Treasury Casino/Sculptures

Kelsey goofing around. We had been "shopping" at the Queen Street Mall when I remembered that we'd wanted to get a photo of these sculptures and I finally had the camera with me. Just behind them, you can see the Treasury Casino. There's a free comedy show at the casino on Wednesdays but we either forget it or are too tired to go. It's dark by 5pm right now and I get sleepy early! The Brisbane Square Library is across from the casino....it's a bright neon green and blue building.

Da Vinci Machines

Ben and Benji went out one day to the Da Vinci Machines Exhibition at South Bank- http://www.ourbrisbane.com/whats-on/events/da-vinci-machines-exhibition-south-bank

Mona Benji?

This is Benji on one of the CityCats.

Typical Weekend

Okay, so I can't figure out the formatting issues on this post in the amount of time that I have this morning.....and considering the difficulty even staying online everyone will just have to look over it.

The first two photos are of the Riverside Markets. They're just across the river from us and we always forget about it until we are running through it on Sunday morning to try to catch our bus on time to make it to the Northey Street Farmer's Market. This weekend we had less to carry so we took the time to look around a bit.

The next photo is of Kelsey at the Northey Street Organic Farmer's Market. That's the one that we go to every weekend.

The next photo is of a couple doing the tango at the Powerhouse Farmer's Market. They were very enthusiastic and funny.

The next two photos are of us on the top deck of the ferry on our way to the Northy Street Market. We finally had some beautiful weather and it was warm enough to sit up there for awhile.

Ron Mueck's sculpture at the Gallery of Modern Art (South Bank). I love his work...it's amazing.

The last photo is me at the Pagoda at South Bank. http://www.southbankcorporation.com.au/nepalese-pagoda

"In the heart of this serene and romantic venue is one of South Bank's longest standing buildings, which was donated to the people of Brisbane following World Expo '88.
The spectacular hand-carved two storey Pagoda, is a magnificent venue surrounded by a traditional paved area, which makes it a perfect location for a private event. This is a real hidden treasure, surrounded by lush tropical landscaping and one of Brisbane's unique and romantic venues.n the heart of this serene and romantic venue is one of South Bank's longest standing buildings, which was donated to the people of Brisbane following World Expo '88.
The spectacular hand-carved two storey Pagoda, is a magnificent venue surrounded by a traditional paved area, which makes it a perfect location for a private event. This is a real hidden treasure, surrounded by lush tropical landscaping and one of Brisbane's unique and romantic venues."

Deana Gets a Duckdown Doona

It belongs to Ben, too. But, my name makes a cuter blog title. We have been having (rumored) record breaking temperatures. Single digits. It's freakin' cold at night. There's a cute little button in our apartment that says "heat" but apparently that's just a little joke. I couldn't get it to work so called the realtor who sent a repairman who said that that it's not a heating unit....only air conditioning. Oh, that explains my inability to make it work even with an instruction booklet.

Last night Kelsey had to work until 9pm so we figured we'd head downtown to buy a space heater and a doona so that we could meet up with her when she was finished. We found a fantastic sale and purchased a duck down doona and a space heater. In the states, we call them duvets but isn't doona a much cuter name? I also bought two doona covers....so versatile these doonas! Last night when I went to bed....well, I can't even describe to you how wonderful it felt My feet were warm within about 15 seconds. It was like going to the beach on a hot summer day without the sand, the cabana boy, or the sea breeze...... Oh, I guess it wasn't that much like going to beach then, huh? It's warmer today so who knows if we'll ever need the space heater now but I have it and that's what matters.

Poor Kelsey. She's inherited my ability to attract men with either no teeth or really bad teeth. Is it our blue eyes? What is it about us that just screams, "Hey Buddy, if you don't have any teeth at all or have never partipated in any dental care traditions whatsoever, then I'm your girl!"? Two days in a row some creepy fellow with broken teeth and a rather nasty vibe has made a point of stopping by work to have a little chat with her. Made us grateful that we met her last night when she got off because there's no bus that late and she would have had to walk to the ferry.

After we met Kelsey, we stopped by Jimmy's on Queen Street for dessert. Let me just say that I have never, ever had tiramisu that delicious. It wasn't soggy...it had just the right balance of flavors. And it was a huge piece ($11.50 AUD)....I'm thinking we should make that a weekly family tradition. I'd make it a daily family tradition but that seems a bit too decadent.

The sun is out today and we are heading to a food festival (also known as paradise). I can't wait!

Random Stuff

Raisins are called sultanas. There's a cereal called Sultana Bran. Rice Krispies are called something else too....but I can't remember what it is....something like Rice Puffies, I think.

Sometimes instead of saying "Thanks", people will says "ta" which is short for "thanks a lot".

No worries stands in for "Thanks" or "You're welcome" or "It's okay" and possibly even more that I can't recall right now.

I recently heard someone from New Zealand say that "if the Australians were any more relaxed, they'd be dead on the ground".

Kelsey's job...

The boss texted next week's work schedule to her. Seriously.

The Weekend

I thought I would roast a chicken for dinner. But first I have to look up how many grams are in a kilo and what temperature to cook it when I convert it to Celsius. And how do I tell when this oven is preheated?

The sun has been out all day. But, I'm not fooled. The only thing keeping it from raining is my complete refusal to set foot outside today at all. I'm making the sacrifice. I'm staying indoors so that the rest of Brisbane can enjoy the beautiful day. (Shhh, don't tell but I did sit out on the porch for most of the morning but I don't think the sun could see me.)

Over the weekend, we went over to Greenfest at the City Botanical Garden a couple of times. Food, food glorious food. I had the single best doughnut I've ever had in my entire life....I just kept thanking Jesus for it. Benji and Kelsey met some other teens there to watch the concerts. We met them later and bought practice poi and a "fire stick/baton thingy" for Benji. I'm sure his has another name but I've got to get this chicken in the oven so will have to look it up later. (I think he's discovered a new passion and they will be both be going to some new groups that meet for fire dancing soon). The Hare Krishnas were serving huge plates of vegetarian food for a measly 10 bucks so Kelsey had that. Benji and some of the other boys made their way out of the park to go to Hungry Jacks (equivalent of Burger King). Kelsey said that she and R. were dancing at one of the concerts and a lady came dancing up to them saying "You girls are soooo beeauuutiiiifuuullll!!!!". Ben and I explored the park and it is lovely. Several beautiful areas for weddings, a lagoon full of water lilies and birds, just overall lovely quietness right in the city.

Sunday morning, we woke up to beautiful skies. But, I'm no dummy. I layered up shirts, put on jeans....my only concession to the lovely weather was that I put on sandals. Well, that was enough. We headed out to the Northey Street Farmer's Market and didn't even make it to the ferry before the clouds moved in and the rain started coming down. But, food must be purchased so we went anyway. My feet were freezing!!!!! We had breakfast at the market....rice with cream, orange zest, pistachios, sultanas, goji berries and whipped cream. I wanted to weep it was so yummy. We also have little mini pancake balls with vanilla custard, waffles with eggs and bacon, chai, and a flat white. MMMM! We bought so much produce that I don't know how we got it all home. Ben can probably tell you though since he was the one lugging it all back.

Afterwards, I wanted to finish up the grocery shopping by heading to the real grocery store. What an exercise in frustration. Pecans? No. Shelled pistachios? No. Steel cut oats? No.

Sunday night was a free comedy show at the Suncorp Piazza at South Bank. We should have arrived earlier. We did get in but I tell ya, I was afraid there for a bit that we were going to get all the way up to the door only to be turned away. What a great show! We laughed and laughed and laughed. I even got some of the Queensland jokes. We saw Charlie Pickering who is very, very funny. The Kransky Sisters who were funny but a little too quiet...I kept missing things. Tripod was a comedy trio that we really enjoyed. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1329362959167995041 You must watch them! We had to laugh because when certain comics were introduced, the crowd went completely wild. We had no idea who any of these people were (except Charlie, I did see him on a game show one night but I thought he was just a contestant). I stayed up until 11pm. That is the absolute latest I've been up since we arrived in Australia! But, my gosh, I fell into bed exhausted....a bed never looked so inviting!

Today, Kelsey is off to the Dreaming Festival with some friends. Ben and Benji went to a movie. And I'm here guarding the good weather for us all. This is finally the weather I've been promised. It was probably around 75 degrees today. Not bad for winter. But, I'm not taking off my woolly slippers. I know it's probably just a trick.....

My Poor Head

The people upstairs are renovating their apartment. How nice for them. But, seriously, wasn't the tile they had nice enough? The noise from the jackhammer is unbelievable. There are rules in place that limit the amount of time they can make that much noise each day but today has been the worst. I don't feel well so I can't really go anywhere to escape it. Just 10 more minutes...just 10 more minutes.....

Ben and Benji enjoyed watching a rugby game earlier this week. You know, trying to get into the Aussie spirit of things. I don't like sports but I suppose if you have to watch a sport it should be one that has muscular men in short shorts tackling the crap out of each other. Of course, I don't think that's why they were watching it.

Kelsey's job may be a bit too "no worries" for me. Apparently, the people who work there communicate with the boss by "texting" him. Huh? Seems odd to ask for a day off by texting someone but what do I know. She still doesn't know her schedule for next week or how much she's getting paid. Rumor is that she will get between 30 and 35 hours per week. I hope this isn't the normal way they plan the scheduling because it will make it really difficult to plan ahead for events that she wants to attend.

The sun is finally out today. Of course it is. I feel like crap and don't want to go anywhere. As soon as they stop with the noise upstairs, I'm going to sit on the porch with a good book and a glass of tea. That'll make me feel better.

Benji went downtown to play video games with a couple of boys from the homeschool group. He called about 5pm and asked if it was okay if they went to a movie....I could barely stay awake late enough to wait for him to get home. I think he walked in the door around 9:30pm. He is loving the freedom that public transportation is giving him.

Lone Pine and Kelsey's Job

Kelsey got a job!!!! Yea!!!! She was getting rather discouraged with the whole job prospects situation and knowing the money for camp was going to be due very soon. She took her resume' down to Queen Street again and just went from store to store....and she got a call back less then 3 hours later asking her to come in for an interview. She did and they hired her later that afternoon. It's a place called Naked Fruit so she gets to make awesome fruit drinks....and she gets a fantastic discount. She still doesn't know what her schedule will be, how much she's getting paid or exactly how many hours she'll be getting.... But, he did say that she'll be getting full time hours starting next week. It's all very "No Worries". Today when she went to work, the manager had forgotten to let everyone know that she'd be coming in....but that was okay, "No worries". It sounds like she just started working and if she had questions, there was always someone willing to help.

Monday, we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. They are adorable. Just as cuddly as you've always imagined but I guarantee that you've never imagined quite how they smell. The males have a scent gland on their chest to attract females and they are...well....very musky to put it nicely. We fed lorikeets and kangaroos. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I'd get to pet a kangaroo. Wombats are much larger than I imagined. They look like something that should be in a science fiction movie. Cute faces but just oversize in some strange way. The dingoes look exactly like dogs and the Tasmanian devil is adorable. Ben was so funny. He was so excited to hold the crocodile that you'd have sworn he was twelve years old. Keep in mind that I'm talking about my husband here, not my son. I'm sure I was just as enthusiastic when I got to hold the koala but I'm the one writing the blog so I can only describe the rest of my family. The place is just small enough that you don't feel like you need to rush to see everything and just large enough to make it worth going to see. I'll post some photos soon.

Sunday we went to the Northey Street Farmer's Market and I nearly made myself sick eating a yummy rice dish that had cream, pistachios, raisins (sultanas), goji berries, orange zest and honey in it. Oh, and little pancakes filled with vanilla custard. And some of Ben's flat white. All of this after I'd had breakfast at home. But, it was just so good, I couldn't stop eating. I found a member of my tribe there and we had a passionate discussion about good food. It was divine.

Sunday night was stand-up comedy at the Powerhouse. It's very odd to be in a crowd of people who get the jokes when you have no freakin' idea what they comedian is talking about because it's stuff only a Queenslander would understand. It just reminds you that you are the foreigner. Not a big deal really, just an observation. And, the comedian had plenty to say that I did understand so it was a fun night for us all.

One of the families from the homeschool group met us at the Powerhouse. She has 4 boys and 1 girl. Her son was teasing her that she was starting to speak American when she was talking to me. She must have been picking up some of my accent but I didn't even notice. I told her that it didn't bother me because I noticed I was picking up some of the Australian accent. Ben had been teasing me earlier that day for the way that I said the word "tonight".

Today has been rainy and cold. The sky tries to trick you. When you wake up in the morning, it will be blue skies and sunshine.....then as soon as you get to your destination and walk inside a building the dark clouds come running in as fast as possible and just before you walk out....they let loose a torrential downpour. And, of course, you have to go out in it otherwise you'll miss your bus! Do you think I ever remember to bring an umbrella? No. I'm just happy if I remember to bring a jacket! The rain is a good excuse to duck into a cafe for a cup of something warm though....so it's not all bad:)

The bus routes are getting so much easier now. It's such a relief to have at least a general idea of where you're going and how to get there.