December so far....

These pictures were taken in Caloundra. A road trip with Jade and afternoon swim at a rooftop pool with majestic views. Santa and the surf board picture was in a surf shop while we were strolling down the street checking out the markets.







Last week I headed over to Buddina. The beach on that side is absolutely long, sandy and beautiful. Kawana surf club hosted a surf sports competition,so I was able to get a glimpse then took a walk along the beach. I found myself at the tip of the Pt.Cartright lookout. This location is on the other side of Mooloolaba with a river seperated the two beaches.

Road Trip with Good Friends

My good friends Sarah and Chris came for a 3 day weekend visit to the Mooloolaba area all the way from Alberta, Canada. On the Saturday we went on a road trip heading north. Chris (very familiar on his old turf) was our DD in the Getz and our first destination was Rainbow beach. Rainbow Beach was renamed after the coloured sands located near the town which lies to the south of Fraser Island. We made a few pit stops on the way home like Tin Can Bay, the bottleshop, Noosa and our final stop was in Mount Coolum for some fish and chips. The day was heaps of fun and I will cherish these memories forever.

Whale Watching

The day started at sunrise and at 5:30a.m I got on board Steve's Whale One for a journey of a lifetime. The trip was a little expensive, but I was happy to hear that all proceeds raised from the whale encounters go back to animal conservation. We began our morning with breakie aboard the boat and then sailed off into the sea of the sunshine coast. After one hour of full speed ahead on the lookout for whales we were joined by some dolphins who stuck around for a couple of minutes joinning us alongside of the boat but no whales. Finally we spotted some mist ontop of the ocean layer, this was a good sign and we approached the area to soon find a whale on its own. It gave us one quick glimpse and it was huge! After hanging out in the area with no activity we headed back towards shore in hope of spotting some other whales. We became lucky and there were some spottings with a baby and mum. It was a moment that I will never forget and absolutley breathtaking to see the humpbacks in there natural habitat in Australia. I tried my best to capture the moments on film. Enjoy!

Byron Bay, NSW

View from the Lighthouse lookout
Mount Warning in the Backdrop of Picture

The Most Easterly Point of Australia






Byron Bay is located on the North Coast of New South Wales. Its a cool place with restaurants, hotels and shopping. The beach is in front of town and has white sand and crystal clear water for swim and great surf. Byron Bay Lighthouse sits on the hill above Byron where you can also walk to the most Eastern point of Australia. This spot offers spectacular views, great food and perfect for some people watching with a schooner of beer in hand! I abssolutely loved the trip out to Byron Bay and am super thankful to Deb for taking me out there. Deb lives in New South Wales and I was fortunate to be able to spend the weekend at her home located in the hinterlands of NSW.

Riverfire, River Fest 2008 Brisbane

This picture truly demonstrates what the night looked like for 20 minutes. Fireworks off of bridges, buildings and off the river. The glowing light across the sky is the F1-11 Jet going by
Strike Jet Passing through
Roulettes perfoming the air show
nothing like champagne and fireworks

On August 30th, Brisbane hosted this river festival and it was indeed the biggest fireworks spectaclular I have witnessed thus far. The purpose of this event is to welocme the arrival of spring. I started my journey on the City Cat (a very common means of transportation via ferry on the river) As I cruised the river, the roulettes air show was in force, streets were filling, rooftops were partying and boats were docking to view this yearly event. My arrival was the South Bank area where I watched the sky light up with champagne in hand and filled my soul with happiness being a spectator with hundreads and thousands of others witnessing this truly remarkable moment. The grand fianle of the show was the RAAF F1-11 Strke Jet that sweeps low over the city perfoming its 'dump and burn". I couldnt believe how fast it came through and the vibration that it left. Awesome!

University of Sunshine Coast

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Check out the Joey

This is the Uni I attend here on the Sunshine Coast. I am in the Graduate Diploma in Education and will be finished the program in July 2009. When completed I will be a certified primary school teacher. Woo Hoo!!! I could have done the program at a local school in Ontario but opportunity was there and why not live in Australia and make my dreams come true. The university is alive with Kangaroos living on campus. The novelity of seeing them everyday has not worn off yet, and really I dont think it ever will. It truly is a sight to see them around moving about on the grounds. The Uni is about 15 minutes from where I live.

Brisbane, Queensland

Our day downtown Brisbane. We walked the streets, checked out southbank beach...kinda cool to have a beach right in the heart of downtown and observed the many people that crowd the streets. Brisbane is about a one hour drive from Mooloolaba. You can get there by bus and train but having a car would save you loads of time.