http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/chaosathome/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from chaosathome en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:25:59 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:25:59 +0000 Living in the garage is now entering the sixth week and we still have a few more weeks to gohelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip..In all building renovations you really need to double the estimated time to complete a job in order to get a better idea as to what you are in for. Well in true form everything has had to be chased for quotes and meetings and then arranging a time to start http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-436429.html One of the many suggested 'must dos' in Australia is to visit Hervey Bay and take a day cruise out into the bay to watch the Humpback Whales congregate in the warm waters and have their calves before swimming back down the coast to Antartic waters later on in the year.So with the opportunity of a two day holiday mid week thanks to Brisbanes' Annual Ekka Show Day similar to the Newbury Show we http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Hervey-Bay/blog-430081.html There are times in your life when you find you need to pinch yourself to make sure you are awake and not imagining things well today was one of those moments. We were about to realise a dream and see the iconic Sydney Bridge and Sydney Opera House only ever seen until now on the BBC and in travel brochures.Kevin and I had found some time to meet up in Sydney following a business trip Kevin under http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Sydney-Harbour/blog-430067.html After three false starts we eventually got the green light on Tuesday July 22nd and Murphy Mansions Mark 2 started its journey to a new position on the plot and a closer position to the sky It was a very exciting day and one that we wondered if we would ever make with all the hoops we had to jump through with the Town Planners Surveyors Structural Engineers Electricians and one stressed Archi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-422253.html Murphy Mansions Mark 2 is about to be launched and a new family home created in Brisbane. Easy we thought we have done it before so we can do it again Little did we know what we were about to embark upon when we stood in front of the cream picket fence 133 Morehead Avenue Norman Park is a postwar building comprising of an external wooden structure supported by concrete piers and a corrugated http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-422240.html How quickly this year has gone and I now find myself reflecting on the past years events. It is difficult to comprehend what has actually taken place over the past twelve months and that we have made it through the first year and have begun to set down new roots and make new commitments. It has been a pretty busy year a bit like riding a roller coaster with high and low points No matter how much http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-409009.html A big Hi to all my friends.It is difficult to think that two weeks have gone by since I returned to Australia and said good bye to so many people. It was a fantastic trip made all the better with everyone making me feel so welcome. I know many of you had a little chuckle about my planned itinerary and thought I was a little too organized but as it turned out it enabled me to see and do so very muc http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-399917.html So for the third time in a year we have packed our home and moved house and are surrounded by packing cases and stacking boxes and left trying to squeeze the basic essentials into our lsquonew housersquo Murphy Mansions Mark II and placing the rest into the huge garage at the end of the garden later to become the boys lsquogymrsquo We are reluctant to unpack too many boxes as we will on http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-367604.html Our first Christmas in Australia and what a special one it was too. Our friend Nikki Robinson and daughter Emma flew over from the UK to meet up with Alex her son and to spend two weeks with us. It was great to see them again and the reunion at the airport was quite emotional. We had an action packed fortnight planned and was keen to do as much as possible in the short time they were over here. S http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-359852.html Our first Christmas Eve in Australia and we chose to attend midnight service at St John's Cathedral in the City.The sandstone building is not yet complete and the interior is fairly stark and ordinary particularly by comparison to St Nick's in Newbury where we have attended Midnight Service for so many previous years.By contrast the lifesized nativity figures sculpted in cardbord were beautiful http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/Central-Business-District/blog-359256.html On Saturday 13th December we discovered the answer to this challenging brainteaser when we attended the Police Commissioner's Carol Srevice at Suncorp Piazza on Brisbane's South Bank.Two main clues should have alerted us to what we were about to experience but none of us is a Detective so we should perhaps be forgiven first it was free to attend and second the programme. I have included a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-359254.html Last week we visited our local cinema and sat through 3hrs 10 minutes of the epic new movie 'Australia' by Baz Luhrman.The opening was preceded with much hype and although entertaining it never lived up to expectations despite a couple of good performances and some magnificent scenery alongside a feature film exposition of the tragic 'stolen generations' story.I tell you this because another epi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-351529.html After what seems no time at all Seb has graduated from Balmoral State High School completing Year 12 six days after his 18th birthday.We had a monumental struggle in June to get him accepted into the final year of school but common sense prevailed and after some pretty hard work and a few 'challenges' along the way Seb made it and is predicted a very good grade called an 'OP' here of around http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-351523.html We have just enjoyed two backto back weekends of culture in the performing arts from two masters of their respective genres Stevie Wonder and Oscar Wilde. Wilde of course was not present but his spirit was.Last weekend I was treated to a late birthday present when we travelled just to the north side of the city to Brisbane Entertainment Centre to see the Master Blaster himself in the '2008 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-340699.html We have just returned from a week in Pottsville NSW where we spent the second week of the September school holidays under canvas with a large group of friends and three of the boys. Just under 2 hours drive south from Brisbane we were situated at Pottsville North campsite which is perhaps 300m from a beautiful sandy beach stretching for miles to the north and south. Fotunately the beach was patr http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/blog-330988.html How time flies and with the blink of an eye it is all change. Cieran came over at the beginning of July and revisited some favourite haunts near and around Sydney before meeting up with us at Byron Bay. He managed to hand in a number of CV's for some casual work and within five minutes of handing one copy in he got a call to visit for an interview With his experience and knowledge of the catering http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-321183.html Kevin's first birthday in Australia was celebrated in beautiful winter weather over the weekend of 9th 10th of August. Earlier in the year we had discovered a beautiful beach along the Gold Coast called Cabarita Beach which we had called into on the drive down to Byron Bay to celebrate Hilary's birthday. It has a small secluded beach surrounded by palm trees and huge rocks which form great shade http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-311653.html There cannot be many moments in a personrsquos life when you can say you have had a perfectly wonderful time and that everything about it could not have been better well I had one of those moments this weekendhellip..Unbe known to me plans had been afoot for weeks to celebrate my 50th birthday in style well Kevin and the boys certainly made sure of that.The celebrations started the Saturday http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Byron-Bay/blog-303547.html For those who have not been introduced to Scotty he is our travelling furry friend companion who was given to Hilary as a leaving gift at Priors Court School.He has had the good fortune to visit and experience many exciting and different places as we have travelled along the way to Australia and has insisted that his adventure is documented and shared with everyone on the Travel Blog. he is a well http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/blog-302696.html Today was a memorable day in so much as I unpacked the last box from the second shipment and flattened all the empty boxes ready for collection by the removal company to recycle. Our Queenslander style house No 45 Gillan Street is beginning to look abit more homely now with all our furniture and pictures around the place. It was not exactly the style of house I had imagined we would be living in http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Brisbane/Wynnum/blog-300860.html