Thursday, April 26, 2007

 

Yesterday, when I got back from Queensland, there was a parcel from Joules waiting for me amongst all the chaos! It contained not only a copy of her Dream Decoder book but the The Mummy DVD; loads of chocolate [including a lemon mousse bar! Yum!]; a CD of her and GoodTwin's holiday pics (ottersottersotters! trainstrainstrains!) plus a slidey-pen style keyring from Stonehenge! Squee! My first bit of Henge-tat!
But wait there's more...
There were also a couple of particularly gross keyrings for the cubs [which they loved, thanks! :) ] and - ottersottersotters - bookmark, postcard, pin and card from the New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Park! Eeee!
And last but not least there were also a couple of more offcuts of gorgeous green material and a postcard featuring a photo portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. That photo there on Wiki, in fact... (Now what would Lutra - a noted luddite and anti-19th Century, er, person - be wanting with a photo of one of the era's most noted industrialists? In short, I'm not actually sure, but despite my antipathy to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the bourgeoisie I've always been captivated by that pic. It's a stellar example of photo portraiture, very evocative.)
Thank you, Joules! That was a lovely pile of treasure to come home to!

So how was my holiday? It was great, thanks! Queensland (or rather, Noosa, the bit where I was) is beautiful but I wouldn't want to be there over Summer. In the fortnight I was there the temperature ranged from 24-29 degrees during the day, and between 16-18 at night. Not so bad but the humidity was a little uncomfortable. Nothing incapacitating - especially as we were down on the coast with the sea breezes - but I really don't like sweating for no good reason. :)
Did a lot of stuff...
Visited the ginger factory at Yandina. (Won't give you the url cos it involves disturbingly cheery music.) Took a train ride around the plantation plus went for a couple of spins on a 'tunnel of love' sort of ride where the boaty thing trundled around past animatronic dioramas of different countries. Very entertaining. No, really.
We travelled further North for a few days to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, the 'world's third largest sand island'. Beautiful, beautiful spot. World heritage listed area, the interior only accesible by 4 wheel drives. No roads as such but Mad Mouse sand tracks that threw you about in a most jolly (read: bone jarring) manner. We only drove maybe 80 kms on the island but when you're travelling at an average of 15 km an hour while gathering bruises, it feels so much longer. Wonderful beaches, however. Endless skies. <happy sigh> I want to go back.

On our second last day Mum and I visited Underwater World in Mooloolaba. Lovely little place, not as big as Melbourne's aquarium but it has seals! And otters! Loved it. :)

As you might have expected, I've brought back a lot of tat, and, hm, I appear to be collecting pelican postcards. <eyebrow>
Photos... I took a lot of photos. Must be close to 1000. I'll put selected highlights up on flickr over the next couple of weeks. Wouldn't want to bombard anyone with the slideshow of DOOM. <g>
Anyway, had a great time but it's (mostly) good to be home. Missed my cubs, and my cat. Time to get back to work.

[Edit: D'oh, so excited about my new treasures I forgot to mention just how good Joules' new book looks! Not only in the 'this looks like a great read' sense but the layout, the graphics. All very cool!]

Lutra 9:31 AM. |

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

 

Right. Cos Joules is a genius I'm able to post again. Woohoo!
I've been in Queensland for a week already! Blimey. Weather that I would grizzle about back in Melbourne (warm and humid) is lovely here. <g> Probly cos I'm on holiday and not having to do all my usual chores. Heh.

The trip up was very boring. Mass transport is mass transport whether it's by road, rail or air. Sardines squished in a box. Fortunately it was only for a couple of hours so it was tolerable. Unfortunately, given that I was in an aisle seat in a row by a wing I was only able to see out of - at most - the top half of the 'window', but the few glimpses I did get were wonderful. Love being above the clouds...

Mum and I are staying with my brother; he lives about 5 minutes walk from the beach! Haven't spent a lot of time there - been busy doing other things - but I did go paddling for a bit the other evening. Odd, the water was warm. I'm used to getting into the sea and it being cold.

This coming weekend we're off to Fraser Island for a couple of days. Should be glorious. <g> No doubt I'll add substantially to the 600 photos I've already taken.

The other night my brother and his partner, Kirsty, went to see the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in Brisbane. Fabulous band, anyway, first he sent me a pic of them taken with his camera phone - that made me squee - then later he rang me while 'Under the Bridge' was being played! Oh, I squealed like a 12 year old, and sang along with it. I was in the shower at the time so I can't claim it was 'just like being there' but still... :)

Lutra 10:07 AM. |

Sunday, April 15, 2007

 

Joules posting on Lutra's behalf.

The hassle with her yahoo! account being hijacked has left her unable to log in to blog. She's asked me to advise everyone on her behalf: she'll get back to normal as soon as possible.

(She seems to be having a great holiday so far!)

Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor 4:36 AM. |

Friday, April 06, 2007

 

Grrrr... Looks like some bastard's hijacked my Yahoo account.
Pissed. Off.
I mean, I don't use it for anything really personal or important (except Flickr; and that right there is the main reason I'm resistant to this trend of linking accounts. If one's compromised then that puts the others at risk. Are you listening, Google/Blogger?) but, dammit, it's mine. <grump> Yahoo can apparently do something about it if I snailmail/fax account details plus my written permission for them to go delving. I'm going to do it, I think, cos I've had that account for ten sodding years and for sentimental reasons if nothing else I don't want to give it up. (Quite aside from the issue of Identity Theft. Bastards.)

Right. Just a wee bit stressed at the moment anyway. Mum and I are off to Queensland next Tuesday and I've been darting about getting ready for that. It's not just me I've got to get organised but the cubs and their father. And the cat. <sigh> Eh well, I'm mostly ready - I just need to pack my suitcase without packing the cat...

In more fun news... We won first prize in the school's Easter Raffle! Soooo much chocolate. Mwahahaha!



See that white blobby blur one of the cubs has a hold of? That's a huge plush rabbit - also part of the prize.

And finally a very belated response to Joules' sort-of challenge about people not posting pics of themselves. A photo of me that doesn't make me wince. <g> Taken by one of the cubs:



The lovely purple-patterned wrap I'm wearing was given to me by Soulsis. :)

Lutra 10:55 PM. |