Week 9 to 12 – Australia you’re standing in it

Ok, so I am going to cheat a little here and blog a whole month in one entry. Only because this is more of a home stop and we aren’t really travelling anywhere.

Having said that, we did make a few trips out of Brisbane, including some day trips to Burleigh Heads and Wynnum and a 6 day trip out to Ravensbourne and the Bunya Mountains.

In Ravensbourne we stayed with some friends of my Mum and Dad on their farm of about 40 acres. This place had something really magical about it. The farm had so many different parts to it, sometimes shady, sometimes sunny, sometimes red fertile soil, sometimes expanses of lawn waiting for a ball and a couple of kids. Jamie and Skye were more than up for a kick around. That is when the weren’t off helping with the cows or feeding the chickens. Tina and I were even able to get away for a while and have a game of tennis with our hosts, which was really enjoyable (if not a little embarrassing given it has been years since either of us picked up a racket). The Bunya’s were also nice, but lacked the same magic for me as at the farm. And a word of warning, don’t mention anything about ticks to Tina.

Apart from the short journeys, the time was mostly spent with family and catching up with friends, and doing stuff like a trip out the Ipswich Rail Museum with Jamie and Poppy or riding on the CityCat ferry (RIP hat).

The Sunday before we left was Jamie’s 3^rd birthday and it was really great to be able to celebrate it with all the Australian side of the family, and even Grandma Beckman was able to come and join us for the day which meant we had 4 generations together. Most of all though, Jamie was wrapped that his little “Sopie” was there. There certainly was an instant connection between him and his cousin Sophie, and the two were almost inseparable during the time they were together.

So after much too short a stay, and with heavy hearts and heavier bags (including about 20 kilos that we shipped home – and a couple around the waistline that I wish I could leave here where I got them) we say farewell to Aussieland and head over the ditch to the dark side…