Saturday 1st January 2012 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Gaz and i have had the best new year! we have had a lot of wonderful things go on in 2011 and i know 2012 is only going to get better!

This afternoon we ventured over to the circus royale which was going on in the grounds where the previous carol concert had been held over the road from us. We sat in the front row of the circus tent. I was very impressed at the acrobats they had...their strength and flexibility was amazing...it was all going fine until they brought on the animal acts. 4 horses all with their heads strapped in to their chests were made to trot round with stupid looking feathers on their heads. I could sense the sadness and fear in these horses. Their eyes looked so sad. They were made to jump over this metal hoop - horses naturally want to streth their necks when they jump but their heads were secured so close to their chest, their movements were restricted. It was horrible. These horses knew the stupid routine off by heart they had done it so often. At the end of their act they were made to line up one behind the other and mount their front legs onto the horse in fronts back. It made me wonder how they trained a horse to do such an act - one can only suggest blocking the horse from moving sideways and forcing it to keep going forward towards the horse in front until it has no other option but to try and climb over it? The cow act made me even sadder...one cow tried to go the wrong way and the 'ring master' went to walk up to it and the poor thing looked so terrified it ran back to the outside of the ring. The cows were made to stand on a raised platform so that a little shetland pony could canter underneath there legs...it seemed a pointless act of entertainment and i dread to think about the punishment and misery they have put the horse and the cows through to do this. The cows didnt move for fear that the ring master would approach them. They had a dog show but the dogs seemed to enjoy jumping through hoops as they got a treat after each routine and their little tails were wagging with excitment. The geese however was sad - being tapped with a whip to go up a slide just to slide down it...not a natural thing for geese to want to do and having their wings clipped...so sad. At half time gaz and i left and didnt return, we were too saddened by what we had seen.

When i got home i did some research on the circus animals, in particular the circus royale. People claiming animal rights people dont have a clue and members of the public saying ;the animals looked happy in the show' and 'they have been grazing around the back of the tent' thus concluding they are well looked after. Sorry but the animals need to eat, hence why they are grazing but no one has really seen the way  the animals are treated when they are being trained...i cant help  but feel the animals are scared senseless into doing what the ring master wants them to do. I feel terrible for paying to see this show.

This evening brightened up our day though. I picked Jacqui up (a dental assistant from work) and her friend Denete...i drove them to our house where we drank MOET champagne on the balcony (it about £50 a bottle out here!). We then got a limo down to a restuarant called the pavillion where we enjoyed a 5 course meal. We talked all night and were in stitches at some of the things being said. The owner even came over to saw how nice it was we were enjoying ourselves so much. At midnight we were given some champagne by the owner and we enjoyed the view of the hervey bay fireworks being set off by the pier, from our table. It was a great night had by all. happy new year everyone!

i didnt take this photo but this is a picture of the pavillion restaurant.

Thursday 29th December - Gaz is a bodyrocker too!

Nothing much to report this end. Weather has been hot hot hot, in the 30 degrees. Nanny, your card has arrived! thankyou so much...gaz was very grateful for the inclusion in the 'granddaughter and partner' message on the front of the card. I will have to keep it up for another month to get good use out of it!

I ordered gaz some smart jeans for xmas from NEXT but they only just arrived today. I thought they looked massive but they fit him well and look very smart! Now with those smart jeans and the shirt mum got him from hollister, hes going to be one trendy dude! ....now all he needs is a smart pair of shoes ;)

I convinced gaz to come down to the garage and partake in my body rocker fitness routine for the  night. It was only 15 minutes of exercise but it was hardcore and we were both pretty knackered by the end of it. I think we will both be sore tomorrow!

I am continuing to plan our trip when my parents come out. So far i have sorted the accomodation in Brisbane, Adelaide and kangaroo island....and the stops along the great ocean road have been planned, just need to find somewhere to stay! Am very excited! Gaz has done VERY well for the month on the computer, better than expected. Tomorrow i am the only dentist in work...i managed to not get called out once whilst being on call...yay!

Tuesday 27th December - Bodyrocker!

As promised, here are the pictures from christmas day...

Santas been! 

 Gaz hapy with his penguine poo!

Too much excitement for one day!

Our amazing home made yorkshire puds.  

Gaz working hard adding the water to the stuffing.

 Christmas dinner!

The Hervey Bay Botanical Gardens....

Gaz and I had a lie in this morning before getting up to take back the presents that didnt fit. We took a trip to the sports shop and bought proper boxing gloves...perfect for our boxercise class! I made a mini gym in our garage and did a 40 minute solid work out...i had sweat dripping off me, it felt great! Gaz had a good day on the computer, despite loosing his cool at one point and lobbing a pen through the wall. oops. 

I have found this AMAZING fitness website called bodyrocker.tv...it is going to be my new obsession as i am so determined to shed some weight. Ive even managed to convince Gaz to join me with it all! 

Its been hot and sunny today and reached just over 30degrees...we had a relaxing dip in the pool and have been to the RSL for some dinner. Weve got back just in time as a big thunderstorm has brewed up outside and its peeing it down! 

Sunday 25th December - Christmas day!

I was very excited that santa had been on christmas morning so i got gaz up about 8am to open presents. We spoke to family back home (which was still christmas eve for them) before we commenced operation unwrapping! It was really nice to see family on skype but at the same time it made us wish we were there with them.
I bought Gaz lots of crap like 'penguine poo' where you fill the penguine with little balls of chocolate, wind up the penguine and watch it waddle along, dropping the little pellets. He really likes his electronic back massager for his chair though! Gaz and i agreed that he will buy me some stuff at 'chermside' in brisbane...this is the main shopping centre which apparently is HUGE so we will be heading there for the day before picking mum and dad up from the airport. That way at least i get things i want and that will all be the right size.

After we unwrapped presents we slobbed around for a bit eating rubbish before attempting our roast dinner....we made yorkshire puddings from scratch and roasties...it tasted immense! I bought 4 dollar christmas crackers at the reject shop...you could tell they were cheap...the prizes inside were AWFUL but so awful that they were more commical. After we let food go down, we went for a splash in the pool. The weather was hot and sunny but the water in the pool was a little cool as it had been raining the past few days.

In the evening we went for a stroll down to the beach and watched the little kids on their new scooters, all wobbling a bit. We got home and enjoyed a cheese from the cheesecake shop.

Today is boxing day and we had a nice lye in. Ive done some research for when mum and dad come out on things we can do. Gaz played on the computer and it didnt go too well. This afternoon we went for a walk in the botanical gardens and enjoyed watching the turtles in the lake swimming around and poking their heads up out of the water. I will put some photographs up of christmas day and boxing day on tomorrows blog as the camera is downstairs and i cant be bothered to move!

Saturday 24th December - Christmas Eve

Gaz was up and playing on the computer this morning whilst i gave the house a good clean and decorated the table ready for christmas dinner. Not having a table centre piece, i placed a bottle of wine on the table even though Gaz and i probabley wont even drink it...anything to try and make the table look less sad. We didnt see the point in splashing out on christmas decorations as we will most likely be back in the UK next christmas. Its a bit strange being away from family this time of year and it isnt the same without the cold weather.

Gaz and i were trying to think of things to do when gaz stumbled upon 'Hervey Bay Botanical Gardens'. We never even knew hervey bay had a botanical garden! We went for a drive during a dry patch as it has been raining for most of the day and were very impressed to find an array of lakes and bridges with lots of different birds. Just as we were heading over to the 'Chinese Garden' i remembered i had left my on call phone back in the house so we had to cut our visit short and get back home. We will definitely be back here though on another sunny day!

Gaz fell asleep on me whilst we watched Gavin and Stacey. We had a christmas eve meal in the boat club  before trying to blow 20AUD on the pokies...we kept winning....and tried to blow some more money...but won some more. In the end we made back our 20AUD plus a little more. I then dragged Gaz up to the christmas street with the lights on the houses so i could get some photos. It was even busier tonight than the night before! We have made it back to the house and have allowed each other to open one present. Gaz gave me a box of chocolates and i have given him a Justin Bieber calender. Gaz HATES Justin Beiber..and now he can look at his face every day of the year! Ive even put the dates of peoples birthdays in...ESPECIALLY HIS MOTHERS (CHRIS) so he doesnt forget her birthday AGAIN.

We have just spoken to Huw on skype and are now getting ready to watch the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation...a Lane family tradition to watch this film every christmas eve. Will catch you all on skype tomorrow...here are some photos of the houses.

Friday 23rd December - Riding in the rain!

So it wasnt much of a day off work today as it rained the whole day. I was meant to be having a riding lesson at 9.45am so i got up early to buy Lisa an expensive bottle of champagne as a thank you present...however when i got to the paddock, her car wasnt there. I text her asking if we were still riding and im pretty sure she had forgotten all about it as her text back said no not today, its a b it wet and windy...im sure she would have text before hand if she had remembered...so anyway i now have a bottle of Moet...maybe Gaz and I should have it for New Year? A bottle of Moet here costs 75AUD which is £50...what a rip off.

I drove home very disappointed that i hadnt been out for a ride. Gaz was playing on the computer when i got home...hes doing very well for himself. I had a phone call about 12.30 from Cassie (one of the girls from work) and she asked if i wanted to go out on her horses...i jumped at the chance and drove straight there. She lives with her parents but has 10acres of land and has 3 horses with stables in her back yard. So lucky! Her horses were rugged up but when i slid the rug off the horse i was riding, i could see this beautiful shiney coat. I was riding Nova, a 16.1hh giant! It is obvious these horses are VERY well cared for. I know Cassie devots a lot of time to them and does a lot of competing...but these horses were stunning. I got on Nova and we rode off in the pouring rain hoping the heavy shower would soon pass. It didnt. Cassie has spent many years schooling Nova and he was extremly responsive to everything i did. We had a canter and he was flicking his head around...when i asked Cassie why she said try shortening the reins and lift your hands up a bit. We had another canter and i followed Cassies advice and he went like a dream! They were in an open field but didnt even attempt to bolt off...he had his head tucked in and cantered with this lovely leg extension like something off the olympic dressage team you see on the television! He has been trained very well. When we got back to Cassies stables we were soaked through. We untacked the horses and i set off int he car, desperate for a nice warm shower!

Gaz was still playing on the computer and doing very well. I baked some cupcakes the night before and decorated them in butter icing...24 hours later there is only 6 out of 12 cakes left. oops. No diet going on this weekend!

In the evening we were in the christmas spirit and drove to Hayman Court...also known as Christmas Street. This street is not far from where we live in Hervey Bay and i was recommended a visit there by one of the girls in work. Over the years it has become a christmas time tourist attraction...It is a street of about 10 houses all lit up in lights. One house had santa outside (the owner) who told us he paid someone to put the lights up on his roof...it took the guy 9 hours! It was like a Grizzwold family christmas house! The other houses were all similar...lots and lots of flashing lights, a few santas walking around, some of them had robotic reindeer lit up that moved their heads, others with scenes of penguines and snow...one house had a life sized robotic dancing santa which one kid was mesmorised with! A group of kids were shouting OMG OMG OMG as they ran down the street with their little glow sticks, all so excited about the lights. Even a big tour bus had dropped a load of people off to have a look at the street! I forgot my camera as i was toob usy fussing about with my sat nav so i might try and convince gaz to take another trip there tonight just so i can show you all how crazy the place is!

When we got home, we watched muppets christmas carol. Gaz was a little worried that i knew all the words!

Thursday 22nd December - Boxercise christmas meal

It was my last day in work today before christmas which would all be well and good only i am on call so i dont feel like im on holiday. Work went pretty smoothly today...only a few nutters in, one of which turned up an hour early for his appointment, then moaned because he was kept waiting? I even had him in 5 minutes early before his appointment time...some people are so frustrating!

Gaz and i have been to the boxercise class...he tried to get out of it 'im tired' he moaned...but i forced him off his chair and he got changed. Girl power. It was a really good class and now we are off to join everyone for a christmas meal at the irish pub, Hoolihans. Oh and one of the dentists in the boxercise class has offered me a job in Maryborough.

Wednesday 21st December

Nothing interesting happened yesterday other than we both skipped going to the gym because no one from work was going and i was shattered...so instead we bought lots and lots of chocolate and pigged out. Today wasnt much different....nothing good to report other than gaz has ended his stake as he found it too stressful but still did very well from it. He has also spent all day cooking a curry from scratch, adding all his own spices...it tasted amazing! he kept telling me off for dipping bread into the sauce whilst it was cooking. Oh and we ventured over to use our swimming pool for the first time since being here. Was a good temperature as it has the sun for most of the day. Tomorrow is my last day in work before christmas but i also start my week on call :( bad times.

Monday 19th December - made the paper again!

I turned to 'The Chronicle' today and flicked to page 3 where a huge picture of a dead kangaroo and her joey filled the page with a picture of a dead cow that had been shot in the neck. As i read, it turned out to be the shootings that had gone on in Booral where i go riding. The story explained that the shootings had gone on all friday and saturday night and it wasnt until sunday morning that the devistation of what went on came to light when 'some local horse riders were out on their  trail ride and found the dead kangaroos'...thats me! Regardt saw me reading the paper and joked 'you in the paper this week then?' (joking about the previous photograph of gaz and i) i said yes! im the local horse rider! lol. Anyway...the article said they found 20 dead mother kangaroos and their joeys which had been shot point blank :( Some of the girls went back to check the pouches of the mother kangaroos and according to the article, 3 joeys were found still alive so have been taken into care :( It also said how a cow had been shot and that the farmer had no idea these people were on his land nor of the devistation that was going on. I think the farmers house is a long way away as he has so much land. Mark said the story had been on the news and that the people had been caught and it was a Dad and his kids...sounds like the same people we bumped into on sunday!!! Im so angry and sad :( 

Gaz has played on the computer today, being up at 5.30 for a tornament. His friend is doing very well and at this moment in time his friend is in the top 5 and is garanteed at least 250,000 USD! sweet!

Nothing much else has happened.

Sunday 18th Dcember - Kangaroo graveyard

Yesterday i was up at 6am, despite it being a saturday and not having to be up. Our bin needed changing and it was a little untidy downstairs so i got cleaning! Gaz got up later to play on the computer whilst i went out and picked up the last of his xmas presents. 

In the evening we went over the road to the 'carols by candlelight' concert that was taking place. We couldnt believe how many cars were parked all down the road and in the fields...it was packed! The whole event was free and when we arrived, people were queuing miles back to get on each of the rides that were there. We strolled past the rides and the stage where some woman was singing christmas songs...her voice wasnt amazing but it didnt matter as everyone was having a great time. Kids and adults all dressed in their christmas hat, one kid dressed as a chritmas tree and there were a few little elf outfits...very cute. There was free face painting going on...we walked past minding our own business but i got pulled over by some very enthusiastic woman who decided to draw all over my face. So much for putting make up on. i didnt really have much of a choice so i just went with it and left her graffiti all over me...she was having a great time. Luckily there were many place to eat...lots of variety from fish and chips to pizzas cooked in a proper pizza oven courtesy of a portable gas oven! very clever. We sat on the grass and enjoyed the song...getting a little worried about the god squad performance of angels dancing to a song about someone wanting to kill herself and 'never wake up'. We thought they were kids but nope, fully grown adults...one of which was a male :S

We didnt hang around much past 7pm and headed back home. Gaz made his excuses not to meet up with rudgy boy...saying 'vicky is ill...something gastric'. Nice Gaz. 

Anyway, we cwtched up in bed and watched Home Alone 2...got us feeling christmassy and also missing the cold weather back home!

This morning i got up for my riding lesson. When i turned up Lisa told me there had been people shooting out in the fields the past 2 nights and the horses had been going crazy. Apparently the police were called and 3 cars scampered and they only caught one of them. I rode Buddy out...i was appalled by what i saw. 5 kangaroos just within a 3 metre radius all lying dead. Eyes open and peaceful looking. It was horrible. We didnt even go looking for other dead kangaroos amongst the trees but i am certain there were many. Mothers and babies. Disgusting. These people had been shooting for fun. It got worse because as we carried on riding, there were a heard of wild horse that roam the fields around here. One of the horses was limping very badly and was trying to hop along on 3 legs. The poor thing must have got startled by the gun shots and fallen over. We managed to get close enough to see there was no blood on the leg so it hadnt been shot but there was nothing we could do as the herd would not let us get close to the injured horse. As we rode along we heard more gun shots. Lisa called the police just as we saw a car coming in our direction. It had 2 young boys and a girl in the yute and they were hiding the gun as they approached. They claimed they had permission to be on the land from the owner who they correctly named. The kid said his dad was a policeman and they were allowd to be there. Lisa rightly pointed out they shouldnt be shooting near houses in daylight and questioned if they were part of the gang that had been shooting last night. They denied it all and left but 5 minutes later returned with the kids dad who argued with Lisa saying 'i hear you gave my son a hard time. When we got back Lisa heard from the owner of the land that he knew nothing about these people on his land! I drove home feeling very sad about the uglyness of some people in this world and what kind of mentality makes them think shooting helpless animals is fun? And its even worse that a beautiful horse has got injured because of it all and will no doubt fall short of the heard and become an easy target of the wild dogs out here. So sad. 

Gaz and i have just been  out for some food down at the boat club and are relaxing at home before another busy week in work! Here are some of the pictures from yesterday...

Thursday 15th December - Gaz's first boxercise class

Gaz didnt play on the computer today, instead he looked up xmas presents online for people. Work went well and afterwards gaz and i met helen (and her gf who is also called helen) and jacqui at the boxercise class. This time gaz was participating and he did very well. Everyone was very impressed he made it through the warm up without spewing although i was partnered with him on the pads and he kept telling me he was going to spew...but i kept saying 'only a few more minutes, keep going!'. He made it through the whole hour though and feels dead but so much better for having done it. I am on day 3 of healthy eating...i even managed to avoid the cheesecake and pasties splayed on the table in work.

It is great that we are making some really good friends here in hervey bay. Cassie, one of the dental nurses, has invited me out on one of her horses sometime...im very excited! And gaz will be going out on the boat with mark soon (the lab technician) and we have both been invited to the boxercise xmas meal next thursday. Gaz is going out with the rugby boys on sat night and we have both been invited down to the boatclub by one of the girls in work to watch her friends irish band playing. Ive got work tomorrow :(

wednesday 14th december - boxercise!

Yesterday I began a very healthy routine. Im living on 2 weetabix in the morning, an orange for tea break, salad for lunch and chicken stew (with carrots, leeks, onions and chicken stock) for dinner with a freezepop for dessert. I had an awful day in work yesterday with my first patient refusing her proposed treatment and arguing for 30 minutes with regardt (the senior dentist) about how awful the system is here and demanding a very decayed, broken down tooth was root treated and crowned....neither of which we offer at the clinic and nor would any dentist perform on a tooth like this in a mouth of her condition (unless the dentist was more concerned about making money than the welfare of the patient. She kicked off the sttart of an awful day ahead. Patients with really difficult fillings came in, i saw other peoples patients because they were running late (as usual) but which then made ME run late...and at 4.45pm just when i thought i had finished, the same dentist who commented about my teeth the other day came in to my room and asked for an 'opinion' on a patient. I said i would give her an opinion so she went through the whole history of the patient who she had seen that morning and sent away for an x ray. She asked if i would like to see the x ray...i said i would so she took me in to her room, handed me the x ray and said 'shes in the waiting room, get her in when your ready.' I was extremly annoyed by this (gaz is still telling me off for not having told her to F off) but being the door matt that i am great at being i took the file down the corridor and saw the girl who the other dentist was meant to see. This is also the same dentist who has bought me a number of files and told me i am to see the patient because they are MY patients and she will not see any one elses patients. So i end up seeing all the patients booked in for me AND the patients booked in for her. She is renouned for being lazy but its time i stop letting her walk all over me! I was so angry, i really enjoyed the boxercise class in the evening!

two of the girls from work invited gaz and i to a boxercise class at one of the gyms down the road from us. Gaz watched as i participated, almost dying after the warm up! Gaz thought the session looked fun, but i would call it more painful fun...so on thursday we are both going to go again.

Today in work it went much more smoothly, i was refreshed after boxing the hell out of the bag last night! Destressed :D I have stuck to my healthy eating. Gaz didnt play the computer today as he is a little disheartened from how bad it went yesterday...so instead he went xmas shopping and bought all my presents...yay! IHe also came to join me at 4.30 sitting outside the common room in the sunshine as i am not allowd to leave until 5pm but had finished really early today. Was nice to have some company and he bought me an early xmas present (a water bottle).

Monday 12th December - Work work work

Yesterday i had a great riding lesson as Lisa let me ride Buddy again and we were joined by the other Lisa and funnily enough, the little girl (Alana) who is the daughter of Mark the lab technician at work! There were 6 of us in all and it was good fun. The fields are all water logged from all of the rain we have had and where a ca rhas been driving up and down there are tracks which have created a deep stream down the field. The horses loved splashing through it and poor Alana was on Borris (a little shetland pony) who was more or less swimming down the stream as his little legs couldnt reach the bottom. The horses loved it! Luckily the wearther was good for us because by the time i got home, the thunder and rain had begun again. I slept for a good 3 hours whilst Gaz played on the computer and i woke up in time for us to grab a takeaway from the Thai place down the road.

In work today patients werent turning up so it wasnt too bad. One of the dentists made a comment about my front tooth being squint which has annoyed me a little bit...i was busy talking to one of the dentists when this other dentist came up to me and was making it obvious she was looking my face up and down. She then said 'hmmm interesting'.  I asked what was wrong and she said 'oh just looking at your 21( my 21 being my front tooth) ' i asked why? and she just replied 'oh nothing :)' with a very smug grin on her face. I was like errr??? Are you looking at it because it sticks out? She replied "yes"....i thought it was very strange. She then went on to moan about a patient of hers that has squint teeth and she said it irritates her. This is the same person who has a real grudge against Kate Middleton...and will constantly comment about Kates teeth when shes in magazines saying 'look at that black triangle between her front teeth, she MUST have veneers,'....WHO CARES! Any way as ive got a major complex about my teeth, i dont appreciate people obviously staring at them and judging them!!!

Gaz has had a rubbish day on the computer but hes still doing very well for the month. I talked him in to doing some chin ups with me on the chin up bar downstairs which we did...and are now feeling very sore! ive even been to woolworths and started my health kick food. Some of the nurses have invited me to a boxercise class tomorrow which i promised last week i would go to...which sucks a little because i was also invited by some other girls to go to the cinema tomorrow night too...i should stick to the exercise class though. Gaz is going to come and watch but i cant convince him to take part as he doesnt want to be the only boy there.

PS - GAZ HAS BEEN BINGE EATING!!! i admitted to eating chocolate peanuts in work today and he made me feel guilty. When i went to put something in the bin next to his computer, there was an empty packet of kinder bars!!! The little monkey had scoffed them and wasnt going to tell me! He even admitted this wasnt the first time hes done it!!! is this a cause for the fine jar or would i be guilty too? DISCUSS!

Saturday 10th December - Work xmas party

Gaz and i were awoken today by the pitter patter of rain on the tin roof which soon turned into torrential rain. We had 3.8cm of rain in an hour which resulted in our road being flooded. I managed to get some pictures of it this time! Luckily once the rain stopped, it drained away pretty quickly.

This afternoon Gaz and i went looking at air conditioning units for the spare bedroom. Unfortunately they arent going to be practical as they require a window to stick a funnel out of. We asked the woman in the store if there was an alternative to sticking the tube out of the window because all we have are double doors....she suggested we stick the funnel out of the doors and celotape cardboard to the gap between the door and the wall?!!! I dont know if she thought we lived in a sh*t hole of what but there is no way in hell we are celotaping any cardboard anywhere in our house! We decided that as mum and dad will only be spending 3 or 4 nights in the bedroom, it may be worth saving $1000 and buying a few fans instead and keeping the air con on throughout the house all day. 

3pm this evening was my works christmas party. It was held in the surf club on the beach and it was a really good turnout with almost every member of staff there with partners and kids. There was a spit roast and lots of food...the weather had cleared up so it was warm (but not too hot) and dry...although it was a little windy. In the distance we enjoyed a spectacular lightning storm over the sea. Gaz was introduced to all my work colleagues and we enjoyed everyones company. At 8pm, people were tailing off from the party so we offered to give Mark, his wife Lisa and their daughter a life home (as they were both over the limit for driving and we had spent most of the evening talking to them). As Gaz got out of the car, Mark invited him out on his boat which is great! Gaz will definitely take him up on the offer!  

Thursday 8th December - Sunshine

The rain has gone and the sun has got his hat on! Its boiling again today which im a bit gutted about as i was going to take pics of the river but unfortunately it had gone right down! Hervey Bay didnt even look as though it had had 24 hours of rain by 8am this morning. Work went well and its my friday so that made the day even better!

Gaz has done exceedingly well on the computer, very proud of him! We treated ourselves to a meal out this evening at the Italian restaurant we went to with Ian and Chris. We feel a bit guilty for the meal now as we have been eating very well until now! Not much to report other than we are going to watch another xmas film...perhaps home alone 1? Gaz is getting in to the christmas spirit and is playing slade on the laptop and whistling along very out of tune ( LOL).

Wednesday 7th November - Storms

So its all kicked off today!

The weather has taken a turn for the worse and has rained non-stop for the last 24hours. Infact it has rained so much, the little stream that runs by the side of our work building has almost burst its banks (which are very high) and is starting to flood the car park. My little path i take around the back of the building has almost been blocked off from the water! We have been warned of flooding and thunderstorms so i sent Gaz out to buy some food for the freezer just incase!

John tried to get me back today for stealing his chocolates (after he blamed the reception staff) and he filled my umbrella with hole punch clippings so that when i opened it at lunch time, all the paper flew out of it. I think he was hoping i would open it at the end of the day  but i went home for lunch when no one else was there to see it. Better luck next time John!

Gaz has done really well on poker today...and even rang Billy! But got through to someone else who works in the shop and so Billy will ring him back another day. For those who have forgotten, Billy is the guy who owns the boat hire company and has offered to take Gaz out fishing...it may not be for a while though as this rain is due for at least 2 weeks! ...Perhaps a repeat of last years floods....?

ps...since 9am this morning, we have had 62mm of rain! (6.2cm)

Tuesday 6th December - Fun day at work

The rain continued all through the night and Gaz lay snug as a bug in bed whilst i traipsed around trying to piece together my work uniform this morning. Work was fun today...
Yesterday one of the lab technician, John, who is forever playing practical jokes on people, had left an unopened box of chocolates on his desk. I stole the chocolates and hid them in my room. By the end of the day i returned them back to his desk. Today i turned to Faye, one of the other technicians, "i guess john knew it was me that stole the chocolates?" she said that John didnt have a clue who had taken them and he had even opened them today and left them on the bench! I then proceeded to stealing the open box of chocolates and hid them again in my room. It turns out the reception staff had a load of the wrappers to the same type of chocolates (ones which they had eaten a few days ago). I took these wrappers and pretending it was from Johns box, i left empty wrappers throughout the day on Johns work bench. He didnt have a clue who was doing this...towards the end of the day i tipped the chocolates out of the box and left the empty box on his desk with a little notes saying 'NOM NOM NOM! (smiley face)". He still didnt know who the culprit was. In the end i put the chocolates in a cardboard box and taped it up with Johns name on...i kicked the box next to his chair and he eventually found it..still none the wiser.

One of the dental assistants was flicking through the paper today at tea break and to her shock, there was a cheesy looking pitcutre of gaz and i grinning away in our santa hats. Everyone is joking we are locals now that weve been in the paper!

Gaz has done really well on the computer today...but still hasnt phoned Billy!!! 

Monday 5th December

Yesterday Gaz played on the computer whilst i went horse riding. I turned up and Lisa had a beginner rider she had to teach so she let me take Buddy out into the outback with another woman (also called Lisa) who has 2 horses down by where Lisa keeps her horses. The other Lisa is an beginner/novice rider who has never galloped before...we found the spot i galloped on Buddy before and she was feeling confident so i told her to just lean forward out of the saddle and give the horse the rein...needless to say, Lisa absolutely LOVED the gallop and wanted to go again! we even spotted the kangaroo from last week with the broken leg...poor thing.

when i got back i had a little nap whilst gaz continued to play on the computer. I spent all afternoon wrapping Gaz's presents whilst listening to christmas music...it was fun! Gaz and i went for a meal at the boat club in the evening.

Work was OK today, gaz didnt play on the computer but he has ventured out to have a hair cut!We are still doing well on our eating plan and we feel really good for it. Not much else to write about today...only that we have had torrential rain all day which is great for the grass as it was starting to look a lil brown!

Saturday 3rd December - Carols by candle light

Gaz and I had a lye in today which was great but i find it very difficult to sleep past 8am over here...especially when the sun is up long before 5am. I left Gaz playing poker whilst i went and did my christmas shopping for Gaz's stocking. I found him surprisingly easy to buy for and i really enjoyed shopping around for him. When i got back to the house, Gaz was doing well on the computer so i left him to it and tidied the house.

This evening we have been to a 'carols by candle light' concert. It was actually good fun and although Gaz moaned about going and stuck his nose up at the santa hat, he actually got into the spirit of things and we ev been had our photo taken for the local newspaper, wearing our hats. Apparently we are going to be 'the couples' photograph for the event lol. The concert was held around the corner in the historical museum grounds where they use the old train platform as a stage and everyone was welcome to bring seats of a picnic blanket. We bought neither so sat near the front behind all the kids running around...they will definitely sleep well tonight! We bought some glow sticks and lit them when it got dark. It was really nice to see 200 odd people who had all turned up for the concert in support of a local charity. They had little kids singing on stage as well as the fraser coast choir...which when i looked hard, i spotted Liz, the woman who has given me the job at Aura! She is second from the left in the photograph below...small town! Gaz and i were a little freaked out by the robot dancing elf on stage with the little kids...he was either pissed or this was a dare. The host of the evening was this big fat dumpling woman whose ego was bigger than her arse...and thats saying something! She not only hosted the whole evening, she sang more songs than the kids did and by her 4th song, Gaz and i had both had enough so we left.

We watched a christmas film last night (Bad Santa) and tonight we are watching Elf. Its weird not having cold weather here this time of year but i guess we will get used to it. Im sad because there were no aunt bessies yorkshire puddings or roasties int he frozen isle section at woolworths :(


Bats flying overhead the old train station

Rapey looking elf robot dancing 

Fraser Coast Choir - Liz is the curly haired lady second from the left

Gaz and I looking cheesy!

friday 2nd december - gaz's bbq sauce

It was a great day in work yesterday, we had a works christmas lunch where everyone had to bring a dish in from their own country. Being welsh, i took in bara brith...i dont like fruitcake myself so i dont know if it was any good but a few people said it was nice. We also did a secret santa...i bought a singing, dancing reindeer for one of the girls which she loved...the girl who organised the whole thing messed it up for the second time running and one of the girls didnt get a present, poor thing! Also one was woman was offended by her present...a dog muzzle. No one really found the present funny and it didnt go down very well..we are still trying to work out who sent it to her...the culprit is keeping very quiet! I was given a nice baking tray with a lid and a carry case to take the cupcakes to work in...very practical!

We have had rain for the first time in over a month and it was greatly welcomed as it was getting very hot and humid around here. We are going to buy a proper air conditioning unit for the spare bedroom on sunday for when parents/guests come to stay and use the spare room...it gets a little bit too hot in there without it!

Gaz has had a rubbish few days on the computer so hopefully things will get better...he still hasnt gone to the gym yet as his toe is still sore from where he tore the nail off. This morning he made a bbq sauce and put it with some meat in the slow cooker...we had it for dinner in a bun and it was delicious. We are both still doing really well with the healthy eating/eating less.