Laura the Koala Herder

I had a very unusual experience today.

I was driving along thinking about what I was going to make for dinner when I saw a furry bundle running along the centre line of the road. I flashed the oncoming car and slowed down to see what it was. It was a koala. A HUGE koala!

It didn't know if it was coming or going. Just when we thought it was nearly across the other side of the road it changed it's mind and decided it liked the other side better. By this time there was quite a queue of traffic waiting on him making up his mind so I pulled the car in to the side and got out to help him make his mind up. I didn't want to pick him up because he was so big and he had big claws to match so I herded him over to the other side.

At one point he sat right down on the centre line and looked up at me as if to say "I like it here so p*@s off you daft sheila". Eventually he got up, ran across the road and climbed up the nearest tree.

Thank god I didn't pick him up. Paul told me they have huge claws to climb up trees.

That's my good deed done for the day!

The Maiden Voyage!

Picked up the boat last Monday after a few delays - one of the navigating lights wasn't working so it needed to be checked. We were dying to get it out on the water and eventually launched it in the afternoon. The actual launch went smoothly (decided not to waste a bottle of champagne) and we spent about an hour and half going up and down Currumbin Creek with very big smiles on our faces!
Getting it out of the water is a different kettle of fish though. It's not easy getting it lined up so that it sits on the trailer perfectly but I'm sure, with a bit of practice, we'll get there.
Took the boat out again yesterday for the day, again on Currumbin Creek. Took the fishing gear and tried our luck at catching some fish. Well, I don't think there's any fish in Currumbin Creek. We came home with none. Better luck next time.

Here's the new Capri.

We all went to the Volunteer Marine Rescue office today, at Southport, and sat the recreational marine driving licence. We all passed.

Pick our boat up on Monday and we will be straight out on the water, can't wait.

House Hunting ....

... is a pain. I think we must have looked at every house for sale on the Gold Coast.
Maybe we should try a different tactic.
What about a house and land package? That would be exciting!

Bike ride from Kirra to Snapper Rocks

Today I went on a bike ride from Kirra to Snapper Rocks. It isn't far (about 7 kms there and back). The route is very scenic as I used the walkway round by the beach so I took some photo's to show you our neighbourhood. I drove the car down to Kirra (I'm not that fit!) and started from there. Kirra is about a 10 minute drive south from us and it's where we lived for the first 3 weeks when we came over so it's a bit special to us.

When I got to Snapper Rocks I parked the bike up and decided to cool my feet off in the surf. I had to step over some jaggy rocks to get there so I kept my thongs on and wouldn't you know, one of them broke. So there I was hopping about on these jaggy rocks right foot thongless :o/ Then I had to ride all the way back to the car without it. Had some hopping to do too as I had to dismount the bike on part of the track and the path was ROASTING!!!! I was darting about looking for shadey bits.

On the way back I stopped off at the market and bought a mango stick. It's frozen mango and was just what I needed.

After I got the bike in the back of the car I stopped off at Kirra Surf. It's a surf shop that sells - surprise surprise - surfing gear. Whether you want some boardies for the beach, a new pair of thongs to replace the cheap crap ones that lasted 2 minutes ggrrr, or a new surf board, Kirra Surf has it all and even better - everything was half price for up and coming Australia Day (on 26th Jan). So I went in for a look around and came out with a bag full of clothes for me, Paul and Kenny. I love retail therapy!

Anyway, here are the photo's of my bike ride.

A Walk on the Beach

It's good to have a walk on the beach after a hard day's work.

Kinchant Dam Weekend

Here are some photos I took when I spent the weekend at Kinchant Dam with some mates from work. They did some water skiing, wake boarding and we towed a biscuit (like an inner tube). After that we had some liquid refreshments and slept under the stars.