ST JOHN'S CATHEDRAL, BRISBANE

We went into town to go for a guided tour of St John's Anglican Cathedral with our camera club. It is terrible to admit that we have lived in Brisbane for 46 years and we have never been inside this beautiful building. However, it wasn't completed until 2009.The third Bishop of Brisbane, Bishop Webber had a vision to build a Cathedral in Brisbane. He engaged the architect John Loughborough Pearson, who had already designed the Turo Cathedral in Cornwall.The foundation stone was laid in 1901 and the building developed in three stages. 1906-1910, 1964-1968 and the final stage in 1989-2009. Most of the cathedral is built from local sandstone. The pink and lavender toned stone is called "Brisbane Tuff". After the guided tour we were let loose with our cameras. It was a magnificent cathedral with lots of interesting history, chapels and artefacts inside.

 The stained glass windows were beautiful and they threw rainbow colours onto the pillars. You could see the development of the style of windows in each of the three sections of the cathedral.

 Some of the windows had been removed for restoration work.

 There were no pews but sophisticated chairs, apparently the same as in Westminster Abbey.

 Reflection in the font made from fossil rich stone.

A beautiful golden eagle reflects the colour of red carpet. I can't remember the significance of this eagle.

COOL IN CALOUNDRA

Last week we went to a four day reunion at Caloundra, a beachside suburb on the Sunshine Coast just a one and a half hour drive from home.   It was a small group of us, who all belonged to the Pt Moresby Judo Club in Papua/New Guinea in the early sixties. A few years ago we found each other again and we have had reunions nearly every year. Unfortunately, Charles and Penny couldn't join us this time because Charles isn't well.

 We stayed in the Centrepoint Apartments. The view was pretty good.

We overlooked the tip of Bribie Island. The weather wasn't the best when we arrived.

 The next morning was better when we strolled down to the beach. 

This is the end of Pumistone Passage. The main Surf Beach, Kings Beach, is just around the corner.

 Later we went for a drive into the hinterland. Martin, Del, Bill, Graham and Dianna at a lookout on the way to Maleny. 

The view of the Glass House Mountains from Mary Cairncross Lookout. They are not really mountains but cores of ancient volcanoes.

 We stopped at a French Restaurant for lunch near Montville. Bill had a chat to the waiter in French.

 The next day we went for a cruise on the Pumistone Passage, we went upstairs and sat in the warm sun. We caught up on all our news from the past year. Del and Martin on the left were the ones who organised the outings for this reunion.

 After a relaxing cruise past Bribe Island, checking out the birdlife, we came back to where there are million dollar houses lining the canals.

On the day we left the wind was blowing hard. The sea was churning and the kite surfers were having fun. It was nice catching up with old friends from long ago.

NOOSA NATIONAL PARK

While we were at Perigean Beach with the family, we went for a drive to Noosa National Park. We walked along the path and glimpsed the beautiful sea views through the trees. Then we came to many little bays. We stopped at one for the family to swim, sun bake and play on the beach while us oldies sat on a log in the shade and people watched.

 Simon, our Swiss visitor likes what he sees.

 Papa goes for a swim

 Mum sunbaked and watches the boys.

Mum and the boys discuss their finds.

After fun on the beach we went back to Noosa Village and had a baby chino and lunch. It is great having this lovely family back in Australia. It is hard to believe that they have been back for a year now. I hope they stay.

A BEACH BREAK WITH FAMILY

It is school holidays here and Sonya and her family flew up from Melbourne to get warm. They have had a cold winter down there. Cold for Australia but not for the Northern Hemisphere countries. Simon, a distant relative from Switzerland also came with Sonya's family. He is staying with them in Melbourne for a while. Carol-Ann and David flew from Sydney. They all stayed with us for one night and then we crammed into two cars and drove north to the Sunshine Coast. We stopped at the  Mooloolaba  Surf Club for lunch.

Mooloolaba is a very pretty and popular beach but we preferred something a bit quieter.

We hired a beach house at Peregian Beach a bit further north.

It was a beautiful big house with plenty of rooms and private spaces for all the families.

 The view was good too.

Fox enjoyed reading on the deck and keeping a watch out for whales.

The whales were a long way out but they gave us a performance of fin and tail slapping. 

The next morning it was a five minute walk down to the beach. The weather was superb. We have a saying in Queensland, "Beautiful one day and perfect the next."

 Fox and Banjo enjoyed playing in the sand.

 We had to tell Simon, from Switzerland, about the rules of swimming between the flags. 

 Simon helps the boys build a sand castle.

Then we went back to the house for lunch and a rest. Someone just couldn't stay awake.

 My favourite time on the beach is in the evening.

Carol and David stride off for a walk while I amble along with my camera and iPhone for pics.

One of my favourites was taken with the phone.

When I got back to the house dinner was being prepared by my son in laws, David and Bernie. They took it in turns to cook and Simon cleaned up. I had a perfect holiday, surrounded by family and no work to do.