1st Christmas in Australia

Well today is Christmas day.... and boy does it feel weird! Its hot!.....

We stayed over at Paul and Annettes house.... it was great as they had the whole family over for the day! We woke early in the morning to open presents....




Here Annette was santa and handed out the presents.... and below is a pic of Si opening them




I got him a fishing rod!





We had a glass of bubbles...




It was a great day....we did however miss our family and friends back home tho...A LOT... we managed to get through to Si mum and dad and my dad and Heather and Michael... but the lines were so busy we could not quite get through to everyone boo hoo..


This picture is of Paul's dad, he actually built the ship that he is stood next to! It was a masterpiece!

And here are some more pics of the days events:







Oh and I almost forgot to say.... Si bought me a beautiful Pandora Charm bracelet..he also got me 2 charms for it! a silver fish (which lookes cheeky) and a silver one with blue diamonds... I have no picture of it but I am sure you can view them on the internet x

The day was great, a bit emotional but great!! Merry Christmas xx

Sonya work Christmas do.......

Well, today was the work Christmas do! This year due to all the financial issues around the world, it was decided that it was going to be held at the work place.

we all finished work at 12 to find the kitchen filled with beer, wine and bubbles oh and food mmmmmm lots of Christmas trimmings... it was great! we even had secret santa.... Sumo santa came dressed in summer clothes ha ha ha .... was great... her are some pics:




Above is the HR team... Lis, Steph, Nadia and Craig..




Above is the Finance Team..


Lis and I

Had a great time! Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho ....

Sy work Christmas do........

Now this was a Christmas party... his work had booked out the Convention Center, which is where all the big events are!

The theame was Western so we had to dress up!




They had kitted the whole place out with western! There were stalls like shooting the target and hoop the hoop around ... then they had got some acts in and one of them were a famous western singer.... (I had no idea who she was tho sorry)... here is a picture, see if you can guess??







We had a great time xx


Si with Marcus.


Marie and Greg


Lynn, Sean and Si

Camping at Stradbroke Island

It all started when some friends we have met, invited both Si and I to Stradbroke Island for a camping trip...... (Sean, Lynn, Wayne and Maraid)... the morning came and Sean came to our house to pick up our tent, esky etc...... as they were going in a 4 x x and we would be traveling by foot and catching the water taxi accross..... we took the Friday afternoon off work and off we trotted!

We caught the water taxi from a place called Cleaveland (not far from where we live) about $19 return so not a bad fair....





When we arrive on the island, Sean and Lynn came to pick us up..... (Lynn actually owns a clothes shop on the island, lucky lady....) It took about 20 mins to drive to where we were camping, and as we drove over the sand-dune we saw what looked like a mini housing estate ha ha ha, Wayne and Maraid were well equipped! (Here are some pics)... now this is camping!


This was the main tent, (above), and this was our tent (below) ha ha ha...




Then there was the kitchen! (Wayne cooked up an awsome steak with prawns, oysters in a cram and garlic sauce mmmmmmmmm)




then here is the sink....




Then there was the shower and the toilet!



I know, I know the toilet...... but it was better than popping behind a bush ha ha ha.... also due to the heat a porti loo would be out of the question too poooooooooo...

It was great! We all sat and had a beer, sweets (lollies as they are called here in Australia), played cards etc.....


Here is Wayne with the big tub of sweets!


And here is Maraid pouring her Champers..... Oooohhh camping in style...


The next Morning, Si went fishing and caught a lovely fish, which we cooked and ate ......mmmmmmmm

Then we went on a walk, which was lovely.... here are some pics of the day...






Above is Si, Lynn and sean on the walkway around the cliffs.... it was a bit windy that day so there was no swimming in the sea for us....

Any way it was a great weekend and cant wait to do it again! Oh and befor I end this.... We went back to Maraid and Wayne's house (on the island) where Wayne showed us a pic of a fish he had caugt... we had to take a picture of the picture what a fish!!

Row row row yer boat

Up early for a eagar start!!

After the health & safety brief it was go go go....

Every Thurs (6am) and Sun (8am)for the past 12 weeks I have been training for a corporate regatta organised through work (RSL Care). Many companys join and at the end of the training sessions we all compete against each other.

This a pic of the place where we practiced and rowed on the big day...




Si and a couple of friends came to cheer us on... it was a great day!

The first race was the mens team (quads).... while we were rowing up to the start line there they were rowing as fast as they could to the finish! until......... the one of the riggors on the boat (the bit that holds the oars in)snapped off..... but that was not the last of it..... as during our race to the finish one of the foot holders in our boat snapped too! so there was no win for us either!!! in the next race we were doing quite well untill some other boat crashed into us.... and the mens boat ended up with a hole in it and nearly sinking!!!! ha ha ha...

Its was all fun though..... we has two womens teams in the comp, unfortunately my team did not win any but the other team got into the final which was quite exciting!!

Here are a couple of pics of us on the river and also off the river..













Before when I mentioned that the mens boat nearly sank... they actually won the race!! Here is a pic of them bailing out the boat.




Here are some pics of us on the river!





Over all it was a great day..... v tired afterwards tho...

Stanthorpe

Today we went to Stanthorpe with some friends, Sean and Lynn... we also met some more people who have quickly become our friends... Wayne and Maraid....

Stanthorpe is about a 3 hr drive from Brisbane and is well known for its wineries... we stayed in a lvely cabin in the woods....






Here is a pic of Si and I having a beer and just chilling out!





First thing on a morning there were Kangaroos hopping about, but we missed them boo hoo.....

We did a bit of wine tasting mmmmm bought a lit of wine, then went to a Greek festival.....





Here Si tried to scare me by saying that there was a spider!


Then this is the pic we should have taken x




Here are Sean and Lynn enjoying a bit of wine tasting!


and wayne and Maraide...


We also went to a place where there were some lovely birds.... these birds are everywhere, but it is very rare you get to be this close!


And here we are messing about at the gREEK festival!




Well I wont go on... as you can proably guess..... the night went on and we all got a wee bit drunk! xx