A Holiday in Yamba

This is the view from the Lounge Bar of the Pacific Hotel. The tables are all arranged along the windows and it is a wonderful place for a Sundowner.

This is Main Beach Yamba and this is a place where you could easily spend all day. The Kiosk has little tables and you can buy Lattes and even Sushi as well as the usual hot chips and ice creams

We have just returned from a holiday in beautiful Yamba. The Caravan Park where we stayed was right on the Clarence River which was especially beautiful at Sunset. There was a walking path along the bank which allows people to walk along the river from the beach to the Marina. With 5 beaches, lots of great beach walks (with just a little rock hopping), a cute little main street with coffee shops and bakeries and other interesting little shops, the smallest Cinema in Australia and some great Restaurants (including the Pub), this was we felt the perfect seaside town for a holiday. We plan to go back next year to celebrate Alan's 70th which will be in the October school holidays so everyone is invited to join us :)

Some Digital Art

I haven't posted much of my Art recently but I have been doing quite a bit and here are some examples :)

Tate turns 3

Our little Grandson Tate turned 3 yesterday so he started partying early on Sunday and I think he is still going. We stayed overnight on Sunday and we all had Pizza. Monday morning he had more presents to open and we had a much quieter day. His `big present' was a Trampoline but he received loads of great presents and had a ton of fun. So did we :) Abbey is now 6 months old and as you can see is just totally cute and adorable.

Spring has arrived

Spring has arrived here in South East Queensland and I know this because:

* Today I wore flip flops all day and bare feet around the house on our tiled floors
* We had to use our sun windowscreens on the car windscreen today to keep the heat out
* We have taken our comforter off our bed and I am putting our throw rugs away
* And finally the definitive indicator is that the first Jasmine flowers are in bloom

So now it is time to clean out our fireplace and fill it with pine cones for a summer display, I'm not looking forward to the heat of summer but I am loving the change of season. I took this photo of some wattle yesterday at Noosa where we went for a picnic by the river

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday Alan's sister Margie and her husband Ross came to visit. The weather was perfect so a ride was first on the agenda.

Max was on his best behaviour.
Alan helped groom Max and Ross watched from the sidelines, I took photos :)

Margie and Max enjoyed the ride.

After the riding we had lunch - a Leg of lamb which had been roasting in the Weber, Ratatouille
and bread with cordial. This was followed by an apple tea cake with Greek Yoghurt for Dessert and later a cup of tea. Before they left Alan took Margie out to harvest some fruit to take home - all in all a perfect day was had by all!

Being Tourists

Last week we had family visiting from overseas and we all went to stay at beautiful Noosa. It is hard to believe this stunning place is only 45 minutes drive from our home. Last Friday was a perfect sub tropical mid winter's day and we decided to take the 4k round walk through the Noosa National Park. Thank God for National Parks which have saved all this beauty from the dreaded Developers and even campers in this case. All you are able to do here is walk, watch nature, swim and picnic and all you can take are photos :) And all of this is only a few minutes walk from one of the most crowded and expensive resort towns in Queensland.

Here I am looking back at Noosa Main Beach. It has been a little decimated by recent high tides but is still beautiful and on this day there were quite a few people swimming. The building right on the beach is the re furbished Surf Club which is a great place for brunch or lunch on a day like this.

I love this photo which I think I may get printed on canvas. I took this from the pathway, not even a footprint on the beach let alone a human being. This got me thinking about what it must have been like before the white settlers arrived in this part of the world. Truly a paradise.

A visit to an Art Exhibition

Last Wednesday we went to Brisbane with my Art Group to visit the Queensland Art Gallery. This is a beautiful Art Gallery in an Arts precinct on the South Bank of the river. Here there is also the Gallery of Modern Art, the State Library, The Performing Arts complex and the
Conservatorium. We went to see an exhibition of American Impressionism and Realism. Works from the Met in New York City were juxtaposed with works from the same era (around 1900) by some Australian Artists. We were lucky enough to receive a guided tour and it was a wonderful experience and a special day.

Here you can see some of the beautiful landscaping at the Gallery.

And here is a photo of the City of Brisbane taken from outside the Gallery.