Koala Sam Rescued from the Bushfires.

A Country Fire Association Fire Fighter named David Tree stopped to give a Koala a drink. This is unusual because koalas rarely drink water, they usually get enough liquid from eating gum leaves. However,when they are desperate they will drink water. Besides that, they are uusually very shy of humans and will run away or scratch if you try to handle them. So you can see how desperate this wild animal is, she has burnt feet,and suffering from the heat.

This photo was splashed around the world. No wonder it is so heart wrenching. David said in an interview, that the Koala put her hand into his because he had water in his hand and it was cooling her burnt feet. He got a call to attend to another emergency and he had to leave the koala there but he rang the Animal Rescue people who came and picked her up and took her back to the animal refuge. She is called Sam.

David comes to the refuge to check on Sam. Koalas identify humans by their smell and she soon recognises David as her saviour.

THE FOODIES SAY THANK YOU

Our children have returned from their beach holiday and are going back to London next Monday. They will look a bit suntanned compared to their colleagues suffering the snowy winter. They offered to take us out to dinner to say thank you for having them and lending them my car.

Like us they are foodies too. We enjoy trying different restaurants and food. This time we went to Toni's Italian Restaurant and the food was delicious.

Bill had Tournedour Rossinni.

David had Chicken a la I can't remember

Carol had Barramundi Fish

I had Veal Mascaponi

SUNSHINE COAST Day 2 Continued

Day 2: In the afternoon.

After our lunch and stroll through Noosa we drove back to Castaway Cove (10 mins away). We had a rest.

I chose the upstairs balcony.......

...... with the best view.......

...outside the main bedroom (yes teddies come on holidays too).....

Bill chose the middle floor living area for a rest. We had our own suite down stairs. It is a beautiful house. Carol and David remembered it from when we took them there years ago, so they booked it from London and paid for it. So we had a free holiday this time. I think it's called "Payback Time." What a good idea.

Afternoon walk time and time to contemplate the peaceful beach and....

...the mesmerising waves.

Day 3: Visit to FROMART Swiss Cheese factory.

We had read about a Swiss guy who made Swiss style cheeses. Bill, being Swiss, loves cheese. He rang the guy and made arrangements for us to visit his factory. Carol and David also cheese lovers were keen to come. It was a half hour drive to a little village called Eudlo, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

We had to have caps on and wear gum boots and wade through disinfectant. Christian gave us an interesting talk about how he makes the different cheeses and proudly showed us the Maturation Room

yum, yum Carol and David in cheese heaven looking a bit silly.

Needless to say we brought home some wares. 

Jam and cheese sangers for lunch.

Then the last walk on the beach before heading home the next day.  I had a good time.

NOOSA

Day 2 of trip to Sunshine Coast

Breakfast on the balcony with Carol and David, which doesn't happen very often. The children went to their other family to celebrate a birthday, so we entertained ourselves in Noosa a top tourist destination on the Sunshine Coast.

Noosa is a sheltered beach and the waves are not big, but recently storms have washed away much of the sand and beach.

The life savers are patrolling in their boat.

Rather than swim we preferred to find a restaurant for lunch. This one had a great view and good food......

.......and good service, the waiter insisted on taking a photo of us.

Bill had salmon on a veggie salad

I had a pear and blue cheese salad on brazil nut polenta and roast pumpkin. (Yum,Yum)

After lunch we strolled along the boardwalk......

....into the forest.....

...with the bush turkeys.....

......and back onto the main street (Hastings)......

......where there are restaurants and.....

...tourist shops and....

...ugly resorts and....

...expensive jewellery and dress shops and......

nice coffee shops and...

...Real Estate Agents selling apartments for 2.2 million dollars.

Adventure on the Sunshine Coast (without the sun)

Day 1. 31 January

We have just spent 3 days on the Sunshine Coast (0ne and a half hours north of Brisbane) with our Carol and David, who have hired a beach villa for 3 weeks holiday before they return to London. We arrived in time for lunch on the balcony.

Happy to be with our kids. The ocean is just behind the trees.

In the late afternoon when it is not too hot we venture out for a walk along the beach. It is about 200 metres to the beach through the trees.

David leads the way over the dunes.....

... and down to the water..

"Lets go this way."

Castaway Beach, lovely and natural, not many buildings or people.

Even though it was overcast it was still very pleasant walking and the surf looked dramatic.

We found hundreds of these blue bottles (stinging jellyfish) washed up onto the sand.

This is a nasty stinger. That blue mess at the back is actually hundreds of very fine tentacles The blue bottles float on the water with the tentacles spread out for a long way around them.They can give an excruciating sting and welts. So no swimming today. Instead we stepped on them to hear the loud popping sound they make when squashed.

What has David found?

A coconut covered in tiny shellfish. Maybe it has come from far away lands.

Time to turn back and head for home. Bill leads the way as usual on the home run.

We brush off the sand and get ready for tea.