Hugh & Justine’s Excellent Adventure

OK before I get into the rest of the items for this week, Hugh and I went with our friends Leigh and Darren to a trivia night on Friday to raise funds for the local Rotary Club. Two important things came out of this night. First, despite our table being comprised of 2...

Warning - if you're tired of bird photos, this is not the blog entry for you, just close this down and continue on with your day! Yesterday, Hugh and I went to the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens and Rockhampton Zoo. They're right next to each other so you park in one...

I know what everyone is waiting for is our first snake sighting and I'm sorry to disappoint but, happily, still no snake sightings. However, I am pleased to report on our first spider - drumroll please... By "first spider" I mean first one we just happened across. You...

I don't even know where to start for this week's blog! So we'll start with the birds. I've been trying to get a photo of the Masked Lapwing for you pretty much since we arrived. I see them everywhere but I either don't have my camera ready or they fly away. I finally...

One of the common phrases you'll hear around here is "too easy." The first time I heard it, I interpreted it too literally, as in, that's a super easy request, I can handle way more than that. Another common phrase is "no dramas" and again, the first time I heard it,...

First I must apologize for not posting last Sunday! The WordPress site was down during my prime writing hours of 4-8pm here. Of course back in Canada, that's in the wee hours of the morning, so they probably think that's a good time for maintenance - clearly not...

As you've been gathering with each time I put "Aussie for..." after I use a new word, there is a lot of new vocabulary to learn here! Obviously most words are the same but some are different and some have multiple variations. Thankfully, the Aussies all seem to know...

Quick health update - fabulous news on Tuesday, the pathology reports confirm ZERO CANCER outside of the uterus. The cancer staging was Stage 1A Grade 2, so that means no further treatment is required, just twice a year check-ups for 3 years. WOOHOO! And I continue to...

Well I promised you another flying creature, so here you go - fruit bats, also known as flying foxes. We happened to be outside on the west side of our house at sunset one evening and we noticed literally THOUSANDS of what we thought were birds flying from north to...

Will get back to my usual blog on Sunday, but just wanted to post a quick update on how things went this week, which is incredibly well! I "enjoyed" a no-gin and tonic on our patio this weekend during the "no alcohol before surgery" period: I can now confirm that the...

My whole life, if anyone ever said, "Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?", I would ALWAYS choose to hear the bad news first so that I could end with the good news. So I'm doing the same with you, dear readers - I'm starting with the bad news so that you...

Words can not express how excited we were on Friday just before 10am when the bright orange Allied moving truck pulled up in front of our house! It was honestly almost surreal. Having been without belongings in our Stoney Creek house for 2 weeks, then in an Airbnb for...