Flashback Friday

House & Baby suggested to me to start joining in with 'Flashback Friday', where each Friday you post a photo of a younger self, at any age and tell the story about the photo or memories around the time. There are a few bloggers doing this now and I thought I would join the fun, after visiting my parents house and was told to take some photos from a collection that once belonged to my Grandparents.

(Note to Kimbofo; there is a pile there waiting for you too!)

So here I present to you, biglittlesister's first Flashback Friday photo (circa late 1973/early 1974)....


This is baby me, maybe 9/10 months old, in the arms of my funky mother (how cool does she look?). Next to her is my Granny (my father's mother) gripping onto my sister's shoulders, all under the watchful eye of my Aunt Helen, who was married to my father's brother.

My mother would have been 28 in this photo. I couldn't imagine wearing a skirt 'that' short, even if I was 28. I'm not a fan of my legs - obviously I didn't inherit my legs from 'her' side of the family. Pity. My mum has good pins. (Even to now. - I wonder if she'll read this *grin*)

I remember my Granny always dressing like this. She was old school. Always had a nice dress suit on with jewellery and low heeled shoes with beige stockings. She was Scottish with a thick Glaswegian accent that she held onto, until she died in 1997. She had been living in Australia since 1954 (?) yet you would think with an accent like hers, she had stepped off the boat yesterday.

I know my Aunt Helen had her first child the year after I was born so I am wondering if she is looking at me and knowing she was pregnant? Hmmm...

So there you go, Flashback Friday first post by biglittlesister.

Will I dare do another one next Friday?

Brill

How come no one told me just how brilliant the Australian series of 'Love My Way' is?

How come no one told me that Austar/Foxtel had so many great television shows?

Yes, we *finally* got 'pay television' again last week, after 7 years without it.

And isn't it fabulous?

The novelty will probably wear off in the weeks to follow, but after watching this show, I'm all inspired to buy a Villa in rural France. *sigh*

Irish Stew

I love a good Irish stew. If we ever go to an Irish Pub for some food, I always order the 'Irish Stew'. Always. Goes lovely with fresh bread or soda bread. This recipe is pretty hearty and can warm your 'tootsies!'

I made half this recipe and instead of lamb chops, I used diced lamb (only because the supermarket didn't have any chops out) and I also added a big, big splosh of Worcestershire Sauce, which I think is the key to any good Irish Stew recipe...

*Taken from the website 'Taste'*

Ingredients
1.25g lamb neck chops
1/2 cup plain flour
3 brown onions, sliced
1kg sebago potatoes, peeled, sliced
2 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
2 tbs tomato paste
3 cups boiling water
3 beef stock cubes, crumbled
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped to serve

Method
Cut chops in half. Place flour in a plastic bag and season with salt and pepper. Place chops in bag and shake well to coat. Transfer chops to a plate. Reserve flour.

Preheat oven to 130C. Place onions, potatoes and carrots in an ovenproof dish. Top with half the chops. Repeat layers with remaining onions, potatoes, carrots and chops.

Whisk reserved flour, tomato paste and 2 tbs cold water in a large jug until well combined. Slowly add boiling water, whisking constantly. Add stock cubes and parsley. Stir to dissolve stock cubes.

Pour flour mixture over chops. Cover and cook for 4 hours or until meat tender and sauce thickened. Sprinkle with mint and serve.

Serves 6

A 3-island Tour

Last Tuesday morning this is where we were...

...Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island, off Airlie Beach. It is know to be the most beautiful beach in Australia and one of the best in the world. The white sand has only ever been taken off the island once, for NASA when they were making a new telescope. It is a heritage listed place and I can certainly see why...

I actually never thought I would see the day when we would visit this beach I have only ever dreamt of visiting. But dreams do come true.

There were many tours of the Whitsunday islands to choose from, but our choice was made a little easier when this tour boat included a visit to Whitehaven Beach, Daydream Island AND had a buffet lunch on board. So a day trip on the Voyager was it...

All seemed fine when we boarded with not a lot of people on board, which was good. (Maybe 50 of us). Monet was pretty excited with the prospect of going to the beach on a boat, until we hit some awfully rough 'open seas', just pass Hamilton Island. My poor little baby was sea sick - right over my pants and my hands. It was okay that it was Monet's *spew* as I couldn't have handled anyone elses over me. Even the boat crew said it was pretty rough so its a wonder that I didn't 'spew' either - but I know to watch the horizon line when I feel sea sick (which is practically every time I set foot on a boat!)

All was fine when we exited the front of the boat to the Island. It was jaw-dropping amazing. Anyone who has been there will say the same as I. It did help that the day was *stunning* - blue skies, warm sun all falling on white, white sand and crystal clear ocean waters. Simply beautiful.

The water was a little on the cooler side when you entered, but within moments it felt lovely.

It was wonderful to spend roughly one and a half to two hours there. It was enough time to soak in the atmosphere of the beauty of this little pocket of Australia. I have never seen such clear water in all of my life - so amazing. It certainly was paradise.

Monet enjoyed her time on the beach making friends with 'Sarah', the professional photographer who was on the tour with us. She was actually meant to be taking photos of everyone on the trip, but she spent half the time taking photos of Monet (and Lyndon and I! - who would've thought!) and playing with her. I liked that!! When Sarah went back to her 'work', she left Monet with beach equipment to play with and 'funny' big glasses...

By the time we re boarded the vessel we had built up a bit of an appetite. The buffet lunch of cold cuts and salads and buffet rolls went down a treat.

About 40 minutes later we arrived at Hook Island, where they have an old underwater Observatory. So many beautiful coloured fish to be spotted. SO amazing. (Don't forget, the Whitsunday's are part of the Great Barrier Reef...) And guess what I spotted in the Observatory? A clown fish. A real-life Nemo. I was excited anyway...

Hook Island is very under developed and I hope it stays that way. It has a backpackers on it, with a big rustic bar/shop/cafe attached, all looking out onto the tropical waters. It was lovely. A lot of people in our group went snorkeling, just off the coral beach and said there were so many fish. Lyndon and I opted for a couple of Coronas instead (the water was too cool here) and Monet had an ice cream cone.

After our hour stop over at Hook, our next stop was Daydream Island.

We had flirted with the idea of staying here, instead of Airlie Beach, but figured that we were better off at Airlie. Daydream was great and very beautiful and had everything you'd expect of an island resort. Beautiful people, golden sands, pools, bar, little shops, water sports, playground, the world's largest outdoor aquarium...

We arrived back at Airlie Beach at around five in the afternoon. We had a wonderful day, bar the bit when Monnie was sea sick. (And she still points to the brochure and says she was sick on "That boat" as "it was too rough"...)

Well that's it dear readers. My 'holiday' posts have come to a close. I hope you enjoyed my tour of parts of Eastern Australia. I enjoyed sharing it with you. Regular posting will commence again soon... Enjoy your day. *smile*

Airlie Beach

Airlie Beach is one of those places that you immediately like. You know when you get that feeling? We all got it straight away after our 3 (or so) hours drive south from our overnight stay in Townsville. The place was bustling with activity. There were backpackers crossing the road, people drinking ales and eating in cafes, with masses of buildings built along the steep hillside over looking the most beautiful harbour with the bluest water.

We had booked to stay here for 2 nights, a quick walk from the main strip and overlooking the Whitsunday Passage. Besides the driveway being awfully (awfully) steep, the 1 bedroom 'family' apartment was a ripper! It had everything we wanted and it was very (very) reasonably priced. The people who run the apartments were really friendly and very helpful, without being pushy. I like people like that a lot. They even booked our day trip for us and organised for us to be picked up via bus connection the next morning. But that is another post!

After walking along the main tourist/shopping strip we visited the Lagoon which was pretty impressive, but I have a real soft spot for the Cairns Lagoon so I can't say that this one looked better... *grin*

And there is so much construction happening in this little neck of the woods. Opposite to where we were staying they are constructing a new marina. No doubt prices for housing will be going through the roof here too!

We ate take aways for both nights we stayed here. And had a couple of 6-pack beers between us (only Lyndon and I of course!) over the two nights too, I mean, we were on holidays after all! (But usually that doesn't stop us *hee hee*) There was no buffet breakfast for us here either BTW, it was normal Vegemite on toast for us all both mornings.

The apartment balcony seemed to attract a couple of White cockatoos both mornings we were there, which gave Lyndon one hell of a fright when he was sitting out there minding his own business. Monet thought they were terrific, but we told her she had to watch them through the windows as they didn't seem to be the most friendlies kind of Cockatoos!

If you get the opportunity to visit Airlie Beach I say "GO!!", without hesitation. We loved it. Everyone we came across were awfully friendly and it is simply a beautiful holiday destination. We only wished we stayed longer than our 2 nights.
*Next time, next time*

Townsville...

Ever since visiting Townsville around a year ago, we had been wanting to visit there again. There is just 'something' about Townsville that strikes a chord with us, that we like. And I can't put my finger on exactly what it is. There was even talk a few weeks back that Lyndon's company were going to relocate him there if we wanted to, but then they offered Brisbane to him...but this is a different post altogether. Now, where was I?

Ahh, Townsville, or more affectionately known around these woods as 'Townsie'. I find the place very picturesque, especially the 'city' centre and the area around 'The Strand'. Townsville is about a four hour drive south of Cairns, or roughly 360-odd kilometers on a terrible, mainly single-laned, double-lined, Highway. (The Bruce!)

When we arrived last Sunday the weather was a bit on the miserable side. There was no big blue sky, no slight tropical breeze. But the atmosphere was the same as I remember it from last year. The the beer was just as refreshing too.

We enjoyed lunch at 'The Brewery' on Flinders Mall. I don't think a visit to Townsie is complete without sampling some of their home brew at that place and endeavouring one of their meals. Simply delicious (the food and the beer!) and a great price too. (You have to love that!)

I had found a great deal on Wotif for an overnight stay at Jupiter's Casino which included the defining moment of us staying there, complimentary bottle of champagne and chocolates on arrival. Sound terrible, don't we? But you do have to enjoy the good things in life... *grin* Our stay also included a buffet breakfast and anyone who knows us should know that we love a good buffet breakfast!! (Who doesn't?!?) The hotel room was great. Nice big King size bed for the three of us (!) and a wonderful view over towards Magnetic Island, where we also visited last year and loved! (No 'Maggie' Island this time though...)

For dinner we splashed out and had *surprise surprise* a buffet dinner. And my, was it simply delicious? Yes, it was. And to please the Little One, it also included Chocolate Paddle pops as part of the dessert, so someone thought it was the best meal of rice, chicken and paddle pop ever! (Some people are easily pleased aren't they?) I know that both Lyndon and I ate probably way too much (curries, roasts, salads, veggies, soup, bread rolls, desserts!) as we literally had to roll ourselves back to our suites.

We probably made a bad choice having a buffet for dinner because we were still both pretty full when it came to having a buffet breakfast in the morning!! Oh well. I still got to enjoy the Bircher Muesli with fresh fruit and a helping a bacon and scrambled eggs (which were very yummy - sometimes scramblies can be hit or miss!) and raisin toast. Monet was happy because she got to try for the first time, Coco-pops followed by her normal breakfast of Vegemite on toast.

After surrendering to our breakie, we packed up our gear and headed further south to the stunning Airlie Beach, a further three hours down the road from Townsville...

Our Visit to Dreamworld. Where Dreams 'do' Come True...

We were fortunate enough to not only receive a double pass to Dreamworld from Lyndon's work, but also gain early entry with the pass. Kikimiss deserves a mention here. She sent to me a couple of discounted coupons to use to gain entry, but in the end they were not needed. Thank you heaps though, I really appreciated it!

To get to Dreamworld from Brisbane, it took about an hour by train and bus connection and we were there by 9am (usual entry time is 10am). It was nice to be able to just 'walk-thru' the entry without queuing and walk around the theme park without the crowds. Not that there was anything really open (bar a few rides) but it was nice to be able to take some piccies of Monet without other children in them!! *heehee*

In the weeks leading up to our impending Dreamworld visit, we had told Monet about what was there. She only really wanted to do two things.

1) Meet Dora the Explorer. She lives there, don't you know?...

...and 2) see the Big Brother house. Yes, you read right. See the Big Brother House. Yes, our daughter is not yet 3 and knows about Big Brother. And yes, I am proud of her. (She could name you at least 6 of the house mates names if you asked her - can you see what we watched each evening. Scoff if you will!)

But before the crowds came rushing in, we spent a little time in 'Wiggle World'. It was so bright and colourful and made me smile.

We even got to meet Dorothy the Dinosaur so guess who thinks that Dorothy is pretty fabulous in our household at current? Lyndon and Monet got to ride in 'Dorothy's Teacup Ride' which was pretty funny. I'm not sure who had the most fun. Monet or her father. Or me for that fact as I enjoyed watching them...

Once the crowds arrived at 10am, we went to the Nickelodeon part of the park, where Monet and her dad got to ride on 'Dora's Seaplanes' and I got to go on the Merry-Go-Round with Monet. However, as Monet and I were in line, guess who went by on her golf cart with the driver tooting the horn?

Have you guessed yet?....

...Dora. And she was HUGE! *heehee*

So all Monet could talk about on the Merry-Go-Round was Dora, Dora, Dora. And the first thing we did when we got off the ride, was to go 'exploring' for Dora.

We found her, it seems, just in time. Monet showed Dora her pretty (Dora) dress she had on and her (Dora) zip-up top too. I think Dora was impressed and gave her a huge cuddle which I think seriously made our little one's day.

As we had not had much to eat and we had to hang around the Nickelodeon area to collect our 'professional' photo of Monet with Dora (we were suckers for the $15 a pop piccie), we decided to eat. So Lyndon went off as Monet and I waved goodbye to Dora and he returned with this for Monet...


...which I thought was pretty good, as the container contained some of Monet's favourite food - ham and cheese sandwich, sultanas, yoghurt and a 'special drink', all for $7. He also returned with these for he and I....


...an absolute rip off at around $20, but it was worth it for the laugh I gave when he returned with them.

Our next destination, to keep the little one happy, was to visit the Big Brother House. It was pretty bizarre to see the 'Sunday Night Eviction' stage (so small!) and to step into the house was so strange. It is pretty small, not huge like I imagined. I'm not sure if Monet actually realised where we were but she did recognise the lounge in the house. I'm glad we went there.

We walked around a little more after leaving the House, venturing into other parts and trying to avoid bumping into other people.

We left at midday, after spending 3 hours there. We were tired, a little 'over it' and we had a plane to catch in a few hours time.

I can't imagine going to one of those theme parks, dragging around 3 kids. It must cost some parents a small (or large) fortune. There wasn't a lot of rides that Monet could really go on but it was still worth the effort, time and the dollars. We all enjoyed it and Monet talks about meeting both Dorothy and Dora each day (tells any one who cares to listen) and about going in the Big Brother house.

We got back home safely to Cairns that evening, 10 days ago. It was so nice to be home but it wasn't long before we went on our 'road trip' south to Townsville and Airlie Beach. Stay tuned...

Brisbane...

Brisbane was a nice change to Melbourne's cool winter weather. Monet and I were not only greeted at the airport by clear blue skies and a beaming sun, but also Lyndon. It was nice to be reunited after 12 days away from him. Just ask Monet.

Our hotel was located at South Bank, a great place to stay for any impending visitor. It was close to the city center (walkable, even with child), and had a wide variety of restaurants, cafes and bars. And open spaces. We did have to buy one of those horrible 'umbrella' strollers though (urgh - do you know how much I dislike those things?), but when your child isn't feeling too well (like mine, Monet had a nasty cough and runny nose and I did actually have to take her to a Brisbane Doctor) and you want to do some exploring of a city, which it looks like you'll be moving to within a year, they are okay. Yes, it looks as if we are going to be moving to Brisbane with Lyndon's work. Which is part of the reason why we went to Brisbane, to get a feel for the place. Oh, and Lyndon went to the Bob Dylan concert on the Monday evening, which was the other reason why we went there.

It had been about 13 years since I had last visited Brisbane. My big sis studied at the university here so I visited a couple of times from Melbourne. I remember it being a quiet, pretty city with great weather. It still is a pretty city with great weather but it isn't so quiet any more. The city was buzzing with activity and there were loads of new shops which were never there all those years ago. There is lots of construction happening (you notice these things when your partner is a foreman) and there is loads of potential for this once young city.

There is now a lot of popular shops which I recognise from my days in Melbourne City. And the Myer in Brisbane is actually really good. (I love a good Myer store!) I even lashed out and bought a fancy nancy tshirt (*shock, horror*).

We visited the lovely Belgian Beer Cafe (which we know and love due to the fact that we were frequent visitors to the one on St.Kilda Road in Melbourne when we resided there) which was a nice time for us to sit back and enjoy what they had on offer. Stella always tastes so much better at these cafes. Nioce.

We went on a big walk from where we were staying to the Storey Bridge and walked across it, all for the fact that Lyndon had been banging on about this particular pub based under the southern end of the bridge. (He had visited Brisbane a couple of months ago with some mates.) The Storey Bridge Hotel was worth the big walk and the beer tasted good and so did the 'pub grub'. We caught a river ferry back to South Bank which was cheap (like $4 or something for the 3 of us) and we got to see the city from a different point of view. (Brisbane City is partially surrounded by the Brisbane River).

Brisbane is now becoming more and more popular with people now moving up from both Melbourne and Sydney, because of the infrastructure and the climate. It is growing into a lovely city with loads to do and places to explore. It is in a good position, with the Sunshine Coast an hours drive north and the Gold Coast, an hours drive south. There are a few negative aspects to the city though - traffic seems to be a big problem (due to the increased population), real estate is going up through to the roof (due to increased population) and the public transport system needs great improvement (or maybe we just had a bad experience). The amount of water in the city's dams is so low so the water restrictions are strongly in force (about to hit Level 6 restrictions I think). But the whole city is creating a new vibe and I think I felt it. The plans I have read about what they plan for the city within the next 20 years sound promising. (Plans to do with public transport, walking/cycling tracks and pedestrian/cyclist bridges, 'greening' the city etc.,)

All up I liked Brisbane. I'm sure somewhere in one of those Brisbane suburbs, there is a place for us. As much as we love our place in Cairns Northern Beaches and just how lucky and fortunate we are to live here, we feel we belong in a city and Brisbane may just be it. And if all else fails, we have our place here. In the tropics. (Where it is 28 degrees today!)