Mother's Day

Mother's day is a special day to thank my Mum and honour her presence in my life. My mother lives at Broadbeach on Queensland's Gold Coast, south of Surfers Paradise. She has been (and is) a lifeline which throws itself to us when we need her to give us encouragement or to set standards for living. A great mother for my sister, Judy, and myself, she is now 82 years old. I will drive down to see her on Wednesday rather than join the rat-race on the highway today.

This is a picture taken at her birthday party on March 9 with my sister (at my place).

Sunshine Coast hinterland day trip

I have Wednesdays off my lecture timetable this semester so I like to balance my life a bit during that time, even if it means catching up on housework. This past Wednesday I invited So yeon Lee, a South Korean lady to accompany me on a two hour journey north of Brisbane to the Glasshouse Mountains. So Yeon is visiting Australia for a couple of months and had not been north of Brisbane yet, so she was keen to take a look around. My new car (Mazda 3) made the trip up the mountains steady and comfortable, even with the air conditioning on, which is not amazing to most people who had not travelled in my old car. Poor old Pulsar used to cough and splutter before we hit Mapleton.

We had morning tea (from home) at Mary Cairncross park at Mapleton, and walked through the rain forest there. We sat in the middle of the rain forest and enjoyed the tranquil sounds and damp smells. Whip birds, brush turkeys, strangling vines on ancient trees. Then, off to Montville and heavy research in the craft shops. We enjoyed lunch at a cafe near the bread shop and then did more shopping. Montville has the most beautiful crafts anywhere, many produced in the immediate vacinity, some produced overseas (I avoid them). Ten minutes out of Montville, further north, is Mapleton. This is where my family has spent a week every January for many years now. So Yeon and I dropped into the Mapleton Holiday camp so I could show her around, and they gave us afternoon tea before our descent from the mountain into Nambour, down the highway, over the Gateway bridge to home. The sky stayed blue despite threatening weather forecasts.