Magnetic Trip Outta Dodge

Hi!

Well. Yes, am late, but this time, you knew ahead of time! But here I am, amidst drying laundry, simmering spaghetti sauce, a sleepy & somewhat traumatized cat, classical tunes and rainrainrain. Funny, you can go away for just a couple days and no matter how much "prep" work you did before you left (laundry, cleaning, groceries, etc) when you get back it seems like there's a week's worth of stuff to be done. Hmmm. But, nevermind, here we are!

So work. Yep. Was good to have a little teeny break. Otherwise, all's well. Ticking along nicely. It's funny how the government works, in that you can take a break from the job you "own" and go away and do another person's job for a wee while, then come back to yours.... confusing I know. Anyways, in our department there're all these different faces sitting in other regular people's chairs, and it's kind of nice in a weird way. I mean, it's different for everyone around them, which kind of shakes things up and stops everything from feeling too much like "Groundhog Day", if you know how I mean. Anyways.... work is good. Weird being away for 2 work-days, hope all was ok...... I just have a couple of projects very nearly finished....... I didn't get any frantic phone calls.... Gosh, hopefully no news is good news? Ha! Who am I kidding? Am not that important!!!!!

And then the weekend! Hooray! An Adventure was had! Finally got outta Dodge and saw how the folk live in Townsville. What a nice enough little town. Lovely, warm weather (I brought jeans thinking, well, it is the middle of winter after all, then promptly off the plane regretted the jeans choice), walked a lot, collected sea shells from Magnetic Island, even got a little sunburn! So yes, Townsville was nice. Met lots of new people including Hasse's family - all very nice and veryvery funny, excellent sense of humor runs in that family. It was just an excellent way to spend 3 & 1/2 days.

So Adventure. Started early Friday morning, and after arriving at Townsville International Airport (tee hee, "International", it is, but it's so small), we dumped our stuff at the hotel and went for a bit of an orienteering walk around the main bits of town (there isn't much so it was pretty easy). Got the lay of the land then visited the Reef HQ Aquarium which was lovely but kinda coulda had more effort put into it (being at the southernmost end of the Great Barrier Reef I kind of expected a bit more). Regardless, it was excellent, highly informative and educational; I was 2 minutes in the door and I learned all about the different shapes and sizes of coral and how they get the way they look. Education on vacation - what could be better!? Suitably tired and hungry, we went back to Hasse's brother's (Casper & girlfriend Leanne) house where we and his parents piled into a bit of a convoy and headed to Frank's Italian Restaurant, which was pretty good and very Italian kitsch. Then it was to gelato at Juliette's in The Strand and then to home for bedtime. What a busy and exciting day for 2 boring government office workers!

Then Saturday. No time to be a tourist, had to be up early to be a contributing member in helping out Casper (and his parents) and Leanne cook, clean, decorate and get their house and yard ready for their annual 'Solstice Party' (see photo, left), which was due to start at 1pm. But with the success the party has had in previous years, folks started arriving at noon! But we were well prepared, and I'd say the party was a fantastic success. I completely forgot to take pictures, so will post some from Hasse's camera as soon as I get them, the place looked great and crowded (note: picture on the right is not from their house. Don't we wish. Is from Jamaica Joe's pub where we'd stopped for, well, drinks, the day before). I think I remember leaving at the 'reasonable" hour of 10.30something...... I ate herring with onion on rye bread (most excellent, highly recommend it), drank homemade schnapps (ditto) and much Danish beer, feasted on potatoes, stew, bread..... when in Rome! Or in this case, Denmark-away-from-Denmark......... Met some really interesting people, had a good laugh, aahhhh, it was an excellent evening. I don't do it very often, but every now and then, a good party like that can be a fantastic evening out.

Then Sunday. Up early-ish and out the door to explore Magnetic Island. Upon waking I sadly realized I'd left my camera at Casper and Leanne's house, so I had to rely on Hasse's (brand spankin' new, $700) camera........., so watch this space for photos to appear later in the show..... What a lovely island Magnetic Island is. And pretty good size I thought, for an island that's 70% protected land. Beautiful little coves and beaches, most of which we couldn't see as we didn't do any of the hiking trails. But we rented a "topless" teeeeeeeeny little car and zipped around every paved road we could find and explored whatever we could without needing a rescue party. Started off at Horseshoe Bay and had a glass of wine before we walked the entire beach and back - well over 2 & 1/2 miles.... whew! But man did I collect some beautiful shells and bits of coral (I'm a tourist, it's what you do). The we paused for fish and chips before exploring every other paved road and suburban island life when we came upon Picnic Bay. My favorite by far, even tho it was towards the end of the day and everything, except the pub, was closed. It was smaller than Horseshoe Bay but far lovlier. Little more artsy compared to Horseshoe Bay's razzmatazz of "jet ski hire here!" "all-day kayak rental" and drunk backpacker sort of vibe.... Guess am getting old. Sigh. Then it was back on the ferry and a lovely meal of leftover stew and and apple crumble. Excellent!

And today. Was up early, breakfast, and to the airport, headed back to rainy and cool Brisbane. Ehh, that's ok tho cos the sunburn could do with a bit of cooling off and the calves a good rest from the walk along the beach, so sitting is a fine thing to do on a rainy day!

So there you have it. All in all, a fantastic and adventurous weekend was had! Hooray! Back to reality tomorrow tho, as it always happens..... So as soon as I get the pictures, will send them up! Hope you're all well up there and add Magnetic Island and Townsville to your list of places to go see when you get here!

BYE!
J!