Free Stuff!

Last weekend we went to the RACQ Big BBQ which was held in a wonderful park Roma Parklands in the centre of Brisbane. RACQ is a major short-term insurance company here. They also do roadside assistance etc. They hold this annual event, and this year it was part of Queensland Week and the 150 year anniversary of Queensland (the State separated from New South Wales 150 years ago).

So it was a really big bash this year, and I was amazed at being able to take the family to an event such as this for free. There were two stages with free shows on all day. Kai was in her element being able to see Dora the Explorer, who has become a real favourite for her, and there was a Spongebob Squarepants show, circus acts, magician shows and other events.





Then there was facepainting, a maze and a fantastic jumping castle to play on, balloons and peaks - all for free! And you could even help yourself to sun cream! On arrival children could be given a sticker arm band with a parent's cell number written on to it. And there was a free sausage sizzle -- for the un-initiated it's a piece of bread folded in half diagonally with a sausage in it with a squiggle of tomato sauce in it. How amazing to see this really long line of people waiting for free sausages, but the line moved really quickly and everyone was really patient and accommodating!

I'd like to go back to the park again as it looks really beautiful with amazing water features, walkways, a miniture forest, the 'Spectacule Garden' and has an upper and lower area separated by quite steep walkways and stairs. It also has a great play area that I know the kids would love to go and explore.

ANZAC Day

Yesterday was ANZAC Day -- one of the biggest holiday's celebrated in Australia. And lots for us to learn and find out about. Many shops are closed, while others open only at lunchtime (except for outlets like Starbucks Coffee which was doing a roaring trade in the city in the morning). According to the Australian War Memorial website, ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and the day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

Slade had an ANZAC Day ceremony at school on Friday, and Kai also learned about ANZAC Day, including doing a march around the school play area saluting children in the other classes! Slade got to make ANZAC biscuits -- a crunchie type of biscuit. Kai got given ANZAC biscuits at school. We also had some shop bought ones that come in special packaging.



April 25 is a special day for Australians as a day to remember soldiers who had died in war. The website states:
"In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soliders formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed."

ANZAC Day was officially named in 1916 and marked by a wide variety of ceremonies and services in Australia, a march through London, and a sports day in the Australian camp in Egypt.

All states observed some form of public holiday on ANZAC Day from 1927. In subsequent years the meaning of the day was broadened to include Australians killed in all military operations in which Australia has been involved.

Commemorative services are held at dawn -- the time of the original landing -- and later in the day marches are held.

The turnout at the march was quite amazing -- and with all the marching bands and other groups, it reminded me of the American marches that I saw when I was there. There was lots of flag waving, and children and adults alike enjoying the march. It was really moving watching the people marching -- there were representatives from all sorts of regiments and divisions, some elderly people walking, in wheelchairs, in taxis and on golf carts, and adults and children wearing medals that belonged to relatives.











We had gone into the city on the train -- it was fun for the kids, parking in the city is expensive and it saved having to drive around amongst the throngs of people. After the march we walked across the Brisbane River to South Bank which is a wonderful area that was established when the World Expo was held in Brisbane. It has a fantastic man-made swimming area for the kids -- with sand beaches, water sprays, and a pebbled river-like area that's also great for playing. Slade had such fun building a wall of stones across the river!







After bumping into one of Slade's good friends we stayed at South Bank a little longer than we had planned, but we eventually persuaded the kids to head back to the nearest station and get the train back out of the city. We had parked at a really convenient station about five or 10 minutes from our house so it was fortunately a quick drive back home. We were all exhausted, but really enjoyed the experience of our first ANZAC Day in Australia.

Fun in the Holidays

The kids were back to school on Tuesday, and I was able to get into a better routine of doing my work in the day instead of after they went to bed! My efforts at getting to bed earlier have been a little more successful as a result!

But before the holidays ended we got up to lots more fun.

Having to go into the city for an appointment with Phillip, we decided to use the opportunity to look at the Queensland Museum. Phillip dropped us off and fetched us later, which meant that we saved on the generally high cost of parking in the city. It was a fun afternoon. We deliberately didn't go into the Sciencentre which we've heard is really great because we want to do that with Phillip. We still had fun for a couple of hours though -- a dinosaur display was most enjoyed by both the kids.





Another day we went to the Downfall Creek Bushlands Centre which is based at a park in the north western part of the city. Seems like a really great area so it was quite a nice drive, especially once we started to go away from the city. It was quite hilly terrain and very green. We definitely need to consider heading out that way with Phillip sometime to see what else we can find in that area. Anyway, the Brisbane City Council had organised an educational event for kids. It was free of charge and such a wonderful outing for the kids. They were shown different animals that could be found in the reserve -- including a bearded dragon and other types of lizards, snakes, a bandicoot (which is very similar to the bilby I mentioned in my Easter post), a squirrel glider, a tree frog and a tawny frogmouth (a bird that looks rather like an owl).













There was also an opportunity to walk through the park to see the types of areas where we could find the wildlife that we had just seen (tame versions of) close up -- somewhat fortunately for the moms we didn't find anything apart from a few bugs! Then it was back to the centre where the children got given clay and various seeds, leaves and sticks and were able to make their own clay creations. What an entertaining two hours for the children and amazing that this was all for free. We ate our picnic lunch in the park afterwards and the children spent time playing on a great jungle gym.





We also spent a few hours at the Wynnum Park where we've been a couple of times before. The whales that squirt water had been fenced off and are apparently being repaired, but the kids enjoyed the jungle gym, and then had a really fun time going down this slide into the huge wading pool.



Back at school on Tuesday, Slade was appointed as the representative for his class -- they call it a pod rep. And is now a member of the Student Council.

Easter Weekend

A couple that we met in Australia arrived in Brisbane three years ago and told us recently that they continue to be amazed at how much there is to do here. We have so many things on our 'to do' list and it is one of the things that I have so enjoyed here in Australia. We just never run out of things to do. In fact, I actually get quite impatient thinking about some of the things that we still haven't had a chance to do and see since we've arrived. There just never seems to be enough time!

Well, this weekend started with us heading to a festival at Redcliffe which is on the bay north of Brisbane. We thought that it would be nice to head out there as we hadn't been to that area since arriving here. It was a nice drive, although there was lots of traffic (people heading towards the Sunshine Coast for Easter). We parked at a showground in the area and then took a bus to the bay where the festival was held.

There was lots to see and do -- quite a few fleamarket type stalls which we didn't spend too much time looking at. Also some rides for the children -- they chose to go on the Titanic slide!



Then there was sand sculpturing on the beach -- this amazing dolphin was there for everyone else to try and copy! Phillip, Slade and Kai are hiding behind the pile of sand towards the water from the dolphin.



Camel rides on the beach!



Then on Saturday it was off to Seaworld where we could use the Queensland 150 year celebration tickets. What a wonderful day. Kai was most disappointed at not being able to do the corkscrew roller coaster! Phillip can't wait for her to get taller so that he'll have someone to do the scary rides with. There were quite a few shows, an aquarium, ray reef, shark tank, polar bears, lots of rides and a monorail. We didn't get to see everything, but it was so great having tickets that enable us to go as many times as we like until the end of June. We're able to go back again and see the things that we missed out on.







I captured these pelicans at Seaworld, but we were really intrigued to see pelicans sitting on street lamps over the road on our way to the Redcliffe festival the previous day. Such a big bird perched on a lamp post!



Loved these shots of a dolphin that came up really close to us while we were standing at the fence near their tank.





On Monday we headed out to the trains in Ipswich. This time around they had the Toyland Express theme. There was a conductor who told stories, the children made toy trains out of wood and there was a wonderful play area with big and small trains, huge teddy bears and dolls houses.





Happy Easter!

What a weekend!

We had the most wonderful day on Saturday. We had splurged a little to make use of a special for Queensland residents that allows entry into three theme parks -- Warner Brothers Movie World, Wet n Wild and Seaworld -- for about the same price as a single entry ticket. And we can go as many times as we like from the time we bought them until the end of June! Needless to say these tickets are going to keep us busy.

For our first visit we decided to go to Movie World. It was a fantastic day. We arrived at about 11 (the rides only open at 10.30) and left shortly before being ushered out by the security guard at about 5.30pm. The kids had such a ball. The only disappointment for Kai was that she was too little for some of the really scary rides. In fact, the roller coaster in the kid's section was seriously enough for me, but she really wanted to know why she couldn't go on the huge Superman rollercoaster and another ride. She has to grow about another 40cm for both of those so it's not even like she nearly qualifies! She'll certainly be doing those with her dad, and not her mom!



The park had a great variety of things -- a few shows including a stunt driver one. But we didn't attend any of those as the kids were really far too busy going from ride to ride. A great bonus of having these tickets was that we could just opt to do some of the things next time.

The area catering mainly for the younger children had a great variety of activities: Little taxis to drive, bumper cars, a train, cages that swung around, rides that swung sideways or went up and down and a merry go round.







Apart from the shows, a number of movie characters were around and they did a parade through the park. And there were also some of the props around including the actual Bat mobile used in the movie, as well as Speed Racer!





Although it wasn't too hot, the kids still enjoyed some time playing in the water. Kai didn't spend too much time in there as the lure of the roller coaster was far to strong. Slade jumped and ran around for ages, trying to catch and kick the water squirting up from the ground.




Kai and Phillip went on the Wild West ride which is not in the children's section of the park. Kai absolutely loved it!