A Coastal Walk - Kings Beach to Shelly Beach

We have been experiencing some pretty gorgeous weather here lately and last week I just couldn't faff about at home any longer.

I was lucky that the gorgeous weather coincided with a few days when lovely hubby was home mid-week.  After dropping the kids at school and walking Patch, I became really, really fidgety about being at home (not a normal thing for me).

Without too much thought, we jumped in the car and headed to Caloundra as I really needed a good dose of the ocean.  I hadn't done one of my 'walks' in ages and I was really missing getting out and exploring my local area.

The last time I walked around the coastline here in Caloundra it was from Bulcock Beach to Kings Beach and you can read more about it here.

I decided to continue onto the next section so started at Kings Beach, near the Surf Club and the swimming pool which is where I finished my last walk.

This section meanders up around the headland so it requires a little more exertion than walking along the flat boardwalk but not much more.

I took my time exploring so I could soak in the views and marvel at how calm it was on that particular day.  Hubby was a bit miffed when he realised how flat it was as he could've taken the boat out so lets hope it's nice like this next time he's home.

This particular section of the coastline isn't that long really but is quite significant.  Not far from Kings Beach is the Centaur Memorial  commemorating the hospital ship the Centaur which was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the coast in 1943.  Only 64 people survived the attack out of over 300 who were on board the ship.

For about a 600 metre stretch along this section of the headland is the Caloundra Memorial Walkway which displays dedication plaques for remembrance of service. 

Friends and family of those who served our country are able to commission a memorial plaque to be placed on the walkway.

There's also a special wall commemorating the men and women who have served in the volunteer Coast Guard as well.

A little further along is Anzac Park which is where the Dawn Service is held here in Caloundra every April 25th on Anzac Day.

We've been going to the local service most years (although we missed this year with Miss R getting her appendix out).

The Dawn Service here in Caloundra is on my list of things to do. I think it would be pretty moving experiencing the service as the sun comes up over the ocean.

Access to the rocky headland and water is pretty easy from the Anzac memorial and I ended up spending plenty of time perched on a rock soaking in the view and sounds of the ocean.

I love being able to look back over Caloundra and see the Glasshouse Mountains in the distance.  We really are pretty blessed to have grown up and now live in such a beautiful area.

Last time I took a walk around the area there was a small shark in the shallows.  This time I was able to watch the antics of a turtle floating around just a couple of metres off the rocks in the photo below.

I tried to get a good photo of it but nothing turned out well so you'll just have to believe me. :) 

From the point of the headland the view is pretty well nothing but ocean and apart from many of the Pacific Island nations like Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia and Vanuatu, the next major landmass is America.

Hello to all my American friends (North and South) across the big puddle!

What a perfect spot for a picnic.

A little further on I ended up at Shelly Beach which was my destination for the day.  This is one of our favourite beaches in Caloundra but we never swim here as it's not patrolled.

It's a great beach for exploration because of the rock pools and is the perfect spot for picnics (great views, a playground and most importantly...toilets).

I can't believe it's almost a week since I did this walk now and I can tell you that the weather is still gorgeous.  So much so that I can't wait to get out and explore the next section of the coast.

xx Susan

Vitamin C (Sea)

Every morning Miss R and I are enjoying a glass each of fresh squeezed orange juice.

Nothing beats a good natural dose of Vitamin C in the winter and we are lucky that my Mum has a LOADED navel orange tree so we pop around for a visit, pick a box full then enjoy fresh squeezed juice each morning.

Master M doesn't like the texture of the fresh juice so every now and then when he wants to have some, I strain it through a tea strainer first and he's happy with that.

I've also had a wonderful dose of the Vitamin Sea kind this week.

I first saw it referred to as Vitamin Sea in the comments section of someone's blog awhile ago.  I can't remember whose blog or who commented but I loved it and thought it was so apt.

We have been experiencing the most gorgeous winter weather lately and I decided that I needed a dose of the ocean.

Hubby is home for a few days this week so during school time we headed down to Caloundra.  He had something he needed to do so he dropped me off at the beach and came back to pick me up a little later and I can't tell you how much I needed that time.

Afterwards we enjoyed fish and chips for lunch before heading home to pick the kids up from school.

Sometimes doing something on the spur of the moment is just the tonic that's needed.

xx Susan 

Catching up

I can't believe the first week of the school term is nearly done and dusted.

My week has mostly revolved around catching up on the things I didn't get done over the school holidays.  The first few days are usually a whirlwind of tidying and cleaning as not much of that seems to get done on the holidays.  There's nothing like putting things to rights in the house to help you get back into the school routine.

On the crochet front, I feel I haven't been getting a great deal done but when I've looked back through my photos I realised I have achieved something at least.

The wrap I was working on using the Scheepjes Whirl in Green Tea Tipple (love that name!), was finished during the school holidays and has been worn a few times already since it's been a little on the chilly side here lately.

Don't you love it when a design you make up works out how you want it to.  I wanted a rectangular wrap that can easily be worn as a scarf but has a bit of texture to it to make it interesting.

I'm in the process of writing up the pattern but that requires a bit more organisation on my part right now.  I'll get there eventually.

Once I finished the wrap I wanted something easy to work on during the school holidays.  It needed to be something I could put down quickly and start up again easily without too much faffing about trying to work out where I was up to.

I went through my stash and found one 200gram ball of wool which I know is from Bendigo Woollen Mills but I've lost the tag so I'm not sure if it's pure wool or a wool mix.  I'm not knowledgeable enough to know the fibres by looking and feeling a ball of yarn but it's lovely to work with.  It's also coming together pretty quickly when I get the chance to work on it as it's 8ply so this wrap will be lovely and warm.

I'm in the mood to make a blanket too.  I haven't made one in ages and my fingers are itching to start another big project.  Hubby and I don't have a handmade blanket on our bed, we do have our Wedding quilt which his Aunt made for us when we got married but it's getting a bit worn and in winter we need a few extra layers on the bed.

Since it will be a bigger blanket than I normally make, I'm letting the idea simmer in the background until I have more of a concrete plan for what I want.  I'll keep you posted when I work out what I'm going to do.

We are experiencing some pretty amazing blue winter skies at the moment as well.  Most days there isn't a cloud in the sky but the sneaky westerly winds are keeping the temperatures cool so that we can enjoy some winter.  I'm lapping up the cool weather while I can and trying to wear as many scarves and shawls as possible because all too soon it will heat up again.

I hope you're all having a fabulous week and looking forward to the weekend.

xx Susan

A very special Ballet

On Sunday I had the wonderful opportunity to accompany my sister and Miss R to a special performance by the Queensland Ballet.

For a short season (about 10 days) the Queensland Ballet is putting on a production titled 

The Little Green Road to Fairyland 

which is an original and unique performance designed to introduce ballet to children.

It first premiered earlier in the year in regional Queensland as part of the Queensland Music Festival and is now enjoying a short season at the Playhouse Theatre in Brisbane.

The easiest way for us to get there was to catch the train as there's a station right next to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.  The Performing Arts Centre is at South Bank in Brisbane where I spent a few days in April so it was nice to revisit there for a few hours.

It was a pretty exciting day out for my girl, not only catching the train but being in the city which she's only been to once and then going to the Ballet.

We had lunch at one of the cafe's at the performing arts centre.  It was a beautiful, clear winter's day but the breeze was a bit chilly so we were pretty happy to get inside the theatre for the performance.

As the ballet targets a younger audience, there's no interval and the whole performance lasts for one hour which is pretty well the limit of the attention span of many of the kids.

We also attended a special session designed with kids with sensory needs in mind so they dim the lights but don't turn the house lights off fully.  They also allow you to bring in fidget toys for the kids if they need them as well as ear plugs for the ones that are affected by loud noises etc.

As the place is half full of children some of the usual theatre rules are relaxed but the kids love it.

No pictures of the performance are allowed to be taken so you just get selfies of us at the theatre and the above photo of Miss R with her favourite Aunty, my sister Sandra.

A big huge and humungous THANK YOU to my sister's best friend Donna (who also happens to be hubby's cousin), for gifting us with these tickets when she first found out about the performance.  She thought of Miss R and knew that the three of us would love this special day together...and we did.

xx Susan

Knitfest 2019

This is the fourth year the Knitfest Festival has been held in Maleny and the first year I've been able to attend.

The weather for the weekend was a little typical of Maleny, which means it was misty, rainy and cool.  Quite perfect for celebrating all things yarn I think although perhaps not as great for walking around in.

There was some pretty spectacular yarn bombing going on around town.  One of my favourites would have to be Scarlett the car which sat outside Knitting Central for the weekend.  A lot of work went into creating this car cover made almost entirely of granny squares.

Maleny is also very much a dairy farming community and the metal cows on the way into town got a bit of a dressing up too.

The main venue housed plenty of stalls where you could purchase some gorgeous hand dyed yarn as well as plenty of other yarn related things.

There were workshops throughout the weekend working with all kinds of creative mediums.  There were knitting and crochet workshops as well as felting and the basket weaving one seemed pretty popular.

I didn't participate in any of the workshops this year but perhaps next year I'll be a little more organised and see what's available before I head up there for the day.

I loved the Knitfest bus which did a loop of the town and connected people to the different Knitfest venues, the main street and a couple of designated parking areas.  The gorgeous bunting and colourful blankets certainly helped keep everyone cosy on a cool and misty weekend.

I would love to have gone to see the Raw Fleece expo but it was only held on the Saturday and as Miss R had an appointment I was unable to go that day.  As I said, I'll try and plan things a bit better next year so I can get to see everything.

I spent a wonderful few hours with my sister wandering about the place, testing my willpower with regards to yarn purchases and just having a general mooch about the town.

The question remains as to whether I purchased anything or not?  Of course I did, but not what you probably would expect.

I'm surprised at my willpower and in the end didn't buy any yarn even though I saw plenty I liked.  I think going through my stash the day before made me realise exactly how much I have on my shelves and a lot of it I can buy online now that I've seen it up close and had a squish of it.

I did buy some cute little stitch markers though.  A tea pot and cupcakes are the perfect addition to add to my sweet little stitch marker tin and have already had some use.

It's still school holidays here and we're having plenty of slothing about time as well as some outings to mix things up a bit.  Nothing has been too strenuous though and I can't see that changing anytime in the next few days.

Enjoy your week!

xx Susan

A quick trip to the Zoo

The first Sunday of the school holidays dawned clear and gorgeous.  It really was one of those perfect winter's days that scream at you to get outside and enjoy it.  We answered the call.

We were still in lazy weekend, holiday mode so we didn't want to go to far.  The unanimous decision was to go to the zoo.  We haven't been in about 6 months which is a bit unlike us and needed to renew our annual passes first but they are so worth it if you live only a few kilometres away like we do.

This visit wasn't about seeing all the animals which may seem a bit odd considering it is a zoo.  Having said that, you can't go anywhere without seeing animals of some kind and I couldn't walk past one of the koala enclosures without taking the next photo.  It cracked me up.

It looks like how I'm feeling of a morning these school holidays.  (Too much cricket and Wimbledon is on which means ALL night here Downunder).

What we really came to the zoo for was the obstacle course which they have had over the winter school holidays for the last 3 to 4 years.

The kids love climbing, sliding, going under and going through all the inflatable sections of the course.

I love the fact that they're wearing themselves out while I find a nice shady spot, spread out the picnic blanket and crochet away for awhile.

Since we were last here they've added a big bouncing pillow so the kids had to try that out for a bit as well.

Then it was time to enjoy an ice-cream while watching the water fountains which no one was in at the time as it was a bit too chilly.  Once the weather warms up it gets really popular as you'll see from one of our other visits in this post.

Another thing I love about the zoo is the water stations.  There are a few of them around the site and you can refill your water bottles with cold water for free.

It's the little things like this that can help families save a bit as we know how expensive outings can get, especially when you're on holiday.  Even after running around on a short visit we usually need to fill the water bottles up.

Another thing I love is that there are seats everywhere around the zoo so there's plenty of spots to stop for a bit of a rest.  Lots of them have a carving of an animal on them and the little baby crocodile kept me company while the kids played on the jumping pillow.

It may seem like we were there for ages but in fact it was a little over 2 1/2 hours from when we left home to when we drove back in.  A perfect little afternoon jaunt.

For my new readers who haven't followed me for long, we live only 3 kilometres from Australia Zoo, the home of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter.  We've been coming to the zoo since the kids were babies so they've pretty well grown up going there.

Since the zoo is really spread out, we always purchase an annual pass and rarely stay more than 2 - 3 hours as longer than that can make the kids a bit too tired and cranky.  We usually pick one or two sections that we're going to go to that day, then have a bit of a play in the fun areas before heading home.

If you want to see more of our zoo adventures over the years, click on Australia Zoo section on the side bar or click here.

xx Susan