First impressions...aren't everything

It often seems as though I go through life making one mistake after another, always hoping to at least never make the same mistake twice. After an incident of poor communication while traveling with my Mom and Tiana to Slovakia, (I had arranged for us to be picked up at the train station, but had neglected to exchange a description of ourselves with our transporter, or a set meeting spot, and needless to say we had to get a taxi to our accomodation.) I attempted to learn from this previous mistake and contacted my guesthouse to pick me up from the airport, holding a paper which said,"Melissa." Bravo for my follow through and great ideas, too bad nobody showed up to get me.

It was 10:40 when my plane landed in Chiang Mai and After 12hours of traveling I was tired and desired a bed as I have gotten acustomed to passing out around 10. I'm not sure if an airport security guard helped me out of kindness or to get the tired looking white girl out of the way, regardless, he put me into a cab and gave me an assuring nod (words in the same language were not exchanged) that I was off in the right direction. Indeed the cab driver took me to the right guesthouse, however all the lights were off and it was locked up for the night.

I was about to park myself on a bench outside the guesthouse for the night and only changed my mind to make more of an effort moments later with my first two Thai mosquito bites. I could even hear Tiana in my mind telling me how rediculous I was to just give up at the first chance without even trying. All it took was for me to walk back outside, find a mobile number on the awning, called it and in moments the woman running the place came down to let me in. Life is so simple. I was so tired after a long and emotional day, saying goodbye to Tiana for the second, and last time, in my life was not easy. I wanted to hate this woman so much for putting me through unnecessary stress, but you know, she was so sweet, kind, and apologetic- she kept grabbing my hands and bowing her head in apology that luckily I realized how it was really not a big deal. I got to where I needed to be and all was ok. And most importantly, I had a bed to sleep in and a shower to cool me down.

My own bathroom, in my room.

Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo

 It was a full on day at the zoo! The morning began very early because it was tricky with only 1 car to get to the zoo. Jia and Tim, a friend of his, came up with a rather tricky plan- Jia, Nic, Ada, Nia, and Henry all drive into the city to where we would eat breakfast, while Tiana and I take the bus into the city and then wait for Jia to pick us up at the bus stop while the others waited at the restaurant, then meet Jim for Breakie who would let us borrow his car to drive to the zoo! Phew what a plan! Sadly Nic was just not up for a full on day, and decided it best to stay home with Ada. This however did make the transportation issue non existant.
The zoo is massive, over 70 acres, and all for the love of animals. Nia and Jia were too cute in their matching Khaki Steve Irwin shirts!!

 "Kranky! Now that's one sexy sheila!" is what Steve would have said had he still been alive and at the park this day :). Actually, this big guy is male and mean!! He snatched the chicken from the trainer so quickly that I could not even get a picture with his mouth still open!!

 A wombat on a leash!? only at the Steve Irwin zoo! what a cutie waddling about! Good thing we saw her go by, all the rest were lazed about in deep sleeps.

 This owl was gorgeous, sadly you can not see her face. At different times of the days, the trainers set up stations to see some of the animals up close and personal!

 The lone park koala sanctuary was just a "taste" for what we got to experience at the zoo. This time we bought some Roo food for the kids. The kangaroos are so chilled out that even when they have a joey sticking out of their pouches, they still let you come right up to them! Again, Nia with no fear. I think Jia was actually a bit scared as to how brazen she is!

 The elephants were beautiful and if it hadnt been such a long day, we would have stayed to watch them enjoy a feast.

However, as you can see, I dont think all of us would have been able to stay awake to watch the elephants eat!!

It was a bummer that Nikki and Ada did not join us, but to tell the truth, it was a long car ride in each direction, (especially hitting Rush hour on the return journey) and LOTS of walking around, I think Nikki was smart to trust her body and stay at home. She was also kind enough to have dinner ready when we got back home, and an even more special treat, an Aussie dessert called "Possum Magic" based off a really cute childrens story! Thanks Jia, Nic, Nia, and Ada for hosting us for nearly 2 weeks, we had a blast and loved getting to see your family!!! I love you guys!

Brisbane with the Family

What a great day to be able to spend with the whole family together! We went to the Botanical gardens for fun and a picnic. The gardens are so beautiful with local and worldly agriculture. Whether you are just passing through the area to get from point A to B or to the gardens as a

destination, it is definatly a great idea! We were fortunate enough to be able to listen to a Klezmer band practice as we ate our lunch. Jia and Henry had a fun time running all around kicking a ball and climbing through the bamboo. 

Ada is always so great and sweet, all she does is sleep! I think Tiana felt very peaceful and comfortable when able to hold her.

The gardens also had a pond with Iguanas, ducks, fish, and even eels!! The eel was so creepy looking, especially when it came out of the water to steal some of the bread from the ducks.

Who knows how many times a day people come to feed these ducks, but they do not seem to mind having more! At least they are active in rushing towards the people feeding them! And Nia is so great with animals, she has no fear and I think would have gone right into the water to be with the ducks if Jia hadn't held her back.

Tiana, Henry and I are standing in front of beleive it or not, a second pond. There was so much algea on the water that Tiana nearly walked right out onto it! No joke, it looked like the fake grass at a putt putt course!

There is also a great path that walks along the river so that you can observe what the area looked like before the English developed the area as a penal colony.

  I think i was most in love with the Banyan Fig Trees. I have previously seen Morten Bay Fig trees which I thought were the largest, but maybe the Banyan are larger? These trees are amazing in that they send down aerial roots to support the large branches! Then those new roots develop into a trunk and the tree just continues to spread!!

The harbor with the Story Bridge in the background

  After the gardens my hopes and dreams came true. Ever since living in England I have wanted to play lawn bowls and luckily Nikki has had the same desire and we made it happen!! I am such an old soul wanting to play games like curling and lawn bowls, I guess I have fun trying to hit a target. It was pretty tricky, Nikki was a natural and had a perfect delivery. Tiana was too strong at first, then became quite the challenger. Henry was almost not allowed to play because the club's rule is no one under 12, but Im glad they made an exception for him.

I wont this round with both my balls closest to the white ball ;)


It was a long day for everyone and nice to relax at home. Henry and Nia are too cute on this little couch!

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

We had such a fabulous time at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary! I enjoyed the way it was set up in that many of the animals (Kangaroos, wallabies, and Emus) are free to roam around. The Koalas are pretty much in designated areas,

however I think the are rather content that way. They spend roughly 18 hours a day sleeping, 2 hours resting, 3 hours eating, which leaves about 2 hours for "activity." We were at the sanctuary for a few hours and the most activity I saw occur included scratching oneself for about 5 minutes before falling back asleep! Oh to be a Koala!

This was in a very large area for the more active animals to "walkabout." The Kangaroos did not seem to mind too much when approached, however the wallabies kept to near the fence and were a bit more timid.

What a weird animal.

Henry was great with the animals! It was nice to be able to touch them and let them smell us. I was surprised to feel that the kangaroos were the softest, even more than the koalas!

Wombats crack me up. All this guy did was sleep, but what a cutie! I love when they walk because they have a bit of a waddle. And of course, my favorite fun fact- Their poop comes out in a cube!

Just chill'n with the girls

This sexy Sheila smelled that it was feeding time and woke right up! We saw her walk, climb, jump, eat, and of course, scratch herself a bit.

We are not too sure how this fella could be comfortable, there appears to be a branch in a rather uncomfortable place.

We also watched a demonstration on herding sheep with a dog. This is normal for the dog to jump on the sheep, he is turning them around to all face the same direction!

Then a poor guy was chosen and sheered. What a temperature difference!

We were also able to watch some crazy colorful birds being fed. Tiana was excited to hold the pedistal of their food and them...

...Until a little bugger sat on her head! What an action shot!








After the Koala sanctuary we had some time to kill and went back to the museum of art. I had been there the day before and wanted to show Tiana and Henry the Photorealsim area. Can you beleive someone took the time to paint individual strands of hey?!?!

Museums and Rugby

We spent a good amount of the day at the NOMA art museum. There was an amazing Surrealism exhibit going on and I was too excited to see some of my favorite artists work- Juan Miro, Max Ernst, and some new favorite Victor Brauner.

Victor Brauner's "Le ver Luisant" 1933

We were also amazed to see such a fabulous area for children called "Surrealism for Kids." It was an amazing hands on experience for kids to make their own art in 5 different artists styles that were seen in the museum. Below is a Sculpture that Henry and I made using "found" objects like Marcel Duchamp.

It was a long day for Henry to walk around the museum, so Tiana was thoughtful and let me walk at my own pace. Afterwards we ate some dinner and had a drink before meeting Jia for the Rugby game. In a previous day Henry had seen balloon animals and HAD to have one so bad that he used his own money to purchase it! The balloon creator was very nice and told Henry and myself about some of the most dangerous animals and creatures in Australia. Henry's Balloon animal is a Red Back Spider (?), the second deadliest spider after the Funnel Web!

Another must have purchase for Hen

Another must have purchase for Henry was the blow up Broncos hand. This was a very big deal, he did not mind spending his own money, however he really wanted the hand of the visiting team, the Titans, and we just could not allow this. Funny thing, we sat in the Visitors section so he would have fit in just fine! Good thing he stuck with the Broncos, they won 31-10!!

A day in the Park

Cabbage like flower

Winter is the perfect time to be in a city like Brisbane, the sun is nearly always out and the weather nearly always around 62-68 F. The 3 of us enjoyed a day at Roma Park where they have many different color flowers, paths, and play areas. They also have many BBQs but I am sad to say (Tiana more so) that we did not have lunch here.


Henry finds friends where ever he goes



There was one funny area, "Fern Gully" that was set up like a rain forest. We understood the spritz of water that looked like misty fog to keep the plants wet, hoever the fake bird and bug sounds were rather amusing.

Henry and Tiana had a swing off, I think at one point their feet actually touched?!                                         

I very much enjoyed the trees that had a single leaf coming off a single

branch, and each branch looking like reindeer antlers! What a great

silhouette they made!

This giant fig tree was left as it is, uprooted and lying down to remind visitors of the park about the tornado that hit a few years ago. The park lost 70 some trees just like this one. The root system had a diameter that was taller than Tiana! Yet just a few years after, life has found a way of continuing on and around this tree.

When we returned to the house we found that Nikki had been busy making bagels all day! They were amazing, the best bagels I have had since being in Montreal!!  The day ended with Henry reading a bed time story to Nia, too cute!!