VanDijkTrack

Weather is warm but not extreme so it allowed us to do another few recreational activities.

One of these activities was an open air movie in the evening. We were invited by friends to join and it was a nice experience. It was organized in one of the many Parks with a playground, there was a Sausage Sizzle (BBQ) with drinks and you could bring your own camping chair. The weather o that evening was relatively cold (23 degrees) and Nicole complained about the cold and to be honest, … she wasn’t the only one. Nevertheless we enjoyed the movie “With Happily N’Ever After”.

During the holidays many additional activities are organized. One of them was the Madagascar theatre play in Westfield shopping center at Chermside and in Stratpine kids could bake their own cookies.

We also visited the Lyell Deer Farm. After paying the entrance fee we could have a look at some deer’s behind the fence and buy some food to feed them. That was more or less it, so we decided to visit Alma Zoo again soon where they also have deers you can interact with and many other animals as well.

On one of the daytrips we went to The Big Pine Apple where you can see how pine apples and nuts grow. After that we went to the beach at Mooloolaba. When we entered the beach we saw some signs warning for “Blue bottles”. Also some people warned us and we were wondering what they meant. But after asking we understood that they are referring to Blue Jellyfish stingers. (Jellyfish is known as the Blue Bottle, due to its colour and shape when strewn on a beach. Elsewhere it is known as the “Portuguese Man o’ War” as it is said to look like a Portuguese battleship with a sail.) We saw a few coming to the beach with each wave. As can be seen on the picture they have a very long tentacle and if they touch you it can be very painful and it should be treated quickly with vinegar. They seem to show up with certain winds and water levels. Still a few people went swimming, but we decided to have a look a few kilometers further.

At Kings Beach a little bit more south there were no jellyfishes, so we could go here for a swim without any problem and again it was fun.

Cheers,

Jan, Anita, Nicole and Jorick

It’s summer now and sometimes it’s really hot. Day after day the temperature is above 30 degrees and often with a high humidity we use the airco a lot, especially in the evenings. Locals tell us that it is not a very hot summer this time …

Continuing our holidays we relaxed in and around the house, made/had many visits (often with BBQ and a swim) and visited some nice places around Brisbane and relaxed in and around our house.

After a visit to the Caboolture Warplane Museum with several old planes, we went to the beach on Bribie Island. On the beach we saw many living animals like starfishes, jellyfish, crabs, limpets, and many more. We still feel it as a luxury to have so many good days you can go to many nice and quiet beaches. At the end of the day everybody was tired and the kids slept in the car as soon they took their seat.

Harvest Rain Theatre Company is now doing a Peter Pan theatre play at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in Brisbane, so Jan went there with Nicole and Jorick. Although Nicole had already visited several theatre plays in The Netherlands, for Jorick this was his first time and in the beginning it was a little bit scary. Especially Captain Hook got him frightened, but he got used to the play, stayed and loved it.

We started a trip to the Glass House Mountains (up north from Brisbane) with a walk to a high watch tower. The track was only 700 meters, but very steep so it was a real challenge, especially for the kids. But with a lot of coaching and support we all arrived at the top and the view was great.

We had another great view from “Glass House Mountains Lookout” as the panorama picture shows.

Maleny, Montville & Mapleton are some nice characteristic old places in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and many people go there in their holidays. Although it looked nice (and touristic), coming from Europe we didn’t experience it as very exciting, so we soon went to  the beautiful Baroon Pocket Dam.

It’s a quiet lake with many opportunities for recreation. We had a BBQ lunch in a park while enjoying the view over the lake and the kids playing in the playground. It’s amazing how on many nice places (electrical) barbeques are available for the public. These devices are nearly always clean and not damaged. The same is true for playgrounds.

On our way to the Black Forest Hill Clock Centre in Montville we came along some spectacular views on the Glass House Mountains. Nature is really breath taking here. The Clock Centre is a shop with all sorts of clocks and many Cuckoo Clocks. With the style of the building and the clocks we really felt ourselves again in the “Deutsche Schwartz Wald”. Some other buildings were a little bit in German style as well.

After this visit to the Clock Centre the many shops were tempting us to have a look.  We dragged our bodies in the heat from shop to shop to entertain the female part of the family. We even saw a shop selling Dutch Poffertjes from “The Dutch Poffertjes Company” bringing our thoughts again in the direction of Western Europe. After a play in the local playground it was time to go home again.

Kind regards,

Jan, Anita, Nicole and Jorick