April 30th - May 18th, 2009, Australia
Our this year's Australia trip included Thomas' mum Ruth ... so we've been three weeks down under and met many many friends ...
Well, after a long trip from Germany, we finally came over Australian soil .... where we were greeted by this magnificent sunrise on our way to Brisbane Airport. After landing and some official business (passport control, etc.), we picked up our car and made our way to the Hotel ....
After settling into our rooms and overcoming a close encounter with a cockroach .... it was onto Elanora and meeting up with Moira and Wray, where we were greeted with champagne and a warm hug ....
... after spending the day with Moira and Wray, it was back to the Hotel for dinner and an early night ... while sitting outside and enjoying a pre-dinner drink ... we were exposed to a fine example of Australian manhood!!!!!
The next day, it was the Currumbin Surf Club (best Surf Club on the coast) .... here a view from Elephant Rock ....
.... and lunch with Alberto and Dianne .... here a photo of Moira with her 'son' ....
.... also enjoying the day were Cynthia and Thomas ....
... and Thomas' mum, Ruth ...
.... 3rd of May, saw us celebrating Moira's 80th birthday, at the Regatta Restaurant (in Northern New South Wales) .... here a photo of Cynthia ....
.... a lovely photo of Ruth ....
.... Thomas with his two special ladies ....
.... the Birthday Girl .... who would guess she turned 80!!!!!
.... and a group photo of everyone there who helped make her day special ....
.... since Alberto has his own winery, Villa Tinto in the Barossa Valley, a stop at the Ilnam Winery, was of course a 'must' .... while there we enjoyed wine tasting and a bite to eat ....
.... here a photo of Cynthia, with her 2 mums (?!!) ....
.... we also managed to catch up with Sandra, Geoff and David and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at 'George's' in Sanctuary Cove .....
.... here a photo of Cynthia with Geoff ....
.... and also Sandra and David ....
.... after Sanctuary Cove, we returned to the Hotel and enjoyed a quiet dinner .... in the Radisson hotel, where breakfast is already loudly prepared at 7:30pm to make sure, you don't stay too long ...
..... we visited Pacific Fair where Ruth discovered Maggie-T, which lead to a shopping frenzy rarely witnessed by mankind!! .... and also Surfers Paradise, where we witnessed the famous 'Meter Maids' in action ....
..... you have to feel sorry for the family of this enthusiastic tourist when he returnes home ..... you can already hear him: '... and here I am walking along Cavill Avenue .....'
.... having previously discovered a wonderful 'rib joint' called 'Mike's Kitchen', we had to treat Moira to this amazing culinary experience!!!! ....
.... at Mike's Kitchen with Moira .....
..... we visited Geoff and Sandra's gorgeous new house in Coomera, where we enjoyed a relaxing lunch .... and a visit from a 'local' (of the feathery kind!!!!) ..... this lovely Rainbow Lorikeet, came to say 'hello' .....
.... Sunday, Mother's Day (and our last day in Queensland), we visited Q1 .... from where, on the 55th floor, we had this magnificent view of the coast ....
.... if you ever wondered what an Australian beach is like ..... this is pretty much typical!!!!! ....
.... as we said, it was Mother's Day .... I think this says it all .....
Having decided to treat the mum's out to dinner for this special day ..... we collected Moira, where we took some very nice photos ..... here the 'mums' with Cynthia ....
.... with Thomas ....
.... and not to be forgotten, Wray ....
.... here we are after enjoying dinner at the Hotel .... which sadly ended with the waitress bringing the bill (unsolicited) to us at 8.30pm!!! .... which made us feel, like maybe it was time to call it a day!!!! .... anyway, after a final drink, we drove Moira home and said our sad farewells .... we are now looking forward to her visit in July/August ....
Monday we flew to Melbourne, Cynthia's hometown ..... after picking up the car and settling into our Hotel, it was onto Manningham City Council, where Cynthia caught up with everyone ......
.... and of course .... we can't come to Melbourne, without visiting Tender Trap for dinner .... here again enjoying an outstanding meal ....
We took Ruth to Chadstone Shopping Centre, which having a Maggie T shop, lead to Ruth's second shopping Frenzy!!! ... a big highlight for Cynthia, was seeing Jared again and dinner at our Hotel .... where we were served surprisingly good food!!!!!
.... while in Melbourne, we took Ruth on a Tourist bus and showed her all that this city has to offer .... here a sign peculiar to Melbourne city traffic, to facilitate right-hand turns, without causing traffic jams .....
.... after our visit into town, it was back to Doncaster and dinner at a local Thai Restaurant .....
.... on Friday we visited our friends, David and Ally and guess who decided to take up residence in their backyard?? .... enjoying the quiet, interrupted only by us humans ....
.... having a bit of a scratch ....
.... and deciding that maybe it's time to move on ....
.... David and Ally, took the time to show us the devastation caused by the bushfires, only a few weeks ago .... this picture doesn't begin to show the utter desctruction of all in the path of the flames .....
.... but through it all, it was heartwarming to see the 'great Aussie spirit' fíghting back ..... here someone living in a caravan next to their destroyed home, but proudly flying the Australian flag .... we thought it was a great image ....
.... and more of the devastation to homes in the area ....
.... thank you, David and Ally, for an eye-opening experience and your warm hospitality ....
.... here a photo of Thomas and Ruth, taken on their visit to St Kilda beach .....
When parking in Melbourne city centre, you just can't do anything wrong with your parking ticket ... doesn't matter how stupid you are ... right part of the picture shows the reverse side ...
.... where they also visited the Shrine of Rememberance, which they found very touching and interesting ....
.... here a view of the city taken from the steps of the Shrine .....
.... once again enjoying a wonderful dinner at Tender Trap, with Jared and the Restaurant's really nice owner, Chris, who always makes us feel special ....
.... we caught up with Cynthia's sister, Glynis, while in Melbourne, on a trip to Healesville ..... here a really cute local resident .... can you see what she's carrying in her pouch? ..... absolutely wonderful!!!!! This baby was only visible for approx. one minute ... lucky Thomas with his new camera ...
.... and another hungry resident enjoying a snack ....
.... 'hang on .... where's my food gone?' ....
.... 'ah!!!! here it is ... never too far!!!!' ....
.... here a photo taken in Mullum Mullum Creek .... this wonderful park sits opposite where Cynthia used to live in Donvale ....
.... Cynthia and Ruth walking through Mullum and enjoying the weather and the sites ....
.... it was great for Cynthia to be able to visit Dr Parente with Jared and thank him in person for all he has done for Jared ...... while in Melbourne, it was also great for Cynthia to catch up with Ivana for lunch .....
.... this sign certainly caught our eye ..... how wonderful to be able to so freely express your sentiments ..... something that we think should be taken up in Germany too!!!! ....
.... here again, dinner with Jared on our last night .....
.... mother and son ..... it was soooo wonderful for Cynthia to be able to spend most of her time in Melbourne with Jared and try to make up for some of the time they spend apart ..... he's looking good and we are looking forward to seeing him in Deutschland sometime later this year .....Finally we took our flight back home from Melbourne to Frankfurt ... looking forward to our next trip to Oz!