Monday 9th January - Parents to stay!

On saturday morning i drove Gaz and i down to brisbane. My parents were not arriving until sunday evening but it was a perfect opportunity to get some shopping done at Chermside shopping centre in Brisbane for some much needed clothes and the essentials - ie. Macbook air and iphone4s. For those that are unaware, Chermside shopping centre is huge and has many shops including an apple store. Saturday was devoted to the apple store. I am now the proud owner of not only a macbook air but also an iphone4s. I was so excited about my new purchase (which Gaz very kindly stuck on his credit card...but i will pay him back!), i told a girl in the newsagents next door we had just been to the mac store...i only said it because i was so excited but in hindsight, it sounded very snobby. We checked in to our hotel, intact it is the same hotel we stayed in with Gaz's parents before our moreton island trip. In the evening we met up with Emily and Tony (our friends who live in Brisbane) and had a hogs breath cafe meal. i must admit the hogs breath didn't have quite the charm of the one in Hervey Bay as the staff were a little miserable in Brisbane but none the less, the food was still excellent.

Sunday morning and it was time for a day of serious shopping. I went around the shops with Gaz in the morning and i was very impressed to see he was picking out smart clothes! i don't mean to sound patronising but in gaz's own words 'i do dress a bit like a tramp'. We ate lunch together in the food court before parting ways and i went on my own mission to find some clothes. I bought some much needed underwear from la senza and some hair products and MAC makeup i desperately needed...but i couldn't find anything i liked in any of the clothes shops...except one 350AUD dress. As luck would have it, it was in the sale so i had to have it! When Gaz and i met back up i was pleased to see he had bought 3 pairs of very smart surfy shorts and 2 t shirts and 2 polo shirts. He even bought new flip flops to replace the very worn ones he has had for the last number of years. We chose some designer sunglasses for him in the sunglass shop and he purchased some new beaded surfy necklace and bracelets for himself. He looks very trendy!!!

We didn't have long back at the hotel before leaving to pick up mum and dad from the airport. It was really great to see them! They said the flight wasn't too bad as dad had slept most of the way..mum had made friends with the german guy in front who kept putting his seat back on her and dad slept. We drove them to the hotel where we dropped their luggage and as it was nearing 9pm, we went straight out to get a bite to eat before places closed. We sat outside in a burger venue just down the road...again outside the chermside shopping centre. The weather was really hot all day so it was great for mum and dad to experience Aus without the rain! We got back to the hotel and sat chatting on the balcony before heading to bed for a well earned sleep!

This morning mum and dad were up early. it is hard to sleep much past 6am when the sun is blaring through the windows! i woke up at 7.30am to find them both sat on the balcony enjoying a cup of coffee. Mum had her legs out and was basking in the sun. Dad sat with his long sleeved shirt and trousers on...must have been baking!

Once gas was up, he offered to drive us to hervey bay. Bless him, he drove the whole 3.5 hour trip north to hervey bay and i didn't drive once. Thank you gaz! It has been very hot today. Thank god for air conditioning because we got stuck in a half hour traffic jam on the bruce highway..that wasn't much fun.

We gave mum and dad a tour of the house before heading down the esplanade to hoolihans (the irish pub) to grab some lunch. Afterwards, we strolled on the beach and then took them down to the marina to see some of the impressive boats that are docked there. The sun beat down on us so we grabbed a drink in the boat club and sat on the decking outside, enjoying the view of the boats and the heat from the sun. We headed home and had a dip in the pool to cool off!

Gaz cooked a curry tonight. Well, i say A curry - he cooked 3 different types!!! We had a korma, which was excellent....a bhuna and a madras. Unfortunately he rushed the madras and accidentally put 4 times as much chilli in the curry as intended...It was very hot but still fantastic. My parents were very impressed!!! Gaz is quite the master chef...we are all pretty knackered now so have left mum and dad on the balcony and we are off to bed!