow out the candles and .......

 sample the cake. Bernie did a good job at serving the crowd. There were also sausages sizzling on the BBQ but they didn't all get eaten so guess what we had for dinner.

 You cannot imagine the pile of presents that were left in the family room for the boys to open when everyone had left except for cousins. It took them ages to read all the cards and investigate the gifts.
Fox was given a lot of things relating to AFL Football and his favourite team "The Richmond Tigers"

 The next morning we went to watch Fox play AFL with his team the Ashy Redbacks. Go number 4!

Then it was time to say goodbye as we left for the airport and they went to the MCG to watch the Tigers play. They have grown so much since we saw them and I guess they will again before we see them again.